wyhr.orgWendy’s World

I heard this quote on Sunday and thought I would share:
“I often wonder if religion is the enemy of God. It’s almost like religion is what happens when the Spirit has left the building.”
~Bono

Today this phrase stood out to me: “One stinging sorrow spared would have been one blessing missing or unclaimed”.

“Our greatest woes result from the corruption of our highest good, e.g., speech, sex, technology, atomic
power.”
~Gordon J. Wenham

Control is an illusion.
~Paraphrase of Mare Cortese

In chapter 10 of It’s Not About Me Max Lucado writes some excellent stuff on legalism. I realize not everyone uses that term on a daily basis so let’s look up the definition. Wikitionary defines legalism as “a philosophy of focusing on the text of written law to the exclusion of the intent of law, elevating strict adherence to law over justice, mercy and common sense”. Now here is what Max Lucado writes:

“Legalism discounts God and in the process makes a mess out of us.

Legalism is joyless because legalism is endless. There is always another class to attend, person to teach, mouth to feed. Inmates incarcerated in self-salvation find work but never joy. How could they? They never know when they are finished. Legalism leaches joy.

Grace, however, dispenses peace…’Gone are the exertions of law-keeping, gone the disciplines and asceticism of legalism, gone the anxiety that having done everything we might not have done enough. We reach the goal not by the stairs, but by the lift…’

Grace offers rest. Legalism never does. Then why do we embrace it? ‘Those who trust in themselves are foolish’ (Prov 28:26 NCV). Why do we trust in ourselves? Why do we add to God’s finished work? Might the answer include the word boast?”

Hence the title of the book It’s Not About Me.

“With life comes change.

With change comes fear, insecurity, sorrow, stress. So what do you do? Hibernate? Take no risks for fear of failing? Give no love for fear of losing? Some opt to. They hold back.

A better idea is to look up. Set your bearings on…God. For though life changes, he never does.”

~Max Lucado, It’s Not About Me

I read this today and thought I would share:

With a handful of Cheerios, I tip-toed across the deck in my backyard trying to sneak up on the fish in the pond… As I approached the railing, 15 enormous goldfish raced toward me, their large mouths frantically opening and closing in eager anticipation of an expected treat.

So, why did the fish so furiously flap their fins? Because my mere presence set off a conditioned response in their tiny fish brains that told them I had something special to give them.

If only we always had such a response to God and His desire to give us good gifts—a response based on our past experience with Him that flows from a deep-seated knowledge of His character.

“Growing up, everything is pushed on you,” she said. “You’re trying to be the smartest, trying to compete with everyone.

Heroin, she said, was an escape.”*

Escape is defined as getting free, freeing oneself.
Transcendence is defined as going beyond one’s self.

The two are very similar in my mind and it reminded me of what I read in The Sacred Romance. We are in fact seeking to transcend. We were made that way. We were designed with heaven in mind. We weren’t meant for this world and that’s why we constantly try to escape it via alcohol, love, food, drugs, work, sports…

It’s sad.

It’s sad because we don’t go to the only One who can curb our craving for escape, who can give us a taste of heaven. We don’t go to God and He’s the one we need.

*This quote was from a New York Times article titled Young and Suburban, and Falling for Heroin.

I know, I know. I finished this study up months ago. The thing is – there’s an epilogue. Since it was such a great study I felt compelled to complete the whole book (this is not a common occurence). I’m glad I did because I found this:

Were there but some deep, holy spell, whereby
Always I should remember thee…
Lord, see thou to it, take thou remembrance’s load:
Only when I bethink me can I cry;
Remember thou, and prick me with love’s goad.
When I can no more stir my soul to move,
And life is but the ashes of the fire;
When I can but remember that my heart
Once used to live and love, long and aspire–
Oh, be thou then the first, the one thou art;
Be thou the calling, before all answering love,
And in me wake hope, fear, and boundless desire.
~George MacDonald, Diary of an Old Soul

I’m reading Tony Dungy’s new book, Uncommon. Basically, it’s his perspective on how to live a life of significance…and it’s not about how he coached the winners of Superbowl XLI. This quote should sum it up for you:

“Both (Reverend Billy Graham & Coach Landry) began as ordinary men–submitted and available to God–whom God then used to touch the lives of others. Interestingly, that is often  how God works: through ordinary, available people who have submitted their lives to Him. He transforms the common work that we do into something majestic and eternal. Something uncommon.”

It’s so true. God has given each one of us a unique set of experiences and talents that only we can use right now where we’re at. We all have the opportunity to make an ordinary life uncommon.

P.S. – This book is jammed full of good stuff so stay tuned for more quotes.