Lord, You are the “it” for me Papa. Even in the moments when I could have enjoyed earthly momentarily bliss, all I could think of was You. I was thankful that You are that One thing that gives me deep joy. Things and people come and go and You Papa are the One thing that will forever remain. Thank You!!!

This momentarily bliss

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-is NOT of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” 1 John 2:15-17

Weeks ago at this Church I was visiting, the pastor preached on those three verses and it was like a veil was lifted from my heart. Right then, I realized my problem: some part of me still loved the world. And IF I really wanted to move closer and deeper with God I had to crucify that desire and repent of it. Verse 15 is pretty clear: If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. A lot of us try to do it. We love the world and we “try” to love the Lord. But this verse teaches us that it’s impossible. Loving the world makes it impossible to love the Lord the way He should be loved!! Let me repeat that: It’s impossible to love the world and the Father. What the world delights in, what the world chases after is the total opposite of what God wants. The world rewards and treasures the exterior and being seen and recognized by others; but God delights in those who do His will and abide in Him. He focuses on your heart because a changed heart leads to a changed life. You want a changed life? Let God transform your heart and watch yourself turn into everything beautiful that you never thought you could be.

Our momentarily bliss can blind us to the glory of God. Because we can turn those “momentarily bliss” into our god. They become “something” that we are always chasing after, and that something that we should always chase after should ONLY be God. Let’s be careful, although God gives us momentarily bliss, let’s not turn them into our gods. Because as the Bible says, “You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and money both.” Matthew 6:24 (MSG)

Your Isaac 

What’s that one thing that you hesitate to surrender to the Lord. (take a second and think about that, please?!)

“Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the Angel of the Lord called him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” And He said , “Do not lay your hand on the boy, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” Genesis 22:9-12

Sometimes God doesn’t test us with trials, He tests us with our “innocent” deep heart desires. It may be easy to cling to God in trials but do you cling to God the same way in your blessings? God knew how much Isaac meant to Abraham because Isaac wasn’t only a child of the promise but through him God had promised to “establish His covenant for his offspring after him”. Genesis 17:19

If God gave you your deepest heart desire, would you surrender it back to God if He asked you to? (Be honest with yourself!!) Or would just assume that, that must be the devil, because God gave you that thing? Would you faithfully show Him that you fear Him and that there is nothing you would ever withhold from Him? Thank God, I am getting there. Even in your momentarily bliss, is God still your “it”? Is He still the One who has your heart? Only actions and your life prove that you fear Him and that He has your whole heart. Talk is cheap.

Even with all the blessings you ever desired, would God stay as your First love?

I am a firm believer in examining our hearts. It never hurts to double check the state of your heart. Because I believe it’s “easier” to assume that God is always your First love when in truth some momentarily bliss have replaced His place.

I love 2 Corinthians 13:5 in regards to this: “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you NOT know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?-unless indeed you are disqualified.”

Eternal bliss 

Big dreams fade away. Heart longings dissipate as if they never rattled you. And people were never meant to fill us. Nothing is or will ever be enough for you expect Jesus. Trust me, no big dream vacation will fill your empty longing heart. Only God can. No man or woman can save you, only God can.

Momentarily bliss don’t mean eternal bliss; but faith can turn our appointed eternal bliss into momentarily bliss.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He had caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice…” 1 Peter 1:3-6

Thanks be to God that we are born again to a living, eternal hope!

You don’t have to settle for this earth momentary bliss because God invites us into an eternal bliss that makes us who we never dreamed we could be. When God blesses us with earthly bliss, please let’s NOT turn them into our gods. The gifts are NOTHING compared to the Giver. Gifts will NEVER save us.

Momentary bliss can leave you so full of longing of more earthly comfort that you forget your call to go out in the world and make disciples. It can make our call of shining Him in the dark “secondary” when it should always, always be our primary focus. Earthly bliss may make us run towards comfort when God has saved us to go out in the world in the uncomfortable to proclaim His name.

Father God, by the blood of Jesus we come at Your throne Jesus, we plead with You God, to turn our hearts from any other “ambition” and any other goals we have that don’t include You. Lord Jesus, become our ambition, become our goal, become ALL we EVER desired. Father God, Your presence is *everything*. All You do for us and give us should NEVER turn our hearts from You. Lord, we glorify Your name. We glorify everything You are for us. In the name of Jesus, we surrender yet again ALL to You. Amen.