Twin Peaks

The scripture for today is Psalms 84:2

Psalms 84:2 My soul longs, yea, even faints for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

The clearest measurement of our love for God is the depth of our desire to be with Him. Those who truly love God with all of their hearts long for His presence. They cannot wait to come to Him in personal devotion and prayer. It is the highlight of their day and the experience stays with them all day long. His presence is the place of refreshing and the replenishment of joy. In the presence of the Lord the soul is energized by His Spirit and illuminated with His light. There is no other place that the follower of Christ would rather be.

Why is it that so many give God so little time? It is as if He has a priority that is subordinate to all of the other things that we have to do. Is keeping a constant appointment with the Master optional? We spend countless hours in menial tasks and self-gratification but all too often we offer the Lord, who deserves all of our attention, the leftovers of our lives. He deserves much more than that. He is our Creator, our Savior and Redeemer. Without Him we would be lost souls, doomed to destruction. Since He is the one who made it possible for us to have life in the first place, He deserves the first priority in the allocation of our time and resources. In fact, as the psalmist says in our text today, our souls should long for Him and our heart and flesh cry out for Him. One of the meanings of the Hebrew word "kacaph" which is translated "longs" means to "be greedy." We should "be greedy" for the presence of the Lord. When we love Him, our appetites change. We no longer crave the things of the world or spend our time pleasing our flesh. We long to be in the presence of the Lord. He occupies our thoughts and seeking Him and His way is our top priority. We are not satisfied with giving Him a token weekly greeting as we fulfill our church attendance "obligation." Daily we press into His presence; daily we cry out for the living God. We know that without Him failure is probable but with Him victory is assured. We love Him; we want to commune with Him; we want to please Him; we cannot be without Him! Every other relationship is subordinate to our primary relationship with our Lord, God and Savior. When we are in right relationship with Him, all of the other relationships and obligations in our lives fall into their proper place. When we live for Him our lives shift from being self-controlled to Holy Spirit controlled. We want to please Him and not ourselves. We desire His power and not our weakness. We desire His victory and not our failure. We desire His love and not our fear. As we seek Him with all of our hearts, He promises that we will find Him. When our hearts and flesh cry out for the living God, He will welcome us into His glorious presence.

God bless you as you continue in His service.

Tim