What if we dared to do the same? What if God was not labeled by what people do, or his people's failures, He was not a crowd or hype? But what if we dared to see Him as He is in His true character; His unfailing love, His power, His desire for relationship, His over abundant grace and mercy, His mystery. For when we do that we begin to see God more as He is rather than how we mere humans try to portray Him. Now that, is dangerous. There is a likely chance that this 'figure God out for yourself' thing will both destroy and compel. It will destroy what you thought you knew about Him, life and what is good. And it will compel you to live out what you learn.
Ephesians 3: 16-19 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
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ReplyDeleteSo it's called the open window, but you've got a picture of a closed window. Not nearly as bad as the out of service suicide helpline I saw on the golden gate bridge with a simple, "sorry", written on it in sharpie. You going for the same effect?
ReplyDeleteLike the thoughts on religious inheritance. And the idea of seeing God for what he is in the second paragraph.
I agree, we've got to stop limiting God. I'm going to come at it at a little different angle but pretty much say the same thing as yourself, but I think if we want to learn how to live the life we were created for, if we want to live the way we are, then we have to take God out of the little boxes we’ve put him in. We have to stop fooling ourselves that we’ve got God figured out, as though he is some little thing we can just put on the shelf over here and not pay attention to, or at least only when we feel like it. Like you said, we have got to recognize and embrace the mystery of God. And by that I mean all that we do not, and will not, because we cannot understand or completely explain and rationally make sense of. And once you’ve got that, once you come to terms with the fact that the mystery of the Christian faith is not one you solve, but one you meet; and once you realize that you can’t control God or throw out difficult complexity for easy answers - then you have to start paying attention because you have to pay attention to something you can't control. And not just Him, but to yourself and others as well. And therein lies the danger you talk about.
Truly pay attention to God and his word and you'll find yourself facing the most difficult living possible.
Truly pay attention to God and self and He will take you to your deepest and darkest places.
Truly pay attention to God and his word and you'll find yourself facing the most difficult living possible.
Truly pay attention to God, self, and others and you'll begin to care for them. And like Baloian said, do that and God will mess all your ideals and way of life up.
Haha Blair. Maybe the other side is open? Who knows? I thought it was a cool picture :). There's a Gungor song you would like- its called 'Cannot Keep You'. Its a song that describes what you're talking about- putting God in a box. The problem is, a lot of times, when we put God in a box is that we end up serving the means rather than the end. And God was never meant to be limited. Life is definitely difficult when committed to Christ, but yet within it you experience the most intense joy you can ever find. I love that God is unpredictable and fresh, never to be fully comprehended by man!
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