Joni Eareckson Tada - 31 Days Toward Passionate Faith: Special Edition

31 DAYS TOWARD PASSIONATE FAITH
published by Multnomah Books

2006 by Joni Eareckson Tada

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from:
The Holy Bible, New International Version 1973, 1984 by International Bible Society,
used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House
Other Scripture quotations are from:
The Living Bible (TLB)
1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
All rights reserved.
The Good News Bible: The Bible in Todays English Version (TEV) 1976 by American Bible Society
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 1960, 1977 by the Lockman Foundation
The Holy Bible, King James Version ( KJV )
The New Testament in Modern English, Revised Edition (Phillips) 1958, 1960, 1972 by J. B. Phillips

Multnomah is a trademark of Multnomah Books,
and is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The colophon is a trademark of Multnomah Books.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwisewithout prior written permission.

For information:
Multnomah Books 12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200 Colorado Springs, CO 80921

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Tada, Joni Eareckson.

31 days toward passionate faith / by Joni Eareckson Tada.

p. cm.

eISBN: 978-0-307-56190-9

1. Christian lifeMeditations. 2. Devotional calendars. I. Title. II. Title: Thirty-one days toward passionate faith.

BV4832.3.T35 2007

242dc22

2006039114

v3.1

To Daniel Stratman.
May your confidence in Jesus keep growing and may
your faith in Him always be passionate!

O UT OF THE S HALLOWS

T heres a river that flows past our old farm back in Maryland, the Patapsco. It meanders past fields and woods, parallels a railroad track, and eventually empties into the Chesapeake Bay.

As a little girl, I used to relish lazy, hazy summer afternoons on the banks of the Patapsco. While my sisters swam, I would wade and splash in the shallows, the cuffs of my pants rolled up past my ankles.

Not once did I venture out into the deep, unknown parts of the river. After all, I was awfully littleand that river was very big.

Yet I envied my sisters who were big enough to dive into the deep partsplaces where they could swim and not even touch bottom. To me, my sisters seemed incredibly privileged.

How about you? Are you the sort of person who plays it safe, content with just getting your ankles wet? Or are you the adventurous sort who prefers to get in over your head?

I like to think of this Christian journey of ours as a river. A river of life. As I see it, the shallow places are the common habitat for all believersthe kind of faith and joy and hope we all take part in.

But there is a deeper realm of conscious union with Christ which is far from commonplace. Its the bottomless reservoir we enter only when we begin to exercise a passionate faith.

All believers see Christ, but not all put their fingers into the prints of His nails. Not all put their hand in His wounded side.

Not everyone has the high privilege of John to lean upon Jesus nor of Paul, to be caught up into a third heaven. It is rare to find believers who live with such sheer abandon for Christ that they leave the shallow places behind and dive into the free-flowing current.

Most Christians are only up to their ankles in the river of life, wrote Spurgeon. But few find life a river to swim in, the bottom of which they cannot touch.

Its a risky, wonderful place to beout in those dark, inscrutable regions where you cant touch bottom no matter how deep you dive. God invites us away from the safety of the bank, away from the measured security of the wading pools where the Christian life is almost easy.

He invites us to a passionate faith. Passion launches us into the adventure. Faith causes us to cling to God for the ride of our lives.

Wont you dive recklessly with me into the depths of Christ through the chapters that follow? Wont you take this voyage? It promises to be, at times, exhilarating. At times heartrendingly painful. For parts of the journey, youll skim along as though riding on a dolphins back. And if your journey is anything like mine, youll sometimes wonder if youre in danger of drowning.

But whatever your journey holds, if youre continually immersed in God, and if you progress steadily down the deepening, broadening river, eventually into the immense ocean of His eternal presence, youll be safe. And it will be worth everything.

Yield yourself up to the strong, sure currents of Gods will and His love. Swim in the depths of His character.

Live passionately, faithfully. In Him.

You and I may begin in the shallows. But if we take God at His invitation, we dive deeper. Where we stop, no one has yet discovered for there, in the awful and mysterious depths of God, there is neither limit nor border nor end.

C ANT S AY E NOUGH

W hen I was working on my third book, Choices Changes, there was one episode I especially enjoyed writing.

You guessed it. It was the last episode, about my husband.

It was great fun to sit at the computer with my friend and describe Ken Tada. How he looked the first time I saw him how he talked how he smiled how he carried himself how he moved when he played racquetball. The words about our dating days flowed effortlessly.

Writing about our wedding day and marriage was pure joy. Obviously, I didnt need a thesaurus to think of adjectives. I wanted to go on and on.

And sometimes I did! My friend would have to say, Uh, Joni, dont you think youve talked enough about Kens muscles? Or, Joni, thats the fourth time in this chapter youve told us how handsome Ken is.

Isnt that funny? I just couldnt say enough good stuff about my husband.

Ill bet its the same with those you love, too. You want others to know how special that person iswhether its your mate, your friend, your child, your niece, your nephew, or your grandchild. The best part is finding someone genuinely interested in listening to your glowing descriptions. It actually multiplies your pleasure.

Listen in as the author of Hebrews talks about his best Friend, Jesus. Its as if someone approached him and said, You seem to put a great deal of stock in this Person, Jesus Christ. Just who is He, anyway? Why are you so excited about Him? Can you describe Him?

Could he ever! Having found a listening ear, the writer cant say enough. Just look at the seven descriptive phrases he uses in the first four verses of his book.

Jumping right in, the writer tells us Jesus is the appointed heir of all things (v. 2). Right off the top he lifts Jesus to where He belongsover all things.

But thats only the beginning. Next the writer reminds us that through the spoken word of Jesus, he made the universe (v. 2).