Irresistible Invitation by Maxie Dunham - Day 7

Irresistible Invitation: Responding to the Extravagant Heart of God.

Day 7

Shout for joy to Lord, all the earth…For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. Ps 100:1-5

Maxie Dunnam opens this final day of our first week together with a story about newsman Bill Moyers, in which Moyers is quoted saying “I’ve given up on the beat of politics…I’ve given up on the beat of international affairs because I want to cover this beat (the religious beat). It is the biggest story of the millennium.” According to

Dunnam, Moyers is talking about the spiritual quest of the American people. Moyers believes and encourages his colleagues that they must connect to the relevant story of the 21^st century, that new human story laced with God. Both Dunnam and Bill Moyers believe that there is a deep and powerful stirring in the world that is religious in nature.

I couldn’t agree more. The story for the next fifty years, indeed the story of the history of God’s people, is a human story laced with God. It is a story of humanity’s desire and quest to understand the God of creation, the one in whom they place their trust, but of whom we seem to have little understanding.

Over the past several days we have covered a lot of territory in relation to who God is – as opposed to whom we think God is. According to Maxie many Christians know who God is and what God is like on an intellectual level but when we get down to brass tacks and look at things from an emotional level it is an entirely different story. And that deep down, gut wrenching emotional picture prevents us from experiencing lasting spiritual growth.

On that emotional level many of us carry around an image of God who keeps account of all we do, a God who expects us to try to please Him all of the time; a God who has a “Do not disturb sign on his door; and a God who is always demanding more than we can give.

In truth, the work of developing a healthy authentic experience of God is an ongoing process that begins with our recognition that our God is a God of goodness and love. Remembering above all else that God is for us - always - and never against us.

This week we have looked at some of the ways in which God demonstrates his great love for us. Indeed, Creation itself provides a clue as to just how God relates to the world. Dunnam points out that “grace is the dynamic radical love of God.” In the creation story there remains a creative moment that is integral to the relationship between God and the world. After each and every act of creation we are told that God uttered the words “and it was good. And after the creation of Adam and Eve we are told that God declared “it was very good.” In utterly free love God created the world, that means that you and I are walking, talking examples of his love here on earth. That love plays out on a regular basis in the way we love ourselves, those around us and love God in return.

In the days and weeks ahead we will continue to consider the divine aspects of love and goodness and their effects on our lives as individuals and as a corporate body – the church. But before we can really engage that question we must establish the innate goodness of God, that must be resolute in our hearts and minds before anything else can make sense.

We must remember that we are not always able to be good, but God is always good. In spite of our inabilities at times God offers us the ability to run into his open arms and be forgiven, we are given the opportunity to over with a new life, a new direction with the guidance of his Word.

Have you made the choice to accept that invitation? Have you acknowledged Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior? Here are just a few things we’ve looked at over the last week or so, things for you to think on as you reflect on this invitation at hand.

Day 1 Incandescent Amazement: We met the God who is the sovereign creator of the universe. That God whose reality is law, beauty, and order breathed into creation.

Day 2 God’s Creation is Good: We met God the artist, the one who created and is creating a masterpiece, whose hands colored the sky and the blue of your eyes, who sculpted mountains out of thin air and humanity from a lump of clay. This is the God who owns the dark as well as the light, who is present in the night as well as the day.

Day 3 A Gracious God: This day we meet the God who carves in us a listening ear and an understanding heart, who give freely to us his beloved Son as well as the choice to love God or to leave God.

Day 4 The Picture of God: This day we examine our pictures of God. Just whom would you draw were you to make a portrait of the divine? And how might we find a way to draw a picture of the God of that deep and extravagant love which the scriptures show us?

Day 5 Coming Home: Today we examined the God of the prodigal son. That God who waits no matter how long for us to return and who offers forgiveness no matter our sin. This is the God of grace. No matter how far we wonder, no matter who we might become, how far we may stray, we can rest in the knowledge that there is always a loving God who will welcome us home with open arms.

Day 6 A Roadmap for the Journey: And it’s found in the Bible!! Here we encounter the telling of that human story laced with God, an account of people who came to know God and were known by God. This story, found in the Bible offers us hope, wisdom, knowledge, promise, joy, direction, and so much more. Have you read the Scriptures today?