Category: Recipe Into Taste

As we read aloud this passage, let’s pray this over our churches: 

Ephesians 3:14-21 NIV
¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ 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, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. ²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Let’s pray in faith for our churches to live as Spirit-people in our workplaces, campuses and cities and for his love to be made known through us.

Prayer: Lord, empower us with your Spirit as we go forth in your joy and fullness in the places you have called us to. In Jesus’ name, amen.

As we sing “Anointing” by Jesus Culture, let’s pray for a fresh outpouring of his Spirit upon us (click here).

– DW

Matthew 11:28-30 NIV
²⁸ Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

“Jesus said that he is ‘gentle and lowly in heart’ (Matt. 11:29). That is a beautiful statement, and even without the Spirit one could respect and even marvel at it. But the Spirit takes those words of Christ’s and interiorizes them at the level of personal individuality. The Spirit turns the recipe into actual taste… All that we see and hear of the gracious heart of Jesus in his earthly life will, during his ascended state, enter into the consciousness of his people as experiential reality.” (Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly)

A collection of recipes is fun to browse through but cannot compare to actually tasting those recipes that delight all of our senses. This is what the Holy Spirit does – he takes the wonderful words of a book and turns it into an experience of tasting, seeing, reveling in and enjoying. This “experiential reality” is how we can continue to grow in our love for the Lord as we receive Jesus’ gentle and humble heart for us.

Prayer: Lord, immerse me in your presence through your Spirit and help me to live faith-filled and worship-filled today. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s sing “Fall Like Rain” by Passion (click here).

– DW

John 16:14-15 NIV
¹⁴ He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. ¹⁵ All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.

“He shall be a better Comforter to you than I am to be…He will comfort you better than I should do with my bodily presence.” [He has] “nothing but stories of my love…So that you shall have my heart as surely and as speedily as if I were with you; and he will be continually breaking your hearts, either with my love to you, or yours to me, or both.” (Thomas Goodwin, The Heart of Christ in Heaven Towards Sinners on Earth)

“As those in Christ, we have received the Spirit, the revealer of Jesus’ heart for us. This is our reality in Christ by the Spirit. This is the precious gift of being able to not just know about his heart, place it back on the table and go about our day but to truly experience all the Jesus ingredients and fullness of his heart for us.” (P. Tim’s message)

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the assurance that we can know your heart because your Spirit continually reveals your love and heart in its fullness. Thank you for your loving kindness. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s sing in thanksgiving to the Lord to “Praise to the Most High” by Matt Redman (click here).

– DW

John 16:5-7 NIV
…but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. ⁷ But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

When Jesus said these words to his disciples, they were understandably sad. They could not fathom how it could be better to trade a physical Jesus for an unseen Spirit. But Jesus says it is for their good (and therefore our good), that he is going away because “the Spirit makes the heart of Christ real to us: not just heard, but seen; not just seen, but felt; not just felt, but enjoyed. The Spirit takes what we read in the Bible and believe on paper about Jesus’s heart and moves it from theory to reality, from doctrine to experience.” (Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly)

Prayer: Lord, thank you for sending your Holy Spirit so that we can tangibly experience and enjoy your love over and over again. We open up our hearts to you so that you can fill us afresh today. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s praise the Lord by singing “He Will Be” by CityAlight (click here).

– DW