The Greatest Invitation
“We stand before a real Person who extends to us this invitation of the highest order. It is a call to fervency that flows from the fullness of love. Just as His eyes pierced through the crowds of old, Jesus summons each single heart out of its lethargy into wholehearted givenness to God. He beckons us to the only foreseeable future, the only plausible outlook, if we desire to live in the fullness of His highest for us. He calls us to give Him everything.” Dana Candler
Dear intercessors,
Everyone loves an invitation. A young woman loves when her boyfriend invites her to spend the rest of her life with him. Children love when their friend invites them to a birthday party. During this season of Christmas, everyone loves to be invited to a Christmas meal or gathering.
The truth is that a vast number of people in the world feel unloved. Life situations damage hearts. Many of us feel unwanted or unnoticed, but there is one who invites us into an intimate and powerful relationship beyond all of our most cherished dreams. He is wholehearted love and He loves us fully.
This is what you and I were made for.
In this special season, God is offering you an invitation. It’s an invitation to you personally from God, the Creator and sustainer of the universe. It’s about abandonment to Him and accepting this invitation—not only at your salvation, but now today. It’s about a divine summoning to wholeheartedness. He wants you to accept this invitation fully and comprehensively without compromise. It’s about entering into the heart of God in prayer with your whole being. He is inviting you to love Him in every dimension of life without reserve or regret. He invites you to experience the deep things of His heart and the power of His life (Ephesians 3:18-19).
The problem is that many today are living a half-hearted Christian life. Having made a commitment years ago, they have lost their first love, and the wonder and joy of knowing Christ (Revelation 2:4). Having been tempted by the false glitter of this world, they have fallen deep into apathy and boredom. The truth is that the world can never fulfill the deep yearnings of the human heart. Shopping, endless activity, and all our material pursuits will satisfy only for a short time. Only Jesus satisfies completely! God wants to bring us all higher in our commitment to the One who will bring true fulfillment.
Dear intercessors,
Everyone loves an invitation. A young woman loves when her boyfriend invites her to spend the rest of her life with him. Children love when their friend invites them to a birthday party. During this season of Christmas, everyone loves to be invited to a Christmas meal or gathering.
The truth is that a vast number of people in the world feel unloved. Life situations damage hearts. Many of us feel unwanted or unnoticed, but there is one who invites us into an intimate and powerful relationship beyond all of our most cherished dreams. He is wholehearted love and He loves us fully.
This is what you and I were made for.
In this special season, God is offering you an invitation. It’s an invitation to you personally from God, the Creator and sustainer of the universe. It’s about abandonment to Him and accepting this invitation—not only at your salvation, but now today. It’s about a divine summoning to wholeheartedness. He wants you to accept this invitation fully and comprehensively without compromise. It’s about entering into the heart of God in prayer with your whole being. He is inviting you to love Him in every dimension of life without reserve or regret. He invites you to experience the deep things of His heart and the power of His life (Ephesians 3:18-19).
The problem is that many today are living a half-hearted Christian life. Having made a commitment years ago, they have lost their first love, and the wonder and joy of knowing Christ (Revelation 2:4). Having been tempted by the false glitter of this world, they have fallen deep into apathy and boredom. The truth is that the world can never fulfill the deep yearnings of the human heart. Shopping, endless activity, and all our material pursuits will satisfy only for a short time. Only Jesus satisfies completely! God wants to bring us all higher in our commitment to the One who will bring true fulfillment.
During this next year, God wants you to discover His burning desires and the consuming yearnings of His heart. He wants you to enter His heart in reverential awe and deeper intimacy. He wants to set you on fire through communion with Himself. God invites you into the purposes that He designed through all of eternity (Psalms 33:11). This is not a small invitation. It’s the greatest invitation that you will ever receive. It will affect everything in your life. It will empower you to live successfully in the end times.
A wealthy young man decided to spend a winter on the beautiful island of Bermuda. He had his fancy Mercedes convertible shipped there, but when he arrived he discovered that the speed limit was only 20 miles an hour. For several weeks he drove around the island at merely 20 MPH in his powerful sports car.
One day he drove behind an old man on a small motorcycle. He got so frustrated that he hit the gas pedal and raced past the old man at 40 MPH. But suddenly the old man shot past him on his motorcycle. So the young man hit the passing gear and went up to 55 MPH. The old man shot past Him again. So he angrily raced pass him again at a reckless speed for that island. But the old man again shot past him.
The young man finally coasted to a stop at the side of the road. The old man stopped too. Absolutely amazed at the speed, the young man approached the old man and said, “What kind of power do you have in that bike?”
He said,“It’s not the power in my motorcycle son. My suspenders were caught on your bumper!”
God is inviting you to enter His heart in a deeper relationship this year. He wants you to catch your suspenders on the bumper of His love. He wants you to learn to lean upon His strength and ability through prayer. He wants you to have a greater vision of His greatness. He wants to empower your life in a deeper way this coming year.
Many of us are leaning on our own abilities, and lack strength and power in our life.
Perhaps you feel like the young man who was going only 20 MPH. You know there is more but you can’t grab hold of it. You don’t want a powerless and meaningless life. You may ask, “How can I catch the suspenders of my life onto the bumper of God’s love and power?”
It’s through His invitation to relationship. He is bringing things back into order through the work and grace of Christ. He is inviting you to partner with Him in order to see the release of His divine will on earth and the bringing of all things in heaven and on earth together under His headship (Ephesians 1:9-10). This will be the summing up of all things in Christ. This should create within you a sense of reverential awe. You are invited into a relationship with the God of the universe who wants to bring you into His eternal and transcendent purposes.
"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:17-19).
Doesn’t this create within you a sense of destiny for this New Year? Does this not give you a sense of hope?
A Prayer Accepting this Great Invitation
Lord, I thank You for Your personal invitation to me. I thank You that you want to have a deeper relationship with me in this next year. I accept this great invitation. I thank You that You love me fully. I choose to abandon myself to You, and I choose to enter into prayer wholeheartedly. I choose to love You in every dimension of my life without reserve or regret. I want to experience the deep things of Your heart and the power of Your life. I want to enjoy active intimacy with You and understand the feelings in Your heart. I want to discover Your burning desires and the consuming yearnings of Your heart for this new year.
Help me to know Your purposes that You designed throughout all of eternity. Set my heart on fire through communion with Yourself. Help me to catch my suspenders on the bumper of Your love. I choose to lean on Your strength and ability. I partner with You in order to see the release of Your divine will on earth. You are bringing all things in heaven and on earth together under your headship. I worship You during this Christmas season. I say "Yes" to Your great invitation to deeper intimacy with You. I thank You for Your love. In Jesus name, amen."
When we say "Yes" to this great invitation, God will teach us how to walk it out day by day. Watch and see.
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