Personal Challenge #15: Living as One Connected to Him (Part 1)

Learning to live CONNECTED to Him. Abiding. Quenching our thirst from His water. Finding rest in Him alone.

Connecting is more than just reading a devotional or even just reading the Bible.

Connecting is knowing that you have met with God and He has met with you. Connecting is vital. Connecting leads to having a steadfast heart. Remain in Him. Do not disconnect, even for a moment. Stay in Him.

“Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and you will delight in the richest of fare.
Give ear and come to me;
listen, that you may live.”
Isaiah 55:1-3

“Now go and sin no more.”
John 8:11

IF WE ARE NOT THIRSTY, WE WON’T SIN.

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. John 15:9-11

Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. 1 John 2:28

We are knowing Him now, daily, and when we see Him face-to-face, we will know Him even more fully! When we see Him face-to-face, He will not be a stranger to us, He will know us and we will know Him.

Journal Entry, Age 33
I want to abide. Help me to keep in step with you. I need to come and buy oil everyday. To fill up my oil lamp. It’s foolish to not. It’s foolish to run on empty. The oil of intimacy. The oil of relationship. (Matthew 25:1-13)
I want to hungrily drink from Him each day. Eat of His word, drink of His water so my soul is refreshed. I need Him, I want to know Him, my soul finds rest in Him alone. I want to model a life of continuously having oil for my lamp.

Mornings with Him.

Journal Entry, Age 33
I need Your love each morning!

I don’t spend time with God because I have to, out of religious obligation, but because I need to. I need to be renewed, reminded, refreshed in His love every morning, for the health of my heart. 

It’s not about ‘getting the quiet time in each day’. It’s not about ‘my quiet time isn’t religious. If I’m busy for a while, God gets it, He’ll be fine’. It’s about meeting with Him. It’s about not neglecting the secret place.

Personal Challenge: Time with Jesus
Don’t leave until you know you’ve met with Him. Meet with him each day. I want to hear His words before other words in the morning (Isaiah 55). I know I wake up and go to my phone for physical connection… But I want to connect with HIM. Set time for Him. You will know the difference of if you’ve connected with Him or if you just ‘went through the motions’. You will know it by seeing if your heart is steadfast or not. You will know it by seeing if you are ‘thirsty’ or not. Give Him everything that hits you heart. Give Him all areas that you feel thirsty in, and allow Him, in His perfect way, to fill those places.

Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.
Psalm 62:8

“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I entrust my life”
Psalm 143:8

In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait expectantly.
Psalm 5:3

But I will sing of your strength,
in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my fortress,
my refuge in times of trouble.
Psalm 59:16

It is good to praise the Lord
and make music to your name, O Most High,
proclaiming your love in the morning
and your faithfulness at night,
Psalm 92:1-2

Tips:
Make a set time with the Lord for 30-60 mins each day in the morning and try to keep to it as much as possible, as much as you would with a friend. Don’t compartmentalize (weekends are for me, weekdays are for Him; Sundays are for Him, the other 6 days are for me).

Journal Entry, Age 33
I don’t want to do anything that I feel I need to exclude You from. I want to do everything with You. If I’m doing something I feel I couldn’t do with You, I don’t want to do it! If I feel like You wouldn’t be into the show I’m watching, I don’t want to watch it! I don’t want a moment without that connection from You, Jesus. I don’t want to disconnect from the vine.

The Power of Sharing

If you find yourself unable to connect with Him… Don’t go another minute… Ask for prayer…
One of the hardest times for me to connect with God has been when I am experiencing difficult or negative emotions. In my life, I often dealt with those emotions through trying to escape them… distract myself from them, stuff them beneath some kind of comfort, etc. I have learned escape doesn’t pay off, and instead, if I’m struggling with connecting with God in the midst, I ask to pray with a friend. Even in the presence of a friend, if I pray to God myself, it is so powerful.

6:44 Testimony

So, I’ve decided to set up a Prayer Hotline Group especially for singles.

  • Are you feeling oppressed with loneliness and can’t connect with Jesus in that moment?
  • Are you in the midst of sexual desire and maybe feeling frustrated toward God and so having difficulty connecting with Him in that moment?
  • Are you with your boyfriend and feeling like things are sliding into tricky waters? Take a step back, and send a request to the group.

The only requirement of being a part of this group is that you will actually participate in it, share your heart and pray for those who share. (Email purity @onfire.jp)

Let’s wrestle in prayer for one another, “that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured” (Colossians 4:12b).

“Remain in Me, as I also remain in you.”

Journal Entry, Age 34
It is my goal to learn how to remain in Him THROUGH difficulty. Each time I choose Him in difficulty, I am growing in this.

Personal Challenge:
How about you? When faced with difficulties, do you choose to turn to God, and trust in His promises even when they feel opposite to your reality? Do you connect/disconnect/reconnect from Him depending on life’s circumstances? Or do you connect, and connect again each day? Ask Jesus to help you remain in Him, as He also remains in you, in good and hard times.

Discovery Bible: Discover what God wants to speak to you from His word today. John 15:1-17

But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
Jude 20, 21