"Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and probably broken.
Don't love, and lock your heart up in a casket of selfishness.
Make sure you make yourself vulnerable to no one.
But in that casket, dark and motionless, it will change.
Your heart will not become broken but unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.
The only place safe from the tragedy of a broken heart is hell. Where nobody gives their heart to anyone."
Bam. CS Lewis, you're amazing. I so much agree with this quote I don't even know what else to say about it but I'm so glad that my heart is wrung rather than being locked up in a casket right now and that is only because of God's grace.
12.01.2011
understanding hope
The theme of "hope" has been on my mind and it seems also on many people's minds around me. Why? Because the world is not right and things aren't what they should be and we want something more. Even on the best day where the list gets checked off and the weather is perfect, relationships seem right and the bills are paid and absolutely on the days where it feels like more failure, more bad news, more to do than I have the capacity for, more anger and junk in my own heart to deal with; I hope for something better. Does God just want me to hope for good things to come my way? I want to think "yes", but then I actually READ the Bible and realize that's probably not the whole story. "Now may the God of HOPE fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in HOPE by the power of the Holy Spirit".
"I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the HOPE to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.."
I have true hope because of Jesus' sweet & specific sacrifice for me! This hope has amazing power in my life which gives:
-Joy
-Peace
-More power in the Holy Spirit to do life
-Eyes to see my calling
-Eyes to see my inheritance
True hope is a lens with which I see clearly what is mine now and in the future. Falsely, I make it something that I muster up, like a positive feeling or energy or a vibe that gives me enough guts to wish or guess that God might do something good in my life in the future. That is not it at all. Yes, God will do things. He will act on my behalf because he is my father and my best friend. He wants to give good gifts, but more than that he wants my heart. If I am hoping for good stuff that is not him, then my hope is misplaced. This is a daily struggle because I just want good stuff, an easy and comfortable life and to be the queen of my own kingdom. But in moments where I have had those things, there is so much emptiness. There is no peace, joy or power for life and I am so selfish. I have no eyes to see my calling or eternity or other people and their needs. Today I am praying for the God of hope to fill me with all joy and peace in believing so that I will abound in it by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Last night I received a box at my doorstep from target.com. I hadn't ordered anything, but look what was inside:
"I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the HOPE to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.."
I have true hope because of Jesus' sweet & specific sacrifice for me! This hope has amazing power in my life which gives:
-Joy
-Peace
-More power in the Holy Spirit to do life
-Eyes to see my calling
-Eyes to see my inheritance
True hope is a lens with which I see clearly what is mine now and in the future. Falsely, I make it something that I muster up, like a positive feeling or energy or a vibe that gives me enough guts to wish or guess that God might do something good in my life in the future. That is not it at all. Yes, God will do things. He will act on my behalf because he is my father and my best friend. He wants to give good gifts, but more than that he wants my heart. If I am hoping for good stuff that is not him, then my hope is misplaced. This is a daily struggle because I just want good stuff, an easy and comfortable life and to be the queen of my own kingdom. But in moments where I have had those things, there is so much emptiness. There is no peace, joy or power for life and I am so selfish. I have no eyes to see my calling or eternity or other people and their needs. Today I am praying for the God of hope to fill me with all joy and peace in believing so that I will abound in it by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Last night I received a box at my doorstep from target.com. I hadn't ordered anything, but look what was inside:
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