DarjeelinGirl

There are a bunch of quotes from books that I’ve been reading and people I’ve heard the last 6 months that I’ve been meaning to post here. So before I archive this journal, I’ll post them now:

On the importance of pouring our hearts out to Him about everything:

Our battles are first won or lost in the secret places of our will in God’s presence, never in full view of the world… Lose it there and calamity, disaster, defeat before the world are as sure as the laws of God. ~ Oswald Chambers

On finding our “calling” or “ministry” right in front of our faces based on 1 Timothy 5:8:

The essence of love is meeting needs and our most important assignment from God is to meet the needs of those who are closest to us. We tend to use the people closest to us instead of meeting their needs… Lord keep me from looking beyond the needs of those who are closest to me and from using (or disregarding) my loved ones for my own purposes. ~ I didn’t write down the source, but I think it was a devotional by Neil Anderson…

Colossians 2:17 has always been a favorite verse of mine. This quote from Holiness, Truth and the Presence of God speaks to it:

For most people, our sense of reality, and hence our security, is often rooted in the familiar. How difficult it is to grow spiritually if our security is based on the stability (consistency) of outward things. Our security must come from God, not circumstances (or habits or patterns) nor even relationships. Our sense of reality (purpose/focus) needs to be rooted in Christ… Even people who have been delivered from adverse situations are often drawn back into hardship. Why? Because adversity is familiar to them… So also we must at times leave the camp of what seems normal and predictable and begin to seek after God… Go outside the camp…
~ Francis Frangipane

Again from Francis in the same book:

Every time the Lord is revealed, two things occur: we see truth and we see our need for grace.

Which led me to the following mathematical formula:

truth + grace = transformation
truth + 0 = fear/hypocrisy/pride
0 + grace = debauchery/failure/impotence/destruction

And some would argue that without truth, grace doesn’t even exist…

From Rekindling Your Spirit:

Most of us don’t realize that the cross can also take your PAIN (not just your sin). ~ Paul F. Singh

Here’s a prayer that I gleaned from a friend of mine. It blesses me as a benediction to my morning time with God:

Everything I do today belongs to You. Life of Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, You are my strength, my hope and my power. Everything I do today, whether in prayer or normal living, belongs to You alone.
~ John Musick

And a blessed paradigm shift from another friend at bluer:

The gospel isn’t about us - it’s about God. It’s what God does to us. ~ Dan Lukas

To hear his whole message, click here.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 28th, 2005 at 2:10 pm and is filed under general. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

The thoughts contained within are solely this author’s and in no way intend to serve as doctrine of any kind:

2/7/05 after the dishwasher backed up and flooded the kitchen and the basement ceiling and set off all the fire alarms at 11:00pm:

Maybe heaven isn’t just a physical place - maybe it’s a state of being…? And the closer we grow to You the more heavenly and the farther apart, the more hell? Maybe were still in the process of being created? Maybe just being physically born is just being conceived and earth is the womb? And those who reject You are like spiritual abortions? And physical death is really our real birth for those whose umbilical cord is connected to You through Jesus? And Jesus is the umbilical cord?

Well, if that’s the case, there’s an awful lot of fetal distress going on…

2/9/05

Is suffering all about the killing of sin? Troubles happen and we feel grief, fear, anger - is not the objective to endure, walk through that and not sin, not complain, not run to false comfort, not lash out? It is to come to You, pour out to You, praise You, worship You…

2/20/05

I Corinthians 15:35-58. We are just seeds here? That’s a neat imagery. It’s also kind of funny considering how we watched Bugs Life last night. “Here. Pretend this is a seed…” “It’s a rock…” Father, seeds here on earth look nothing like what they grow into. So we are probably going to look really different after we get to heaven…

5/19/05

You are the Great Shepherd and it appears that many shepherds in our culture have forgotten that they are sheep first before they are shepherds. Better to be lead sheep than a wayward/headstrong/independent/self-sufficient shepherd.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 28th, 2005 at 2:08 pm and is filed under general. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.