Monthly Supporters

Passionate Pursuit Devotional Day 1




Day 1: Passionate Pursuit

Some days it feels like everything in my life falls short.
I get sick and tired of being sick and tired, feeling like I’ll never be able to keep juggling everything coming at me. I find myself praying primarily when I’m hurried or in trouble. There’s never enough time to focus and really dig into my Bible the way I want.
Rather than doing acts of kindness to simply enjoy God, I do them to stay in good with Him and even get things from Him.
I believe the good news of Jesus is good, but sometimes it feels more like exhausting news.
In short, I’ve had seasons when I traded the grace of God for a ball-and-chain life of religious hoop jumping. I kept running from the rest and rejuvenation offered to me in a relationship with God.
Often, we’re still running long after we’ve spiritually returned to God. We run from our past failures by trying to overcompensate and demonstrate our usefulness to Him. We run from the wild grace He offers by trying to advance ourselves in our own strength. We run from the rest He gives by working harder and harder to measure up when God has said all along that He is enough.
The good news is you don’t have to keep running. God is still pursuing you after you’ve placed your faith in Him. He’s pursuing you today—not to burden you with more tasks on the to-do list or to whip you into shape, but to love you. He pursues you with an intensity that can breathe life into you.
David realizes the joy of God’s pursuit as he concludes Psalm 23:6: “Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the LORD forever.”
Stop and think about this for a moment. God is literally pursuing you with goodness and love! David notes that this pursuit isn’t temporary, but for “all the days of my life.” What an incredible thought!
And one of the most incredible perspectives of God’s pursuit is tucked away in the story of a prophet named Hosea who God called to marry a prostitute named Gomer. Even though his wife was unfaithful again and again, Hosea was told to take her back, just as God takes his people back.
Over the next 14 days we’ll go deeper into this story, expand our view of God, and experience Him more fully and completely. My goal with these devotional thoughts, and with the book Pursued, is to help you:
*Discover how a life-giving relationship with God can bring new joy into your life when you’re weary and frustrated.
*Move God’s grace from your head into deeper places of your heart to stop the exhausting cycle of guilt, shame, and performance before God.
*Find fulfillment for the longing to be pursued by experiencing a perfect love that breaks our unrealistic expectations of others.
*Live passionately with a restored sense of security so you can face relationships and decisions with more confidence.
No more running from the rest God wants to give you. I hope and pray that over the next 14 days you come to delight with joy at being pursued by a loving God.

Big Idea:

You’re passionately pursued with a goodness and unfailing love that is shocking, wonderful, and liberating.

2 comments:

  1. Amen - I will pursue with passion and intention! <3

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  2. Amen Mindi!!! Thank you for your sweet encouragement sister!!! <3 Glory to God!!

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