🦋WHERE DID YOU FIND YOUR REST? 

Welcome to a new move! As we explore the theme for 2023, we pray that it is more experiential and transformative than the moves that have come before it, and that none will miss their appointed time of visitation. Amen!

💼FIXATED ON THE TRANSACTION

In the journey to the promised land of Rest, it soon becomes clear that the children of Israel have developed a very transactional relationship with God. At every turn, their unbelief shows as they articulate how they followed Moses into the wilderness only to suffer this or that. 

Many times they didn't even direct their entitlement to God, but rather attacked Moses. They were perfectly satisfied dealing with the Moses they could see instead of the God they couldn’t see - and by extension, didn’t know personally. They had seen the acts of God, and knew they were following a powerful God - but of the personality of God; they didn't seem to be interested. 

"Moses, you go to God and tell us what he said - We'll be hanging down here waiting for you. After you talk with God, tell us our side of the transaction and we'll obey - so that God holds up His end as well. Getting God to act on our behalf is the goal after all.”

Ps 103:7 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.

Why do we pray? Why do we read the word? Why do we minister? Do we (by any chance) do them mainly so that God holds up his end of the transaction? 

✨SHOW US YOUR GLORY, OH GOD 

There's nothing wrong with praying or studying scripture for provision, protection or for the power to live above sin; but does it go any deeper than these legitimate desires? Has the transaction gradually become more weighty than the intimacy with the personage of God? 

Moses was clearly in closer proximity to the person, presence and power of God, than the rest of Israel. Moses talked with God face to face, and yet when he would ask God for a thing, he asked God “If I have found favour in your sight, show me your way, that I may know you and continue to find favour in your sight… show me your glory oh God". 

Moses wanted a deeper intimacy with the God he desired. He knew God the most and yet wanted Him even more. God was a person to Him. An intimate friend. One he could talk to and that he cared about. He wasn't about the transaction - he was about God. He delighted himself in God. He cared about God's heart and reputation.  

❤️TO TAKE GREAT PLEASURE IN 

To "delight in" means to "take great pleasure in". When we study the Word, pray, worship, give, serve, or spend time with the Lord; is it an activity of great pleasure or a fulfilment of our side of the transaction? How often do we take great pleasure in the person of God? How often do we say "Daddy I just want to spend time with you"? 

Ps 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

When we interact with God from a place of great pleasure, there is an automatic transaction: because when we delight ourselves in God,  He himself becomes our desire. And when He is our heart's desire, He beautifully gives himself to us. God sanctifies the heart of the delighted to only want Him, and then graciously gives himself wholly. This is the great transaction that God seeks and the only transaction that truly brings soul satisfaction! 

🙌🏽GODS GLORY SATISFIES FULLY 

The author of the human heart designed it to desire God. Thus, everyone worships and seeks something ‘higher’. Yet, the glory of God is the only thing that can fully satisfy the heart - the spirit in man was breathed out of the spirit of God, and from that day has desired intimacy with its source. God created us to know him and enjoy him forever. 

Ps 41:1-2 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?

John Piper (Founder of the web ministry 'Desiring God') puts it so beautifully that "God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him". 

The moment God is taken from the position of heart’s desire, the heart (like Israel) quickly finds an idol to fill the void. Our lives will most glorify God when we find our delight in Him. When he is the desire of our hearts, the divine order is restored, and the eternal agenda is given true expression.

In the year 2023, by the Spirit, we are restoring God to His right place - the place of delight and intimacy - in our own hearts and in the hearts of as many as the Lord will send us to; Till we all come!

Team Perfection, Welcome to chapter XI….

Our Year of Delighting in the Lord

Are you ready?

#AnointedIntentions

#DesiringGod

#SatisfiedFully

#TurningTheTransaction

#GreatPleasureInGod

#DelightingInTheLord

#TillWeAllCome