wait on Him... Romans 8:19...

For the creation waits with eager longing

for the revealing of the sons of God.

Romans 8:19 ESV

We can learn something about waiting... from creation...

Creation was subject to suffering...

not willingly...

but because mankind sinned...

We too suffer while we wait...

but we deserve it...

God placed people in charge of creation...

He blessed us with authority to keep and care for all creation...

and just about the first thing we did was break it...

by rebelling against God... and His one rule...

Creation waits with eager longing...

for the revealing of the sons of God...

For the creation was subjected to futility,

not willingly, but because of him who subjected it,

in hope that the creation itself will be set free

from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom

of the children of God.

Romans 8:20-21 ESV

Those who know Jesus...

those who believe...

are the sons... the children... of God...

and at His return...

our full glory will be revealed...

and all things set right...

Are you waiting with eager longing for His return...?

Do you look forward to all He will restore...?

Take a lesson from creation...

eagerly await... look forward to...

His return...

and our glory...

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time

are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Romans 8:18 ESV

wait on Him... Psalm 130:5-6...

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;

my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning,

more than watchmen for the morning.

Psalm 105:5-6 ESV

I'm learning about waiting these days...

changing my perspective on what I wait on...

hope in... desire for...

I'm not sure I can put it in words...

the shift in my waiting...

but this psalmist does a fine job...

of sharing what I'm beginning to feel...

Waiting for the Lord...

fully hoping in Him...

is the only way to wait...

I've been waiting for many things... as I've shared here...

waiting on loved ones... waiting for change...

waiting for transformations to change my life too...

But what I'm beginning to see...

is waiting for things to change in this world...

change hearts... change circumstances...

would be good... but not great...

If I got what I wanted... and things changed in the lives of loved ones... and in my life... the change at least in what I desire in the here and now... would eventually end...

People grow old... die... at least for now in the physical...

And Yes... I understand the heart changes I long for are for all eternity...! but what I've recognized is my desire for the change to make my life different now... in the temporal...

Any temporal... timely... change in the flesh... is just that... temporary...

To wait on Him... is to hope fully in Him... and all He'll bring about at His return...

I've begun to see whatever I hope for... or imagine... in the here and now... is far less than what He longs to give me... 

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think...

Ephesians 3:20 ESV

He wants to give me something better... eternal...

something beyond my wildest imagination...

beyond anything I could dream up as good... great... wonderful...

Those faithful listed in Hebrews 11...

...did not receive what was promised, since God had provided

something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Hebrews 11:39-40 ESV

It's true for all Believers...

there is something better...

something coming...

with His return...

which is better than anything we could have in this life...

So our psalmist's words on waiting today...

speak to my heart in a new way...

My soul is beginning to learn to wait... 

fully on the hope of His promises...

for as surely as the sun will rise...

He will return... bringing everything... 

more than everything...

we ever asked for or desired...

My soul waits for the Lord... more than watchmen for the morning...

wait on Him... Psalm 106:9-15...

He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry,

and he led them through the deep as through a desert.

So he saved them from the hand of the foe

and redeemed them from the power of the enemy.

And the waters covered their adversaries;

not one of them was left.

Then they believed his words; they sang his praise.

But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel.

But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness,

and put God to the test in the desert; he gave them what they asked,

but sent a wasting disease among them.

Psalm 106:9-15 ESV

Yesterday... we saw one who waited well...

praising Him... waiting on Him...

even though feeling swept away by trouble...

Today our verses reveal how NOT to wait...

Forgetful waiting forgets His past faithfulness...

in showing up to rescue...

and lead through wilderness ways...

Forgetful waiting is tragic...

leads to craving... begging for what you want...

not for what God knows you need...

In His grace... if we persist...

He answers even the most destructive prayers...

but He sends along with it an emptiness...

a wasting disease...

because what we think we want...

when we've forgotten to wait for Him...

is what will destroy us...

The emptiness of what we desire...

may just turn our hearts back to Him...

and place us in just the right circumstances...

for us to begin waiting on Him...

Have you ever gotten what you most desired...? longed for...? but found it to be empty...?

Consider His grace in the midst...

cease forgetful waiting...

and begin again to wait on Him...

faith-fully...

wanting...

I finished an audiobook today...
Teach Us to Want... by Jen Pollock Michel...

The premise of the book is wrapped around the Lord's Prayer...
how it teaches us to want rightly...

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come, your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Matthew 6:8 ESV

I've struggled with wants... desires...

even been to the point where I've tried to squelch all desire...

Why desire for what you can't have...

But she... in this book... expresses some of what I've experienced...

in my walk of faith... transformed wants... changing desires...

That's what happens... when we walk with Him by faith...

obedient to His Word... both written... and spoken in our hearts...

We want His name to be hallowed... high and lifted up...

His character to be elevated... in our lives... and in our worlds...

We want His Kingdom to come... His will to be done...

on earth... just as it is in heaven...

just as Jesus submitted to...Your will... not Mine...

We want Him to provide what we need today...

not only physically... but spiritually...

we begin to want less stuff... and only what we need for today...

We want His forgiveness...

and we want to learn to forgive like Him...

And... OH... how we want to avoid temptation...

be led far from evil... only walk His Way of righteousness...

I'd never really thought of the Lord's Prayer...

as a prayer for desire... but that's what it is...

A prayer for Him to change our desires...

Is His prayer... doing His work in you...?

my desire...

The teaching of elementary kids... and the thinking back on my own journey into His Word... makes me consider all I'm doing now... planting His Word in many places... besides just Vacation Bible School...

Two blogs...
a Sunday school class...
a Bible study...
all of which He calls me write...

My desire in all... is that others see Him...
become drawn to Him...
desire to seek Him themselves...

Lord... I pray You bless... this crazy casting of Seeds...

by revealing Yourself to others... 

Make others hungry for You... through me...

a desire... for more faith... [republished (and edited) from December 22, 2014...]

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for

and certain of what we do not see.

Hebrews 11:1

I'm a contradiction... when it comes to faith...

My natural bent... tends toward pessimism...

To be pessimistic... as a Believer... reveals a lack of faith... and unbelief in His promises...

Pessimism keeps Believers... from preparing with expectancy... thus missing opportunities to witness to others... and receiving blessings...

Two passages... reveal a need... for more faith...

Isaiah's prophetic words regarding the Messiah bearing the Spirit of the Lord... anointed to bring good news to the poor...
bind up broken hearts...
proclaim liberty to the captives...
releasing those bound...
comforting those who mourn...

And in John's gospel... where he told about John the Baptizer... preparing the way for the Lord... by faith... in a big way... proclaiming His coming... and calling for repentance... from the self-proclaimed sinners... to the self-proclaimed righteous...

My faith... feels small... when I think about bearing the Spirit of the Lord myself...

He made the way for it to be so... and He says it's true... but I feel no power... to bring good news... heal... free... or comfort...

And my preparation... for things unseen... sometimes... my natural bent rules... Nothing looks like it's changing... why do anything... to prepare...

But... there are areas in my life... where I feel His call... I press past the flesh... and do anyway... even though it seems foolish... unproductive...

This is one of those places... writing so many days a week... wondering at times... Why...? 

And the call to intercede... through group prayer... it persists... and I know I persevere only because of Him... and the faith He provides...

So some places... I see faith in action... in me... even if it often must overcome... a pessimistic eye...

But one passage He led me to... filled me with desire... for... more... faith...

Behold, A King will reign in righteousness, 

and princes will rule with justice.

And each one of them shall be like a hiding place from the wind

and a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry place,

like the shade of a great rock in a weary land 

[to those who turn to them].

Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed or dimmed, 

and the ears of those who hear will listen.

And the mind of the rash will understand knowledge 

and have good judgment,

and the tongue of the stammerers will speak readily and plainly.

Isiah 32:1-4 Amp

I understand... by faith I allow Him to reign in my life... and as He does... I become one of the princes... ruling in justice...

To be one who is a hiding place for others...
a shelter in a storm...
a relief from the heat...
a shade...
is what I desire to be...

Yes... to be one who makes the way for Him... to open eyes... and ears...
make the way for understanding... and the loosing of tied tongues...
is what I want to be...

To be all His Word... says I am... fuels a desire... for more faith...

And His Words come to mind...

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,

and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew 6:33 ESV

Father God... forgive my lack of faith...

Bless me... with more...

a desire... for more faith...

This past week's word in the Advent study... faith...

She asked... What comes to your mind when you think about the word faith...?

I say... Being sure of what you hope for... and certain of what you do not see...

And as the week passes... and I think more about faith... I see where I need more... desire more... because I'm really not sure... that what I hope for will come to pass... and I'm uncertain of the reality... of what I do not see...

I'm a contradiction... when it comes to faith...

My natural bent... tends toward pessimism...

To be pessimistic... as a Believer... reveals a lack of faith... and unbelief in His promises...

Pessimism keeps Believers... from preparing with expectancy... thus missing opportunities to witness to others... and receiving blessings...

Two passages read during the week... revealed a need... for more faith...

Isaiah's prophetic words regarding the Messiah bearing the Spirit of the Lord... anointed to bring good news to the poor...
bind up broken hearts...
proclaim liberty to the captives...
releasing those bound...
comforting those who mourn...

And in John's gospel... where he told about John the Baptizer... preparing the way for the Lord... by faith... in a big way... proclaiming His coming... and calling for repentance... from the self-proclaimed sinners... to the self-proclaimed righteous...

My faith... feels small... when I think about bearing the Spirit of the Lord myself...

He made the way for it to be so... and He says it's true... but I feel no power... to bring good news... heal... free... or comfort...

And my preparation... for things unseen... sometimes... my natural bent rules... Nothing looks like it's changing... why do anything... to prepare...

But... there are areas in my life... where I feel His call... and I press past the flesh... and do anyway... even though it seems foolish... unproductive...

Here is one of those places... writing so many days a week... wondering at times... Why...? 

And the call to intercede... through group prayer... it persists... and I know I persevere only because of Him... and the faith He provides...

So some places... I see faith in action... in me... even if it often must overcome... a pessimistic eye...

But one passage He led me to... filled me with desire... for... more... faith...

Also from the mouth of Isaiah... and along the same lines...

Behold, A King will reign in righteousness, 

and princes will rule with justice.

And each one of them shall be like a hiding place from the wind

and a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry place,

like the shade of a great rock in a weary land 

[to those who turn to them].

Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed or dimmed, 

and the ears of those who hear will listen.

And the mind of the rash will understand knowledge 

and have good judgment,

and the tongue of the stammerers will speak readily and plainly.

Isiah 32:1-4 Amp

I understand... by faith I allow Him to reign in my life... and as He does... I become one of the princes... ruling in justice...

To be one who is a hiding place for others...
a shelter in a storm...
a relief from the heat...
and a shade...
is what I desire to be...

Yes... to be one who makes the way for Him... to open eyes... and ears...
makes the way for understanding... and the loosing of tied tongues...
is what I want to be...

To be all His Word... says I am... fuels a desire... for more faith...

And His Words recorded by Matthew... come to mind...

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,

and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew 6:33 ESV

Father God... forgive my lack of faith...

Bless me... with more...

He makes it known...

That path... dropping fatness... 

the one filled with ruts...

His bountiful path...
His way of blessing...
He makes it known...

You make known to me the path of life;

in your presence there is fullness of joy;

at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 16:11 ESV

He wants you to find it... to walk in it...

He wants you in His presence... full of joy...

He wants you... at His right hand... experiencing pleasures... forevermore...

The question might be... What do you want...?

Don't we all want joy... pleasure...?

Do you believe you'll only find it in Him...?

His path... the path of life... overflows... with blessing...

Seek... and you will find...

He makes it known...

needing Him...

I find myself... needing Him... more today...
than I did... yesterday...

Each step of faith... leads to another...

The Whisper...
continues to challenge...
stretch...
pull me... out of my comfort zone...

Offer to pray...

Go ahead and ask...

Ask if she wants to hear...

Just today... He speaks...
I listen...
lean into Him...
and obey...

Yes...
I need Him...
more... today...
than I did... yesterday...

I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord;

I have no good apart from you."

Psalm 16:2 ESV

stirred desires...

The new study with sisters... stirs desires...

Desires to be...
romanced...
irreplaceable...
beautiful...

The premise... these specific feminine desires... reflect the heart of God...

But these desires...  in me... stir feelings of unfulfilled longing...

Desires... I've silenced... and bound... over the years...

The study... it promises a path of healing... through Christ...

Yet... to heal... the wound has to be opened anew...

Spiritual surgery... often begins... with a broken heart... brokenness of the past... reawakened...

So I struggle... to exercise... a lesson from Wednesday afternoons...

For everything created by God is good,

and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving...

1 Timothy 4:4

I receive afresh... heartbreaks... with thanksgiving... in hopes... of healing... restoration... redemption... and peace...

He used a hymn in worship today... to speak to this place in my heart...

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Assured of His work... to bring healing... I receive with thanks... a stirred up heart...