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7 min read https://www.givehim15.com/post/may-16-2023 May 16, 2023 As I mentioned yesterday, in 2014, I wrote the book The Pleasure of His Company, which was easily my best. It is a devotional on connecting with God’s heart. I shared several posts from the book a couple of years back. We received our best responses from you regarding this short series. So, for a few days, I’m sharing from that book. Then, as always, we will pray. Today’s post is entitled: The Discovery Yesterday we saw God as a seeker, always searching for those who have hearts that want to know Him. The reciprocal must be true, as well. In any true relationship, there can only be fulfillment if the pursuit is both ways. When it is, the seeking becomes an exciting adventure and leads to the joy of discovery. Judging by kids, there’s something born into our hearts that makes us enjoy the pursuit. Whether it’s a treasure hunt, an Easter egg hunt, or hide-and-seek, the buildup of anticipation and expectation adds a sense of mystique to the process, and the search becomes an adventure. I started playing hide-and-seek indoors with my daughters, Sarah and Hannah, when they were young. Early on, they weren’t good at it. I could always find places to hide where they couldn’t find me - under a blanket, in a closet, under a table. Wanting them to enjoy the game, however, I would make small noises to reveal my hiding place. They would fling open the door or jerk back the blanket and shriek for joy as I acted bummed out because they’d found me. They knew, of course, I wasn’t really upset, just having fun. I actually loved it when they found me. God plays hide-and-seek with His kids, as well. And He, too, loves it when we find Him. “If you seek Him, He will let you find Him,” said Azariah, an Old Testament prophet, to Israel (2 Chronicles 15:2). The people listened to Azariah and sought the Lord, and, just as God promised, He allowed them to find Him: “All Judah rejoiced concerning the oath, for they had sworn with their whole heart and had sought Him earnestly, and He let them find Him. So the Lord gave them rest on every side” (2 Chronicles 15:15). When we “discover” God, as He allowed Israel to do, we find far more than just the pleasure of His company, as wonderful as that is. We also find our purpose. Jeremiah spoke of finding both God and purpose in the following verses: “For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:11-13). The Hebrew word translated “future” in this passage is achariyth. It also means “destiny”(1). “When you search for Me with all your heart,” the Lord was assuring them, “not only will I let you find Me, I’ll also allow you to discover My plans and purposes for you. Pleasure and purpose are both found in My company.” As with any created thing, our purpose can only be found in the heart and mind of our Creator. When we seek Him, we are actually pursuing destiny; find one, you’ve found the other. William Wilberforce, the great English statesman who was used by God to end slavery in the British Empire, is a great example. Wilberforce sought God, found Him, and in so doing, also discovered his destiny as a reformer. In the movie chronicling his life, Amazing Grace, there is a scene in which Wilberforce’s butler stumbles upon him praying and meditating. This was unusual, so the butler asks Wilberforce if he has found God. “I think He found me,” was the poignant response. When the seeking starts, sometimes it’s hard to know who finds whom! Did we find God, or did He find us? Actually, it’s both. He initiates the process by pursuing us; we respond by returning His love. “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). This pattern occurred several years ago in my life in a most dramatic way. It was 1973, and I was attending college, traveling fast but going nowhere. I had been running from God for two years, serving the god of alcohol, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. Though I had been raised in church (Dad was an evangelist and then a pastor) and had surrendered my life to Christ at a young age, at seventeen, I turned away from God. My rebellion started when my dad had a moral failure, divorced mom, and married someone else. As you can imagine, our lives were shattered. Mom found a job in a meat market, my brother and I found part-time jobs, and somehow we survived. At least physically. We didn’t fare so well emotionally and spiritually. My brother, Tim, and I rebelled, turning away from God and everything associated with Him. My younger sister, Deana, was also emotionally devastated; obviously, so was Mom. Deep within my heart, I knew this wasn’t God’s fault, but nonetheless, I was angry and bitter. The pain was so strong and my confusion so great that I simply couldn’t cope with it. And I certainly couldn’t understand it. Perhaps the lowest point in my life was the day when, as a seventeen-year-old, I held my mother in my arms and listened to her sob and tell me she no longer wanted to live. At that moment, I became a very bitter and hate-filled young man. God was very patient with me. He knew my rebellion was caused by my pain. He allowed me to run, loved me through my pain-filled responses, and didn’t take them personally. Two years later, at a bar named The Boar’s Head - aptly so, since I was a prodigal and this was one of my pigpens - while I was listening to a rock band and stoned out of my mind, He “found” me. “What are you doing here?” He asked. The Lord’s voice was so clear it may as well have been audible. The question wasn’t a rebuke but rather a tender prompting of my heart. “You know this is not who you are,” He continued, “and you’ll never find the fulfillment and peace you’re looking for through this lifestyle.” Shocked and amazing that God would pursue me into this place, my first response was, “What are YOU doing here?!” Instantly sober, I went outside to walk and think for a while. The Lord and I had several more conversations over the next couple of months, until I was finally healed enough to respond to His seeking. I sought Him back . . . and He let me find Him. Like the prodigal returning to his father’s embrace, I walked back into the loving embrace of Papa God. When I did, I found more than pleasure; I discovered purpose. Realizing that the field of study I was pursuing was not what I was created to do, I withdrew from college, leaving behind a nice scholarship. As He had Wilberforce, the Lord had found me and was now awakening passions and desires from deep within. Just as I had done with my girls, He started making small “noises,” and I experienced the excitement of discovery. I entered into a passionate pursuit of God, became active in a good local church, and connected with other hungry seekers. I also began going on short-term mission trips, serving missionaries and the poor in Guatemala. Eventually, realizing I wanted to serve God in full-time ministry, I decided to attend Christ For The Nations Institute (a Bible college), in Dallas, Texas. There I discovered God over and over - and eventually, I discovered my wife, to whom I’ve been married for over forty wonderful years. It has been a great journey. When the Lord pursued me and helped me find Him, my destiny truly was launched. Finding Him is finding the source of everything good. Out of the deep resources of His nature, all good things flow. He and I have been pursuing each other now for fifty years. I have found Him in forests, on mountains, at the edge of streams, riding in my truck, in front of fireplaces, and yes, in worship services. The discoveries require time and effort, of course - any worthwhile relationship does - but each time I rediscover Him, I realize again that He is life’s treasure. I’ll bet if you listen closely right now, you’ll find that He’s making some noises. Why don’t you go find Him? Pray with me: Father, thank You for pursuing us with Your unconditional love. Thank You for understanding us when we’re hurting and, yes, when we’re running from You. And thank You for being willing to visit us in our pigpens. Like the father of the prodigal in Scripture who hugged his son while he was still dressed in slop-covered clothes, You embrace us first, then clean us up. Thank You. You are the source of pleasure and purpose, dreams and destiny. We determine to pursue You, seeking Your face all the days of our lives. We know, Father, that there are billions of people whom You love that do not yet realize who You are. We are asking for the greatest of all revivals through which You can reveal Yourself to them. They will taste, and they will see…Do this, please. Pour Holy Spirit life into regions until a flood of people find You. Crush all opposition, remove every obstacle. We ask in Christ’s name. Amen. Our decree: The “pig pens” of this world will soon become birthing rooms..! ******************* Today’s post was taken from my book The Pleasure of His Company and published by Baker Books. Click on the link below to watch the full video. _________________________________ James Strong, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990), ref. No. 320.

5 min read https://www.givehim15.com/post/march-28-2022 March 28, 2022 Courting God When the disciples questioned Jesus about how to work miracles, His response may surprise you. He said nothing about fasting, intercession, holiness, not even faith - all of which are good and important. They had just watched Him feed 5000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish, walk on water, and then cause He and the entire boat of disciples to be translated (see John 6). Not a bad day’s work. “Therefore they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent,’” (John 6:28-29; NASB). Jesus took the answer to their question back to the principle of relationship. In the kingdom of God, everything starts and finishes with relationship. In Luke chapter 10, they had gotten their wish and were now empowered and authorized to work miracles and cast out demons. After their evangelistic crusades, they came back to Him rejoicing that even the demons were subject to them in His name. Jesus did not budge from the principal. “Don’t rejoice because the demons are subject to you,” He said, “rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” In other words, rejoice because you are now a part of Mine and My Father‘s family. He was not downplaying deliverance and miracles; He was “up-playing” relationship with the Father. Proverbs 3:5-6 is probably the most quoted and well-known passage on guidance from Holy Spirit: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths,” (Proverbs 3:5-6; KJV). The word “ways,” translated from the Hebrew word derek, means literally a “way, road, journey, manner, work.”(1) More often than not, however, it is used metaphorically, referring to the actions and behavior of people.(2) It “has the unusual sense of ‘sexual favors’ in Jeremiah 3:13 and Proverbs 31:3.” Derek is the word chosen for the act of courting in Proverbs 30:19.(3) Imagine that, courting God. Consistent with this relational theme, the word “acknowledge” comes from yada, which is the Old Testament word also used for knowing someone in a very intimate - even physical - way.(4) Adam knew (yada) Eve, and she conceived (see Genesis 4:1). Using these concepts and definitions we could paraphrase Proverbs 3:6, “In all you do, pursue and court God; seek intimacy with Him.” In the “ways” of ministry and life in general, many things are courted: success, advancement, fame, other people, glory, money, favor, and a myriad of other goals we humans strive to reach. Gordon Dahl aptly said, “Most middle-class Americans tend to worship their work, to work at their play, and to play at their worship.”(5) Seeking and loving God with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength is often lost in the melee. As is our source of strength and life. Nothing will cause the flow of God’s life to abate more quickly than this common mistake. We must drink daily from the fountain. Sometimes I feel like the small child in the “Family Circus” cartoon who ran up to his mother exclaiming, “I need a hug, Mommy. I used up the last one.”(6) It doesn’t take long to use up our spiritual hugs. What happens when we pursue God? Courting Him in all of our ways and work (derek) leads to intimacy (yada), which leads to conception. Just as Adam knew Eve physically and she conceived, as we seek and wait on God spiritually, He speaks to us. When He does, the seed of His word (see 1 Peter 1:23) is planted in us, and that which is born from our lives is now of Him. Our visions, plans, methods, ministries, relationships - all can then be born of God, not of ourselves. God isn’t into surrogate revelation - someone else carrying His seed of revelation for us. He wants to sow it into us personally. He wants to breathe His word into our hearts. Insights we receive from others are good and valid, but if that is the only way we receive, we’re living far below our privileges. God is not into artificial insemination regarding His words either - placing His seed in us without a relationship. MP3s, videos, conferences, podcasts, and books are all good but they must not take the place of hearing from God personally and directly. Conferences, where the word of God is flowing wonderfully, can become nothing more than a sterile laboratory of information if we’re not careful. The problem is not receiving teaching through another - this is obviously one of the ways God releases understanding - the problem is when this becomes the primary source of our information. We cannot live only on another person’s revelation. We must hear from God ourselves. And when He speaks to us through someone else, we should still pray and meditate over the information (courting God) until it becomes a personal word of revelation to us. The Church is filled with people trying to walk out someone else’s revelation, vision, ideas, and methods. These things may have worked well for the person sharing them. But each of us must allow Holy Spirit to show us how to apply truth to our personal situations. What is God saying to ME now? must be the question we ask ourselves. The works of God are not produced by methods, they are born of the Spirit! Pray with me: Father, we are very confident of the coming wave of signs, wonders and miracles throughout the earth. You will obviously release this because Your Word clearly says signs follow the preaching of the gospel (Mark 16). But You also clearly said the key to working Your works is believing in Your Son and building a relationship with You. In response, we draw near to You. We worship You. We love You and Your Word. As we do so, we ask You to release signs and wonders. Open blind eyes, heal diseased bodies, deliver those bound and oppressed by demonic entities and beliefs. Send awakening to our churches, our pastors, and believers in general. May blazing fire be released, a raging river of Your passion and Holy Spirit flow, and the former and latter rains of revival fall simultaneously. And we continue to release prayers regarding Ukraine. End this evil, send revival there. Also, send great revival to Russia and all of Europe. Stop Putin and his murderous activities. Also, we continue to decree that the spirit of Baal operating in the Supreme Court of America is losing its hold. We agree now that the spirit of death reigning in America through abortion is being broken. We ask You to influence the Justices regarding the Dobbs case, and we ask for the turning of a Justice from a Saul to a Paul. Deliver them, we pray, in Christ’s name. Amen. Our decree: We decree that a revival of passion and power is coming to America and the earth. ************************** Click on the link below to watch full video. _________________________________ R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer, Jr. and Bruce K. Waltke, Theological Workbook of the Old Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1980), p 196. Ibid., p 197. Ibid., p 198. Zodhiates, Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible - New American Standard, p 1720. Rowell, Quotes & Idea Starters for Preaching and Teaching, p 181. Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, A Third Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul (Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, Inc., 1996), p 99.