I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:16-19 NIV
You may remember I asked you to listen for a word to direct your life this year? Mine came in the form of Ephesians 3:17b “being rooted and established in love.” I have been studying out what that means to me. From library books about trees, to tree and root photos I have been collecting for a few years, to online biology resources.
This morning I listened to this devotional and found a way to share it with you. This is published daily with the premise being to lead you into the first 15 minutes of your day by thinking about, praying to, and worshiping God. I hope you are encouraged and blessed by this experience. I was blessed that the Scripture at the end is Ephesians 3 16-19! Just click on the title Live For Love and it will take you to the website. I downloaded the app for daily (or in my case almost daily) use.
My sister gave me a book entitled “Just One thing” by Rick Hanson, PhD, a neuropsychologist. If you are not an Amazon book buyer it is available through newharbinger.com. I have randomly read portions of it. It was published in 2011 and says all rights reserved, so perhaps I should only share portions? Not certain how to go about this legally.
I recently read the chapter called Be Glad one evening and then to an online group I try to meet with monthly. These women are advanced in their spirituality and self-care. Hanson presents some ideas for practice that helped us think of things we have overlooked.
He begins by talking about how our brains are wired since creation to be aware of negative things around us. He teaches how difficult it can be to stay positive in this negative brain soup (my term. ) He writes, “As a consequence, we pay a lot of attention to threats, losses, and mistreatment in our environment – and to our emotional reactions, such as worry, sadness, resentment, disappointment, and anger. We also focus on our own mistakes and flaws – and on the feelings of guilt, shame, inadequacy, and even self-hatred that get stirred up.”
But because of the negativity bias of the brain, most of us go way overboard. Which is really unfair. It’s not fair to zero in on a bit of bad news and ignore or downplay all the good news around it.
Rick Hanson, PhD
I love that he called it “unfair!” So we need to work our way out of the bad news, negativity and emphasize the good news or “the bad news also primes us to be untrusting or cranky with others.” I am certain that none of my readers are ever cranky with others. Just ask my husband, Bob, to find out how often I can be cranky!
And as your growing gladness naturally lowers your stress, you’ll likely get physical health benefits as well, such as a stronger immune system.
Be Glad, Just One Thing, Hanson
Who doesn’t want a stronger immune system? Okay, you there, yes, you. You can stop reading now and keep your lousy immune system.
Reading this more than once and then typing out the entire selection this morning has given me hours of lessons to use. One blog in the near future will demonstrate how I was able to use this material almost immediately.
As we age and are unable to do things we used to take for granted I am praying that these lessons about “Be Glad” stay with me for future use and enjoyment of all the things I am still ABLE to do!
Hanson added
Sometime every day, before going to bed, name to yourself at least things you are glad about.
Rick Hanson, Just One Thing, Be Glad
My pastor says five things first thing in the morning, three at bedtime, the point being just DO IT. Teh Psalmist said to praise God seven times a day (Psalm 119:164) Paul tells us repeatedly to rejoice. Find reasons to rejoice in the Lord. ALWAYS. But do you?
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anythings is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.
I was in a situation the other day where acute and chronic pain were doing a dance. Frenetic tap dancing I would say since I do not truly understand tango – and tango seems to be a love dance. One area calls for attention and then acute throbs. First one recedes and another pops up. Like pinball pain, ding-ding-ding, someone hits the flipper and it catapults pain here there and everywhere. What to do when this occurs? First try to draw close to God as He soothes and even at times relieves the situation. I know from experience that trying to determine how I caused this is a futile waste of time and energy.
Realized I was agonizing over my situation while journaling and had failed to do my pastor’s challenge to FIRST THING every morning write 5 gratitudes. Oops, I entertained flesh over discipline there. So I stopped and began to write the five. Then with compassion admitted I do not feel well. Confessed it is hard to focus on the Lord and “Hard to focus on anything” when I get like this. Asked for guidance.
Turned to Jesus Calling devotional by Sarah Young on my iPad. “I want you to learn a new habit. Try saying “I trust You, Jesus,” in response to whatever happens to you.” It goes on to say I am to view events from the perspective of God’s universal and sovereign control, letting fear lose it’s grip. (See Jesus Calling, January 4).
Then I realized that warfare has been raging here for a couple days. (Why do I not recognize it as soon as it begins?) So I was careful to pray the armor of God and Blood of Jesus over me. I journaled, “The matrix of life spins and unfolds. I am held in Your hands. Centered in You nothing can touch me. Hide me in the shadow of Your wings.”
Show wondrously Your acts of loyal love,
O Savior of those who take refuge at Your right hand
from those who rise up against them.
Keep me as the apple of Your eye
hide me in the shadow of Your wings
from the presence of the wicked who destroy me,
those enemies against my life,
they that surround me.
Psalm 17:7-9
Then I turned to a new favorite gift that Dan sent me a few months ago. “Every Moment Holy”, Volume 1, A Liturgy for the Feeling of Infirmities.” Liturgy used with permission.
Art by Ned Bustard, also available for purchase at same site
"We were not made for mortality but for immortality;
our souls are ever in their prime,
and so the faltering of our physical bodies
repeatedly takes us by surprise.
"The aches, the frailties, the injuries, the
impositions of vexing disease and worsening
condition are unwelcome evidences of our
long exile from the Garden.
"Even so, may the inescapable decline
of our bodies here not be wasted.
May it do its tutoring work, inclining
our hearts and souls ever more vigorously
toward Your coming kingdom, O God.
"While we rightly pray for healing and relief
and sometimes receive the respite
of such blessings, give us also patience
for the enduring of whatever hardships
our journeys entail."
Five stanzas remain. You can purchase the entire liturgy for $1.00 from Rabbit Room at https://www.everymomentholy.com/liturgies#free. Scroll down the page to Individual Liturgies for Purchase, Liturgies for Sorrow and Lament. In drop down window “A Liturgy for” select Feelings of Infirmity. Place in cart. Pay one dollar.
How does this help? My attention and focus have now moved from helplessness at my dilemma to looking to Jesus. When the acute jumps for attention this day I can say, “I trust You, Jesus.” I am reminded that Scripture is still true.
Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am He, I am He who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.
Isaiah 46:4 NIV
And then this passage seems to respond as my heartfelt prayer.
Even when I am old and gray,
do not forsake me, my God,
till I declare Your power to the next generation,
Your mighty acts to all who are to come.
Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens,
You who have done great things.
Who is like You, God?
Psalm 71:18-19 NIV
And I hear this song of worship that brings me to stillness.
I was hearing parts of this poem and it took me a while to get hold of it. FINALLY rediscovered it and want to share it with you. Wordsworth referred to newborn children, but I think he was short-sighted. I think we are all capable at any age of trailing clouds of glory, especially as we determine to spend more time with the Lord.
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home:
Heaven lies about us in our infancy!
How can we capture what Wordsworth says we lost as we aged?
For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed
2 Corinthians 4:5-9 NIV
God made His light shine in our hearts giving us the light of the Knowledge of His glory displayed in the face of Christ. We have this treasure of light in jars of clay. And the cracks in our clay pots is how the light gets out. We shine as Moses shined from being on the mountain if we spend time in God’s presence.
Trailing clouds of glory do we come, from God who is our home. In Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:29). He is our resting place (Psalm 62:5). He is our source of life. He is the light of life (John 1:4), the bread of life(John 6:48), the living water (John 4:13-14). The source of our being. He is always to have the glory of this light.
What is your plan for spending more time with God? You might be amazed if you take out 30 minutes of TV and spend it seeking Him. List some gratitudes daily. I mean every single day. Pour your heart out by journaling. If your hands hurt as mine often do, then type. If even that is too hard, open a word document and dictate your heart. The programs for dictation have improved greatly and you will not need to do very much correction when you are finished speaking.
My point is “Just do it.” Make a step to advance your own spiritual growth. Others need to see the clouds of glory that you are aware of. In order to have the courage to share, you need to put them in words at some point. Those almost ‘unsayable experiences’ that are yours need to be shared with others for their encouragement and edification.
Let God form your jar of clay in such a way that God’s all surpassing power flows forth from you to others. He will meet you in the process and you will not be disappointed.
Today, Monday, January 3, is my first writing day of the year 2022. Things are strange here as far as nature and weather go. The forsythia down the street has started blooming. One of my roses sent up a new shoot. One friend has tulips trying to emerge. We had weather in the 60s. Then 50s. When I did the laundry I could not remember having worn so many short sleeve t-shirts during the month of December! We had a full 24 hours of constant rain. A figure 8 pond formed in the back yard between our house and Angela’s. Eventually most of it drained away. Then a cold front moved in. Overnight temps dropped into the 20s with a wind chill in the teens. The plants are likely thinking, “Weird, indeed!” We are forecast to have accumulating snow by Thursday of this week.
Did you indulge in making resolutions? Have you asked for your word from the Lord yet? Our Pastor referred to that practice in his sermon on Sunday! We have gone back to on-line church as the Omicron variant is running rampant through southwest Ohio as well as the rest of the world.
I am poised to return to online grocery shopping with store parking lot pick up. Here we go again! Another pastime taken away. However, I feel certain our health is worth the cost of relinquishing one or five or even umpteen pleasures.
When we were wondering in October or so what 2022 would hold none of us wanted to believe it would be another variant. Yet, here we are. I sense that underground stream of anxiety that was so prevalent in 2020 and 2021. The asking, “Will we be okay? Will the ones we love who are unvaccinated be okay?” And that is not even considering those impacted with other illnesses!
The Lord assures us,
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
John 14:27 ESV
He gives us His peace and tells us there is something we must do. LET NOT. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. We have a responsibility in that peace giving. Seems we can cancel out that mighty peace by indulging in troubling thoughts and fears. We can be our own peace keeping force!
Useless thoughts spoil everything and much mischief begins there; we ought to reject them as soon as we have perceived their impertinence to the matter in hand and return to our worship of God.
Brother Lawrence
Yes, I am convicted again of my own sinfulness and weakness when it comes to being like Jesus. Father, help me by Your Holy Spirit to be strengthened in my inner being to know Your peace, to live as one who understands Christ dwells in my heart through faith. Keep me rooted and grounded in love. Amen.
For Christmas Bob bought me this from the Norman Rockwell collection. He had a heck of a time finding a frame to fit it. He did succeed though! It hangs on my office wall to the right of where I write.
We visited a Rockwell exhibit at the Dayton Art Museum. He knew this is how I often feel on Monday or Tuesday morning as I prepare to write this blog. Notice his palette on the floor! The handle of the paint brush in the white cracks me up. Such is the brain of the artist lost in creativity!
You might remember this favorite photo, too. I was fascinated with the palette from the Frank Duvenek exhibit at Cincinnati Art Museum. His likeness was reflected from nearby display. Bob enhanced the photo for me. The photo sits on the left at the desk where I write.
Photo by r m dutina
And prayer. Prayer goes into this blog. I want to write to enrich you, not just report what I do and where I go. I want to inspire you to reach greater spiritual depths with God. I still cling to the following quote from Rainer Marie Rilke.
Most experiences are unsayable. There are mysterious existences whose life endures beside our own small, transitory life.
Rainer Marie Rilke
I pray that I can draw you towards the depths of God. That somehow through my experiences and writing you will want to take a dip in the river of Living Water. Finding a way towards the center of your heart and soul you might want to live from the inside out, desiring a deep breath of life from the Giver of all life. Lead us, Lord, to those mysterious existences and help us to express them and experience them together.
I look forward to your comments throughout the year. I humbly thank you for reading my blog!
Four voices on NPR and I am hooked. These guys are amazing! This is one of the hardest Christmas songs I have ever learned to sing. And one of the singers commented on NPR that it was difficult for him to learn, also. And then he was amazed at how it all worked with four of them taking turns with the lead. Even if you are tired of Christmas music I encourage you to listen to this acapella quartet.
My friend, Dan, blogged featuring the music from The Chosen Christmas Special. If you missed it you can watch it anytime on You Tube. This series has encouraged and gladdened us for the past two years. They are about to begin year three. Bob and I both highly recommend it!
One friend challenges me every year with this idea. Ask the Lord to show you His word or idea for you in the coming year.
Last year I heard transform. Besides moving, which in itself was a huge transformation, I have seen myself transform and become more serious about blogging ideas of substance. Hopefully there has been success there?
This is one way to invite the Lord into your life. Are you brave enough to ask Him for His input? Are you willing to wait for His answer? Are you willing to remind yourself throughout the year, say quarterly, asking how you are growing towards the goal?
What will the word be for you this year? What will the word be for me? (Actually it kind of dropped into my mind this morning, so I might have already heard?)
As we turn the page on another year I pray you are looking forward to knowing the Lord and King of heaven better than ever before! He is waiting for your attention and presence with Him. He is always near us.
On the wall near my desk I have a sketch someone made of the Lord throwing back His head in laughter. I believe it was supposed to be in the rain. I also have a tiny photo of senior citizens throwing back their heads in laughter.
Can we join them this year and throw back our heads in laughter? Laughter that the Light of the World has shown in the darkness and the darkness cannot put it out .
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:1-5
Are you willing to ask for light upon your path this year?
Your word is a lamp for my feet,
a light on my path.
Psalm 119:105
I believe we can all benefit from guidance and direction. I am not thinking of resolutions that will be broken long before February 14th. I mean a guiding word that can help you make good decisions regarding the use of your time and energy, your purpose and intentions.
Give it a try this year. I will pray the Lord will satisfy your hunger and thirst for His presence. Listen and I believe you will not be disappointed. 1 Samuel 3:1-10 tells about Samuel hearing the Lord’s voice. Eli helps him to identify that voice.
The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
1 Samuel 3:10
Direction through a word, guiding you closer to living New Testament values, glorifying the Lord Jesus as you go forward. Speak,Lord, for Your servants are listening!
Henri Nouwen wrote a book entitled Life of the Beloved. In it he puts forth the concept that Jesus takes us, blesses us, then we are broken and given just as He was. There are many publications of this book with different covers. Here is one:
I have long admired Christy Nockels for her amazing worship songs. She recently published a book entitled The Life You Long For.
Bob bought me the Kindle version for Christmas. I could not wait to open it and dive in. She writes:
Often our Enemy’s fiercest strategy against us as the Beloved is keeping us consumed with living for God rather than living from God. Our Enemy knows full well that when we live from God, it lifts the burden and the stress and the striving and restores to us the joy of knowing God and loving Him.
The Life Your Long For: Learning to Live from a Heart of Rest
Christy goes on to diagram her idea of aiming at the target of living from “the calling of the Beloved.” In 1988 I identified it as living from the inside out.
After all the preparations, anticipation, gift planning, company, celebrations, gift exchanges, food over indulgences do you ever get the post holiday ho-hum blahs? We do not do much for New Years and I was recently tempted to go there and then I was snapped back into reality.
We who are well are so fortunate that we cannot dare to indulge that sort of corrupted emotion. Think with me for just a moment. There is one who was promised if she could get a liver transplant her suffering from the Whipple surgery would end and she would be fine. She had to be put in a coma awaiting the liver. The liver came. The surgery was done. She could not awake from the coma. For weeks they tried and waited. She was transferred to long term critical care unit. Something like $6,000.00 per month after the insurance gave out. Family thought she was awake. Slipped back into it. Awoke enough to talk with her family via videophone Thanksgiving Eve. Struggled to put words together. Was able to swallow applesauce and drink a bit when they covered her trach.Then began rejecting the transplant. Finally went back to ICU because so many body functions were out of whack. In contrast, I have not one worry in the world.
Once months and months ago when she managed to stand up.
Another neighbor friend began swelling right after Thanksgiving. Has never been seriously ill. She underwent many out patient tests in another state. Finally was admitted to hospital for MRIs, CTscans, blood work, x-rays, biopsies, you name it. The medical professionals are truly practicing on her. They cannot determine the cause of her illness which has evolved through many life threatening stages. She was released to her home in that other state for Christmas and to await the admission to a Mayo Clinic hospital. She was taken to ER on December 27 when her hands began to turn black, and stay black, and lose all feeling. At this writing still awaiting acceptance to Mayo. I am worried sick about her. Trusting God, trying to lift prayers, send her prayers and humor, but disturbed about what is happening to her.
This one over here was recently separated from her husband. This was the first Christmas after the separation. She and her children got through Christmas just okay. I try to stay in touch.
A neighbor saw her daughter and grandkids at start of Christmas vacation. The children spent the night. Next day daughter and granddaughter tested positive for Covid. Neighbor has to quarantine for 10 days. So no Christmas with her older parents and rest of the family.
We do not live in the Kentucky tornado zone. Or a refugee camp. We have shelter in a safe area, too much food, and are allowed to worship how ever we desire.
I was so convicted over that fleeting corrupted emotion that I just had to share. May you, too, examine your heart and recenter in gratitude.
If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9 NRSV
As you stand in line to return unwanted gifts, remember these folks in prayer please. Help that liver to be accepted and all other disease be driven out. Pray for the doctors at Mayo to find a definitive treatable diagnosis. May those suffering from broken relationships be healed and strengthened to pursue the Lord. Covid has ravaged many families with death, long term side effects, separations. Please Lord touch the suffering, heal the afflicted and all for your love’s sake.
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 