love drives out fear."[ 1 John 4:18]
'He goes on to point to the source of that perfect love: 'We love
because He first loved us". In other words, the cure to fear is not a
change in circumstances, rather a deep grounding in the love of God.
I ask God to reveal His love to me directly, or through my
relationships with those who also know Him--a prayer I think God takes
great delight in answering. When I get depressed about my present
failures, I ask God to remind me of my true identity: one who will be
made perfect and has already been forgiven. '
"You''ve got to go deeper'," ... my burned out pastor [was
counseled]. "'Sink the well into a water table that never runs dry'."
Thomas Merton conceded that everything in modern city life conspires
against such surrender. We worry (fear) about money, about what we
need to have and to know, about whom to compete with and what is
slipping out of our control. (He) found the secret to true freedom:
If we live to please God alone (the One who loves us), we set
ourselves free from the cares and worries that press in on us."
-Phillip Yancey
Quoted by Dr. Tom Wood, Church Multiplication Ministries
No comments:
Post a Comment
To comment on the validity or practicality of a post, add your perspective here.