11 comments

Kimberly Wagner

Recovering the Wonder

Posted on 12.23.09 by Kimberly Wagner | Twitter: @KimberlyWagner7
Topics: Homefront, Relationship with God

A common statement we hear from first-time visitors to our church is that they sense God’s presence in our services. I am very grateful He is evident when we meet together as a body. I am thankful He allows us to abide in Him and experience the wonder of who He is. He is a personal God, actively involved in our lives, and demonstrating His reality by manifesting Himself in His body, the Church.

Perhaps you’ve lost the wonder or forgotten some of the magnificent attributes of our Lord. If so, it may help to get an up-close and in-depth view of this astounding God.

This week Revive Our Hearts is airing the series “His Name is Wonderful.” I encourage you to check out Nancy Leigh DeMoss’ messages as she teaches through the names for Christ found in Isaiah 9:6:

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be  upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

One of the greatest dangers for believers is losing the wonder of this Amazing God. Passages like this one in Isaiah help us to refocus and revisit our glorious Savior. He is too wonderful to ignore, too marvelous to approach with apathy.

If your passion has grown cold, consider refueling your fire:

• Ask God to reveal anything that may be dulling your appetite for Him.
• Ask Him to deepen your hunger for Him.
• Ask Him to allow you to know Him more intimately.
• Ask Him to use His Word to help you to understand Him more fully.
• Meditate on descriptive Messianic passages.
• Praise Him with hymns or worship choruses which exalt His attributes.
• Remember times when He’s worked in powerful ways in your life and spend some time thanking Him.
• Ask Him to teach you how to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.
• Read some of the testimonies from the first-century martyrs or the modern persecuted church.
• Listen to or read the transcripts from the ROH series “His Name is Wonderful” and ask God to give you a greater appreciation for His glorious character.

What about you? Have you lost the wonder? Perhaps some of you would like to add some suggestions for “recovering the wonder.”

Comments

  1. Kim, this is an excellent post! Thank you for taking the time to write it. Presently I have not lost my wonder and amazement at who God is, but I know it can "wax and wane" at times. The specific list you gave is very helpful...I'm going to print it off and keep it in my "Kim notebook". I plan to send the link to this post to all of my friends because I believe that having a passion for Christ is such a key to true joy in this life! I'm looking forward to listening to Nancy's series this week from Isaiah 9:6 these next few days. These are great tools in my life to keep my focus on the Christ of Christmas, even amidst the busyness of my life right now. "O come let us adore Him!"
    posted by Vivian Etherington
    on Wednesday, December 23, 2009 at 9:36 am
  2. Kim - I look forward to hearing you and perhaps getting to meet you in February in Norman. I am on your website because I am going to give a trip to your retreat to my daughter for her 29th birthday which will be the day after Christmas. I hope she will be able to join me along with another Mom/Daughter (not yet determined) who could share a room with us. I think it would be a great encouragement for us to team up with another Mom/Daughter that we may get to know each other really well - but more importantly that we may get to know Him really well. His name is wonderful. God bless you.
    www.theartofhousekeeping.com
    posted by Karen
    on Wednesday, December 23, 2009 at 6:04 pm
  3. Thank you for this! Such a wonderful reminder and encouragement... esp. during this season!
    http://www.stephsambition.blogspot.com/
    posted by Stephanie
    on Thursday, December 24, 2009 at 6:49 am
  4. Three years ago, I asked God several of the questions you posed in your above article because I no longer felt the same way about Him that I did when we started on our journey together thirty-five years earlier. His answers have been incredible! Our initial realtionship has been restored, only deeper!
    posted by Melodie
    on Monday, December 28, 2009 at 5:44 pm
  5. Did you know that Yeshua (means Salvation) HaMashiach (the Messiah) was not born in December? He was born in September, at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. Christians have lost the roots of their faith, their Jewish faith because that is what our roots are. He is the Jewish Messiah and we are part of Israel. Study how Christmas (traditions of man) came about and then study the Feast of Tabernacles. (He came to tabernacle/dwell with us.) It will change your life in profound ways. I started studying a few years ago and keep studying! How much I've missed all my life.
    posted by Nette
    on Monday, December 28, 2009 at 8:32 pm
  6. Karen,

    Thanks for writing in and letting me know of your gift to your daughter for the retreat. I am so glad you are taking a Titus 2 approach by bringing your daughter with you. I am looking forward to meeting you and spending time with the ladies there in Norman, OK.

    Please join me in praying that God will meet with us during the retreat and speak specifically to each of us.

    Blessings!
    posted by Kimberly Wagner
    on Wednesday, December 30, 2009 at 1:22 pm
  7. Melodie,

    Thank you for sharing your testimony of growth in intimacy. I believe it will encourage other women, who may be currently struggling, to have hope for the future.

    May you continue to press in further and deeper to His great lovingkindness and abundant grace!
    posted by Kimberly Wagner
    on Wednesday, December 30, 2009 at 1:27 pm
  8. Nettie,

    I too have been greatly blessed by studying the significance of the Jewish Feasts. I'm not sure whether these books are still in publication, but several years ago I found the information enlightening and inspiring and thought you might enjoy them as well:

    "The Fall Feasts of Israel" by Mitch and Zhava Glaser
    "Christ in the Passover" by Ceil and Moishe Rosen

    Both are/were published by Moody.

    Thanks for the reminder of our Jewish roots!

    Blessings,
    posted by Kimberly Wagner
    on Wednesday, December 30, 2009 at 1:34 pm
  9. I am fasting today.. I really need a reconnect or should I say deeper walk with Christ.. I am so blessed and I have pretty well skated through this past year.. but I feel God trying to get me ready for really touching the lives around me this coming year.. pray I will listen and do whatever it takes to lead more lives to Christ.. it is the only answer for this fallen world.. thanks , Deb Winger
    posted by Deb Winger
    on Thursday, December 31, 2009 at 2:29 pm
  10. Kim, thank you for sharing this site with me last night. I am so excited that you are now writing and sharing your love for our Lord with everyone. You have always been my favorite teachers and you have taught me so much.

    Love in Christ, Linda Chase
    google
    posted by linda f. chase
    on Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 12:04 pm
  11. Dearest Linda,

    Welcome to our site! I hope you'll return often :-)

    It was such a blessing and joy to see you again -- you will always remain one of my favorite "students of the Word" because of your love and devotion for Christ and His Word.

    Much love to you dear sister and friend,
    posted by Kimberly Wagner
    on Saturday, January 23, 2010 at 2:39 pm

Leave a Comment:

We love hearing from you, and will post your comment as long as it is appropriate, and is written in a tone that is encouraging, edifying, and loving to others. Even then, know that the following comments do not necessarily reflect the views of Revive Our Hearts.