STILL Giving My Heart Away

Happy Valentine's Day, and I hope you have a day and week FULL of LOVE!

In my last blog, I was sharing this exciting journey I've been on of falling more in love with Jesus.Two of the recent dimensions of our relationship include the emotional intimacy and the secrets we share. I talked about the extravagance of His blessings, and how he has stirred both deep gratitude and deep repentance within me. The first blog in the series is called Giving My Heart Away.

In his book Beautiful Outlaw, John Eldredge explores playful, disruptive and extravagant aspects of the personality of Jesus.

PLAYFULNESS

The past week or so, God has been waking me up at around the same time in the middle of the night. Sometimes, I wake up and pray awhile and then look at the clock. Other times, I look at the time right away. But every time I look, the clock is on 3:21 AM. As in 3-2-1, GO! Every time I see that time, that's what I think of, that God is playing with me with the 3-2-1 countdown.

Why the countdown, God? What's about to happen? What is next, what should I be preparing for? I smile every time I see it, because I feel like it's a secret little message from God to me. He'll reveal it in time.

I think about the time with the disciples where Jesus commands the fishermen to cast their nets on the other side of the boat. They bring up the net literally breaking from the weight of the fish! Now, that is some playful behavior. Jesus had to be on the shore laughing, he was playing with them!

DEVOTION

Eldredge says that "Doing things for God is not the same as loving God." I do take delight in doing things that I believe are pleasing to Him and out of obedience to His direction. But how often do we get so caught up in the "good works" that we fail just to love and adore him? So recently, especially in the busyness of trying to find a place to live, working multiple jobs, and leading a small group, I have had to intentionally carve out time for praise and worship, prayer, scripture reading and just loving God and letting Him minister to me.

If you're not already doing so, be sure in your prayers to take time just to love Him, adore Him, honor his position in your life, and invite him into those "inner rooms" that you have possibly been hanging on to. Build intimacy by telling Him which scriptures you treasure, what he has revealed to you through his word that means a lot to you, and how you want to know him even better. He will embrace you and give you a peace and joy you have never experienced.

DISRUPTIVE

Sometimes, the unexpected things that come up in my life end up being the greatest blessings of all. About two years ago, I had a job I was pursuing. It was something I really thought I wanted, and I went through an laborious series of tests, interviews, and waiting that endured from November to April. In the end of the process, I came out second. I did not get the job.

I was so sure I had this job, and when I didn't get it, my life was disrupted. After a couple days of mourning, a friend snapped me into reality. The result of that whole sequence of events is the book I hope to publish later this year. Had I gotten that job, I don't believe I would ever have finished my book. And it's CLEAR that this book is from God from the word "GO" - hey, maybe THAT's my 3-2-1! In fact, my book is about allowing God to disrupt your life with out-of-the-box experiences to grow your faith!

When my dear friend Emily battled cancer at a young age, there is no doubt that was disruptive. AND YET, she praised Him! She allowed her mess to become her message and has ministered to so many others through her battles.

YOUR VALENTINE

When you give your heart away to God, he gives you back a multi-dimensional, dynamic and powerful love that impacts your life in may ways, both expected and unexpected. This Valentine's Day, give some love to the KING OF PERFECT LOVE and experience Him in ways you never have before!

Until next time, Praise Crazy!