Monday- Liberation and Devastation- Hebrews 12:2
“Reading these words, I realized I didn’t desire GOD. My desires were to ensure my comfortable life. This one statement, along with the Holy Spirit’s relentless prodding, ravaged me. And (after more tears and blubbering) showed me that this devastating realization actually brings about our liberation. Our freedom. We are free to passionately and joyfully seek GOD and everything he possibly has for us. And, more importantly, all that He is for us.”
Tuesday- The Impossible, Possible- Mark 10:27
“Only this remains: the Christian life is impossible without a supernatural GOD. One who can do for me what I cannot do for myself- rescue, redeem, restore, and reconcile. Praise be to GOD that we have such! Amongst a world which promises (and fails to deliver) the impossible, we have YAHWEH making the impossible, possible!”
Wednesday- A Taste Called Desire- Psalm 90:14
“Once we get our first taste of Jesus, we want more. More of him. More of his healing. More of his peace. More of his suffering. More of his joy. Jesus is the joy we “don’t have and can’t create.” We must rely fully on him to bend our desire to him. We must be willing to lay down our desires and cling to his. Then we grab hold of JOY. In this life…and the one to come.”
Thursday- Conversion as Creation- Luke 11:39
“Piper puts it this way in his book, “…conversion is the creation of new desires, not just new duties; new delights, not just new deeds; new treasures, not just new tasks.”
Ponder this statement. Now we don’t have to complete our Christian “duties” out of obligation; we serve because it’s a “desire” of ours to be Christ-like. We’re no longer concerned with mere good “deeds” but “delighting” in being the hands and feet of Jesus to others. We’re not preoccupied with the “tasks” at hand, choosing rather to linger in the “treasure” that is time and relationship with Jesus.”
Friday- Pain as Joy- James 1:2-3
“How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to lose…You drove them from me, you who are true, the sovereign joy. You drove them from me and took their place, you who are sweeter than all pleasure, though not to flesh and blood, you who outshine all light, yet are hidden deeper than any secret in our hearts, you who surpass all honor, though not in the eyes of men who see all honor in themselves…O Lord my GOD, my light, my Wealth, and my Salvation.” -Augustine
