Encountering the Storychanger
My favorite quotes from David Murray's new book, "The Storychanger."
Every person has chapters of their lives they wish they could erase. Many people carry stories of brokenness, foolishness, shame, and loss hidden from view. Too many of us don’t like the story that we have written with our lives.
Enter Jesus. Jesus has the power to change our stories by bringing us into the story of how he is making all things news.
In his new book, The Storychanger, David Murray helps readers understand how the story of Jesus changes the story of our lives. Written simply so that it could encourage Christians of all ages or introduce people to Jesus for the first time, The Storychanger drips with hope from the first page to the last.
The Storychanger would be a resource to place in the hands of new Christians to help them understand what has happened in their lives. It is also a solid, yet accessible introduction to the heart of the Christian faith for those who do not yet know Christ.
These were my favorite quotes from The Storychanger.
"The first draft of world history and the human story was pristine perfect. But sin splattered ink all over the pages, and now no one's story lives up to God's ideal." (16)
"There's something about being gifted salvation when we deserve damnation that makes it far more enjoyable than an earned salvation. Most joys lose their initial energy, but grace-joy increases every day. Grace-joy jumps higher with age and, even when we die, we'll jump all the way into heaven's joys and never stop for all eternity. We won't need trampolines in heaven." (22)
"We look back to the first ideal and we look forward to the final ideal because both sights give us an idea of the change we need and can have now through the ideal person, Jesus." (33)
"God's true story is more powerful and persuasive than the devil's false story. So, get to know it, and use it both in defense and attack." (39-40)
"What we worship determines whether our stories will be satisfying and successful in the end. God wants us to worship him because we become like what we worship." (52)
"If we are in a bad relationship with God's law, if we're not fully happy with God's law or God's law is not fully happy with us, then we're in the worst possible place and condition. That's worse than any of the actual sins that proceed from it." (59)
"We all need inward change, even those who think they don't need inward change. We need to be justified by God, even if everything looks aligned to us or others." (63)
"Now, when I'm tempted to sin, I say to myself, 'Christ has changed me. I'm washed, sanctified, and justified. Christ has cleansed me, set me apart, and reformatted me. He's given me his Story to be my story, so I don't want to mess it up.' When I see how perfect my new story is in God's eyes, I want to align my life with that. Strangely, trusting Christ for change makes me try harder to change." (65)
"There is no problem or pain in our lives or in the world that doesn't have I at the center of it. If we look at the worst chapters in our story, we'll find the letter I at the center of it." (67)
"As David's physical eyes saw the sacrificial animal bleeding, dying, and burning, his faith-eyes saw Christ offering himself as a future sacrifice for sin." (81)
"We will never understand Jesus's Story or be changed by it for the better unless we read it through the lens of personal sin." (111)