Locking Eyes with the One I Love

This day did not start at all as I planned it. I had every intention to continue fine-tuning my manuscript, knock out my to-do-list and get on about my day. But none of those things happened.

I instead got pulled into the gracious space of stillness of God's presence, receiving the grace that I need to keep going. And I realize that being still today was more important than accomplishing all other things. And that is what I needed. And oftentimes, we miss those moments, I do. Or we feel guilty or less productive when we create spaces that seem nothing when in reality, those spaces allow us to do everything.

I do not know about you, but my personality needs no prodding from everybody. Drive is inherent, speed and expediency are the only gear I know, and I have an inner drive for action. Motivation is at the very core of who I am.

So today, I had to surrender to the call of the voice of the One whom I love and neglect all else.

You see, in our journey, we wear many hats, we carry many responsibilities, and many vie for our attention and priorities. Many require our attention, demand our time, and steals our devotion.

Undeniably, many of those things are great things, many of those are necessary, and many of those are even God-given assignments. We have many responsibilities that often time we neglect our responsibility to God and our relationship with Him, and our ministry to Him.

That is my greatest fear, to be so caught up in the work of ministry that I forget my number one ministry - God Himself. And difficult as it is, we need to fight for our relationship and fellowship with Him.

God is not insecure; He is all-sufficient and whole without us. And yet, in that wholeness, He desires us to love Him and to choose Him above all else. The God of the universe desires to fellowship with us. What a great privilege.

And yet, oftentimes, we neglect it. We take our opportunities to minister to His heart for granted. It becomes no more the bread crumbs of our day, tucked in the back burner of our priorities. And we begin to wonder why we burn out, begin to lack passion or miss purposeful direction.

We continue to run fully charging ahead yet depleted because we have unplugged ourselves from our True Source. Our fuses become short; our kindness depletes, our patience quickly dwindling away. Our motivations disappear, and now we feel empty, depleted, and without purpose.

And this is why though it's hard, we need to fight for our time with God. It is not an option for anyone who wants to walk a purposeful life.

There's a Biblical formula that continually produces supernatural strength.

"...In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore." Psalms 16:11

"The joy of the Lord is my strength..." Nehemiah 8:10

The source of strength is joy. And the source of joy is found in His presence. That is the fountain of our strength.

Think about it this way. Being in God's presence is like a tea-bag being steeped in hot water. The tea-bag being the power of God through His Spirit and found in His Spirit. You are the hot water, no color, no taste, bland.

But the tea-bag changes all of that. The more it is steeped, the stronger it gets. It begins to take on the properties of the tea. It begins to have color; it begins to have a taste; it begins to have a purpose, healing properties, it becomes beneficial to those who drink of it.

The longer it steeps, the stronger it gets. More time it soaks, the higher the concentration of the properties that diffuses.

What's the key to the strength of the tea? Time of soaking and steeping.

What's the key to our strength? Time of soaking and steeping in God's presence.

As we begin to spend time with Him, we begin to change. We begin to take in purpose and meaning; we begin to receive power and strength. We begin to receive His attributes and begin to be transformed more into His character. The longer we steep, the stronger His spirit begins to operate within.

And this principle may be elementary, but sometimes it's the simple things that hold so much meaning. It is also the simplest thing that we often neglect and take for granted.

No matter what happens, do not allow your time with God and the privilege that we have in Christ to have the fellowship to become nothing more than a novelty. Something so sacred taken so lightly. I am not saying all his to condemn anybody but to encouragement a re-alignment of priorities. If you get this one thing right, though it may not happen overnight, somehow, and in some way, everything will fall in its place. And even when it doesn't, you will find yourself reacting and handling things in a different way.

I am often asked if I am always energetic, always happy and why I constantly wear a smile on my face. And the truth is, I am not always energetic, and there are definitely days that all I want to do is sleep. And when I feel that way, I just unplug, sleep and allow myself to be refreshed.

But am I always happy? Yes, because joy and happiness for me are no longer founded on external things but found in the presence of my King. Notice I did not say easy because not all things are easy. But in His presence, I receive supernatural peace and empowerment to keep going.

I have experienced the supernatural empowerment of being in His presence. And the strength of that empowerment is limitless and is more than able to sustain us.

I did not plan to write today, but I want to reach someone whose heart is tired and weary. To assure those that need to rest. It is okay. Take time and take a break. Allow yourself space to breathe. And even vent, cry to God, He is waiting to hear, and He for sure is not intimidated.

Allow God's love to settle and quiet you today. Yes, it may call for you to re-arrange your time and priorities. Do it anyway.

And this last part is personal. I will share where I stand, but you need to discover this love relationship for yourself.

We need to fall crazily, madly, fully, unashamed, wholly in love with Jesus.

And live in that love. As I began to type this out, it was spurred by hearing the song "When I Lock Eyes With You", and I just got pulled into the call to marvel at The One whom my soul loves. The One whom I am able to love because He first loved me.

I personally love Jesus so much my heart hurts at the thought of Him, talking about Him brings me to tears, and my soul so deeply yearns to be home with Him every moment of every day. I miss Him and the depth of His presence throughout the day, odd as it may seem since I know He is always with me. I just want to be with Him, uninterrupted, every moment of every day. Everything else fades when He calls.

This relationship is so personal no one else can do it for you. But we will never get to experience its fulness unless we make it a priority. Relationships take time and commitment. Love is a decision. Commitment and intimacy are necessary aspects to maintain it.

This is no different from our walks with the Lord. We need to make a daily decision to love Him and be loved by Him. He is so in love with you; allow Him to just love you. Commit to your relationship; put time into it. Communicate to Him and give room for Him to speak. Allow room for fellowship and intimacy.

Find and make time. And guard it; if you don't, you risk even your very well-being.

Allow yourself to receive His strength every day.

I pray that a passionate pursuit for His presence and passionate pursuit of His love stirs and awakens in your heart today.

Enter in. He is waiting. Sit and lock eyes with the One who loves you.

Let Him quiet you with His love - Zephaniah 3:17