Per Venia

23 [They are] new every morning: great [is] thy faithfulness. I find this to be true on so many levels. When I wake up and hear my wife’s voice say she loves me. As I walk down the hallway I hear one of my boys thump the wall with his foot as his brother mutters non-sensical sentences is his sleep. I climb into my car in the dark and drive to a job that provides health care and income for my family. And that is all evident before 6am, His faithfulness is great indeed.

It’s been a long time since my last post. Life seems to have a habit of going nuts for a while and then slowing down for a bit. Baseball season dominated the entire month of May, and then gave way to open house preparations. Throw in visiting with family home from the mission field and bang 2 months just disappeared! Just another reminder that man’s life is indeed just a vapor, here one instant and gone the next. All the more reason to focus on the eternal, where am I storing my life’s treasure?

And I have proof, my brother is writing for the Geek News Central tech blog. Go Nolan!
Check it out!
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Jesus wants you and I to be with Him. To experience and share in everything the Father has given Him. He states this desire shortly before His crucifixion (John 17). It’s a heady thing to consider that God himself wants to share himself with me.

Charles Spurgeon writes in “All Of Grace”, of man who hung a cup on a chain near a roadside well. Later it was mentioned to him that it’s design had been criticized by some famous man. He responded by asking, “but have very many thirsty people slaked their thirst ?”. He was assure that they had, he then stated that he didn’t much care what was thought of it’s design. Jesus in Matthew 10, says that if we even give a drink of water we’ll be rewarded. Sometimes I allow myself to worry about others opinion of my technique or elequence, Jesus responds to this by gently reminding me, “just give them a drink”

I’ve been reading in Colossians for the last couple of days. In this chapter Paul is focusing a bit on warning them concerning a falling back on the ritual of the OT. I like how he puts it, the ritual of the OT is a shadow while Jesus is the substance or the body. Pair that up with what he states earlier in the chapter concerning our being given the “fullness” in Christ. Jesus, living in me is the reality, the substance, the fullness of what God desires for me. That’s the complete package, no outside requirements, no strings. Just Jesus.

One of my kids uttered those words at some point in the past. I’m sorry to say my memory on who is a little fuzzy. The reality is that they probably all said it at one time or another, so have I and probably you to. We all need to be noticed, to matter. Sons have from the very beginning struggled to gain their father’s approval, daughters have tried to live up to their mother’s expectations. One of the last things you ever want to hear uttered by someone you love(or anyone else!) is “what’s the use, no one cares anyway!” . We all want to be significant , to matter. One of Satan’s biggest lies and favorite weapons is to convince us of the opposite of that. He would love for you to believe that you simply don’t matter, your life isn’t important or valuable. What a stark contrast to the message that God has for each one of us, it’s found in the most well known scripture of all time, “For God so loved…” you know the rest. You mattered enough to Him for Him to send Jesus to die, you are significant, you have incredible value. Not for what you have achieved or even for what you can achieve, there is no condition , you just matter.

I love good, strong hot coffee in the morning (and other times) , an ice cold Diet Pepsi with a meal, a glass of ice water when I’m hot and sweaty… they all “hit the spot” but not at the same time. I’ve been reading a lot of scripture about passions, desire, thirst, and hunger in the process of preparing the message series that begins tomorrow at church. Jesus spoke of a thirst within mankind that only He could quench. What thirst was He referring to when He spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well? I believe that primarily He spoke of the thirst (or desire) for relationship and communion with God. This would indeed be a thirst only He could satisfy, because only He can reconcile to the Father. Only His sacrifice makes it possible for you and I to experience true fellowship with God. He certainly hits the spot, every time.

When I was a kid , I couldn’t wait for the new Sears “wishbook” catalog to arrive in November. I could and did spend hours poring over every item in the toy section. It was a great source to use in making our Christmas list for mom and dad. This was a serious thing for us, really serious. We knew there would only be two or three presents under the tree that didn’t hold socks, underwear and other necessities of life. That meant you really needed to put some thought into what went on that list. Where is this thread of thought going you ask? After all Christmas was 2 months ago! Ok, I’ll get to the point already! Over the last several weeks the whole question of what it is that I crave or thirst for has been foremost in my thoughts. Then last Friday night night God turned up the heat on me a little more, in the form of a message from Ron Luce at the Acquire The Fire youth conference. He posed the following question to us, is God a want or a need in your life? I eat every day, drink liquid every day, breathe constantly , sleep … Is communion and relationship with Him a that same level, would I “gasp” for communion with Him, panic if I don’t read His Word? God is truly challenging my depth of commitment and understanding, how about you?

I’ve continued thinking about what my soul craves.  I believe just about every human craves much the same things.  We express those cravings in a pretty diverse manner but ultimately we’re all much the same.  We were all shaped in the same pattern after all, Genesis says we’re made in God’s image.  I’ve looked up several passages in God’s Word today all having to do with spiritual desire.  The scripture that follows challenges me with its completeness hopefully it will challenge you as well.  More to follow.
Psalm 73:25  Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. 26  My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.