In Yoke

I have heard stories of men and women who were imprisoned in solitary confinement, without anything but their own hearts and their own memories to examine. These same folks tell of how whole passages of scripture, complete stories of Jesus and of the Apostles, of prophets, of Psalms, have come clear to them, untrammeled, descriptive, like medicine to their lonely, tortured soul. These “balms of Gilead” are also available to us-like myself, who have been instructed in the ways of the Lord throughout our lives…even when being spared imprisonment. I know His word has come to me many times in my lowest moments, and in my humdrum day to day existence, to enlighten, to encourage, to clarify, to inspire, to energize. Paul the apostle states- Christ dwells in our hearts through faith(Ephesians 3:17), and all treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden and can be found in Christ. It stands to reason then, that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge of God can be found—in the hear...

"The realm of freedom is a prerequisite of virtue, just as it is of sin. It is God's great risk. The freedom to fall is also the freedom to rise. It is precisely in our failure, our experience of poverty. weakness, emptiness that we can come to experience God's restoration and healing love. You can say--oh, that's dangerous, it sounds as if you are justifying sin. But I am trying to be the ultimate realist. Salvation is sin overturned and outdone, as God expands and educates our true freedom. Free will and freedom of conscience are at the heart of the doctrine of grace and at the center of Christian morality. ~ Fr. Richard Rohr It seems to me that as a 21st century follower who is seeking to be "in yoke" with Christ, one of the basic principles of living, moving and having my being in Christ that is hardest to grasp and live with daily is the concept/doctrine of grace. For me it is easier to conceive traditional Puritan influenced legalism and c...