Simple in truth, profoundly hard to imbibe.

In line with what's been on my mind for the past few months, here's parts of a book report that I wrote recently:

Christ is infinite in his fullness – in Him is a boundless abundance of supply for those in great personal, spiritual and emotional need. It does not matter what the misery or bondage is – Christ is sufficient. Christ deals not superficially or symptomatically but with the root of the matter – the human heart.

...it is only when we see Christ in his all-sufficient fullness that we can confidently embrace his power to change lives – whether in emotional issues, broken lives or depression. Any attempt to apply the world’s theories to attempt to solve these problems is an implicit affirmation of Christ’s inability and insufficiency.

True believers are those who have seen and been captivated by Christ – they have experienced the immensity of His gloriousness. A central feature of His glory is the glory of His all-sufficiency (Col 1:19, John 1:16). Christ is supreme in His glory (2 Cor 2:14-4:6) – no other shares His glory. Not only that, His Glory is sufficient. At the center of His glory is his infinite fullness (John 1:14-17). In light of this, the believer can rest in Him in full confidence, that nothing outside of what He provides is necessary for the soul ailments of life.

This morning an old (relatively) song that I knew popped into my head... which sums up the idea simply in its title. It is so easy to understand, yet I am coming to realize that for me this is going to be a lifelong quest in terms of submitting my life to that understanding. I hold on to so much, despite knowing that I can let go, He holds me. It's not that the storm isn't strong. He holds me, and knowing who He is, as the song begs, then why do I sway?

You're All I Need
The Kry

Why do I sway
I can't face the day without You
my heart drifts away
but Your love remains always true

As I'm sailin' away
on the rivers of time
Your love will carry me through
the storms in my life

You're all I need
when the world is closin' in
my strength is runnin' thin
when i'm lost in the storm
You're all I need there's no need to look anywhere
there's nothing that can compare
to the love that You give
You're all I need

Sometimes I wait
until I can't take anymore
You show me the way
You help me sail back to the shore

When I'm drifting away
on the angry tides
I cast out my anchor into
the sea of Your love

You're all I need
when the world is closing in
my strength is running thin
when I'm lost in the storm
You're all I need there's no need to look anywhere
there's nothing that can compare
to the love that You give
You're all I need

You're all I need
You're all that I want
nothing in this world
could give me more

Why do i sway
I can't face the day without You!
all I can say
You're all I need

The Beauty of Christ

Every time I read this it grips me. And I'm reading it over and over again. The Pearl of Great Price, explained like no other can.
I quote:

But Christ Jesus has true excellence and so great excellency, that when they come to see it they look no further, but the mind rests there. It sees a transcendent glory and an ineffable sweetness in him; it sees that till now it has been pursuing shadows, but that now it has found the substance; that before it had been seeking happiness in the stream, but that now it has found the ocean. The excellency of Christ is an object adequate to the natural cravings of the soul, and is sufficient to fill the capacity. It is infinite excellency, such a one as the mind desires, in which it can find no bounds: and the more the mind is used to it, the more excellent it appears. Every new discovery makes this beauty appear more ravishing, and the mind sees no end; here is room enough for the mind to go deeper and deeper, and never come to the bottom. The soul is exceedingly ravished when it first looks on this beauty, and it is never weary of it. The mind never has any satiety, but Christ’s excellency is always fresh and new, and tends as much to delight, after it has been seen a thousand or ten thousand years, as when it was seen the first moment…. The soul that comes to Christ, feeds upon this, and lives upon it; it is that bread which came down from heaven, of which he that eats shall not die: it is angels’ food, it is that wine and milk that is given without money, and without price. This is that fatness in which the believing soul delights itself; here the longing soul may be satisfied, and the hungry soul may be filled with goodness. The delight and contentment that is to be found here, passeth understanding, and is unspeakable and full of glory. It is impossible for those who have tasted of this fountain, and know the sweetness of it, ever to forsake it. The soul has found the river of water of life, and it desires no other drink; it has found the tree of life, and it desires no other fruit.

Jonathan Edwards

Oh. Experientially I'm at the fringes of what he's saying... but even from that point I still know that all this is infinitely true. You see, even just a taste of infinite gloriousness is infinitely satisfying.