Great CD by Sara Groves

"All of my life I have been grooming my faith, but have missed something about the purpose of that grooming. If I understand scripture at all, I have to know that to enter into the suffering of the poor and the oppressed is to know Christ and his suffering.”Sara Groves I am a HUGE Sara Groves fan. She is a great communicator via her lyrics. I started listening to her first CD, "Past the Wishing Well" after the birth of my first baby. As you know, the first baby is a huge adjustment, especially for a naturally selfish and lazy person like myself. I had to overturn some big stuff in those first few weeks because I was determined to be a good mother, and wanted to do it God's way. You know all that "laying down your life stuff." Anyway that first CD really helped me get through that time. It was like she knew what I needed to hear and wrote the CD just for me. Every one of her CDs since then, has touched me in the same way. I went to her myspace page to see if she had any new music to download to my own myspace page, and read her comments on why she wrote the latest album "Tell Me What You Know." SHE DID IT AGAIN!!! She captured a thought (the top quote) that I've been wrestling with lately too. I really encourage you to read the article yourself. I like to think of my daily battles as exercising my spiritual muscles. The more I can turn the other cheek, die to self, love unconditionally, lay down another offense, the stronger I become for the Kingdom of God. I'm not saying these things are small or insignificant. These are the hardest things to do. It would be easier to stand in front of millions of people preaching, then let that awful comment from a relative go by without getting offended. BUT WHAT IS ALL THIS GROOMING OF OUR FAITH FOR??? I think it is this: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come." Luke 4:18-19 NLT I heard Dutch Sheets say that this verse was Jesus' mission statement. Is it mine? In theory, yes; in practice, not yet. But I am moving in that direction, hopefully.