The reading today mentions the importance of coming to God with ‘open hearts’ and ‘expectancy’. How can we cultivate these attitudes as we begin the Rooted journey?
If you missed yesterday, you can catch up using the navigation arrow at the bottom and don’t forget about the rules here for this challenge.
Introduction Peter leads a large group of disciples to an isolated (perhaps secretive) meeting where Jesus will once again give them their marching orders. Then they make their way back to Jerusalem to await the coming Holy Spirit as the movement switches into its...
Introduction After rising from the dead, Jesus appears to His disciples on several occasions. Paul lists the appearances in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8. He appeared to many people individually — to His leaders on several occasions and even to a group of disciples numbering...
Open hearts reminds me of being open minded. When coming to God he has plans we might not understand. His path he has for us to us might not be what we think but in the end it all comes together. In the beginning of tooted we are unsure what to expect but we need to be open minded and open hearts to his word. Through this journey there are things he will teach us and let that click in our head happen for us to complete understand him.
Good morning all!! For today’s question, I think that one particular part of today’s reading speaks to this quite well: “We have come to a place of desperation- individually and as a church where we say , ‘God, we don’t know how to do this. Please do this for us and through us.’ In that humility, God comes near and slices through the many facades we have constructed over the years.” This has been my experience as well😏 I have mentioned before that I am highly susceptible to pride and ego. I used to consider myself to be very intelligent and a very deep thinker. However, for over 20 years of my life, my best thinking landed me face first on the street, drunk and loaded, over and over again! It was only in coming to recognize my own inadequacy and out of sheer desperation that I gained enough humility to become open to another way- to becoming willing to allow God to direct my thinking. Two things have become clear to me over the years that I’ve spent walking with God- I can’t, but He can and will if I let Him. The reality is that I can’t draw a single breath apart from His grace. However, in recognizing this, and allowing God to work in and through us, we inevitably find that the power of God runs deep! I have had the privilege of witnessing God perform miracle after miracle, not only in my own life, but in the lives of many others that have come to a point of hopeless desperation and reached out to Him. An addict in the thralls of his addiction is really nothing more than a “dead man walking,” and I have seen God bring the dead to life many times over the years. The better we come to know our God, the more our expectancy grows, for “the Lord has done great things for us!”😁
This is a challenge for me, because I study the Bible “for a living,” for over 30 years. So I tend to come to a text with pre-conceived idea and interpretation.
I realized that this is a crutch that I need to let go, and read the text with a fresh new eyes. Choosing a new translation that I am not familiar with would help. I would also begin with a prayer of illumination, asking God to reveal His word to me afresh and anew.
Another way is I would hold my comment (or my tongue) to the last minute, and not offer my comment at the beginning.
Pretty incredible story about how people came to God expectant and with open hearts and how God moved in and through them. I liked the phrasing of slicing through their facades and it reminded of my own experience where my rock-hard exterior was sliced in by God and I found myself humbled. And in my humility I found myself vulnerable in wanting God to work through me, to help me through this unprecedented struggle. I found myself needing, wanting to trust in Him because I was left with nothing to lean on, nothing to root myself in. And when the storm of emotions rolled in, I had nothing to cling to but Him. I feel like I’m at the start of the rooted journey already and hope to continue cultivating this vulnerabilty that God has placed me in to see why I need to trust Him more and root all aspects of my life in Him.
Sometimes the hardest part about working out is just showing up to the gym. Similarly, it is important for us to show up to the Rooted experience with open hearts and expectancy of what God will accomplish. We can cultivate these attitudes by preparing our hearts & humbling ourselves before God.
From Amy
Jesus doesn’t want to be involved in our lives only when we need something or are facing a challenge. He wants to walk every moment of every day with us. We need to invite him to do so. Just like any relationship that we have in our lives — with our spouse, our parents, our kids, or our friends — we need to invest time and energy in nurturing that relationship. We need to read God’s love letters to us in His Word and talk to Him in prayer.
Inviting God to walk with me on life’s journey can help me to give up a lot of stress. God knows every step and what bounds to happen. But, I need to have an open heart to accept what’s in front of me. When I can focus on God and not the challenges in front of me, I believe my perspective will shift. Expecting the unexpected with an open heart eventually will give me so much freedom.
I think in order for us to have open hearts and expectancy, we need to be people of prayer who realize we can’t do anything without God, that we need His wisdom, guidance, power to help us in our lives and ministries. We need to see that God is still at work in mighty ways and not to limit what God can do by thinking our ways are best, or limit Him through our lack of faith or through our fears.