Throw Back: Seven Longings of the Human Heart - Longing #1

As I was sorting through some of my belongings, I came across the International House of Prayer Internship Manual, an internship I had been part of in the summer/fall of 2014. As I was flipping through the pages, I turned to a reading assignment page that asked for brief descriptions of each of the 7 longings of the human heart, according to Mick Bickle & Deborah Heibert's book.

If you would like a copy of the book, you can find it at ihopkc,  Amazon, or Christianbooks.com.

  

 

Reading through the brief descriptions I had written at the time, brought beautiful reminders that I would like to share with you!

I'll use one description for each longing, one post at a time.

1. Longing One

The longing to be enjoyed by God 

We were made for God's pleasure and for an intimate relationship with Him. 

Even in our weakness, He is fully capable of COMPLETE love for us. The way we were made was in such a way that only He could complete this longing to be enjoyed by God and no alternates or substitutes can satisfy [for eternal effect].

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If you ever questioned your existence or even God's intentions for a relationship with you, this is a real anchor. I found it has been a hard one to admit or swallow, mainly because of my background: cultural, past experiences, distorted view of the church, religion, the bible, and God. 

Thank you Jesus! ...that He has led me in a journey of breaking down each distortion and moving in truth and freedom!

Looking at God through the lens of low self-esteem or a worth-based accomplishment list will lead to an unhealthy perspective on what and how you can be productive in life. 

This also is an easy way for distortion to creep into your perceptions about God, others, and life in general. The core root of your identity is not solely on how you describe yourself and what you can do.

A key element is the "why" you were created is the burning question that all people have dealt with throughout the ages.

If you can allow yourself to believe that God found it pleasing (full of pleasure) in creating you for an intimate relationship, that really will take your perspective to a whole new realm of thinking!

How would this longing change the way you think about God and yourself?