What am I learning?

Recently, one of our pastors preached a sermon focusing on one main question - "What am I learning?"

It's wonderful to have intimate moments with God and to be overwhelmed by His presence. It's great to receive powerful revelation of His Word.

But if those experiences aren't changing me, what's the point?

So I decided to stop and look at what God's been teaching me the past few months:
  • I'm learning obedience is better than sacrifice when I'm obeying from a place of relationship with my Father, not simply trying to avoid His anger with rote religious acts of sacrifice.
  • Real relationship requires trust.
  • Loving people the way they need to be loved is hard, and does require sacrifice.
  • There is a time to war and a time to weep. God does both and invites us to join Him.
  • God weeps, but never despairs or loses hope. He sees things from an eternal perspective.
  • I need to spend more time seeing things from God's perspective.
  • People need hope.
  • The presence of God is the safest place on Earth, regardless of what's happening around us.
  • I cannot survive, nor be of any use to anyone else, without the presence of God.
  • People need God - the real God; not the faraway one who says it won't get better until you're dead.
  • Healing is always right, and I'll fight for it until I'm dead.
  • Things get better when I humble myself and apologize for being a jerk.
  • I need more mercy for others.
  • Seeing other's answered prayers brings hope for my own as-yet-unanswered prayers.
  • I need to look at more than just my own prayers.
A constant quest for experiences and revelation can mask a fear of facing the things God is trying to teach us right now. It might not seem as "exciting," but how can He allow us to move forward without taking the time to truly be changed?

Our movement from "glory to glory" is meant to involve transformation (2 Cor. 3:18). Stop and look at what God's been showing you lately - did you let it go more than skin-deep, or have you already moved on to something else?

Let's cut off the fear and jump into the change He's trying to bring! Our Father only has good for us, so let's take the time to cooperate with the transformation!

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