ONE MESSAGE. ONE FAITH.

image from web It's the timeless metaphor. You know the story: Coal.  Extreme heat.   Extreme pressure.   Glittery sparkling clear rock that bends and reflects light. And while that remains factually untrue (coal is not actually involved in natural diamond formation), the principle of the process manages to find it's way into the  hearts of the persevering, the aspiring, the goal-seeking, and the dream-chasing. There is something imprinted in the minds of men to rise up to challenges we face. Overcoming challenges results in accomplishment. Sense of accomplishment give us purpose. And purpose gives us life. So we rise. In the face of adversity we push, and if we must, we fight.  The saddest people in the world are not the poorest, but the one who has lost his will to go on, to fight- to live. It is in this vein the Lord speaks to us . It is to this appeal that He implores us: " diligently seek him" "search for me with all your

PRESS. image from web My desire for God must  drive  me to the throne of God. I must press, like the woman with the issue of blood-- I must persevere. There has to be an inner desperation, a dire thirst in my soul that longs for God. O God, You  are  my God; Early will I seek You; My  soul  thirsts for You; My flesh  longs  for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.- Psalm 63:1 My  soul   longs , yes, even faints For the courts of the  Lord ; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.- Psalm 84:2   I spread out my hands to You; My  soul   longs  for You like a thirsty land. Selah- Psalm 143:6 What brought David to the point of his flesh - his flesh(!)- longing for the Lord? Well the flesh [ basar]  used here is in context of the tangible body- rather than the carnal nature of man as we'd normally translate it in the new testament. So David was saying his soul and his physical body longs for God. Have you ever been there? Where your natural body

image from www.davidmbn.com In prayer this morning  I was humbled as I marveled at  the turning of God's attention to me the minute I called his name. The fact that I can call on his name and he respond- for I can sense the wafting in of the ever-presence of God- astounds me.  It overwhelmed me to recognize his loving kindness. I relate to David when he poses the question, "What is man that you are mindful of him?" The song that declares "OH! how he loves us" reverberates in my thoughts and I double over smitten by the undeserved affection and attention the Lord gives me. Again, in David's words, " these thoughts are too wonderful for me." But it did not begin there. Before the the presence of God was able to overtake me I was overtaken by the pursuit of HEBEL. You know, the HEBEL that Solomon writes about in Ecclesiastes 2:1. I said [ amar] in my heart [ leb] , “Come now [ yalak] , I will test [ nacah] you with mirth[ simchah ]; ther