sabbath

no post today - enjoy your sabbath

love

“I began to wonder if becoming a Christian did not work more like falling in love than agreeing with a list of true principles.”

Donald Miller

I just returned from a retreat where we focused on God’s love for us…not as a group but individually. Most of the women there have known Jesus for years, but few of them have fallen in love with Him or feel deeply loved by Him. I have had the privilege of witnessing the transformation that has occurred when I began to grasp that I am deeply loved by God. When I began to feel that He loved me, intimately, uniquely, I could begin to trust Him with my entire heart. I could trust Him with my family, my calling, my fears, my hurts, my insecurities……you fill in the blank. As I feel more secure in His love, I won’t scream for recognition, be undone by slights, be jealous over the accomplishments of others. I long for this. I see it happening on some days and fall woefully short on others.

How is it between you and Jesus? Do you know a lot about Him but struggle to feel His love? Ask Him to allow you to abandon yourself to Him, to become so secure in His love that you will stop looking to other things to fulfill you.

Grace and peace,
Deb

leaning in

“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

I am currently in a Master’s Program at Spring Arbor University. One of the assignments for my current class is to share thoughts on ‘listening to God’. This quote, by Joanie, was part of one the posts. When I read it, 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

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

“God is always present – we’re the ones who show up.”

Rob Bell

Have you ever thought about the way we pray when we get together? We ask God, “Please be present with us.” We are asking for something that already is. He is always present with us. Would not a truer prayer be…God, please help us to be present!”? We are the ones who live, most times, without awareness of how God is present.

May you, today, have a new awareness of God’s presence in your life.

May you see Him in all that you do, in everyone that you talk to, in everything you read, see or hear.

And, may you rest in the knowledge that He is always closer to you than your breath.

Grace and peace,
Deb

may it be

“Blessed woman, who believed what God said, believed every word would come true.”

Luke 1:45 the message

Words for Mary, words for me.
May it be as You have said.
May it be as You will.
May I be attentive to Your hand
and it’s movement in my life.
And…may I move in rhythm with you.

Grace and peace,
Deb