Tag: made to crave

Made to Crave, week 2, 1 Peter 5:7

My goal for this study was to concentrate on drawing closer to God through quiet time, bible study & prayer, more so than the food aspect & the way I crave other things instead of spending time with Him. So, I’m continuing this week to do the bible verse mapping and sharing what I’ve learned from our verse for the week.

1 Peter 5:7-8 (NIV)
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

(I made the above graphic with @visualpoetry. An app I found for the iPhone.) 

I love how after I read Chapter 4 on Sunday & seeing the verse for the week that I actually had to put it into practice. Without going into too much details, I will share that back in Oct of ’12, I was given a promise from God and that it was only here recently within the last few months that I started to see manifestations of it starting to come to pass. However, this week, I guess in a moment of vulnerability the enemy came in & started to plant some doubts in my mind to get me discouraged & give up.

This was on Sunday night,and by Monday morning as I was getting ready for work, I heard in my spirit “things are not always as they seem. The enemy wants to steal your joy and your peace, don’t let him.” Then later that afternoon, he reminded me again, “do not give up.”

I love how the word for this week is “determination”. I think it’s perfect for what I am going through right now & how the Lord reminded me not to give up. It’s so easy to do sometimes when we “feel” like things are not going as we planned. We let our guard down for one moment and the enemy decides to step in and plant seeds of doubt & discouragement, then we are tempted to give up trying – whatever it may be.

Not to give the enemy more credit than he deserves, but it’s sad that he knows us better than we know ourselves, especially during times of weakness and vulnerability. He’s studied us for a long time and knows exactly what buttons to push to get us to question God. Just like he did with Eve. That is why I had to include the rest of the verse above.

I wrote the following prayer poem on Monday while I was reflecting on this verse &  going through my moment of doubt & questioning.

Lord when temptations come & life feels out of control
Remind me to look to you, the Lover of my soul
You know me better than I know myself
It is only in you that I will find my rest
The enemy prowls around seeking someone to devour
I need to be on my guard, each and every hour
He wants to kill, steal and destroy the hope I find in you
But I know that with you by my side, i will get my breakthrough
You are my shelter & fortress, in you I can stand
You hold my very life in the palm of your hand
You care for me deeply, because I am your daughter
Bought by the blood of your son & cleansed by the water
I love you Lord because you first loved me
and in your arms I’ll always be
safe and secure no need to fret
Because your have not failed me yet.

Made to Crave, Week 1, Psalm 84:2

This post is a part of the Made to Crave online bible study from Proverbs 31 ministries.


For this blog entry, I chose option #2 which is to “Unpack our scripture for the week and share with us what you learned”

 
MY SOUL YEARNS, EVEN
FAINTS FOR THE COURTS OF THE LORD; MY HEART AND FLESH CRY OUT FOR THE LIVING
GOD. –  Psalm 84:2 (NIV)

 

MY SOUL = Very being, essence

 

YEARNS –desires, pines
after

FAINTS – becomes weak

MY HEART – inner man,
mind, will, heart

AND FLESH – flesh

CRY OUT – shout, sing for
joy

FOR THE LIVING – alive

GOD – almighty

Psalm 84:2 – Amplified
Bible (AMP)

 

2 My soul yearns, yes, even pines and is homesick for
the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out and sing for joy to the
living God.

Does my soul yearn, even
faint for the courts of the Lord?

 

Do my heart & my flesh
cry out for the Living God?

Or does my
soul, my very essence, crave or even desire other things before God?

These are the questions
that come to mind when I begin to unwrap this verse. If I am being completely
honest, I wish I could say that I do put God above everything else or that I “crave
God” more than anything, but I don’t.

 

It becomes very
apparent to me especially when my flesh would rather sleep in that extra 30
minutes in the morning than get up & spend time praying or reading my Bible
before leaving for work. Or when I come home in the evening & plop down on
the couch to watch TV to relax instead of being more intentional about reading
one of the many books that I’ve bought & haven’t read yet. One that will enrich my spiritual life
& help me to grow as a Christian.

 

Yes, my soul & my
heart desire to spend more time with God & to be in his presence. Especially
since I know that on those occasions when I am intentional about spending that
time with God, there is fullness of joy in His presence. I always come away
feeling refreshed, renewed & restored. But my crazy flesh wants to get in
the way.
For me, this “made to crave” journey is going to be more about craving God & His presence in my life than it will be about food. I’ve done this study several times before & in the past it had been about food & weight loss. But the more times I’ve gone through this study, I’ve realized that it’s more about putting things or craving things more than I do Him. Through the past times I’ve been through this study, I have lost weight, controlled my food cravings & quit smoking. But this time, I’m going to focus more on what is keeping me from spending more time with Him.
 
 

Made to Crave

Well, here’s my first post of the New Year. I’m really hoping to get better at posting regularly, which is why I’m creating this post.

A couple weeks ago, actually the 1st Sunday of the year, my pastor gave an awesome sermon on 2011 being a “prime year” & making this the time to not miss our “Kairos” – or “God-appointed” – moments. “Kairos” is one of 2 Greek words used in the Bible for “time” & it “is a pivotal point in a person’s life where profound and significant things are divinely destined to occur.”

One of my “Kairos” moments happened a little over a year ago when I felt I was lead to my new church. I had recently left the church that I was a member of for almost 4 years & was desperately seeking to grow closer in my relationship with God. Before I was so focused on the religious aspects of Christianity & doing the right things, that I forgot to “crave” that relationship with Jesus. My “cup” was becoming clean on the outside, but the inside was still a dirty mess.

After I started attending my new church for awhile, I KNEW deep down that this was where God wanted me to be, at this particular time & I thank HIM everyday that He has me right where He wants me. 🙂

Well, I’m hoping, believing & praying, that I am in the process of my next “Kairos” moment.

I recently signed up for the Made to Crave Online Study hosted by Melissa Taylor.

The book is by Lysa Terkheurst & she is currently hosting live webcasts on Monday nights. The first one was last week, but you can check out the website – Made to Crave – for more information. I’m really excited about reading this book & following the online study.

If you haven’t heard about the book yet, it’s about “the missing link between a woman’s desire to be healthy and the spiritual empowerment necessary to make that happen.” (http://madetocrave.org/about/) Most importantly, it’s about “craving God” more than we “crave food”.

I’m still growing in my relationship with God & I have been “craving” more of Him lately. I heard Lysa say that people have used her book for the other things we “crave” more than God, not just food. So, that is why I’m looking forward to this journey.

For me, this journey will not only be about learning healthy eating habits, but I’m also hoping to use it as a guide to help me ONCE & FOR ALL quit smoking. I’ve tried quitting twice before to only start back up again. So, I’m hoping to use this book & it’s principals to not only learn better eating habits, but I’m also BELIEVING & TRUSTING in this journey to help me KICK THE HABIT for good. Plus, I believe both of these areas go hand in hand. A lot of people turn to food or gain weight while they are quitting/or after they have quit. So, I don’t want to be the next person who ends one bad habit, only to start another one.

Each Sunday the assignment is posted for the week. So, I’m hoping – as I follow along this study – to update my blog at least once a week to keep myself ACCOUNTABLE. There are discussion questions at the end of each chapter & I’m planning on keeping an offline journal to take notes. I want to use this blog, as well as the Made to Crave community on Facebook, to share what I’m learning each week.

On a closing note, I really enjoyed my Pastor’s sermon this morning. He talked about the man who was healed by the pool at Bethesda in John 5. In verse 8, Jesus commanded him to rise, take up his bed & walk. And because of his obedience, the man was made well & got up.

I like what my Pastor said, “If we can do the possible, God can do the impossible.” The key is that we have to be obedient. We can’t expect to change & not put in any effort. So, I’m believing that during those times when I feel like I’m struggling or unable to continue in my own strength, God will intervine & give me the strength to do what is beyond my ability. 🙂

Thanks for taking the time to read this post. And, please feel free to leave me a comment or even a word of encouragement. 🙂