Grace Fanning Desire Into Flame
The struggle lately has been, "why don't I desire God the way I want to?" My heart has felt dry and more than a little distant. Knowing of the need to change, I have been praying that God would increase my desire for Him. Tonight, at my church (praise God for Grace Toronto btw - I love it.), Dan (again another noteworthy "praise God") was talking about the fact that true Christianity is not measured by what we do but by what we desire. Actual, permanent, radical life-change only happens when change occurs at the level of desire, not merely the level of behaviour or thought. God should be our desire above all else. That is when we are truly obeying the command to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength".
So I asked him, "how do you fan into flame desire that you know has faded or is waning?" He said that first we must admit that our desire for God is not where we would want it to be. That's fairly self-evident to me at this point. Undeniable. And then we must continually seek to see His grace more clearly. That Almighty and Holy God would actually delight at my feeble, half-hearted attempt at obediance, submission, love, and delight in Him - that is beautiful grace. My desire for God will grow if every day I preach the gospel to myself. When I see the suffering of Christ and the love that kept him there, my desire will naturally grow.
I made the mistake of striving for an increased desire instead of earnestly praying that I would see God's grace more clearly. A bit of an "ah-ha" moment for me tonight. I am moved once again by how great our God is and how amazing it is that He would love me.
BTW - check out previous sermons (and this one soon to come) at www.gracetoronto.ca/resources
So I asked him, "how do you fan into flame desire that you know has faded or is waning?" He said that first we must admit that our desire for God is not where we would want it to be. That's fairly self-evident to me at this point. Undeniable. And then we must continually seek to see His grace more clearly. That Almighty and Holy God would actually delight at my feeble, half-hearted attempt at obediance, submission, love, and delight in Him - that is beautiful grace. My desire for God will grow if every day I preach the gospel to myself. When I see the suffering of Christ and the love that kept him there, my desire will naturally grow.
I made the mistake of striving for an increased desire instead of earnestly praying that I would see God's grace more clearly. A bit of an "ah-ha" moment for me tonight. I am moved once again by how great our God is and how amazing it is that He would love me.
BTW - check out previous sermons (and this one soon to come) at www.gracetoronto.ca/resources
posted by janette at 10:31 p.m.
3 Comments:
J, I too am learning about God's amazing grace and how I don't live it. Thanks for the post and the perspective!!
that is a good reminder. I was just reading in 'Postcards from Corinth' about how this staff guy disciples guys. He says, "I no longer care what people know, I want to know what they want. Because knowledge rarely changes anyone" I think that is wise. What we (or our students) want, is more important than what we do.
Thanks for sharing J. Im looking forward to pursuing Christ with you this year. Oh Lord give us eyes to see your Beauty and hearts of flesh to experience Your tantalizing Grace.
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