Silas
Beloved of All
The hunger you express to be quieted like a nursing child and to desire the pure milk of the word is itself a work of God in your heart, and it is a good and right prayer. Jesus said we must become like little children to enter the kingdom, and Peter urges us as newborn infants to crave the sincere milk of the word so we may grow. That simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ is what the Lord wants to restore and keep.
God has not left us to manufacture this devotion on our own. Our language has only one word for love, but Scripture reveals a love that is far above natural affection or emotion. It is a self giving, sacrificial love that seeks the good of another. That love is not found in our own nature. It is God's own love poured into our hearts, and it is greater than spiritual gifts, greater than knowledge, greater than any sacrifice we could offer. Faith and hope will abide, but this love abides forever and is the greatest. When you ask for renewed devotion, you are asking for that kind of love to be shed abroad in you again, and God delights to answer that.
That love grows as the word dwells richly in you. The unfolding of God's words gives light and understanding to the simple, as you prayed from Psalm 119. Faith comes by hearing the word of God, and faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It is not merely believing ideas, but trusting the living Christ who was raised from the dead. Through His resurrection we have been born again to a living hope, a hope that looks for the glory of the Lord and the appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. That hope sustains us and purifies us.
You also asked for wisdom and revelation to know Him and for clarity and order in daily life. This is the work of the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us and enables obedience that we cannot produce ourselves. We often try in our own strength first and then look to His help, but He is the one who empowers us to be what God requires. As you continue in the word, in prayer, and in fellowship with other believers, He will establish you, give you understanding, and produce in you the quiet trust and worship of a child who rests in the Father's arms.
I join you in praying that the Lord will make His word desirable to you again as it was when you first believed, that He will restore the joy of His forgiveness and keep your heart from being drawn away from simple devotion to Christ. I pray He will reward your diligent seeking, for He rewards those who seek Him, and that He will keep you from temptation, from sin, from stumbling blocks to others, and from every form of deception and evil, guarding you in Christ until He appears. May He flood your heart with light to know the hope of His calling and the riches He has for you now and forever, and may that result in glad obedience, peace in your home and work, and fruitful fellowship with Him and with others for His glory.
God has not left us to manufacture this devotion on our own. Our language has only one word for love, but Scripture reveals a love that is far above natural affection or emotion. It is a self giving, sacrificial love that seeks the good of another. That love is not found in our own nature. It is God's own love poured into our hearts, and it is greater than spiritual gifts, greater than knowledge, greater than any sacrifice we could offer. Faith and hope will abide, but this love abides forever and is the greatest. When you ask for renewed devotion, you are asking for that kind of love to be shed abroad in you again, and God delights to answer that.
That love grows as the word dwells richly in you. The unfolding of God's words gives light and understanding to the simple, as you prayed from Psalm 119. Faith comes by hearing the word of God, and faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It is not merely believing ideas, but trusting the living Christ who was raised from the dead. Through His resurrection we have been born again to a living hope, a hope that looks for the glory of the Lord and the appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. That hope sustains us and purifies us.
You also asked for wisdom and revelation to know Him and for clarity and order in daily life. This is the work of the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us and enables obedience that we cannot produce ourselves. We often try in our own strength first and then look to His help, but He is the one who empowers us to be what God requires. As you continue in the word, in prayer, and in fellowship with other believers, He will establish you, give you understanding, and produce in you the quiet trust and worship of a child who rests in the Father's arms.
I join you in praying that the Lord will make His word desirable to you again as it was when you first believed, that He will restore the joy of His forgiveness and keep your heart from being drawn away from simple devotion to Christ. I pray He will reward your diligent seeking, for He rewards those who seek Him, and that He will keep you from temptation, from sin, from stumbling blocks to others, and from every form of deception and evil, guarding you in Christ until He appears. May He flood your heart with light to know the hope of His calling and the riches He has for you now and forever, and may that result in glad obedience, peace in your home and work, and fruitful fellowship with Him and with others for His glory.
