Are You Filled with Awe?

Howdy everyone!

Sorry I missed out on church on Sunday.  Frank allowed me to get some much needed sleep.  I am sad that I missed out on an opportunity to corporately worship God with my church family.  What about you?  Shout out to AJ for coming.  I guess he and Frank had a great breakfast time together doing the study and chatting about the possibility of a Czech Missions Trip.
 

On to today's devotional.  Do you know anyone who is filled with awe about God, His plan/message/purpose for Christians, the amazing instant transformation that takes place in a new believer's life and the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in each Christian's life?

 

I can report we were in awe alot during out time in Guatemala.  We saw firsthand, the amazing power of prayer and how God chose to answer our prayer requests in a way that brought Him glory & honor!  We saw some "growth spurts" in some of our students in their relationship with God, other students and the Guatemalans.  And, I was in awe over the way God had totally changed my heart and desires to go on the trip! 

 

When I think of someone being filled with awe, I think of my dearest friend Debbie.  The joy on her face when she wants me to listen to a beautiful worship song about Jesus...or the excitement she exudes when she wants to discuss a Bible passage just read...or the tear-filled eyes reflecting her deepest desire to love God with all her thoughts, words, deeds and actions, and not disppoint Him...reflect an awe of God at work in her life that is almost hard to describe.  But, you cannot mistake it.  It is genuine and not fabricated.

 

Everyone gets excited about different things.  Debbie always gets excited about her Lord and Savior!  Lest you think she is perfect, think again.  She will be the first to admit she isn't.  In fact, my immediate proof is that she doesn't like fantasy fiction (like I do!), only science fiction. Bleh.  Seriously though, Debbie is keen on speaking the Truth in love and receiving Truth.  From the first moment we met, I could not help but be completely honest with her.  We are kindred spirits in many ways, this being foremost for both of us. Telling each other what we NEED to hear, not what we WANT to hear, has always been the mark of our true friendship.

 

The same joy that radiates from Debbie when she is talking about the Lord is the same kind of joy I can imagine you would see from the early church in this passage in Acts 2.  Sometimes this joy manifests in emotion, and sometimes it manifests in a peaceful, quiet confidence only found in a growing relationship with Christ.  But, the results are the same: a reverential awe of God and His work among His people.

 

When was the last time you were in awe of God?

PlanetWisdom.com Devotionals

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Filled with Awe? Posted: 30 Jul 2009 02:36 PM PDT "Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles." (Acts 2:43) What does it take to impress you? Are you skeptical, sarcastic, cynical, a hard sell? Yeah, me too, sometimes. I think most of us learn to put up some kind of wall against being too easily impressed because we live in the advertising age. Too many people want us to get fired up about too many worthless things. But people still get plenty excited about what matters to them. If you caught any of the coverage of Comic-Con '09 in San Diego last week, you likely saw some fanboys (and fangirls) that were "filled with awe" by photo ops with movie stars and scoops from directors about their favorite shows and films. Part of being in a group is getting excited about the same things together. Church people get excited about God together. Of course, it would have been impressive to see the miracles performed by Jesus' supernaturally empowered apostles in the early days. But God's power is still at work, still on display through His Spirit in the lives of His people. His creation still boggles the mind; His sacrificial love still overwhelms the emotions. Feelings of awe come and go. Our relationship with God through Jesus isn't defined by emotion. But if we never feel any enthusiasm about God when we're together with Christians -- if we never get a little fanboy thrill about moving closer to Him -- we might be missing out on part of what it means to belong to the church. Think: Does it bother you when a roomful of Christians "doing church" feels completely lifeless? Does it bother you when a roomful of Christians seems to be trying so hard to be excited that it feels fake? What does it mean to you to be "filled with awe" with other Christians in a way that is real and meaningful? Pray: Ask God to help you to be able to be impressed by who He is and what He has done, is doing, and will do. Do: Notice this week anyone in your church who seems to be genuinely filled with awe by some aspect of God or His Word. Visit PlanetWisdom.com for more great resources!