Here are some thoughts from the book, The Furious Longing of God, by Brennan Manning. It always amazes me when my “random” reading turns out to be something I really need to know.
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“The revolutionary thinking that God loves me as I am and not as I should be requires radical rethinking and profound emotional readjustment. Small wonder that the late spiritual giant Basil Hume of London, England, claimed that Christians find it easier to believe that God exists than that God loves them.”
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“For His love is never, never, never based on our performance,
never conditioned by our moods—of elation or depression.
The furious love of God knows no shadow of alteration or change.
It is reliable. And always tender.”
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“If you took the love of all the best mothers and fathers who have lived in the course of human history, all their goodness, kindness, patience, fidelity, wisdom, tenderness, strength, and love and united all those qualities in a single person, that person’s love would only be a faint shadow of the furious love and mercy in the heart of God the Father addressed to you and me at this moment.”
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“The awesome love of our invisible God has become both visible and audible in Jesus Christ, the glory of the only Son filled with enduring love.”
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“You are blessed! God’s desire is for you.
And Jesus is the incarnation of God’s furious longing.
He is your supreme Lover. It’s true.
You are blessed. Your soul’s winter is over. The snows are over and gone.
Flowers are blooming inside of you.
The season of joyful songs has come. To you.
You are blessed! The love of God is folly. No one is excluded.
All (really!) are called to the banquet table. Come, and be filled.
You are blessed! Be-YOU-ti-full. Be you. Just be. Love supports you.
You are blessed! You have learned the purpose of life: LOVE.
You are blessed! You can pray like a child, and enjoy God.
You are blessed! Heal, and be healed.
Reclaim affirmations for the kingdom of God.
Amen. Amen. Amen.”
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“Perhaps the gut issue is not how much theology we have studied or how much Scripture we have memorized. All that really matters is this: Have you experienced the furious longing of God or not?”