Rescued From DarknessSample

Don't Settle

We often settle for doing good things with good intentions instead of doing God's things with God's intentions.

Sometimes that happens because we haven't taken the time to put our lives on pause and listen for God's direction.

Other times that happens because we genuinely misunderstand who God is and why he invites us to serve him in the first place.

Let me explain.

Where a True Calling from God Begins

Sometimes we end up doing things (like make a film or even go to church) to try to convince God to love us when in reality he already does love us. In our misunderstanding, we miss his loving voice speaking to us in the very moment we are busying ourselves with what we think he wants.

The Bible, however, says God's love is unconditional (Romans 5:8). He isn't waiting for you to meet some standard to be deserving of his love. He is waiting for you to see that you don't meet his perfect standard and he loves you anyway.

When you can finally see that, God's love simply pierces your heart and you will never be the same. In fact, you'll experience a personal relationship with God where God's things will be put on your heart and doing them will be simply irresistible.

That's where a true calling from God begins.

That's also where Rescued from Darkness began: a burden placed my heart which has been pierced by God's love.

The Bible Passages that Changed my Life

The passages in Scripture that convicted me of this love were Ephesians 2:8-10 and Romans 3:23-28. In these passages God tells us that we are all mistake-makers and that he saves us anyway. He then invites us to do good in the world, not to earn his love but to participate in sharing his love with others.

It's a radically different way of seeing God and his calling to do good.

Our good deeds aren't meant to be a payment for a debt owed to God. Instead, they are a spontaneous "thank you" for a debt that has been paid by God on the cross.

Our good deeds are meant to be a gift of love given by us in response to a gift of love given first by God. In fact, even reflecting on our mistakes doesn't make us feel more indebted to God but more grateful, more in love with him and more inspired to serve him.

A relationship with God in light of the cross of Christ is a very different relationship indeed.

Think and Pray

In Rescued from Darkness, Fr. Joseph Ssergo and Chuck Ormsby from Building a Bridge to Uganda, talk about falling in love with the poor and being pierced by that life-changing love for them which comes from God. They don't serve the poor to pay a debt to God. They serve the poor because the God who loves them has placed an irresistible call on their hearts. That is a very different motivation.

After watching this short video from the film, read these Bible passages about God loving you without conditions.

Then welcome God's unconditional love called "grace" in a new way today by taking a moment to tell God:

1. you welcome his love into your life as a person who has made mistakes
2. you will listen for the good things he is setting aside for you to do.