Be strong and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the LORD. ~Psalm 31:24
Light shines in the darkness for the upright;
the righteous are merciful and full of compassion. ~Psalm 112:4
Precious Abba Father,
Through Your incomprehensible grace you have given us salvation through Your only Son, Jesus Christ, our Messiah. What a miracle forgiveness is! What a soul-filled joy to know that we don't have to perform to earn our salvation. It is a free gift from You! Thank you Yahweh; thank you Yeshua! May our gratitude and joy be reflected this day in all that we say and do and think. My we show an extraordinary measure of patience, kindness, and love to those we come in contact with. May our country's leaders consider Your ways in the decisions that they need to make, for these decisions have ripple effects for all of Your children in this world.
Alleluia.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
A Prayer to the Perfect Judge
Precious Perfect Judge over all peoples:
We come before you with our hearts
open and vulnerable before You.
Lord, as we go through each day of our lives,
there are times when we feel, most intensely,
the pain of sin in our dealings with other people
and the way they deal with us.
Please strengthen us and encourage us to know
that You will make all things right
and that You are the End of the Story.
We trust You with our lives;
we love You with our hearts;
and we ask that You would continue to guide
all of our interactions with those around us.
May You be glorified in all things, Holy Redeemer.
Alleluia.
We come before you with our hearts
open and vulnerable before You.
Lord, as we go through each day of our lives,
there are times when we feel, most intensely,
the pain of sin in our dealings with other people
and the way they deal with us.
Please strengthen us and encourage us to know
that You will make all things right
and that You are the End of the Story.
We trust You with our lives;
we love You with our hearts;
and we ask that You would continue to guide
all of our interactions with those around us.
May You be glorified in all things, Holy Redeemer.
Alleluia.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
A Love Note from God
"Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name, you are mine.
You are precious in my eyes,
because you are honored and I love you...
the mountains may depart, the hills be shaken,
but my love for you will never leave you
and my covenant of peace with you
will never be shaken."
Isaiah 43: 1,4; 54:10
I have called you by your name, you are mine.
You are precious in my eyes,
because you are honored and I love you...
the mountains may depart, the hills be shaken,
but my love for you will never leave you
and my covenant of peace with you
will never be shaken."
Isaiah 43: 1,4; 54:10
Monday, March 19, 2007
Reflections: Serenity Prayer
Dear Friends,
Our precious Abba Father has brought a special reminder of this prayer into my life this past week. I share it with you in hope that it will bring you strength and wisdom:
The Serenity Prayer
God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference...
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will.
That I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with Him forever in the next.
Amen.
~Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr
Our precious Abba Father has brought a special reminder of this prayer into my life this past week. I share it with you in hope that it will bring you strength and wisdom:
The Serenity Prayer
God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference...
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will.
That I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with Him forever in the next.
Amen.
~Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Abba's Child Reflections Continued
Hello dear friends,
As I continue to read in Brennan Manning's Abba's Child, I am enlightened by the testimony that he quotes from Mike Yaconelli, the cofounder of Youth Specialties. Manning leads into the extended quote from Yaconelli by stating that:
"The indispensable condition for developing and maintaining the awareness of our belovedness is time alone with God....Our identity rests in God's relentless tenderness for us revealed in Jesus Christ." Then goes on to quote...
"Mike Yaconelli, the cofounder of Youth Specialties, tells about the time when, dejected and demoralized, he trundled off with his wife, Karla, to Toronto, Canada, to make a five-day retreat at the L'Arche (the Ark) community. He went hoping to draw inspiration from the mentally and physically handicapped people who lived there or find solace in the presence and preaching of Henri Nouwen. Instead, he found his true self. He tells his story:
It took only a few hours of silence before I began to hear my soul speaking. It only took being alone for a short period of time for me to discover I wasn't alone. God had been trying to shout ver the noisiness of my life, and I couldn't hear Him. But in the stillness and solitude, his whispers shouted from my soul, 'Michael, I am here. I have been calling you, but you haven't been listening. Can you hear me, Michael? I love you. I have always loved you. And I have been waiting for you to hear me say that to you. But you have been so busy trying to prove to yourself you are loved that you have not heard me.'....
At L'Arche, it became very clear to me that I had totally misunderstood the Christian faith. I came to see that it was in my brokenness, in my powerlessness, in my weakness that Jesus was made strong. It was in the acceptance of my lack of faith that God could give me faith. It was in the embracing of my brokenness that I could identify with others' brokenness. It was my role to identify with others' pain, not relieve it. Ministry was sharing, not dominating; understanding, not theologizing; caring, not fixing....
...I can only tell you that it feels very different now. There is an anticipation, an electricity about God's presence in my life that I have never experienced before. I can only tell you that for the first time in my life I can hear Jesus whisper to me every day, 'Michael, I love you. You are beloved.' And for some strange reason, that seems to be enough."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What an extraordinary quote! What a sense of peace to stop trying so hard and let the burden of having to prove that I am worth loving just slip away. I truly believe that this is why I try so very hard to please people; I am trying to prove that I am worth loving. It is so deeply ingrained in me that I don't even realize it most of the time. Jesus' has liberated me from this Prison of Perpetual Performance to Prove. This truth has penetrated my mind; I am only beginning to sense it saturating my heart.
Dear friends, I share with you, not to prove that I am some spiritual giant; I am not. But what I am is a sinner seeking the depths of an intimate relationship with God that can only be ultimately fulfilled in eternity. If my sharing brings any enlightenment or encouragement to your own hearts, then it is OUR precious Abba Father who is to be praised.
Blessings and peace to all of you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpts from Brennan Manning's Abba's Child. Navpress Books, 1994
As I continue to read in Brennan Manning's Abba's Child, I am enlightened by the testimony that he quotes from Mike Yaconelli, the cofounder of Youth Specialties. Manning leads into the extended quote from Yaconelli by stating that:
"The indispensable condition for developing and maintaining the awareness of our belovedness is time alone with God....Our identity rests in God's relentless tenderness for us revealed in Jesus Christ." Then goes on to quote...
"Mike Yaconelli, the cofounder of Youth Specialties, tells about the time when, dejected and demoralized, he trundled off with his wife, Karla, to Toronto, Canada, to make a five-day retreat at the L'Arche (the Ark) community. He went hoping to draw inspiration from the mentally and physically handicapped people who lived there or find solace in the presence and preaching of Henri Nouwen. Instead, he found his true self. He tells his story:
It took only a few hours of silence before I began to hear my soul speaking. It only took being alone for a short period of time for me to discover I wasn't alone. God had been trying to shout ver the noisiness of my life, and I couldn't hear Him. But in the stillness and solitude, his whispers shouted from my soul, 'Michael, I am here. I have been calling you, but you haven't been listening. Can you hear me, Michael? I love you. I have always loved you. And I have been waiting for you to hear me say that to you. But you have been so busy trying to prove to yourself you are loved that you have not heard me.'....
At L'Arche, it became very clear to me that I had totally misunderstood the Christian faith. I came to see that it was in my brokenness, in my powerlessness, in my weakness that Jesus was made strong. It was in the acceptance of my lack of faith that God could give me faith. It was in the embracing of my brokenness that I could identify with others' brokenness. It was my role to identify with others' pain, not relieve it. Ministry was sharing, not dominating; understanding, not theologizing; caring, not fixing....
...I can only tell you that it feels very different now. There is an anticipation, an electricity about God's presence in my life that I have never experienced before. I can only tell you that for the first time in my life I can hear Jesus whisper to me every day, 'Michael, I love you. You are beloved.' And for some strange reason, that seems to be enough."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What an extraordinary quote! What a sense of peace to stop trying so hard and let the burden of having to prove that I am worth loving just slip away. I truly believe that this is why I try so very hard to please people; I am trying to prove that I am worth loving. It is so deeply ingrained in me that I don't even realize it most of the time. Jesus' has liberated me from this Prison of Perpetual Performance to Prove. This truth has penetrated my mind; I am only beginning to sense it saturating my heart.
Dear friends, I share with you, not to prove that I am some spiritual giant; I am not. But what I am is a sinner seeking the depths of an intimate relationship with God that can only be ultimately fulfilled in eternity. If my sharing brings any enlightenment or encouragement to your own hearts, then it is OUR precious Abba Father who is to be praised.
Blessings and peace to all of you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpts from Brennan Manning's Abba's Child. Navpress Books, 1994
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Reflections: Abba's Child
Dear Friends,
Recently, some of my devotional reading has brought forth some amazing spiritual revelations. I've read Brennan Manning's Abba's Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging. I share these excerpts with you because I have seen myself mirrored in these pages today. Since this is such a common issue for so many people, I'm wondering if you might also see images of your own heart and soul in the text that follows. Please know that you are holding my heart in your hands. I believe that you already care for me and that I am safe with each of you....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpts from Brennan Manning's Abba's Child. Navpress Books, 1994.
Chapter 2: The Impostor
"Impostors are preoccupied with acceptance and approval. Because of their suffocating need to please others, they cannot say no with the same confidence with which they say yes. And so they overextend themselves in people, projects, and causes, motivated not by personal commitment but by the fear of not living up to others' expectations."
"The false self was born when as children we were not loved well or were rejected or abandoned. John Bradshaw defines codependency as a disease 'characterized by a loss of identity. To be codependent is to be out of touch with one's feelings, needs, and desires.' The impostor is the classic codependent. To gain acceptance and approval, the false self suppresses or camouflages feelings, making emotional honesty impossible. Living out of the false self creates a compulsive desire to present a perfect image to the public so that everybody will admire us and nobody will know us. The impostor's life becomes a perpetual roller-coaster ride of elation and depression...."
"Craving the approbation withheld in childhood, my false self staggers into each day with an insatiable appetite for affirmation...."
"The impostor is attentive to the size, shape, and color of the bandages that veil my nothingness. The false self persuades me to be preoccupied with my weight....but they kidnap my attention away from the indwelling God and temporarily rob me of the joy of God's Holy Spirit. Yet the false self rationalizes my preoccupation with my waistline and overall appearance and whispers, 'A fat, sloppy image will diminish your credibility in ministry.' Cunning."
"I suspect I am not alone here. The narcissistic obsession with weight-watching in North America is a formidable ploy of the imposor. Despite the valid and important health factor, the amount of time and energy devoted to acquiring and maintaining a slender figure is staggering....To paraphrase Cardinal Wolsey, 'Would that I had served my God the way I have watched my waistline!'"
".....'Every one of us is shadowed by an illusory person: a false self,' Thomas Merton observed. He went on to explain: 'This is the man I want myself to be but who cannot exist, because God does not know anything about him. And to be unknown of God is altoghether too much privacy. My false and private self is the one who wants to exist outside the reach of God's will and God's love—outside of reality and outside of life. And such a self cannot help but be an illusion. We are not very good at recognizing illusions, least of all the ones we cherish about ourselves—the ones we were born with and which feed the roots of sin. For most people in the world, there is no greater subjective reality than this false self of theirs, which cannot exist. A life devoted to the cult of this shadow is what is called a life of sin.'"
"Merton's notion of sin focuses not primarily on individual sinful acts but on a fundamental option for a life of pretense. 'There can only be two basic loves,' wrote Augustine, 'the love of God unto the forgetfulness of self, or the love of self unto the forgetfulness and denial of God.'"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Manning goes on to talk about this "false self", the "impostor" being the reason why we have such a hard time praying sincerely and honestly with God. Dear friends, the deep intimacy and heart-yearning for meaning, love, and acceptance that I crave leads me straight back to God. Manning talks about how the impostor cannot experience intimacy and deep relationship with anyone because he is denying the reality of his own feelings. Yet what is Manning's solution? To abhor this impostor? No, but to humbly admit that this impostor exists within us, confess it to our Savior, and to treat ourselves as gently and kindly as we would treat "the least of Christ's brethren."
What a refreshing place of peace wherein to rest my soul on this precious day.
Recently, some of my devotional reading has brought forth some amazing spiritual revelations. I've read Brennan Manning's Abba's Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging. I share these excerpts with you because I have seen myself mirrored in these pages today. Since this is such a common issue for so many people, I'm wondering if you might also see images of your own heart and soul in the text that follows. Please know that you are holding my heart in your hands. I believe that you already care for me and that I am safe with each of you....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpts from Brennan Manning's Abba's Child. Navpress Books, 1994.
Chapter 2: The Impostor
"Impostors are preoccupied with acceptance and approval. Because of their suffocating need to please others, they cannot say no with the same confidence with which they say yes. And so they overextend themselves in people, projects, and causes, motivated not by personal commitment but by the fear of not living up to others' expectations."
"The false self was born when as children we were not loved well or were rejected or abandoned. John Bradshaw defines codependency as a disease 'characterized by a loss of identity. To be codependent is to be out of touch with one's feelings, needs, and desires.' The impostor is the classic codependent. To gain acceptance and approval, the false self suppresses or camouflages feelings, making emotional honesty impossible. Living out of the false self creates a compulsive desire to present a perfect image to the public so that everybody will admire us and nobody will know us. The impostor's life becomes a perpetual roller-coaster ride of elation and depression...."
"Craving the approbation withheld in childhood, my false self staggers into each day with an insatiable appetite for affirmation...."
"The impostor is attentive to the size, shape, and color of the bandages that veil my nothingness. The false self persuades me to be preoccupied with my weight....but they kidnap my attention away from the indwelling God and temporarily rob me of the joy of God's Holy Spirit. Yet the false self rationalizes my preoccupation with my waistline and overall appearance and whispers, 'A fat, sloppy image will diminish your credibility in ministry.' Cunning."
"I suspect I am not alone here. The narcissistic obsession with weight-watching in North America is a formidable ploy of the imposor. Despite the valid and important health factor, the amount of time and energy devoted to acquiring and maintaining a slender figure is staggering....To paraphrase Cardinal Wolsey, 'Would that I had served my God the way I have watched my waistline!'"
".....'Every one of us is shadowed by an illusory person: a false self,' Thomas Merton observed. He went on to explain: 'This is the man I want myself to be but who cannot exist, because God does not know anything about him. And to be unknown of God is altoghether too much privacy. My false and private self is the one who wants to exist outside the reach of God's will and God's love—outside of reality and outside of life. And such a self cannot help but be an illusion. We are not very good at recognizing illusions, least of all the ones we cherish about ourselves—the ones we were born with and which feed the roots of sin. For most people in the world, there is no greater subjective reality than this false self of theirs, which cannot exist. A life devoted to the cult of this shadow is what is called a life of sin.'"
"Merton's notion of sin focuses not primarily on individual sinful acts but on a fundamental option for a life of pretense. 'There can only be two basic loves,' wrote Augustine, 'the love of God unto the forgetfulness of self, or the love of self unto the forgetfulness and denial of God.'"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Manning goes on to talk about this "false self", the "impostor" being the reason why we have such a hard time praying sincerely and honestly with God. Dear friends, the deep intimacy and heart-yearning for meaning, love, and acceptance that I crave leads me straight back to God. Manning talks about how the impostor cannot experience intimacy and deep relationship with anyone because he is denying the reality of his own feelings. Yet what is Manning's solution? To abhor this impostor? No, but to humbly admit that this impostor exists within us, confess it to our Savior, and to treat ourselves as gently and kindly as we would treat "the least of Christ's brethren."
What a refreshing place of peace wherein to rest my soul on this precious day.
Friday, March 16, 2007
Reflections: 16 March 2007
Magnificent Lord God, Almighty and Everlasting Abba Father,
You have brought us in safety to the close of this new day.
Please continue to preserve all of us through the night and
the new day tomorrow by your mighty power,
that we may not stumble or fall into sin,
nor be overwhelmed by stress or adversity.
In all that we do , please direct us to fulfill
your eternal purpose for our lives and Your glory.
Through the abundant grace of Jesus Christ our Lord...
Amen.
Adapted from the Book of Common Prayer
You have brought us in safety to the close of this new day.
Please continue to preserve all of us through the night and
the new day tomorrow by your mighty power,
that we may not stumble or fall into sin,
nor be overwhelmed by stress or adversity.
In all that we do , please direct us to fulfill
your eternal purpose for our lives and Your glory.
Through the abundant grace of Jesus Christ our Lord...
Amen.
Adapted from the Book of Common Prayer
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
