Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God
Author:Francis Chan
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: praying, Christian Life, lukewarm, leftovers, sacrifice, humble, General, Religion, servers
ISBN: 9781434705945
Publisher: David C Cook
Published: 2013-03-31T22:00:00+00:00
CHAPTER SIX
O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both
satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am
painfully conscious of my need for further grace. I
am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune
God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with
longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show
me Thy glory, I pray Thee, so that I may know Thee
indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within
me. Say to my soul, “Rise up my love, my fair one,
and come away.” Then give me grace to rise and
follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have
wandered so long. 1
Have you ever met someone who was utterly and desperately in
love with Jesus? I have. M y wife’s grandma Clara.
I spoke recently at Grandma Clara’s funeral, and I could
honestly tell the mourners gathered that I had never known anyone
more excited to see Jesus. Every morning Clara would kneel by her
bed and spend precious hours with her Savior and Lover; later in
the day, just the sight of that corner of her bed would bring joy-
filled tears and a deep anticipation of the next morning spent
kneeling in His presence.
Grandma Clara acted toward God the way we act toward
people we’re madly in love with.
When you are truly in love, you go to great lengths to be with
the one you love. You’ll drive for hours to be together, even if it’s
only for a short while. You don’t mind staying up late to talk.
Walking in the rain is romantic, not annoying. You’ll willingly
spend a small fortune on the one you’re crazy about. When you
are apart from each other, it’s painful, even miserable. He or she is
all you think about; you jump at any chance to be together.
In his book God Is the Gospel, John Piper essentially asks
whether we are in love with God:
The critical question for our generation—and for every
generation—is this: If you could have heaven, with no
sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth,
and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure
activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties
you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted,
and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could
you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there? 2
How many of you will read those words and say, “You know,
I just might be okay with that”? If you are as deeply in love with
God as Grandma Clara was, you know you could never be satisfied
in a heaven without Christ.
Don’t Try so Hard
M y fear in writing the previous chapter is that it only evokes in
you fear and guilt. Personal experience has taught me that actions
driven by fear and guilt are not an antidote to lukewarm, selfish,
comfortable living. I hope you realize instead that the answer is
love.
Grandma Clara used to say, “I love love.” Don’t we all? Don’t
we crave it? And isn’t that what God wants of us—to crave this
relationship with Him as we crave all genuine love relationships?
Isn’t that what brings
Download
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.
The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts by Gary Chapman(9273)
The Space Between by Michelle L. Teichman(6569)
Assassin’s Fate by Robin Hobb(5850)
Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi(5313)
Everything Happens for a Reason by Kate Bowler(4474)
Gerald's Game by Stephen King(4371)
Pillow Thoughts by Courtney Peppernell(4011)
A Simplified Life by Emily Ley(3964)
The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale(3857)
Resisting Happiness by Matthew Kelly(3194)
Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis(3120)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3) by J. K. Rowling(3105)
Being Aware of Being Aware by Rupert Spira(3080)
Real Sex by Lauren F. Winner(2861)
The Code Book by Simon Singh(2854)
More Language of Letting Go: 366 New Daily Meditations by Melody Beattie(2847)
Name Book, The: Over 10,000 Names--Their Meanings, Origins, and Spiritual Significance by Astoria Dorothy(2836)
The Holy Spirit by Billy Graham(2775)
The Secret Power of Speaking God's Word by Joyce Meyer(2747)
