Desperately Seeking Christ

Blessings to you this Monday! I have some great things to share with you so I’ll get right to it!

I had a sweet, sweet time with the Lord as I worked through my homework over the weekend. You may or may not know my office Bible study is working through “He Speaks to Me” by Priscilla Shirer (daughter of Tony Evans). It is designed to teach how to posture ourselves that we might discern the voice of God in our lives. The messages are so RICH with insight, it’s hard to even summarize them for you. I can’t recommend it more highly.

While I don’t want to give too much away for those who may want to do this study, I really feel the Lord wants me to share a little about what I've been learning the last couple of days.

Our current chapter teaches that we need to have a Sold-Out Hunger for Christ -- to be desperate for His manifest presence. Among several illustrations, the one that spoke to me most powerfully was Bartimeus. You may remember he was the blind man who sat at the roadside begging for healing as Jesus passed by. He called out loudly to Jesus, asking him to have mercy on him. Everyone around him told him to be quiet…more to the point, that Jesus didn’t have time for him. Bartimeus was undeterred. He called out “all the more” for Jesus to have mercy on him. She went on …imagine what it must have been like for Bartimeus, when the people around him (who had just scolded him for calling out to Jesus), began to whisper amongst themselves “He’s stopping, Jesus is stopping…” Jesus indeed stopped and proceeded to restore sight to the eyes of a man who wanted to see His Lord. Bartimeus immediately began praising God, as did all the people who just moments before had been trying to silence him.

She also shared about the woman with the issue of blood. Imagine the anguish that must have driven her to push through the crowds, putting aside the scorn of the people and her physical weakness, daring to hope to receive healing from the Savior. Like Bartimeus, this woman was desperate.

She asked "What is keeping us from the manifest presence of God?" Is it fear? Is it a difficult job? Financial difficulty? A lonely marriage? Discouragement? Don’t let that stand in your way – rather call out all the more! We have access to the Manifest Presence of God! He tells us in Matthew 5…blessed are those who hunger and thirst! Are you hungry? Are you desperate? He makes himself available and attainable! He promises in Deuteronomy 4:29, we’ll find Him, when we seek with all of our hearts!

So how does this find you today -- hungry, thirsty, desperate? You and I both know seeking for anything (status, wealth, approval) other than Christ will leave us only empty and longing for more. Join me today in praying with desperation for the manifest presence of God!

There is more to share, but I'll save the rest for tomorrow...(make sure to stop back!)

Blessings,
Tracy