Soak it up....

"I want you to soak up more of me," he says.
God is calling out to me, asking me to stop and enjoy his presence.
".....Far too often you are too busy trying to soak up something other than my presence...the sun, the gym, your dinner, a cup of coffee, the racks of shoes at TJ Maxx, a walk with Pippy, the most recent book you have pulled from the shelves...these things may not appear evil on the surface but if you are replacing them with me then they are evil indeed. Is your focus on soaking up the things in this world that you can see, touch and feel? Or are you more focused on soaking up my presence? I am here, I am ready to pour out to you such wonderful truth, knowledge, goodness, love, mercy, grace, and blessing but you keep looking to other things. You keep trying to soak up other fleeting pleasures instead of what I have to offer you. Slow down, stop, be silent and let me pour out to you wonders beyond your imagination.
To receive what I have I need you to be still. I need you to stop what you are doing and simply focus in on me. Don't focus on the things you think you should be accomplishing or another place you could go and another thing you could be doing with your time. Anything other then soaking in more of me is a waste of time. Simple as that. You are a dog chasing your tail. You will get no where fast. But stop to get at the heart of me and then you will truly be making progress. Maybe it won't be progress like the world defines progress. But who would want that anyhow? Don't you want spiritual progress? Don't you want what will last past this life? Remember all I have taught you so far. That is just the beginning. Look back over the last 12 months. Could you have imagined you'd be here, in Chagrin Falls, attending Parkside? Can you believe the path I took you on and the journeys of the last 3 years? That is all just the beginning. You didn't plan that out. I did. And I am still in control of the plan. I don't need your ideas, I have my own. Trust me, mine are better. They will excite you and surprise you. But you have to be paying enough attention to me to see them! If all you are focused on is your own human desires then you are going to miss out on the better, bigger plan.
So slow down, be still, and soak up all I have for you. Soak up who I am; soak up my Holy Spirit. You are my child and I have not abandoned you and I have never forsaken you. Where have you been? Has your heart been wandering about, looking to fill a void? Fill it with me. I am sufficient. I am enough. Let me be the desire of your heart and I promise, that void will be a thing of the past."