Satisfied
“God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him.” I first heard this quote a few years ago…and He has again brought it to me to reflect upon and apply. It’s an obvious concept; when I am fulfilled IN Him, He will be magnified, glorified, and edified. I think its crucial to focus on the “in” of the quote…it’s NOT about being satisfied BY Him…through His blessings, through His provisions, the friendships, and the opportunities He gives…but to be satisfied IN Him. This means, HE is the Source of all our security, identity and self-worth. Any other source is clearly idolatry. I say clearly only because when we step back and make a definitive statement as to what an idol is, it’s simple and straight-forward, however, in daily living, we lose that certainty quickly. This is for a few reasons…as I have discovered through experience lately. Satan. His attacks are frontal, as so, we must go on the offensive with him. He is the Great Deceiver. Lies are his native tongue, and he imparts those lies in our minds if we let him. I’ve done that for the past few months for sure…of course, he also masks those lies. While he imparts and plants these thoughts, its what WE do with them that can destroy us. We must exercise spiritual discernment over our thoughts… an awesome quote I heard once goes something like this, “if you sow a thought, you will reap an act, if you sow that act enough you will reap your character, if you sow that character you will reap your destiny.” And proverbs says, “as a man thinks, so he is.” We are literally shaped by the thoughts we indulge in. I desire to just be enthralled in Him, He will guard and protect our thoughts, our hearts. Another reason we become blind to our own idolatry is our own rebellion. Rebellion, as I learned a little while is a stubborn resistance against authority. We actually RESIST God Himself when we settle for other “lovers”. We begin to allow these lies to infiltrate and stir within. We start to prefer illusions to truths…the TRUTH is that we need to DEFINE ourselves radically as one BELOVED by God, ALL other identity is an illusion. We begin to rely on oppression, depend on deceit and run from the One answer we have.
So I come back to the quote….how can I live a life that is truly satisfied by Him and shows that radiant fulfillment each day? That is a question I will spend my entire life answering… it is a process, and a journey. Part of it is loving Him, serving Him, desiring Him out of delight rather than duty. How shall we live? LIVE PASSIONATELY. He is the Messiah, Lord, Redeemer, Light of the World…He is our purpose, our strength, our love our life…how can we afford to go on living a passionless life? Two verses were brought to me last night which gave enlightenment, Psalms 73 says, “Whom have I in heaven but You? Besides you I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 16 says, “in Your presence is FULLNESS of joy, in your right hand there are pleasures forever.” Nearness to the God of the universe is the one and only ALL satisfying experience. Here is a question a wonderful Godly friend of mine once asked, “if we are experiencing the ‘abundant life’ wouldn’t we know it?” I know we would. And I don’t think we, as Christians are really cultivating this fullness of life in our Lord. ALL our needs are to be met in Him…in Matthew 6:33 this is promised. He came to give us JOY in fullness, life in ABUNDANCE. I want to know this intimately, personally, constantly. And I can, if I would only chose to. I think it’s a command and NEED; to really magnify Him, we need to be satisfied in Him.
This is a long one, I realize…and if anyone really reads these, thanks for bearing with my thoughts for today…John Piper wrote something that really has become apparent to me in writing these journals… “I count myself one of the number who write as they learn and learn as they write.”
Let my joy be the echo of His excellence, Kate
“God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him.” I first heard this quote a few years ago…and He has again brought it to me to reflect upon and apply. It’s an obvious concept; when I am fulfilled IN Him, He will be magnified, glorified, and edified. I think its crucial to focus on the “in” of the quote…it’s NOT about being satisfied BY Him…through His blessings, through His provisions, the friendships, and the opportunities He gives…but to be satisfied IN Him. This means, HE is the Source of all our security, identity and self-worth. Any other source is clearly idolatry. I say clearly only because when we step back and make a definitive statement as to what an idol is, it’s simple and straight-forward, however, in daily living, we lose that certainty quickly. This is for a few reasons…as I have discovered through experience lately. Satan. His attacks are frontal, as so, we must go on the offensive with him. He is the Great Deceiver. Lies are his native tongue, and he imparts those lies in our minds if we let him. I’ve done that for the past few months for sure…of course, he also masks those lies. While he imparts and plants these thoughts, its what WE do with them that can destroy us. We must exercise spiritual discernment over our thoughts… an awesome quote I heard once goes something like this, “if you sow a thought, you will reap an act, if you sow that act enough you will reap your character, if you sow that character you will reap your destiny.” And proverbs says, “as a man thinks, so he is.” We are literally shaped by the thoughts we indulge in. I desire to just be enthralled in Him, He will guard and protect our thoughts, our hearts. Another reason we become blind to our own idolatry is our own rebellion. Rebellion, as I learned a little while is a stubborn resistance against authority. We actually RESIST God Himself when we settle for other “lovers”. We begin to allow these lies to infiltrate and stir within. We start to prefer illusions to truths…the TRUTH is that we need to DEFINE ourselves radically as one BELOVED by God, ALL other identity is an illusion. We begin to rely on oppression, depend on deceit and run from the One answer we have.
So I come back to the quote….how can I live a life that is truly satisfied by Him and shows that radiant fulfillment each day? That is a question I will spend my entire life answering… it is a process, and a journey. Part of it is loving Him, serving Him, desiring Him out of delight rather than duty. How shall we live? LIVE PASSIONATELY. He is the Messiah, Lord, Redeemer, Light of the World…He is our purpose, our strength, our love our life…how can we afford to go on living a passionless life? Two verses were brought to me last night which gave enlightenment, Psalms 73 says, “Whom have I in heaven but You? Besides you I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 16 says, “in Your presence is FULLNESS of joy, in your right hand there are pleasures forever.” Nearness to the God of the universe is the one and only ALL satisfying experience. Here is a question a wonderful Godly friend of mine once asked, “if we are experiencing the ‘abundant life’ wouldn’t we know it?” I know we would. And I don’t think we, as Christians are really cultivating this fullness of life in our Lord. ALL our needs are to be met in Him…in Matthew 6:33 this is promised. He came to give us JOY in fullness, life in ABUNDANCE. I want to know this intimately, personally, constantly. And I can, if I would only chose to. I think it’s a command and NEED; to really magnify Him, we need to be satisfied in Him.
This is a long one, I realize…and if anyone really reads these, thanks for bearing with my thoughts for today…John Piper wrote something that really has become apparent to me in writing these journals… “I count myself one of the number who write as they learn and learn as they write.”
Let my joy be the echo of His excellence, Kate
posted by Kate at 6:13 PM
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