Years ago, while preparing for a woman's Bible study group, I read the words of Jesus in Luke 4:16-21; the passage where Jesus reads Isaiah's words and declares them fulfilled. At the time, we were discussing self control from Titus 2:3-5. Jesus' words reminded us all that He can and will break our bonds, whatever the situation. It was a life changing realization for some of the women. For me, I was filled with awe, as His words captivated my heart's desire to be free from all that held me back from a full life in Him.
Recently, I started to read The Hole in Our Gospel
, by Richard Stearns. His compassion for the poor, oppressed, and destitute exude from every page, challenging me to step outside my small world view and embrace God's work world wide. In it, he encourages readers to embrace a whole gospel, and quotes Jesus' words from Luke 4:18-19:"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
Again, as I read Jesus' words, I was filled with awe. This time, they are enlarging my vision, making it bigger than my own narrow slice of life. In these words I see Jesus' heart for the world.
~ Dorie
I haven't read either of those books - I'm going to add them to my list of need to find.
ReplyDeleteLove that verse - filled with such compassion and love.
Good morning. thanks for the inspiring reminders.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this reminder of God's love for all!
ReplyDeletewow! God is so using you right now.. I sit on the edge of some major life realigning....and you just keep filling in what I am not able to discern... God is so good... and I thank him for you!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your blog post today. I think this is my first time at your blog, not even sure how I landed on it. The surprise was that I blogged this morning about a Bible Study regarding breaking free from bondage as well.
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