obsessed with God

I want to be obsessed with You, Lord. I see the terms such as: infatuated, lovesick, smitten, preoccupied to be not such good terms when talking about a human to human relationship. I have those friends that when they meet a boy become infatuated with him. I think that everyone can become this way; different people show it in different degrees. They will not talk about anything but him. They think about him all the time. They are always with him.
What would happen if everyone that said they were a believer did that with God? They were obsessed with God. What would the all sinful world look like? Even with sin in it, it would be beautiful.
As I write this I am reminded of the story of Job.
Job 1:1-5
Prologue
“In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East. His sons used to take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would send and have them purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, "Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." This was Job's regular custom.

At the first part of this book this man is known as blameless and upright. I am reminded that this story is told before the sacrifice of Jesus; so job is blameless and upright on his own merit. He sacrifices everyday and even sacrifices for his children just in case, after they sacrificed for themselves. His desire is to honor God in all that he does. He is obsessed with pleasing the Lord.

In the end of the book after trials and tribulations come he has still not given up on pleasing the Lord. Even after he is corrected toward the end of the book his goal in life is to still please the Lord with all that he is. Just listen to the intent and the cry of his heart right after the Lord reminds him that the Lord is God and is in control.

JOB 42:1-6
Then Job replied to the LORD:"I know that you can do all things;
no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?' Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. “You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.' My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes."


I want to be in love with God to that degree. I want him to be all I talk about. I want His option to be the only one that matters. I want to fall hard for him every day. I want to run after God. I want to be obsessed with God.



One Pure and Holy Passion
Watermark (The Road to One Day Live)

Give me one pure and holy passion
Give me one magnificent obsession
Give me one glorious ambition for me life
To know and follow hard after you.
(repeat)

(Chorus)
To know and follow hard after you
To grow as your disciple in the truth
This world empty, pail, and poor
Compared to knowing you my Lord
Lead me on and I will run after you
Lead me on and I will run after you

How beautiful are the feet

Romans 9:11-15 "And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. For “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.” But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”

I am called to preach the good news of Yeshua!!! I get to tell others about YOU. It’s the greatest task in the word. How beautiful is that? To do something with my life that lasts for all eternity. It is not like creating a breakable castle on this earth. It is implanting the truth in the hearts of men and women. Humans are eternal beings. As C.S Lewis once expressed in his book “The Weight of Glory,” Humans are mere then just mortals… they are more than just bodies, minds or hearts. What I say what I do to others will be remembered forever. It will be recorded forever. They will, even after they die, last forever either in heaven or in hell. Nothing, but God and humans last forever. Even this very earth will die away.

Revelation 21:1 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.”

What I say what I do has a permanent mark on eternity. I want to make it count for something. I want to make it beautiful.

Hineni

Daniel 1:8-9 “But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king's choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself. Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials…”

What does it mean that “Daniel made up his mind”? In another version of this verse it says, “Daniel purposed in his heart…” Daniel decided, Daniel selected; are all phrases of want and choice. In my life I wish I could say that when I make up my mind to do something then I am not moving. In daily life however I realize that is just not the case. I make up my mind to finish a book but two years later I still have not finished it. Why? Because other things have become more important so I changed my mind in reading the book. I say to people “I will help you; I will give up some of my time, but then substitute it with another activity.

And how many times have I done that with God? I made up my mind to do devotionals every day, but in reality I do not do them every day because I selected to replace devotional time with something else. How many times have I skipped going to congregation every week to sleep in; even though I determined as a young person to “go to church?”

Ok so I change my mind a bunch not only with people but also with God. I have termed that as unpredictable. Why is that such a problem? I find that unpredictable is also understood as halfhearted, fickle, and lukewarm. I do not want those words coupled with my relationship with people or especially God. Particularly because God has some pretty tough words given to believers that are lukewarm in Revelation 3:16 “So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.”

I was recently confronted with a word in Hebrew that real fits with this idea of purposing my heart to follow God. The word is “הִנְנִי.” It means, “Here I am.” Now when I first read this word I thought, “Self, here I am means physical presents.” "Hineni" means so much more than that. What it really means is "I am here with all of my being, physically and spiritually, ready to do what I need to do and fully present in the moment." Do I mean that when I talk to God?

What would it look like if I said hineni? What would it look like if I acted Hineni?

Daniel made up his mind to follow the ways of God. He said, “Hineni” Even in the worst circumstances. He was in the middle of an enemy country. He could have been killed for going against the enemy. God however knew his heart and He gave him favor. “Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials…” It seems that it is always a positive outcome when you give all of yourself to God. When I write this my response is like “self, it does not always have a positive outcome what about the people that die for their faith? They died because they gave all they had to God. They died for their faith.” Daniel could have died, but wait if Daniel died it would have been a positive outcome too. He would have been with yeshua instantly and forever. That is really positive.

When I say “Hineni”, it will have a positive outcome. If I say “Hineni” to God, He can use me mighty just like in the story of Daniel. I would rather be used in a might way in God’s plan whatever the outcome then be lukewarm.

Love this moment

Breathe in, breathe out. Just take in the beauty of this moment. God created it. He knew this moment from the beginning of time. Love this moment. Breathe in, breathe out. Do not focus on tomorrow or the later on few hours or even what you will do in the next couple minutes. Do not worry about them. Right now focus on being here in this moment. Love this moment. God has given you right now! Breathe in breathe out. Just rest in Him. Sit still for a minute. Stop doing and rest. Love this moment.

Psalm 16:11
“You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.”

Ecclesiastes 8:15
“So I commended pleasure, for there is nothing good for a man under the sun except to eat and to drink and to be merry, and this will stand by him in his toils throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.”