14...

So to explain yesterday's Wordless Wednesday, 14 was the number of people we had at the Bible study last night! That's more than double what we had last week. Now some people jokingly accused me of paying people to come but I think it was more of a God thing! It blessed my socks off to have so many people eager to start on a God seeking journey with me!

We started the night off by taking prayer requests and praying for each other. Then we got into chapter 1, God Seekers Accept the Invitation to Seek God. Let me share some of the highlights of our study and conversations.

We talked about the multiple times in the scripture that God invites us to seek Him...

“And you will seek me and find me when you search for me with ALL of your heart.”
Jeremiah 29:13

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matthew 6:33

Then I posed the question, are you satisfied with the level of intimacy in your relationship with the Lord? We had some great conversations with this and talked about how the word intimacy seems to be a word that describes a married couple and that some of us (me included) had trouble thinking about being intimate with someone else, even if it is God. Yet we have to get out of that comfort zone and build that intimate relationship with God so that we can talk to Him, cry out to Him, and hear his voice. We sing a song that I feel likes describes an intimate relationship with God...

The more I seek You, the more I find You.
The more I find You, the more I love You.
I want to sit at Your feet,
Drink from the cup in Your hand,
Lay back against You and breathe, feel Your heartbeat.
This love is so deep, it's more than I can stand.
I melt in Your peace, it's overwhelming!

That's the type of intimate relationship we should have with our Heavenly Father! One just like I have with my earthly father and husband but even closer.

We decided that God never hides from us but sometimes it feels like it when a prayer is not immediately answered or we're going through difficulties. He is always shouting "Here I AM" through works He does in our lives but also through the beauty of His creation, an unexpected word of encouragement from a friend, and a multitude of other ways.

A lot of our conversations revolved around what keeps us from seeking God...the "dailies" of life...work, grocery shopping, taking care of the kids, fixing dinner. Our true priorities shine through in the amount of time we spend doing things. If we dare right down the schedule of our day and compare how much time we spend seeking God to doing the "dailies" most of us would be quite embarrassed. Yet God is still there, waiting for us to "make" time for Him.

We closed by thinking about our personal commitment we wanted to make to the Lord and this God seeking journey. I thought the class went well and really enjoyed how those who shared ministered to my heart as well as others. I'm praying for a similar number next week if not larger!