The Heart of God

I realize it has been a while since i have written.  I was convicted by Breyer Calvert to write blogs for myself and through that let it be an encouragement to others. So here goes...

Recently i have really been hit hard with the conviction of going hard after the Father's heart.  I have felt this conviction through many things... Preparing messages for youth groups, meeting with Breyer's small group and  watching Tim Kellers "Prodigal God", and listening to some sermons that have just hit me upside the head....  So many times i find myself searching after the things OF God and not the creator Himself.  Isn't He enough for me? Absolutely He is, but i find my flesh telling me that He isn't.  Its all about Loving God and being near to His heart.  So often I feel as though I just want what God can give me (i.e. blessings, more notoriety for what "Joey Gilkey has done" for the kingdom, and yes even heaven). Yes, I am stoked about heaven, but am i stoked about it because I want to be saved from the flames and I want to Co-Reign with Christ or am i stoked for the sole reason that the Father is there and I get to wake up everyday in heaven and see His Glory in a new way.  So much in our modern day culture we are so passionate about church, worship, and even missions but that doesn't mean that we are passionate about God.  No, we can always DO the right thing but we can't justify ourselves or our Love through what we do. Sure, Loving God will make us have a heart for those things, do good deeds, constantly striving to not sin, but the conviction was this... Having a heart for things like worship, church, missions, etc., doing the right thing, and constantly striving to not sin will NOT make us Love God.  That only comes through a complete submission.  Having Love for God means that we have a Passion for God.  Paul Washer dropped a bomb on me when he said this in a message i heard recently (Not word for word)... "Love isn't the do's and donts, it isn't following commandments, and it isn't patience and kindness. No, that is what it looks like when it walks and when it talks, but actual Love is Passion..." So ask yourself this... do we have a Passion for God? or do we just want to justify ourselves with how much "good" we can do and call that Loving God?........It isn't as complicated as we make it, I believe that we, and that is myself included, should stop trying to be the next big Theologian, stop arguing doctrine, and just simply Love God.  Simple and Authentic Love that we tend to over-shadow with our beliefs and arguments about right and wrong.  I believe that if we just seek the Heart of the Father and we stop searching for blessings and things from God then we will see that HE IS WORTHY and HE IS ENOUGH.  Until next time!

....Also I will be on Leadership Project for the next 2 months and I will be hopefully blogging throughout those 2 months (keep me accountable breyer). and please anybody who reads this keep myself as well as the 100+ brothers and sisters that will be going after God this summer in myrtle beach in your Prayers.  Let satan know that he is not welcome in Myrtle Beach (and nowhere for that matter) and be a prayer laborer for us.  and thinking about it i could go on and on about prayer. but ill just leave you with a nugget... We, as the Body of Christ, need to be carrying other ppls burdens and bringing it before God, crying out to Him, we need to be true prayer Warriors that spend hours on our knees.  Let the scars on your knees speak of the Burdens we for others in our heart.
In Love,
Joey