When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. —1 Corinthians 13:11-13
The soul aggressively engaged in pursuing intimacy with Jesus is positioned to overcome temptation. On the other hand, the passive soul that wanders from fantasy to fantasy while living in a spiritual vacuum that lacks affection for God is much more vulnerable to fall to temptations that happen to come along. In our pursuit of intimacy with Jesus, we realize that feelings will come and go, sometimes swinging from the highs of holy passion to the lows of spiritual barrenness. We will have seasons of fervent longing and love for Jesus, times when we pray with great feeling and inspiration. But we will also experience seasons when we pray without any feeling of God’s presence. Yet, as we persist, we will begin to realize that even in the dry, barren seasons our hearts are still growing in mature love toward Jesus.
{ PRAYER STARTER }
Your love protects my heart from yielding to temptation, dear God. Even in the dry, barren seasons of my life, my heart wants only to mature in You and to be all that You want me to be.
Our focus is on Jesus, not upon feelings that
come and go.
