“When we genuinely believe that inner transformation is God’s work and not ours, we can put to rest our passion to set others straight.” Richard Foster
It does make me wonder if I really believe this! God come and work on me!
Tag Archives: spiritual journeys
The Chosen Course
“If we ever expect to grow in grace, we must pay the price of a consciously chosen course of action which involves both individual and group life.” Richard Foster
This of course means that all those folk who say they do not need the church but can worship in the woods with the squirrels are missing out on something. What do you think?
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Walking Hand In Hand
This poem by Dale Stevens is shared with her permission for your encouragement.
Walking Hand In Hand
by Dale Stevens
Lord I want to hold your hand
Feeling safe, secure and loved.
Walking down this road of life
Not knowing where the road will lead
But trust you are working out
All the plans You have for me.
And if along the way I stumble
Your hand in mine will hold me tight.
And help me to remember,
It’s you and I together
Walking along this path of Life
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Jesus, the Light In Our Darkness
I came into work this morning and found this letter of encouragement in my mailbox. I share it with you (by permission) in hopes that it may bring some light into any darkness you currently walk in:
Jesus Is the Light In Our Darkness
by Dale Stevens
When we are living in darkness we don’t always know we are in darkness. Sometimes the darkness we live in is just a normal way of life for us. Now, normal is whatever we are used to. Growing up the patterns that we see from our parents and all those living around us become our patterns, some good, some bad. These patterns we have learned can cause us great pain: hurt, feelings of loneliness, low self-esteem, despair, depression, discouragement, unbelief, fear, anxiety, and hopelessness.
Sometimes we become withdrawn. We look around us at others and see them happy and joyful, family and friends having fun and getting along together, and we have a desire to have a life like that. Yet sometimes it feels like we are walking in a cloud. The desire is to step out of that cloud and walk into the light of peace and joy; But the darkness is so thick it totally surround us.
BUT WAIT! THERE IS GOOD NEWS.
The Bible says that, Jesus is the light of the world.
The word light means: daytime, brightness, illumination and exposure to the truth
Psalm 1390: 11,12 “Darkness will not be dark to you (anymore). For darkness is as light to you!”
It may take a while to walk through, but remember Jesus is the light. Sometimes He shines as if coming through the fog, but as the fog lifts the Light gets brighter and brighter. And so it is with the healing process. It is step by step!
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In And Around the Beloved
Where has your beloved gone,
most beautiful of women?
Which way did your beloved turn,
that we may look for him with you?
She
2My beloved has gone down to his garden,
to the beds of spices,
to browse in the gardens
and to gather lilies.
3I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;
he browses among the lilies. Song 6:1-3
I have been meditating on the thought of OASIS that was first inspired by the Daily Post in its Daily prompt,
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/oasis/
A sanctuary is a place you can escape to, to catch your breath and remember who you are. Write about the place you go to when everything is a bit too much.
The idea of SANCTUARY keeps rolling around in my head and it has been deepened by some of my fellow writers: Deb in her blog shared how God is her sanctuary.
And then Ben in his share pointed out that WE are God’s sanctuary!
These two seemingly oppositional thoughts have ignited an excitement in me that just keeps growing. How is it possible that God should be our sanctuary or oasis and we should be God’s?
Well it’s not possible outside of personal relationship.
Lot’s of people use God as a sanctuary in times of trouble. They pray when it’s necessary. They say the Our Father or quote Psalm 23 and many times God shows up and covers them because He is a God of love.
But for a person to be God’s sanctuary well that is an entirely different matter. God never needs us the way we need Him. No situation will ever arise where God will find Himself in trouble or danger. If there ever were such a situation, I assure you, He would not come running to any of us for help. When the Bible talks about us being the temple of the Holy Spirit or the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit it is not speaking about God coming to us to hide but about God coming to us to create intimacy.
God doesn’t want or need our protection. An oasis for Him is not about provision of any temporal need. It is about relationship. God created us as empty vessels to be filled with Himself. He wanted us to become a place where he could rest His love and settle His presence!
Oh! now that’s exciting!
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The Key To Receiving!
God has given us the Disciplines of the spiritual life as a means of receiving His grace. The Disciplines allow us to place ourselves before God so that He can transform us.- Richard Foster
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Reign
“those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness shall reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” Rom 5:17
Righteousness was never ours to achieve. It was always ours to receive.
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Willpower Will Not Suffice!
In the shadow of the cross
As I approached this fast I asked God what He would have me pray into.
I heard His Spirit say, “Weaknesses, chinks in the armor, breaches in the wall, and strategies for battle.”
So I have been praying about these things. Today, in my afternoon time of prayer and study, I was reminded that often I want an immediate answer from God when it comes to matters of sanctification. If I see a problem, a weakness or a chink in my armor I want it dealt with immediately by the Spirit of God. If I see any darkness in myself I want it gone with the first five-minute prayer I lift up.
God reminded me He doesn’t often work this way. What I want is a tidal wave that wipes out the stronghold of wickedness in an instant. What God often gives me is a tidal surge every time I pray that washes away my rougher edges bit by bit.
I believe this is because my less noble qualities, Ok let’s just call them what they are sins, are all tied in with the good parts of me and the essential parts of my personality that God wants to keep. A spiritual tidal wave might wipe out the less desirable pieces of my heart but it would take pretty big chunks of the good stuff that God would otherwise keep intact. So the answer is not one big prayer session where it all gets done and I am instantly perfect but many moments of prayer where the Lord can come and change me bit by bit…glory to glory. The key here is to remember the change is His work, done in His time. Providing Him with the opportunity, through prayer, to change me is my work. Confusion over who does what is a sure way to fail.
“WILL POWER WILL NEVER SUCCEED IN DEALING WITH THE DEEPLY INGRAINED HABITS OF SIN.” Richard Foster
“AS LONG AS WE THINK WE CAN SAVE OURSELVES BY OUR OWN WILL POWER WE WILL ONLY MAKE THE EVIL IN US STRONGER THAN EVER.” Heini Arnold
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One Thing To Do
The life that is pleasing to God is not a series of religious duties. We have only one thing to do, namely to experience a life of relationship and intimacy with God.- Richard Foster, Celebration Of Discipline, p 4
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Dwell Deep
“It is good for thee to dwell deep that thou mayest feel and understand the spirits of people” John Woolman
If this is true, that means my level of compassion is tied to my level of dwelling and faithfulness in my relationship with God.
What do you think?
Lillie-Put 