This generation is possibly the first one in which action has been emphasized and valued more than contemplation. Today we think contemplation wastes time, produces nothing, and bumps awkwardly into our schedules. A devotional life is a questionable priority for most successful people today. But are we “successful” Christians if we are so busy organizing and propagating the Christian faith that we really do not know God personally and intimately?” by James Houston
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 George Whitefield
Was pleased to hear a gentleman’s discourse for some time of the utter inability of anything to make us happy but God. My subject was, the eternity of hell's torments, and I was earnest in delivering it, being desirous that none of my dear hearers should experience them. God grant that I may die daily! O, who can serve a better Master than Jesus Christ?  from A.W. Tozer
What a man is comes first in the sight of God. What he does is determined by what he is, so is is of the first importance. The fundamental be must be sanctified if we would have a righteous do, for being and doing are related as cause and effect, as father and son. God wants worshipers before workers; indeed the only acceptable workers are those who have learned the lost art of worship. It is inconceivable that a sovereign and holy God should be so hard up for workers that he would press into service anyone who had been empowered regardless of his moral qualification.  Does your heart burn for God… Do you long to know him better, to love him more fully, to follow him more faithfully, to trust him more completely? Do you deeply desire to live a God-centered life where God is glorified and reflected in your daily thinking, speaking, and doing? If so, you already belong to the Fellowship of the Burning Heart.
Of course, no one, save the Lord Jesus Christ, can say that they fully desire any of those things, much less have arrived. The Apostle Paul himself didn’t presume he had arrived but knew that he must continue to press toward the goal of such communion with God and conformity to the likeness of his Son, Jesus Christ. Yet even the desire to desire God in such a way is a good thing. There are those who have gone before us who have hungered and thirsted for God, (as well as his Kingdom and righteousness), and they have shared a bit about their journey with those of us who would follow them down that path. That's what these blog post are all about… sharing bits and pieces from those of the fellowship who’ve finished their pilgrimage to the Celestial City and now rest from their labor. What they have left behind for the rest of us is encouragement and wisdom to help us travel the same road. I should add that those inspirational sources I draw from are subjectively selected. This small effort is nothing more than sharing the devotional insights of the folks that have blessed me. I’m quite certain ten different people could come up with ten completely differently lists. They might not all be your cup of tea, yet I do hope that you will find a little gold in the gravel. A word of caution: By no stretch of the imagination should anything found here be misconstrued to be works-righteousness or a second work of the Spirit that is only available for the “super Christians” among us. As I understand it, The Fellowship of the Burning Heart ought to be normal Christianity that has as its foundation, the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and is animated by the grace of God and the power and direction of the Holy Spirit. Lastly, I believe the Lord has revealed himself and his will through his Word, the holy Bible. Excerpts, prayers, etc., that are shared in these posts will, I pray, be grounded and consistent with that self-disclosure of God. “To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul’s paradox of love, scorned indeed by the too-easily-satisfied religionist, but justified in happy experience by the children of the burning heart.” A.W. Tozer Soli Deo Gloria, Dale |
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