“Two thousand years ago, the apostle Paul weighed in on the matter of living fully alive. He expressed his desire to live to the greatest extreme possible. His words are an anchor of inspiration to me. He said, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection” (Phil. 3:10). Whoa! What could be more out there, more exciting and fulfilling, than experiencing the same kind of power that raised Christ from the dead? I want a piece of that action! Paul wasn’t only talking about being raised from the dead at the end of life; he was talking about knowing that power now. It is possible. And he explains how. His declaration will serve throughout this book as a template for living fully alive. For now, it is enough to know that the quest to live fully alive has existed from the beginning of time.
This impulse is so strong that people spend billions of dollars every year on drugs and diets and creams that claim to bring new life. Young people seek thrills by performing dangerous stunts and living risky lifestyles, hoping to taste whatever it might be that will make life worth living. What “often don’t realize is that this passion for living is a “God thing.”
I knew that, but I wasn’t experiencing it. I had started to die before I died. Benjamin Franklin recognized this phenomenon. He is often credited with saying, “Many people die at twenty-five and aren’t buried until they are seventy-five.” Franklin himself was a shining exception to mediocre living. This amazing man helped draft the Declaration of Independence at seventy, invented bifocals at seventy-eight, and signed the United States Constitution at eighty-one, all during a time when average life expectancy was less than fifty years.
Part of my problem was that I had become comfortable with being comfortable. I couldn’t wait to retire and live a life of leisure. My zest for living hadn’t disappeared totally, though like a neglected campfire it was smoldering, almost extinguished. Where once there were blazing desire, spiritual growth, and physical vitality, there was now only a wisp of smoke amid dying embers. But therein lay the hope. There were still embers! If you are still breathing, there are still embers burning in your soul. If you are a physical mess but want to change, there are still “there are still embers. If you face depression, there are still embers waiting to be fanned by a fresh breeze to a blazing fire.”
This is why I remind you to keep using the gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. Now let it grow, as a small flame grows into a fire. 2 Tim 1:6 NCV
Excerpt From: Ken Davis. “Fully Alive.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/fully-alive/id607421690?mt=11
This impulse is so strong that people spend billions of dollars every year on drugs and diets and creams that claim to bring new life. Young people seek thrills by performing dangerous stunts and living risky lifestyles, hoping to taste whatever it might be that will make life worth living. What “often don’t realize is that this passion for living is a “God thing.”
I knew that, but I wasn’t experiencing it. I had started to die before I died. Benjamin Franklin recognized this phenomenon. He is often credited with saying, “Many people die at twenty-five and aren’t buried until they are seventy-five.” Franklin himself was a shining exception to mediocre living. This amazing man helped draft the Declaration of Independence at seventy, invented bifocals at seventy-eight, and signed the United States Constitution at eighty-one, all during a time when average life expectancy was less than fifty years.
Part of my problem was that I had become comfortable with being comfortable. I couldn’t wait to retire and live a life of leisure. My zest for living hadn’t disappeared totally, though like a neglected campfire it was smoldering, almost extinguished. Where once there were blazing desire, spiritual growth, and physical vitality, there was now only a wisp of smoke amid dying embers. But therein lay the hope. There were still embers! If you are still breathing, there are still embers burning in your soul. If you are a physical mess but want to change, there are still “there are still embers. If you face depression, there are still embers waiting to be fanned by a fresh breeze to a blazing fire.”
This is why I remind you to keep using the gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. Now let it grow, as a small flame grows into a fire. 2 Tim 1:6 NCV
Excerpt From: Ken Davis. “Fully Alive.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/fully-alive/id607421690?mt=11
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