I am thrilled to introduce this next part of a three-part series, Going Deeper. This second post is written by a young lady who has become a great friend and discipleship partner to me. Genesis Kimrey Harrington is the daughter of Glenda, who wrote last’s week’s post. I think you’ll agree that these are two ladies who are running after God with all their hearts.
I introduced this series with a post entitled “Are You Going Deeper with God?” Last week, Glenda shared about going deeper in intercession, which begins with intimacy with the Lord. This week, Genesis is sharing with us about going deeper through seeking God in His Word. I know you will be blessed by her message today, as I was.
Jen
Pursuing the Heart of God
It wasn’t by chance that you became a Christian. You were pursued and longed for by a God that would not relent. He pursued you, He called you, He wanted you, and He would stop at nothing to have you. His pursuit was for you to enter a covenant with Him through Jesus. But it was more than for you just to claim His name. His wholehearted pursuit was to lead to your wholehearted pursuit of Him. He longs for you to seek Him out. To know Him personally and intimately.
From the beginning of time, God wanted an intimate relationship with humans. He longed to commune with us, to walk with us, and for us to pursue Him with the same passion that He pursues each of us.
Desire for the Lord was a very real thing to many of the people in the Bible. Their desperation for God couldn’t be understood by all, because not all had sought intimacy with Him.
“Just as a deer longs for running streams, God, I long for you. I am thirsty for God, for the living God! When can I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:2-3, CJB).
The Psalmist was longing to be in the presence of his God–a desire that would not cease until it was quenched in glorious communion with his Creator. He could not wait for the next time he could come before the presence of the Lord. That’s a pretty desperate longing.
“My soul desires you at night, my spirit in me seeks you at dawn…” (Isaiah 26:9, CJB).
Even as he slept, his inner being longed to commune with God,, and when he woke the Spirit of God that was in him drove him to seek the Lord.
God sees our deep desire to know Him, and He fills those deep desires with deep revelations of who He is. He will open our eyes to the wonders of His laws (Ps. 119:18).
We must first seek.
“‘When you seek me, you will find me, provided you seek for me wholeheartedly; and I will let you find me,’ says Adonai” (Jeremiah 29:13-14, CJB).
If there is to be any revelation of who God is and what His Word says, if we are ever to truly know Him, not just of Him, it must be sought after wholeheartedly.
C.S. Lewis states perfectly the fault in the human heart:
“It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
We have freely been given access to our infinite God. What generations before Christ longed for, we have been given, but we have become satisfied with the small piece of access they were allowed. We can know the deep, hidden things of God. We can see them, experience them, be overtaken by them, yet we take Him at face value and nothing more.
“Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, and how small a whisper we hear of Him!” (Job 26:14, NKJV).
It is through seeking Him wholeheartedly, in His Word daily, that we come to know Him. Our weekly Christian rituals are not enough. If you gave as much time to your spouse as you currently give to God, would your marriage last? Would you truly be able to know the deep, intimate things of your spouse–his desires, his longings, his likes and dislikes? Would you be “one” with him, or would you only be carrying his name?
Are we willing to do what it takes to know Him and to walk worthy of His name?
“When I found your words, I devoured them; your words made me glad, they gave me joy; because, Lord of Hosts, you had me bear your name” (Jeremiah 15:16, CJB).
We must binge on His Word as we binge on Netflix. We must consume it–never to be satisfied. The deeper we dig the more we find until we realize that our hunger for Him and His ways means more to us than life itself. We will come to thirst for Him as the Psalmist did–waiting for our next chance to discover a greater revelation of who Elohim, the God of the universe is. He’s waiting to pour Himself out into our hearts. He’s longing to break down the walls of who we thought He was. He is infinite.
Desire Him above all else, pursue Him with the same passion He pursues you, and prepare to have your every expectation of God blown away.
He is longing for you, His bride, to cry out for more of Him. Seek out the deeper things of God.
The pursuit starts now.
Post written by Genesis Kimrey Harrington