Intense Desire

“Those who grow spiritually do not merely enjoy the Scriptures; they have a desire for it that is equal to the most fundamental longing of human experience” - John Koessler


As I read the quote above I was reminded of a long and drawn out conversation I had with my brother-in-law a couple years ago about cultivating desire. (I may have even publisged a blog post about it).  In order to attract something into our lives, we first need to have a deep desire for it. Desire is a mental state that we need to cultivate. The things that we desire most are what consume our lives, and whatever we most desire becomes a priority and is something we make time for no matter what. I found a lot of things that I struggle to making time for that should be at the top of my list. Reading, and spending time in the bible fall into that category, which means that my desire to read the bible must be really low, or, there are other things that I have a higher desire to do than read my bible. I do want to be in God’s word every day. But just wanting it doesn't seem to get me anywhere. I think I need to cultivate that "want" into an absolute desire. A want is very much like a desire, but, without the passion or commitment. A want says, "I wish I could have this." and a desire says, "I will find a way to have this, no matter what." There are always some not 'so important things' in your life that tend to take over. And there are things that easily help you waste time that you could be using to do things, such as, read your bible. I know there are things in my life that I have allowed to become a huge distraction to my spiritual life. How do I get rid of unhealthy desires though? And how do I re-kindle and build up right desires?

“Can we create a hunger for Gods word by sheer force of our will? The best way to develop a hunger for Gods word is to 'Taste and see that the Lord is good'" - John Koessler

In other words, the desire to know God and his word is not likely to develop instantaneously without knowledge of what his word is like. In the same way that we would not crave and develop a liking for certain foods unless we’ve tasted it before and know that we like it. Another way that I think you can cultivate desire is by being around hungry people, or people who are further on in the journey than you. Spiritual hunger is contagious. Is it not?

Just a little food for thought.

Rosanna ♥

When autumn comes | Spiritual seasons

I have experienced times in my spiritual growth that I would describe as a stand still. Everything seems as though it is moving in slow motion. I neither feel Spiritually rich, nor spiritually lacking. I feel stuck somewhere between the lines, as though my spiritual life is just vapid. During these times when I would read my bible, I often struggled to find any significant meaning in the passage I was reading. Its not like my world was shattering, or falling apart.....there is just a peace that is missing. I know what it feels like to be completely at peace! I've experienced that blessed gift before, so, I know when it is absent.

In Ecclesiastics chapter 3 it talks about how there is "a time for everything". I am always encouraged by those verses! It's good to know that there are always going to be different seasons in life, whether they be joyful or hard....it's all a part of God equipping and strengthening me. But I also know that is is so confusing to go from a time of complete peace to a time of restlessness and discouragement....it doesn't seem right.

Once when I was going through one of my spiritual lows I approached a friend and told him about my struggle. This is what he shared with me;

There are three points I would like to give you.

1. Jesus and his disciples make a prominent point to symbolize our spiritual lives as botanical, or plant like. Think of a fruit bearing tree as you think of your life, there are four stages in the cycle of a year; or point in life.  spring, summer, autumn and winter. Each has a very important part in our lives. In spring a tree sprouts leaves and prepares to bear fruit. In the summer fruit is born and much energy is expended. In the autumn the fruit has been harvested and the leaves fall. In the winter the tree seems inactive. But in truth, without this winter stage the tree would not survive. Winter is a time to recoup and to store energy up for the coming spring. Unlike a tree, our stages are not equally spaced in the four seasons of the year, but can span for much longer or shorter time frames. 

2. There is a time and a place for everything.. Ecclesiastes is probably one of my favorite books of the bible :) Along with that, a theme of the book is the meaninglessness of our arduous cycles of life and growth in and of ourselves. God alone is what makes anything worth while and profitable. God alone is good, and God does not need us for anything. Yet he desires to use us and allows us to glorify him... Again not in and of ourselves but in him working THROUGH us.... Not with us, not along side us, only through us. It is when we fully submit to him that good is done and that his timing can be fully realized. We don't choose God, we are just shown that which has always been true and part of the plan. And we conform to that divine revelation of who God is and what his purpose is for our life, moment-to-moment, not just in the eternal sense.

3. There are times that we seem disconnected from God or that "spiritual high" seems to dissipate. When we are stricken down by situations in our lives we may have a misguided view of what our relationship with God is and how our identity in Him is assured.  It is not in what He does, but in who He is. When we take our joy and purpose in WHO God is, our joy and purpose are infallible and eternally assured. When we take our joy and purpose from the situations of how we are feeling or how we seem to be growing in Christ, our dormant stages will bring us down and make us doubt that which is so evident when God chooses to bless us with obvious proof of his work in our life.

P.S. just as a tree grows, we grow. When you watch a tree day by day you don't notice drastic change if any change at all. But over long periods of time you notice a tree has grown leaves or blossoms and in even longer spans of time the tree grows in height or width. Also, a tree does not notice itself grow, so don't expect to see yourself growing all the time. Take heart from the growth that has already been shown to you.

Even though this conversation happened years ago (at least 4), I still think of these words and I am so thankful that God placed people, like Justin, in my life to encourage me through my struggles.

Discouragement is one of the enemies greatest tools. Don't give him the satisfaction of giving up. Continue to read your bible during those dry seasons. Continue to pray, and always surround yourself with good fellowship. A tree cant grow without sun and air and water and food, so neither can you grow spiritually if you give-in to discouragement and cut yourself off from your sources of spiritual food.

A Time for Everything

"There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace. 

What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him." (Ecclesiastes 3:3-14)

Rosanna ♥

Control is an illusion

We run faster and faster to gain more and more control, but we never arrive at our destination. However, control is an illusion. No amount of control will ever be enough to make sure of our safety or remove our fears. So, how can we be set free from fear apart from our feeble attempts at control? The answer is found in 1 John 4:18, "Perfect Love casts out fear." It is the very presence of God that removes fear, for God himself is love. (1 John 4:8)  Fear loses its grip on our souls when it is confronted with the love of God, as our hearts and minds delight Him. There's no point in forming my own thoughts on something that Sky Jethani has already verbalized so perfectly in his book With. He says "It is the experiential knowledge of Gods love---his unyielding goodness towards us---that delivers us from fear and gives us the courage to surrender to him." Those who live with God are set free from fear. Even though it may seem like it, God has not abandoned this world to chaos. He is still able to bring order out of the chaos, and those united with Him do not have to fear the unpredictable and powerful forces that surround them. God is the ultimate source of hope even in a world that appears to be drowning in chaos. (Isaiah 43:1-3)

What is hope? Sky Jethani describes hope in these ways-

• Hope is the opposite of despair.
• Hope is the conviction that despite what we may see and experience, everything is not meaningless. 
• Hope is much more than wishful thinking or unfounded optimism. 
• Hope is a "sure and steadfast anchor of the soul" (Hebrews 16:19)
• Hope is what allows us to keep our bearing in turbulent seas; it is the assurance that the chaos we experience in this world will not win, but God's purposes will overcome. 
• Hope should not be contingent on morality or circumstances.

"A great many of us have come to believe that hope and significance is an external construct--something contingent on our circumstances. As a result, we fail to believe that the Christian life, at least in its fullest and most abundant form, can be lived anywhere. Os Guinness said it this way; first and foremost we are called to Someone (God), not something (such as motherhood, politics, or teaching) or to somewhere (such as the inner city or outer Mongolia). In other words, it is not our circumstances or behaviors or radical decisions that give our lives meaning and hope, but our unity with God himself."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             - Sky Jethani  

Finding our hope with God rather than in the condition of life, means that if something were to happen to change our circumstances, perhaps even by tragedy, our hope would not be diminished, but remain steadfast. When we live life with God it breaks the cycle of fear and control that plagues other postures of life. Once our lifestyle of fear is interrupted, genuine faith and hope become accessible to us. But faith and hope are not the only, nor are they the greatest, qualities to be cultivated when we live life with God. "And now these three remain; faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love" (1 Cor 13:13) (John 13:35)  Life with God begins with delighting in God himself rather than seeking to use Him. Sky Jethani says that God does not victimize or manipulate us as instruments of his will regardless of what the world may think. Rather His joy is found in using us as the objects of his love because we are his beloved children (Zeph 3:17). What do you think about that?

"Love is the beginning and the end, the origin and culmination of our relationship with God. And along the way it provokes wonder, illuminates discoveries, and ignites joy.
Solitude with God is what fuels an engine of love within us--love that is courageous, generous, and unending. Amid the throngs, there will continue to be a secret and intensely intimate communion shared only between each individual and God. That is what we have been created for. Life under, over, from, and for God will pass away. But life with God, like the love that fuels it, will never end. Until then we continue to pursue our lives with him, find refreshment in the undeserved rain of love, long for the day when we shall see him face-to-face, and there discover who we really are." 

Reading the book With has caused me to be very introspective. I know that the biggest challenges in my life right now are fear and discouragement. They are things I feel I lack control over. I cannot say that I have found revelation through Skye Jethani. If I did I would be lying. I am affected by fear, anxiety, and discouragement in the same ways now as I was when I began this reading. I am trying ever so hard to surrender my fears to God. . . It is just so incredibly hard.

Rosanna ♥

Mis·con·cep·tion

When I was at bible school, back in the fall of 2015, I read the book True Discipleship by John
Koessler, and while I was making my way through the first couple of chapters I began to think about a common misconception that I have witnessed in believers. It points to their lack of understanding that christ has freed us from sin’s domination, but not from its influence. The drift I observe seems to start's with confusion when circumstances get hard and sin becomes a temptation. It is then that these people retaliate and accuse the Christian belief as untrustworthy because of the idea that- as believers, we are freed from the clutches of our sin nature. That, and the conclusion that God is a God of love, compassion, and grace, therefore our struggles will be "narrow" and the way "good/easy". Where is this idea being sold from?


My belief is that our life on earth as followers of Christ [should] be a life that is full of love, delight, serenity, hope, gratification, and sanctification! However, in John 16:33, Jesus clearly tells us that “In the world, you will have trials and tribulation.” Then, he goes on to say “But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Our walk with Christ is not meant to be easy, but it is worth the effort. Philippians 3:8-10 “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus as my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I might gain Christ, and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith--- that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death”

There was a certain part that really stuck out to me as I read through a section in the book titled "The Struggle Continues." The topic struck me because of the many people that I have talked to that begin to doubt Gods love, and even His existence because the struggles in their life after confessing Christ do not become easier, but rather more difficult. My understanding and belief is that at the point of repentance from our old self, and adoption into the family of Christ, it is then that we become eternal warriors, fighting sin in ourselves. Ephesians 6:10-18 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm....” 

The war has just begun.

Rosanna ♥