This afternoon I was preparing to read the Word of God and I heard very clearly, “Close that Bible and just sit quietly before me.” I set my bible and my notebook aside and closed my eyes and just got quiet. As I closed my eyes, the Lord gave me a vision of two men working double time to show a young lady that they were the most chivalrous guy. They did this by showing how quickly they could open the door, how romantic they were by producing the largest bouquet of flowers and how much money they had to provide for her. I asked God, what in the world was he showing me and this is what I heard…
The body of Christ is in competition. There are many who are trying to prove who can serve God the best, just like those two men attempting to impress a woman. God is not impressed or fooled by any of the false motives behind the spiritual, physical and emotional exercises done by anyone in an effort to please Him. In the midst of showing off, the goal is not to get close God, rather it is to somehow impress Him by outdoing another individual or group of individuals and ultimately be declared the winner. In this hour, God is looking for individuals who have an earnest desire to know more of Him. They are willing to abandon all of the efforts to impress Him, and will simply get quiet and say, “God what is your will for this day, for this region, for this nation?” "Lord, how can I propel the Kingdom of God further and make your name even greater in this earth?" We are only truly able to take the focus off of doing things to impress God and begin to seek him during quiet time, when we trust that God will ensure that we have the direction, support, strength and grace required to bring each of us to a desirable place. God isn’t impressed with all of the spiritual calisthenics in this season; He is really seeking quiet time with each of us.
Ultimately, if two men are vying for the attention of a female, the quick rush of being the man chosen for the moment certainly pales in comparison to being the man who gets to spend quality, intimate, alone time with the one he loves. Let’s spend some quiet time with God, not because we are looking to achieve some type of spiritual high score ranking, but simply because we long to know Him better.
The body of Christ is in competition. There are many who are trying to prove who can serve God the best, just like those two men attempting to impress a woman. God is not impressed or fooled by any of the false motives behind the spiritual, physical and emotional exercises done by anyone in an effort to please Him. In the midst of showing off, the goal is not to get close God, rather it is to somehow impress Him by outdoing another individual or group of individuals and ultimately be declared the winner. In this hour, God is looking for individuals who have an earnest desire to know more of Him. They are willing to abandon all of the efforts to impress Him, and will simply get quiet and say, “God what is your will for this day, for this region, for this nation?” "Lord, how can I propel the Kingdom of God further and make your name even greater in this earth?" We are only truly able to take the focus off of doing things to impress God and begin to seek him during quiet time, when we trust that God will ensure that we have the direction, support, strength and grace required to bring each of us to a desirable place. God isn’t impressed with all of the spiritual calisthenics in this season; He is really seeking quiet time with each of us.
Ultimately, if two men are vying for the attention of a female, the quick rush of being the man chosen for the moment certainly pales in comparison to being the man who gets to spend quality, intimate, alone time with the one he loves. Let’s spend some quiet time with God, not because we are looking to achieve some type of spiritual high score ranking, but simply because we long to know Him better.
"I've kept my feet on the ground, I've cultivated a quiet heart. Like a baby content in its mother's arms, my soul is a baby content." Psalm 131:2 (MSG)
