created to love Him...

For the past several years I have been very focused (God would say obsessed!) on the dreams living in my heart...things that I am waiting on Him to bring about in my life. Often, these dreams have consumed my every waking moment making it difficult to accomplish anything else. This season has been such a faith journey for me. He still hasn't answered, but I'm realizing that there is more to His method of madness than what my human-surface understanding can see. I am realizing that He has so much more to teach me and give to me than what my little heart-dreams are obsessed about. I believe He will give me my heart-dreams, but I'm getting a clue that it will not be until I am transformed to recognize that His plans are bigger than mine and it's time to get on board with His agenda for my life, rather than remaining limited to my own imagination. He's way more extravagant and creative than I have capability for! Do you ever feel like your life is bigger...

Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, and nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted.  But He was PIERCED for our transgressions, He was CRUSHED for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His WOUNDS we are healed.  We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is...

The Book of Hebrews...and I have lots of questions. My usual response when I have questions about Scripture is to run to commentaries or people I view as smarter than me in the Kingdom and suck all the wisdom out of them as I possibly can hold. This past week, however, I find myself being challenged in a new discipline with how I handle the Word and the ability of the Holy Spirit to teach me Himself. I am finding that even in the area of reading my Bible, I am impatient. If I don't understand something I want to know that answer RIGHT NOW! I don't want to wait. What a difficult skill it is to sit quietly and wait on the Holy Spirit to teach me before running to other sources. It involves trust that I have the ability to hear His voice. Running to commentaries is the easy way out. Trusting the One who leads me into all truth to speak takes more restraint and patience. I can hardly talk about what God did this past Saturday night at the end of the Furious Love event. I have nev...