Seeking God for the Right Reasons - Crosswalk the Devotional - July 7

Truths observed at the intersection of faith and life by Crosswalk.com editors [Crosswalk.com Logo]( Crosswalk: The Devotional [Devotionals]( [Newsletters]( [e-Cards]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Seeking God for the Right Reasons by Sarah Phillips For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. [Philippians 1]( I ran across an article years ago that really touched me. In her piece "[A Change of Plans](," Lindsy Pike details the excruciating decision to call off her wedding to a man she loved dearly. Reflecting on the mix of pain and peace that comes with any situation where we must give up something precious, Pike rewinds a few centuries to Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son, Isaac: "God promised to give Abraham a son and finally, after years of waiting, God came through, with Isaac. Why in the world would God ask Abraham to give up that gift? In my opinion, it is for the same reason He asked me to call off my wedding. God wants us to love Him more than we love His promises. The minute we get those out of order, He readjusts us.” While we don’t fully know the mind of God in Abraham’s situation, Pike’s simple thought sheds light on a struggle I think all of us encounter at some time in our lives – the struggle to love God above everything else, even His blessings. God wants us to love Him because of who He is, not what He can give us. Yet, how often do we confuse our love of God’s promises with love of Him? How often do we see Him as the divine blessing machine, ready to dole out happiness on our terms? The popularity of "prosperity theology" reveals how easy it is for believers to twist love of God into the pursuit of earthly happiness. To be honest, it’s not just greed that gets in the way of loving God. It’s also a limited understanding of who God is. I used to wonder how some Christians could sit for over an hour praying. Is God really that interesting? I’d wonder. This type of thinking reveals a fundamental flaw in how I perceived God, and I think that flaw is what keeps many from coming to Christ in the first place. It’s easy to see Him as limited like we are limited. It’s easy to forget that God is truly our all in all. As C.S. Lewis once said, “God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.” [CONTINUE READING →]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( You May Also Like: [10 Things You Should Know about Christian Meditation]( Kathy Howard Many of us regularly hear, read, study, and even memorize God’s Word, but meditation actively goes beyond those disciplines. [CONTINUE READING →]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [5 Ways an Idle Mind Is the Devil's Workshop]( Clarence L. Haynes Jr. You've heard it said 'an idle mind is the devil's playground.' And even though this isn't direct biblical scripture, the concept of how the enemy sneaks into your mind is spiritually critical to know. Here's how the Bible instructs us to guard against the devil's schemes. [CONTINUE READING →]( [Crosswalk.com Logo]( [Read about Salem Web Network]( | [Unsubscribe From This Email]( [Email Preference Center]( | [View in Browser]( © 2020 Salem Web Network. All rights reserved. 111 Virginia Street, Suite 500, Richmond, VA 23219. This email is never sent unsolicited. You are receiving this email because your email address, {EMAIL}, is signed up to receive newsletters, updates, and special offers from Crosswalk.com - The Devotional. [Link](