This book challenges readers to consider living with what he calls Audacious Faith. It's explained this way... "What you consider possible for your life will expand beyond anything you've ever imagined. Radically, suddenly and irreversibly."
The book is based around and Old Testament story that we all know probably from Sunday School "back in the day". The story is of Joshua tucked away in Joshua 10 and tells about this type of audacious faith. "As the chapter opens, we read that five opposing Amorite armies were planing to attack. Having decided to strike first, Joshua led the entire army toward the Amorites on an all-night march. Sometime during that march, God spoke to Joshua. He told him, 'Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.'" "Victory wasn't complete, and once it got dark the rest of the Amorites would slip away... but Joshua was determined to fight on." There's more to the story that I am leaving out, but what's most important to this section of the book is that Joshua wasn't like most people. He realized that the enemy must be destroyed and even though the sun was going down - he was determined to keep fighting until he won. This is where his audacious faith began. As the book reads, "Joshua sized up the situation, summoned all his available courage, and delivered one of the most gloriously unorthodox prayers in the entire bible:
'O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.' (verse 12)
Joshua had the audacity to ask God to make the sun actually stand sill... to freeze time on behalf of his people. And guess what? God did just that:
'The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since... Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!' (verses 13-14)
I'm telling you that I believe this single book has the potential to change the way we look at our faith, our prayer life AND the amazing plans God has for our lives!
Here are some my personal favorites. I'll admit there's a LOT. I think I highlighted more in this book than in any other book I own and I guarantee it will be re-read over and over again. I hope you enjoy...
"If you're not daring to believe God for the impossible, you're sleeping through some of the best parts of your Christian life."
"If the size of your vision for your life isn't intimidating to you, there's a good chance it's insulting to God."
"If you want to experience God's blessings, audacious faith is not optional."
"Accomplishing the impossible is all about seeing the invisible."
"When God speaks, He does not stutter."
"How would your general outlook shift if you woke up every morning, not just to a to-do list, but to goals and activities that flowed from your vision?"
"Extraordinary moves of God begin with ordinary acts of obedience."
In regard to God igniting a vision in you... "Stop waiting around for the big bang. Pay attention to the subtle clues and the still, small voice (of God). God lives in that place too."
"If God is calling you to make a big difference, he usually starts in a small way - a flaming bush that only you will notice."
"God longs to pour out on all of us if only we'll get serious about using everything we've got for His glory."
"But when you give all you've got for the cause of the One who gave it to you in the first place, the effects of your investment will literally reach the heavens."
"Before you swim out any further, be sure that God is the One leading you out into the deep waters."
"A lot of times, out greatest fears are rooted in personal insecurities. The perspective of faith enables us to see who we truly are in Christ. God is on our side. Through Jesus, we are righteous. We are cleaned. We're accepted."
"Audacity isn't the absence of uncertainty and ambiguity. Audacity is believing that God's promise is bigger than my perhaps."
"Hearing from God is terrifying. If He wrote His will in the sky with fire, and airlifted you through the clouds to the completion of your assignment, obedience would be natural. But then faith wouldn't be necessary, would it?"
"When you reflect on God's vision for your life, you should be overwhelmed."
"The great things God will do through you are going to grow in the soil of persistence, obedience, and sacrifice."
"Before God can bring His promises to pass in your life, He has to strip away all the stuff that keeps you from trusting Him wholeheartedly."
"When God takes something or someone out of your life, He's just clearing space on your hard drive for an upgrade."
"The key to unlocking your audacity is not to take the most bizarre risk you can think of, then blame the outcome on God. The key is getting a clear and correct view of God, believing that God is actually who He says He is. And that He can do what He says He can do."
"I've noticed that most of us don't have a hard time believing that God's grace is real - we just have a hard time believing that it's really available to us."
"Many people would say God can still use you despite your failures. I want to take it a step further. God's grace is so audacious that He will use the failure itself to show off just how capable He is."
"Nothing you've ever done is so repulsive that God can't redeem your potential and love you through it."
"Audacious faith does not guarantee a crisis-free life. But audacious faith does enable you to seize the opportunity to see God's glory in the midst of every crisis in your life."
"The glory of God often shines the brightest when the sun goes down... and we keep our eyes on Jesus anyway."
"You'd never see how strong God is if there were no opponent for Him to overcome in your life."
"God didn't send Jesus to throw in the towel and call off all our fights. God sent Jesus to step into the ring and fight our battles."
"Sometimes God lets the sun go down so that He can be our only light."
"Maybe the greatest Sun Stand Still prayers God will answer over the course of your life will be the audacious prayers of faith you pray for others."
"If you're going to have the audacity to ask God for something, you'd better be ready to act!"... "No wonder so many of our prayers aren't answered. We pray for a miracle, but we fail to make a MOVE!"
"Hope is a desire. Faith is a demonstration. Hope wants it to happen. Faith causes it to happen and acts as if it's already done."
"Vision begins when you hear the sound of God's voice speaking something to your heart."
"What God has done among us is so big that there's nobody to blame but Him!"
Now.. go. Get the book. You won't be disappointed!
http://www.amazon.com/Sun-Stand-Still-Happens-Impossible/dp/1601423225/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1293473228&sr=8-1
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