Today during my break at the pool I sat and read the first chapter of Tozer's The Pursuit of God with my iPod in my ears just playing random songs. I don't know why I had it, I just picked up a book on my way out the door because I knew I'd have some time to kill and didn't want to be bored. I like to re-read my books every year or so just because I know I always miss something or certain passages jump out in new ways. Today I was impressed by Tozer's quotation of John Wesley. He says, "Orthodoxy, or right opinion , is, at best, a very slender part of religion... There may be right opinion of God without either love or one right temper toward Him. Satan is proof of this." This floored me, one can know the truth without having the truth in him. It doesn't matter how many correct things we say or think about God, our faith is only fully realized in the pursuit of satisfaction for an unyielding desire for the presence of God.
I echoed Tozer's prayer... "I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire." As I read those words I heard the lyrics of Leeland's "Carried to the Table" in my ears and instantly felt God's love and grace pouring over every inch of me.
I was carried to the table
Seated where I don't belong
Carried to the table
Swept away by His love
And I don't see my brokenness anymore
When I'm seated at the table of the Lord
I'm carried to the table
The table of the Lord
I knew He had heard me, he had seen my heart, and He answered me.
I just found your blog here Stefan, and what an awesome quote... Very thought provoking post. Hope you're doing well. God seems to be stirring in your spirit. So cool!
ReplyDeleteLove it when the Lord does that! I had a very similar experience today. I'm just amazed at how personal He is to us, where it's a shuffled song or passage that leaps out at us. What struck me in that quote was 'there may be right opinion of God without either love...'. I'm still stuck on the everything coming back to love part from last week and living out that love. Thanks for the reminder to desire God's presence above everything else. God's been trying to drive that home with me. I kinda laughed as I read this because I just posted a blog on how the Lord keep's reminding me to seek Him and then I read this!
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