bright darkness of faith

As I'm typing this, I'm listening to www.pandora.com (if you haven't tried it out, it's pretty handy) - and Addison Road's song, Hope Now is playing - Your love sets me free.....amen.

Anyways, just wanted to post some things I read today, and how His truth really does set us free - if we're willing to go where free is. Some of what God is teaching me about lately is challenging me to be real and to surrender and to accept that suffering is part of the journey -

^"God made my life complete
when I placed all the pieces before him.
When I got my act together,
he gave me a fresh start.
Now I'm alert to God's ways;
I don't take God for granted.
Every day I review the ways he works;
I try not to miss a trick.
I feel put back together,
and I'm watching my step.
God rewrote the text of my life
when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes. " Psalm 18:20-24 (MSG)

The keys to passionate living - by Jud Wilhite

(1) start where you are right now - recognizing where you're living, what you do for a living, your trials - and as you surrender them to God, you start to see the incredible journey that He's already taking you on.

(2) waiting on God's timing and trusting His sovereignty - God will open doors, so be careful not to ignore them or force entry - passionate living involves waiting on doors to be opened or closed by God, and paying attention to what He's doing, not what you're doing.

(3) recognize suffering as part of passionate living - God wrestles the 'me' out of myself and it's painful.

"When we hit bottom and are emptied of all we thought important to us, then we truly pray, truly become humble and detached, and live in the bright darkness of faith. In the midst of the emptying we know that God has not deserted us. He has merely removed the obstacles keeping us from a deeper union with Him."
-Brennan Manning, The Signature of Jesus