GOD, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT ME? This week, we have looked at five pursuits of God. Studying God’s pursuit of us helps us to believe the truth about how God feels about us.  Are there other pursuits in scripture that have revealed the truth to you about how God feels about you?   Of the five pursuits we studied this week, or any other pursuits of God, what is God speaking to you most about His pursuit of you?   Through studying pursuits of God, what has He revealed to you about

GOD, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT ME? Read Jonah 1-4  Jonah often gets blamed for running from God, but I think there were areas of his life still aligned with the Lord. Scripture doesn’t tell us that he abandoned God’s ways in his lifestyle or spiritual disciplines. In Jonah 1:9, he still identified himself as a follower of the Lord and shared the truth of God as the One true Creator. He wasn’t allowing himself to become a liar because verse 10 says he had told his shipmates that h

GOD, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT ME? David is known as one of the great pursuers of God’s heart. He passionately pursued God almost his entire life… and he paid dearly for the season that he didn’t. David pursued the Lord with such great devotion in several seasons of his life. He pursued the Lord even when He was in an extended waiting season. He pursued the Lord when he was being attacked by people he cared deeply for. He pursued the Lord when he was leading the nation of Israel

GOD, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT ME? I have often confused how God feels about me based on how I feel about myself, and this is too often informed by how other people treat me.   For most of my life, when I’ve been treated unkindly, felt unseen, and faced rejection, I’ve assumed that because God allowed the behavior, He agreed with it. I assumed this was how He doled out conviction.  Read Genesis 16  Hagar was placed in a very difficult place: “given” to Abraham to produce an heir.

GOD, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT ME? Throughout scripture, we see the Lord initiating pursuits and other times when He responds to pursuits. He initiated Paul’s pursuit, but it may be tempting to think that’s because of either the extent of damage Paul was doing before his conversion or the significance of his assignment after his conversion. We may wonder, does God pursue us for His benefit or for ours? We know the answer to that question: He pursues us because He wants a relation

GOD, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT ME? God’s pursuit of Paul (who was once named Saul) is one of the most radical pursuits in scripture. Saul was so passionate, but for all the wrong things: he was devoted to persecuting followers of Jesus. He liked his religion and the Law, while using fear, threats, and terror to get people in line with his religion and the Law. He wasn’t ignoring the Lord; he was defying the Lord. He was not unaware of Jesus: he was opposed to Jesus. He was not an

GOD, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT ME? After spending three weeks learning all that God has to offer us, it seems like we would be pursuing Him much more than He would be pursuing us. After all, He has so much more to offer us than we have to offer Him. As we believe in the truth about His personhood, His plans, and His pursuit, we are compelled to pursue the Lord because we want to be as near as we can get to the One who is this good. Still, with all that we’ve learned about His goo

GOD, WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR ME? This week, we have looked at five ways to seek God’s plan for your life. Studying God’s plans for us reminds us that He created us for a purpose, and He has not left us to discover it alone.  Are there other stories in scripture about discovering God’s plans that have been meaningful to you?   Of the five stories we studied this week, or any other story of seeking God’s plans, what is God speaking to you most about His plans for you?   Through

GOD, WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR ME? Have you ever known anyone who picks and chooses which parts of the plan to follow? Maybe they like to skip steps or add unnecessary ones? When we don’t keep our eyes on the GPS or skip exits or turns, we tend to end up lost. When we skip steps in the instructions, we end up with wobbly furniture.   Plans are best accomplished when they’re fully followed. This can be tricky to apply to our faith because we can drift into making our faith legal

GOD, WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR ME? I’ve had multiple times in my life when plans didn’t go according to what I had in my mind and, even more so, in my heart. The greatest example of this was my path to motherhood. I had made many plans that I hoped would all culminate in the perfect preparation and timing for motherhood. I went to graduate school so I would have a graduate degree before becoming a mother. I made career decisions that would allow me to have a part-time position

GOD, WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR ME? In the introduction to this devotional, we discussed seeking to be less informed and more so to be formed by God. This is a heart that seeks to be near to the Lord, always hungry to learn more about the Lord, and that is satisfied simply in His presence. Our flesh wants the what, when, where, why, and how of God’s plans, but scripture consistently teaches us to always begin with the WHO.  We need to first answer the question “Who is God to me?

GOD, WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR ME? Over the course of my life, I have made some big decisions that had significant impact on my life: choosing to follow Christ at the young age of six, my major in college, who to marry, and which jobs to take. Our life is made up of our choices and, often, those choices are compounding; they build upon one another. We see this in Ruth’s life. If you have time, read all 4 Chapters of Ruth. If not, read these passages:  Read  Ruth 1:6-19, Ruth 2:

GOD, WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR ME? Accomplishing a plan is so satisfying. As a planner, I thrive on both creating and executing plans. I like to follow my own plan from start to finish, but following someone else’s plan is fairly difficult. I find myself preferring a different order, or adding or removing tasks. If I haven’t made the plan, I have a hard time following that plan. This is often true for me when it comes to following the Lord’s plans as well because, if we’re bein

GOD, WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR ME? We read last week that God promises to guide us. We look to a guide when we’re going on a trip that requires expertise and experience that we don’t have. We want someone that has taken the trip before, even someone who has navigated much more difficult territory than they’re guiding us through. We want someone who knows the dangers and risks that may lie ahead, how to avoid them, and how to respond if we encounter them. We also want someone wh

GOD, WHAT DO YOU PROMISE ME? This week we have looked at five Promises of God. There are so many more to consider. A few more would be:  Promise of Forgiveness Promise to Provide Promise of Peace Promise to Make All Things New Promise of Strength   Of the five we studied this week, or any other promise of God, what is God speaking to you most about His promises?   What promise of God do you need revealed even more to you? Write a prayer to the Lord and be honest about what ha

GOD, WHAT DO YOU PROMISE ME? | GOD REMINDS US OF HIS PROMISES One of God’s promises has a visible reminder attached to it.    Read Genesis 9:1-17   The rainbow is a reminder of God’s promise to never again flood the earth. This may not seem like the most important promise at first, because, frankly, we’re not that concerned about a worldwide flood; we’ve never lived through one after all. But this promise had great meaning to Noah and his family. Genesis 6:5-8 tells us why Go

GOD, WHAT DO YOU PROMISE ME? | GOD PROMISES TO GUIDE US When we began our devotional last week, we said we were going to ask God to form us more than inform us. We acknowledged that our prayers sometimes become dominated by a list of answers we want God to give us, more than a desire to know more about who He is. But if we pray more to learn about who God is, what do we do when we actually need guidance from Him? Does God want to lead us, or does He just want us to love Him?

GOD, WHAT DO YOU PROMISE ME? | GOD PROMISES THAT WE WILL FIND HIM Few things are more annoying to me than losing something. Of course, I start with the “last place I remember seeing it” mentality.  I don’t even consider it lost until I’ve looked there, but after raising three boys, I’ve learned that this first, and obvious step, doesn’t actually come naturally to everyone. Then I look in all the logical places it could be, and if it’s not in any of those places, I move from a

GOD, WHAT DO YOU PROMISE ME? | GOD PROMISES US ETERNAL LIFE The Promise of Eternal Life may be the first promise we learn of as Christians. This Promise answers one of the questions every person will ask: “What happens to me after I die?”  I became a Christian at six years old, and once I learned that being a Christian means I get to go to heaven, I accepted that truth and didn’t give it much more thought. As life unfolded, I have found myself returning to this promise more.

GOD, WHAT DO YOU PROMISE ME? | GOD PROMISES HE IS UNCHANGING I have an interesting relationship with change. Naturally, I say I don’t like it. I like predictability, consistency, and repetitiveness. I like rhythms and habits and routines; I like order. I like knowing what to expect, and especially don’t like change that I didn’t see coming. I don’t like change I didn’t choose.   However, I have prayed quite a few prayers asking for change. When we needed a breakthrough in our

GOD, WHAT DO YOU PROMISE ME? The Bible is full of God’s Promises. In many ways, they’re declared in the Old Testament, displayed in the New Testament, and celebrated in the Psalms.   David rejoiced in God’s Promises. There’s so much to do with God’s Promises. We should know them, claim them, believe for them, testify to them, but we must also remember to love them as much as we are led by them. If you ever find yourself struggling to worship or desperate for a sense of steadi

GOD, WHO ARE YOU? This week, we have looked at five characteristics of God. There are so many more to consider, such as:  Forgiver Judge Redeemer Savior Healer Shepherd Ruler   Of the five we studied this week, or any other characteristic of God, what is God speaking to you most about who He is? What part of Who God is do you need revealed even more to you?  Write a prayer to the Lord, being honest about what has happened that’s made it hard for you to believe in a specific p

GOD, WHO ARE YOU? | GOD IS OUR SUSTAINER One of the great privileges of pastoring is walking alongside people. We often get invited to their mountaintops and their valleys. We get to hear so many testimonies of how God has provided for people and pray for people while they’re in the waiting. It’s in the waiting that hear the greatest pain and, sometimes...  it’s in the waiting that I hear the greatest healing.  When someone shares with me how God has changed their heart befor

GOD, WHO ARE YOU? | GOD IS OUR RESTORER Mary Magdalene was a devout follower of Jesus. There aren’t many Scriptures devoted to her, but the few that are, are power-packed.   Read  Luke 8:1-3  John 19:23-25  Mark 15:45-47  Matthew 28:5-7  John 20:1-18  Mary had been healed and delivered by Jesus; she had seven demons inside of her. With that amount of terror and evil inside her body, her lucid moments must have been horrible. Her body must have been consumed by debilitating pa