Intimacy

So I thought the point of this missions trip would be to change the world! I wanted to make a difference. To help. To serve. Which are all good ambitions.
But God has taught me something different. He has been teaching me the importance of intimacy with my Creator. There is nothing like it.

Through my other posts, you can probably see that I am learning that God cares about the HEART. About motives. Yes, if we love Him we will obey his commandments. But He makes it clear that He wants willing hearts, not workers out of obligation.

Sometimes in life it's easy to feel like we aren't doing anything important. We have our everyday tasks, then we go to bed and do it all again. It can seem trivial and meaningless. But there is good  news- it doesn't have to be!

1 Peter 1:5-8
Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When we are in prayer and submitted to the Spirit, we can be increasing in these qualities. Meaning no matter where you are in life, you are neither useless nor unfruitful. You are getting to know the Lord more.

I want to encourage you to do something. Set aside time, each day, to get REAL with God. Get alone, and open up your heart to the Spirit. Sing, cry, dance- do whatever! But open up your heart to your Savior. Let Him flood you with peace. Bask in His presence. There is no place like it. I've read many books telling me to do this, and I would do it here and there, but there is nothing like consistant intimacy with the Lord. We are His bride, His children, His beloved. He actually WANTS to spend time with us! This blows my mind.

But it's up to us to take time out of our busy days to really kneel before Him and get intimate.

1 John 4:9-10
By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

What incredible love!
It has become my passion to serve people. And though that sounds good, I let it come before loving God. So though I came into this ready to serve people, God has gently humbled me and showed me how I was wrong. He has taught me how to love Him first so that I can Better serve His people that He loves so dearly.

Matthew 22:36-39
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.