The Desire of my Heart

I have many desires and dreams. I want to write and publish Christian books, get married to an awesome Christian guy (have no clue who he is yet), have children to love and teach, and so many more little thing that I hope may one day be apart of my future. But right now as an American teen I have a desire that is so very close to my heart and wishes and I want it to be happening right now. Passion…
Now there are many kinds of passion. We live in a passionate age and see it everywhere. People have passion for their love life, for a football team, food, cars, sports, TV, video games, music, money, etc… but that is not the kind of passion I want to see.

Revive Us Again

LORD, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people; you covered their sin.
You withdrew your wrath; you turned from your hot anger.
Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation towards us! Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations? Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.
Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for he will speak peace to His people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly. Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him that glory may dwell in the land.

I found this Psalm (Psalm 85) a few years ago and fell in love with it. I have prayed over it with tears as I think about America and more importantly, the American Church.
This is my version for my country with this Psalm…

“Lord, you were favorable to you land. You were kind to our founding fathers. You restored America to George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and so many others from the hands of the British. You forgave our iniquities and sins. You withdrew your wrath from those who disobeyed you and were gracious.
Yet what has happened? We have turned aside.
Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation towards us. Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations? Will you not revive us again, that your people will rejoice in you? Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us salvation.
Speak to your people and turn away our love from this world. Speak Lord, for he will speak peace to his people, to his chosen ones. But let them not turn to the world. His salvation is near those who fear him and his glory will dwell upon them.

This is the desire of my heart. I see so MANY that claim to be Christians and many may be but they are so consumed with the pop culture to even stand out. You wouldn’t know one from the other because there is no joy. Sometimes I can hardly believe Christians are watching some of the movies I see advertised. I wonder how? And then come to church on Sunday and have a pure heart towards God? Do they just throw Philippians out the window when it comes to entertainment?
My heart is burdened for America’s church. Where are we going? Why don’t I see people seeking hard after God? We go to youth group and all these godly things are said and done, then we go in the hall and talk about trashy movies and do not speak as I believe we would if Jesus were there. I feel I am often included in that. Why do we go on mission trips and the only time we smile is with our friends? Why is there so much complaining about the heat or bugs? I went to China last spring and I felt like all our team did was complain about the food. (It was strange food at timesI must admit) but I found myself complaining because of this attitude. Do you realize how your attitude affects others?
At a camp I went to this summer I found myself complaining over a very annoying situation I found myself in and it defiantly affected others.
We are called to be joyful and show the world we are followers of Christ by our behavior. It’s not happening. The Church is like the world and we seem stuck in this rut of having to be hip to reach the world. Don’t you think God can save people without us compromising his holy standards? This is the desire of my heart and I ask that anyone… anyone who may read this would work with me to change the world by changing ourselves. Pray though Psalm 85 with me and let the Lord restore us…