Desire |

“…because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.” – Ephesians 2: 4-5 (NIV)

After reading through Monday’s post and comments a few times, I realized I didn’t explain myself very well. I wanted to explain one thing, and it came off as something a little bit different. If you haven’t read Monday’s post, you may want to read it before continuing. Click here Love and Law

What I realized after reading it over again (and again and again…), is that I didn’t properly tell you where I was stuck.

You all understood the Love part. I need to let the grace and love of Jesus flow into my heart.

The stuck part is in my head. It is not, as I failed to explain, the Law. I’m not hung up on the rules. I’m not legalistic.

I’m stuck on the academic.

The desire to understand doctrine and theology, to decipher the words written by respected theologians and ministers, grabs me. It has grabbed me for decades.

I like reading what they wrote. I like reading about their lives.

John Calvin
Martin Luther
Abraham Kuyper
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and many more.

Sad to say, I can remember thinking more than a few times over the years, the sermon I was hearing needed more details on the doctrine and theology of the sermon topic. I wanted to know the roots and foundation of the pastor’s points.

Did the words I was hearing from the pulpit, in the music I was listening to, in the words I read in the dozens of books I read every year, fit with the doctrine and theology I believe? I wanted to understand the intricacies of the doctrine and theology. (I’m sure I’m not the only person trying to come to a complete understanding of the Trinity while on this side of Heaven. Right?)

Now I intend to pay attention to both. Love and Law. Or more accurately, love and the details of the love working in me and through me to better understand it all.

Let the Love of God flow into me so that I may better understand His Amazing Grace.

Il Divo – Amazing Grace

“Dreaming and walking down the road to awesome is not inherently selfish” – Jon Acuff

Is it wrong to want to publish an award-winning blog or to write a New York Times best-selling book? In a word: No. If you have been called by God to do something, it is never selfish to desire to be wildly successful at it! God has called you to a task, a mission, with a purpose for you. God wants you to be wildly successful.

Let’s make sure we are clear though. You have to desire that success for His glory. His glory alone. For many of us (myself included) this brings up the question of how to combine “wildly successful for God’s glory” with “wildly successful for my income and for my family”. It can sometimes be difficult for us to come to terms with success. Satan does some of his best work when he twists our success into pride. He also does some of his best work when he takes our success and plants rapidly growing seeds of guilt in our psyche.

I was brought up with the guidelines that I was to work hard at my job, do my best, don’t rock the boat, and collect the pay check. These things are all good. But why have these ideas become purveyors of guilt, and why have they put in us a fear of asking for something better? Is asking for a raise a selfish act if you’ve been a loyal, hard-working employee? Is it wrong to desire a job you truly enjoy?

I’m trying to walk down a road that will bring me to my personal “awesome”. Fear sometimes tells me to stop dreaming and stop walking down the road. No more. I am going to walk down the “road to awesome” with a purpose and a goal. I will walk and dream with intent. I’d like to invite you along for the walk. Join me.

What dream have you put aside because fear has told you to “do the right thing”?

If you want to see how some other people are being “selfish”, check out my friends at FrankenStart.

Tag Archives: Desire

Explaining Love and Law

SELFISH