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.
I loved your post, Tiffany! While I do struggle with food issues, I also struggle with craving other things over God. I know that in week one, He's already working on me to change that in a big way. It sounds like He's working on you as well and I think that is WONDERFUL. I'm praying that you will maintain your focus on Him during this study and continue craving Him when the study ends. Love you, sister!
ReplyDeleteBlessings and love,
Christina (Proverbs 31 OBS Small Group Leader)
Thanks Christina. :)
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