Book Notes for Part 3

The weather was bad for the third Thursday in a row, so I missed most of you last week. There were two of us there so we went ahead and discussed Part 3: Owning Your Life by Giving God Control.

Chapter 6, "Resting in the Transcendence of God: Owning the Mystery of His Supremacy", encouraged us to a childlike faith by "owning a sense of wonder at God's transcendence, acknowledging that He is above and beyond anything we can imagine" (p. 72). Sally Clarkson exhorted us to bow our hearts toward Christ, to practice worshiping regularly, and to choose thankfulness.

Chapter 7, "Allowing God's Spirit to Breathe In You: Owning the Holy Spirit's Strength through Your Life", was a great reminder that we must learn to walk in the Spirit. The author begins the chapter with an illustration from her experience on a sailboat. She then moves to the spiritual realm.

"How we all long to sail through life with such ease and grace, flying through our days with the supernatural hand of God over all the details of our lives. Yet often we stay dead in the water, with no hope of moving forward as we depend on our own power to row forward. We may even diligently try pushing our oars against the tension of the waters that press about us, laboring to make progress in the Christian life through our own great efforts." (p. 84)

"Too many believers experience the Christian life as a work to be done, a duty to perform, a list of things to be checked off. Yet our works always fall short. Whenever we consider how well we have given, served, loved, or shared the gospel, we feel disappointed because we think God is disappointed with us. Does this really reflect the heart of God?" (p. 85)

" Our works do not earn us God’s presence or favor. Depending on them is a losing battle because we will never, in our own flesh, be able to live up to the law’s standard . The best we can do is to gut it out in the midst of our innate selfishness and immaturity as we try living by rules and works in a hopeless effort to be “good enough.” Thankfully, God never called us to live a “good Christian life” based on effort and rule keeping . He wants us to experience His magnificent personality, not just know the rules He handed down. We are fully alive only when we seek to hear the melody of His song and see the treasures that yield a clue to His majesty. " (p. 85-86)

I pray that we would be women who rest in the transcendence of our awesome God and live, not by works, but by the Spirit of the living God.

~Georgina

*Clarkson, Sally. Own Your Life: Living with Deep Intention, Bold Faith, and Generous Love. Tyndale Momentum.