It sure is nice to have a sabbath. Ever since I decided to set a day off each week to rest, it feels like I got a weekly vacation!! Once again I see how much wisdom there is in God's commands. That is what our soul needs. So I got to do some leisure reading today and experience my heart being set on fire again as God inspires me to remember what I am passionate about. Passion....revival.... These are key words drifting recently with the screening of 1040 and the Passion concert. - To ask ourselves the tough question -- What are you living for? Are you living for yourself, or are you living for a cause greater than yourself? It is so interesting that in Wild at Heart, this idea was brought up - and specifically addressed to men: "A man must have a battle to fight, a great mission to his life that involves and yet trascends even home and family. He must have a cause to which he is devoted even unto death, for this is written into the fabric of his being. Listen carefully now: You do. That is why God created you - to be his intimate ally, to join him in the Great Battle....
Above all else, a warrior has a vision, he has a trascendence to his life, a cause greater than self-preservation."
Wow. doesn't reading that make you want to go out there and do something? It's also interesting how when you ask girls what they like in a guy, they often say, "Someone with 上進心" (aka: Driven, have a cause they are striving for, passionate and living towards something" And now, here's my challenge. Where are these men? This is one of the reasons why I love the book, it is not hesitant to critique the state of the church & our fallen human condition. Read this: "I've been a Christian since I was five - no one ever showed me what it means to really be a man. The church would like to think it is initiating men, but it is not. What does the church bring men into? What does it call him out to be? Moral. That is pitifully insufficient. Morality is a good thing, but morality is never the point."
Men, you are called to so much more than just being "nice". There's a spirit & unique strength in you that needs to be set ablaze for God's kingdom. "Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive"
Will your spirit come alive? Will you let the power of the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that transformed and moved the disciples to witness and testify for Christ come alive? Ask for it, yearn for it, and live in a transcendent manner - living for a vision that overarches all the day-to-day tasks you do. That as you do these tasks you know it's for a greater vision & purpose. And - to pick your brains more. May I add that men, have this vision first before you search for a relationship. "A man needs a much bigger orbit than a woman. He needs a mission, a life purpose, and he needs to know his name. Only then is he fit for a woman, for only then does he have something to invite her into."
Do you get this imagery? When a man is not secure in his calling, in his standing as being capable and affirmed by God - it is easy for him to look for affirmation from woman. The feeling of being needed by a woman and to provide for a woman makes him feel like "a man". But - that man ends up "orbitting around the woman" - living for her, and feeling valued because of her. In a sense, the woman has become his God. "A man does not go to a woman to get his strength; he goes to her to offer it"
And the only way a man can get his strength is when he goes to God for affirmation first - To see that he is equipped and fully capable to fight the hard battles as he relies on God's strength. So - are you ready to show the world your strength from God? Not fake strength - not strength that you conjure up to appear like you got it all together. But as you dwell in IN GOD you received the POWER that the Holy Spirit gives you to set your visions much higher than anything you can come up with. And it is with full assurance in God's provision for you that your spirit comes alive. Then - you will have something to invite the woman into.
Then, you can say, "Can you be my helper as we go along this journey? Would you like to be part of this greater vision?" And this is where we as women bring along our God given gifts to encourage the men along in their journey. It sure is beautiful. And I pray for more of these relationships in our churches! To see the POWER that comes from couples living for a greater purpose. Not to see the relationship as the ends in themselves (though there is much to be enjoyed). But to realize how much more that comes when two become one. It grieves me to see couples absorbed in the relationship itself rather than interact for something greater
It grieves me to see that couples drain each other rather than become more - there is no beauty radiating from women; there is no strength exerted from men.
It grieves me to see couples living for their child all their lives - and then when the child is gone. They divorce because the intimacy and love for each other is long gone.
And so this is a reminder of my heart's burden. And I hope for you to have a right mindset of how God intends for relationships to be. Find your security in God first - before you learn to involve someone else in your life. Who are you before God? What has God placed in your heart? Then, you can enjoy sharing your passion and relationship with God with that special someone else =) | 