Recipes

     Hey everybody!  Well Christmas is well on it's way and...there is NO SNOW on the ground.  I honestly have a hard time believing it's practically December!  However on the other hand being able to study outside in the sunshine with a t-shirt and flip-flops isn't something you will find me complaining about.
     I have just over two weeks here and I have a few prayer requests for you guys!  I would ask for prayer that I would have the same passion to violently pursue Christ in these next two weeks as I did the first two weeks of the internship.  I ask for endurance and perseverance in this dry season and for financial provision looking into the second semester of my internship.
     Alright so something the Lord hit me hard with this past week was that He is not a recipe.  Now I am an incredibly scheduled/organized/on time/lists galore sort of a person.  I have a detailed schedule for not only my prayer room time everyday but I have set up accountability for every 15 minutes of my day.  I see time as such a gift from God and of more expense then money and I want to steward it wisely.  I thank God that He gives me grace to be passionate about being a great steward of my time.  However I've realized that my organized mindset can sometimes be a hindrance to my relationship with Christ.
     For an example sometimes the Holy Spirit will stop me on the first or the second item on my schedule in the prayer room and I am stuck there not only my entire prayer room time but also for the rest of my day!  All I can do is dive deep into the truth's of one revelation.  Sometimes it's for weeks!  For an example when I first dove into the sovereignty of God I was glued for two weeks flat and only the third week could I somewhat focus on other things.  Amidst this I have allowed the devil a foothold of me fearing that parts of me will grow weak and I will be vulnerable to sin and a life that does not fully glorify my God if I have not been able to check off everything I wanted to do in a day.  An example would be that I pray daily that I would fear God with all that I am.  If I have been so caught up with studying the importance of glorifying God I would begin to feel fear that I would lose my fear of God because I had not focused on it and prayed for it in 24 hours.
     The Lord really caught my attention when Jeff who teaches our Prophecy, Healing and Deliverance class stated that He used to see God as a recipe.  If you pray for your inner man, read the bible for an hour, study the bible for two hours, pray in tongues for half an hour etc. you were good to go!  You would surely be on the path to a successful path of radically pursuing and diving deeper into the hidden things of Christ.  Our God is so far from a recipe...He longs for a relationship.  Now I don't want to disregard the importance of accountability with our time and goals for completing everything the Holy Spirit has set on our heart's to do.  I am not decreasing all of my schedule's, lists and accountability however I am loosing all fear and guilt that goes with not completing all that is on my heart to do.  The Lord at the end of the day wants to find me faithful loving Him with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and allowing Him to love me.