"Jesus ran because he wanted to, not simply because he had to or beccause the Father told him to. He ran 'for the joy set before him,' which means he ran out of desire. To use the familiar phrase, his heart was fully in it. We call the final week of our Savior's life his Passion Week. Look at the depth of his desire, the fire in his soul. Consumed wiht passion, he clears the temple of the charlatans who have turned his Father's house into a swap meet (Matt. 21:12). Later, he stands looking over the city that was to be his bride but now lies in the bondage of her adulteries and the oppression of her taskmasters. 'O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,' he cries, '...how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathrs her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing' (Matt. 23:27, italics mine). As the final hours of his greatest struggle approach, his passion intensifies. He gathers with his closest friends like a condemned criminal sitting down to his last meal. He alone knows what is about to unfold. 'I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you,' he says, 'before I suffer' (Luke 22:15, italics mine). Then on he presses, through the intensity of Gethsemane and the passion of the cross. Is it possible he went through any of it halfheartedly?
"When the going gets rough, we're going nowhere without desire. And the going will get rough. The world, the minions of darkness, and your own double-mindedness are all set against you. Just try coming alive, try living from your heart for the Sacred Romance and watch how the world responds. They will hate you for it and will do everything in their power to get you to fall back into the comfort of the way things were. Your passion will disrupt them, because it sides with their own hearts which they've tried so hard to put away. If they can't convince you to live from the safer places they have chosen, they will try intimidation. If that fails, they'll try to kill you- if not literally, then at the level of your soul." -From pgs 197-198 of The Sacred Romance (Italics actually aren't mine, those are the author's italics.)
Have a blessed day!
A Chest of Hopes: A Picnic
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1 responses:
Your passion will disrupt them, because it sides with their own hearts which they've tried so hard to put away. If they can't convince you to live from the safer places they have chosen, they will try intimidation. If that fails, they'll try to kill you- if not literally, then at the level of your soul."
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This is why each breath must be inhaled with praise , and every breath exhaled with prayer. There are so many going about throwing lies and attempting to drown the believers with untruths.
Let every molecule of your soul live in gloory and faith in the lord and you shall perservere and be preserved !!
Praise HIM !!
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