Rest of the Gospel

   Quoting from page 155, “For you who have told God that you want to go on with Him, that you want to know Him and Him only, the victory is to press on beyond the human situation. We move past what something looks like and feels like, to see by faith that God is involved in it. He has a purpose in it for us.

   For those who have come to know this, one of the best things we can do is speak this word of truth to those who, in the midst of their circumstances, can’t see God acting. We know He is acting in those circumstances and we can be a word of encouragement to them. Often believers do not see that what they are going through is the way God is going to give them what they really want: Him.

   …What the Christian needs is 50/20 vision…Referring to Genesis 50:20.”

   The above quote and the following quotes are just a few of the many encouraging thoughts from reading, The Rest of the Gospel, When the partial Gospel has worn you out by Dan Stone and Greg Smith.

   In the preface by Dan Stone, “’Christ in you, the hope of glory’ (Colossians 1:27). Christ living is us and through us, as us, is the only hope we have of experiencing the glory God intends for our lives…We start from this question: what is God’s intent…We are not the center of the universe. The Son is…God had a purpose for us before the foundation of the world. (see Ephesians 1)…We exist for the praise of His glory…God, in His love and grace, has made us a part of His plan. But we are not the center of it; Christ is. We are participants in the plan…

   The authors divide the book into four parts:

V  Union with Christ

V  Who are you?

V  Knowing God’s ways

V  Living in union

   This book is very reader friendly, easy reading, yet with plenty of depth to study and chew.

Chapter nine talks about The Real You.

  “We are born into a tough existence. As infants, every day is a new challenge to ensure all our needs are met. Before we are even aware of it, we learn to play the world’s game of life…It isn't much longer before we learn that if we behave a certain way, Mamma and Daddy like that, and if we behave another way, they don’t like it…Going through school, if we have a personality that others are attracted to, we become one of the most popular kids in school. We learn how to operate in that…In high school, if we have a boyfriend or girlfriend, we learn how to adapt to that, or we learn how to get along without it…When we get into the work world we learn what will earn us advancement and what will earn us the pink slip. Then we get married and things are going to be wonderful. It’s God’s trick. Marriage is meant to sandpaper you into Him, not to provide you bliss. If you happen to find bliss, it’s not permanent, is it? Marriage is not like that. Marriage is for discovering real intimacy. So we learn to adjust to that, or fail to…From the moment we were born into the world dead in trespasses and sins-dead in spirit, separated from God- the world and the devil conspired to create this self in us that could try independently to get along. It’s what I call the false self.

   The Bible calls the false self flesh. The flesh self is a soul based self. It is the soul operating independently of its Source…The life of God through us must be expressed through the soul. But His life is expressed through a soul dependent upon it Source, not acting independently of it.

   Nothing happens in our life for which there isn't a God reason.”