MEDITATION: "You can't come to me to be successful."

I was reading "The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier" and came across this gem while reading the section on theology.

"So theology isn't just talk.... Actors act theology and businesspeople work theology and stay-at-home moms change diapers and make lunch theologically. 

So human life is theology. Virtually everything we do is inherently theological. Almost every choice we make reflects what we think about God. There's no escaping it."

After dwelling on the truth of those words I entered into a time of intimacy with God. This is what I got:

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You can't come to me to be successful.

When you approach me or seek me from your own intellect, you do so most of the time in order to gain something for yourself. However, when you move from the mind and intellect to the being, to your heart-will, you can come to me out of natural response to reality and truth. If you are truly interested in Me, in finding yourself in God, in spending time with me in intimacy, then you can not come to me to be successful. It's like spending time with a friend to secretly gain access to his connections and relationships that could profit you. The truth is, the truth does profit you... but to reach for truth, to access God, in order to gain from it yourself is not aligned with the truth you seek. The truest form of reality is present regardless of your intent. However, your intentions are the key to both removing the veil of selfishness and fashioning it.

You can't come to me to be successful. 

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Father, creator and sustainer of all that is, purify my intentions. Cleanse me from my selfish spirituality that seeks you in order to gain. May my heart connect with you in truth, as a natural response to your being - as a natural response to the presence of you being here, in this moment, in and through me. I sincerely desire to know you more. I sincerely desire to love you more. Not because of what you can do for me, but because of who you are. May the prayer of Jesus be fulfilled in my life, that we may be one. Please give me the grace to embrace your truth not with my mind alone, but with my actions also. 

Thank you for loving me, I still think you're crazy. 

Matthew Armstrong
RescueTheGirl.com

JesusPaper.blogspot.com

matthewarmstrong.net