Trust and Gratitude

Trust and Gratitude
By Henri J.M. Nouwen

Choose life, then, so that you and your children may live in the love of Yahweh your God, obeying his voice, holding fast to him; for in this your life consists. Deuteronomy 30:19-20

A life of faith is a life of gratitude--it means a life in which I am willing to experience my complete dependence upon God and to praise and thank him unceasingly for the gift of being. A truly eucharistic life means always saying thanks to God, always praising God, and always being more surprised by the abundance of God's goodness and love. How can such a life not also be a joyful life? It is the truly converted life in which God has become the center of all. There gratitude is joy and joy is gratitude and everything becomes a surprising sign of God's presence.

Whenever Jesus says to the people he has healed: "Your faith has saved you," he is saying that they have found new life because they have surrendered in complete trust to the love of God revealed in him. Trusting in the unconditional love of God: that is the way to which Jesus calls us. The more firmly we grasp this, the more readily we will be able to perceive why there is so much suspicion, jealousy, bitterness, vindictiveness, hatred, violence, and discord in the world. Jesus himself interprets this by comparing God's love to the light. He says:

. . . though the light has come into the world people have preferred darkness to light because their deeds were evil. And indeed, everybody who does wrong hates the light and avoids it, to prevent his actions from being shown up; but whoever does the truth comes out into the light, so that what he is doing may plainly appear as done in God.

Jesus sees the evil in this world as a lack of trust in God's love. He makes us see that we persistently fall back on ourselves, rely more on ourselves than on God, and are inclined more to the love of self than to love of God. So we remain in the darkness. If we walk in the light, then we are enabled to acknowledge in joy and gratitude that everything good, beautiful, and true comes from God and is offered to us in love.

Our Prayer, O God, you are not far from any of us, since it is in you that we live, and move, and exist. You, who have overlooked the times of ignorance, let everyone everywhere be told that they must now repent (Acts 17:27-28, 30).

Source: Henri J.M. Nouwen, Show me the way (Crossroad Publishing Company, 1992).

Voice of Truth

Shame on me for never before listening closely to the words of this Casting Crowns song.

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out His hand

But the waves are calling out my name
And they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy, you'll never win! You'll never win!"
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
The voice of truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant
With just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
Shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant's calling out my name
And he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy you'll never win! You'll never win!"
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
The voice of truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

But the stone was just the right size
To put the giant on the ground
And the waves they don't seem so high
From on top of them lookin' down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

BETH MOORE ROCKS!

I'm doing Beth Moore's Believing God right now and it is so amazing. I leave each week refreshed and exhausted at the same time. It's so much to take in. Some thoughts from today's DVD.

• Psalm 77:12-14 - I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples. (Emphasis mine. Performs with an "s" on the end. CURRENTLY performing.
• Habakkuk 3:2 - LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known...
• Romans 4:18 - Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be."
• Judges 6:12-13 - When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior." "But sir," Gideon replied, "if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about?" At least Gideon had the guts to ask.
• Psalm 74:9-22 - We are given no miraculous signs; no prophets are left, and none of us knows how long this will be. How long will the enemy mock you, O God? Will the foe revile your name forever? Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them! But you, O God, are my king from of old; you bring salvation upon the earth. It was you who split open the sea by your power; you broke the heads of the monster in the waters. It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave him as food to the creatures of the desert. It was you who opened up springs and streams; you dried up the ever flowing rivers. The day is yours, and yours also the night; you established the sun and moon. It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter. Remember how the enemy has mocked you, O LORD, how foolish people have reviled your name. Do not hand over the life of your dove to wild beasts; do not forget the lives of your afflicted people forever. Have regard for your covenant, because haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land. Do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace; may the poor and needy praise your name. Rise up, O God, and defend your cause.
• With the right heart, we CAN request the fulfillment of any promise in the entire Word of God. (In other words, we can use his word, like a lawyer, to set a precedence for something we are requesting.) For example, in Exodus 33, MOSES SIMPLY ASKED! We are greatly helped, however, by understanding that God has not obligated Himself to fulfill every promise from Genesis to Revelation to every believer throughout history.
• ...more of us are probably caught in the cycle of unbelief. In other words, we believe little because we've seen little, and we've seen little because we believe little.
• God's NEW covenant prioritizes work on our HEART over external work. See Hebrews 10:13-18, and 2 Corinthians 3:6 and 4:7. Ephesians 3:20 - his work is now IN us. God prioritizes your internal over your external. If you ask him to move that mountain and you are believing for that and he says no, it is because he is prioritizing and saying yes to something more important. That way, we're freed up. Our character is not at stake. He KNOWS and we know he prioritized FOR us.
• John 15:7. If we are using the sword of the Spirit and the shield of faith, we will see more YES answers than Nos. Think like HIM by letting his word abide in you.
• Mark 9:14-24. Do not argue matters of faith with a pharisee. You will talk intellectualism and overlook the wondrous!
• Every time you grasp a new concept about God, try thinking, He's this...and more! Every time you ask God for something, try asking but then saying, "Come, God, and BE HUGE!"
• Authentic Biblical freedom feels the wind of the Spirit while standing steadfastly on the rock of Truth.
• Luke 18:8 - ...when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?
• Proverbs 2:1-12 - My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men.

Bell

Hey - anyone read Velvet Elvis? (Rob Bell)