The Apostle Paul reiterates how it is no trouble for him or anyone else who shepherds God’s people to remind us all of the Gospel and our necessary response to it (Phil. 3).  It’s no trouble to me either!  And, as he says, it’s SAFE for us to camp out here and live our lives in this area of thought, prayer, and abandoned living for Christ.  I press on to make this a lifestyle because Christ had made me His own!  Let’s do this together!

This is definitely a re-orientation for American believers in particular…  a safety that essentially prepares us for martyrdom.  Say what?!  Look at Philippians 3 again.  He literally talks about repeating for us this message as being safe for us.  Isn’t it true though that a life of abandon to Christ is safe and refreshing when it comes to eternal things?  We are eternal beings living in a messy and temporary world.  Why do we prize physical safety so highly when Christ abandoned His seat in Heaven for a moment in time to be thrashed on this earth to show us His love?  This is our God made flesh.  Since He went to such a great extent to show us His love, we must live with abandon to show our gratitude!

May our lives be more and more demonstrative of our prayer life, and may our prayer life be more and more demonstrative of our gratitude and hope and response to God’s love shown on the cross.  May our love be a relentless and reckless love for God; may it be a relentless and reckless love for the found Christian (sinner now saint/righteous by the blood of Christ); and may our love be a relentless and reckless love for the lost (sinner we pray to be saint by reliance on the blood of Christ)!

We have but one life to live, let’s live it all in and all there for Jesus Christ!

– Torrey

NOTE: Thomas Atkins and I are going to work together for the images to be front-facing for this blog.  In time I’ll share how to go about purchasing high-pixel versions of these images.  Many of the photos will be his.  Some will be mine.  Mine won’t be available for purchase, but his should be in many cases.  He’s a dear friend and spends God-worshiping time in the Sierra Nevada mountains as well as other places.  All summer he’s been the featured photographer in the gallery in Twain Harte next to El Jardin restaurant.  Enjoy!