Hope Knows That If Great

The Deeper We Grow In The Spirit Of Jesus Christ, The Poorer We Become - The More We Realize That Everything In Life Is A Gift. The Tenor Of Our Lives Becomes One Of Humble And Joyful Thanksgiving. Awareness Of Our Poverty And Ineptitude Causes Us To Rejoice In The Gift Of Being Called Out Of Darkness Into Wondrous Light And Translated Into The Kingdom Of God's Beloved Son.

The Trouble With Our Ideals Is That If We Live Up To All Of Them, We Become Impossible To Live With.

I Have A Word For You. I Know Your Whole Life Story. I Know Every Skeleton In Your Closet. I Know Every Moment Of Sin, Shame, Dishonesty And Degraded Love That Has Darkened Your Past. Right Now I Know Your Shallow Faith, Your Feeble Prayer Life, Your Inconsistent Discipleship. And My Word Is This: I Dare You To Trust That I Love You Just As You Are, And Not As You Should Be. Because You’re Never Going To Be As You Should Be.

I Want Neither A Terrorist Spirituality That Keeps Me In A Perpetual State Of Fright About Being In Right Relationship With My Heavenly Father Nor A Sappy Spirituality That Portrays God As Such A Benign Teddy Bear That There Is No Aberrant Behavior Or Desire Of Mine That He Will Not Condone. I Want A Relationship With The Abba Of Jesus, Who Is Infinitely Compassionate With My Brokenness And At The Same Time An Awesome, Incomprehensible, And Unwieldy Mystery.

We Have Been Given God In Our Souls And Christ In Our Flesh. We Have The Power To Believe Where Others Deny, To Hope Where Others Despair, To Love Where Others Hurt.