As you consider your desire for experiencing Son Power, is it fueled by intentionality? Is your desire a wish or is it actually a goal that you are willing to pursue? Are you simply thinking about the power of God in your life, or are you truly positioning yourself to experience it?
I’ve met many people who have wishes for their lives. They are waiting for something to happen. To me, a true desire is something we are willing to work for. I am not talking here about earning God’s favor, I am addressing the need for each one of us to develop a yearning in our hearts for God’s presence and power to actively empower us; a longing that results in us seeking after God. It is an intentionality that sets us on the course for pursuing God. Yogi Berra, the renowned baseball player and coach once said, “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” When we have a true desire to experience Son Power, we know where we are going. We set our hearts and minds and lives on a path that will take us to our goal.
Desire Is Fueled by God’s Word
I believe the first step in showing God that we truly desire Son Power is to be in his Word. We can’t grow in our relationship with God, through the Son, or experience the Holy Spirit, without the Word of God. In order for our lives to echo into eternity we need to embrace what the Bible tells us about who God is and how he works. Our entire being is wrapped up in Christ Jesus and what he did for us on the cross! Our desire for the Holy Spirit comes from Jesus and is fueled by Jesus, and we learn about all of this from the God’s Word.
Just as it is impossible to grow physically without physical food, it is impossible to grow spiritually without the food of the Word of God. When you plant God’s Word in your heart it will accomplish everything that God wants to develop and grow in you.
Desire Is Transformed through Soak, Sow, and Flow
God’s Word will give us direction as we soak our heart in it and then sow it to the Spirit when we recite it as we talk with God about it. We then activate Son Power by an act of our will when we choose to flow with the Spirit in our daily walk with God. At that point, he begins to impart his divine life in us as we depend on him.
As we soak and sow God responds and swings into action by allowing the Son to rise in our hearts to transform us.
And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
—2 Corinthians 3:18
Note that the Spirit does the changing, not us. We are changed by his transforming power being released in us, freeing us more and more from the self-life and empowering us to do his will. When we do our part by positioning ourselves properly in relationship to God and his Word, he will do the rest.
Technology today presents to us many different options for “virtual reality” experiences. But what people really want is a real experience with God! Virtual reality is a “near to real” experience, but God offers us his very real presence! We experience him in our lives when we cooperate with him. The Apostle Paul tells us,
Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
—Colossians 3:1–3
This is reality! As we embrace the Son-powered life, our desire for investing in the imperishable values of the kingdom will increasingly trump our desires for the perishable values of this fading world system. We experience the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit.
The Heart-Felt Desire of King Solomon
We see in the life of King Solomon a true desire to follow God and his ways. In 1 Kings 3:3, Solomon is described in this way: “Solomon loved the Lord, and followed all the decrees of his father, David.” One night, the Lord appeared to Solomon and said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!” (v. 5). In response, Solomon answered, “Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?” (v. 9) The passage goes on to tell us, “the Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom … ‘I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have!’” (vv. 10, 12).
First Kings 4 records the details of Solomon’s wisdom: “God gave Solomon very great wisdom and understanding, and knowledge as vast as the sands of the seashore. In fact, his wisdom exceeded that of all the wise men of the East and the wise men of Egypt” (vv. 29-30).
However, Solomon’s obedience was mixed. He had many wives, including foreign women who influenced him to sacrifice to their gods. His great wealth also contributed to unwise excesses. Solomon began well, as his humble request for wisdom shows, but he later disobeyed God. Because his desire did not remain focused, he ended up living much of his life in dissipation and he discovered by experience that outside the will of God, life was totally meaningless and without purpose. He was chasing after the wind. He realized that all of that earthly pleasure was worth nothing without a purpose for life from God.
Young people, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do. So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless.
—Ecclesiastes 11:9–10
The loss of opportunity is real. What might King Solomon have accomplished with his life if he had kept his desire for God at the forefront his endeavors?
Finishing life strong should be a major objective for all of us. We should want to be doing the will of God. Our objective should be to finish the work God has given us to do. The false gods of this world are calling out to us. The temporary pleasures of this world are seeking to entice us. However, we are to set our minds on the eternal aspects of life. We must avoid making poor decisions in this life, particularly when it comes to those decisions that have eternal ramifications.
As we journey through this world we are going to be faced with many different circumstances and situations. God’s desire is that our desire be for him and his purposes.
Do you truly have a desire to experience Son Power? What can you do to fuel your desire?
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