Renetta Garrison Tull - Online

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Sunday, January 18, 2009

Forever Chasing After You

Every now and then, something really strikes me ... about the world, about trying to see the world as God would want me to see it. I was talking to a friend yesterday about a favorite song, Tye Tribbett's "Chasing After You." The lyrics are:

(Lyrics are written by Tribbett, Stevens)

Verse I
Each and everyday I will seek your face
My soul is crying out for more, I want more of you
I won't be satisfied nor content of where I am
So I will apprehend till I'm captured by what I'm after

Chorus
And I will go from faith to faith
From glory to glory (2x)

And I'll forever be chasing after you
I'll be chasing after you (2x)

Verse II
I will press towards the mark
for the prize and I won't faint
there's one thing I desire
and that's what I'm going for
I can't continue life day by day
growing dry
I need to be with you (Jesus)
I'll seek where you are

Chorus
And I will go from faith to faith
From glory to glory (4x)

And I'll forever be chasing after you
I'll be chasing after you (7x)

And I will go from faith to faith
From glory to glory (3x)

(I'll never get settled. I'll always want more Jesus! I'll always be chasing after you!)

And I'll forever be chasing after you
I'll be chasing after you.

[Online LYRICS from http://www.actionext.com/names_t/tye_tribbett_g_a_lyrics/chasing_after_you.html]



We were particularly talking about the need to "follow hard after God" because life can be hard, life can bring us challenges, and we don't want to put God in a box and just limit Him to being just one thing for us when He has so much more. We used the analogy of being in a room with God, a small room ... and the room is nice, but it's safe ... and yes, God is there. But what if God wants you to go outside, and experience so much more of Him, outside in the full world where he has created everything in the universe, outside where you have the chance to experience his love and power on a much deeper level? In these times, we can't afford to just take a small piece of what God wants for us when He is opening up His arms to give us so much more ... we just have to go there and accept it.

The part of the song that says "I can't continue life, growing dry" really resonates with me. This says to me that sometimes, we just go through life on a daily basis in a "willy-nilly" way ... in other words, we just let things happen to us. But we have a chance to be so much more proactive. "Be intentional" as my pastor says. "Don't miss kairotic moments," he says. Those moments in time that are special when God accomplishes something major, but moments when you have to respond.

There's a mother/son team in our church that does the most moving dance to this song. It really touches your heart because his movements really give you the feeling of running after God himself ... just to be close and be with Him and in His will.

I'm writing this note, far away from my church this morning. I'm on assignment in Puerto Rico and since I am not in church ... and it's Sunday, I decided to review some of my notes from services at my church. I was reading through the notes from our New Year's Eve service, Dec. 31, 2008. This service was titled "God's Time Made Personal" and it talked about quantitative moments in time that pass (Chronos time) and those special times where something is qualitative (Kairos time). But the thing that really hit me was the last scripture reference of the sermon, it was Phillipians 3: 12-14.

Philippians 3:12-14 (King James Version)
12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.


This was significant to me, because as I was talking to my friend last night (she's in NJ, I'm in Puerto Rico and it was a 2 hour phone call!), I was playing the song from the website. The words in the song talk about how "I will apprehend" and how I will "press toward the mark." And then it was right there again this morning in my scripture review! Verses 12-14 of the 3rd Chapter of Phillipians! When I was a little girl, my Dad told me that if you start hearing the same spiritual and scriptural theme over and over again from different sources, pay attention, because God is talking to you. I always remembered that. So my eyes and ears are perked up now ... because, I didn't mention that the mother/son team danced the dance last Sunday evening, which was a few hours before I got on the plane to come to Puerto Rico. Hmmmm!

So, now I need to look at this Phillipians passage more closely. And while I'm looking, I'm playing the song in the background, even as I write! What does it say in other versions?

Let's investigate the New King James:
Philippians 3:12-14 (New King James Version)
Pressing Toward the Goal 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Hmmm. What about The Amplified?

Philippians 3:12-14 (Amplified Bible)

12 Not that I have now attained [this ideal], or have already been made perfect, but I press on to lay hold of (grasp) and make my own, that for which Christ Jesus (the Messiah) has laid hold of me and made me His own.

13 I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured and made it my own [yet]; but one thing I do [it is my one aspiration]: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,

14 I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward.


How about The Message?

Philippians 3:12-14 (The Message)
Focused on the Goal 12-14
I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.

So that's it! I press, I move forward, I seek Christ ... and the beautiful thing is that He will reach back out to me!! This is so significant for me, especially now. Because while I love working in Puerto Rico right now, I (even as an adult) am missing home. So God is here ... I chase after Him, and He'll reach out to me. That's such a comfort. But I can't stop. I have to keep on going. I have to move forward to seek the things that God wants me to seek, to seek HIM personally ... with a fervent passion. So as I am realizing that God is speaking, and wiping tears, I say "Thank you Lord, for reaching back to me."