Something More!

NOTE: This is from the devotional guide of our church, Filinvest Community Christian Fellowship. Today is Day Two of our Prayer and Fasting week.

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Do you feel like you are looking for something more in your relationship with God?
More than just church activities. More than just prayer meetings and Bible studies. More than just cell groups and meetings. More than just conferences and seminars. More than just additional church programs. More than just the demand for more commitments! There must be something more than this! We long for something deeper. Something fulfilling. Something radical. Something life-changing. Something that would really make a difference. We long for intimacy with God! [1]
But what keeps us from that “something more”? Toxic spirituality. 

Edmund Chan offers five features of toxic spirituality: service without joy, performance without rest, work without worship, devotion without discipleship and ritual without reality. These keep us from enjoying intimacy with God. Now, there’s nothing wrong per se with service, performance, work, devotion and even ritual. The issue is with the phrase that describes each word (like, “service without joy.”)

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Before we look into those features, let’s talk about longing for something more. King David cried out to God
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (Psalm 63:1) [2]
Do you still remember the time you cried out to God like that? When you fail to read His word or spend time in prayer for some time, do you miss the Lord? That there is something lacking? It’s like somebody you love went missing and you could not find him or her no matter how much you search. Are you longing for God as if you are thirsting for water in a desert under the blazing heat of the noonday sun?

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Step #2 To Detox: Reflect on Psalm 63. Put yourself in the sandals of King David. (He wrote this psalm in the wilderness.) Declare to God that you want something more in your relationship with Him. Ask the Lord to satisfy your thirst for Him.

[1] Edmund Chan, Cultivating Your Inner Life: Reflections on Spiritual Formation in Discipleship Today 2nd Edition (SG: Covenant Evangelical Free Church, 2011), 62.

[2] All Bible verses are from the English Standard Version (ESV), unless otherwise noted.

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