HAVING A MARY HEART IN A MARTHA WORLD WEEK 3 PART 1

God wants us to have a close relationship with Him, and He is willing to do whatever is necessary to make sure it happens.

What does intimacy with God means to you and how do you achieve it?

This is the season of Lent where many Christians participate. Traditionally the purpose is to prepare the believer through prayer, penance, and repentance of sin, almsgiving, atonement and self-denial. Many commit to fasting of some form. Commonly people fast from certain foods, but now-a-days people fast from certain behaviors and/or activities.  I have known people that fasted from Facebook for the 40 days. For me that would be easy, but for others I can see that being difficult. All of this to draw closer to God. ( If you can do it for 40 days, you can do it everyday, just saying)

A man named Simeon Stylite achieved fame after living 37 years on a small platform on top of a pill in Syria. Very interesting story that I won’t go into all the details. But “google” him and read. He developed a “hunger and thirst” for Christianity at the age 13, after reading the Beatitudes. By the time he was 16 he lived in a monastery. Later he left the monastery and lived like a “shut-in” in a hut for 1 ½ years. Then during Lent he fasted from all eating and drinking for 40 days. ( I could not do that)

He wanted to have his private time to draw close to God. Then he lived in a 9ft pillar, eventually being replaced until it reached 50 feet from the ground. But do you think that this kind of living, on a pillar, brought him any closer to God?

Remember our rock and wagon story for last week? In the Far East, there is a religious festival where the men would have hooks inserted under their skins of their backs then a wagon full of rocks is attached to these hooks and the men drag the wagon through the streets in hoping to obtain forgiveness of their sins.

People go to great lengths to find god and to “obtain” forgiveness for their sins. But it is so simple to find God and so simple to obtain forgiveness because of JESUS. That is all we need. We feel so unworthy to receive what God has for us that we think we must EARN our way to heaven. We think that only those that are “super-spiritual” can really know God.

Why do we weigh out spirit down with all these self-imposed obligations? We tell ourselves “I have to do this or that: “I can’t really know God unless I do…”. We waste a lot of time “getting ready to know” God better, but we don’t have to put hooks in our backs and pull a heavy load.

The way HAS BEEN MADE. The price HAS BEEN PAID. All we have to do is SIMPLY, COME.

One of the main reasons that keeps us from our intimacy with God is BUSYNESS. One of my past pastors would say “ If you are too busy for God, you are JUST TOO BUSY!”

If you are having trouble feeling close to God, you might need to consider what activities you are using to fill the empty places of your life.  What are you hungry for? Is it spiritual?

When we are physically hungry, we feel “hunger pains. We eat and our hunger is satisfied. But spiritually speaking, it isn’t UNTIL we “eat” that we realize just how hungry we are.

When I was young, I didn’t like certain foods. Even though my mother made me “taste” everything on my plate, it would not satisfy my hunger. But when I ate the food that I liked I was no longer hungry. At the same time spiritually, I didn’t have the hunger for God when I read His Word. It was like eating “cardboard . Bland and no taste. I didn’t understand what is was saying, it didn’t move me. (Back then the only version around was the King James Version). But now my spiritual hunger and thirst cannot be satisfied. When I partake of God’s spiritual food, it “taste good” Just like BACON (personal joke.)

That is how it is when we eat at God’s take or sit at Jesus’ feet. We get hungry and thirsty for more. Like Oliver Twist after he has eaten, he says “ Please Sir, I want some more”.

Once you have tasted this spiritual food, nothing else will satisfy you.

READ Psalm 34:8

A man named Robert Boyd Munger wrote an article called “My Heart Christ’s Home. He said “ without question on of the most remarkable Christian doctrines is that Jesus Christ Himself through the presence of the Holy Spirit will actually enter a heart, settle down and be at home there”.

God wants to spend QUALITY time with each of us. He looks forward to it. And when we don’t show up, he misses us.  The peace Mary found at Jesus feet is available to us. A place where we can be comfortable and kick off our shoes. It’s a place of transparency (no make-up) and vulnerability (where we can be our true selves). A place where we are completely known and yet we still are completely loved. Sounds like HOME to me.

READ John 14:23

When we accept God’s offer of “grace-filled rest” in the loving room of our HOME, the alternative is the tyranny of work. We will be driven to do more and more-more stuff, more service projects, more committees, more extra-curricular activities trying to win God’s approval.

Our responsibility is to keep our connection with Jesus Christ solid and secure. This is done through prayer, reading the Word, and spending time. This will bring us that intimate relationship that we were made for.

But see first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Sitting At Jesus’ Feet

1.     When we look to something or someone other than God to fill a need in our hearts, the Bible calls it “idolatry,” Isaiah 46 give us a vivid image of what our lives look like when we are weighed down by idols.  What is weighing you down?  Are you looking to something or someone other than God for comfort, fulfillment or happiness? Write a prayer confessing your idolatry and recommit yourself to simply being carried in His arms

2.   Read the following verses and write the struggle that keeps us from intimacy with God. Ephesians 2:13-14 & 1 John3:1; Psalm 90:12 & Isaiah 40:29-31; Psalm 32:5 & 1 John 1:9; James 4:6-7 & 1 Peter 5:6; Psalm 43:11 & John 14:11 ; Hebrews 13:6 & James 1:12

3.   Making Jesus the center of our lives doesn’t just happen; we must purposefully place Him there. Prayers + the WORD + time= Intimacy with God. Which part of this formula do you find most helpful in your life? What area do you need to grow in?

4.  Read the following verses and journal what metaphor it uses to describe the intimate relationship we can have with God. John 15:5; Romans 8:15-16; 2 Corinthians 11:2

PART TWO