Taking It Back to Jesus

My husband and I had the opportunity to attend a very great conference this past week, Advance09, that was geared to help the local church re-center back on the Gospel. The speakers delivered very powerful messages about the truth of Jesus' Church, and I believe the conference will make a lasting impression on the hearts of those who attended and an impact on the advancement of the Gospel in the local churches in the Southeast! Praise God!

Although the conference was very much directed at the condition of the local church, it also delivered much truth to my heart, the condition that it's in and reminded me of the great love that the Father has for me (I need this every day!). As I was reflecting on the conference, I had a few revelations that I believe are pertinent in my pursuit to become a godly woman. Here are my thoughts:

Scripture says to always put the Lord before me .... If I'm honest, I don't. I can very easily put a task like acquiring knowledge about the Lord or about how He would like for me to live ABOVE the Lord himself. I obviously seek God in the process, but, if I'm honest, I'm only seeking God to acquire the knowledge. My pursuit to become a godly woman, wife and mother isn't a bad thing, but when that pursuit becomes supreme over "knowing God," it becomes a problem (Exodus 20:4-5). Scripture says that this is idolatry! Yikes! Normally when I think of idolatry, I think of the golden calf that the Israelites built when they were impatient when Moses was up on the mountain with God getting the Ten Commandments. I don't usually think of it as something inanimate like knowledge. But an idol can be anything that we worship aside from the Living God of the Universe ... even if it seems 'godly.' If it takes God's place in our daily priorities and in our pursuit of worship, it's an idol. (2 Kings 17:35-39)

Now, I wouldn't say that I 'worship' knowledge, but the pursuit of knowledge does take priority over my pursuit of God at times and that's wrong! Therefore, I need to REPENT and alter my thinking and practice. Pursue God with all that I am (my means, my goal) and through that pursuit, He will show me what it looks like to be a 'woman' after his own heart.

Reading books and studying isn't a bad thing if it points me to Jesus and to a greater understanding of who He is and what He calls me to be. But that study just can't take the spotlight away from Jesus! And I believe it's time for me to get back to the Psalms (this is where I started at the beginning of the year in effort to better learn how to pray)! This is where we find David, and although his life was marred and scandalous, God still chose to use him -- he was even in the lineage of Christ -- to do remarkable things for His kingdom and at the end of his life he was considered to be 'a man after God's own heart.' What a title! What if I could be 'a woman after His own heart'?

God longs for me to pursue Him, to pray to Him and to glorify Him. That is why He made me (Isaiah 43:7). I am a creature of worship and every ounce of that worship should be extolled on Him! (1 Chronicles 16:7-36)