Completely Free

“Because of the gospel’s power, you can be completely free of all condemnation.

Not mostly free; completely free.



Don’t buy the lie that cultivating condemnation and wallowing in your shame is somehow pleasing to God, or that a constant, low-grade guilt will somehow promote holiness and spiritual maturity.

It’s just the opposite! God is glorified when we believe with all our hearts that those who trust in Christ can never be condemned. It’s only when we receive his free gift of grace and live in the good of total forgiveness that we’re able to turn from old, sinful ways of living and walk in grace-motivated obedience.”

- C.J. Mahaney, The Cross Centered Life, 39, 40-
('First Importance' - link to the right)


...Thank you, C.J. Of all the quotes I've read that summarize my journey of Grace begun a year ago (but much longer ago than that), this is the most concise. Love how good quotes can sink a truth in further...

Centrality of The Cross

“No theology is genuinely Christian which does not arise from and focus on the cross.”

- John Stott, The Cross of Christ (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1986), 216.-
(As published in 'Of First Importance', link to the right)

Office Wisdom

Sorry for false advertising; still working on Episode 2. Might be Friday...

Meanwhile... I love my manager. She's smart, kind, wise in mentoring - and can tend to be somewhat of a workaholic. So I laughed out loud today when she announced, with great intentionality:

"Tomorrow, I'll be in late and will leave early to make up for it."

Ha! Good for you, S! And C'est la vie!

The Fruits

"You know how self-control is one of the fruits of the Spirit? I was so bummed when I found that out..."

-A Dear Friend, over Friday brunch-

Forgiveness

"Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it."

-Mark Twain-

Quote For Today

Last night, we enjoyed a delightful little theatre production at the Southern Theatre: 'You're My Favorite Kind of Pretty'. Afterward, in a short discussion time with the cast, the Director (a friend's husband) said, "I'm finding lately that the more personal I make my work, the more universal its application becomes."

This is one of those concepts I have innately known, but have questioned at times. Hearing it from someone who creates art as a profession was powerful and encouraging - and reminded me of this C.S. Lewis quote:

"Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it."

I love this.

Have a wonderful week, dear readers and blog friends! Looking forward to connecting again upon our return...

The Flaw in Perfectionism

Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D. says this about perfectionism:

"A perfectionist sees life as if it were one of those little pictures that used to appear in the newpapers over the caption "What's wrong with this picture?" If you looked at the picture carefully you would see that the table only had three legs or the house had no door. I remember the "Aha!" that these pictures evoked in me as a child. I wonder now why anyone would want to take such satisfaction in [dwelling on] what is missing, what is wrong, what is "broken."

The pursuit of perfection has become a major addiction of our time. Fortunately, perfectionism is learned. No one is born a perfectionist, which is why it is possible to recover. I am a recovering perfectionist. Before I began recovering, I experienced that I and everyone else was always falling short, that who we were and what we did was never quite good enough. I sat in judgment on life itself. Perfectionism is the belief that life is broken."

Quote For Today

"And what was said to the rose to make it unfold, was said to me here in my chest - so be quiet now, and rest."

-David Crowder, 'Here Is Our King'-

Pointing Fingers

The mortgage industry, collectively and in general, does not appear to be 'choosing a new what-if' for itself at this point in time. For those of us left in it, it's beginning to feel like a sinking ship; instinct calls for moving as quickly as possible to the part of the ship that promises to sink last. Out of that surrounding sense of panic comes the following New York Times quote.

"A wave of lawsuits is beginning to wash over the troubled mortgage market and the rest of the financial world. Homeowners are suing mortgage lenders. Mortgage lenders are suing Wall Street banks. Wall Street banks are suing loan specialists. And investors are suing everyone."

Nice, huh? One commentator in the article called the situation a 'multi-ring circus'. The whole thing reminds me of a sarcastic quote from a history teacher I had back in high school: "If we all push our way to the front of the line, we'll all get our lunch first."

Good thing I'm still sitting on that flotation device...

The Trouble With Do-It-Yourself

"To do for yourself the best that you have it in you to do - to grit your teeth and clench your fists in order to survive the world at it harshest and worst - is, by that very act, to be unable to let something be done for you and in you that is more wonderful still. The trouble with steeling yourself against the harshness of reality is that the same steel that secures your life against being destroyed secures your life also against being opened up and transformed."

-Frederick Buechner-

Flotation Device

(C-girl & Katielady: still processing awesome comments from yesterday - more discussion to come later today...)

V: "Sometimes I feel like I'm standing on a long dock and there's this huge 50-foot tidal wave crashing toward me."

V's Dear Friend: "Yeah, but you forgot to look down and remember that He's put you on a flotation device."

I love how my friend put this... she was right. Sometimes we're right about the tidal wave coming - (though it might only be a 20-footer). But, then we have the opportunity to also envision His preparation on our behalf. We're still, miraculously, safe - for He's given us all we need in the moment. More on this next week.

Psalm 91 (NIV)

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, "His is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."

Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.

A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.

Alignment

"The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear."

-Socrates-

"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. What I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."

-1 Corinthians 13:11 & 12-

True

Ever read C.S. Lewis' 'Chronicles of Narnia'? Great family reading around Christmas time (or any time)...





"Welcome, child," he said.
"Aslan," said Lucy, "you're bigger."

"That is because you are older, little one," answered he.
"Not because you are?"

"I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger."

-C.S. Lewis, 'Prince Caspian'-

May it be so...

God and Art

QUOTE FOR TODAY: "In the creative act we can experience the same freedom we know in dreams. This happens as I write a story. I am bound by neither time nor space... When we are writing, or painting, or composing, we are, during the time of creativity, freed from normal restriction, and are opened to a wider world, where colours are brighter, sounds clearer, and people more wondrously complex than we normally realize." -Madeleine l'Engle-


THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Once, at a worship conference, Tom Kraeuter played some basic chords and invited us all to sing out freely, making up whatever melodies we wanted to sing to Jesus. He compared this to a child's homemade card; not polished - but crafted and submitted purely out of love for the One receiving it. Out of this exercise rose some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard; not in unison, but so united...

I love that. Like a homemade card. That's how I feel about writing (even if it's just about silly squid!) - and singing. What kind of activities set you free and make you lose track of time, like a little kid at play? Our Abba's all over that stuff, I think...