Like this on so many levels. You grasp it -- the walk.
So did Martin Luther (ever see the movie, Luther, with Joseph Fiennes)? He finally grasped Habakkuk: "The Just shall live by faith." (I think it is Habakkuk.)
This appears also in the old classic, "Hinds Feet on High Places," written by a missionary, and also Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress."
I like that you heard, but not with ears. Yes.
I like that your Faith is not ("earned" by) Doing, yet you did.
I like how you could not see through the green, but then saw more, and later saw a whole new road. That road does involve sacrifice and suffering at some point -- but not as the world knows. Not despair. Not horrific "inevitability."
God is more complex than we are. More parts and pieces.
I like the way you've flipped Robert Frost's poem, "The Road Less Traveled By" on its head. I give you Psalm 18, which depicts God arriving in an unusual way -- advocating in ANGER! -- not AT his helpless child, but WITH and FOR the forces against him.
This is what Job knew, at last.
Psalm 18 gives the "other half of the story" -- what I finally saw, after reading it hundreds of times: The enemies are not human. They are demonic. This is Ephesians 6:10-20 spiritual warfare, against real warring enemies.
What I love is that, with the LORD'S help, DAVID is not only rescued in from an impossible situation, but victorious against all who oppose him.
I believe sonetimes this will be a spiritual, not a total physical victory, at least at first. Yet it is (eternally?) decisive!
Thank you, Linda, for your kind words and taking the time to comment on my article “Faith Is Being Not Doing.”
I have not seen the movie Luther. It’s now on my “movies to see” list. I have both Hurnard’s "Hinds’ Feet in High Places" and Bunyan’s "Pilgrim’s Progress" but have not completed reading either one of them (I hope to one day).
I have read Robert Frost’s poem but do believe we don’t realize the “forks in the road” until after we’ve passed them. It’s similar to “connecting the dots” in our lives journey—we don’t see the dots until they’re in the past.
I love that you included Ephesians 6:10-20. I often wonder why Apostle Paul is not included amongst the greats in literature. The enemy is not human, not flesh and blood; the enemy is evil. It is a spiritual warfare against evil. I think this is often missed in our material existence in understanding of the Old Testament and the war against evil appearing as a warfare of flesh and blood or people. Without the New Testament, we miss the importance especially of Paul’s words about Christ on the cross in demonstrating that it is still a war against evil but a spiritual war, not one of flesh and blood. With the Bible, it is so important to take both the Old and New Testaments together to understand the history (OT) and what is (NT). It’s also one of the reasons why I agree with the statement that we are spiritual beings having a human experience, not human beings having a spiritual experience. I have written often of this in the series. I thank you again for your comment.
You are on an amazing journey, keep your feet moving!
Like this on so many levels. You grasp it -- the walk.
So did Martin Luther (ever see the movie, Luther, with Joseph Fiennes)? He finally grasped Habakkuk: "The Just shall live by faith." (I think it is Habakkuk.)
This appears also in the old classic, "Hinds Feet on High Places," written by a missionary, and also Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress."
I like that you heard, but not with ears. Yes.
I like that your Faith is not ("earned" by) Doing, yet you did.
I like how you could not see through the green, but then saw more, and later saw a whole new road. That road does involve sacrifice and suffering at some point -- but not as the world knows. Not despair. Not horrific "inevitability."
God is more complex than we are. More parts and pieces.
I like the way you've flipped Robert Frost's poem, "The Road Less Traveled By" on its head. I give you Psalm 18, which depicts God arriving in an unusual way -- advocating in ANGER! -- not AT his helpless child, but WITH and FOR the forces against him.
This is what Job knew, at last.
Psalm 18 gives the "other half of the story" -- what I finally saw, after reading it hundreds of times: The enemies are not human. They are demonic. This is Ephesians 6:10-20 spiritual warfare, against real warring enemies.
What I love is that, with the LORD'S help, DAVID is not only rescued in from an impossible situation, but victorious against all who oppose him.
I believe sonetimes this will be a spiritual, not a total physical victory, at least at first. Yet it is (eternally?) decisive!
Thank you, Linda, for your kind words and taking the time to comment on my article “Faith Is Being Not Doing.”
I have not seen the movie Luther. It’s now on my “movies to see” list. I have both Hurnard’s "Hinds’ Feet in High Places" and Bunyan’s "Pilgrim’s Progress" but have not completed reading either one of them (I hope to one day).
I have read Robert Frost’s poem but do believe we don’t realize the “forks in the road” until after we’ve passed them. It’s similar to “connecting the dots” in our lives journey—we don’t see the dots until they’re in the past.
I love that you included Ephesians 6:10-20. I often wonder why Apostle Paul is not included amongst the greats in literature. The enemy is not human, not flesh and blood; the enemy is evil. It is a spiritual warfare against evil. I think this is often missed in our material existence in understanding of the Old Testament and the war against evil appearing as a warfare of flesh and blood or people. Without the New Testament, we miss the importance especially of Paul’s words about Christ on the cross in demonstrating that it is still a war against evil but a spiritual war, not one of flesh and blood. With the Bible, it is so important to take both the Old and New Testaments together to understand the history (OT) and what is (NT). It’s also one of the reasons why I agree with the statement that we are spiritual beings having a human experience, not human beings having a spiritual experience. I have written often of this in the series. I thank you again for your comment.