I. Following Hard after God

In a previous post, I talked about how I had just finished reading "The Pursuit of God" by A.W. Tozer.  It was really a great book on pursuing a deeper, more meaningful relationship with God.  This is something that every disciple of Christ desires and strives for. 

I'm finding so many ways that Tozer's writing is applicable to my life today. Hope you enjoy.

 

 

I.  Following Hard after God

"My soul followeth hard after thee; thy right hand upholdeth me."
Psalm 63:8

• "Before a sinful man can think a right thought of God, there must have been a work of enlightenment done within him; imperfect it may be, but a true work nonetheless, and the secret cause of all desiring and seeking and praying which may follow."
  It's amazing to me how much importance we tend to put upon ourselves.  We seem to think that all of our efforts are somehow credited to us.  But it is not so. If we think of God, it is because He has done a work in our hearts.  When we accept him, it is because He first pursued us. We wouldn't even be able to comprehend a single verse from His word if He hadn't first opened the eyes of our hearts. 
  
  Out of His amazing love for us, he has chosen to work in our hearts so that we might know him. 

• "Being made in His image we have within us the capacity to know Him.  In our sins we lack only the power.  The moment the Spirit has quickened us to life in regeneration our whole being senses its kinship to God and leaps up in joyous recognition."
  
  Whenever we have truly become regenerated in Christ, our souls leap for joy in the recognition of our Creator.  A sense of rightness, a familiarity that is instantaneous. 

• When religion has said its last word, there is little that we need other than God Himself.  The evil habit of seeking God-and effectively prevents us from finding God in full revelation.  In the "and" lies our great woe.  If we omit the "and" we shall soon find God, and in Him we shall find that for which we have all our lives been secretly longing."
  
  Pursuing only God is extremely fulfilling.  We are all guilty of adding our own desires onto God, but when we strip all of that away we are left with only the longing for God Himself. 
  
  This may seem detrimental to some:  to make our God our all at the expense of all else.  However, when we forsake everything else, we are able to find the deep joy in knowing that God is our everything.
  
  It's so easy to misplace our priorities.  If our main motivator for pursuing Christ is to prosper, or gain peace, or be free from trouble, what happens when we achieve our goal?  Or, what if we fail to find what we're looking for? 
  
  In life, we will have trials and suffering.  There will be days that everything goes wrong and our patience has been worn over thin.  What do we do when we aren't living "our best life now", despite all of our efforts?  (Don't worry, I'll be addressing the unbiblical ministries of many of today's leading teachers in the future)When we pursue God simple to be close to Him, we find that even when we are sick, even when we are suffering, even when the kids are testing our patience and we feel like giving up, we still have God.
  
  When we are sick, we know that God is caring for us and waiting for us at the end of the road.
  
  When we face persecution for following God, we are able to know that He is fully there and fully understands.  In the end, our reward is in heaven.
  
  And when our patience is gone, we know that we have a Heavenly Father that we can run to.  How wonderful to know that when I am at my wits end, my God can fill me up with his love and patience! 

These are just a few of my thoughts about the first chapter of The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer.  What are your thoughts on the book?  How is the wisdom found in this chapter applicable to your life? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

2014-2015 Homeschool Verse

This is our second year homeschooling, and since Squirrely Girl is now a First grader, I am now doing something more structured.  I've already spoken some about our decision to use My Father's World curriculum.  I had seen it on quite a few blogs, and when I was researching curriculums I kept being drawn back to this one.  God has a way of weeding through all of the unnecessary stuff for us!

In addition to doing the MFW 1st Grade: Learning God's Story, my husband and I are really wanting to focus on biblical character training.  This led us to adopt a verse for the year.  Since our kids are still so young, we wanted to start them out with a good foundation on how we should act. 

So I sat down, bible opened before me, and prayed that God would lead me to the perfect verse for our coming school year.  As I began reading, I was drawn to Galatians 5.  I immediately knew that this was a wonderful verse for our family for the upcoming year.  With all of us trying to become more structured with our schooling, we are bound to have hard days where the tears flow and the frustration levels rise.  What better thing to cling to than our Savior's provision to handle all these things?!

 

 

With everything that I am wanting to include in our day--from the math facts and phonics lessons to the science experiments and cooking lessons--I don't want to forget to focus on what's truly important.  One of the most important reasons we decided to homeschool was so that we could "train our children in the way they should go" (Proverbs 22:6). 

If in my zeal to check off my lesson plans and cram as much fun, interesting instruction I can into their little brains I forget the weightier matters such as love and mercy, then it is all for naught.  God gave me these three little blessings to raise into people that love and praise Him with every fiber of their being.  How will they know unless I point them to the One who did it all? 

Above all, if my children learn nothing else this year, I want them to learn to rely on God and know that in Him we can be victorious in all things.  Through Him we are able to truly love, have pure joy, a peace that surpasses understanding, patience in all things, show kindness at all times, goodness in all circumstances, faithfulness in following Him, a gentle spirit, and self-control. 

To help the kids memorize the verse, I got the bible verse printout as well as the fruit basket printouts from Christian Preschool Printables.  I laminated the verse and hung it in our living room so that we would see it often throughout the day.  I also laminated the fruit basket pieces and used some Velcro to make a game for the kids to practice our verse.  We've played many variations with it, and already Squirrely Girl has memorized our verse.  Bear in well on her way to having it memorized as well. 





Does your family have a verse for the homeschool year?  I'd love to hear your story in the comments.