A divine comfort through human obedience
The only comfort the heart can take cannot come from itself, but the comfort must come through itself.
A higher region: What is mine to do
To her surprise she found also that since her father’s death, many of her doubts had vanished. She had been lifted into a region higher than those questions which had so disturbed her peace. From a point of vision she saw things so differently that the questions she had were no longer relevant. The truth was being lived out in her that the business of life is to live, not to answer every objection the mind can raise to things spiritual. She had done that which was given her to do; therefore she progressed up the stairway of life. It is no matter that a man or woman be unable to explain or understand this or that. It does not matter as long as when they see a truth they do it; to see and not do would at once place them in eternal danger. There is in the man or woman who does the truth, the radiance of life essential – a glory infinitely beyond any that can belong to the intellect.
Selah.
George MacDonald, “Empty Houses,” The Lady’s Confession.
Showing posts with label obedience. Show all posts
Showing posts with label obedience. Show all posts
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Saturday, May 09, 2009
Being What God Means Us To Be
Being What God Means Us To Be
By Thomas Merton
A tree gives glory to God by being a tree. For in being what God means it to be it is obeying [God]. It ‘consents,’ so to speak, to [God's] creative love. It is expressing an idea which is in God and which is not distinct from the essence of God, and therefore a tree imitates God by being a tree.
The more a tree is like itself, the more it is like [God]. If it tried to be like something else which it was never intended to be, it would be less like God and therefore it would give [God] less glory….
This particular tree will give glory to God by spreading out its roots in the earth and raising its branches into the air and the light in a way that no other tree before or after it ever did or will do….
The special clumsy beauty of this particular colt on this April day in this field under these clouds is a holiness consecrated to God by [God's] own creative wisdom and it declares the glory of God.
The pale flowers of the dogwood outside this window are saints. The little yellow flowers that nobody notices on the edge of that road are saints looking up into the face of God. This leaf has it own texture and its own pattern of veins and its own holy shape, and the bass and trout hiding in the deep pools of the river are canonized by their beauty and their strength. The lakes hidden among the hills are saints, and the sea too is a saint who praises God without interruption in her majestic dance.
The great, gashed, half-naked mountain is another of God’s saints. There is no other like him. He is alone in his own character; nothing else in the world ever did or ever will imitate God in quite the same way. That is his sanctity.
But what about you? What about me? Unlike the animals and the trees, it is not enough for us to be what our nature intends. It is not enough for us to be individual [humans]. For us, holiness is more than humanity. If we are never anything but people, we will not be saints and we will not be able to offer to God the worship of our imitation, which is sanctity.
It is true to say that for me sanctity consists in being myself and for you sanctity consists in being your self and that, in the last analysis, your sanctity will never be mine and mine will never be yours, except in the communism of charity and grace.
For me to be a saint means to be myself. Therefore the problem of sanctity and salvation is in fact the problem of finding out who I am and of discovering my true self.
Trees and animals have no problem. God makes them what they are without consulting them, and they are perfectly satisfied. With us it is different. God leaves us free to be whatever we like. We can be ourselves or not, as we please. We are at liberty to be real, or to be unreal. We may be true or false, the choice is ours. We may wear now one mask and now another, and never, if we so desire, appear with our own true face. But we cannot make these choices with impunity. Causes have effects, and if we lie to ourselves and to others, then we cannot expect to find truth and reality whenever we happen to want them. If we have chosen the way of falsity we must not be surprised that truth eludes us when we finally come to need it!
Our vocation is not simply to be, but to work together with God in the creation of our own life, our own identity, our own destiny. We are free beings and sons [and daughters] of God. This means to say that we should not passively exist, but actively participate in [God's] creative freedom, in our own lives, and in the lives of others, by choosing the truth. To put it better, we are even called to share with God the work of creating the truth of our identity. We can evade this responsibility by playing with masks, and this pleases us because it can appear at times to be a free and creative way of living. It is quite easy, it seems, to please everyone. But in the long run the cost and the sorrow come very high….
We do not know clearly beforehand what the result of this work will be. The secret of my full identity is hidden in [God.] [God] alone can make me who I am, or rather who I will be when at last I fully begin to be. But unless I desire this identity and work to find it with [God] and in [God], the work will never be done. The way of doing it is a secret I can learn from no one else but [God]….
The seeds that are planted in my liberty at every moment, by God’s will, are the seeds of my own identity, my own reality, my own happiness, my own sanctity. To refuse them is to refuse everything; it is the refusal of my own existence and being: of my identity, my very self. Not to accept and love and do God’s will is to refuse the fullness of my existence.
Selah.
By Thomas Merton
A tree gives glory to God by being a tree. For in being what God means it to be it is obeying [God]. It ‘consents,’ so to speak, to [God's] creative love. It is expressing an idea which is in God and which is not distinct from the essence of God, and therefore a tree imitates God by being a tree.
The more a tree is like itself, the more it is like [God]. If it tried to be like something else which it was never intended to be, it would be less like God and therefore it would give [God] less glory….
This particular tree will give glory to God by spreading out its roots in the earth and raising its branches into the air and the light in a way that no other tree before or after it ever did or will do….
The special clumsy beauty of this particular colt on this April day in this field under these clouds is a holiness consecrated to God by [God's] own creative wisdom and it declares the glory of God.
The pale flowers of the dogwood outside this window are saints. The little yellow flowers that nobody notices on the edge of that road are saints looking up into the face of God. This leaf has it own texture and its own pattern of veins and its own holy shape, and the bass and trout hiding in the deep pools of the river are canonized by their beauty and their strength. The lakes hidden among the hills are saints, and the sea too is a saint who praises God without interruption in her majestic dance.
The great, gashed, half-naked mountain is another of God’s saints. There is no other like him. He is alone in his own character; nothing else in the world ever did or ever will imitate God in quite the same way. That is his sanctity.
But what about you? What about me? Unlike the animals and the trees, it is not enough for us to be what our nature intends. It is not enough for us to be individual [humans]. For us, holiness is more than humanity. If we are never anything but people, we will not be saints and we will not be able to offer to God the worship of our imitation, which is sanctity.
It is true to say that for me sanctity consists in being myself and for you sanctity consists in being your self and that, in the last analysis, your sanctity will never be mine and mine will never be yours, except in the communism of charity and grace.
For me to be a saint means to be myself. Therefore the problem of sanctity and salvation is in fact the problem of finding out who I am and of discovering my true self.
Trees and animals have no problem. God makes them what they are without consulting them, and they are perfectly satisfied. With us it is different. God leaves us free to be whatever we like. We can be ourselves or not, as we please. We are at liberty to be real, or to be unreal. We may be true or false, the choice is ours. We may wear now one mask and now another, and never, if we so desire, appear with our own true face. But we cannot make these choices with impunity. Causes have effects, and if we lie to ourselves and to others, then we cannot expect to find truth and reality whenever we happen to want them. If we have chosen the way of falsity we must not be surprised that truth eludes us when we finally come to need it!
Our vocation is not simply to be, but to work together with God in the creation of our own life, our own identity, our own destiny. We are free beings and sons [and daughters] of God. This means to say that we should not passively exist, but actively participate in [God's] creative freedom, in our own lives, and in the lives of others, by choosing the truth. To put it better, we are even called to share with God the work of creating the truth of our identity. We can evade this responsibility by playing with masks, and this pleases us because it can appear at times to be a free and creative way of living. It is quite easy, it seems, to please everyone. But in the long run the cost and the sorrow come very high….
We do not know clearly beforehand what the result of this work will be. The secret of my full identity is hidden in [God.] [God] alone can make me who I am, or rather who I will be when at last I fully begin to be. But unless I desire this identity and work to find it with [God] and in [God], the work will never be done. The way of doing it is a secret I can learn from no one else but [God]….
The seeds that are planted in my liberty at every moment, by God’s will, are the seeds of my own identity, my own reality, my own happiness, my own sanctity. To refuse them is to refuse everything; it is the refusal of my own existence and being: of my identity, my very self. Not to accept and love and do God’s will is to refuse the fullness of my existence.
Selah.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
A word for the day: The will of God is not too hard
Not too hard for you, nor too far away
Deuteronomy 30:11ff
Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?' Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?' No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.
See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Selah.
Deuteronomy 30:11ff
Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?' Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?' No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.
See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Selah.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
A word for the day: Chased by blessings
These blessings shall overtake you
Deuteronomy 28:1-14
If you will only obey the Lord your God, by diligently observing all his commandments that I am commanding you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth; all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the Lord your God:
The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you; they shall come out against you one way, and flee before you seven ways. The Lord will command the blessing upon you in your barns, and in all that you undertake; he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways. All the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. The Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give you. The Lord will open for you his rich storehouse, the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all your undertakings. You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow. The Lord will make you the head, and not the tail; you shall be only at the top, and not at the bottom if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today, by diligently observing them, and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I am commanding you today, either to the right or to the left, following other gods to serve them.
Selah.
An image of divine dance
Here the language of blessing is rare and fascinating: "These blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the Lord your God." The imagery is of blessings as a pursuing host, a great company of goodness that flows around us like the wind and falls upon us, overtaking us like the dawn overtakes the night, and suddenly, there is light!
The imagery is almost as if the default state of humans is to flee divine blessing: it is as if in our own selves we run away from the place of divine blessing; and yet, as we turn to obey our God, suddenly, and overwhelmingly, the blessings overtake us and fall upon us, and we are whole.
There is a divine principle here: obedience, fear of the Lord, refusal of idols... this is the path where blessings overtake us and fall like rain upon parched soil, bringing forth the harvest of righteousness!
Alleluia!
Selah.
Deuteronomy 28:1-14
If you will only obey the Lord your God, by diligently observing all his commandments that I am commanding you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth; all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the Lord your God:
- Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.
- Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your livestock, both the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock.
- Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading-bowl.
- Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you; they shall come out against you one way, and flee before you seven ways. The Lord will command the blessing upon you in your barns, and in all that you undertake; he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways. All the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. The Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give you. The Lord will open for you his rich storehouse, the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all your undertakings. You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow. The Lord will make you the head, and not the tail; you shall be only at the top, and not at the bottom if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today, by diligently observing them, and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I am commanding you today, either to the right or to the left, following other gods to serve them.
Selah.
An image of divine dance
Here the language of blessing is rare and fascinating: "These blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the Lord your God." The imagery is of blessings as a pursuing host, a great company of goodness that flows around us like the wind and falls upon us, overtaking us like the dawn overtakes the night, and suddenly, there is light!
The imagery is almost as if the default state of humans is to flee divine blessing: it is as if in our own selves we run away from the place of divine blessing; and yet, as we turn to obey our God, suddenly, and overwhelmingly, the blessings overtake us and fall upon us, and we are whole.
There is a divine principle here: obedience, fear of the Lord, refusal of idols... this is the path where blessings overtake us and fall like rain upon parched soil, bringing forth the harvest of righteousness!
Alleluia!
Selah.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Thoughts between daughter and Father IX
KNOWING ONLY TO FOLLOW
Her thoughts said, “How can I know that it is the time to move?”
Her Father said,
“And it shall be when thou shalt hear a sound of going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt go out to battle. Thou shalt certainly hear that sound. There will be a quiet sense of sureness and a sense of peace.”
The daughter said, “If another also heard that sound it would be easier.”
Her Father said,
That may not always be. The sound of going is like the voice of the shepherd that the sheep know, but how they know they could not tell, knowing only to follow.”
THE TOKEN
The daughter said, “But how can I be sure?”
Her Father said,
When He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him; for they know His voice. And a stranger they will not follow, but will flee from him; for they know not the voice of strangers. Therein lies the token. Thou wilt recognize the Voice of the Shepherd. The voice of the stranger will be nothing to thee.”
NO POWER CAN BAR THE WAY
Her thoughts said, “I wish that the sea might be made into dry land and the waters divide – then all would understand that Thou art leading me.”
Her Father said,
That crossing of the sea was the first and the easier obedience. The crossing of the river later on asked for a more daring faith. The way did not open in Jordan until the feet of the priests were dipped in the water. But it did open then. Rivers turn to roads, mountains become valleys, when He who is named Remover of Hindrances goeth before. Then no one can forbid. No power can bar the way.”
LOVE AND THOU SEEST
The daughter thought of Absalom, who dwelt two full years in Jerusalem and say not the King’s face. What if she be like Absalom?
And she remembered Bartimaeus, and how, casting away his garment, he sprang up and came to the Lord Jesus. Was there a garment that she had not cast away?
Her Father said,
“O foolish and blind, if there be any hindering thing known to thee, cast it away now; if such there be and thou dost not know it, I will reveal it to thee. Be not anxious even about that. Dost thou not love? I know that thou lovest. Love and thou comest. Love and thou seest.”
Love and thou seest!
Selah.
Prayer
Dear God of my rivers and deserts, help me today to serve you in faithful obedience. Help me to hear the sound of moving in the mulberry trees of the spirit, and then to move... holding nothing back, casting away the garments that have held me and framed me in lesser things, I spring up to follow you. Then others who do not hear the sound of moving may see it in my life, and be blessed. Then will they understand, according to your will -- yet may I not use that lack of understanding as a garment crutch! May I be to you today as Abraham and Sarah, who journeyed across the wilderness in faith, to the land of promise. May I be today as the priests who walked into the river, and found it a road!
Today, Father, I claim the promise that at your right hand are pleasures forevermore, and you know best, far and away, what is best for me! Today I will sing and wait for you, causing you the delight of those who bring you pleasure by waiting on you, as though the promise had already arrived!
Thank you that you are working in me -- this day -- both to will and do your good pleasure. I wait for you and give you my praise! Grant a new filling of the Spirit in my life to fulfill this prayer. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Selah.
Note: More thoughts from the private conversation of Amy Carmichael, as she talked to her Father about the issues of life and personal challenges around her. God used her to rescue many young girls from ritual Hindu temple prostitution, and wrought miracles through her prayer life. Here is glimpse into that prayer life. May it bless you today!
Sunday, September 30, 2007
You have spoken, yours the fullness
Lord, we hear your word with gladness
Words: Margaret Clarkson
Tune: Blaenwern
Lord, we hear your word with gladness:
you have spoken we rejoice:
words of love and life and freedom
help us make their truth our choice!
Now in holy celebration
for your Word we worship you;
spoken, written, known in Jesus,
ours today to prove anew.
May we hear with understanding,
by your Spirit taught and led;
may the springs of all our being
by your living Word be fed;
may our hearts accept with meekness
all the grace your light makes known;
may obedience mark our footsteps
till we make each word our own!
You have spoken; yours the fullness,
ours the wealth of this your Word:
debtors, then as living letters,
we must make our gospel heard!
By your Spirit's power transform us;
shed your saving light abroad
till our lives by love in action
show our world the truth of God!
Selah.
Monday, July 02, 2007
A wine which our souls were heretofore too weak to hold!
Being conformed to the being of our origin
When a man wills that his being be conformed to that being of his origin… when the man thus accepts his own causing life, and sets himself to live the will of that causing life… he thus receives God’s life into himself. He becomes, in the act, a partaker of the divine nature, a true son of the living God, and an heir of all He possesses. By the obedience of a son, he receives into himself the very life of the Father.
Obedience is the joining of the links of the eternal round. Obedience is but the other side of the creative will. Will is God's will, obedience is man's will. The two make one.
If we do the will of God, eternal life is ours…
Our souls shall thus become vessels ever growing. And ever as they grow shall they be filled with the more and more life proceeding from the Father and the Son – from God the ordaining, and God the obedient.
We can never know the delight of the being, the abundance of the life He came to give us, until we have it. But even now to the holy imagination it may sometimes seem too glorious… to think of awakening to this higher life and being filled with a wine which our souls were heretofore too weak to hold!
Selah.
George MacDonald, Unspoken Sermons II: “Life,” quoted in “Your Life in Christ: The Nature of God and His Work in Human Hearts,” edited by Michael Phillips.
When a man wills that his being be conformed to that being of his origin… when the man thus accepts his own causing life, and sets himself to live the will of that causing life… he thus receives God’s life into himself. He becomes, in the act, a partaker of the divine nature, a true son of the living God, and an heir of all He possesses. By the obedience of a son, he receives into himself the very life of the Father.
Obedience is the joining of the links of the eternal round. Obedience is but the other side of the creative will. Will is God's will, obedience is man's will. The two make one.
If we do the will of God, eternal life is ours…
Our souls shall thus become vessels ever growing. And ever as they grow shall they be filled with the more and more life proceeding from the Father and the Son – from God the ordaining, and God the obedient.
We can never know the delight of the being, the abundance of the life He came to give us, until we have it. But even now to the holy imagination it may sometimes seem too glorious… to think of awakening to this higher life and being filled with a wine which our souls were heretofore too weak to hold!
Selah.
George MacDonald, Unspoken Sermons II: “Life,” quoted in “Your Life in Christ: The Nature of God and His Work in Human Hearts,” edited by Michael Phillips.
Friday, October 13, 2006
To be the thing the Maker thought of when He willed us
All things are possible with God, but all things are not easy
George MacDonald
‘More life!’ is the unconscious prayer of all creation, groaning and travailing for the redemption of its Lord, the Son who is not yet a son. Is not the dumb cry to be read in the faces of some of the animals, in the look of some of the flowers, and in many an aspect of what we call Nature?
All things are possible with God, but all things are not easy. It is easy for Him to be, for there He has to do with His own perfect will: it is not easy for Him to create — that is, after the grand fashion which alone will satisfy His glorious heart and will, the fashion in which He is now creating us. In the very nature of being — that is, God — it must be hard — and divine history shows how hard — to create that which shall be not himself, yet like himself. The problem is, so far to separate from himself that which must yet on Him be ever and always and utterly dependent, that it shall have the existence of an individual, and be able to turn and regard him — choose Him, and say, ‘I will arise and go to my Father,’ and so develop in itself the highest Divine of which it is capable — the will for the good against the evil — the will to be one with the life whence it has come, and in which it still is — the will to close the round of its procession in its return, so working the perfection of reunion — to shape in its own life the ring of eternity — to live immediately, consciously, and active — willingly from its source, from its own very life — to restore to the beginning the end that comes of that beginning — to be the thing the Maker thought of when He willed, ere He began to work its being…
A being that is one with the essential Life
When a man can and does entirely say, ‘Not my will, but thine be done’ — when he so wills the will of God as to do it, then is he one with God — one, as a true son with a true father. When a man wills that his being be conformed to the being of his origin, which is the life in his life, causing and bearing his life, therefore absolutely and only of its kind, one with it more and deeper than words or figures can say — to the life which is itself, only more of itself, and more than itself, causing itself — when the man thus accepts his own causing life, and sets himself to live the will of that causing life, humbly eager after the privileges of his origin, — thus receiving God, he becomes, in the act, a partaker of the divine nature, a true son of the living God, and an heir of all he possesses: by the obedience of a son, he receives into himself the very life of the Father.
Obedience is the joining of the links of the eternal round. Obedience is but the other side of the creative will. Will is God’s will, obedience is man’s will; the two make one. The root-Life, knowing well the thousand troubles it would bring upon Him, has created, and goes on creating other lives, that, though incapable of self-being, they may, by willed obedience, share in the bliss of His essential self-ordained being. If we do the will of God, eternal life is ours — no mere continuity of existence, for that in itself is worthless as hell, but a being that is one with the essential Life, and so within his reach to fill with the abundant and endless out-goings of His love. Our souls shall be vessels ever growing, and ever as they grow, filled with the more and more life proceeding from the Father and the Son, from God the ordaining, and God the obedient. What the delight of the being, what the abundance of the life He came that we might have, we can never know until we have it…!
Selah.
George MacDonald
‘More life!’ is the unconscious prayer of all creation, groaning and travailing for the redemption of its Lord, the Son who is not yet a son. Is not the dumb cry to be read in the faces of some of the animals, in the look of some of the flowers, and in many an aspect of what we call Nature?
All things are possible with God, but all things are not easy. It is easy for Him to be, for there He has to do with His own perfect will: it is not easy for Him to create — that is, after the grand fashion which alone will satisfy His glorious heart and will, the fashion in which He is now creating us. In the very nature of being — that is, God — it must be hard — and divine history shows how hard — to create that which shall be not himself, yet like himself. The problem is, so far to separate from himself that which must yet on Him be ever and always and utterly dependent, that it shall have the existence of an individual, and be able to turn and regard him — choose Him, and say, ‘I will arise and go to my Father,’ and so develop in itself the highest Divine of which it is capable — the will for the good against the evil — the will to be one with the life whence it has come, and in which it still is — the will to close the round of its procession in its return, so working the perfection of reunion — to shape in its own life the ring of eternity — to live immediately, consciously, and active — willingly from its source, from its own very life — to restore to the beginning the end that comes of that beginning — to be the thing the Maker thought of when He willed, ere He began to work its being…
A being that is one with the essential Life
When a man can and does entirely say, ‘Not my will, but thine be done’ — when he so wills the will of God as to do it, then is he one with God — one, as a true son with a true father. When a man wills that his being be conformed to the being of his origin, which is the life in his life, causing and bearing his life, therefore absolutely and only of its kind, one with it more and deeper than words or figures can say — to the life which is itself, only more of itself, and more than itself, causing itself — when the man thus accepts his own causing life, and sets himself to live the will of that causing life, humbly eager after the privileges of his origin, — thus receiving God, he becomes, in the act, a partaker of the divine nature, a true son of the living God, and an heir of all he possesses: by the obedience of a son, he receives into himself the very life of the Father.
Obedience is the joining of the links of the eternal round. Obedience is but the other side of the creative will. Will is God’s will, obedience is man’s will; the two make one. The root-Life, knowing well the thousand troubles it would bring upon Him, has created, and goes on creating other lives, that, though incapable of self-being, they may, by willed obedience, share in the bliss of His essential self-ordained being. If we do the will of God, eternal life is ours — no mere continuity of existence, for that in itself is worthless as hell, but a being that is one with the essential Life, and so within his reach to fill with the abundant and endless out-goings of His love. Our souls shall be vessels ever growing, and ever as they grow, filled with the more and more life proceeding from the Father and the Son, from God the ordaining, and God the obedient. What the delight of the being, what the abundance of the life He came that we might have, we can never know until we have it…!
Selah.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Neither isolated truth nor orphaned deed
Love that takes shape
The Lord cared neither for isolated truth nor for orphaned deed. It was truth in the inward parts, it was the good heart, the mother of good deeds, He cherished. It was the live, active, knowing, breathing good He came to further.
He cared for no speculation in morals or religion. It was good men He cared about, not notions of good things, or even good actions, save as the outcome of life, save as the bodies in which the primary live actions of love and will in the soul took shape and came forth.
Could He by one word have set at rest all the questionings of philosophy as to the supreme good and the absolute truth, I venture to say that word He would not have uttered. But He would die to make men good and true. His whole heart would respond to the cry of sad publican or despairing pharisee, ‘How am I to be good?’
George MacDonald
The Lord cared neither for isolated truth nor for orphaned deed. It was truth in the inward parts, it was the good heart, the mother of good deeds, He cherished. It was the live, active, knowing, breathing good He came to further.
He cared for no speculation in morals or religion. It was good men He cared about, not notions of good things, or even good actions, save as the outcome of life, save as the bodies in which the primary live actions of love and will in the soul took shape and came forth.
Could He by one word have set at rest all the questionings of philosophy as to the supreme good and the absolute truth, I venture to say that word He would not have uttered. But He would die to make men good and true. His whole heart would respond to the cry of sad publican or despairing pharisee, ‘How am I to be good?’
George MacDonald
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Obedience as the other side of the Creative will
George MacDonald
When a man can and does entirely say, Not my will, but Thine be done – when he so wills the will of God as to do it – then he is one with God, one as a true son with a true father.
God’s life within him is the causing and bearing of his life. It is therefore absolutely and only of its kind, one with it more and deeper than words or figures can say. It is the life which is itself, only more of itself, and, more than that, which causes itself. When a man wills that his being is conformed to that Being of his origin, which is the life in his life, when a man thus accepts his own causing Life, and sets himself to live the will of that causing Life, humbly eager after the privileges of his origin, he thus receives God’s life into himself. He becomes, in the act, a partaker of the divine nature, a true son of the Living God, and an heir of all He possesses. By the obedience of a son, he receives into himself the very life of the Father.
Obedience is the joining of the links of the eternal round. Obedience is but the other side of the Creative will: Will is God's will, obedience is man’s will. The two make one. The root Life, knowing well the thousand troubles it would bring upon Him, has created, and goes on creating, other lives, that though incapable of self-being they may, by willed obedience, share in the bliss of His essential self-ordained being.
If we do the will of God, eternal life is ours – no mere continuity of existence, for that in itself is worthless as hell, but a being that is one with the essential Life.
George MacDonald, Your Life in Christ: The Nature of God and His Work in Human Hearts, 80.
When a man can and does entirely say, Not my will, but Thine be done – when he so wills the will of God as to do it – then he is one with God, one as a true son with a true father.
God’s life within him is the causing and bearing of his life. It is therefore absolutely and only of its kind, one with it more and deeper than words or figures can say. It is the life which is itself, only more of itself, and, more than that, which causes itself. When a man wills that his being is conformed to that Being of his origin, which is the life in his life, when a man thus accepts his own causing Life, and sets himself to live the will of that causing Life, humbly eager after the privileges of his origin, he thus receives God’s life into himself. He becomes, in the act, a partaker of the divine nature, a true son of the Living God, and an heir of all He possesses. By the obedience of a son, he receives into himself the very life of the Father.
Obedience is the joining of the links of the eternal round. Obedience is but the other side of the Creative will: Will is God's will, obedience is man’s will. The two make one. The root Life, knowing well the thousand troubles it would bring upon Him, has created, and goes on creating, other lives, that though incapable of self-being they may, by willed obedience, share in the bliss of His essential self-ordained being.
If we do the will of God, eternal life is ours – no mere continuity of existence, for that in itself is worthless as hell, but a being that is one with the essential Life.
George MacDonald, Your Life in Christ: The Nature of God and His Work in Human Hearts, 80.
Monday, November 07, 2005
Discipleship transcends comprehension
Discipleship not limited to understanding
Martin Luther presents a high view of discipleship, through the eyes of Jesus, as if Jesus is talking to all of us. Jesus speaks to us:
Child, discipleship is not limited to what you can understand – it must transcend all comprehension. Plunge into the deep waters beyond your own understanding, and I will help you to comprehend...
Not to know where you are going is the true knowledge. In this way Abraham went forth from his father, not knowing where he was going. That is the way of the cross. You cannot find it in yourself, so you must let Me lead you as though you were a blind man.
Not the work which you choose, not the suffering you devise, but the road which is contrary to all that you choose or contrive or desire – that is the road you must take. It is to this path that I call you, and in this sense that you must be my disciple. [1]
Not uti, but frui
When religious professionals tried to put God in a box, Jesus replied, “God is not the God of the dead, but the living.” He is the ever living God, transcending our categories of thought and even our rote religious observance. He will not be put in a coffin of human control. We try to contain God, to manage God, but God ever and always breaks our categories: God will not be managed. As Augustine said, ‘God can never be uti [utilized] but must always be frui [enjoyed and related].’ Uti brings despair and self power, eventual emptiness. Frui brings abiding fruition.
Why? The ever living God shatters our little preconceptions and worlds: He is infinitely more than we would contain ‘in freezing coats of mail’ [Theilicke].
God can only be experienced and related to, not grasped.
He calls us, like Abraham and Sarah, to a land which we know not of: It is here that following God gets uncomfortable. But when we embrace it, as a child, we enter such beauty and such meaning as the world cannot comprehend...
Ever Living God
Perhaps it is best expressed in art form, this dance with the Living God! Tonight I praise Him, with Darlene Zschech and Hillsong:
Ever Living God
Maker of all the earth…
Everlasting King
Our eternal praise belongs to You!
All of the honor
All of the glory to You!
You are wonderful, marvelous, forever
Beautiful, Prince of Peace, Faithful One, forever…
Ever Living God
Maker of all the earth…
Everlasting King
Our eternal praise belongs to You!
All of the honor
All of the glory to You!
You are wonderful, marvelous, forever
Beautiful, Prince of Peace, Faithful One, forever…
Take the place of all honor,
Take the place above all thrones,
Take the place of all power:
You are the One
Glorious!
You are wonderful, marvelous, forever
Beautiful, Prince of Peace, Faithful One, forever…
Take the place of all honor,
Take the place above all thrones,
Take the place of all power:
You are the One
Glorious!
Jesus!
In worship and obedience
There is a place, by the seashore of life, to dance in grace, to release constriction, to release the need to manage God, the need to control Him in safety, to release the false categories of comprehension and social wisdom that we put on Him...and just embrace His greatness, worshiping Him in utter freedom.
In Perelandra, C.S. Lewis presents human temptation as a choice between a fixed land or a life-land that moves with the waves, at the will of Creator. The Tempter tempts the lady to choose the fixed land, where she can manage her next day, her person and wished and wants. But in her spirit she knows that she is called to the wave, to cast herself on the waves and let her Maker bring her to the king, her chosen. And after great battle, she wins out…to the wave and calling…to her intended, great glory!
We can only know God [and destiny] in worship and obedience: two sides of the coin of divine relation.
Thus, the Living God calls each of us to the dance, the wave, with Him. And yes, Jesus still speaks in 21st century calling!
Child, discipleship is not limited to what you can understand – it must transcend all comprehension. Plunge into the deep waters beyond your own understanding, and I will help you to comprehend.
May we join Him there…on the waves, to destiny! Further in and higher up...
Alleluia!