He turns sin into strength

today's meditation
This morning I copied the following into my journal while my daughter Faith and I were in the waiting room at the doctor's office. I'm glad I had chosen this particular book to throw in my purse because I had a hard time deciding which book to take with me (I'm juggling three at the moment). I'm right there with this quote.

"Our checkered careers, our utter sinfulness and degradation, our falling into all manner of vain seeking, become by the grace of God on the cross and in the resurrection, the inevitable writing of wisdom on our hearts. Our hurts and sins have become our schooling and preparation. Would that we could learn purity the easy way. Praise God that His mercy is such that He turns the depth of our sin into the strength of ministry. We're not proud of our wrongdoing, but the sweet grace of God is such that in the end we thank Him for it. Our sins have rather become our training for high calling than our disqualification." ~ John Sanford, "The Elijah Task"

Living in gratitude for being a rescued one...

maturity

spring is there if you just look hard enough

I found a commendable article at a Hindu website that speaks of what maturity looks like. I can't help but think of the church, and how striving for these character traits would result in less dysfunction and heartbreak. Think of the emotional health that could result, both for the individual and the community as a whole.

You can read the entire article here: Maturity of Mind and Adult Behavior.

To be mature does not necessarily mean just a fully grown up individual. It is a combination of many things that includes age, awareness, intelligence, decision making ability and more. To be mature means:

1. to be realistic, to be in touch with reality and to be guided by facts,

2. to be responsible to self and others and to accept responsibility for self preservation,

3. to be willing to examine ones beliefs, fallacies, prejudices and assumptive behavior in an objective way and let them go,

4. to be guided by reason rather than emotions, to be able to distinguish the two and also at the same time accommodate them appropriately and intelligently in one's life and priorities,

5. to be assertive without being aggressive, to be friendly without the need to get attention, to disagree without the need to compete and to seek without the fear of failure or rejection,

6. to be flexible and open-minded rather than rigid and judgmental, to be amenable to new situations and receptive to new knowledge, to be willing to learn new skills and new responses,

7. to be inquisitive and exploratory, seeking answers to questions one does not know, gathering information before arriving at conclusions, stretching the mind to explore hidden possibilities and hidden potentialities,

8. to act spontaneously to an occasion or situation, free from preconceived notions, the compulsion to be perfect or correct, habitual or mechanical reactions

9. to be in touch with the present and enjoy the passing moment

10. to know what is possible and achievable and to acknowledge that which is not.