"Beautiful Things" by Gungor
(thanks to Toby for sharing it in the AS office)
I love, love, love experiencing the Psalms:
"Those who sow in tears, will reap with shouts of joy. Though one goes along weeping, carrying the bag of seed, he will surely come back with shouts of joy, carrying his sheaves." Psalm 126:5-6
I am experiencing this verse - as I face the hard realities of pain and suffering, I also feel an immense joy as God shows me His love and faithfulness in the midst of my brokenness. I am thankful for His truth and that He is the only One who truly knows all the depths of me, and still loves all of me. He knows me better than I even know myself, and loves me so deeply. I am so thankful for this.
I love, love, love studying and thinking about Romans 8:
(Lauren and I jumping in Jerusalem)
I wrote a paper on Romans 8:1-11 this past week and it was pretty amazing. I got so excited in the middle of writing it, that I started dancing in my dining room. I haven't felt this happy in a really long time, so I am so thankful that God is restoring His joy in me.
1There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.2For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,he condemned sin in the flesh, 4in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. 10But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
The reason why I get so excited studying this passage is because I the truth that there is freedom in Christ and the Spirit is so exciting for me. When I often feel condemned, the truth that I am not condemned in Christ because He has condemned sin in the flesh for us is so freeing! When I feel hopeless and weak, it is exciting to know that the Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in me! There is so much power in the Spirit - there is so much hope for growth and transformation in the Spirit! This is exciting!
I love, love, love this book:
"The Good and Beautiful God" by James Bryan Smith
Quotes from Chapter 4 on "God is Generous."
"The sun gratuitously rises and warms our planet and, along with the unmerited rain, nourishes the land, yielding delicious fruits and grains. It is all manna, the unearned provision of a lavish and loving God. We have never been and will never be in a place where we can turn to God and say, "You owe me. I deserve this." We do not deserve anything we have been given. We have earned nothing. Yet God continues to give. That is because God is not interested in what we can do for God. God is interested in something much more important than our good works....God wants you to know and to love him." (85-86)
"The greatest honor we can give to God is to live gladly because of the knowledge of His love."
"What God most wants is to see you smile because you know how much God loves you."
~Julian of Norwich (86)
I think I've already mentioned this in an earlier blog post. But wow, the truths in this book - so simple, yet so powerful. Things I have known in my head, but now I feel like they are actually connecting to my heart - God is so good and beautiful, generous, and trustworthy - I am learning how to believe not just with my head, but also with my heart. For one who is innately a legalist at heart, one who tries to earn God's love and approval and the love and approval of others, it is so amazing to experience the unconditional love that God has given me in Christ, that I don't have to work for His love. It makes me so happy. I feel so loved by God.
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