James 4:6
Think of the biggest bubble you've ever blown - the one that popped and got stuck in your hair. No - think of one of those balloons with a rubber band on it that you bounced against your hand for days. Ummm... that won't do either. Think of one of those balloons from Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Nope. Still not big enough. A hot air balloon. The Hindenburg Blimp. What about all of the air in our atmosphere.
Bigger. Louder. Fuller. Stronger. Mightier. More - more - more! Not just a spoon-full more - but a mountain more. And not stopping there. But more. And more. And more again.
God gives us more grace.
More grace than we deserve - which is why it's called grace. And he gives it again and again, snowballing- growing our love for Him, growing our understanding of who He is. And in the process we are maturing.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
A Jealous Longing that Changes Me
James 4:5
Even really really smart people get a little boggle minded on how this verse is to be translated - so I won't dare touch that. Grammar and vocabulary and gender based words make it all confusing. But no matter how you translate it into English there is something so relational about this verse. There's a deep longing, a passionate yearning. Have you ever held on to something so tight - a suitcase handle, a railing, a rope, a person - that when you finally let go there's physical evidence? The handle is worn, there is a red line across your hand, blisters, or the marks of finger nails in your skin? That's the longing that's talked about in this verse - a deep, deep desire that influences and changes the structure of something. That's the longing God has for us. When I am resiting His discipline, His cultivation, His refining fire, I am resisting His love.
Even really really smart people get a little boggle minded on how this verse is to be translated - so I won't dare touch that. Grammar and vocabulary and gender based words make it all confusing. But no matter how you translate it into English there is something so relational about this verse. There's a deep longing, a passionate yearning. Have you ever held on to something so tight - a suitcase handle, a railing, a rope, a person - that when you finally let go there's physical evidence? The handle is worn, there is a red line across your hand, blisters, or the marks of finger nails in your skin? That's the longing that's talked about in this verse - a deep, deep desire that influences and changes the structure of something. That's the longing God has for us. When I am resiting His discipline, His cultivation, His refining fire, I am resisting His love.
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