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Deep, Sweet Thoughts of Jesus

Not often enough do we turn our hearts to heaven for the sheer joy of seeing Jesus. We fill our days with trivial pursuits, do we not?

Drink from the fountain, the Life-giving fountain, and fill your thirsty soul with the wine of heaven.

That just bubbled up.

And here’s a practical approach.

Imagine the gospel scene of the wedding in Cana and how Jesus turned gallons and gallons of water into wine. Think deeply about what happened by imagining being there. This is a dynamic, creative way to pray, to turn and see Jesus. Notice everything about Him. Be there.

Our imaginations were made for God above all else. We should invite Him in more often.

Another way to experience being with Jesus is to be more aware of His company. We can converse with Him inwardly all day long.

Or, look closely at a flower and consider the miracle and beauty of it and that God made it. The wonder of creation is just a taste, a hint of the stunning, unimaginable wonders to come. This earth and life is a stage on which the Divine Drama is unfolding. Keeping this perspective helps us live through the horrors of evil as well as the boredom, stress, disappointments, and daily grind we all must endure.

A. W. Tozer wrote: “If you will narrow your interests, God will enlarge your heart. ‘Jesus only’ seems to the unconverted man to be a motto of death, but a great company of happy men and women can testify that it became to them a way into a world infinitely wider and richer than anything they had ever known before. To know Him in growing intimacy is to increase in appreciation of all things good and beautiful. The mansions of the heart will become larger when their doors are thrown open to Christ and closed against the world and sin. Try it.” -A.W. Tozer, The Size of the Soul.

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THE FIRE OF ATTRACTION

The saints have seen the burning heart of God.

Their own love has leaped out in flaming response,

and they have loved the Lord their God with all their heart and soul and strength and mind—and their neighbor as themselves.

 W. E. Sangster

 

Not until Jesus unveiled the burning heart of the Creator at Calvary could anyone imagine God’s kind of love. Solomon’s inspired love song penned the essence of it and spoke from God’s heart: “. . . for love is as strong as death, passion as cruel as Sh’ol; its flashes are flashes of fire, [as fierce as the] flame of Yah. No amount of water can quench love, torrents cannot drown it” (Song of Songs 8:6 & 7 CJB).

We hunger for a love we see reenacted over and over in love stories. The lover we’re drawn to in these stories is selfless and kind. He’s unwilling to be apart from his beloved. He’s attractive, so attractive, and expressive of his love, but never smothering. He knows no sacrifice too great in pursuit of the one he loves, to the point of heroism. Unlike all others, he wants only the highest good for the one he loves.

God created us to experience His love and know Him—that is our highest good. “You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11 NRSV).

What is the psalmist specifically talking about? David was a man after God’s heart. Do you think he meant that his pleasures were found in, and from, knowing God’s heart? Were the favors of God’s right hand spiritual favors? They are far better than earthly ones. David loved being with God!

When God is drawing us close, all it takes is a single spark to set our hearts on fire.

 

 

Here is a link to the third issue of FIRE – a journal for those who long for more of God. Please feel free to pass this on and be sure to subscribe to http://burningheartsforgod.com for future quarterly issues.

 

PLAN A SPIRITUAL RETREAT DAY FOR YOUR SMALL GROUP OR CHURCH!

Rekindle your heart and plan a special day with God. Check HERE and on the Burning Hearts for God website for ideas and themes.

Contact me directly for personal spiritual retreat day material: [email protected]

 

 

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The Joy of the Lord

Has life been hard enough to sap your energy, ambition, and sense of well-being? Worse, sometimes the sense of the Lord’s presence seems to dwindle. It’s times like this we need to REMEMBER God’s favor and goodness and speak truth to our own hearts.

Overwhelmed by trying circumstances, like King David,  I recently cried out: Awake, O, my soul! Look into the eyes of your Savior. He is the joy of my heart and life. God is my joy and truth.  He gives me hinds’ feet on high places.

Jehovah Jireh is my Provider.  El Shaddai sustains, nourishes and protects me. El Roi is the God who sees me and all that involves me. In Him I put my trust, faith, hope, and affection. I worship Him! I adore Jesus, my Beloved. He rescues and redeems me, lifts me up. He is HESED (all merciful, abundantly kind, and good).

Three scriptures pre-printed at the bottom of my prayer journal pages today were wonderfully apt:

1. “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty” (Ps. 91:1).

2. “I will NEVER FAIL YOU. I will never abandon you” (Heb. 13:5).

3. “The joy of the Lord is your strength!” Neh. 8:10.

Amen!

The next FIRE journal is in the  making.  https://burningheartforgod.com – a free online publication for keeping the fire going in your heart.

You can be sure I will include an article about this in the upcoming theme “Present to God’s Presence” because, really, habitual, unceasing prayer is to stay focused and in communion with the Lover of our soul, no matter what happens in life.

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O, Beautiful Jerusalem!

We are living in exciting times, friends of God. We’re on the cusp of the climax of God’s real-life love story. God’s eyes have turned to Israel in these days.

I am thrilled to have been given eyes to see and ears to hear what God’s Spirit is saying and doing at this time in history, to be awake and aware as His beloved Bride. All is being made ready: hearts, nations, and the timing of events.

I’d like to share a wonderful newsletter with you. This will help you stay “in the know” in a global and intimate way of what is on God’s heart today concerning Israel.

And, because we are living in the Last Days, remember the Lord! He’s truly always near and with you. No matter what hard trials and trouble you are enduring, know that the Lord sees you and will take good care of you. And, above all, be of good cheer, for the fullness of God’s Kingdom is drawing nearer every day.

Be sure to sign up and get this newsletter by email:

Tikkun – in Israel

 

I had the chance to go to Israel and capture this photo of the Sea of Galilee at sunrise. What a treat from the Lord!

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Be Still

Our world is so noisy. Even what we see is noisy. We are looking at flashing lights, images and words on signs, constant ads and messages come at us at every turn. When we turn things off we’ll find quiet within. We’ll hear God and feel His love.

Open to God, we need to reflect, dream, and think with Him. Silence soothes our minds and souls.

Why are we so addicted to our cell phones? We set notices so we don’t miss anything on our feeds. We’re lost if we are away from the internet, live streaming, email, social media, etc. We’re constantly occupied with something to do, to see, to hear. We can’t be still for long because we’ve formed the habit of preoccupation.

In one of John Eldredge’s newsletters from Ransomed Heart Ministries, he said, “It is as though we are looking, always looking, for something . . . someone. What is it we are craving all the time? Why do we put ourselves out there for attention?”

Some of us are not that hooked up in the ways I’ve described, but what about other distractions? Bingeing on television episodes?—(which I finally stopped doing.)

God is our constant companion. Shekinah is in our hearts. The Lord of glory is being ignored.

The first thing God did after Adam and Eve sinned and hid themselves from Him was to search for them while calling out, “Where are you?”

In the book Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, Richard Foster says God continues looking for us.

 

Today the heart of God is an open wound of love. He aches over our distance and preoccupation. He mourns that we do not draw near to Him. He grieves that we have forgotten Him. He weeps over our obsessions with muchness and manyness. He longs for our presence.

 

I urge you to stop whatever you are doing for a minute, breathe deeply, and be still in God’s presence and receive His affectionate love.

 

The featured photograph here is by Sharon Brisken. She has such an artist’s eye for beauty. Check out her work at Burning Hearts for God’s – Featured Artist’s page.

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