Spiritual Hunger: “God reveals Himself the most to those who want to know Him the most.”

(Via The Batterson Blog – Thoughts on Life and Leadership.)

Today I received the same message for two different sources. When that happens, I believe that God is trying to get my attention with a given message…

Source number 1: NLT Verse of the Day

In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan. Ephesians 6:16

God sends you into battle every day to fight for good and resist evil. Don’t take the battle lightly–prepare beforehand. Get straight who you are by knowing whose you are. Take up the shield of faith!

Source number 2: Daily Devotional From Greg Laurie

The devil will direct his flaming arrows toward Christians. They could be arrows of immorality, hatred, pride, envy, covetousness, doubt, worry, or any other kind of sin. They will be delivered primarily in the realm of our thoughts.

He will barrage us with his flaming arrows at strategic times, like when we decide to read the Bible or go to church. Flaming arrows will come our way during times of trial and hardship.

It is during these times that you need to hold up the shield of faith—not the shield of feelings, not the shield of emotions, but the shield of faith. You base your faith on what God has done for you, not on how you feel at a given moment.

These sources are not connected in anyway that I am aware of which raises the question – why is God trying so hard to get this message to me?

The shield of Faith is essential in protecting yourself during the battle. When you are in the heat of battle, that is when you need to recall the times when God never let you down. And remember that he will not let you down now. He is in control and nothing you can do will ever change that!

Praise God for that!

Well, I’ve heard God calling me in an area of my life and I have been putting it off for far to long. I keep dreaming of what reconnectwithgod.org could be. I so desire to connect or reconnect people with God. But the sad thing is I’m making no effort with my own family to keep them connected with God.

I am hoping that will change starting tonight. I have just enacted a plan that I believe God has been calling me toward for the last few months.

Why did it take so long? you ask…

Two things – rationalization and pride. I keep waiting for the perfect moment to start. And it finally dawned on me that there is no perfect time. You just have to start. Hit the ground running and keep going.

Second, I was and still am scared to let my kids down. I fear the embarrassment or awkwardness that could result. What a stupid reason to put off such an important part of my job as father and head of the household. Is how I feel more important than the spiritual life of my kids? NO – sometimes I wonder why I think the way I do….

So starting tonight, I am embarking on The Purpose Driven Life for 40 days with my daughter and a scripture memorization challenge with my oldest son. I am doing this to sharpen them but to also keep me in the word and learning. Who better to keep you accountable than your kids? I guess you could call that putting my pride to good use… After all I don’t want to fail in front of my own kids…

Yeah, as I embark on this journey I plan to blog my thoughts here to share with whomever my want to read them.

My verse with Ryan:
then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. – Philippians 2:2

His verse:
Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. – Philippians 1:27a

And with Megan – tonight we are reading the Introduction to The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. Every three or four days we will be getting together to talk about what we are going through.

This should be really cool! Follow our progress here (hopefully)