Looking for "It"

I was having a conversation with someone recently who was struggling with life. They were sharing that relationships were disappointing, that they did not like their career route, and they were unsure of God's calling on their life and whether their life was counting for much. In our conversation I realized that this person's struggle was coming from their quest to find "it". We all find ourselves looking for "it" sometimes, I know I do. We think "it" will be found in the right relationship, the right job, the right ministry, or even the right house or car. Yet if we were honest the harder we look for "it" the more dissatisfied we find ourselves.

I told this person that "it" was God Himself. As Augustine said: "Our hearts are restless until they find rest in Thee." "It" is found in learning how to enjoy God. True joy can only be found in God. God's gifts in life are meaningless if we do not enjoy the Giver of the gifts first. John Piper puts it this way: "To be satisfied in God does not come naturally to sinful people. By nature we get more pleasure out of God's gifts than God Himself." Joy is serious business to God. Finding joy in God is a command in scripture: "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart."(Psalm 37:4 NIV) As with all of God's commands He always has our best in mind and at heart.

He is the Superior Pleasure.
Delighting in God is the remedy to overcoming sin: "You have filled my heart with greater joy..." (Psalm 4:7 NIV) Sin promises pleasure; that is why we are tempted by it. God promises pleasure as well. When we seek Him and obey Him we will find a greater joy than sin can offer.

He is the Superior Promise.
Delighting in God is the remedy to heartache and disappointments of life:
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls." (1 Peter 1:3-9 NIV)
The promise of eternal life in heaven outweighs any trial, struggle, or disappointment this life can bring.

He is the Superior Power.
Delighting in God is the remedy to routine and apathy: "...the joy of the LORD is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:10 NIV) Joy in God is where we find true spiritual and emotional strength. Sometimes I find my prayer life a drag. Why? Because prayer becomes drudgery when it is seen as duty rather than a means of joy. The same can be said of worship. Worship becomes routine when it is not pursued as a means of joy.

I know that what I need in my life is to learn to enjoy God more. There are many things that get in the way of me enjoying God. TV, busyness, schedules, self, false thoughts of God, avoiding the Word, avoiding prayer, avoiding others, keeping grudges, pursuing joy in God's gifts rather than God Himself, the list could go on and on.

I realized the other day I was looking for "it". God reminded me that I was simply looking for Him. He had not gone anywhere. I am determined not to pray more, read more, serve more, or even obey more, but rather to enjoy God more. I know if I do that all of these things will be in my life.

I pray you will join me...

Oh How He Loves Us

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUbImPNsmng

He is jealous for me, Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree, Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy. When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory, And I realize just how beautiful You are, And how great Your affections are for me.

He loves us, Oh how He loves us, Oh how He loves us, Oh how He loves. Yeah, He loves us, Oh how He loves us, Oh how He loves us, Oh how He loves.

And we are His portion and He is our prize, Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes, If His grace is an ocean, we're all sinking. And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss, And my heart turns violently inside of my chest, I don't have time to maintain these regrets, When I think about, the way.

He loves us, Oh how He loves us, Oh how He loves us, Oh how He loves. Yeah, He loves us, Oh how He loves us, Oh how He loves us, Oh how He loves.

The words to David Crowder's latest song are powerful (the song is actually written by John Mark McMillan) The thought hit me the first time I heard it that if people could just truly accept the truth of these words our lives would be changed. It would not matter what people thought of us. It would not matter how much money we have or do not have. It would not matter what our circumstances brought to us because we have the perfect love of the Creator of the universe in our hearts...

Romans 8:31-39
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died-more than that, who was raised to life-is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. NIV

The rest of the story

NOTE: Please read the previous blog "Very Humbled" to understand the context of this entry.

My last entry was about the gift that I received from the African Pastor in Nigeria. The day that I entered that blog I tried to contact, through e-mail, the pastor and thank him for the beautiful garment. I wanted to get some more books to him as well. If you recall, a couple in my church had given their son a copy of "Noblesse Oblige" as he was graduating from college. I had met the Durhams and their son Ben on August 16th. That is the day they gave me the gift from Africa. We did not have much time that day to talk. It was more of a quick version of the story of how and why the book traveled to Nigeria. In short up until today I thought the highlight of the story was what had transpired through the Nigerian Pastor Timothy, reading "Noblesse Oblige." In comes the rest of the story.

It was my understanding that Ben was gong back to Nigeria, so I tried to contact him to get him some books to take with him. Ben returned my phone call today and informed me that he was not going to Nigeria, but back to Texas to do graduate work. Thankfully, I got to hear Ben's whole story. You see, this whole story is not really about me, the book, the Nigerian pastor, but about Ben and his relationship with Jesus.

Ben told me that the reason he went to Nigeria was to study an indigenous religion called "Ifa" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ifa ). Ben had been raised in the Christian faith, but lost his faith at age 16 when his mother died of cancer. Like so many people, Ben wondered: "how could a good and all powerful God allow such suffering"? Without going into great detail, the Ifa religion offered some possible answers to a lot of unanswered questions for Ben. Thus Ben journeyed to Nigeria in search of peace and hope.

On the flight over Ben said he read my book. He said that it primed the pump spiritually for what God was about to do in his life. This is where the story takes off.

Ben's host family for his study time would be at the home of Reverend Timothy Oyebisi, a local Christian pastor. Over the years the Reverend has hosted many students like Ben, showing them grace and hospitality.

The Reverend asked Ben why he was in Nigeria. Ben told him about his desire to find some answers and some solace in the Ifa religion concerning his mom. Reverend Timothy in turn shared the truth about Jesus Christ with Ben. He told him that he would not find peace in Ifa but in Christ alone. He told him that Jesus could and would heal his heart and give him back his life if Ben would give him his. Ben did just that. He was re-introduced to Jesus through Timothy Oyebisi. God, in his sovereignty, placed Ben in Timothy's path to bring him to faith in Jesus.

Ben shared with me that he would wake up in the morning during his time with Timothy to the sound of Timothy praying prayers of destiny and hope. He prayed that Ben would find a wife that would help fill the hole that was created by losing his mom. Ben was mentored by this wonderful African pastor in a very impacting way in his brief time in Nigeria. Ben is going back to school to learn how he can be used of God to make life better for others in Africa. I guess you could say he found his "Noblesse Oblige". Obviously, Reverend Oyebisi is living his "Noblesse Oblige" as well.