Love Has A Name Devotional By Jesus CultureSample

However You Want – Chris Quilala

Exodus 13:12

Throughout history God has revealed Himself in many different ways, leaving those touched by Him forever changed. In the Old Testament there are stories that tell of God showing up and the impact it had on individuals and even entire nations. Perhaps one of the most famous stories would be that in Exodus Chapter 3, the story of Moses and the burning bush. God used fire to grab the attention of Moses and his life was altered from that point on. Later we read that God showed up to the entire people of Israel in a similar manner, “By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.” Exodus 13:12. God’s miraculous display is never without purpose.

I wrote the song, “However You want” with my friend Josh Silverberg. We were talking about how we often ask God to come in specific ways. The thought had come to me, what if we simply made room for Him to come and have His way in our lives? Or as the song puts it, “No matter what it looks like I just want You.” We commonly use things in the natural to describe what we long for spiritually. Rain for instance in the context of a worship song could be a cry for refreshing or cleansing. Or a song using fire as a descriptive word could represent passion or being consumed by Him. I love the songs that ask God for Him to come in a certain way as I believe it's important to be specific in our prayer.

That being said, with this particular song I wanted to convey the posture of a life coming before Him open to whatever God wanted to do. “Like a fire, like a flood, come however You want, however You want. With Your power with Your love come however You want, however You want.” When He shows up, whether in a corporate worship moment or in our “secret place” with Him we must have hearts that are yielded to Him. When we encounter God in such a way we will never be the same and neither will the world around us! I encourage you to take some time today and invite the Spirit of God to move in your life, “no matter what it looks like.”