Tag: pursuit

pressing in for connection

Karla Lees

Until you commit to the goal of connection, all the relational tools in the world are not going to help you. It’s only when you decide to take responsibility to pursue connection that you will discover just why you need these tools. It’s only when you commit to moving toward someone that you will seek the knowledge and skills necessary to reach them. – Danny Silk, Keep Your Love On

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It’s only in the choosing that our pursuit ignites with purpose.

If you encountered someone who was deaf, and you wanted to communicate with them, you would seek out sign language to help you do so. If they were blind, you might learn to write them a letter in braille, or add more descriptive words to your dialogue.

When we choose to love someone, we decide to study them and find out what they love, then discover how we can best offer them our love.

And we can only do so when we chose to do so whole heartedly.

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Jeremiah 29:13 reminds us that God promises those who chose to wholeheartedly seek Him will find Him.

When we are intent on learning more about the ones we love, we will discover who they are.

And when we discover who they are, we are able to love them more deeply and whole heartedly in response.

It all begins with our choice.

Will we press in for deeper connection, or settle for surface level fluff?

Like cotton candy, which tastes good going down but doesn’t satisfy your hunger, surface loving never satisfies our deeper longing to connect with one another.

Because God ultimately hardwired us to connect with Him, and to one another.

I have decided to throw off my usually cover of restraint and purposely chase after God with all I am and have.

And I am choosing to do the same in all my relationships.

With God as the primary lover of my soul, and His guidance, I will discover how to love more, deeper, stronger and better.

For when Love Himself is your pursuit, and promises to be found by all who purpose to seek after Him?

With Him, I can love as He intends. With all my heart, for His glory and his honour, to better His Kingdom. Loving those about me as He has designed them to want to be loved, and as His love overflows through me to and for them.

Chosen to speak

Karla Lees

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But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference He made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted. 1 Peter 2:9-10 (MSG)

As I sit to write, fingers hovered over my keyboard, head bowed in prayer, the old doubts try to sneak their way in. ‘Why bother wasting your time’ springs into my mind.

What timing for the enemy to attack when this verse so clearly tells me why I am to write, and why you, too, are to do what He has called you to do.

Beloved, you were CHOSEN — on purpose. To serve Him and His children. To do what He desires you to do, and to speak out about the freedom you now walk in as His Beloved.

For He has brought you and I out of the shadows of night, and into the bright light of His Presence.

Once nobodies, we now are known.

Once orphans, we now have a Home.

Once rejected, we’ve been claimed as His own.

Once outside, we now are accepted and brought inside.

We are now set free to speak to others of the wonders He has made of our lives.

What lies of the enemy do you need Christ to crush once and for all? Invite Him to empower you with boldness to share what He has done for you, to free you to be who He designed you to be!

May the truth that I am Yours take root until it blooms in praise and adoration as I share You with all who will listen!

This post first appeared over at Remade Ministries: http://www.remadecommunity.org/chosen-to-speak/

One

Karla Lees

We are made One in Him.
He takes us from every background imaginable and make us His sons and daughters,  all of us.

We become His family.

One family.

And as family, we are meant to gather together as we pursue Him, the focus of our passion.

United.

One pursuit.
One passion.
One purpose.

To know Him more.
Become more His.
To share the good news that we are never alone.

It only took One to bring us back from the outskirts and plant us firmly in the circle of His affection.

Jesus.

One love.
Which spanned the heights of heavens and the depths of despair to free us from the enemy of the One. 

Release the snares of our wrongdoings,  and ushers us into His embrace and family.

One things alone remains forever.

His love for you and I.

Wavering because you don’t yet know what he has called you to do?

Your purpose is clear.
Pursue Him.

Our primary purpose for being on this earth is to know our Maker, and be known by Him:
To worship Him for who He is.
To wonder at what He has done.
To walk where he leads.
To welcome Home the lost.
To work for His glory….
To let His Words come to live within us.
To listen as He speaks.
To love that He loves.
To never lack in companionship.
To learn at His feet.
To laugh at the wonders He displays.

Join me as together we celebrate the One, and become the Beloved He is creating for himself.

One bride, longing for her Love.
Pursuing Him with all she is and has.

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Sunday Psalm: Fierce Love

Karla Lees

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Your love?!
I can barely explain my awe and wonder at its beautiful ferocity!
Part of me shivers
at the thrill of being pursued
By such devotion
In its purest form
Passionate
All consuming
Unrelenting
Love
With me
its targeted recipient

Like a tidal wave
Crashing over me
Rushing into meet me here
Your love is fierce

The certainty
that I am the one whom You love
Hits my fear and insecurity
With such strength
And intensity
That only faith
And trust remain
As my Living Hope
Floods me with the
Ever present reminder
I am loved
By the King of kings
By the Risen Savior
By Holiness
By love which breaks down
All the borders guards
I tried to erect
Before I knew
Just how good
You are
And the magnitude
of the depths of Your love
For me
for the world

Like a hurricane
That I can’t escape
Tearing through the atmosphere
Your love is fierce

Each part of Your bride,
Your Beloved,
As treasured
As if we were each the only one
Your love
It’s fierce
In all its wonderfulness!

#SundayPsalm

☆Quoted lyrics from the single ‘Your Love is Fierce’ by Jesus Culture.

pace or pursuit

Karla Lees

Is the pace at which I am doing God’s work destroying God’s work in me? Bill Hybels

There are days where I feel like I can’t catch my breath. One thing after another gets crossed off my to-do list, until I collapse on the sofa at the end of the night and wonder where my day, and my inner peace went.

Many of the things I did were good things.  But I am awakening to realize that not all of them needed to be done by ME.

I have a loving husband and two adult children, with a cute cat and a pygmy hedgehog living with me in our cozy nest.  This year, with three of us working and one in school full time, I have had to pull back on doing all the cooking, and use the crackpot more and assign nights to cook based on who is home first.  The cleaning jobs are fairly equally divided too. Not everyone is as tidy as the others, but working as a team leaves more time for family fun this way, with no one person carrying the weight alone.

All I do at home, my job or church may be His work.

But if I lose sight of how and what He is wanting me to do when and set my own pace, I can bring it all down through my attempt to do it all, in my own strength.

What we do on our own can be good, but what we are able to do with God can be great!!!

I have a few gifts and talents which God has given me (mostly around communication & community).  I am becoming increasingly aware of the fact that not all I do is meant for me to be doing.

Which means that the pace I am trying to maintain is a waste if I am not achieving His best for me at the end of the day.

Instead of trying to organize myself into obedience, I am taking a different tact this year….

I am pursuing God as my main priority.

There will always be jobs to be done, for we will always have work of one kind or another until we get to heaven.

If pursuing Him first causes me to allow him more fully to work through me, I need to lay myself down each day, and let Him set my pace.

Pausing to make sure I am running in pace with Jesus and all He has for me to do and become is more important to my well being.

Ultimately God is to be my pace setter.

My part is to give Him the space he needs within me to see the mext step ahead, as He equips me to meet each task to the best of my ability in Him.

I refuse to not answer the call He is stirring up deep within because I am keeping a frenzied pace without His purposes for me in mind.

I have no more space for the kind of waste in my life, Beloved.

Join me as we slow down before His throne, settle in at His feet, and ask Him to open our eyes to the things which matter most to Him, while He leads us to the peace within as He reminds us who we truly are, and what it is he has for us to do today.

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May the #wonder of living life at His pace overtake all of our busyness as we seek him first!

Hello, it’s Me

Karla Lees

Like so many of you, I too have been enthralled by Adele’s song Hello. Everyone can relate to feeling disconnected from someone who love, who may not be returning our affection. The passion Adele harnesses as she sings it stirred me so, it brought her revelation that someone this song was really God’s song for the ones who don’t yet know Him.

I have pondered, played and waited on rewriting this song to be sung from God’s perspective over the lost. For if He sings over us, which the Word confirms to be so, He must be singing a song for everyone. Whether we answer His call to relationship and restoration or not.

May He stir us anew to know his heart for the lost, those without hope or direction,  those who are looking for home but haven’t found Him yet.

For the ones He loves are never far from His thoughts and are ever constant on His heart.

Hello, it’s Me
I was wondering if after all this time you’d like to meet
To discover everything
that really matters to you
But I seem to be the only One trying
Hello, can you hear Me
I’m right here in the Word showing you who you could be
When you were innocent and free
You’ve forgotten how it felt before sin dropped you to your knees

There’s such a wall between us
And a million miles

Hello from the other side
I must have called a thousand times
To tell you I paid for everything that you’ve done
But when I call
you always seem to be on the run
Hello from here deep inside
I’ll never stop My loving cry
To tell you I’m here to help restore your heart, and your life matters
dont let things tear you apart anymore

Hello, how are you
It’s so typical of Me
to talk about you
I’m sorry you’re not doing well
Do you want to be free of that lie
where nothing good will ever happen?

It’s no secret that one of us
Could be running out of time

Come home Love is My forever cry
I must have called a million times
To tell you I paid for everything that you’ve done
But when I call, you always seem to be on the run
Hello here from deep inside
I’ll never stop My loving cry
To tell you I’m here to help free you at last and you truly matter
dont let life batter you down anymore

Hello I’m waiting for you
My arms are open wide
Can’t you hear my heart beat wildly
As I keep looking at you?
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Sunday Psalm: Relentless Love

Karla Lees

You carry us, carry us
when the world gives way
You cover us, cover us
with Your endless grace
Your love is relentless!
– Hillsong United

Relentless,
You placed the entirety of Your heart into the plan
You have for bringing us
back to You.
His plan will not fail,
because His passionate pursuit
of those He adores
is never ending,
ever loving,
ever wooing,
everlasting.

Relentless
He does not give up
on His Beloved.
He continues to speak,
comfort, bless & shine
on all the world,
longing for the ones
who have not yet
understood His pursuit
nor accepted His heart
& His offering.

This relentless love
longs to keep you close
under cover,
safe in His embrace.
When you cannot keep
going, He picks you
up & carries you.

Today, God,
I receive Your relentless love
for me.
I can’t say I fully understand it,
but I accept it
as the gift I have always longed for
and will always need.

#SundayPsalm

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stripping away the veil

Karla Lees

You have been teaching me a necessary lesson over these past few weeks, God.

I keep putting up veils to shield myself from seeing You directly.

You Yourself valued being able to see us face to face so much You died on that cross to rip the veil, to make it clear You were approachable, and passionate about being with us….not just while You were physically on earth but now & forever.

In my ignorance, I put barriers up between us. 

That I have to be right (impossible without You) before I can come to You.

You whisper, “Just come.”

That You don’t want the broken pieces, but only me as a whole.

You wipe my tears and say, “Come as you are.”

That only the right words or right music are fit & pleasing offerings for You.

You smile, and remind me, “Your whole life can be, and is, an offering when you are Mine.”

My part?

To pursue Him.

Unabashedly, no holds barred, flat out pursuit with everything I’ve got.

If I can’t hear properly, pursue You through silence. Your Word. Listening in my spirit.

If I can’t speak properly, pursue You with the bubbling up of praise spoken within my mind, worshiping along with music, reading the Psalms to find how I am feeling & offering it to You again as if fresh & new.

If I can’t write or type, i will speak or sing my heart out as I praise & worship You for who You are.

If I cannot see over or beyond my pain, to lift it to You as all I am able to offer in the moment.

Any way I choose to earnestly pursue You is a welcome offering to You God.

As the song by Jesus Culture states so eloquently,

I WILL pursue You,
I will pursue Your Presence.

For it is my choice to pursue You NO MATTER WHAT.

You, Your Presence, Your Word, my sole pursuit for the rest of my days on earth, and the promise to come!

Because without You, I find I exist, but i don’t truly live.  You came that we may have life to the fullest with You, not just an existence apart from You.

I can’t live without Your Presence.

So strip it all away, Lord.
Whatever is keeping me from my pursuit.
May I only pick up what You would have me use to continue my pursuit of You, and You alone.

Your Presence is life.
Real life.

Not settling for anything less.

Am i scared about this means?
You betcha.

But I am planning on doing it afraid, because He is so worth my all.

And when i get to see Him face to face, I long to know He was pleased with my pursuit.

#heartcry
#iwillpursueYou
#hopeinHisPresence

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Sunday Psalm: Pursuit

Karla Lees

I am pressing hard after You.
Hot & heavy,
without restraint or abandon.
I keep running towards You,
through stormy gale,
fiery darts & red herring whispers
trying to lead me astray.
My intent is see You
face to face,
to make it Home-
the one place
where I belong.
Where I am known
as Beloved.
I may come limping,
hoarse or racked with pain,
but I will keep coming.
I will not be deterred.
My pursuit has one singular focus:
Jesus.
Nothing but Jesus.
I will pursue only Jesus
into eternity.
You are always and forever enough for me,
no matter the season.
I will always arrive on time
when You guide my path
& I walk to the beat of Your heart.

#hopeinHisPresence
#SundayPsalm

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who’s pursuing who?

Karla Lees

And when I walk away
You take off running
and come right after me
It’s what You do
and I don’t deserve You.

Plumb – Don’t Deserve You

Pursuing You
I have come to realize
is only the result
of Your pursuit of me

And when I walk away
You follow hard after me
calling me
chasing me
as I follow the call
of other than You

Even when I wallow
and waste my inheritance
listening to foolish council
You never stop sitting
of the home front
waiting for my return

Ever watching
You send Your Spirit
to whisper
how much You love me
how much grace is mine
how Your mercy never ends
no matter what I have done

Since I said yes to You
all the roads I wander on
lead me back to You
for wherever I go
You are there
wherever I run to
You are waiting
Always

All ways don’t start off
with You in mind
if I am being honest
But as I tune my heart
to hear Your voice
I make the necessary changes
to my inner GPS
and realign my path
to walk along side You

Who’s pursuing who?

I couldn’t follow You
without Your love
paving the way in the first place.

I don’t deserve you, as the Plumb song goes, but how grateful I am that You never stop pursuing me!

The more I get to know You,
the more I want to pursue You.

Is that how it works for You, God?
Because You know us so well, You can’t help wanting to be with me?!

The most important part of the pursuit?

Finding what you were hoping for in the journey:

You pursuing me
the apple of Your eye
the Bride You long for
the one You love

My pursuit of You
the Lover of my soul
The Saviour I adore
the One I long for.

Waiting here for You
as You wait for me.

Let’s have a coffee date
Chat, hang out
and connect
as You share Your heart
for me
and I pour out my heart
to You.

A momentary lull
in our pursuit
as we meet face to face

How Presence
makes all the difference,
being with the one you love.

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So every so often regular words don’t flow out of me, and a little poetic je ne sais quoi arises to the surface! Maybe that happens to you too? I have learned to go with it, and give myself grace for stepping out of my comfort zone :)