Why is a very good question, despite the misgivings of some moms when that's the only question their two-year-olds seem to know. What I'd like to talk about is WHY—Why seek His face? Why write this blog? Why seek His face through writing this blog?
Seek His Face
Psalm 27:8 says, "You have said, 'Seek my face.' My heart says to you, 'Your face, LORD, do I seek'." I wish, like David, I could say that this is the cry of my heart, simply and wholly and solely to seek God's face, to know Him in a personal and intimate way. Although I can see the evidence that God is in the process of sanctifying me, of making me more and more like Christ each day, there are still times that I seek out sin rather than the holy and glorious face of God. So I want it to be my life's goal to worship and glorify God by enjoying Him forever, and I know the only way I can truly enjoy Him is through seeking His face… which translates into a love of God's Word because of what He reveals about Himself in it.
Blogging…
I actually didn't notice the date until today, but on my birthday John Piper wrote a blog called "6 Reasons Pastors Should Blog".
Well I know I'm not a pastor, nor will I ever be one, nor do I ever desire to be one (1 Cor 14:33-36)… But when I read this, it really helped to solidify in my mind a subtle desire to start blogging. Besides, why should our pastors be the only ones that get to have the joy of meditating over Scripture day in and day out as they prepare for their messages? I don't see this principle in the Bible anywhere, and I'm positive that every Bible believing, Bible teaching pastor would love to know that the individuals in their congregation are seeking out ways to meditate on Scripture day and night! So this blog is just one of the means by which you and I can regurgitate what we have been learning throughout the week; to keep God's Word continually on our minds, in our hearts, and on our lips; and to set our thoughts on things above. (Deut 6:6-9, Deut 11:18-19; Josh 1:8; Ps 1:2, 19:7-13, Psa 119:11-16, 18, 20, 23, 25, 107, 103, 113, 127, 129, 131,159, 162, 167, 171; Eph 4:29; Col 3:2)
My Real Hope & Intent
My real hope and intent is that you will not only be encouraged by but also involved in this blog. I want to encourage you to live a life wholly devoted to the one true God, the One from whom we derive all our hope, and all our JOY. (Jeremiah 2 and Matthew 13 both have a lot to say about drawing our joy, our pleasure, from God… but that's a topic for another blog perhaps) I want you to give me feedback on how the posts either do or don't apply to your life, how they would be more helpful, and maybe even a little further down the line we could do something like a Q&A month, where you could post as many comments and questions as you like, and then I can try to respond to as many as possible!
Most of all, I want this to be a blog that honors our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, one that exalts Him. And I want this to be a tool that many people (including myself!) can use to talk about what God is teaching us in His Word, to have true Christian fellowship, to edify and exhort each other to grow closer to Christ in our personal relationships with Him, and even at times to discuss current issues and trends in the light of God's Word. At the root of all this will be love for Christ, passion for the Truth of His Word, and conviction to follow up on that love and passion with long-lasting fruit; all of which boiling down to the purpose for which EVERYTHING was created, including you and me—to glorify God, by enjoying Him forever. I pray that I would never stray from that path in this blog, or in my life, and I call on you for your help and accountability to let me know if I ever do!
So now you know how I purpose to seek the face of God through the writings of this blog.
Posts
1 comment:
Hey Amber,
This blog is a super ideal. I am sooo encouraged to see how you have been growing in your faith and love for the Lord over the past couple of years.
I love seeing when other believers are in the Word and loving it! It is something that has been on my heart lately, especially after having our son, the importance of actively seeking the Lord through His Word and prayer. I strongly desire to be a godly role model for my son by modeling an active pursuit of the study of Scripture. Over the last couple of weeks (the first month and a half was rough without any sleep :p)it has been such a joy to be regular in my daily quiet times with the Lord.
James and I are going through a study book by John MacArthur on the book of Hebrews. Every day I spend time working on my weekly lesson and digging deeper. It is the most in depth study that I have worked on in a while. Once a week my hubby and I get together and have our own couples Bible Study. It is one of our favorite times during the week. We discuss the lesson go over the questions and any additional thoughts, observations and questions that we might have. We also have an extended time of prayer afterwards where we pray for our church's weekly featured missionary, our adopted missionary, our sponsored children, family, friends, country, etc. We open our prayer time by praising God for who He is, His Word, our salvation, etc.
This past week I have been studying the faith chapter of Hebrews (chapter 11). One thing that really struck me is that our heroes of the faith were imperfect men and women. In fact in many cases they exhibited a lack of faith in the very areas that they are remembered for their faith, which I thought was ironic. It's an interesting study, convicting and challenging.
Looking forward to hearing what you are learning. I will try to comment whenever I get the chance. Unfortunately sometimes with a new born, my time is very limited when it comes to computers.
Love,
Casandra
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