Today's Encouraging Word

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We wish every preacher, teacher, and leader would come to the realization that God’s people – not to mention the world – need above all else a glorious unveiling of Jesus. . . . . . . . . . . .There is much more in Christ than we have ever imagined. And there is infinitely more to Him than we have yet to know or touch. We can never exhaust Him. Christ is so large that no search party in the universe can explore an iota of His infinite depths. What is more, He will never grow old or stale. Jesus Christ is the only thing in God’s universe that doesn’t wear thin.
Yet so many Christians are blissfully unaware of His vastness. They have settled for so much less and have known Him so little.

But mark this down: When the people of God get a sighting of their incomparable Lord – and when the world encounters His unfathomable love, His irresistible beauty, and overwhelming glory – every idol will be forced to the ground. The clouds of doubt will part from our eyes, and Jesus Christ will displace everything. But first, the church and the world must see Christ.

Therein lies the task of every disciple – to proclaim this amazing Christ to both lost and found.


Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola
(from Jesus Manifesto)

Today's Encouraging Word

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Don’t set your target low and aim for an inferior calling. Allow God to quicken His Word to you and push your thoughts higher. Let the fuel of His presence propel you toward His thoughts for your life. God wants to pour His Spirit into your heart and mind to give you high expectations. You are more than a conqueror. You can break bad habits. You can do great things……Rise up and take what is yours. Don’t sit back and allow life to pass by. Get up and take hold of the promises of God. Get up and pursue the vision God has placed in your heart….You may have forgotten the dream you used to have, but God hasn’t. You may not believe in the dream anymore, but He does. He believes in the dream, and He believes in you. He has been working on you and your dream the whole time. It may have been a long time. Many years may have passed since you first began to dream the dream. You may have lost many precious things. You may have lost hope. The dream may have faded from delay after delay. But mark it down: it is not over yet!

Frank Damazio

(from The Attitude of Faith)

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A God of Purpose - A God of Provision

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L.D. Turner

I am convinced that few of us truly understand our true potential as children of the Father of Lights, the Living God. By remaining ignorant of who and what we are, we end up limping through life rather than soaring. We end up settling for scraps from the table when we should, in fact, own the table and the house that it sits in.

For many years I either failed to understand the blessings of the full gospel or I misunderstood it. Either way, I wasted a lot of time thinking I knew what I was talking about when, in fact, I didn’t. I would be greatly saddened if that happened to you and this, my friend, is one of the main catalysts that gave birth to Sacred Mind Ministries. God etched upon my heart the need for sound teaching and quality educational materials that would foster deeper awareness of the Christian’s true potential and identity “in Christ.” Further, I began to understand that the primary purpose of having this blessed gift of a new identity and new personal power in Christ is to assist in the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth. It is to this mission that we at SMM remain committed.

Understanding our true identity is intimately connected with the realization of our divine potential. These issues are among the deeper things God, working through the Holy Spirit, wants to impart to us. All we need to receive these vital revelations is an open mind and a receptive heart. We don’t need to wait until we arrive in heaven to gain awareness of these gifts – in fact, by the time we get to heaven we will have already been utilizing our divine power here on earth for many years. Dr. Myles Munroe speaks clearly to these themes:

God has prepared so many deep things about who we are. Our eyes can’t see them, nor can our minds conceive them, yet God is revealing them to us through His Spirit. God doesn’t want us to wait until heaven to know our full potential. He didn’t give birth to us so we can develop our potential in heaven…..God wants us to realize here on this planet who we are. That is His purpose in creating us. We need the Holy Spirit because eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, nor has it entered the minds of men who man really is. Only the Holy Spirit searches “the deep things of God.”…..God beckons you to take another step into a deeper, more relevant knowledge of your potential in Christ – Though you may have been saved for years. You need to take this step because you still don’t know who you are.

You see, friends, most of us claiming to be followers of Christ are well intended but poorly equipped to make those intentions a reality in daily living. This statement is not intended to be a criticism of the modern church or a slap in the face of well-meaning Christians who are committed to bringing God’s kingdom out of the spiritual realm and making it manifest right here on earth. Instead, I say these words because they are true. Most of us do not have a clue as to what we can do to not only make our lives more fruitful and productive, but also to bring success to the calling that God has placed in each of our hearts.

The good news is, however, that we serve a God of purpose and provision. The Father of Lights has a well-planned purpose for this world which involves redemption and restoration. He is proactive in redeeming what was lost in the Garden and, joined at the hip of this plan of redemption, is the reality of restoration. Each of us, and that includes you and me, are being redeemed for the purpose of restoring God’s will on earth as it is in heaven. We are being redeemed in order to bring about the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth.

Please note that I use the word “redeemed” not just in the past tense, but in the sense of an ongoing process. We were indeed redeemed when we acknowledged and accepted Christ for who and what he was and is, but it doesn’t stop there. The process of redemption continues and goes deeper and deeper as our bodies, our minds, our wills, and our spirits, become properly aligned with those of the Master. In essence, we were given new life and a new identity at our second birth. Now each of us is in the process of growing into that life in increasing measure. The goal is that we have, as Paul so aptly puts it, the “full measure of Christ” within us.

We are given this new life, this new status, and this new power for the primary purpose of continuing the incarnation that we saw so vividly in the life of Jesus. The Master announced the coming of the kingdom and then proceeded to go about the work of making it manifest in this world. And hear this, he charged us with the task of carrying on where he left off. Furthermore, he sent the Holy Spirit to live in us, empower us, and guide us forward in that holy process. God not only has given us a calling and a purpose, he has provided the power we need to meet that purpose and make it a living reality.

In 2 Peter 1:4 we are told that God has put us in a position where we can share in his divine nature. No, that doesn’t mean he has made us Gods, or even little gods as some have suggested. It does mean, however, that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead now resides in each of us. The Father of Lights, as stated earlier, is not only a God of purpose, but also a God of provision, enabling us to meet the challenges of doing those things that he has called us to do. Friends, if you can understand that principle, make it yours through faith, and take action based on it, you can succeed at any God-directed, God-ordained calling.

© L.D. Turner 2010/ All Rights Reserved

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Today's Encouraging Word

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Be silent and listen to God. Let your heart be in such a state of preparation that His Spirit may impress upon you such virtues that will please Him. Let all within you listen to Him….

Don’t spend your time making plans that are just cobwebs – a breath of wind will come and blow them away. You have withdrawn from God and now you find that God has withdrawn the sense of His presence from you. Return to Him and give Him everything without reservation. There will be no peace otherwise. Let go of all you plans – God will do what He sees best for you.

Francis Fenelon

Today's Encouraging Word

I hear non-Christians say, “I feel as though there is something more to life than I am currently experiencing.” What they are missing is God’s great salvation. But I also hear Christians say, “I feel as though there is something more to the Christian than I am currently experiencing.” They, too, are missing God’s great salvation. They have not understood what God accomplished on their behalf. Their hearts have never been opened to understand what motivated God when He chose to save them from their sins and cause them to be born again into the family of God…One of the first great truths concerning God’s salvation is found in John 6:44. Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” Jesus knew that God the Father must be active in drawing persons to Himself before they would ever know the joy of salvation. Have you understood how significant this statement is concerning your life? God has called you into a love relationship with Himself through Jesus Christ. In other words, you are special. You are the object of God’s calling. You did not choose Him; he chose you. You can count on it; your salvation began in the heart of God and the love relationship that He initiated is life-transforming and all-consuming.

Henry T. and Melvin D. Blackaby

(from A God Centered Church)

Reflections on Faith, Hope, and the Christian Journey

L. Dwight Turner


“Faith” is one of those terms that get thrown around quite often in spiritual circles, especially Christian circles. The fact that faith gets talked about so much points to something extremely critical: whatever it is, faith is at the core of the Christian spiritual journey. We can see the centrality of faith in many ways, not the least of which is the fact that the whole undertaking of living as a Christian is often called a walk of faith.

The problem is, there seems to be a great deal of confusion out there about what faith is and what faith is not. Some see faith as synonymous with hope, while others see faith as pretty much the same thing as belief. Yet others, especially those of the Word of Faith movement, see faith as a physical substance, a kind of energy which can be molded and directed to respond to our wishes and desires. With all of these options out there, it is easy to see how Christians in general and new believers in particular can come up gasping for air whenever they get caught in the whirlpool of a discussion on faith.

I have found, however, that discussions of faith do not have to be so perplexing and, whenever I find a writer who puts forward teachings about “faith” in a straightforward and understandable manner, I feel obliged to share those teachings. Erwin Raphael McManus is one such writer. Recently, while noting several key passages in his book Wide Awake I reread some of his ideas of faith in general and the connection between faith, hope, and positive expectation in particular. As these three concepts are part of such a tightly interwoven pattern, I want to share with you in some detail a few of his passages on these critical themes, starting with:

A life of faith is a life of expectation. The book of Hebrews gives us snapshots of individuals who lived a life of expectation, internalized optimism, and refused to give up. We are called to emulate the lives of women and men who kept leaning into their future. Through their stories, we are given clues about how we can begin to expect more and live bigger than ourselves…..

McManus describes the Faith Hall of Fame from the 11th Chapter of Hebrews as folks who:

Lived lives of expectation

Possessed an internalized optimism

Refused to give up (tenacity)

Without elaborating too much on this from a personal perspective, suffice to say that I have found that this trio of character traits are essential to an effective Christian life. As Christians we have every right to be radically optimistic, based on the scriptural revelation of the God we serve. This optimism is more than fleeting, but instead, is internalized and forms part of the bedrock of our Christian worldview. It is this internalized worldview that forms the matrix through which we filter and interpret the events in our lives.

What I am saying here is this: we serve a God of integrity who has made promises to us that he cannot break. Further, he has demonstrated to us that he intends our greatest good to unfold and, from this, we can be both radically optimistic and expect good things to happen in our lives. When bad things happen, we can still remain optimistic and expect the best, because, again, God has promised this and will not lie to us. In fact he cannot lie to us. Thus, we can be very tenacious in pursuit of godly goals because we know deep in our hearts that:

.... God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose

At its core and depth, the Christian life is about living for something much greater than ourselves. It is not only about self-transcendence, although that is part of it, it is more about the death of self and rebirth into a much larger story than the petty dramas in which we lived before. We see this in the stories of the heroes of faith that we meet in Hebrews 11. The vital background of their lives is encapsulated in these words of scripture:

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what was seen was not made out of what was visible.

Speaking of the ancient faith of these biblical figures, McManus goes on to say:

A life of expectation is the result of living in the dynamic tension that exists between faith and hope. When you begin to live a life that integrates faith and hope, you begin to internalize optimism. Faith, we are told, is the substance of things hoped for. There is an interconnection between faith and hope.

As stated earlier, faith seems to be a somewhat nebulous commodity when it comes to definition. Yet it is this very faith that God has placed at the center of his plans of salvation, reconnection, resurrection, and restoration. According to scripture, faith is the dynamic catalyst for conversion, salvation, and even sanctification. Paul understood this clearly, as did most of the early church fathers, and most certainly Martin Luther and the reformers of the 16th Century.

Why is it that we have grown so confused about the centerpiece of God’s plans to restore this world to its proper alignment with his will and purpose? I think one reason for this is that more than a few teachers try to make “faith” fit their own agenda. They should know better and to tell you the truth, most of them do know better. Perhaps these “teachers and prophets” have yet to die to their own schemes and get on board God’s plan. Thus, we are bombarded in the Christian media and from the pulpit with concepts of faith that miss the mark. McManus continues:

We find that faith is different from what we oftentimes thought. Faith isn’t so much about having a big idea. Faith isn’t about how much belief you can muster up. Faith isn’t like spiritual childbirth, where you experience the pain of labor. It is not about trying to create the future by believing it will be so. Faith is not the Christian version of a wish. It is not about speaking something into reality. Faith is different. Faith is about substance. It’s about knowing what has not happened will certainly happen. Not because you will make it happen but because God has promised it will be so. It is a conviction about things unseen. It is the promise of a better world, a better future – a better you.

As you can see, the concept of faith espoused here by McManus is far different that much of what we see and hear today. Faith is not so much dependent upon who we are, but who God is. Faith is not so much concerned with what we say, or believe, or speak….it is more about what God has said and done. I firmly believe that God has already provided all that we can ever need to live the kind of holy, godly life to which we are called. I firmly believe that I can do exactly what God say I can do – again – not so much because of who I am, but because of who He is.
It is for these reasons that I can trust God and begin to lean into the future with confidence and even boldness, knowing that God has provided for my journey in ways both great and small. Returning to McManus:

Faith is about conviction, while hope is about confidence. Faith grounds us in the certainty of God’s faithfulness, and hope pulls us into the mystery of God’s future.

Think about it.

© L.D. Turner 2009/All Rights Reserved

I Have Heard, Lord (A Personal Prayer)

I Have Heard, Lord

Lord, I have heard your Holy Word and I have understood. You are the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. You never grow weak or weary and no one truly fathoms the depth of your understanding.

You give power to the weak and strength to the powerless. I trust you, Lord, and, according to your promise, I will find new strength and soar high on wings like eagles. I will run and not grow weary; I will walk and not faint.

Even more Lord, I am blessed because I know you have called me back from the ends of the earth and have said, “Dwight, you are my servant. I have chosen you and will not throw you away.” For this I am ever grateful my God and I am not afraid because I know you are with me. I have abundant courage because I know that you are my God. I draw my strength from you and know that you are always there to help me when I need you. I am more than blessed my God; you hold me up with your victorious right hand.

[from Isaiah 40:28-31; 41:9-10.]

By L. Dwight Turner

The Blessings of God's Presence

L. Dwight Turner

For many years in my spiritual walk I wandered in the wilderness, seeking answers down many avenues and not a few dark alleyways. I often felt bewildered, alone, without direction and devoid of guidance. All too often I found myself isolated at a spiritual dead end, trumpeting loudly in my heart like an elephant at a dried out waterhole. I often felt abandoned by God and spiritually exhausted. I was burned out, burned down, and, more times than I care to admit, so despondent that I wanted to take the whole spiritual quest and toss it once and for all. But now, in retrospect, I can see God's hand in each dark alley I stumbled down. I can see his caring guidance in each barren and arid well. For in each of these wanderings I learned much. I gained not only knowledge that has proved useful in many areas of life, but also obtained an experiential understanding of what Solomon meant when he said so many of our pursuits, even the most noble ones, are chasing after the wind. Most significantly, the Holy Spirit gave me the awareness that in my times of despair and what I thought was spiritual failure, I had not failed completely.

I only failed to hear the voice.

What voice? The same voice that accompanied Moses and his large band of followers in their forty years of wandering in the wilderness. The voice that whispered the comforting words that would have filled my empty heart with a glimmer of hope. The voice that said, "I am with thee".

The Creator and Sustainer, the God of All Comfort led the wandering Israelites through the barren landscape, always remaining faithful in his promise to lead them into the land of plenty. He remained with them, in spite of their lack of fidelity, in spite of their disobedience, in spite of their seeking comfort in places and things other than Himself. "I am with thee", he said and surely he was. How much more is he with us now? Has God changed? No. Has he altered his promise? No. Has he withdrawn his covenant to lead us into the Promised Land? No.

In fact, since the Incarnation he is with us more than ever. The angel of the Lord announced to Joseph, "They shall call his name Emmanuel,” God with us. How much more is God now with us, even in our meandering faithlessness and spiritual adultry? No less than he was with the Israelites. In fact, he is now with us in a new and more glorious way. He lived among us and left one-third of himself to reside in each and every one of us. It is to this God who we are called to consecrate our lives. The call to us is the same as the call in those days of old. We are called to trust in the God who is with us.

Again, Hannah Smith says it so cogently:

God is everywhere present in His universe, surrounding everything, and sustaining everything, and holding all of us in His safe and blessed keeping……We cannot drift from the love and care of an ever-present God. And those Christians who think He has forsaken them, and who cry out for His presence, are crying out in ignorance of the fact that He is always and everywhere present with them. In truth they cannot get out of His presence, even should they try.

The message in these words by Smith, as well as in the adventures of the Jewish people in the wilderness serve to bring home to us the fact that God is always there whether we perceive his presence or not. He is there with us in times of trial and in times of blessing; in the darkness before the dawn and in the brilliant light of midday; in the brittle and barren moments of spiritual aridity and the lush and lovely times when we feel awash in the everlasting waters. He is, indeed, Emmanuel – God with us.

Given the realities of the pressure-packed, fast-paced world in which we daily go about our business, it is an easy affair to forget God’s presence. I know this is true in my own life and I suspect, from time to time, this sense of God’s absence is a universal experience. It is a vital blessing and a comfort to know and trust that, even in those times when we think the Lord has gone on Sabbatical, that his live-giving presence is as close as our own breath and our own heartbeat. It is so easy to overlook this reality and yet it is so crucial that we keep coming back to the awareness, revealed not only in scripture, but in the experience of countless saints and in the traditions of the church in all its flavors, that God is right there with us.

Often our sense of God’s absence is brought about by external factors such as stress, pressures from family, work, or friends, or the myriad responsibilities we all face in trying to make ends meet in a world that demands much from us. At other times, however, we avoid God’s presence if at all possible. Take Jonah, for example. God had a clear mission for Jonah to accomplish yet Jonah wanted no part of it. He chose to flee God rather than face him. God directed Jonah in one direction and he went double-time in the opposite way. The results were predictable because God is there, even when we don’t want him to be. Perhaps nowhere is this reality more clearly penned than in the words of David in Psalm 139:

Where can I go from your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there?
If I make my be in Sheol, you are there.

If I take the wings of the morning
And settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
Even there your hand shall lead me,
And your right hand shall hold me fast.

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
And the light around me become night,”
Even the darkness is not dark to you;
The night is as bright as the day,
For darkness is as light to you.

(Psalm 139: 7-12 NRSV)

I take great comfort in the promise that God is there at all times, whether I want him or not. You see, the reality is that I want him far more than I don’t. I have come to understand that even thought there may be things that I want to hide from God from time to time, it is in my best interest not to hide them. And beyond this, I could not hide them, even if I wanted to.

God is described by Paul as “the God of all comfort,” and to my way of thinking, one of the greatest comforts is the fact he is always present, no matter what I am going through. We could ask for no greater resource than this. Jesus clearly understood this when he made this promise to his disciples (and to us) shortly before he ascended into heaven:

“And be sure of this, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20 NLT)

(c) L.D. Turner 2008/ All Rights Reserved

A Devotion for Christian Optimists

L. Dwight Turner

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28 NLT)


If ever there was a reason for Christians to be optimistic it is the promise recorded by Paul in this powerful scripture. The Apostle nestled this verse in the context of a number of other verses towards the end of the eighth chapter of Romans, all of which point toward the central reality that, as Christians, we really have every reason to rejoice and celebrate, whatever our circumstance. The unfathomable intelligence that forged this incredible universe and arranged all the subtle, complex laws that keep it in perfect balance, has also orchestrated the events of our lives to also work in our ultimate favor.


I don’t think this means that God planned everything that happens to us. Our own wrong choices many times get us into trouble. But Paul is telling us that even then, and even when disaster and tragedy strikes, God can use the results of our bad decisions, the results of tragedy, loss, and disaster, to ultimately work for our greatest good. In light of this reality, optimism is not only logical, it is unavoidable.


Lord, I know that you go before me, making my way both perfect and positive. I now take refuge in the serene peace and complete assurance that you are, indeed, devoted to the unfolding of my greatest good, even when I can’t see it. And I also am aware that this is your promise to all who love you and who are called to your purpose.


Father of Lights, I also am aware that each person you place before me is the person you are calling me to love at that moment. I am deeply aware that, just as you direct all things to work for my ultimate favor, I am to love the person before me in the same way. Therefore, I commit all my thoughts, actions, and plans to the unfolding of the greatest good of the persons you bring before me today. I am created in your image, Lord, and as your love directs you to bring out the best in me, I am also committed to bringing out the best in those you place in my path.


I thank you Lord for giving me the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to be able to accomplish what I cannot do on my own, and I thank you for making all things work toward my greatest good. In Christ’s most Holy Name…..Amen.


© L.D. Turner 2008/All Rights Reserved

Christian Identity and Holistic Optimism: Radical Acceptance

L. Dwight Turner

One of the key principles that we emphasize here at LifeBrook is the importance of optimism. The reasons for stressing the development and maintenance of an optimistic outlook on life are many, but perhaps the most important benefit of optimism is obvious.

Optimism is the womb of hope.

More significantly, as Christians, we have every reason to be optimistic. God has given us, through his grace and love, everything we need to live a complete, fulfilling, and rewarding life. Further, the Bible tells us repeatedly that we are now wholly redeemed and acceptable to the Father and that nothing can ever separate us from the love of God. In and of itself, that should be enough to allow optimism to works its roots deep into the soil of our hearts. Moreover, in Romans Paul reassures us that all things work for our benefit, even if we are sometimes blind to the fact.

In brief, God accepts us and blesses us. So, why is it that many of us have trouble fully accepting this free gift of grace? Why is it that a significant number of God’s family displays such a negative mindset? Why is it that church pews are often filled with people wearing either plastic smiles or, even worse, displaying such a sour countenance that visitors might think these folks had been baptized in vinegar instead of water?

Perhaps the problem stems from the fact that many of us, deep down in our spiritual hearts, just don’t believe that we have really been accepted. If we are among that number, our situation is such that we are actually rejecting the very gospel we proclaim.

A renowned Christian theologian, I think it was Paul Tillich, once said that the key to the whole Christian gospel was the fact that we are accepted by God. In fact, he went on to say that the way to appropriate God's grace was to accept that we are accepted. I am no theologian and, at best, possess a second or third rate mind. But I am capable of comprehending the truth of this statement. We cannot begin the spiritual journey as outlined by Christ until we accept the gift of grace. And the most fundamental aspect of accepting God's offer is to accept that we are accepted. Yet many Christians don't seem to get this point. In fact, in their broken, weak state they can't fathom that they are in any way acceptable to God. Something is wrong here. Very wrong.

The crown jewel in the center of the Christian message is that the lowliest, neediest, and most broken people are accepted if they have faith in Christ. Just take a look at the kind of people he chose to hang out with when he was on earth. He associated with thieves, lepers, tax-collectors, prostitutes, cripples, paupers, and even a woman married five times. It now strikes me as absurd to think that I, even with my hang-ups, sins, shortcomings, and defects of character, am beyond the loving pale of God's grace. However, many people both within and outside the church feel they are unworthy of God's grace and thus reject the gift that was designed for them in the first place.

Consider the familiar story of the Prodigal Son as told by Christ in the fifteenth chapter of Luke. We are so familiar with this tale of a wasted life saved through love and redemption than we often loose the impact that it should have on our lives. Especially if we are wastrels and rogues like the wandering Prodigal. Perhaps more than any other passage in Scripture, the parable of the youngest son of a wealthy landowner illustrates the incomprehensible, counter-intuitive love of God. Brennan Manning speaks succinctly about the Prodigal in all of us and God's incredible acceptance:

“When the prodigal limped home from his lengthy binge of waste and wandering, boozing, and womanizing, his motives were mixed at best. He said to himself, "How many of my father's paid servants have more food than they want, and here am I dying of Hunger! I will leave this place and go to my father". (Luke: 15:17-18). The ragamuffin stomach was not churning with compunction because he had broken his father's heart. He stumbled home simply to survive. His sojourn in a far country had left him bankrupt. The days of wine and roses had left him dazed and disillusioned. The wine soured and the roses withered. His declaration of independence had reaped an unexpected harvest: not freedom, joy, new life but bondage, gloom, and a brush with death. His fair-weather friends had shifted their allegiance when his piggy bank emptied. Disenchanted with life, the wastrel weaved his way home, not from a burning desire to see his father, but just to stay alive.”

Yet even with these mixed motives, borne as much from desperation as from contrition, the wastrel was accepted by his father and a celebration ensued. Of course it is best if we respond to God's offer with a pure, contrite heart and full acknowledgement of our failure and powerlessness. Yet how many of us are actually capable of this? Not many I suspect. I know I am not. But God accepts our response to his offer in spite of our conflicted hearts and spirits. In fact, if one is to believe what Christ teaches in the parable of the Prodigal, then he in accepts our desperation just as much as he accepts our repentance. This is truly “radical grace.”

So what is our response to what God has done? What are we to do if we truly and sincerely want to partake of God’s marvelous offer to accept us, love us and empower us to be better people? What are we to do if we genuinely desire to become Children of the Light? First, we should deeply reflect on just what it is that God has done through Christ and what He is continuing to do through the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit. Brendan Manning again puts it in cogent and moving words:

“We should be astonished at the goodness of God, stunned that he should bother to call us by name, our mouths wide open at his love, bewildered that at this very moment we are standing on holy ground.”

Just how do we go about accepting this radical offer made by God? We just accept it. It is really that simple. There is no great mystery here, no elaborate initiation rites, no secret oaths or pledges. We just accept it because God offers it. We accept it on faith and leave God to work out the details and understanding later. The comfort we find in accepting God's love comes after faith, never before it. Remember, it all begins with and hinges on faith.

Christians seem to have an uncanny knack for taking simple truths and complicating them through debate, dogma, and doctrine. The “Doctrine of Grace” is one thing; the reality of God’s grace is quite another. It is freely offered to all who would humble themselves enough to receive it. I suspect that each of us has his or her own way of resisting God’s grace. Some of us, as mentioned above, feel we don’t deserve it; some of us are too prideful, feeling that we can fix ourselves on our own; others think the concept of grace is just too simplistic. Whatever our reasons for struggling with this basic Christian principle, until we resolve our conflict, we will not advance very far on the spiritual journey.

I can attest to this fact from my own experience. Paul says that the idea of “Christ crucified” as the means of salvation would be foolishness to the Greeks. Well, for many years it was foolishness to me. I much preferred the complexity of Buddhism and Hinduism, or the sanity of New Thought. Still, somewhere down in the pit of my being, the Hound of Heaven was chewing on me. God was unrelenting in his pursuit of me and I, like Jonah, headed for the hills more than once. Still, God’s grace kept surrounding me and I could not escape. In fact, I came to treasure the comforting feeling of being surrounded by God. Finally, I accepted that I was accepted.

Once I stopped running; once my struggles with God came to a halt, it was like a whole panorama of spiritual reality opened before my eyes, including a deep sense of optimism and hope. As a result, I began to view the world, including its problems and pain, with a greater degree of compassion and a genuine desire for healing involvement.

With the help of the Holy Spirit, I came to understand at a deeper level that I was in fact accepted. Accepted in my weakness because this is where the strength of Christ is seen. Accepted in my brokenness because this is where the healing of Christ is seen. Accepted in my faithlessness because this is where the fidelity of Christ is seen. Accepted in my wandering in the wilderness because this is where Christ's true and stable mansions are eventually discovered.

© L.D. Turner 2008/ All Rights Reserved