Of Falling in Love

Earlier this week I recalled a song I had not thought of since I was in middle school.  The words became my prayer:

"Give me an undying love for you. Lord, won't You take me to the cross - I count it all as loss; please burn away the dross, so that nothing else remains . . . but an undying love for you."

And God is definitely answering that prayer.

I am currently in the midst of four life-changing studies.  At around 3:30am (or a little later) every morning, while feeding Emmett, I work on completing a workbook for a Bible Study on the life of David which I attend on Sunday evenings.  Nap time for the kids is Bible Study time for me as I dig into 1 Samuel for my Wednesday morning Bible Study.  Before going to bed, as Philip reads the latest installment of the Ender chronicles, I sit on my side of the bed eagerly continuing an advanced copy I received of Steven Furtick's Sun Stand Still on depending on God with an audacious faith to fulfill an impossible purpose through my life (a book I wasn't so sure on in the beginning but now am reeling with the applications it has for my life).  And at some point during the week I read the next chapter of David Platt's Radical - daring me to abandon the American Dream in order to live life the way Jesus truly meant for it to be - in order to be prepared for Small Group on Thursday nights.

And I am LOVING it.  By the end of this week I have discovered that the more time I spend in God's Word, the more I can't get enough.  I thoroughly enjoy the fact that my time is currently so saturated with seeking after God.  In the meantime I have finally begun to take seriously a task with which He has been burdening me for years now - literally, years.  I have had no valid reason for not pursuing His calling for me other than that I did not believe it important - and I didn't know where God would take me with it.  So I ignored it.

It is amazing how the one decision to finally follow His will seems to have opened the floodgates for that undying love which I begged for only days ago.

I woke up this morning and, after a brief battle with bitterness which I handed over to God, I found I was thoroughly excited about going to church this morning.  And not for seeing friends or singing choruses, but for hearing more of the Word of God.  In fact, as we finished singing a few (amazing!) worship songs this morning, I felt a giddy feeling rising up inside - I was so looking forward to just hearing a sermon.  What would God teach me this time?!

Not to say that I haven't learned some amazing things in church over the years, but I can honestly say today was the first time I ever felt this thrill for the spoken message before it was even delivered.

God is doing a work in me.  And with each moment I feel more in love than I have ever been before.

"Oh, I’m running to Your arms,
I’m running to Your arms
The riches of Your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign" - Hillsong