I am yet an infant in learning how to fix and focus my eyes on Jesus, learning to walk and listen to the Holy Spirit. It’s amazing how the Accuser and Deceiver works in such subtle yet destructive ways. Here is the most recent:

Not wanting to fall into legalism but desiring to be free and open to follow the Spirit, I have steered clear of anything with the semblance of rigidity. This spilled over into my prayer life, fearful to set aside specific times of day to enter into the presence of the Almighty who sustains my very being at the risk of being legalistic. The Spirit has recently shown me this errant way of thinking and has changed my fear of legalism (which I didn’t even realize was present) into a wholehearted desire and passion to pursue the Living God who has given me life and continues to do so each and every moment.

The word He’s been speaking to me lately is wholehearted devotion to God, ridding my life of all idols. Wasting my life for Him who gave His life for me.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul and with all your strength.”

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”

“For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”

An interesting concept has been presented me by two people I highly respect. The idea is this: If you see any walls in your experiencing whom God is or in a relationship with Him, run toward those walls for there are actually none with God. God is love. God is limitless and eternal. If these are true about Him then His love is also limitless and eternal! The questions posed to me through this are:

  • How far can I go with this?
  • How deep can I go into Him?
  • How much can I sacrifice to be of a single-minded devotion to Him?
  • How intimate can I be with Him?

Father, I pray that out of Your glorious riches You may strengthen me with power through Your Spirit in my inner being, so that Christ may dwell in my heart through faith. And I pray that I, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that I may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.**

**A prayer adapted from Ephesians 3:16-21