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thought mashups from garret shelsta

Combining thoughts copied from other places

Director of grow students at stuff you can use

Bellingham, Wa

Day #9: Ragamuffin Hip Hop

March 09, 2017  /  Garret Shelsta

[If you want to know how and why this devotional came into existence feel free to read this]

What you will need: 

Day #8 (1).png

Theme: Origins

Passage for March 9th 2017: John 15:12-17

Bars from “Blessings (Reprise)”

I speak to God in public, I speak to God in public
He keep my rhymes in couplets
He think the new $h*t jam, I think we mutual fans

 

A Thought:

When I was 16 my friend Kara turned me onto Brennan Manning and I am thankful she did. He famously wrote the Jesus was for people like him… wandering ragamuffins. While in college, I went to a prayer retreat Brennan facilitated. That weekend was filled with conversations with the Lord that continue shaping me to this day. One of the most impactful ideas he had us meditate on for the weekend was from his book “The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus.” In it he says: 

“If the question were put to you ‘do you honestly believe that God likes you?’ – not loves you, because theologically He must – how would you answer? God loves by necessity of His nature; without eternal, interior generation of love, He would cease to be God. But if you could answer ‘The Father is very fond of me,’ there would come a relaxedness, a serenity and a compassionate attitude toward yourself that is a reflection of God’s own tenderness.”

 –Brennan Manning The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus

Jesus tells us we are his friends. This is specific and personal. Often times I deal better in abstractions. The idea that “God Loves Me” is abstract and frequently enough said that, whether because of repetition or lack of specificity, I can personally distance myself from it. The idea that God actually LIKES me, on the other hand, was and is hard to wrap my head around. It speaks of an intimacy that makes me uncomfortable.

I get this picture of Jesus, where he is going to have a beer after a long day of teaching and performing miracles. On the way, he gives me a call to meet him at the microbrewery (obviously Jesus drinks microbrew) so we can decompress a bit and  hear about each others day. This is not far from the witness of John 15.  Jesus calls us friends to whom he is disclosing everything.

To this day I am still wrestling with the idea that I am a friend of God and he actually likes me. And out of this friendship Jesus has graciously given me gifts to use in public and will hold me together as I speak of the things God has done. The Lord does this not only out of theological obligation but because God is my fan. 

Here are the thoughts I am contemplating today: God actually likes me. God and I are mutual fans. 

Mediation: Psalm 40:4-5

Read the whole passage through once and pick a phrase that is sticking out to you. As you meditate on that phrase picture God participating in an activity that gives you joy with you. If you are feeling bold, share that mediation on social media today with the #mycoloringbookforhisgreatness so we can follow along. 

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