Hunger for God

Your words were found, and I ate them,

and your words became to me a joy

and the delight of my heart,

for I am called by your name,

O Lord, God of hosts.

-Jeremiah 15:16

photo: family hunting cabin -Tioga County, PA - 8/13/11

Nothing Is Too Hard

'Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.'
- Jeremiah 32:17

photo: June 29, 2011 - Mt. Union, PA

Come to Me all

Security. Identity. The Word of God.

I am hit with the need for these three. I want my soul to be ever increasingly established. Immovable because of my Anchor. I hunger and thirst after him. I have a Rock who is my salvation, and I have his word to feed my soul the unchanging truths of who he is and how he relates with me.

Security:

...for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)

Identity:

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. ... (1 John 3:1)

Satisfaction in the Word:

Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts. (Jeremiah 15:16)

Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. (John 4:13-14)

Somedays we get stuck in a fog. But no cloud can keep me from Christ.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

Can you handle this?

Yesterday evening I began to feel sick (head draining, sinus pressure, almost fever but not quite). I fought through it at work today and am still fighting it. By the end of the day, I had more to do than I could handle or finish by my 4:30 "end time." It all would probably have taken me 2 extra hours. My body felt like it couldn't take any more and was demanding that I shut down and sleep. It was already after 4:00, but more items for the day were still coming at me, and I hit a wall. I came to the end of myself. It's not a far way to go to get there (believe me!). While crying in the restroom, the only private place for me at work, God cared for me. He told me that yes I cannot handle this, but He can. He told me what to do, very clearly. Almost all at once He gave me my game-plan: reply to Steve's email and ask if he can call about the payroll issue instead of you; ask Angela to help you with the Children's Ministry rosters and Bookstore inventory for Sunday; look up the new bank's hours online to see if they have Saturday hours so you're not pressed for time (which they probably do - trust Me). All this was so clear, and clearly from my Father because my own mind could not process even just one single thought clearly at this point. And he said more. He said - I am the One who cares for you. I use others to help you, but it is I Myself who cares and provides. Now go walk in what I have made clear. And He was faithful. He could not have been otherwise. Others helped me when I asked, and I left work only one hour late instead of two.

This is a snapshot of one day, and it mirrors my life. What God has made clear to me recently is what He makes clear in His Word. He is reminding me that:

1. You need more time with me and in my Word each day. Do not starve yourself, but come eat and drink of Me. (Rom. 15:4; Jer. 15:16; Psalm 42:1-2)
2. You need others. They are the means by which I desire to work in you. (Heb. 10:23-25)
3. Yes, you may feel that you are spread too thin and do not have enough time to do these things, but I am calling you to them. And if I tell you something, you can trust it will work out for your best.

God is teaching me that He is enough. He is more than enough. He looks after me, and He is all that I need. He is the beginning and the end. He uses others, but He is enough. Walk in what He has made clear; you can trust Him. He will be faithful. How do we know? Because He has been faithful. He has been faithful at the cross and He will be faithful to bring me to the end. God is good, and He loves me.

This is what He is teaching me, and this is what I will be learning my whole life long.

I life up my eyes to the hills.

From where does my help come?

My help comes from the LORD,

who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved;

he who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, he who keeps Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD is your keeper;

the LORD is your shade on your right hand.

The sun shall not strike you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all evil;

he will keep your life.

The LORD will keep

your going out and your coming in

from this time forth and forevermore.

Psalm 121

photo: Thanksgiving 2007; Lititz, PA (Adele Wegert)

Feasting or Starving?

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. - Romans 15:4

I need endurance, encouragement, and hope. I need God's Word. Do I starve myself, living on granola bar-like doses of God's Word each day? I need to feast on the Scriptures daily.

Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts. - Jeremiah 15:16

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. - Psalm 42:1-2

photo: Leipzig, Germany 2007