2018 – Revive All
Be revived by His love
And to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge that you may be filled up to the fullness of God. – Ephesians 3:19
The greatest longing of every person is to be validated; fully loved for who they are. This longing (the hole in our soul) experience has many ways to counterfeit that unmet need for validation and love. We learn very early in life how to get our needs met by crying out and demanding attention, which is natural for babies and children, and God uses our parents to respond and meet that need. The problem comes as we get older and we self-sooth that longing to be loved with wrong things. Like overspending and acting out to help cope with the lust for attention, or using food or substances to numb the pain of not getting the love we so long for. The pain is real and will continue to cry out until we feed it.
The only thing that will stop the madness is for us to get our needs met by the Creator of the hole in our soul (mind, will, and emotions); the One who knows how to fill what He created. He made us all very fragile human beings – body, soul, and spirit. We have to get a full night’s rest, use our minds and bodies, plus eat food each day in order for our bodies and souls to function correctly, just for one day.
I would like to ask you:
- How do you eat an Elephant? Answer: One bite at a time.
- How do you live this fragile life? Answer: One day at a time.
The Bible says, “His mercies are new every morning.” Just as you have to take care of your body and soul, you have to feed and exercise your spirit daily to be healthy. The spirit that dwells in your mortal body is that part of you that longs to be loved by its Creator.
There is no substitute that will satisfies its hunger, or can duplicate this kind of love-filling. The Bible says, “His ways are higher than our ways.” Only our higher Triune God has what you need to be fully alive in this triune life– body, soul, and spirit. He has all wisdom on how to take care of your tri-part being. Whatever area you work on will usually respond. If you go to the gym and eat the right number of healthy calories, your body will most likely respond accordingly. And if you get the right amount of sleep and feed your mind positive thoughts and the words of God, your mind will be healthy, unless there are other chemical reasons.
The same goes for your spirit-man. Spend time in quietness and stillness and learn to communicate with God. Seek and you will be found. The love you long for can be found by practicing His presence. Spend time with Him and be “Revived by His Love.”
Focus today on just your spirit-man (or woman) during your time with God. Break up your devotional time into three steps. Try to spend equal amounts of time for each step (start with just five minutes per step):
- Praying
- Stillness or waiting
- Listening
“He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
He will be found as you take time and learn to practice His Presence.
He loves you and is waiting to fill the longing in your heart to the full, and have that fullness spill over to everyone you meet today.
Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us. – Ephesians 3:20 AMP