The Word we study has to be the Word we pray. My personal experience of the relentless tenderness of God came not from exegetes, theologians, and spiritual writers, but from sitting still in the presence of the living Word and beseeching Him to help me understand with my head and heart His written Word. Sheer scholarship alone cannot reveal to us the gospel of grace. We must never allow the authority of books, institutions, or leaders to replace the authority of knowing Jesus Christ personally and directly. When the religious views of others interpose between us and the primary experience of Jesus as the Christ, we become unconvicted and unpersuasive travel agents handing out brochures to places we have never visited.
~Brennan Manning,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls…. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.
~ peter, The rock upon which the church is built, in 1 Peter 1
Oh beloved, it is true. There are those of us who have tasted the Good News of the Gospel, but we have not fully apprehended it. And it may be that we never will. It is just too big, and much too Real for the finite to comprehend. For even a single element of the Gospel: Grace, is a measureless sea of goodness pouring forth from the very heart of G_d.
And then, beyond Grace – the heart of G_d working for us, in us, and through us – comes mercy and Love and strength and hope and power and wisdom and ability and blessing. On it goes. And on, and on. There is almost an astounding ring of humor to it all.
We Fallen
Broken
Hating
Hurting
Alone
Become….
His New Creations
Whole
Loved and Loving
Healed
In Communion forever.
We go through a few trials once in a while, but now we sense that they are naught but a speedbump on the path Home. We now have a Life completely other than that of homo sapiens. That species, which we once were, is the highest of forms in physical creation. But now, spirit has been made alive in soul and flesh; and then joined forever to His Spirit. We are now alive forever in Him. And it is not an existence that will merely last a long time, it is a quality of Life which partakes in the Divine Nature.
We have become the beloved friend of G_d.
And He is very glad to have us among His companions. The prophets saw glimpses of this, but surely could not understand what they were seeing beyond a brief snapshot in a moment of ecstatic utterance. These writers lived in a time where G_d was proving the incapability of humanity to reach anything even resembling righteousness on an individual’s own merit. They knew the need for goodness, but could not attain it. Still, some saw some of the beauty in which we would be draped as Christ’s bride.
And then it gets better.
The grace of G_d goes far beyond making us merely fit for heaven, or cleaned up enough to survive in the blinding Light of His goodness and Presence. We are being prepared to be honored at our Homecoming. We are, by His Grace – the very heart of G_d, rooting for and empowering us to fulfill our purpose and longings – alone, going to receive His praise one Day.
Just stop for a moment.
Can we see it? Yes, He will be the very center of our attention and praise forever. No doubt. But have you begun to see it? You, beloved, will be the center of His as well. And this reality takes the immortal minds of angels, and twists them into a quizzical and head-scratching, “huh?”… But, even as the powerful seraphim begin to understand, the only response they can scream out is:
Holy
Holy
Holy is the L_RD G_D ALMIGHTY! Who was, and is, and is to come!
Tonight is your night beloved. Time to believe in Him. Him. The G_d who, through His grace, thinks you are wonderful!
