The Pursuit of God

“Oh God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more.  I am painfully conscious of my need for further grace.  I am ashamed of my lack of desire.  O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still.  Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, so that I may know Thee indeed.  Begin in mercy a new work of love within me.  Say to my soul, ‘Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away.’  Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long.”

- A. W. Tozer

Love Me Not

Love, linger not to whisper your temptation;
Seek not to bind me with your heavy chain;
I would be free to seek the world’s salvation;
I would be free to rescue men from pain. 

High is the wall that guards my heart from
            Coldness;
Big is the barrier to shut me out from sin;
O Human Love, aflame with passion’s boldness,
Storm not this citadel to enter in. 

Fervent the vow I swore to fight, nor falter;
Fight with faith not flickering, nor dim;
God is my Father; in my heart an alter
Glows with the sacrifice I offer Him.

             Leave me alone, Love
             Leave my heart alone!

                                     -Toyohiko Kagawa

 

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.  We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?  Actually, who are you not to be?  You are a child of God.  Your playing small does not serve the world.  There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.  We are all meant to shine, as children do.  We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.  It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.  And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.  As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

-Marianne Williamson

Joan of Arc

“Everyone gives their life for what they believe. Sometimes people believe in little or nothing and yet they give their life to that little or nothing. One life is all we have, and we live it, and then it’s gone. But to give up what you are and to live without belief is more terrible than dying, even more terrible than dying young.” Joan of Arc, while choosing to die at the stake bc she would not recant on her commitment to France.

His Infinite Beauty

“There is only one explanation for God’s sacrifice for us. It is not us. It is the riches of his grace (Eph. 1:7). It is all free. It is not a response to our worth. It is the overflow of his infinite worth. In fact, that is what divine love is in the end: a passion to enthrall undeserving sinners, at great cost, with what will make us supremely happy forever, namely, his infinite beauty.” — John Piper