December 21, 2007

Merry Christmas!

I'm off to see the family a little later today. Very excited! My devo's the past week or so have prompted a lot of thoughts so I thought I'd share a few quotes with y'all. Brennan Manning will do that to you. Consider this my way of saying Merry Christmas to all...and to all--you are blessed.

"Because the question no longer is: Can I do it? Am I able? Can I overcome my moodiness, my laziness, my sensuality, my grudges, and resentments? The only question is: Is Jesus Christ able? Can my Savior, the Lord of my life, revive my drooping spirit and transform me at Christmas as he transformed the world through his birth in Bethlehem?"

"When Jesus Christ is born in me, hope burns brightly and everything else fades into twilight. The roof can collapse, winter heat become unavailable, fair-weather friends shift their allegiance, popularity wane. The Kingdom of Christ Jesus remain alight within me."

"The God we encounter in Jesus is free from preoccupation with his own glory, free to be for us, free to be gracious, free to love and let be."

"Christmas is the promise that the God who came in history and comes daily in mystery will one day come in glory....Nothing can harm you permanently, no suffering is irrevocable, no loss is lasting, no defeat is more than transitory, no disappointment is conclusive. Jesus did not deny the reality of suffering, discouragement, disappointment, frustrations, and death; he simplelly stated that the Kingdom of God would conquer all of those horrors, that the Father's love is so prodigal that no evil could possibly resist it."

1 comment:

Unknown said...

What, pray tell, were you doing in Pigeon?