Longing

So Excited

When we are children, having had limited experiences, we get exposed to many new things. These things can be exhilarating. We look at many things that adults might view as mundane with a sense of awe and wonder. As we grow we begin to seek out, with eager anticipation, those opportunities to be overcome with the joy of new or exciting experiences. Many people in our day have become thrill seekers, and much of the danger has been removed from our modern sophisticated lives. As life goes on, we become more invested in some things than others, and what brings us real excitement changes. Our personal passions and relational connection truly affect how we relate to one another and the world around us.

Hope

What do you look forward to most about eternity? The obvious answer is Christ! We as believers look forward to this perfect relationship with God. The experience of His presence made possible by the righteousness of Christ imputed to you. But what else? I have often heard people speculating about what it will be like to have glorified bodies or live in New Jerusalem. However, one of the things that I look forward to is the absence of division. 

Now we each have preconceived ideas about what is fundamentally true that keep us from having a perfect understanding of reality. We all wholeheartedly believe some things that are wrong. Even as Christians, we are not correct about everything. Of course, we should be striving to have our minds renewed by the word of God. This means that we have to intentionally identify the pre-understandings that we have from our experience. We need to seek the grammatical, historical, and literary meaning of the text of Scripture. Most of all we must seek to comprehend the redemptive message of the Bible. God has given us His word so that we can see the glorious revelation of Himself to His image bearers so that we can live for His glory. 

Purpose

Ultimately, God's glory is at the center of the purpose for all things. I believe that as Christians we often have this sentiment on our lips but not as the driving focus of our lives. How would our lives be different if we truly lived as if the most important thing was God's glory? What would we do differently if we were convinced that God's Word and the Holy Spirit would accomplish, through us, everything that God intends? 

I long for a time when we see God’s purposes being accomplished and fulfilled. Maybe this is what we mean when we cry out for revival. That God would be powerfully and perfectly bringing about all His purposes. But the reality is that God is doing just that. The only thing that keeps us from seeing it is that we are not looking with eyes of faith. We must look for the fulfillment of God's glorious purposes the way a farmer or gardener looks for the first signs of growth after the planting season. The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed.

So as believers we must be believing and seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness before and above everything else in life (Matthew 6:33). We can do this because we know that God will take care of all our needs (Philippians 4:19) according to His purposes (Romans 8:28). 

One practical way of exercising faith in this way right now is to pray for Ukraine. Not only the political and military operations but also the people, especially our brothers and sisters in that land. Let's cry out to God on their behalf and beg God to use their struggle to bring about great spiritual awakening and revival all for His great glory!

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