Tag: Daylight

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Final Thoughts on Chapter 2 Chasing Daylight

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Final Thoughts on Chapter 2 of Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus:

  • Until our bodies return to dust, there will always be a voice crying out within us to move from existence to life.
  • The possibilities that await us in each moment are fueled by the potential God has placed with in us…Its about the kind of life you live as a result of the person you are becoming. The challenges you are willing to face will rise in proportion to the character you are willing to develop. With the depth of godly character comes an intensity of godly passion.
  • It is the process of transformation that we find the fuel to engage with confidence the opportunities placed before us.
  • For some strange reason many sincere followers of Christ have come to think that their passions are always in conflict with God’s purpose.
  • When we delight in God, we become anything but apathetic. In fact, we become intensely passionate. These desires of our hearts are born out of the heart of God.
  • The more passionate you are, the more proactive you will tend to be (even if you boldly do the wrong thing).
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Chasing Daylight Ch. 2 Thoughts (Part 1)

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My thoughts from Chasing Daylight Chapter 2 (Part 1): Main Theme: Initiative “Doing Something”

  • We have put so much emphasis on avoiding evil that we have become virtually blind to the endless opportunities for doing good. (Blogged further thoughts HERE)
  • You cannot follow God in neutral.
  • Every moment is priceless, unique, and unrepeatable.
  • If there is one secret to seizing your divine moments, it is that you must take initiative.
  • The greatest danger that success brings, aside from arrogance, is the fear of losing what has been gained. The courage and willingness to risk that breed success are endangered after success is obtained.
  • If men and women who gave their lives for a purpose counter to the will of God could not stop God’s purpose in history, how could someone who longs to do God’s will and chooses to do something in line with God’s character?
  • What God can do through a person who’s willing to act is limitless!
  • When we fail to choose, we choose to fail.
  • You cannot put your life on hold. It moves forward with or without your approval.
  • Choosing not to choose does not put off the problem; it only exacerbates it.
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Living in the Neutral Zone

PhotobucketAs I started chapter 2 of Chasing Daylight, I was bombarded with some thoughts on living in neutral. I have read several blog posts lately concerning the church and Christians being involved with the issues that the world faces, but it was chapter 2 that brought it all to a head tonight.

I’ve read this section before in Erwin’s “Seizing Your Divine Moment” book before it was republished as “Chasing Daylight.” I never finished reading that book, so I re-read it in this one.

Here is the quote that stood out the most to me, I will post the others at a later time, but for now this one will do…“We have put so much emphasis on avoiding evil that we have become virtually blind to the endless opportunities for doing good.”

So when was the last time you stopped on the side of the road and helped that individual change their tire? Helped the elderly person unload their grocery bags or lift a heavy box into their car? When was the last time you walked all the way back into the retail store to tell the customer service desk that someone left their lights on? Sent a check for $20 to buy mosquito nets? Sponsored a child to make sure they would eat this month and get an education?

PhotobucketOpportunities to do good are all around us, but we have been so seasoned to avoid evil that we have allowed ourselves to live in the neutral zone. In capture the flag, the neutral zone is the inactive place to be in the game, no one could send you to prison, everything comes to a stop.
Life happens 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We can idly sit by and do nothing…or as Erwin says in his book, we can do something.

Is it the great sin of the church that we have become so apathetic, so idle? James said, when we know to do good and we don’t do it…it’s sin! So, does that mean that in all of our effort to avoid evil, we position ourselves into a place where we still sin, if we move into the neutral zone? After all, its not evil to not help the elderly person put the box into their car, but if we know that it is an act of goodness and we turn the other way to avoid the situation, do we then in essence sin? Continue reading “Living in the Neutral Zone”

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Chasing Daylight Ch. 1 Thoughts (Part 2)

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Thoughts from Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus Chapter 1 Part 2…

  • The divine potential of a moment is unlocked by the choices we make. Each moment’s personal, historic, and eternal value is directly related to the choices we must make within it.

  • (Erwin writes about the Biblical account of the choices that God gave Adam & Eve. They chose to go the way of death) While Adam was hiding, God set out in search for Him. This is a great point of hope. Even when we are lost in the jungle, God in His great mercy pursues us and invites us once again to join His divine adventure.

  • No matter what kind of life you’ve lived, no matter how many wrong choices you’ve made, the next moment is waiting to give birth to new life. (Erwin writes about Rahab and uses her good choice to help God’s people as an example. She created a whole new future with one choice. Rahab is in the direct blood line of King David and Joseph the earthly father of Jesus.)

  • (Erwin uses Caleb and Joshua as an example. He writes that Joshua and Caleb through their faith was ready to take the land that God promised them when they spied on it, but because of the lack of faith of 10 other men, they were left to wonder in the desert for 45 years. When that generation died off, Joshua and Caleb were obedient and took the land.) There are things that God does for you and things that God waits for you to do.