How difficult to comprehend this act, this turning point of the universe….Unable to speak profoundly on this profundity, I resonate with these words recorded by Gabrielle Bossis as she heard them from Jesus in 1939:
When the love of the cross sinks deep into a person, he lives in a joy that the world can never know. For the world has only pleasures, but joy belongs to Me and Mine, My friend.
The cross–it is finished. About all we can do is let it sink in, deeper and deeper and deeper. And you will experience more and more and more Life. Then you will be unable to suppress a response to it.
Along these lines of being overwhelmed with the love of the cross, and pondering the fact that there’s so much we cannot do-because we would have to be God to do it, I’d like to share this “Prayer of Contentment” that has spoken to me in the unique season of life I have been in the last year and a half. I hope that something from it will be an inspiration for you too.
May I simply do whatever I can, each day, and be content and satisfied in that. Leaving what is unfinished in Your hands, trusting in You to complete what I am unable to. Tho I want to get to everything, I know that I cannot, nor should I because I’m not meant to. Thank You for seeing to running the universe, and for entrusting a very tiny but important portion of it to me that only I can do. Please keep me in my place, relying on You, doing what I’m made to do. All glory, praise, and honor to You for creating me as one of Your imagers. Clean the mirror of my soul that it may more and more clearly reflect who You are. Guide and instruct me to remove all obstacles blocking a clear reflection. All for the sake of Him who suffered and died for me, who knows me best, who knows best. Amen.
“Nobody,” replied Jesus, “who begins to plough and then looks over his shoulder is fit for God’s kingdom.”
Those who half follow Jesus and half follow the world are of no use in the Kingdom of God.
They are not fit.
Those who halfway train for a marathon are not fit enough to run a marathon.
If you are not single-mindedly focused on following Jesus, then you are double-mindedly focused, and a double-minded person is unstable in every way of life.
In my experience as well as many I’ve talked to, being double-minded really sucks.
…she [wisdom] calls from the highest places in the town….”Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight.”
The foolish woman is loud….calling to those who pass by….But they do not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
The way of life and the way of death call out to us everyday.
They will call to you today.
The less knowledge you have of the Holy One, the more difficult it will be to distinguish between these two voices.
Conversely, the deeper your knowledge of YHWH, the closer you are to Him, the clearer His voice becomes.
My sheep know my voice.
My sheep know my voice because they know me intimately, they can easily recognize it.
They’ve hung out with Me enough to hear my voice clearly even from a distance.
They can distinguish between the voice of wisdom and the voice of foolishness.
But to the untrained ear, to the one who rarely puts her or himself before Me, it is frighteningly difficult
to discern between the voice of wisdom and the voice of foolishness.
We have all witnessed this in ourselves and probably more clearly in others.
Someone feels justified in doing something foolish because they are fooled.
Listen exclusively to the superior voice of Jesus. May it drown out all other voices. Except for those who also listen intensely.
So something different….I felt prompted to share a journal entry….and that there’s two or three of you who may be encouraged through this for some reason.
I hope.
It is important to share, to keep nudging one another closer to the Spirit through whom we live and receive what we absolutely need to actually live the spiritual life.
If nothing else, if you are prompted to look at a few pages of The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis, I know you will be inspired to live more intensely for Christ. What a sacred work that has done my soul good to revisit in bite-size morsels of loveliness.
P.S. Did you ever notice that the same letters make up the words “silent” and “listen”?
If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my father’s commands and remain in his love.
I’ve said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and so that your joy may be full.
Changing Your Narrative On Obedience
It always saddens me when I hear that someone thinks God is someone who requires obedience for the purpose of appeasement, as if it is in the mere keeping of rules that God’s satisfaction is attained. How joyless that would indeed be. How small of a “God” is that? Obviously it is a god of our own making–pathetic and no greater than any average human. Regrettably, we often painfully pass this god on to others.
Those who believe God to be a being in need of petty appeasement have likely never really met Jesus, for he shows us that his Father is not a god of appeasement, but rather more like the “God of alignment”.
Admittedly, upon a surface glance, some Scripture passages do appear to show God as requiring obedience before giving love. But taking just a slightly deeper look reveals that it is much richer and better than “Do what I say, and then I will love you.” You will not find that message anywhere in Scripture. It must be twisted to render such a heretical interpretation.
How we read and how we listen colors how we receive.
What Scripture, and more importantly Jesus, tells us is, “You were designed to live attached to me, aligned with my good ways. My commands generously show you how to be in alignment with Me-perfect love. They are not to cruelly deprive you of anything good whatsoever.”
It is about remaining, abiding, aligning, not about earning.
“If you keep my commands you will remain in my love” not “you will earn my love.” You have that already, simply because you exist.
Will you align with that love that brought you into existence?
There’s a way things work—a way this life, and how to live it well, is designed to function properly. And it comes graciously from that design’s Designer.
The reason Jesus gave for telling us how these things work?
To keep your butt in line, not mess up, and appease his appetite for perfection?
Or…
So that you can share my joy. So that my joy may be in you. So that your joy may be full. Share my joy and you will miss out on nothing.
Meditating on all of this a couple days ago, I heard Jesus say, “I am coaxing you away from the tragedy of being distracted from, and missing out on, a satisfying life.”
At Casa de Paz Franciscan Renewal Center in Scottsdale, AZ
In The Master’s Indwelling by Andrew Murray, he presents four phases of prayer, which I have found particularly helpful. It somewhat echoes the old acrostic “ACTS,” which many of you no doubt learned as a guide to prayer, standing for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication (old word for making requests).
What I especially like about Murray’s phases is the more contemplative approach it takes, the more space it tends to allow. Now, as always, if you do not find it helpful, just throw it out. But I did want to pass it along to you all, as I have adopted it and benefitted spiritually.
The four phases are:
Ignorance
Worship
Fellowship
Intercession
Ignorance. We don’t know what to pray for as we ought to; but the Spirit pleads on our behalf, with groaning too deep for words (Romans 8:26). We begin by honestly admitting that we really don’t even know what to pray. But the Holy Spirit’s work begins in the heart, teaching us how to pray, so this is actually a great starting point—ignorance. Once you start gaining insight into what is needed for God’s kingdom to come, what is promised, and that which God is waiting to perform, it’s quite overwhelming, and beyond comprehension. Then you’re ready to say, “I cannot limit the Holy Spirit by my mere mortal thoughts. I give myself up in the faith that the Holy Spirit can be praying for me, with me, and through me, with groaning and longings that can’t be expressed.” So we sit in silence, and let the Holy Spirit have the first word—a wonderful way to start prayer.
Worship. We must take time for “secret” worship in order to come face-to-face with the everlasting God, that He may overshadow us, fill us, and cover us, with His love and glory. It is of utmost importance that we take the time to recognize just who it is we are communicating with—only the Creator of the entire universe and Lover of your soul! Through worship, the Holy Spirit who can work in us a desire for God that burns to the point of readily giving up work and pleasure in order to spend more time with God.
Fellowship. It is true that we worship the King, but we also converse with our Friend. It is of absolute necessity, if we are to grow in our relationship with Christ, that we spend time simply hanging out with Him, and sharing our day, our feelings, joys, and hurts. Murray says, “If Christ is to make me what I am to be, I must tarry in fellowship with God. If God is to let His love enter in and shine and burn through my heart, I must take time to be with Him.” He gives the illustration of a blacksmith placing a rod of iron in the fire. If he leaves it there for a short amount of time, it does not become red-hot as is needed to work with. It may be placed in the fire several times for only a couple of minutes at a time, but will still not become thoroughly heated. But if he takes his time and leaves the rod in the fire for ten or fifteen minutes, the whole iron will become red-hot from the fire’s heat.
Intercession. Now we are ready to properly pray for others and ourselves. Let them take hold of my strength (Isaiah 27:5). There is no one who calls on your name, or attempts to take hold of you…(Isaiah 64:7). Have you “taken hold of God”? With anaideia—shamelessness and boldness (see Luke 11)? The Spirit wants time and room in my heart, wants my whole being. You cannot imagine what you could accomplish if you gave yourself up to intercession. “If the Spirit could find people to give up their lives to cry to God, the Spirit would surely come.”
Have you ever prayed for someone everyday for thirty days or more?
You should try it.
It’s powerful in ways you may not expect.
Blessings to you today!
To make a memorable acronym, which I’m all about, you could switch the order of the first two phases to make “wifi.”
Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
In prayer, all we do is be. Hang out with God. Converse with God. Then perhaps ask for what we and others truly need.
How amazingly simple and truly easy is that?
I can think of no other practice with a higher return on investment than prayer, for as Frederica Mathewes-Green wrote, “God works directly on your soul through prayer, not theological rumination.”
In prayer, we are actually absorbing Divine Life. We are, therefore, taking on more and more the mindset of Christ—as much as we allow ourselves at least.
Henry Scougal wrote in 1677:
In prayer we make the nearest approaches to God and lie open to the influences of heaven. Then it is that the sun of righteousness doth visit us with his directest rays, and dissipateth our darkness, and imprinteth his image on our souls.
Once you realize just how powerful prayer is, you almost feel sorry for Satan because there’s nothing he can really do against it. I mean, he tries to inflict damage, but can do nothing really to your soul or connection to God. The only thing that can actually keep you from praying is….you.
If prayer really is quite simple and greatly effective, why do so many Christians struggle to pray “at all times”? Why is there such little time given to prayer in churches on Sundays?
Well, as I’ve thought through this, I believe it mostly boils down to 2 categories:
We do not actually believe that prayer does anything to affect reality.
We do not make prayer a priority for whatever reason.
Think through this for yourself to see if it rings true. It could be helpful to diagnose and then repair what may be damaged and contributing to a lack in prayer.
Just as each of you has received a gift, so you should use it for ministry one to another, as good stewards of God’s many-sided grace.
There is a kind of living in denial which many of us need to be slapped out of. Some of you need to quit denying the world of the unique blessing that can only be given through you. Stop depriving others of your special, one-of-a-kind distribution of gifts and talents which no one can offer in exactly the same way.
It’s wild to think about the fact that of all 7 billion of us, no 2 have identical gifts and blessing to offer up in the very same quantity and quality.
Let’s be clear about what we mean by quantity and quality.
First off, Scripture lets us know that God distributes talents in varying quantities (Matthew 25:14-30). It doesn’t mean that the person with ten talents is better than the one with two. If anything, the person with ten has more responsibility, more work to do. It seems clear that God is more concerned with what you do with your talents.
What do we mean by quality? Simply the differing types and kinds of talents. Some are more relationally or socially gifted. Some are good with their hands, be it painting or fixing things. Or maybe you are great at organizing. One way to know what your giftings are is to look at what comes somewhat naturally for you, but is quite difficult or even nearly impossible for many others. What requires a Herculean effort for some easily flows for others.
You have a unique combination of talents. Everyone does. And God gifted you to be a blessing to the world. Now this does not necessarily mean some large-scale extroverted operation you’re required to perform. It will look, literally, 7 billion different ways. Many of these combinations will play out in quiet, even anonymous fashions. But, we perform for an audience of One, so it’s all good.
Please don’t bury your talent. Share it with whomever you’re able and led to, be it one person or a thousand. I believe in that “Good Samaritan Spirituality” where we simply do whatever good is available for us to do right in front of us right now.
You have a specific style of blessing others (doing your small part in contributing to the healing of the nations) which no one else on earth can do. We must all do our part. Don’t deny us the blessing that is only able to come from YOU!
This morning I read a devotional by Andrew Murray (1828-1917), one of the most formative authors in my life. Today’s entry put so well what The Ripple Effect stands for and why it even started, that I wanted to share it with you as is, in Murray’s wonderful words.
“TAKE TIME WITH GOD”
Ecclesiastes 3:1
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.
It should be the aim of every Christian to set aside a little time each day for quiet communion with God. There is a time for everything. Shall there be no time to spend in the presence of the Creator of all things? No time to contemplate His will and purpose for us? The holy, loving God is indeed worthy of the best of our time. We should live in constant fellowship with Him, but each day there should be a special time of quiet when we are with Him alone.
We need a period daily for secret fellowship. Time to turn from daily activities and search our hearts in His presence. Time to study His Word with reverence and godly fear. Time to seek His face and ask Him to reveal Himself to us. Time to wait until we know that He sees and hears us so that we can make our needs known to Him in words that come from the depths of our hearts. Time to let God deal with our special needs, to let Him shine in our hearts, to let ourselves be filled with His Spirit!
What do you think: Will a quarter of an hour each day be sufficient for this purpose? If you are unwilling to make such an arrangement you must not be surprised if your spiritual life becomes ineffective. Fellowship with God should be your first priority. If you do this regularly, you will learn to value it more and more. Soon you will feel ashamed that there was ever a time when you thought that fifteen minutes would suffice.
Think of the hours a child spends at school to prepare her or him for life. How much longer then should we spend to prepare ourselves for the eternal life?
Lord, it is so easy to find time for my own interests. Thank You that You not only gave me a little of Your time, but that You gave me Your life.
