A wonderful book entitled qualities of a spiritual warrior has been so revitalizing. Graham Cooke wrote the book in 2008 as a way to help people realize the power they have in Christ.
One of the struggles I have always had in my life has been being reactionary. I frequently react to circumstances that need my tending to. This could be someone picking on the under privileged or maybe something not quite so hero - esk. If it was not an action type situation such as the previously mentioned, it could be my getting upset when things did not go quite right for me or someone said something to me that was upsetting. How about road rage or being tested in the realm of patients.
Reacting to situations is something I am quite good at - if you will. This book talks about those things as well as helps you to get through them. Seeing scripturally how God has made provision for us. He has us covered, He already thought of it. He talks about how much God loves us. We know from scripture that God delights in us, but Graham describes this as God bubbling in enthusiasm for us. That certainly puts a great big smile on my face.
These descriptions help me to keep up the fight. To continue to run the race, to endure in what He has called me to do. If God so desires a relationship with me that He bubbles in enthusiasm for me, it is my blessing to do the same in return. This brings up a question for me, how do I love Him the way that He loves me? It is necessary to be genuine in our pursuit of Him. To ask Him truthfully what is in our hearts. If we are able to be real with God, won't that show in all that we do? It should show in our relationships with others, and that is the catch for me. That is something that truly draws me in, draws me deeper into a relationship with Him and others.
Many times the church is it's own worst enemy. We rely on our own abilities to understand and relate to people we only see on Sundays ( most of the time). Remember when I talked about judging people and their walk with Christ. It is easy to see that I have been relying on my own understanding of God and what He would want from me.
Graham has an amazing quote in this book.
"This is the land of the religious and the Pharisee, where men make God in their own image; and intellectual study governs our thinking. We have no internal perception of God's true reality, and our logic based faith is so reasonable we cannot achieve anything with it."
If we only fix our eyes on what we learn from a book, we can never fix our eyes on what He is showing us - how much He loves us and how much we are to Love others. We can never get fixated on peoples performances or the way that we think they should be that we forget to Love them where they are at, the way that Christ took us - as is - damaged goods - He bubbles with enthusiasm for us!
Can we take from example - What He has shown us - can we be the difference that changes the world? Can we show a love that is undeniable to those who know no love like this?
It is my recommendation that everyone who has an interest in knowing God more intimately - read this one! it is simply amazing!
If we do these things correctly or with a true heart, we might just get out of this thing alive!
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