Warm Glows
Often we talk about “burning out for Jesus” but the reality is that we are a “warm glow”. An interesting quotation here, “God, I pray Thee, light the idle sticks of my life and may I burn for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one, like You, Lord Jesus.” Jim Elliot
I think that we all know the life and death of Jim Elliot. (If you have not read “The Shadow of the Almighty”, you have missed one of the best biographies of the past century.) He was a man truly on fire for the Lord. He lived only a short time (early 30s) but his life was a whirlwind of joy and delight in God. He was one of the missionaries killed by the hand of the Aqua Indians in South America in 1956. His wife, Elizabeth Elliot, was his sweetheart and mate. She tells the story of her husband with all of his quirks and quotes (sp. but it sounds good). He reminds me of David Brainerd who also lived a short, intense, and dramatic life for God. Both of these men followed after the Lord with an intensity unmatched in their generation. I personally believe that as God’s plan unfolded for them, the entire love life with God for a regular-aged individual of 70 years was crammed into a their short 30 years. But nonetheless, we do well to look and learn from their life and love. I find myself to quick to slow down, cool down, and even stand down from the walk with God. “We are in it for the long haul”, we say. Which often, I think, (at least in my life) means a shadow of mixed bags of focus with deceived perceptions. God commands me to love Him with all I am. Everything! It is not up to me to determine the gauge of commitment. He has already set that. It is up to me to be eternally vigilant in fanning the flames of ardent love and commitment.
To be open about this, I have learned, too late, that the influence of the world through seemingly unimposing avenues into my heart will hardened and cool my love for God. It is not quick or brilliant or I would catch it and resist it. But it is the slow, simple, and superficial influence that molds my heart to being “cool”. It is imperceptible. The pictures of a newspaper which house so many words in them telling me of the global needs, will confiscate my sensitivity to give aid in my corner. There is too much need from this information. So to begin and try to help is almost an inept endeavor. Listening to the nightly news again gives me all the bad reports of everything that is wrong, sinful, wicked, or destroyed. The immensity of it usually distorts my view of God’s control because of its universal confusion and carelessness. Knowledge of need without ability to help cools the heart and numbs the mind. We turn away imperceptibly harder and then tend to objectively reject it.
I am not suggesting that we bring up the burner heat and explode in quick brilliance of love. But I am encouraging a quiet turning of the gaze away from the hardening influence of the world and toward the supple softening of the disciplines of grace through the Spirit. Take a walk and look at God. See His creation and wonder. Bask in the pleasure of reminding yourself of His absolute control and intense love for you. Listen to the speaking of God in your soul as He ushers passages of scripture memorized years ago in the “first love”. I promise you. You will be more at rest in your heart with peace from God. He will delight in the quiet focus on Him. You will again know a deeper sense of His greatness and goodness that fans the flame of love and covers the fire of the world. Now do not just read this. Go on a walk with your Friend, like another man who did not come home. He walked with God so far one night that God said, “Enoch, it is closer to my home than it is to yours, so come to My house tonight. Then we will not have to quit walking”.
Really, enjoy your walk,
will
Good stuff:
If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator.
If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist.
If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist.
If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer.
But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior.
I think that we all know the life and death of Jim Elliot. (If you have not read “The Shadow of the Almighty”, you have missed one of the best biographies of the past century.) He was a man truly on fire for the Lord. He lived only a short time (early 30s) but his life was a whirlwind of joy and delight in God. He was one of the missionaries killed by the hand of the Aqua Indians in South America in 1956. His wife, Elizabeth Elliot, was his sweetheart and mate. She tells the story of her husband with all of his quirks and quotes (sp. but it sounds good). He reminds me of David Brainerd who also lived a short, intense, and dramatic life for God. Both of these men followed after the Lord with an intensity unmatched in their generation. I personally believe that as God’s plan unfolded for them, the entire love life with God for a regular-aged individual of 70 years was crammed into a their short 30 years. But nonetheless, we do well to look and learn from their life and love. I find myself to quick to slow down, cool down, and even stand down from the walk with God. “We are in it for the long haul”, we say. Which often, I think, (at least in my life) means a shadow of mixed bags of focus with deceived perceptions. God commands me to love Him with all I am. Everything! It is not up to me to determine the gauge of commitment. He has already set that. It is up to me to be eternally vigilant in fanning the flames of ardent love and commitment.
To be open about this, I have learned, too late, that the influence of the world through seemingly unimposing avenues into my heart will hardened and cool my love for God. It is not quick or brilliant or I would catch it and resist it. But it is the slow, simple, and superficial influence that molds my heart to being “cool”. It is imperceptible. The pictures of a newspaper which house so many words in them telling me of the global needs, will confiscate my sensitivity to give aid in my corner. There is too much need from this information. So to begin and try to help is almost an inept endeavor. Listening to the nightly news again gives me all the bad reports of everything that is wrong, sinful, wicked, or destroyed. The immensity of it usually distorts my view of God’s control because of its universal confusion and carelessness. Knowledge of need without ability to help cools the heart and numbs the mind. We turn away imperceptibly harder and then tend to objectively reject it.
I am not suggesting that we bring up the burner heat and explode in quick brilliance of love. But I am encouraging a quiet turning of the gaze away from the hardening influence of the world and toward the supple softening of the disciplines of grace through the Spirit. Take a walk and look at God. See His creation and wonder. Bask in the pleasure of reminding yourself of His absolute control and intense love for you. Listen to the speaking of God in your soul as He ushers passages of scripture memorized years ago in the “first love”. I promise you. You will be more at rest in your heart with peace from God. He will delight in the quiet focus on Him. You will again know a deeper sense of His greatness and goodness that fans the flame of love and covers the fire of the world. Now do not just read this. Go on a walk with your Friend, like another man who did not come home. He walked with God so far one night that God said, “Enoch, it is closer to my home than it is to yours, so come to My house tonight. Then we will not have to quit walking”.
Really, enjoy your walk,
will
Good stuff:
If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator.
If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist.
If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist.
If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer.
But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior.
posted by ipastorwill at 3:51 PM
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