Taking Spiritual Inventory | A SOAP devotional, By Pastor Kris Holguin

 

Read Psalm 24 Psalm 24 NLT - Psalm 24 - A psalm of David. The earth - Bible Gateway   Psalm 24:6-7- Such is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in.

When you think about this generation of believers, what comes to mind? The church in the west is coming out of a seeker-sensitive church model that has unfortunately not lived up to shaping communities and reaching intergenerational friends that surround us within our neighborhoods. The phrase. ‘We’ll do anything short of sin to reach someone.’ became a popular anthem of the church, but we stand back feeling a little disoriented at the incremental statistics showing next generation distrust in faith as well as the heartbreaking norm of churches closing and becoming event spaces, banks, and anything else an opportunistic investor could foresee within what was once a sacred ground of gathering space for the saint and sinner. What could possibly be the answer? I once heard a pastor say that the future is ancient and when we look at the Psalm above, we see an upside declaration from the seeker-sensitive strategy. ‘Such is a generation who seek Him.’ What if the Holy Spirit is changing the tides within the bride of Christ and is calling the church back to the ancient cry of Psalm 132:3-5: "I will not enter my house or get into my bed, I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, Until I find a place for the Lord a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob."

What takes up most of your attention during the day? What most consumes your spiritual capacity within the kingdom? If you are anything like me then most of your day is divided into worrying and rushing through to-do lists (or procrastinating let's be real ha-ha) as well as distracting yourself with different numbing agents like TV, phones, or any other decompressing hobby after our responsibilities. On top of that I can feel this constant nagging of needing to do more for God when it comes to connecting and convincing others that I can feel drained and paralyzed from any sort of kingdom activity. Praise the Lord that he tells us that His ways are not our ways. Let’s challenge our inclinations by prayerfully doing the opposite of what has lulled us into spiritual discouragement.    Let’s take a little spiritual inventory of what takes up your time, attention, and energy during your days. Rather than beating yourself up and striving in the flesh to add more time with God into your already fluctuating schedule, ask the Holy Spirit to help you start your day off with focusing your gaze on Him. From there consider with the Lord if there are things that you can step back from during your day to be with Jesus rather than trying to pack more things in. Addition by subtraction. Maybe this season your goal is to seek God before seeking others. Worry less about being an effective ambassador and focus more on receiving from the Father as a beloved son or daughter of the most high King. Such a generation who seeks Him is not removed from being missionally present but rather has found the Holy order of operations of loving Him and being loved by His presence and from that place being able to love others well.

Father, would you give me the grace to seek your face. Would you give me eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart willing and ready to receive your presence. Lord, my temptation is to do more without having been with your presence. Help me choose the good portion of sitting at your feet and may my life and the generations to come be known as such a generation that sought your face. Amen.

 

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting life." (Psalm 139:23-24)

 

Today's SOAP is written by our Prodigal College Ministry

and Interim Senior High Epic Student Ministry Pastor, Kris Holguin.