Good morning, world. Things are looking pretty good from the front porch of my farm in Virginia today. It’s cold and sunny this morning but it’s supposed to be a beautiful warm day later. In anticipation of feeling the warmth and soaking in the sun, I bundled up and enjoyed a few minutes outside on the front porch with my God. My need to feel the sunshine and my hunger for Time with the Living God outside doesn’t need to make sense to anybody else. Some people try (and fail) to dissect or psycho-analyze my need to be outdoors to receive my greatest Blessings from God. My need for the sunshine and the Son of Man doesn’t need to be “biblically correct” although some people try to intellectualize my Journey. It’s pretty simple when you think about it. God went from my head to my Heart a long time ago and it’s my Relationship with Him that matters more than any head Knowledge. My Quality Time with Him is more precious than anything I could gain with a Ph.D. in theology. The Author and Perfecter of my Faith dwells within me and I’m so in love with Him it’s hard to even think straight sometimes. Isn’t that the way it is supposed to be in the Journey of Faith?

If we aren’t careful, the mind of man can thwart the Heart faster than you can say “amen”. These days many people are focused on raising up intellectual Christians by offering mini Bible courses on Sunday mornings but they stay away from the painful, “unpopular” topics that invite conviction. So, the head is being filled with Biblical Knowledge, and often the Heart is left lukewarm. Wisdom and Knowledge are critical components to our Journey of Faith and it’s not possible to have too much. But a Faith based on Knowledge alone is lame. It’s when we surrender the Heart to be refined, molded, taught, convicted, and everything in between, Faith makes its way from the head to the Heart; and when it does, knowledge and wisdom are the natural Next Step. Our Faith is only a Working Faith when it goes from the head to the Heart…and, due to the nature of man, the Heart has a never-ending need to be cleansed and refined. Relying on Head Knowledge isn’t enough for the Journey of Faith. After all, the Pharisees had a whole lot of head knowledge with no Heart Knowledge and it didn’t end well for them any more than it will for you or me.

Passion is what propels us in every area of life. When we’re passionate about our vocation, it doesn’t seem like work at all and we’re propelled toward success! When we are passionate about our children, teaching them how to be loving, kind, respectful, compassionate people (aka Christ-like) is far more important to us that the ABCs or scholarships. When we’re passionate about Christ…so in love with Him that He consumes our thoughts and inspires us to want to be pleasing in His Eyes, everything else just falls into place. We’re convicted of our sins. We repent. We weep in shame at the thought that we could sin against our God! We look for Answers and we seek Guidance in the Word of God. We dwell in His Presence for as long as it takes to “get it right” and to get right with Him. We seek Knowledge and Wisdom and we couldn’t NOT share the Gospel of Jesus Christ if we tried. Even without a PhD in theology, the Holy Spirit can (and will) teach us things supernaturally and He’ll speak to the Heart of every willing Vessel. The Word is our Truth. The Spirit is our Teacher. The Son of man is our Hope.

I’m a complex Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ but my “needs” in the Journey of Faith are pretty basic. I need to see the beauty of God in every day beginning at sunrise. I need to breathe in the fresh air as I thank God for my health. I need to sit quietly in His Presence and I’m willing to wait for as long as it takes until He speaks to my Heart. And, after that, I’ll settle in to get more head Knowledge that will immediately go to my Heart.

How about you?