I have a sweet tooth out of this world.
Cake. Cookies. Cobbler. Sweet Tea.
Give me all of it. 😀
When I have time out with my husband, a friend, or myself , I really enjoy going to one of my favorite restaurants & having an appetizer, entree AND dessert. Rarely can I finish it all, but add good conversation and laughs = perfect.
Believe it or not, I have a love for the Word of God that is just as relentless as my sweet tooth. I could spend hours studying the scriptures. But, as a wife of a busy husband and a mom to 3 kiddos, studying for hours is a luxury I don’t get often.
A few years ago I heard a young woman speak at a women’s retreat. She’s a wife , mother and also a youth minister, so her plate is always full. Yet and still, she’s set a specific time for prayer and bible study in the morning and 2 days a week at 4 pm she has a sitter come to the house so she can {I}NDULGE in God’s presence.
See, in the morning she seeks Him out of commitment and discipline. But, two days out of the week for 1 hour…she just sits in His presence with no agenda, no prayer requests or complaints…just an open heart and spirit ready to {I}NDULGE in the pleasure of God’s company.
Think about the last time you really took pleasure in spending time with God. Not in a regimented, obligatory way. When is the last time you sought God with no intention other than to be with Him?
I am an advocate for personal bible study. I think it’s a fundamental part of growing as Christ followers. How can we truly know God’s ways & our history as believers if we never read and ponder on the Word of God?
Even more than the written word of God, I believe we should constantly be in pursuit of knowing God through experience and presence. Every scripture leads to a person…the person of Jesus. It would be silly to know more facts & stories about God with little to no experience WITH Him on a personal level.
Before my husband and I got married, my mother in law showed me some old pictures of him growing up. She shared stories with me about some of the mischief he got into as a tween , and more stories of him as a teenager giving her a hard time every morning when getting up for school. She told me many things that helped me grow in my knowledge of him.
But, she couldn’t tell me how he would respond when had our children …. how his eyes would light up the first time he held them.
She couldn’t tell me how his silence would be deafening when he experienced a deep hurt from a mentor.
She had no facts to share with me about how his laugh would pull me out of discouragement late at night while lying in bed.
I had to experience these things for myself.
I had to experience him.
So it is with our relationship with God. He’s more than the words written on pages translated over thousands of years with varying interpretations . He’s more than a bible story.
He is Jesus. He is a person and He is to be experienced.
Today, don’t just seek Him out of habit. Allow yourself to {I}NDULGE in the joy of His presence & company. He is all consuming and He is worth the seeking.
Notes From the Edge of a Breakthrough 