{"id":4578,"date":"2015-05-27T13:50:33","date_gmt":"2015-05-27T13:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=4578"},"modified":"2015-05-27T13:50:33","modified_gmt":"2015-05-27T13:50:33","slug":"pursuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=4578","title":{"rendered":"Pursuit"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve finished reading two of the books I\u2019ve planned to read this summer. Phew! But before I move away from these books, I wanted to take some time to allow my thoughts and heart to be changed by the lessons I\u2019ve learned from these books.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Daytona<\/a>A Sudden Glory<\/em> has allowed my spiritual eyes to be opened wider. Such insight into God\u2019s love for mankind. The desire that God has for every person to be drawn to Him. God\u2019s continual pursuit of people who sometimes seem indifferent to His wooing. These are all beautiful reminders of why God does what He does. What blessings we receive from God our Father and Creator!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There is a question in the back of A Sudden Glory<\/em> that captured my attention. See if you don\u2019t agree. \u201cMake a list of ten ways that God has continued to pursue your heart and draw you into an intimate relationship with Him.\u201d[i]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What do you think? Can you come up with ten ways God has pursued you? I\u2019m sure if you spent some time with it, you would be able to. But just to give you a jump start, let\u2019s look at this question together.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

God loved first <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe love because he first loved us.\u201d<\/em> (1 John 4:19 \u2013 NIV) We find this thought over and over in Scripture. Don\u2019t miss this important piece of pursuit.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

God sent Jesus<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cFor God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.\u201d<\/em> (John 3:16 \u2013 NIV) That is pursuit.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

God\u2019s love is everlasting<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.\u201d<\/em> (Jeremiah 31:4 \u2013 NIV) How can we possibly resist this loving-kindness?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

God Himself searches<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep.\u201d<\/em> (Ezekiel 34:11-12a \u2013 NIV) This is personal for God. He will continue to pursue you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

God strengthens<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cFor the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.\u201d<\/em> (2 Chronicles 16:9a \u2013 NIV) Not only does God search and pursue, He enables us to get through another day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

God embraces<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBut while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.\u201d<\/em> (Luke 15:20 \u2013 NIV) How wonderful to know the comfort of God\u2019s loving arms.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

God is patient<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.\u201d<\/em> (2 Peter 3:9 \u2013 NIV) Just think how patient God has been with you. Remarkable isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

God adopts<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cHe chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.\u201d<\/em> (Ephesians 1:4-5 \u2013 NIV) Chosen and adopted. What pursuit!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

God protects<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him.\u201d<\/em> (Nahum 1:7 \u2013 NIV) How blessed to be under the protection of God Almighty.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

God is a friend<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master\u2019s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made know to you.\u201d<\/em> (John 15:15 \u2013 NIV) Earthly friends come and go, but when we have God as a friend, we will never, ever be alone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is a list of ten ways God pursues us. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Maybe you\u2019ll want to continue this search. Maybe you\u2019ll want to make your own list. If so, I\u2019d love to hear how you encounter God\u2019s pursuit.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As you go through your day, I pray that you will take notice of all the ways you\u2019re pursued by God. Be a believer. Open your eyes. See what God is up to. You will truly be amazed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Donna<\/p>\n

[i]<\/a> A Sudden Glory, Sharon Jaynes, Multnomah Books, Colorado Springs, 2012, pg. 204.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  I\u2019ve finished reading two of the books I\u2019ve planned to read this summer. Phew! But before I move away from these books, I wanted to take some time to allow my thoughts and heart to be changed by the lessons I\u2019ve learned from these books.   A Sudden Glory has allowed my spiritual eyes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes","_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,20,3770,4047,14],"tags":[1841,1111,4345,4346,4343,4347,4342,3128,182,4344,1094,4341],"class_list":["post-4578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-accepting-god","category-hearing-god","category-listen","category-savor","category-seeking-god","tag-1-john-419","tag-2-chronicles-169a","tag-2-peter-39","tag-ephesians-14-5","tag-ezekiel-3411-12a","tag-god-pursues-us","tag-jeremiah-314","tag-john-1515","tag-john-316","tag-luke-1520","tag-nahum-17","tag-pursuit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4578"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4579,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4578\/revisions\/4579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}