1) 'Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness' Isaiah 40:30.
It's so awesome that the first place we meet Jesus is in the wilderness. He comes to us in our desert to fetch us for himself and take us to be with him.
2) 'We must never conceive of 'salvation' in purely negative terms, as if it consisted only in rescue from sin, guilt, wrath and death. We thank God that it is all these things. But it also includes the positive blessing of the Holy Spirit to regenerate, indwell, liberate and transform. What a truncated gospel we preach if we proclaim the one without the other! And what a glorious gospel we have to share when we are true to the scriptures':
GAH!!! This joy bombed by heart! And it think this is the answer to/it complements what I posed in last weeks blog about change/renewal/life/joy/transformation.
3) 'Who can control him? So from our fear, we settle for a manageable form of religion and hold the full reality at arm's length. Out of fear we try to domesticate the Wind and Fire of God and settle for the predictable even if it is no longer satisfying'
God, may I never try and manage you. May I never settle for easy and comfortable. Lord, give me the courage to joyfully follow where you lead. Ruthlessly demand of me a reckless trust. Jesus, I am both terrified and excited to travel that journey with you.
Katie! The Holy Spirit is a total joy bomb. Also I'm so challenged and encouraged by your prayer....I'm borrowing it.....everyday
ReplyDeleteIt just occurred to me that last chapter you were wrestling with "terms" and how, when, where we use terms that are potentially perceived as negative or positive.
ReplyDeleteI too was struck in the reading by your point two (no pun intended -- too....two.)
As I write this I'm additionally struck that you introduced term tension (negative/positive) last week and then term tension (negative/positive) was mentioned in the book this week.
Did you read ahead or was this a coincidence? Flash forward maybe? Hmmmm.
Regardless, I'm so glad that Faith, Hope, and Love never fail to fill and redeem potholes and negatives.