Living the Impossible Dream

I got this devotional book from Beth for Christmas - I love it.
It is called "Resist the Powers with Jacques Ellul" by Charles Ringma

Here's the last 2 days thoughts: they challange me and make me think and pray and strive to live for His Kingdom and no other kingdom .......

To view and analyze my thoughts, dreams and ways continually in the light of His kingdom .......

February 9:
Living the Impossible Dream:
There is nothing finally achievable about living the Christian life. It is always beyond us, yet it is our present possession.
Jacques Ellul is adamant that "what the New Testament really means by being a Christian is the very opposite of what is natural to us." He could not be more correct. The Christian life is the attempt to live the impossible dream. This is not to suggest that we don't have a firm relationship with Christ through faith. Nor does it suggest that we cannot be sure about the life to come as we continue to live in Christ by the Spirit.
What it does mean is that living the lifestyle of the kingdom of God will cut across all our normal values. For in God's kingdom, the least are favoured; the great are to become servants; those who have all are impoverished; those who are the social outcasts are welcomed home; the blind are made to see; and those in bondage experience release. This is a new order of which we naturally know little. But Christ invites us to enter this new world, promising to train us and to remain with us as our encourager and supporter.
Action:
Love and practice servanthood. In that action , many of the ethical dilemmas as to how we should live and respond to others are disolved.

February 10:
Empty Hands:
Prayer is not the art of exchange where I give to God what I think He wants in order to get what I think I need.
Prayer is not the art of exchange. Nor is prayer the art of bargaining. Rather, prayer is art of vulnerability. It is the recognition of our creatureliness and the acknowledgment of God's greatness, love, and mercy. It is the confession of our powerlessness and our need of God's intervention and potection. It is the acknowledgment of our waywardness and wrongdoing, and seeks God's grace, forgiveness, and empowerment.
These are never exchanges. We don't hand to God our sin and He automatically hands to us forgiveness. For God's grace is out of proportion to what we give to Him. God's forgiveness is always a miracle. It is a free and undeserved gift. Prayer as the art of vulnerability, therefore, recognizes that we come to God empty-handed.
Ellul emphasizes this and adds a timely warning. He writes: "We seek to fill our hands with things which we bring in order to hide the fact that we are not bringing our lives and ourselves."
Reflection:
Our nature is always to prefer bargaining to vulnerability. God's grace, however, seeks to make us more vulnerable!