Brother Lawrence: Full of Mercy and Goodness ... 100th Post!

In short, I am assured beyond any doubt that my soul has been with God for nearly thirty years. I have not shared it all so as not to bore you, but I think it is proper that I tell you what manner I imagine myself before God whom I behold as king.

I imagine myself as the most wretched of all, full of sores and sins, and one who has committed all sorts of crimes against his king. Feeling a deep sorrow, I confess to him all of my sins, I ask his forgiveness, and I abandon myself into his hands so that he may do with me what he pleases.

This king, full of mercy and goodness, very far from chastening me, embraces me with love, invites me to feast at his table, serves me with his own hands, and gives me the key to his treasures. He converses with me, and takes delight in me, and treats me as if I were his favorite. This is how I imagine myself from time to time in his holy presence.

Devotional Classics; p.84; Brother Lawrence

God's Part in Salvation

OK, so I finally found something in the "Promises to Keep" Men's Devotional that doesn't cause my stomach to turn.  Let's just say I haven't been all that impressed... lots of theology of glory.... yuck.

Have you ever heard the story of the man who was wonderfully saved and arose in a class meeting to testify to his new found joy? His heart was filled with Christ and his lips spoke of Him and of Him only, as his Redeemer and Lord. The class leader was a legalist and said when the other had finished, "Our brother has told us what the Lord did for him, but he has forgotten to tell us what he did in order to be saved. God does His part when we do ours. Brother, did you not do your part before God saved you?" The man was on his feet in a moment and exclaimed, "I surely did do my part. I ran away from God as fast as my sins could carry me. That was my part. And God chased me till He caught me. That was His part."

Yes, you and I have all done our part, and a dreadfully sad part it was. We did all the sinning and He must do all the saving.   -- Harry Ironside,  Full Assurance

Promises to Keep; March 12; p. 85    

A Dose of Wonder

So I actually grabbed the wrong book this morning but this Madeleine L'Engle quote will work fine.

When I need a dose of wonder I wait for a clear night and go look for the stars. In the city I see only a few, but only a few are needed. In the country the great river of the Milky Way streams across the sky, and I know that our planet is a small part of that river of stars, and my pain of separation is healed.

Dis-aster makes me think of dis-grace. Often the wonder of the stars is enough to return me to God's loving grace.

Glimpses of Grace; p.66 

The Demands of Truth

Whoa, it's been awhile.   Sorry about that, life's been really crazy busy.  No excuses.

Truth is frightening. Pontius Pilate knew that, and washed his hands of truth when he washed his hands of Jesus. Truth is demanding. it won't let us sit comfortably. It knocks out our cozy smugness and casual condemnation. It makes us move. It? It? For truth we can read Jesus. Jesus is truth. If we accept that Jesus is truth, we accept an enormous demand: Jesus is wholly god, and Jesus is wholly human. Dare we believe that? If we believe in Jesus we must. And immediately that takes truth out of the limited realm of literalism. -- Madeleine L'Engle

Glimpses of Grace: p. 51, March 5