A Collection of Favorites

I have been wanting to write an entry for awhile now but to be honest I haven't really had anything all that pressing or original to say. I also am still aware of what I wrote in my first entry about the danger of just filling the world with more noise, not speaking or in this case writing just because I can or want to. So I decided a few days ago to go through some of my favorite books and write down all the things I had underlined, what an incredible thing. This week I went through Brennan Mannings, "The Furious Longing of God" If you couldn't tell from the name of my blog, Brennan Manning is one of my favorite authors. Enjoy!

       “ The men and women who are truly filled with light are those who have gazed deeply into the darkness of their own imperfect existence.”

         “And the God I have come to know by sheer grace, the Jesus I met in the grounds of my own self, has furiously loved me regardless of my state-grace or disgrace, and why, because His love is never, never, never based on our performance, never conditioned by our moods-of elation of depression. The furious love of God knows no shadow of alteration or change. It is reliable and always tender.

         “All I have learned through trial and error is to stay alert and aware, especially of God smiling of our silliness.”

         “The death of Jesus Christ on the cross is His greatest single act of unwavering trust in His Abba’s love. He plunged into the darkness of death, not fully knowing what awaited Him, confident that somehow, some way, His Abba would vindicate Him.”

        “The wild, unrestricted love of God is not simply an inspiring idea. When it imposes itself on the mind and heart with the start reality of ontological truth, it determines why and at what time you get up in the morning, how you pass your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, and who you hang with; it affects what breaks your heart, what amazes you, and what makes your heart happy. The revolutionary thinking that God loves me just as I am and not as I should be requires radical rethinking and profound emotional readjustment.”

         “Healing becomes the opportunity to pass off to another human being what I have received from the Lord Jesus; namely his unconditional acceptance of me as I am, not as I should be. He loves me whether in a state of grace or disgrace, whether I live up to the lofty expectations of His gospel or I don’t. He comes to me where I live and loves me as I am.

         “The past is over and done. We all stumble on the way to maturity. We all look for love in the wrong places. But out of it, you’ve become real. You’ve got a heart of immense compassion for the brokenness of others. You are utterly incapable of hypocrisy, and I am deeply in love with you.”

         “By entering human history, God has demolished all previous conceptions of who God is and what man is supposed to be. We are, suddenly, presented with a God who suffers crucifixion. His passion and death is meant for us too; the invitation He extends is Don’t weep for me! Join Me!”

Faith in the Cross

As Lent comes to completion in the next few days I wanted to share  this excerpt from The Valley of Vision 

FATHER OF MERCIES,

Hear me for Jesus’ sake.

I am sinful even in my closest walk
with thee; it is of thy mercy I died not long ago;
by which thou hast reconciled thyself to me
and me to thee,
drawing me by thy great love,
reckoning me as innocent in Christ though
guilty in myself.
I look to thee for strength to maintain them in me,
for it is hard to practice what I believe.
My heart is an unexhausted fountain of sin,
a river of corruption since childhood days,
flowing on in every pattern of behaviour;
in which I trusted,
and I have no strength but in thee.
Thou alone canst hold back my evil ways,
but without thy grace to sustain me I fall.
and the shield that should quench them
easily drops from my hand:
Empower me against his wiles and assaults.
and of my dependence upon thy strength.
Let every trial teach me more of thy peace,
more of thy love.
and I cannot preserve or improve them
unless he works continually in me.
May he confirm my trust in thy promised help,
and let me walk humbly in dependence upon thee,
for Jesus ’sake.

Thy grace has given me faith in the cross

Giver of all graces,

Strengthen me against temptations.

Thou hast disarmed me of the means

Satan’s darts quickly inflame me,

Keep me sensible of my weakness,

Thy Holy Spirit is given to increase thy graces,

True Poverty

For those who don't know why I entitled my blog "Rants of a Ragamuffin" its because I have a deep love and respect for author Brennan Manning. Manning spoke at my college my first year there and the words God spoke through him forever changed my life. I can honestly say that I was a changed person when I walked out of the gym at PBAU after the final night of the conference. I wish I could accurately explain what took place in my heart that week, my feeble attempt is this: God wrecked me....in the best way He ever could. I realized that God loved me just as I am...and not as I should be, because I will never be as I should be. Think about that, it should wreck you.
 This year I decided to go back to my favorite devotional "Reflections of a Ragamuffin" by none other than Brennan Manning. This mornings reading... I pray that it penetrates, comforts, encourages, moves, or wrecks you. That truly is my prayer.

"True Poverty"

 Jesus, my Brother and Lord, I pray as  I write these words for the grace to be truly poor before you, to recognize and accept my weakness and humanness, to forgo the indecent luxury of self-hatred, to celebrate your mercy and trust in your power when I'm at my weakest, to rely on your love no matter what I may do, to seek no escapes from my innate poverty, to accept loneliness when it comes instead of seeking substitutes, to live peacefully without clarity or assurance, to stop grandstanding and trying to get attention, to do the truth quietly without display, to let the dishonesties in my life fade away, to belong no more to myself, not to desert my post when I give the appearance of staying at it, to cling to my humanity, to accept the limitations and full responsibility of being a human being-really human and really poor in Christ our Lord.

"The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord"

Lamentations 3:25-26