A Lover of the Light

I'm an emotional person. I'm sensitive; I'm sentimental; I'm empathetic. My first reaction to anything is an emotional one. It's the same with the Word.

So, when Paul writes "There is no one who is righteous, not even one; there is no one who has understanding, there is no one who seeks God. All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, there is not even one." in Romans 3: 10-12 (which he has taken from Psalms for his rhetorical purposes) I nearly have a breakdown. It breaks my heart into pieces. I want to love God. I want to cherish Him. I want to show kindness. I want to be worth something. I have a really really really difficult time with the concept of my being saved by grace because these verses make me feel like I shouldn't be saved.


But, don't fret; there's hope!


Chapter 8: 38 may be one of the most encouraging verses in the Bible I've read so far, and Paul wrote it, which is kind of contrary to my opinion of Paul. "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."


And so my heart rejoices! All of a sudden I am warmed again. I feel hope and peace once again. Thank God for grace! I am so grateful!  

Additionally I've decided that since I have to read the whole Bible in one year, I'm going to read a psalm every day.  I don't think I could sit and read all of them one after the other, so this is premeditated problem solving.

Here's the day's prayer challenge:

 

60 Day Prayer Challenge Day  - Today's prayer country is Austria:

Population: 8,387,491
Largest religion: Christian
Percent Evangelical: 0.5%

I originally thought they were going to send me countries in order of most need. The first country was Afghanistan. A country that's dominantly Muslim. A country torn by war and poverty and civil abuse. And therefore, when I saw that the next country was Austria, I was a little disappointed since the majority there is Christian anyway. I guess the countries are being sent in alphabetical order.  I know all countries need prayer, and I will pray as fervently for Austria as I did for Afghanistan.  The prayer videos on operationworld.org are incredibly helpful in trying to figure out for what exactly I should be praying. 

Disclaimer:  All of the views expressed on this blog are my own.  I am by no means a scholar or theologist or philosopher, which is probably VERY apparent.  I'm dictating my journey from atheism to radical Christiandom and including all the ups and downs in between.  I fully anticipate to have my world views jarred as I continue to read and pray and journey into foreign territory here.  I ask that if you are reading this that you will keep that perspective in mind.