I appreciated Luther's letter to his friend on page 79. Isn't that the blunt encouragement we all need from time to time? "No matter how unwilling you are to live, you are going to live and like it!"
I love the term "glorious ruins" - beauty in decay (page 75). That's us in this life: made glorious and marred by sin. But thanks be to God that He didn't leave us here to decay. I'm reminded of 2 Cor. 4:16. "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day."
And so we LIVE the life God has ordained for us. Enjoying the blessings He gives, being thankful for the blessings He has taken away, and looking to the hope of communing with Him in glory.
I love your correlation to 2nd Corinthians. It is so easy in this world to “lose heart". This also made me think of John 16:33 where Jesus tells his disciples at passover before he is arrested “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” This verse helps us to continue to be renewed, and reminds us that we can rejoice in the good things in life because Jesus has fulfilled the sacrifice needed for sin and has made a way for us to have the fullness of life in Jesus.
We are so quick to throw away rather than spend the time and energy to fix what's been broken. It is such good news that God decides not to dispense with what has been broken (us and all of creation), but rather to work toward it's restoration!
And thank God this restoration is not only spiritual, but has a hope of physical resurrection to eternal life with God and all His people. There is no higher, more beautiful, more exciting reality than that! Us together, with God, forever.
There is one part in particular that really resonated with me during this chapter. It was on p. 79, where he discussed the letter Martin Luther wrote to a friend. In it, he addresses the fact that his friend is going through some really dark stuff. There was a theme that stood out to me the most and that was where Luther was writing to tell his friend that he had to tell his dark thoughts to be gone and had to get to the point where he can make the decision and say to himself, "I must eat, drink, ride, go, or do this or that" literally telling himself to Eat, Drink and Be Merry which is a big theme of the book of Ecclesiastes. Specifically, verse 2:24, which says, "There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God," verse 25 goes on to talk about the theme that we can't have the wisdom to "eat, drink and be merry" apart from God. I think that's what Ray talks about on the next page when he writes about Luther counseling "us to avoid solitude, keep hanging out with friends, and keep having good times in the midst of hardship." This is the constant reminder we need to continue to "SEE the mountains in the mundane."
Faithful Cephas! Great to hear from you again here.
It is such a wise rebellion against the darkness within us to continually seek out fellowship and enjoyment, both in God and in His creation! May God help us to live in this wisdom always.
I appreciated Luther's letter to his friend on page 79. Isn't that the blunt encouragement we all need from time to time? "No matter how unwilling you are to live, you are going to live and like it!"
I love the term "glorious ruins" - beauty in decay (page 75). That's us in this life: made glorious and marred by sin. But thanks be to God that He didn't leave us here to decay. I'm reminded of 2 Cor. 4:16. "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day."
And so we LIVE the life God has ordained for us. Enjoying the blessings He gives, being thankful for the blessings He has taken away, and looking to the hope of communing with Him in glory.
Tessi,
I love your correlation to 2nd Corinthians. It is so easy in this world to “lose heart". This also made me think of John 16:33 where Jesus tells his disciples at passover before he is arrested “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” This verse helps us to continue to be renewed, and reminds us that we can rejoice in the good things in life because Jesus has fulfilled the sacrifice needed for sin and has made a way for us to have the fullness of life in Jesus.
We are so quick to throw away rather than spend the time and energy to fix what's been broken. It is such good news that God decides not to dispense with what has been broken (us and all of creation), but rather to work toward it's restoration!
And thank God this restoration is not only spiritual, but has a hope of physical resurrection to eternal life with God and all His people. There is no higher, more beautiful, more exciting reality than that! Us together, with God, forever.
Appreciate your thoughts, Tessi!
There is one part in particular that really resonated with me during this chapter. It was on p. 79, where he discussed the letter Martin Luther wrote to a friend. In it, he addresses the fact that his friend is going through some really dark stuff. There was a theme that stood out to me the most and that was where Luther was writing to tell his friend that he had to tell his dark thoughts to be gone and had to get to the point where he can make the decision and say to himself, "I must eat, drink, ride, go, or do this or that" literally telling himself to Eat, Drink and Be Merry which is a big theme of the book of Ecclesiastes. Specifically, verse 2:24, which says, "There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God," verse 25 goes on to talk about the theme that we can't have the wisdom to "eat, drink and be merry" apart from God. I think that's what Ray talks about on the next page when he writes about Luther counseling "us to avoid solitude, keep hanging out with friends, and keep having good times in the midst of hardship." This is the constant reminder we need to continue to "SEE the mountains in the mundane."
Faithful Cephas! Great to hear from you again here.
It is such a wise rebellion against the darkness within us to continually seek out fellowship and enjoyment, both in God and in His creation! May God help us to live in this wisdom always.