Friday, February 1, 2013

"FAN THE FLAME" FRIDAY - Longing


Welcome to "Fan the Flame" Friday.

This is a weekly post that will be "short and sweet" (kinda like me...)

Just a word and a phrase, a sentence or a question...just a little something to "fan the flame" of your creativity!


Today's word: longing

What is your definition of the word - longing?

Do you think there's a difference between wanting something and longing for it?

Spiritually speaking, what fills your heart with longing?


Let me know what you think!!


"How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of Heaven's Armies.  I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the LORD. With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God...How happy are those who can live in your house, always singing your praises."  
(Psalm 84:1-2, 4, NLT)


"This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you…For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:6-7)


BLOG = "Blessedly Leaning On God!"




7 comments:

  1. Hi Sharon,

    I long for peace and direction at the moment, the last couple of days have been difficult. But God knows and He will see us all through.

    Take Care - Nita.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think longing is an intense desire for something, like I'm longing for a time of peace. Wanting to be seems like a more action type of word, like I'm wanting a piece of chocolate. I long for more of God and less of me; for it to be more about him and less about me.

    Happy February 1 Sharon! Where did January go?

    betty

    ReplyDelete
  3. Interesting that you should pick this word because I just started reading "Made to Crave" (Book, not article, but quotation marks seem to be the only option in a comment. Ticks me off, but I digress...)

    I think a longing is something that you crave. It's something that doesn't just come and go with your desires but seems to grab you and not let you go. For whatever reason, I also think of it as something always out of my grasp, too.

    Spriritually, my greatest longing is probably to be able to abide in fellowship with God longer than I do. The world is too much with me, I'm afraid to say, and I get sucked back out of the place I long to be before I'm ready.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow! The New Living translation says that so well! "I long, yes, I faint with longing" to enter the courts of the Lord!! I would like to fan the flames of those words daily within my heart...to desire only to be close to Him.
    Charlotte

    ReplyDelete
  5. To me, longing for something, is a deep burning desire deep inside of you. I long for my Father, and the peace, love, and comfort He alone can give me.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The thing I long for most is more of God. It never leaves, but stays in my heart pulling me toward ways I can learn more about Him, experience more of Him and share more of Him. And there's a part of me that will never be satisfied until I SEE Him.

    ReplyDelete
  7. What is your definition of the word - longing?

    Longing is yearning, pining, a wistful wishing. It's something that comes from the soul.

    Do you think there's a difference between wanting something and longing for it?

    Absolutely. Wanting things is often driven by *creature comforts* or things we want to accumulate, or just the normal desiring that comes to us. Longing goes deeper. It's something that springs from the soul, from the heart. I think longing for something implies that we cannot achieve the object of our longing without help. It is wanting and hope mixed together.

    Spiritually speaking, what fills your heart with longing?

    Ah, the blessed rest that awaits in eternity. To see my Savior face-to-face. To at long last be freed from pain, and loss, and disease, and death. I long with confident hope for a *country* that I have not yet seen.

    GOD BLESS!

    ReplyDelete

"So [I] have been greatly encouraged in the midst of [my] troubles and suffering, dear brothers and sisters, because you have remained strong in your faith. It gives [me] new life to know that you are standing firm in the Lord. How [I] thank God for you!" (1 Thessalonians 3:7-9)

Thanks for your comments - it is such a joy to be sharing my journey with friends like YOU!

(NOTE: Anonymous comments will be removed. Thank you for understanding.)