Heart to heart!

When I study the bible I am focusing on one letter or one book from the bible at the time, I "carry with me" what I read throughout the days of the week until I decide to move on to the next letter/book . You have probably noticed that I quote alot from the book of psalms in my blog. I always do it like this: parallel to my study of a certain letter I always start or end by reading from the book of psalms. So at the same time I study for example the book of Genesis or the letters to the Chorintians I am continually meditating on some psalm. Often God connects what I read elsewhere to truths in the book of psalms. I am so blessed by filling myself continually with truths from the book of psalms, it helps me to uphold a heart of worship.

Lately I have been tremendously blessed by meditating on psalm 27. I could write alot about that psalm, about having God as my light and my salvation in the middle of darkness, or about being secure facing the enemy.. But yesterday God used some verses from that psalm that speaks about intimacy, and He changed and overwhelmed me by it!
During the day I felt that "something" was going on, I felt in my spirit and in my heart that God was calling me to seek Him. As I was doing the dishes in the kitchen for instance, I felt a strong need to seek God. As I went into the livingroom I started to worship and to seek God, and He reminded me of these words from psalm 27 verse 8:

"When You(God) said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.”

This verse is one of those verses in the bible that displays true intimacy between a man and God, read it again: "When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.”
As I was sitting down, worshipping God I felt that this verse described the situation perfectly. I felt strongly that this morning God was whispering to me "seek my face" and at the same time I so strongly felt that my heart responded to Him "Your face Lord I will seek". Notice that this verse describes a communication between God and man on a heart to heart level. I did not seek God this morning merely on an intelectual way because it was "the right thing to do" , it was my heart seeking Gods heart. I was worshipping God with tears in my eyes, I was sitting still in awe totally overwhelmed by the fact that I could have such an intimacy with God, heart to heart. Words cannot explain, but yesterday morning God seeked me out, my heart responded and I got to see Him and enjoy His presence in an overwhelming way. I live to enjoy and to see God. All I want is to behold His beauty, in the same psalm David puts it like this:
"One thing I have desired of the LORD,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD..." psalm 27:4

God is longing for you, He is waiting for a chance to overwhelme you with His presence. He knows about your challenges and about your desires. God finds joy in surprising you with His presence, leaving you refreshed and with a renewed love for Him! Heart to heart with the living God!
Have a great day with Jesus!

Enjoy Jesus, and things will be allright!

The last couple of weeks has been filled with things to do, so I was quite happy when I found myself having an evening to myself today! I am working all weekend, so for me to have an entire evening to myself is great! Earlier today we have been planing together with leaders in the church, we are facing an exciting future with challenges and new steps of faith. As far as work and church are concerned my mind was quite full today with both questions and exciting ideas. My plan for my evening alone was to continue my "study" of systematic theology. I have been looking forward to that!
But as the evening unfolded, and as my mind was pretty preoccupied with a thousands ideas for the future I found that there was actually only one "sane" thing to do : Worship Jesus! I felt the need to just come alone in front of Jesus, and to lay all my thoughts and ideas at His feet and to simply worship Him! God led me to this verse from psalm 37:

"Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. "

I am a man with alot of dreams, visions and desires. I have a desire to see Jesus glorified through the church. But what does this verse teach us? To delight ourself in the Lord, and then He will give us the desires of our heart. Then He will fill our hearts with the desire to do his will. But first and foremost we are to delight ourself in Him. We are to enjoy Jesus, love Him, admire Him, loose ourselfe in worship and adoration just to see and enjoy his beauty!!
So this evening I came before Jesus, I set aside all my cares and plans and I delighted myself in Him. I had a wonderfull time of worship and devotion with Jesus. I find it exciting to have plans and visions how to serve Him, but first and foremost I am a man saved to enjoy and worship God. Jesus is my joy and my comfort, I am satisfied in Him alone!
The best words to describe how I feel now that I am about to go to bed, after an evening together with Jesus :
"You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever." psalm 23: 5-6

All that blood, to save me!

This morning I started by reading psalm 22, a messianic psalm about the suffering of Christ. What I was about to read had a great impact on my day. I read:

"I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted away within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd,

and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.

Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced my hands and my feet.

I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me.

They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations will bow down before him" from psalm 22

My plan was to go on studying another book in the bible, but this morning I could not stop from sitting still picturing Jesus dying on the cross.... for me. I sat quiet and I tried to picture His suffering and His pain. I felt that the holy spirit filled me with awe as I was thinking about these verses. It gripped my heart in a raw and real way so to speak, then the holy spirit lead me to think about what it means to me today that Jesus died so brutaly on the cross. Now I was sitting in awe being filled with grattitude and wonder thinking about everything His death means to me. My heart started to overwhelme of praise as I started thanking Him for the facts that I now am:

clean in Christ, I am clothed in Christs righteousness..I am free...I am seated in heavenly places..I am whole..I am filled with a holy pure peace...I have true joy...I am surrounded by a God that loves me, I am loved every second of the day..I have been rescued from eternal darkness, and being put into the light...I am alive...I am saved ...^{I am filled by the living Gods holy spirit..Satan has no claim over me, death has no power over me, my sin has been paid for..}

^{My heart got filled with joy as I continued thinking about Jesus as my shepherd, leading me to quiet waters etc. I also thought about the mindblowing fact that wherever I go I can change peoples lives just by speaking words from God into their lives. I can see people delivered and healed. I am part of the greatest work on earth: that God builds His church, I am part of building a local church so that the lost ones might see Jesus as their saviour..}

^{This is just some of the things that filled my heart as I was meditating on Jesus death on the cross as I read psalm 22. As I went of to work I was filled with awe and wonder. Today was a stressfull day at the hospital filled with challenging situations, but during the day my heart was stirred by thinking about Jesus dying on the cross for me. And on my way home the holy spirit continued His work in me, as He continued filling me with praise and thoughts about the cross. I can not express in words how thankfull I am that I have the opportunity to open up the bible every morning, being changed by reading -his word. And even now as I am about to go to sleep, my heart rejoices as I continue to think about all the things that came out of the moment I had with Jesus in His word this morning.}

^{This day has left me with a new love for my Jesus that bled and died to save me! I am greatfull that after being saved for 16 years, my heart is still being filled with wonder just thinking about the cross!}

"What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" Rom 8:31-32

A good morning!

"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit." Eph 5:18

As usual I got up 05.15 this morning. Every morning I go straight for the shower, eat my breakfast standing and then I sit down with a large cup of strong coffe with good time to fill myself with Gods word -before heading off to work. This morning was no different. As I was sitting reading a passage from the Romans I felt the urge to put aside the bible for a while just to seek God in prayer and worship. I felt that I needed to ask God to fill me aging with His Spirit. It just became so clear to me that here and now I needed to ask God to fill me again. As I worshiped a prayer rose from within to see Jesus clearer, to be overwhelmed by the holy spirit. I had a wonderfull time alone while it still was dark outside, and while most people were still asleep. As I went off to work I carried with me the desire to be filled with the Holy spirit, and somehow my heart was set on this during the day.
God always answere when we ask to be filled, to see Jesus clearer and to enjoy him deeper! Sometimes when God fills me with His spirit it is like being set on fire, other times the Spirit gives me a new desire for His word while other times again I fall deeper in love with Jesus . Today God filled me with His spirit, and the way I experienced it today is by a deeper notion of Jesus presence in me. In different ways throughout this day I have been much more aware of how close Jesus is, and that He surrounds me. With my mind and with my heart I am more aware of Jesus, in me. This fils me with a new joy, a new security and new strength!

I am so thankfull for a great time with Jesus this morning, being filled with the Spirit once more!!

"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live". John 14:16-19

"O breath of God come breathe within,
There must be more than this
Spirit of God we wait for You
Fill us anew we pray. Fill us anew we pray.." -Tim Hughes

How much more..!

After putting aside a great book of systematic theology, studying the doctrine of the word of God, I sat for a while thinking about the fact that I have daily access to His living word. To me the natural response was to grab the guitar and start worshiping Jesus. As I took some time worshiping, singing to Jesus I felt that God once again renewed my joy in him! A grey and cold monday evening, in an appartment in Sweden, I was meeting with the living God!

I have been meditating on this verse the last week:
^"For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ." Romans 5:17

The word of God is a living word! The amazing truths in this specific word has been blessing me the last week ; in early mornings, on my way to work, as I have been awake in the night, while I have been cleaning our home etc.. God has let this verse bring light, joy and life into my week!
One day I have let my mind "feast" on "God´s abundant provision of grace" - I have spent some days just asking God to let me see, enjoy and experience the abundant provision of grace! God loves to overwhelm us, and He longs to open up our eyes to see Him clearer and that we might enjoy Him in a deeper way. Other nigths I have been focusing on what it means to have been given the "gift of righteousness", and God has "blown my mind" just showing me the greatness of the fact that I am clean and righteous because of Jesus blood. Knowing what the bible says about the position of a righteousness man creates such a deep joy and boldness!! And other days I have been focusing on what the verse says about me having" Life", and reigning in life" in Christ!!

So, this evening I have been worshipping Jesus. Because I have been given the gift of righteousness I have been sitting face to face with the living God experiencing abundant provision of grace, and renewed life!!

After 4 months moving around living in different homes, we are finally back in our own appartment with brand new floors!! We are ever thankfull our friends in our church ( our family) that has so gracefully opened their homes (and refrigerators) to us these months! This also means that I now have daily connection with the internet, so I might write about my days with Jesus : )

Feast on the word, ask God to be able to enjoy it in a deeper way than yesterday!!

An SMS full of encouragment and strength!

Earlier today, knowing that I have a full week ahead of me, I was sitting for a while just being quite enjoying Jesus presence before I went of to work the evening shift. I love those moments when I just relax in His presence, without asking Him for anything special -just being close and just knowing that He is God. Today as I was sitting thinking about the coming week and about everything that must be done, I was overwhelmed by just knowing the presence of Jesus. Then I got reminded of a bibleverse that Elijah, a friend in the church, sent me on an sms a week ago:

"You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." 1 John 4:4

One word can make a great difference! Thinking about this verse, I felt that God filled me with a new sense of strength in Christ. As I just sat and enjoyed His presence Jesus used this verse to fill me with new strength and also an excitement for the coming week! I went of to work, and now as I am going to bed I still have a strong sense of being strengthened by this word. I am fascinated by the fact that whatever comes my way, whatever challenges , whatever the enemy comes up with: the one that is in me is stronger and I will overcome it because I am clothed in Christ!
This word renewed me this morning, and it is still working in my heart giving me joy and strength!
So, let this simple story from my day encourage you to give Gods word room in you life, be encouraged about your strength in Jesus, and: send someone an sms with an encouraging word from God -it made a huge different in my life, the word is alive!!

Have a great day with Jesus, and know that you could make a huge difference in your friends life just by giving them a word from God!!

A colleague got to hear about my way to Christ yesterday.

There is one of my colleagues at my work, that I have been asking God for the right time to tell about how I got saved and about the gospel. Knowing that this is a man that has alot of opinions and that he is a "thinker" I have asked God for a moment where there is enough time to explain, not just saying some clever lines "passing by". One thing I love about Jesus is that He knows best how and when. So after asking God for an opportunity to share, I enjoy relaxing just waiting for His initiative. Now I do not need to be stressed out, looking for ways to deliver some words just for the sake of saying something: no I have asked God to open a door, so I can spend my time at work actually doing what I am there to do: work. You do not need to feel stressed or pressured to "be a witness" when you give your days to Him like that. You are clothed in Christ, you are a light and Jesus in you knows exactly how to open the right doors. After you have asked God for opportunities, the best thing to do is doing a good job relax and enjoy life!!

Well... Yesterday was quite a "slow"day at work, so there was a lot of time for us who worked that shift to talk and get to know eachother better. And then, in a middle of a conversation about "nothing", my colleague started to ask me about Jesus! Then I knew that I had time to in a simple way share my way to Christ, about how he payed the price for our salvation etc. I did not sit in this conversation waiting for a way to talk about Jesus, I relaxed and enjoyed the time we had. But when he started to ask, I got reminded about the fact that I asked God for a situation like this with this colleague a couple of months ago.. That gave me greate confidence. I felt the anointing of the Holy Spirit as I shared.

So what I want to say with this is: Ask God for open doors, be willing to share but after that: relax, do your job, enjoy life and doors will open! Remember that you are dead in Christ and that Jesus now lives in you, so why should you feel "pressured" or "stressed" about being a witness? The more we relax and the more we let go of legalistic pressure to "be a witness" the more I think Jesus can live through us in our daily lives.

"...apart from me you can do nothing" John 15:5b