"For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable through the living and enduring Word of God. For 'all men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of the Lord stands forever.'" 1 Peter 1:23-25
"Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish on e another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. " Colossians 3:16
There have been several times in my life when this craving has come upon me, and those times have always been the sweetest times of growth and closeness with my Savior. But there have also been times when I just couldn't even seem to muster up a little desire to be in the Word. I just didn't 'feel like' studying or learning and that's when I became more prone to sin, self reliance, and just plain ickiness of life. The only way I survived was by prayer and making myself get into the Word. Studying is like exercise sometimes. You don't want to do it, but once you do you love the results and want to do more to get more results and on and on. All that to say that I know what it's like to be in a blah stage of growth, and to encourage everyone to press on and seek the Lord for the sweetness will come and the craving will be worth it!
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who ask receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." Matthew 7:7-8
I'm usually always doing a Bible study of some sort, but this fall I wasn't and I could tell. I was not focused, not productive in many areas (amazing how being out of sorts with the Word makes you out of sorts with other things too) and just generally unhappy with myself spiritually. As the holidays began to rapidly approach I discovered, thanks to a good friend of mine, the podcasts of Matt Chandler, pastor of the Village Church in Dallas. She told me that she listened to a sermon every morning as she got ready for work. Well, duh, I thought! I can do that. I may not always have time for in depth studies with my little tikes right now (usually 10 min is the max time alone I gets besides naps…at which time I have to undo the tornado that blows through my house all morning), but I can definitely listen to sermons while I clean.
So I downloaded a couple and started listening, and man were they good. He really preaches the Gospel and is very engaging. I was hooked and started listening to at least one a day. I introduced him to Dalton on the way to my parents for Thanksgiving and he agreed that he was worth listening to. And thus began my craving….. After Thanksgiving I began a simple Advent study online and it has been such a blessing as well. It gives just enough scripture and insight that makes me want to find more and study more.
"Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth." John 17:17
And then it happened. I discovered my new favorite pastor/teacher. His name is David Platt and he's the pastor of The Church at Brook Hills, in Alabama. He's also the author of Radical, which is a GREAT book! His teaching is both academic and understandable, engaging and yet so convicting, passionate and sincere. Most of all, you can tell that he loves Jesus and is desperate for everyone else to too. The only downside to him is that I want to listen with my Bible open to write notes as he preaches, a little hard to do when I'm listening and cleaning the kitchen. Listening to him teach on Matthew has only intensified my craving.
One of the joys of studying God's word through different avenues and reading it on your own is the wide open door you give the Holy Spirit to connect things together. There are no coincidences with regard to this, as far as I'm concerned.
"For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Hebrews 4:12
And this has been happening so much lately. Three ideas have been appearing and re-appearing in my studies, readings and sermons.
1. God always fulfills His promises. Trust in His promises.
2. Jesus is the Word and fulfills the Word and all the prophesies
3. Jesus is the Light of the World
I could go into what I've learned about each of these, but that's another post, or rather 3 other posts. For now what you need to know is that God is able to reveal Himself to you more and more as you seek Him and His Word more and more. It's so exciting. And so my craving is growing more insatiable by the day and I couldn't be more thrilled. Praying God never lets it go away.
"It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4
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