"To proceed very far through the desert, you must be willing to meet existential suffering and work it through. In order to do this, the attitude toward pain has to change. This happens when we accept the fact that everything that happens to us has been designed for our spiritual growth.”
1I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: 3“Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”a ? 4And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”b 5So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
JOURNAL
Getting into Romans I get into some of the more confusing scripture. Grace and works...Paul declares that faith cannot be about works for if so then "grace would no longer be grace". It is easier for me to understand this when I think of it in terms of the science of our world and specifically the human body and all its amazing systems. None of which any of us created nor can we really control. We have been given an incredible gift in our own existence. Our bodies do so much that we take completely for granted and in the same vein the time and place in which we were born have nothing to do with our choices.
My existence in this moment, in this period of time, is really not my own doing...its God's power and grace. Therefore, to not seek God is really the height of ignorance and arrogance. I didn't create myself, I don't consciously keep my body working, I have no control over the days or the seasons or any other part of the world. There is nothing that I can truly control or influence, without God's approval and authority.
Yet God still does gives me choices and in those choices I experience love and joy but also heartache and struggle. While it often seems to be a paradox, it's really just reality. I have choices but only because my existence is allowed. In order for me to fully experience the best in today, I must acknowledge that today is truly a gift, one which I did not create nor do I "deserve". I have today because God has created and allowed it. To honor that and appreciate it is to worship God and God alone. As a result my heart and mind are renewed and I can see with new eyes and experience the beauty and joy of today.
My existence in this moment, in this period of time, is really not my own doing...its God's power and grace. Therefore, to not seek God is really the height of ignorance and arrogance. I didn't create myself, I don't consciously keep my body working, I have no control over the days or the seasons or any other part of the world. There is nothing that I can truly control or influence, without God's approval and authority.
Yet God still does gives me choices and in those choices I experience love and joy but also heartache and struggle. While it often seems to be a paradox, it's really just reality. I have choices but only because my existence is allowed. In order for me to fully experience the best in today, I must acknowledge that today is truly a gift, one which I did not create nor do I "deserve". I have today because God has created and allowed it. To honor that and appreciate it is to worship God and God alone. As a result my heart and mind are renewed and I can see with new eyes and experience the beauty and joy of today.
16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
2 CORINTHIANS 4:16
2 CORINTHIANS 4:16
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