February 26

Leviticus 19:1-20:21

Mark 8:11-38

Psalm 42:1-11

Proverbs 10:17

"As the deer pants for streams of water,

so my soul pants for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When can I go and meet with God?"

~ Psalm 42:1-2

I think that of all my struggles throughout my entire life and all the sins I've committed can be summed up in this: I put other things before God. He should be number one. I should need His fellowship more than I need water. But I don't live that way. I put other things first and I end up suffering for it. Anxiety, worry, fear, anger, bitterness, discontentment, pride, feelings of entitlement... how many of these struggles would just disappear if I just let God take His rightful place in my life? What if my only worry or concern in life was that I need more of God? 

I've mentioned before that this is the fourth year that I'm reading through the Bible with Grace Church and I am amazed at how much God is speaking to me and how much He is still trying to get me to understand. I pray that all of you are having the same experience. If you ask God to speak to you, He will. You may not always like what He has to say, but it will definitely change you for the better. Look at Psalm 42. The author longs for God more than anything else. Did his pursuit of God lead to an easy, carefree life? No, it didn't. He writes about his downcast soul, people taunting him, his tears being his food. But he put his hope in God and he continued to praise Him... because that's all we really need.