The Word of God, how vast! How precious! This past month, God has done great things in my heart. My prayer at the beginning of the winter challenge was found in Psalm 119:18, “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” I had realized my finite knowledge and love for God's precious Word, and prayed earnestly and wholeheartedly that He would open my mind to see its treasures and that He would grow me in love for my Savior Jesus Christ. I can say that God has truly answered that prayer more than I ever hoped or imagined. How small my faith is! Toward the end of March, I found the treasure verse in Psalm 81:10 while memorizing portions from this book. It has become my “theme verse” for the month: “I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it” (Psalm 81:10). God has filled my heart to overflowing! How lax I had been to seek God's Word with my whole heart as Psalm 119:2 says, yet as I did so in March, I found that my God is so faithful to reward “them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). Truly my flesh rebelled against the restrictions from Internet this month, but oh, how worth every sacrifice it has been! It has been such a blessing to have the accountability and goal to work towards, and I am actually continuing the challenge for a few more weeks as I continue to seek God's will for my life. It is wonderful to be able to think on the things of the Lord throughout the day instead of having my mind constantly distracted by internet.
As I reached the end of March, I knew that I didn't want this chapter of seeing God's blessings to close. I have been realizing the importance of prayer, and how much I have lacked in this area. Thus, I made my own challenge for the month of April—to pray for a certain amount of time each morning. Already it has been such a blessing. Some of my other goals are to listen to several sermons each week and read deep biographies of great Christians. I have also set up several boundaries for myself in regard to how much time I spend online (I assigned certain days of the week for certain sites). The treasures of God's Word and a close, abiding relationship with His Son is just so precious. I can't wait to see what great things God will do as we seek Him! Faithful is He which has called us: “The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands” (Psalm 138:8). Behold the things God can do when we truly “seek him with the whole heart” (Psalm 119:2).
Thursday, April 7, 2011
The Fruit of Seeking Christ
Here is another Winter Challenge testimony from a young woman named Sarah from Easton, Kansas ~
If you did not take the winter challenge, I encourage you to pick another month this year and take the challenge—even another area of sacrifice besides Internet! It is definitely worth the sacrifice and will be life-changing. You will never regret the investment you pour into seeking the face of our great Father.
