Our small group Bible Study has been studying the book of Isaiah, and I sometimes dip into Raymond C Ortlund Jr.’s commentary Isaiah: God Saves Sinners to help supplement that study. This isn't a scholarly commentary necessarily, but reads more like a devotional or sermon transcript. These words from his comments on Isaiah 50 were powerful to me, especially in light of what I wrote in my Desiring the Kingdom post yesterday:
“God encounters us meaningfully through words – words that illuminate, words that last, words that undeceive our confusion. ‘The Christian faith has come to us in words, not images; find that passage in the first chapter of the Gospel according to St John – the Word becoming flesh, and dwelling among us full of grace and truth – one of the most beautiful and profound things ever written. If it had come to us in images instead of words, it would not have lived as it has.’ If God’s way of getting through to us is the word, then we need to learn what it means to listen.” (quoting Malcom Muggeridge)
"When nothing else in our experience makes sense, when we have no visible path forward and everything seems to be closing in around us, what should we do? We should take our stand on the revealed character of God and keep going in his will, one step at a time. We should announce to ourselves again and again the promises of the gospel. The bare word of God has the power to stabilize our panicky hearts. In this simple, profound way, our lives will declare that God is a good Savior. And it's how we show we are really listening to Christ."
~Raymond C Ortlund, Jr., Isaiah: God Saves Sinners
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Amen!! I love the second quote especially. The first one reminds me of what I have been thinking about so much lately-the role of the imagination in education and faith.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting - I have been contemplating the role of imagination in education and faith lately too. Most of my thoughts on it are still half-baked though, so I haven't really written about or acted on it yet. Perhaps that's part of the reason why that quote struck me too.
DeleteI always love reading anything by Malcolm Muggeridge. He has such a way with words!
ReplyDeleteYour Ortlund quote reminded me of Hebrews "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen", and made me think that our imaginations do need to be developed to see the reality beyond the circumstances we see around us.
Ooh, I love that idea of developing our imaginations so we can see beyond the reality of our circumstances. I'm going to have to chew on that.
DeleteI love this, "The bare word of God has the power to stabilize our panicky hearts." God's Word is so powerful and I often forget. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYes, this is what I am realizing lately too. It is so easy to gloss over what a gift His Word is to us.
DeleteI just wanted to say thank you for sharing these quotes. I'm chewing on them this evening. :)
ReplyDeleteGlad to have given you food for thought. :) I'm still chewing on them myself - especially after reading through these comments, I'm realizing just how much these quote dovetail with everything else I'm thinking about at the moment.
DeleteThat second quote is such a comfort. I'm glad that God has given us His Word to which we can return again and again. Feelings and experiences are so fleeting but His Word remains the same.
ReplyDeleteAmen and Amen!
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