empty tomb?

“Leave yourself alone. Enter solitude. Be silent. Do your good deeds in secret. Make dead space into holy ground.

You will become less, it’s true. But you will also become more: you will discover your true self and meet more often, lose less often, the Lord of the holy wild. For out of empty tombs and dead spaces comes the living Christ. Be still and know that He is God.”

Mark Buchanan

“For out of empty tombs and dead spaces comes the living Christ”. How encouraging is that? I know that many days, I feel like an empty tomb. I feel as if I’m filled with dead space. I feel as if I don’t have one more good thing to give, to say, to do, left within me.

Those are the days that I know I am trying to do it on my own. I’m not consciously tuning God out…I’m just not being intentional about sitting with Him, about getting myself out of the way. When I try to be present with God, I am so much more aware of Him being the One who works in and through me and that what I am able to do is because of Him. It is in Him that I live and move and have my being.

Today…do you feel like an empty tomb? Do feel like you are hollow inside…filled with only dead space? Remind yourself that the Creator of the universe, the One who made the foundations of the earth, who crafted the mountains and carved out the seas….lives within you. And…that makes you the bearer of the Christ. Move and live and have your being this day resting in that knowledge.

Grace and peace,
Deb

it's a new day

“Is there anyone I can level with? Anyone I dare tell that I am benevolent and malevolent, chaste and randy, compassionate and vindictive, selfless and selfish, that beneath my brave words lives a frightened child, that I dabble in religion and pornography, that I have blackened a friend’s character, betrayed a trust, violated a confidence, that I am tolerant and thoughtful, a bigot and a blowhard, that I hate hard rock?”

Brennen Manning
Ruthless Trust

I think this quote hits home for all of us. I know it does for me. I was talking with a friend the other day. We were talking about how, sometimes, we can hardly believe that God doesn’t just smite us (don’t hear that word everyday, now do ya!), that we both have thoughts, attitudes and behaviors that we know aren’t what God would want of us. But, the amazing thing is that He waits…He waits for us to come around, to acknowledge those things within ourselves, turn back to Him and allow His love to enfold us, once again. He knows that we live and move in a fallen, broken world and that no matter how much we try, we will never be fully whole until we see Him face to face. That means we will never be free of the struggle that Brennan Manning describes but it also means that there is hope and forgiveness found in God’s love.

May today be a fresh start for you. Know that we all struggle with the ‘dark’ stuff in our hearts but also know that God is waiting for you, desiring you to move back toward Him. Allow yourself to experience His love today.

Grace and peace,
Deb

awareness

One of my favorite authors is Ken Gire. He has a way of helping me learn to pay attention to the movements of God in my life. He has written numerous devotional books. The first book I read by him is an excellent book called, Seeing What is Sacred: Becoming More Sensitive to the Everyday Moments of Life, (old title - The Reflective Life) that is written, specifically, to help you become more aware.

I want to share a quote from him:

"He[God] has much to say, not only from the Scriptures but from the circumstances of our everyday lives. However prosaic the pages of our lives may seem at first reading, within the lines or in between the lines God may be speaking. Every book we read, every movie we see, every person we talk with, every song we listen to, every moment in our lives, in fact, should be subjects for reflection and could be ways through which God is speaking."


Consider asking God to help you today...help you pay attention to where/how He may be speaking to you, perhaps speaking in ways you had not considered before. Feel free to share what you noticed.


May you see Him in a different way today.

grace and peace,

Deb

only Jesus

Taken from I Cor 1:

I have a serious concern to bring up with you, my friends, using the authority of Jesus, our Master. I'll put it as urgently as I can: You must get along with each other. You must learn to be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common.
I bring this up because some from Chloe's family brought a most disturbing report to my attention—that you're fighting among yourselves! I'll tell you exactly what I was told: You're all picking sides, going around saying, "I'm on Paul's side," or "I'm for Apollos," or "Peter is my man," or "I'm in the Messiah group."
I ask you, "Has the Messiah been chopped up in little pieces so we can each have a relic all our own? Was Paul crucified for you? Was a single one of you baptized in Paul's name?" I was not involved with any of your baptisms—except for Crispus and Gaius—and on getting this report, I'm sure glad I wasn't. At least no one can go around saying he was baptized in my name. (Come to think of it, I also baptized Stephanas's family, but as far as I can recall, that's it.)
God didn't send me out to collect a following for myself, but to preach the Message of what he has done, collecting a following for him. And he didn't send me to do it with a lot of fancy rhetoric of my own, lest the powerful action at the center—Christ on the Cross—be trivialized into mere words.”

I am in the middle of a transition – only three more weeks in my present position. I am blessed that I am not merely leaving something – I am going to something, if that makes sense. I am moving out more fully into what I sense God calling me to.

One of the things that have come to light, as I leave, is that things will be done differently in my absence. There will be a different approach, a different philosophy regarding how to approach and guide people in their own spiritual formation. This can create some tension, in both those responsible for handling the transition and for those who will be impacted by the change. In navigating this transition, it is important to honor the process and to recognize that there is not ‘one’ way to invite people into a transforming life with Jesus. This is not a new tension. Check out your closest Christian bookstore – or look into the history and tradition of the church. You will find innumerable ways to approach spiritual formation. And, according to the Scriptures, it was a tension found in the beginning of the church. As humans, who are still impacted by the Fall, we have a tendency to want to divide and separate rather than create harmony and unify; to call one way right and another way wrong. Different teachers or leaders will have a different approach toward leading others into a vibrant life with Christ and there is beauty in that diversity.

Bottom line, what matters is that people are encountering the Living God in new ways and it is changing their lives. People may be drawn more to one way or another and some have deeply resonated with several approaches. As tempting as it might be to want people to follow me or my philosophy, it is not honoring Christ. As soon as I start paying more attention to who is following whom, I am no longer concerned with leading people to Christ but more concerned with leading them to myself.

Thank you, Father, for different leaders, different styles, different approaches and different philosophies - and may we all continue to point people to You – in the way that You have called us to.
Grace and peace-
Deb

just be

“If we begin to worship and come to God, again and again by meditating, by reading, by prayer, and by obedience, little by little God becomes known to us through experience. We enter into familiarity with God, and by tasting how sweet the Lord is we pass into . . loving God, not for our own sake, but for Himself.”

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

When is the last time you “experienced” God? When is the last time you felt His love for you? When is the last time you sensed Him speaking to you?

If you haven’t experienced God this way, consider spending some time in silence, every day. Begin with several minutes and add time as it seems right. Let your only request during that time be “God… I want to meet with you here, in this moment”…and sit.

Even if you ‘feel’ nothing, know that He is answering that simple prayer and that your spirit is being refreshed by Him.

Grace and peace,
Deb

rest

“Sometimes the most urgent and vital thing you can possibly do is take a complete rest.”

Ashleigh Brilliant

Last week, I had the opportunity to guest teach at a nearby college. We were discussing different spiritual practices and the practice of silence came up. One of the students said, “Whenever I attempt to practice silence, I fall asleep after only a few minutes. Why do you think that is?” In all of my infinite wisdom, I said, “Probably because you are tired.”

We are all so used to running a hundred miles an hour that when we take few minutes to be still, we drift off. Rather than feeling defeated because you cannot stay awake and attentive, perhaps you should give yourself permission to rest. When you are physically depleted you cannot possibly bring all of your attention and intention to God.

If you find yourself falling asleep when you set time aside to be still with God, maybe the most spiritual thing you can do is take a nap.

Grace and peace,
Deb

silence

"But the LORD is in his holy Temple.
Let all the earth be silent before him.”

Hab 2:20 NLT


Silence. What a rare commodity. I am more and more convinced that living a life of intimacy with Jesus is near impossible without the commitment to spending time in silence.

Without it, we can do his work, we can talk about him, we can study him. But to hear his voice, we must learn to be still…to listen…to be silent. Unfortunately, we settle for work, talk and study. Somehow it seems easier.

If silence is new to you, begin with one minute a day. Just sit…no noise, no outward distractions. Just sit. That’s all.

Shhhhhhh,
Deb

power

More thoughts on power by Henri Nouwen –

“What makes the temptation of power so seemingly irresistible? Maybe it is that power offers an easy substitute for the hard task of love. It seems easier to be God than to love God, easier to control people than to love people, easier to own life than to love life…….The long painful history of the church is the history of people who ever and again tempted to choose power over love, control over the cross, being a leader over being led. Those who resist this temptation to the end and thereby give us hope are the true saints.

One thing is clear to me: the temptation of power is greatest when intimacy is a threat. Much Christian leadership is exercised by people who do not know how to develop healthy, intimate relationships and have opted for power and control instead.”
In the Name of Jesus

Do you relate to this – either from the vantage point of one who has grasped power instead of moving into love or from the place of one who has been hurt by someone choosing the easier road of control over caring?

I am what I call a reluctant leader. It has taken years for me to walk into this role and I am still navigating it. Relationships are also of the utmost importance to me so I think I tend to err on the side of love rather than power in leadership roles.

But I have been on the other end of things. I have experienced the abuse of power, the suffocation of control, the substitution of dominance over intimacy, and the choice of coercion over influence.
No matter where we find ourselves – as leaders or the ones being led – Jesus is our example and he always chose love over power.

Grace and peace-
Deb

power

“One of the greatest ironies of the history of Christianity is that its leaders constantly give in to the temptation of power –political power, military power, economic power, or moral or spiritual power – even though they continue to speak in the name of Jesus, who did not cling to his divine power but emptied himself and became as we are. The temptation to consider power as an apt instrument for the proclamation of the Gospel is the greatest of all. We keep hearing from others as well as saying to ourselves, that having power – provided it is used in the service of God and your fellow human beings – is a good thing. With this rationalization, crusades took place; inquisitions were organized; Indians were enslaved, positions of great influence were desired; episcopal palaces, splendid cathedrals, and opulent seminaries were built; and much moral manipulation of conscience was engaged in. Every time we see a major crisis in the history of the church, such as the Great Schism of the eleventh century, the Reformation of the sixteenth century, or the immense secularization of the twentieth century, we always see that a major cause of rupture is the power exercised by those who claim to be followers of the poor and powerless Jesus.”

Henri Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus

Power. It is a seductive mistress. It comes disguised in so many different packages; education, knowledge, title, position, influence. These things in and of themselves are not bad – but the way they are used to promote one’s own agenda or discount another’s opinions, feelings or beliefs is a misuse of power. We can justify, rationalize and explain why we have the right to our power and the right to use that power but power that is not tempered by the love of Jesus displayed in love and respect of others is abusive.

I have intentionally surrounded myself with people who I have given permission to speak into my life….and they do. I know they care about me and that they want me to be who I was created to be, so I trust them to call out the best in me. I hope and pray that they will help me notice if and when power becomes something I use inappropriately.

Do you have someone in your life that you have given permission to be honest with you? If they came to you today to tell you they feel you may be misusing your power, would you be open to that or become defensive? Jesus is our example of someone who had ultimate power yet he did not use it diminish others – except to dress down those who did.

More of Henri’s thoughts on power tomorrow….

Grace and peace,
Deb

tears

Help me, O God,
give me the courage to cry.
Help me understand that tears bring
freshly washed colors arching across the soul,
colors that wouldn’t be there apart from the rain.
Help me to see in the prism of my tears,
something of the secret of who I am.
Give me the courage
not only to see what those tears are revealing
but to follow where they are leading.
And help me to see,
somewhere over the rainbow,
that where they lead me is home….

Ken Gire

presence

“To care means first of all to be present to each other. From experience you know that those who care for you become present to you. When they listen, they listen to you. When they speak, you know they speak to you. And when they ask questions you know it is for your sake and not for their own. Their presence is a healing presence because they accept you on your terms, and they encourage you to take your own life seriously….”

Henri Nouwen

Who does this for you? Who is this presence in your life? Who do you allow to speak into your life with truth and grace? If you are fortunate enough to have this, offer up a word of thanks to God. If you don’t, offer up a prayer asking Him to send someone to you.

Grace and peace,
Deb

prayer

Celtic Evening Prayer

I lay my head to rest
and in doing so
lay at your feet
the faces I have seen,
the voices I have heard,
the words I have spoken,
the hands I have shaken,
the service I have given,
the joys I have shared,
the sorrows revealed,
I lay them at your feet,
and in doing so,
lay my head to rest.

John Birch, www.faithandworship.com

presence

“Spirituality is the sacred center of which all life comes, including Mondays and Tuesdays and rainy Saturday afternoons in all their mundane and glorious details.”

Christina Baldwin

God is everywhere and in everything. Every moment has something of Him in it. All we need to do is be aware and be looking for it.

He is not only found in those activities we see as ‘sacred’ but also in the mundane….the everyday tasks we do without even thinking about. Brushing our teeth, making our bed, doing the dishes.

When we begin to see life through these eyes, everything is sacred. Celebrate the sacred in your life.

Grace and peace,
Deb

leaning

“God is always leaning into us. If we imagine ourselves sitting at a table with any member of the Triune God (or all three!), God is attentive to us, seeing us through eyes of intense love and delight in who we are. It is the adoring parent listening to the delightful child explain something the child just learned or created. It is also the patient and loving parent discussing a breach of trust or boundaries with the child. The ‘leaning in’ is not impacted by the topic of the discussion, unless it is to draw even closer. There is no harsh judgment, even if there is disappointment. There is only love and welcome and a deep desire for the best for us.”
Joanie Taddeo

When I read this quote, it brought tears to my eyes. What a beautiful picture it paints! Can you imagine anything more wonderful than having God lean into you, listening intently to you? Or quietly speaking words of love or gentle correction into your life? It seems to me that this is exactly what God would want to do with us.

Prayer is intimacy with God. Today, take some time and reflect on what it would feel like to have God ‘lean’ into you. What would you want to say to Him? What do you need to hear from Him? Allow yourself to enter into that experience and see what comes up.

Grace and peace,
Deb

it's all about love

“God doesn’t want me to try to become more loving. He wants me to absorb his love so that it flows out from me. Only love is capable of genuine transformation. Willpower is inadequate. Thomas Merton reminds us that the root of Christian love is not the will to love but the faith to believe that one is deeply loved by God. Embarking on the journey of Christian spiritual transformation is enrolling in the divine school of love. Our primary assignment in this school is not so much study and practice as it is letting ourselves be deeply loved by our Lord.”

David Benner

How are you doing at letting yourself be deeply loved by God?

Grace and peace,
Deb

questions

“To be a Christian does not mean knowing all the answers; to be a Christian means being willing to live into the part of the self where the question is born.”

Wendy M. Wright

There was a time in my life when I felt as if I needed to have all the answers…in case a friend…or worse yet, someone who was searching out the faith, asked me about something. What would it say if I didn’t have the answer they were looking for? Would it reflect badly on God?

I have come to a place in my life where I am much more comfortable living in the questions. I love the God of mystery and He holds all the answers. What I can do is to be with others as they learn to live the questions.

Grace and peace,
Deb

presence

“When you sit with a crying woman on a train, just sit with her. Do it with all your mind and heart and soul. Be fully present to her without this other agenda going on at the sidelines. In other words, do it without passing judgment on her, wanting to convert her to your point of view, desiring her appreciation, wondering what others on the train might think, worrying about the weather, or generally getting caught up in one’s own feelings, desires, and opinions of the moment. Do it the way Mary sat at the feet of Jesus – with an undivided heart.”

Sue Kidd Monk, Firstlight

There is no better gift you can give to another human being than your undivided attention. It is so much more than just giving them eye contact. If you are honest with yourself you know that you have the ability to be with someone without being with them. From the outside, it seems like you are fully present but your mind is going a hundred different directions.

Most of us have an agenda. We would never say that we do because, first, we may not realize that there is something we want from an exchange with another….their attention, to feel good about ourselves, or even looking good to others. Or perhaps we are thinking about our next meal or the plans we have for the weekend.
Being present is a learned art. The first step is acknowledging that you don’t already do it. Acknowledge that your mind is world of its own and it is difficult to tame those thoughts. Begin slowly, taking even 5 minutes every morning to be in complete silence. Focus on your breathing to give your mind something to concentrate on. When you find your mind wandering, just go back to your breathing. In time, you will be able to be more present.
You also might want to ask the Spirit to help you stay present with another. Sometimes a moment or two of silence before you move into a situation will help you focus on what is at hand.

This practice not only allows us to be more present with other people, it helps us be more present to God.

Grace and peace,
Deb

humility

“How do we know if we are choosing well or poorly? Our problem begins when we believe that we can know, with any reliable accuracy, whatever is fully and completely true about any given moment, situation and circumstance.”

Wayne Muller, A Life of Being, Having and Doing Enough

Have you ever heard the story about the blind men and the elephant? One version of the story says that six blind men were asked to describe what an elephant looked like by feeling different parts of the elephant's body. One man feels a leg and says the elephant is like a tower; another one who feels the tail says it is like a rope; the one who feels the trunk says the elephant is like a large snake; the one who feels the ear says the elephant is like a fan, and the one who feels the side of the elephant says it feels like a wall.

Who's right? Well, actually all of them are. They each have a piece of the truth as they know it from their perspective. Ah, but there is the kicker – THEIR perspective. I am sure that each of them thought that had the full picture.

Have you ever done this? Been faced with a situation in which you build a conclusion off the information you find in front of you? I have – too many times. It just seems all too natural. Here are facts as I see them - I will build a story to fit those facts. The only problem is there are always more sides, more facts, more of everything than I can see. And one small detail may change the whole picture.

What if we lived life in such a way that we would begin with the premise that we never have access to the whole story and it might be prudent to hold our interpretation of the story loosely until we have more information? Who knows – the other pieces may fit into our story perfectly and may even confirm our version. But as good as that is, it is even better not to rush to a wrong conclusion because we think that what we see or believe tells the whole story.

Grace and peace,
Deb

The Lord is My Shepherd....

I am working through the Ignatian Exercises with my spiritual director. This past week I spent time on the 23rd Psalm. I was moved in a way I haven’t been before by this passage. I was prompted to re-write it to express how I sense God meeting me at this time in my life:


My Beloved sustains me,
there is nothing else I need.
You create time and space for me to rest.
You offer me endless ways to refresh myself.

You provide just enough light
for me to see the way ahead ~
the way you want me to go.

Even when I cannot sense you,
because of the impact of the Fall,
whether it be because of loss, illness, death,
or even because of my own actions,
you are there right next to me.

If I take the time to be aware,
evidence of your presence is everywhere.
You create opportunities for me
to offer my gifts to the world
in a way that suits how you made me
and you do this in spite of those
who have said I am wrong.

You have chosen to give me a gift
and as I walk into it,
I am overwhelmed with your love and your favor.

You continue to pursue and woo me constantly.
This is the place I wish to dwell
every moment of every day.

waiting

“Waiting is certainly a kind of prayer, especially if you can stand howling, wide open spaces.”
Barbara Brown Taylor

Why is waiting so hard? I think it is because we realize, in the waiting, that we are not the one in control. It is a helpless place.

I have several friends in the midst of waiting right now. Waiting for medical results. Waiting for work situations to change. Waiting for husbands to come home. Waiting for a child to return. Waiting. Waiting can seem like a howling, wide open space where we can’t seem to find the boundaries, the edges. It feels too open, too spacious. It feels as if we might just get lost in the waiting, unable to find our way back.

Patience is always attached to waiting. It describes how we are waiting….or not. Are we pushing against the waiting or are we resting in the waiting? I think that might be what patience looks like….resting. Which, seems to come right back to trust.

Are you ‘waiting’? What are you waiting for? The test result? That phone call or email? That job offer? What would it look like to wait patiently? To trust in the waiting? To sense God’s loving arms wrapped around you in the middle of the howling, wide open space?

Consider praying not only for your situation but also for your waiting. Resist making the waiting a negative place but consider allowing the waiting to be a place of formation – the waiting itself a place of rest and trust.

Grace and

presence

day has come.
night releases her hold on the earth
and allows light to illuminate the land.
and so every 24 hours, a day that has never been before.

a new beginning.
a fresh start.
a chance to be present.
a chance to be real.
a chance to be open.
a chance to be.

i take this for granted.
i forget.
i move and do without thinking, automatic.

may i not waste today.
may i be present.
may i be real.
may i be open.
may i be.

Grace and peace,
Deb

paradox

Richard Rohr says of the spiritual journey –

“The ordinary path is a gradual awakening and an occasional quieting, a passion for and a surrendering to, a caring and a not caring at all. It is both center and circumference, and I am finally not in control of either.”

Everything Belongs

This life with God is a paradox. It seems that in the beginning of the journey we are hungry for knowledge of God. We want to, and for good reason, learn as much as we can about who God is and how we do this thing called the Christian life. We settle into a routine of serving God and can become quite content. Then, there may come a time when our arsenal of answers don’t seem to fit our life circumstances. Something is wrong. We can’t quite put our finger on it. The Spirit is on the move.
This is/was part of my journey. It seems my days are made up of gradual awakenings – times when I feel I am waking up to the reality of God breaking through. Then there are those times of occasional quieting, sometimes planned and sometimes unplanned, as if God, Himself invites me into silence so that we can have an undistracted moment. I find I have more passion for Him than I’ve had at any other time in my life. I also find myself more surrendered to whatever God has for me, looking for the gift in every situation. And I care – more about Him, more about others, more about the world and yet I can hold everything lightly, acknowledging that everything comes from Him.

He is the center and circumference of my life. Each day I realize how little I know about Him and about myself and each day I am more open to learning. I am willing to let my own image of God die and allow Him to re-shape it into whatever I need right now.

How are you with paradox? Can you hold two seemingly opposing views at the same time?

Awakening and quieting?
Passion and surrender?
Caring and not caring?
Knowing that God is the center and circumference but not being in control at all?

Consider how God may be speaking to you through paradox today.

Grace and peace,
Deb

authenticity

“One of the best ways to reach our culture is to live compelling lives.”

Gary Thomas

The people I come in contact with are not in need of my words, my take on what is wrong with culture and what is right with God. They are in need of seeing me as a person who lives what I believe. They need to see integrity. They need to sense love and compassion. They need to know I care…not just about them coming to know God and becoming more like Him, but that I care about them right where they are. They need to see something in me that draws them to Christ.

I am convinced that they will not come to God because of Christians ‘preaching’ at them but because they see us living lives that defy explanation. They need to see us living in peace when our circumstances may look chaotic. They need to see us slowing down when life is frantic. They need to see us living authentically, not pretending that a life with God is always easy.

Today, may you live in integrity.

May you live in a place of compassion and love.

May you reflect Christ to those around you in a compelling way.

May you ‘walk the walk’.

Grace and peace,
Deb

true transformation

“Evangelicals are passionate about personal sin – swearing, adultery, gossip, drunkenness, lust, anger, and so on. They have significantly less interest in systemic sin – racism, greed, selfishness and repression of women.”

Jim Henderson, The Resignation Of Eve

OUCH. It wouldn’t hurt so much if it weren’t true. We could add to this list nationalism, classism, and lots of other ‘isms’. Yes, there are exceptions in the Evangelical world (like Jim Henderson and notable others) but I think for the majority this statement is true. I know it was true of me for more years than I care to acknowledge.

My calling in life is to invite people into deeper intimacy with God through contemplative practices. I create spaces, processes and experiences for those who desire to be intentional in their spiritual life. But, this work is not limited to ‘personal’ spiritual formation but is connected to the larger world and to social justice concerns.

As I have done spiritual direction with individuals, I have seen many of them come to a deeper understanding of God’s desire for them to enter into the arena of social justice issues…not for the purpose of merely standing up for something but more because they begin to see beyond what they have been taught or led to believe – they realize that Jesus is not only interested in our personal transformation but He is interested in us living out of that transformation and in turn having a part in transforming our families, our churches, our communities and our world to reflect His desire that we love and honor one another as human beings. May we live that out today.

Grace and peace,
Deb

intentionality

“A diminishment of intentionality decreases our self-presence because our choices are no longer experienced as a conscious response to life, but as a knee-jerk reaction to it. Life becomes a disconnected series of events devoid of meaning.”

Marc Foley, The Love that Keeps Us Sane


This is a lesson I continue to learn. The less aware I am of the present moment, the more I tend to attach meaning and motivations to what is happening around me that, most likely, are more of a ’knee-jerk’ reaction than a Spirit-lead response.

In fact, it just happened yesterday. I was going about my business when – poof - I was confronted with something that could have derailed my day. I sat with my initial reaction and noticed that I was resistant and to use the expression of a friend of mine, ‘crunchy’ ( loosely translated as irritated or bent out of shape). I decided to hold myself in check until I had time to explore it with God. After reflection in prayer and journaling, I came to see the gift that was wrapped up in the issue I was struggling with – in fact, I did a 180. I found myself thanking God for this situation as it helped me to see more deeply into how He had made me and for what. It provided clarity about moving forward. I was able to see more of the connectivity between different events in my life and how God was using them to continue to direct me on the path He has for me.

Today, take stock of how intentional you are being about remaining in the moment. Notice when you are tempted to ‘react’ to something and try to create some time and space to notice where God is with you in the situation. May you ‘respond’ in a way that reveals your trust and confidence that He is acting in your best interest.

Grace and peace,
Deb

the longest short journey

Are you tired of knowing an awful lot about God but precious little of God?”

Gary Thomas


I can know about God without knowing God. One of my desires over the past several years has been to move what I know from my head…to my heart. I have fallen in love with God, and feel loved by Him. They say that the 18 inches from the head to heart can be a very long distance. But there is no more important journey.


May you begin to experience His love in a new way.


May you have passion in your relationship with Him.


If you recognize if you are living your life with God from your head and not your heart, may you make the 18 inch journey.


Grace and peace,
Deb

Photo by Sterlic http://www.flickr.com/photos/sterlic/4299633060/

more than eternity

“Maybe “accepting Christ” isn’t so much a one-time thing we do as a formula for escaping hell in the afterlife, but rather a lifelong process of learning to depend on the sufficiency of Christ within for what we most deeply need and desire. His life fills our empty moats of worth, purpose, and love.”

Jim Palmer, Divine Nobodies

There was a time in my life when I saw my relationship with Jesus as my ticket to the better side of eternity. It is like someone said, “Hey Deb – that train right there is the one that goes to heaven. Now you won’t know for sure when it is leaving the station but you know for sure where it is going. If I were you, I wouldn’t wait any longer to buy your ticket. Once you get it, you’re good to go.” And while I was waiting for this trip to heaven, in the time I had, I was to work on my sins. And while I wait, I could also do good things for others.

For the majority of my Christian life, that is what I did. I ‘worked’ on my sins and I tried to do good things for others. Any transformation in me would surely come by my hard work, with the Spirit’s help. And, maybe God would see my good deeds and I could get some extra credit. Now, mind you, if anyone asked me if I believed in a ‘works’ mentality, the answer would have been a resounding ‘no’.

What I have come to believe is that although my yes to Jesus meant something to my eternity it meant just as much to my present. Any chance for transformation did not depend on me, with the exception of acknowledging that I was in deep need of said transformation and that I needed to open myself to that work. Transformation is the work of the Spirit. And – good deeds are – well – good. But they also should flow from our relationship with God so that we are not in danger of believing we are the initiators.

May today be a renewal of our desire for Christ, knowing that he alone ‘fills our empty moats of worth, purpose and love.”

Grace and peace,
Deb