Heroes

No this post is not about the show. (I used to watch it, but it got a bit dark for my taste.) No, this post is about real life heroes. It would be perfect for a "Mad About..." but I already have one set up for that and I didn't want to wait!
The concept of heroes was not really something I thought much about growing up. I believed Jesus to be my hero in that He is my Savior, and like any little girl, my Dad was my hero, but that's pretty much where my list ended.
Within the last year at leat three more have jumped onto that list. My Mom, Lady Jane Grey, and Jim Elliot.
My Mom because I have learned so much from watching her strong trust in our God since my Dad's death. Her love for my sister and I despite my unlovableness, her godly wisdom and encouragement to me, especially in the last month or so. She is truly one of my best friends.
Lady Jane Grey because she gave up her life at such a young age for Christ and for the truth. Some may die for Christ, but how many will die for the truth that bread and wine don't actually become the body and blood of Christ during Communion? The primary cause of her execution was because she took the throne of England for nine days, even though it was FORCED upon her, but they would have spared her had she denied the truths she stood for. Hmm...I suddenly had the feeling that I've blogged about this before. Oh well. It's worth repeating.
My most recent hero is Jim Elliot. I think pretty much everyone knows his story and I've always been convicted by his love for Indians he had never met that wound up taking his life. But I've been even more convicted and encouraged by his life. I've been rereading Shadow of the Almighty. I read it the first time in Junior High for a book report, but I don't believe I was saved then and frankly, it bored me. The second time through I'm loving it. I've been reading it SUPER slowly, but I'm nearing the end. The book is technically authored by Elizabeth Elliot, but its mostly his letters and journal entries that she has compiled together as a biography on his life. What I can't get over, again, is the age he was as he wrote down paragraph after paragraph of his thoughts which clearly led to his actions. He died at 28 and where I am in the book, he has just turned 25. From what I can tell he truly lived out Philippians 1:21, "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Something Austin just preached on last Sunday. A sermon I think I need to hear every week.
With that, here are some quotes from Jim Elliot from the book. Enjoy.

"Dreams are tawdry when compared with the leading of God, and not worthy of the aura or wonder we usually surround them with. God only doeth wonders. He does nothing else. His hand can work nothing less. Praise to the Guiding God of Israel, and that Great Shepherd of the wayward sheep. When he directs a path, no way can seem bleak, no instance dull."

He was 21 when he wrote the following three quotes: "Prayed a strange prayer today. I covenanted with the Father that He would do either of two things: either glorify Himself to the utmost in me or slay me. By His grace I shall not have His second best. For He heard me, I believe, so that now I have nothing to look forward to but a life of sacrificial sonship (that's how my Savior glorified Him) or heaven - soon. Perhaps tomorrow! What a prospect!"

"What I will be doing one year from today is a complete mystery. Perhaps a sick bed or a coffin - glory! Either of these would be fine, but the latter would be immortality, a swallowing up by Life. For this I am most anxious."

"'Enjoyed much sweetness' in the reading of the last month of Brainerd's life. How consonant are his thoughts to my own regarding the 'true and false religion of this late day.' Saw in reading him, the value of true notations, and was much encouraged to think of a life of godliness in the light of an early death."