Desire

9 April: Tuesday Refocus

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“The church - the body of Christ - is the place where God invites us to renew our loves, reorient our desires, and retrain our appetites.” - James K.A. Smith

Every person is a tangled mess of loves, desires, and appetites. At the moment of conversion, followers of Jesus have been given a new heart, and from a new heart flows new affections (Jeremiah 31:33, Hebrews 8:10). But we will spend a lifetime for our affections to be continually transformed - this is the ongoing work of sanctification.

Through the power of God’s Word, God’s Spirit, and God’s people that I…

…am reminded of who I am, who I am not, and who I am called to be. 

…come face to face with a life in community that breaks apart my desire for self-sufficiency.

…learn to serve rather than be served.

…am both wounded and healed.

…am reminded of who God is, and what He has done.

Father, may we joyfully submit to Your work through Your people for Your glory and our good, amen.

Amen,

AB

May 10: Tuesday Refocus

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“It is normal to feel restless as a child, lonely as a teenager, and frustrated by lack of intimacy as an adult; after all, we live insatiable desires of every kind, none of which will ever find complete fulfillment this side of eternity.”  - Ronald Rolheiser

Our desires are deep. And every desire is an arrow pointing toward the true longing and desire of every heart: a desire for God Himself. He is the source of every desire, and the One who has only to open His hand to “…satisfy the desire of every living thing (Psalm 145:16).” Our earthly desire should stir in us a desire to be awakened and satisfied with the likeness of God (Psalm 17:15).

“Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:25-26

Lord, may we be satisfied now, and always with You, and You alone. Amen.

Satisfied,

AB

January 11: Tuesday Refocus

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‘You called, you cried, you shattered my deafness. You sparkled, you blazed, you drove away my blindness.  You shed your fragrance, and I drew in my breath, and I pant for You. I tasted and now hunger and thirst.  You touched me, and now I burn with longing for Your peace.’ - St Augustine

Have you tasted and seen that the Lord is good (Ps 34:8)?

Have you experienced how He satisfies the desire of every living thing (Ps 145:16)?

Out of the season of Advent, we remember that God is a God who draws near (Jn 1:14).  He is not far removed, or unknowable, but One who desires to be known, and have His people draw near.  Perhaps there is no greater aim of our lives in 2022 than to draw near to the One who has first drawn near to us (James 4:8).

God, reveal yourself to me this year.  Give me eyes to see, ears to hear, a heart to know, and a life of obedience that follows You. In the name of Christ, amen.

Asking,

AB

August 17: Tuesday Refocus

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‘Lord, You know what is best; let this be done or that be done as You please. Give what You will, as much as You will, when You will. Do with me as You know best, as will most please You, and will be for Your greater honor. Place me where You will and deal with me freely in all things. I am in Your hand; turn me about whichever way You will. Behold, I am Your servant, ready to obey in all things. Not for myself do I desire to live, but for You—would that I could do this worthily and perfectly! Amen.’ - St. Thomas À Kempis (1380-1470)

Our hearts are visible in our prayers.  Do we believe - do we live - as though the LORD is our chosen portion and our cup, the One who holds our lot (Ps 16:5)?  Those who have nothing in heaven and earth they desire more that God can rest securely in the One who gives good gifts - even when those gifts appear evil (Ps 73:25, Jam 1:17, Job 2:10).  What more could we desire in this life than to have the One who gave up His life for us all (Eph 2:5)?

Lord, may our prayers guide our lives toward You. In Christ's name, amen.

Praying,

AB

July 20: Tuesday Refocus

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‘All true servants of Christ must be content to wait for their wages. Their best things are yet to come.’ - J.C. Ryle

Delayed gratification is not a modern, Western value.  And why would it be when we can get what we want when we want it with the click of a button?  But followers of Christ are called to something entirely other.  

We are called to…   

‘…lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.’ (Matt 6:20).

Invest our lives in something we ‘…know in part; then [we] shall know fully, even as [we] have been fully known.’ (1 Cor 13:12).

Lose our lives for His sake to find life (Matt 16:25).

‘…looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.’ (Heb 12:2).

May we wait patiently, with endurance and expectation.

Jesus, You who were rich, for our sake became poor so that we through your poverty might become rich.  May we follow You, bearing the cross to one day wear a crown.  For Your greater glory, and for our greater joy, amen.

Waiting,

AB

July 13: Tuesday Refocus

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‘Let’s practice the fine art of making every work a priestly ministration.  Let’s believe that God is in all our simple deeds and learn to find Him there.’ - A.W. Tozer

There is nowhere our God cannot be found.  We compartmentalize, put boundaries around our lives, our work, our relationships, our thoughts, and our actions, but the One who upholds the universe by the word of His power is not constrained or held by anything built with human hands (Heb 1:3, Acts 17:24).  

So why is it so hard for us to find him in the ‘simple deeds’?  

In the quiet moments? 

In the unseen?

Perhaps we fail to see God in the simple deeds because we believe that there are simple deeds and significant deeds, important moments and mundane moments, sacred space, and secular space.  But as Sally Lloyd-Jones reminds us, ‘Every story whispers His name.’

‘And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.’ Colossians 1:17

Every work can reveal Christ to us.  Every work we offer can reveal Christ to the world.  We can make Him visible in our simple deeds when we find Him there.

Spirit, would you reveal Jesus to us - in the simple and small, in the mundane and monotonous.  And may we reveal Jesus to the world in the simple and small, in the mundane and monotonous.  In His name, amen.

Looking,

AB

May 25: Tuesday Refocus

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‘It could have been very easy for God to have loved us and never told us. God could have been merciful toward us and never revealed it… The Eternal Son came to tell us what the silence never told us. He came to tell us that God cares and God loves and God has a plan and God’s carrying out that plan.’ - A.W. Tozer

Our God comes, He does not keep silence (Psalm 50:3).  He is the Word made flesh (John 1).  The Word reveals how we know that we are loved by God: ‘By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.’ (1 John 3:16). We are not left to wonder if we are known, and loved by God, because although we are dust, we ‘fill the mind of God’ (Tim Keller on Psalm 8:4).

Thank you, Father, that we are not left to guess if You love us and are for us.  All we must do is set our eyes to the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Your Son, our Brother, Savior, and King - Christ Jesus.  And it is in His name that we pray, amen.


Remembering,

AB

April 6: Tuesday Refocus

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‘I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.’ - Philippians 4:10-13

One of the things I learned from my counselor, it is possible to be content and still desire things to be different.  You can be content and still desire for things to be different because contentment is not resignation to our current reality.  Contentment is choosing to place our hope in something that is immovable.  As we have just walked through Holy Week, one of the things we see from Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane is His pleading the Father, ‘…if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will (Matt 26:39).’  It is good news for you and me that the contentment of Christ did not rest in avoiding the cross.  The contentment of Christ rests in doing the will of the Father.

Lord, thank you for modeling contentment for us.  Forgive our fickle hearts, our circumstantial contentment, and our unwillingness to endure with You who bore the cross and curse of our sin.  Let our hearts settle into contentment as we see Your completed work.  In Your name, amen.

For contentment,

AB