Chasing After The Heart Of God

The Word of God says, “For who knows a person’s thought except their own spirit within them? And in the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” – 1 Corinthians 2, 11 12

My understanding of this verse is that for one to be able to uncover the secret and hidden things of God, they need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit because it is only through His empowerment and revelation that discernment and understanding of the kingdom truth is possible. We cannot do anything we are called to do by God if we do not have the Holy Spirit leading us, guiding us, and giving us strength.

Because He, the Holy Spirit, is the only one who knows the true nature of God and has a true understanding of God, we have to be tethered to Him for us to tap into the mind of God. We need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit if we want the deep things of God uncovered to us.

Tethering to the Holy Spirit goes beyond having the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. It goes beyond us saying, “YES, I receive Christ.” It is the acknowledgment and actioning of the need for continuously cultivating and searching for the Holy Spirit. The continuous searching for the knowledge of God and searching for understanding and also inviting the Holy Spirit constantly, like going over and above to truly, truly chase Him.

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Chasing After God’s Heart

“But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” – 1 Samuel 13 vs 14

Chasing after God is wanting to know his heart, having yourself postured and your intentions postured in such a way that God can see that you are intentionally making steps to want more of him, to learn more, to understand more and do more. But also once you have that knowledge you live it out more. That then brings me to the question, how can we be empowered by the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit empowers us by increasing our resolve in the face of resistance. Our flesh resists what is good for our Spirit, sometimes you’ll say I’m too tired to pray or I’m too tired to understand the Word, but what I’ve found out is that even in these times there are still many ways to commune with God. And sometimes, you know for a fact if I sit and read my Bible right now, I’m not going to get anything out of it, but like I said there are other ways.

Alternative Ways To Commune With God

I want to start by saying these things do not replace time spent in the Word, learning and meditating on it. However, to boost your spirit you can listen to a Christian podcast or sermon (this is a great way to consume the word and find revelation). You could also write down your prayers (when I struggle to pray verbally I write my prayers down and writing it down sometimes is another way of praying to God). So there’s always another way to do certain things that can bring you closer to God although it might not seem convictional, but if you want you will find a way to spend time with God.

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We need to cultivate a relationship with the Holy Spirit so that he can open our eyes to the truth and empower us and guide us into spaces and things that we could and cannot step into on our own only through God’s guidance.

What resonated most with you from today’s post? Remember, reframe your thinking and watch yourself become remarkable!

About Meditating In The Word

For the longest time I have seen and heard about meditating in the Word of God. Firstly, as someone who struggles with reading the bible and concentrating when I do this was already a daunting thing to take on for me. Secondly, meditating in itself confuses me and making sense of it is also a struggle so you can imagine why this is something I did not take to easily. ( I am still learning and still have loads to learn where this is concerned)

At the beginning of September a friend and I decided to do a month long bible plan on a specific topic. The task of finding the reading plan fell on me. It was first time looking for a study and I went looking for something I could palate and learn from at the same time. I had to figure out the differences between a reading plan, a devotional and a bible study. (I will do posts on each of these in the future).

I finally settled on a reading plan that gives us a verse a day for 31 days. In conjunction with the reading plan we would use the SOAP method as a way to study each of these verses. It was only after we started did I realise that I had stumbled upon a great way to spend time with the word of God that was easy enough for me, good enough to palate for a person who is still a beginner at studying the word and in essence learn what the word says about a particular topic.

The SOAP method

This is an easy and straight forward way of studying the bible which is great for beginners.

The “S” stands for scripture. For this part of the study you write down the scripture that you will be studying.

The “O” stands for observation. For this part of the study you write down what you observe in the scripture that you just wrote down. Your take-aways and whichever scriptures you are reminded of when you read the scriptures you just wrote. ( You can also read commentaries and other bible versions to get a better understanding of the scripture)

The “A” stands for application. For this part of the study you write down how you can put into practise what you have observed. What changes will you make to you lifestyle to align it to what you have read and observed in the word of God.

The “P” stands for prayer. At the end of each session you write down a prayer and ask God to help you make the necessary changes as well as carry this scripture with you as you go through your day to day life.

As I was studying the word using this method. I realised that this was the beginning of me spending time in the word, learning more about God and what he expects of me as well as keep his word on my mind a lot more. I was meditating in the word!

I hope you find this as helpful as I did.

Matthew 4:4

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

About My Journey With God

As someone who has struggled with grasping some concepts of Christianity, this past year has been eye opening for me. I have always struggled with learning about God. Along the way it finally clicked that no matter how much I wanted it, not having the right tools to learn was my biggest hurdle.

I do not learn in the conventional manner ( I love fiction, TV shows and Marvel movies) because I have a short attention span and traditional methods of doing things bore me quickly. For me to learn, I have to have relatable information that broke is down to the essentials of this journey ( the walk with Christ) in a way I could digest and retain.

My first encounter was with such knowledge was at a program I enrolled for, the BBM Foundation’s Women Unleashed Skills Development Program. It was not that I did not know who God was or that I had not been exposed to His Word, the problem was I could not relate to it. I could not see where I fit in the picture. ( I still am striving to learn and understand this.)

I went into this program with the aim of acquiring a skill, maybe then use it to start a business but I walked out of the program with understanding of who God says I am and why I was created. I learnt that I have a purpose and part of it is to use platform available to me to serve God and others, spread the Good News and live a life that reflects Christ-likeness.

That being said, you will be seeing a lot more Bible talk on this blog, this is a part of me and by extension a part of this blog.

2 Peter 3: 18

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.