greetings!
only 36 more days to go...
40 days is a long time for me -- what about you?
it seemed even longer back in the days when we fasted our way through lent...
even now, the lenten season is a long time -- i'm just saying...
it is saturday and here is what really spoke to me today from henri nouwen: "we tend to emphasize the distance between Jesus and ourselves. we see Jesus as the all-knowing and all-powerful Son of God who is unreachable for us sinful, broken human beings. but in thinking this way, we forget that Jesus came to give us his own life. he came to lift us up into loving community with the Father. only when we recognize the radical purpose of Jesus' ministry will we be able to understand the meaning of the spiritual life. EVERYTHING that belongs to Jesus is given for us to receive."
i want to believe this, but i am not sure i do...
"EVERYTHING that belongs to Jesus is given for us to receive!"
i too tend to focus [like nouwen] on the great distance between me and Jesus...
it is very difficult for me to even think of the promised closeness...my life being like the life of Jesus???
maybe i need to focus more on that during this season...
EVERYTHING is pretty broad -- let me start with three things that belong to Jesus that is given for us to receive...
1. the Father's blessing -- there is no doubt that we are loved unconditionally! we are truly the Father's beloved...
2. the Father's purpose -- we are called to something much bigger than ourselves! we are called to partner in the coming of the kingdom...
3. the Father's heart -- like Jesus, we learn obedience through the things we suffer! the apostle john quoted Jesus saying: "if you love me, you will keep my commandments [obedience]". suffering produces obedience which manifests love...
your thoughts???
love ya...
guy
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Unlearning what I "know" is going to be my biggest challenge in accepting 1-3. I feel myself going through a rebellion...a pruning if you will...of all of the things that were crammed down my throat. Even my experiences with God are tainted by the "knowledge" that I thought I had. I don't want to lose what is true and real during this time of pruning, but sometimes the wrong things get cut.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that there will be plenty of things that I'll have to re-learn. :-)
Thanks for your insight, Guy.
-K