Maneuvers - No. 8
Your Adventure
With God
Have you ever had the feeling that there had to be more for you? More than what you’ve experienced with God so far, friend?
We (Jennifer and Justin) certainly have. We know what it’s like to feel like we’re simply riding the waves, one after another, going through the motions with God… and wondering if this is all there is.
Well, it’s not. There’s so much more, and we haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of all the beauty, wonder, and excitement that comes with going deeper with God.
To go deeper, though, we have to be willing to let go of our fears, our self-imposed limitations, and our deep-seated insecurities. To take our Father’s hand, close our eyes, and leap into what we can’t see.
When we take the plunge and let him show us the radical depth of his love, something inside us changes. We see things we were never able to see before. We feel new emotions, beautiful things like joy, peace, delight, hope… love. And they don’t fade when hard times come.
God is love. And the deeper we go with him, the further we go into that love.
This week’s message gives us a peek behind the curtain to see the adventures that we could go on with him if we would simply let him lead us, truly lead us. Today, we invite you to fling wide that curtain with us. Let’s go deeper today…
01.
The Message
“Come close now. I am right here. I have known you always. There is nothing to hide. Not from me. There is no need for shame. That is not the kind of relationship you are built for. There is no need to fear, for that is not what you are made for either.
“There is not one thing you need to do to make me love you. But you underestimate my love when you think you don’t need it and you don’t crave it. Because love is what you are made for: love from me, in all the ways I have built you to receive it. Through hands and fingers. Through mind and experience. Through thoughts and ideas. Through creativity and kindness. Through dreams and hopes.
“What you are made for is splendor. What you are made for is glory. What you are made for is a kingdom where you reign next to me, with me. What you are made for is wisdom and joy. What you are made for is fellowship and connection. What you are made for is the hand of your king in your own. The king who is your brother and friend who loves to be with you and who has designed you to walk, right next to me.
“I have much to show you. I have much to pour into you. Your capacity is so much greater than you think—capacity to experience the kingdom now, while you are on earth. Capacity to experience my love for you in greater measure. Capacity to trust me and hear me and follow me and do what you are made to do: love and love and love.
“Love now, in my name. Love now, with my voice. Love now, with my hands. Love now, with my ideas. Love now, with my capacity to love. I give you more capacity—capacity that never ends—if you want it. Do you want to receive more of me? Do you want to receive more of my love for you? All my love is available to you. I don’t hold it back from you. But you have to desire it to experience it in your life. And this desire must be pure, not tangled up in pleasures of this world, pleasures that don’t satisfy.
“There is so much beauty and adventure to be had with me. Let me show you what I see. Let me show you what I hear. Let me show you where I am. Let me show you where we can go together. You are the one I want to be with now, right now, and always. When you wake and when you rest. When you work and when you play. I want you to experience my love in all these moments. In all things. Do you want to? Do you want me?”
02.
Listen
How does this holy invitation impact your heart? Did it stir up a fresh longing within you, and if so, what words come to your mind to describe that longing? Let’s write down our response to God and what he said in this week’s message.
03.
Think
“We have become his poetry, a re-created people that will fulfill the destiny he has given each of us, for we are joined to Jesus, the Anointed One. Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfill it!” (Ephesians 2:10, TPT).
1. What thoughts, experiences, or circumstances lead you to believe you’re limited?
2. Where do you struggle to love like Jesus or to feel his joy and his kindness for others? What fears are holding you back from fully experiencing his love?
3. Let’s use our imagination for a moment. If you had absolutely nothing holding you back, what would your adventure with God look like? What bold steps would you take with him and what would day-to-day life be like as you experience his love? Let’s write down the images and words that come to our minds.
04.
Trust
We are capable of so much more than we think. Not because we can muster up something amazing from within, no. The human will can accomplish impressive feats, but it’s not enough. It will never be enough.
We can work more, try harder, study longer, but our own willpower can’t give us the life we long for, a life filled to the brim with wonder and love.
That comes from God alone.
Earlier, we explored the fears, thoughts, and circumstances that hold us back from that deeper experience with God. But sometimes the biggest obstacle we face is simply trying to enter the deeper places through our own willpower.
We can fall for the lie that, if we can’t manage to walk closely with Jesus in our own strength, we don’t deserve to walk closely with him at all. And we sabotage ourselves.
Friend, our battle has already been won. Christ won it for us so that we don’t have to work ourselves to exhaustion in order to experience his abundant life. It’s already ours to simply receive.
“No one’s ever seen or heard anything like this, never so much as imagined anything quite like it—what God has arranged for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9, MSG).
Those things that God has arranged for us? Not even our own weaknesses can block us from them. Because his love and power are ours.
What are the dreams God has put in your heart? The good things you feel compelled to do, that you long to do but feel you don’t have the capacity for? What does God want to do in this world through your hands, your mind, your eyes, your feet, your voice?
Let’s write down those things, those kingdom dreams, and then let’s pray…
05.
Pray
Jesus, you amaze me. You never let fear or insecurity hold you back from doing what you know your Father called you to do. You always stepped out, received Holy Spirit’s anointing and power for the task, and let your Father lead the way.
That’s what I want, too. That boldness. That courage. I know that, with you, I’m not limited. My capacity to love, to see your beauty, to pray, to do difficult things—it’s unlimited because you’re with me and in me.
Instead of stifling this longing for the deeper things, help me to let you use that longing for your purposes. To accomplish what you hunger to see in this world. I hunger to see it, too.
Right now, I surrender this list of dreams to you. (Let’s hold out that list we wrote down in the last section. Let’s lay it out on our open hands as a gesture of surrender.)
Wherever these longings are interrupted by worldly pleasures, help me put those things aside so I can stay fully immersed in you. Purify these desires in my heart, Jesus, so that you can use them to lead me however you want. Help me want what you want, do what you do, and say what you say. What you want is so, so good. You are good, and I trust you.
Amen.
Waving the banner with you,
