CONCLUSIONS: PART 12
“These scriptures have shaped me”
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A love letter from a stranger means an awkward nothing to us
Even a tiny note from my wife means a world of love to me
Most of our dislike for reading scripture is just not understanding not being in relationship with the Author the One from whom the letters were written.
Below are the handful of verses which have shaped me most.
1 JOHN 3:1 “HOW GREAT IS THE LOVE THE FATHER HAS LAVISHED ON US THAT WE SHOULD BE CALLED CHILDREN OF GOD, AND THAT IS WHAT WE ARE.”
- My favorite verse in all of scripture is a great reminder of my identity. All of my identity is found in being a child of God. I am reminded that I have a Father who LAVISHES love upon me. Lavish is a rich and beautiful word. This verse is one I try to always emulate and remember at the core of who I am, and it drives everything else.
EZEKIEL 36:26 “I WILL GIVE YOU A NEW HEART, AND I WILL PUT A NEW SPIRIT IN YOU. I WILL REMOVE FROM YOU YOUR HEART OF STONE AND GIVE YOU A HEART OF FLESH”
- Dr Bill Frist performed more than 150 heart transplants as a thoracic surgeon, and he later became a national speaker. He speaks frequently of the amazing moment when a heart grafts itself to a new body and begins to beat. He would say that it goes beyond medicine into mystery.
The heart has a mind of its own and it secretes its own brainlike hormones with their own cellular memory. That means transplant recipients don’t just get a new organ, they have new memories, cravings, and sensory responses.
Heart recipients always humbly acknowledge their responsibility to honor their donors.
God says in Ezekiel 36:26: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
There are no moments in life that will rival that miraculous moment you give your heart to Christ, because when you give your heart to Christ, Jesus gives his heart to you.
You acknowledge your responsibility to honor the donor.
But you also gain those memories and sensory responses that come with a transplanted heart. You literally BEGIN to feel different OVER TIME…because you begin to learn what it means to feel what Jesus feels
REVELATION 21:5 “AND HE WHO WAS SEATED ON THE THRONE SAID, ‘BEHOLD, I AM MAKING ALL THINGS NEW’.”
- res*to*ra*tion [res-tuh-rey-shun]noun 1. act of renewing or reviving 2. a state of being restored/returned to original 3. a restitution of something lost or stolen 4. recreated setting, as in a historical house 5. repair or replacement
re*store [ri-stawr, -stohr] verb 1. to bring back, as to use or good condition 2. to give back
PSALM 73:28 “BUT FOR ME IT IS GOOD TO BE NEAR GOD; I HAVE MADE THE LORD GOD MY REFUGE”
- After much philosophical and epistemological search in life, I am now utterly convinced that the greatest good is nearness to God.
