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Deeper

Colossians 1:9-10 (AMP) For this reason, since the day we heard about it, we have not stopped praying for you, asking [specifically] that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom [with insight into His purposes], and in understanding [of spiritual things], so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord [displaying admirable character, moral courage, and personal integrity], to [fully] please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing in the knowledge of God [with deeper faith, clearer insight and fervent love for His precepts]

My husband and I have been pastoring our church for going on twelve years this January. It has been one of joy and sometimes sorrow. Our joy is seeing the spiritual growth in others. We love it when we see people grab onto the Word of God and start growing in the revelation knowledge. We especially love it that they get in and study it for themselves.

Ephesians 1:18 (AMP) And [I pray] that the eyes of your heart [the very center and core of your being] may be enlightened [flooded with light by the Holy Spirit], so that you will know and cherish the hope [the divine guarantee, the confident expectation] to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints (God’s people)

There are many precepts in the Bible for us a believers to grab a hold of. It is up to each one of us to discover them. My job as a pastor is to equip you to do so. That means I need to point you back to the Word, the Holy Spirit and Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the one who brings the revelation knowledge, not me. I have been attending church regularly since I was sixteen years old. I have been under some amazing teaching, and took notes, even early on in my journey. The most knowledge I received has been when I got in the Word for myself. When I desired a real knowledge of who God is and not just what He could do for me. Many times we want to know what He can do for us. Paul’s prayer was that we would grow in the knowledge of God, with a deeper faith into who He is and His fervent love for us. That is the same prayer for my church.

This blog is not very long, but I hope it encourages you to depend on the Holy Spirit more. My hope is that we are not so dependent on just one person to do all of the revealing of the Word in our lives. The Bible has been made so available to us that we can now carry it along with us every where we go. It is just as simple as downloading an application with our favorite translations (I recommend reading it in more than one to get the fullness). Do not put all of the pressure to know God’s precepts on your pastor. That would be the your job with the Holy Spirit in partnership. So why do you go to church? How can you put into practice what the Holy Spirit is revealing? How can we know that we are in unity without the body? How can we be challenged for more growth? Also, it was ordained by Christ (read Ephesians).

Matthew 13:44 (AMP) The kingdom of heaven is like a [very precious] treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid again; then in his joy he goes and sells all he has and buys that field [securing the treasure for himself].

Lord, my prayer is that those reading this will have a deeper desire to know You more. Thank You for Your Son, the Word made flesh. Thank You for the Holy Spirit, our Teacher. Thank You for the revelation knowledge that comes when we open up our Bibles. In Jesus Name, Amen.

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To Know His Heart

Luke 22:42 (AMP) “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup [of divine wrath] from Me; yet not My will, but [always] Yours be done.”

My husband and I just celebrated twenty eight years of being a couple. We met on a blind date as teenagers and have been together ever since (we did not become official boyfriend/girlfriend for almost a month). In those twenty eight years we are still getting to know different areas of each other. We have changed and grown. To show you love someone is to get to know them over and over again. You will join in on things they enjoy. You will want to speak their love language. If they do not know your love language, then you should help them discover it. 

Gary Chapman describes our love languages in five different areas: 
Words of Affirmation - words that communicate your love, appreciation, and respect for another person. They're positive words and phrases used to uplift someone. What's more, these compliments and words of encouragement don't have to be said directly to the person. 
Quality Time - centers around togetherness. It's all about expressing your love and affection with your undivided attention. 
Giving Gifts - involves tangible items with thoughtful meaning. Gifts do not have to cost a lot of money. They simply show, “Hey, he was thinking of me today.”  
Physical Touch - expressing and receiving affection through touch, physical closeness, and other forms of physical connection. 
Acts of Service - doing something for your partner that you know they would like, such as filling up their gas, watering their plants, or cooking them a meal.

I was praying over our worship team and over what my husband and I have been teaching about and I kept hearing “Know Your Heart” over and over. God wants us to know His heart. I went to look up the words “know” and “heart” in my Bible’s concordance and all the verses showed up about God knowing our hearts. What does it say about us knowing His? We know Jesus knew His heart. There is another man in the Bible that it talks about being after the heart of God.

1 Samuel 13:13-14 (AMP) Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, for [if you had obeyed] the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for Himself a man (David) after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as leader and ruler over His people, because you have not kept (obeyed) what the Lord commanded you.”

Acts 13:22 (AMP) And when He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king: of him He testified and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart [conforming to My will and purposes], who will do all My will.’

David was a shepherd when he was anointed to be king. There are many photos depicting shepherds and often they are of light-hearted and laying in the grass next to sheep. They depict them as laid back and day dreamers. This is not the truth of what shepherds were like. A shepherd was looked at very lowly and doing menial tasks. Sheep are stubborn, prone to stray and are defenseless animals. This was a full time job, yet David still spent time with the Lord in the fields. I often look at it like motherhood. Being a mother does not have any off days, neither did being a shepherd.

The very first shepherd mentioned in the Bible was Abel. Genesis 4:2-7, Now Abel kept the flocks [of sheep and goats], but Cain cultivated the ground. And in the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground. But Abel brought [an offering of] the [finest] firstborn of his flock and the fat portions. And the Lord had respect (regard) for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and his offering He had no respect. So Cain became extremely angry (indignant), and he looked annoyed and hostile. And the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you so angry? And why do you look annoyed? If you do well [believing Me and doing what is acceptable and pleasing to Me], will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well [but ignore My instruction], sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you [to overpower you], but you must master it.” What is pleasing to the Lord? We should not come to Him without wanting to know His heart. If we do not do this we will ignore His instruction, and could become disobedient, hard-hearted and rebellious. Cain actually murdered his brother. You do not think murder can enter yours with envy, jealousy and slander?

In order for me to know His heart, I need to listen and obey. There are many ways that God speaks to us. He speaks to us mainly through the written Word of the Bible. He speaks to us in the messages that we hear through our pastors. He speaks to us in the conversations we have with others. He speaks to us through what we watch. He speaks to us when we are doing our day to day tasks. How do I know His voice? We often want it to be loud and booming. He can speak to us that way, but is that the only way He can get your attention? Do you need a prophet to say, “thus says the Lord,” in order for you to have heard from God? If that is the case then we can be easily led astray and have not really desired to know His heart.

What if I only spoke my love language to my husband they way that I received love? I really did not want to know what his was because mine should be good enough. I was doing something right? That is what it is like when we depend on someone else for revelation knowledge. That is what it is like when we say that giving is better than serving. That is what it is like when we say words are better than presence. Nothing is higher than the other. It is in our preference that we have approached God. How about we do all of it? It’s not about our preference, it is about His. It is not my will, it is His will that I want.

Lord, our Jehovah, our Creator, our El Shaddai, we honor Your Holy Name. We stand in awe of You. There is nothing greater. Thank You for sending Your Son to be our Good Shepherd. He paid the ultimate price by laying down His life for us. Thank You for the Holy Spirit. Thank You that we can hear Your voice. We repent for the ways that we have come before You, or lack of. You said that we can come boldly into Your throne room of grace and mercy. We will not take that for granted again. We want to be close to You. We want to know Your Heart. From Your Word You have revealed Your heart and it is through our obedience that we tell You we love You. Please take the goggles of envy, jealousy and covetousness from our eyes so that we can love the way You created us to. We surrender our will to Yours. We choose hope today. We choose forgiveness today. We choose joy today. We choose faith today. We choose love today. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Closer by Bethel