Your God is Too Safe

I’m finishing off a fantastic read I’d like to recommend to y’all. It’s by Mark Buchanan (title above) and is about holy habits; I’d like to share a few quotes that are really penetrating and something to consider today…or maybe this week, if you have a short attention span like mine...

“..confession and true fellowship are deeply joined.”

“Fasting humbles us because it quickly shows us our limits and our frailty.”

“It’s the man with his belly full who is most likely to forget from whom all blessings flow.”

(wow) “When we taste a little brokenness ourselves, we have a greater sense of urgency to repair for others what is broken.” (in reference to fasting)

(wow again) “That’s part of God’s purpose in fasting, the kind of fast He has chosen: to teach us to care for the oppressed, the homeless, the ones with empty bellies, to allow the gnawing in our stomachs to cause the breaking of our hearts, and the breaking of our hearts to make us the breakers of yokes and repairers of walls.”

“In the absence of knowing I’m loved, I’ve got to look out for me and mine. I need others to acknowledge my greatness. I need somehow to convince myself that others are less talented, less educated, less worthy, less godly, less attractive than I am.”

(If I could learn this!!) “Where does compassion for the least of these, for our enemies even, come from? Where does the courage to be servants even when it costs us something, maybe everything-where does that come from? It comes from knowing the love of God. And the more secure I am in God’s love, the more free I am to be your servant.”

“When we practice the presence of God, we will come to a point in our relationship with Him at which we walk in continual expectancy. Each moment brims with the possibility of encounter and discovery. We become conscious that each breath is given by Him, each word is spoken in His hearing.”

Deep stuff to chew on. I put these quotes down for you to consider, but also because the book was given to me unexpectedly and I plan to pass it on…This way I can hang onto these nuggets of wisdom and share them at the same time…