Sometimes God highlights verses to me, and sometimes He brings to mind scripture at random times--sometimes even those I haven't read for quite some time. This morning, I woke up with this being repeated over and over (which was, of course, very timely):

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
(Philippians 4:19)

His Word is alive when the Holy Spirit uses it, speaks it, into our hearts. I need that. We all need that. I find it so easy to fall into legalistic reading, to hide behind knowledge, making the pursuit of truth more important than being changed by Jesus. But the Lord doesn't want obedient robots, those who can speak with perfect christian intelligence, who can baffle an atheist in a debate. He wants surrender. He wants a faith that actually costs us something...That's going to cause us to feel out of control and maybe even panic for some time when we see the cliff's edge so near our feet. This is tough, but the alternative is a life that will never get to fully embrace, taste and see that the Lord is good. Suffering and trials are painful, but there is a special fellowship with Jesus that we get to savor that we couldn't before. Isn't it about loving Jesus, not about getting the christian "gold star"? Oh Lord, save me from loving safety, security, and "perfection" over You...Jesus is so much more beautiful than that.