Friday, October 3, 2008

"The More I Seek Him"

4:00 PM by Christi Bowman

A really great friend of mine, Elysa, whom I met in Africa, dedicated a song to me yesterday on her blog, "Musings from Graceland". The song was able to put into words what I have been feeling.

"The More I Seek You" is the title of the song, and the lyrics are as follows:

The more I seek you, the more I find you.

the more I find you, the more I love you.

I want to sit at your feet, drink from the cup in your hand,

lay back against you and breathe, feel your heart beat.

This love is so deep it's more than I can stand.

I melt in your peace it's overwhelming.

As I listened to the song over and over again I was reminded of the birth pangs Paul talks about in Romans 8:17-30 (MSG):

17We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we're certainly going to go through the good times with him!

18-21That's why I don't think there's any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what's coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.

22-25All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it's not only around us; it's within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We're also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.

26-28Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

29-30God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.

I find myself just longing for Him. I long to see Him, touch Him, hug Him, and kiss Him. I want to be the one to pour oil on His feet and wipe them with my hair. I want to touch His face with my hands. I long for what He wants. I hurt for the things that hurt Him. I long to become who He created me to be so that I can bring healing to all His children that I come into contact with. I long to be Jesus in every sense of that name. I long to be one with Him. I am madly in love with Him, because He loved me first. I want what He wants and because I am on this earth that causes me to live with a certain amount of tension. I read in one of Oswald Chambers' devotionals in "My Utmost for His Highest" to never mistake joy for happiness.I live with a tremendous amount of joy amidst much sadness and a yearning for new creation, life with Him, that is indescribable and very painful at times.

"Come Thou Fount, Come thou King, Come thou Precious Prince of Peace, hear your bride to you we sing, come thou Fount of All Blessing"

...COME QUICKLY!!!!

Thanks Elysa!!

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