Category: Spiritual discipline

Posted on in Aging, Book quotes, Challenge, Faith, Memories, Prayer, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth

My Birthday Was Yesterday

Well it is saying something that I have outlived both of my parents. My Dad died really young of heart disease. I have outlived my mother by ten years!

This morning I awoke to my typical birthday weather, gloomy, drizzly but also unusually warm. The weather in my heart is good. I am looking for ways this year to please the Lord, my Lord Jesus, risen from the dead.

Instead of my typical morning devotions, I turned today to Thomas R. Kelley’s Testament of Devotion. This chapter is called Holy Obedience. He speaks of George Fox…”the insatiable God-hunger in him drove him from such mediocrity into a passionate quest for the real whole-wheat Bread of Life. The life that intends to be wholly obedient, wholly submissive, wholly listening, is astonishing in its completeness.” He goes on to say “Self is emptied into God, and God in-fills it. In glad, amazed humility we cast on Him our little lives in trusting obedience, in erect, serene, and smiling joy. Nothing else in all of heaven or earth counts so much as His will, His slightest wish, His faintest breathing. And holy obedience sets in, sensitive as a shadow, obedient as a shadow, selfless as a shadow. Not reluctantly but with ardor one longs to follow Him the second half (of the way of obedience).”

Ardor: great warmth of feeling; fervor. intense devotion; zeal. burning heat. Do we follow Him with ardor?

“Self is emptied into God and God fills it.”

 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

Revelation 3:14-28 NIV

So I come before You, my Lord, on this my birthday. Left to myself I am always poor, naked, blind, pitiful and wretched. I cannot do Your will without Your indwelling Spirit to empower me. This coming year of my life I want to reflect Your life-giving whole wheat Bread of Life. I want my life to delight You. I desire immediate obedience to Your slightest wish, faintest breathing. May my ardor for You be fanned into a flame. Amen.

 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God

2 Timothy 1: 6a NIV

My family told the story that at my birth the umbilical cord was wrapped around my neck. I was a ‘blue baby.’ They waited to see if I would “pink up.” When I recovered my father was so delighted he wanted my middle name to be Cherry! My mother made him compromise with Cheryl. Now I just want to follow God in obedience, full of His breath, doing His will.

Kelly wrote “holy obedience sets in, sensitive as a shadow, obedient as a shadow, selfless as a shadow.” What a tremendous image! A shadow, as in formed by the Son of God shining upon us, and we giving an outline that is totally dependent upon His light… He moves, shadow moves.

Oh to “be wholly obedient, wholly submissive, wholly listening.” Sensitive to His every desire. Can I do it? Will I take up the challenge for the entire year or drop it after a month or two? I will take it up and pray to complete it with God’s help! Will you try it also?

Posted on in Aging, Amazing Creations, Book quotes, Challenge, Cooking, Faith, Just do it, Listen, Nature, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Yield

Remember this Artwork?

My writing this week began with a blank page as it always does, then sorrows and struggles of others, the sound of dry leaves, climate change and some poetry. How to sum that up? I think my newest t-shirt says it best with a quote from Mother Teresa, “Do small things with great love.”

How to shine the Light of the Lord in these situations? For those in sorrow and struggles, cook a meal if you can. Surprise someone with flowers and a slice of cake. Pray for their situations and the strength of their hearts. Remind them as you are enabled that the paths of the Lord “drip with abundance.”

Dry leaves falling upon dry leaves are about to end today as rain is forecast in our area. Then we will have dry leaves falling upon soggy leaves. And oh how we need that rain! Yes, the voice of the Lord is still here like the whisper of leaves upon leaves, that still small voice of love and encouragement, challenge and reproof. (1 Kings 19:12) Are you listening for His voice of instruction to you?

My reminders

I have returned to wearing this homemade bracelet. It reminds me that I am called to Constant, Yielded, Peaceful, Joyful Obedience to the Lord. When I am diligent to this He shines His light through me, usually when I am not even aware it is happening. Why is this important? As His servant and ambassador in this age of darkness, like Paul, I am to reflect His glory. My occupation is to give light to those around me, Light from the Son.

for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak

Ephesians 6:20

When the bracelet annoys me, catches upon something or hinders the use of my wrist my practice is to make that draw my attention back to Christ. Am I listening? Am I doing the last thing He asked of me? Is the Trinity trying to get my attention right now? Am I humble enough to yield and to listen? Will I obey Him?

Some say they do not know what God wants them to do. If you keep praying and asking, the Holy Spirit is quite capable to make the Father’s will clear to you. You must wait and listen. When you receive instruction obey as much of that instruction as you are able. You might mess it up and make a mistake. We all do that. Our God is able to clean up our mistakes and make the most of our efforts.

And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

2 John 1:6 NIV

I pray you will use the empty page, the empty canvas of your life to do works of His desiring. Though you might not be able to see what is being created, He does and He will be careful to keep your heart until the day of His coming. Work diligently, as unto God. He reads your heart and knows your efforts on His behalf.

Ask Him, “what would bring pleasure to You today, Lord?” Then set out to delight your Lord with all of your heart!

Posted on in Faith, Just do it, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Yield

Be Kept Blameless

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 NIV

I am kept blameless by God himself. I do not have the power to do that. He does and He wants to do that.

Are you aware of your shortcomings? Do you know that God loves you so much He is willing to sanctify you? He is willing to make you blameless in all of your being, spirit, soul and body. Your entirety.

Who is calling you? Almighty God our Father.

The holy God of Peace.

He is faithful.

He will do it.

Will you yielded to Him and let Him have His own way within you?

Posted on in Aging, Challenge, Faith, Family, Humor, Memories, Nature, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth

Having Fun

We sometimes listen to TED talks. We recently heard “Why Having Fun is The Secret to A Healthier Life,” (link is below). I found the transcript and included a few thoughts from Catherine Price for your consideration. It also touches upon our Small Group study delving into a better definition of joy.

That first photo shows Lucky having fun with Lizzie’s cat while she stayed at their house during our absence.

“The color of fun is sunshine, (said her daughter.) It involves “playfulness, connection and joy.” By playfulness I just mean having a lighthearted attitude of doing things for the sake of doing them and not caring too much about the outcome. Letting go of perfectionism. When we have fun, our guard is down, and we’re not taking ourselves too seriously.

“Connection refers to the feeling of having a special, shared experience. And then flow is the state where we are so engaged and focused on whatever we’re doing that we can even lose track of time.

“The most effective thing you can do to have more fun is to focus on its ingredients, by which I mean, do everything you can to fill your life with more moments of playfulness, connection and flow. So here are some ideas for how to do so. To start with, reduce distractions in order to increase flow. Anything that distracts you is going to kick you out of flow and prevent you from having fun

“And you say “Hello.” And if that goes well, you can introduce yourself. And if that goes well, maybe you can ask them a question, something that’s thought-provoking, but not overly personal or threatening, like “What’s something that fascinates you?” Or “What’s one thing that delighted you today?” And you might be amazed by how good just one little moment of connection can make you feel.

“And if you do find someone to connect with, maybe ask them to join you in trying my third suggestion, which is to increase playfulness by finding opportunities to rebel. Now I am not talking about James Dean-level of rebellion. I’m talking about playful deviance. I’m talking about finding ways to break the rules of responsible adulthood, and giving yourself permission to get a kick out of your own life.

“Make fun a priority. If you know there’s an activity that really does often generate playful connected flow for you, carve out time for it in your schedule. Treat fun as if it is important. Because it is. I’ve been doing this myself for a couple of years now, and it’s amazing to see how many areas of my life fun has touched. I’m more creative and more productive, I’m more resilient. I laugh more. Making sure that I’m having enough fun has made me a better partner, a better parent and a better friend. And it has convinced me of something that I very much hope I can convince you of as well, which is that my daughter was right. Fun is sunshine. It’s a distillation of life’s energy. And the more often we experience it, the more we will feel like we’re actually alive.

Sunshine capture in blossoms!
Yes, a major source of fun for me!

Bob recently had his first cataract surgery. The night before we were in bed saying good night. We both had been a little tense about this as neither of us had experienced it before. Trying to lighten things up a bit I said on the next day I would be asking him “Can you see me now?” Drawing upon his bad joke about Helen Keller I placed his hand on one of my body parts. I was laughing so hard I almost could not say the joke line. “Here, find out if you can see me from memory!” Old folks gotta make fun! “Here, try again, do you see me now?” We were gasping for breath as we laughed and laughed. Sometimes fun is just spontaneous. If it is not spontaneous for you today, follow Catherine’s advice and make some fun.

Great Nephew Levie

We gifted Levie a Teddy Bear when we met him for the first time. I made the Teddy a scarf. Levie fell in love with that Teddy. He had never named one of his stuffed animals before, but decided this one’s name was “Two.” (Levie is also two years old.) He was swinging Two around by the scarf. Occasionally kissing that Teddy. The next day he took Two Bear to Nursery School to teach him how to go down the slide. That is fun!!

Where can you find godly joy, pleasure and delight today? Can you create it in your midst?

You make known to me the path of life;
    you will fill me with joy in your presence,
    with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Psalm 16:11 NIV
Posted on in Book quotes, Challenge, Faith, Just do it, Memories, Prayer, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Yield

Battle, War, Skirmish

Growing up I knew little about warfare. In the neighborhood the girls were relegated to being nurses when the boys played battle games. I never got that. I could make sounds with my mouth like guns as well and sometimes better than the boys could!

I understood my Dad had been a Naval flagman in World War 2. I did not understand what he did during the war until years later when I ordered his service records from the Navy. He was disappointed that his poor health kept him out of the Korean War.

Then I came to religion and the life of faith described so often as warfare. The Charismatic movement sometimes went a little overboard seeing a demon behind every bush. At least they were aware that we are under attack. All the time. I believe complacency just gives the demons more ground in our lives. Too much attention to the devil weakens us by distracting us from the power of Jesus Christ our Lord and the strength of the indwelling Holy Spirit, His greatest gift to us.

Hand in hand with my Bible I go to the dictionary for help in understanding.

Skirmish: an episode of irregular or unpremeditated fighting, especially between small or outlying parts of armies or fleets.

Battle:

1. (Military) a fight between large armed forces; military or naval engagement; combat

2. conflict; contention; struggle

3. (Military) do battle give battle join battle to start fighting

Narnia Preparing for Battle Scene

I thought this was well worded truth about the faith life.

Faith is war.

It’s a fight. A battle. Faith is hard. It’s a fight to trust God when you can’t see him. It’s a fight to believe God is in control when all around us screams life has derailed. It’s a battle to thank Jesus that his steadfast love never ceases and his mercies are new every morning in the midst of pain and sadness. It’s a fight to believe Scripture rather than our eyes and circumstances. It’s a fight to forgive and resist bitterness and believe Jesus can change others’ hearts. It’s straining and wrestling to rejoice always. It’s a struggle to believe that in the end, God will work all this out for our good. To believe that Jesus will have the final word. To believe our sufferings are producing an eternal weight of glory. Faith is a fight to believe that following Jesus is better than sin.

https://www.biblestudytools.com/blogs/mark-altrogge/faith-is-war.html

Throughout the Bible there are references to battle. Repeatedly. Most of us go on our way as if those references do not relate to us. 2022 is rife with warfare, especially against those who love Christ Jesus. I pray you will live with your eyes wide open to this phenomenon.

When the time rolls around for our small group to meet, Bob and I experience some of this warfare. He and I co-lead the study and suddenly there will be friction between us, conflict all around us, a multitude of things against us distracting us from Jesus.

Have you experienced this sort of oppression from the enemy of your soul? I have found the best weapon against oppression is to recognize what is happening, push back against the darkness, and return to praising the God of heaven and earth. Psalm 22 says God inhabits the praises of His people. Even if the King James version has the translation slightly wrong we can be assured that Lord is with us and through His resurrection power the Holy Spirit dwells within us. We do not need to relinquish ourselves to the enemy in the heat of battle. Read the book of Revelation and you will learn OUR GOD WINS. Colossians 2:14 declares that we have been freed from our sin and shame.

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Colossians 2:13-15 NIV

Battles and skirmishes come often to test what we truly believe. I believe the Truth of the Word that declares God wins! Do not be complacent.

In 1975 I thought someone should update the weapons of our warfare with modern day images. Have a person march into the church with riot gear on and other accoutrements of battle. Now in 2022 that person might get shot if the security force of the congregation was not made aware of what the teaching plan entailed. Imagine the weapons however best to encourage you to fight the good fight of faith and not grow complacent or defeated in your faith.

Posted on in Challenge, Faith, Nature, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Yield

Blue Skies & Sunshine = Drought

We are seeing that the blue skies and sunshine people in Ohio desire spell disaster when it goes on for way too long. We had a blip of cooler weather where we needed sweatshirts and jackets. Frost killed the most tender plants. I was out there pulling them up and disposing of them. Bob drained and put away our garden hoses so the wintry weather would not ruin them. Now we are back to the 70’s during the day and 50’s at night. Mild and above average temperatures for this time of year. Wishing for those hoses as the chrysanthemums and roses are drying out in the flower beds!

And what of our walk with the Lord? Is yours drying up? Has your walk brought challenges that you would rather ignore? Are you bundled in a blanket of self-pity waiting for some other thing to do, rather than obey? There is a saying that if the devil has not bothered you lately, you likely are not obeying the Lord.

If the enemy is not bothering you then perhaps you are not walking in obedience to Christ. Why would our lazy enemy bother us if we do not need bothering? He likes to steal and kill and destroy. (John 10:10) If there is nothing in your life that is furthering the work of Christ that serpent brushes off his hands and says ‘my work here is done.”

C S. Lewis wrote “The Screwtape Letters” a fantastic story about the demons and how they try to cripple or at least hinder the walk of a Christian. If you have not read it, I highly recommend it. If you have read it, perhaps it is time to read it again.

It is gloomy here today and it rained under an inch last night. No drought relief here. Some of the local farmers have not harvested their crops from the field as they fear they cannot ship them with the Mississippi river so low and barges stranded in the channel. What a strange time to be alive. I suppose those that lived through World Wars thought the same thing.

The mail delivery continues. The school bus transports kiddos. Men get haircuts. Women tend to the grocery needs. Through it all are we engaged in the work of Christ?

If your walk is drying up perhaps you better get with it and find ways to drench your soul with His Living Water! We cannot control the weather but we can control whether or not we seek Him and His will for us! If the enemy of our souls bothers you, do what the Word says:

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

James 4:7-10 NIV
Posted on in Faith, Just do it, Prayer, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Yield

Suscipe Prayer

Again.

St. Ignatius of Loyola wrote the following prayer. He lived 1491-1556. Suscipe means Take, Lord, and receive. I am drawn to this prayer repeatedly as I tend to want to be in control of my life (like most humans) then realize I have no control over my life. Rev. Gerhardt was right, “Control is an illusion.” He preached that and I argued with him all the way home from church. So here is the prayer by St. Ignatius.

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding,
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.

You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.

Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace,
that is enough for me.

Why is this prayer important to me? I know God asks for my surrender to Him. Surrender in everything. Surrender of everything. That has been a tough lesson for this Irish German girl! Yet as I yield to His Lordship and sovereignty over me I find riches of peace and blessings I could not have imagined.

I am hoping this post will help you ask the Lord to take all your liberty, all that you have and call your own. May you find this the most fulfilling action you ever take.

Unsplash by Billy Pasco

Posted on in Aging, Faith, Journal, Prayer, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Thanks, Writing Life

Reviewing a Journal

Because of the arthritis in my hands I began to journal on my iPad a few years ago. I have kept the habit of a paper journal by printing out those ideas and pasting them in a spiral bound journal. This involves printing out ones I have not printed, arrange by date, cut and paste, etc. For several years, I have sadly dropped the habit of reviewing my journal. When we got ready to travel this month I decided to take the latest journal and review it. I will read through it. Praise God for how He sees me through situations. Mark poetry I likely did not organize in poetry binder, etc. with marker.

Mitchell Luo

Sometimes this yields themes for this blog. Most times it is just for my comfort and remembrance. We are told to rehearse the works of God and praise Him. But do we? I often fail at that task. I remember some highlights, but I drop the minutia that can change the course of my thoughts and arrange my victories in the daily battle against darkness.

Recently I was pondering that warfare. I am sometimes engaged in small struggles that remind me following Jesus is not “all unicorns and rainbows.” If you examine those times in your own life you will likely see that there are recurring patterns in the attacks. When I can recognize, and say ‘oh no, here comes THAT again’ I am better equipped to defeat it. Putting on my armor, praying, raising high the sword of the Spirit, taking every thought captive to Christ Jesus, doing my part not to surrender by means of apathy. If, however, I have not been paying attention I can get swept under a current of negativity and hopelessness before I realize what hit me.

Have you examined your life by a similar means? Some other method? Many recommend making a timeline of your life with God. Note the occurrences that have impacted you. Reflect on where your awareness of God was at each of those times.

Campfiregrace.com

Yes, look back at what has happened and how you went through each thing. We are not to be permanently looking back, but it is helpful to review our life and His participating Presence at each stage.

Journal before I get hold of it with photos and glue stick!

A Prayer to Thank God for His Sovereign Control

Father, we praise You for the delicate way You powerfully align our lives to Your creation. Thank You for the waters and mountains that remind us of You. Forgive us for overlooking Your presence in every aspect of our lives, and bless us to notice and give glory to You, for You are our healer. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

(Meg Bucher) https://www.christianity.com/wiki/prayer/thank-you-prayers-to-give-thanks-to-god-and-the-lord-jesus-christ.html

Psalm 124 NIV
A song of ascents. Of David.
1 If the Lord had not been on our side—
    let Israel say—
2 if the Lord had not been on our side
    when people attacked us,
3 they would have swallowed us alive
    when their anger flared against us;
4 the flood would have engulfed us,
    the torrent would have swept over us,
5 the raging waters
    would have swept us away.

6 Praise be to the Lord,
    who has not let us be torn by their teeth.
7 We have escaped like a bird
    from the fowler’s snare;
the snare has been broken,
    and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

Find a way to review your life with God. No matter your age, no matter how many times you have done it, making a timeline with God is a great exercise.

Posted on in Book quotes, Challenge, Faith, Just do it, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth

Have You Read These?

{First photo from Unsplash, yoshua girl} Bob and I enjoy finding an author we like who has written an abundance of books. Then we try to work our way through the books in their order of publication. One such author is Louise Penny. The books are usually set in a small town named Three Pines. Inspector Gamache and his fellow Sûreté du Québec officers speak French Canadian phrases which Bob adores and I translate in my own way.

Louise Penny weaves wisdom through her writings. There are 17 books in this series so far. I came across this quote recently and had to share it.

He tried not to go to the worst possible conclusion. That they were down because everyone who might communicate was down.

No. He forced his mind away from that. Stick with the simple facts. He knew how catastrophic a rampant imagination, driven by fear, could be.

How The Light Gets In, Louise Penny

Fear occurs about 1,025 in the Bible and first appears in Genesis 3. Fear has been with us a very long time. Fear not or be not afraid appear many times (unlikely the 365 count is accurate according to most scholars).

Regardless, we are prone to fear, even Louis Penny knows, and we are told not to go there. Fear not, Be not afraid. It is something we have a choice about.

When did you recently force your mind away from the worst possible conclusion? Were you able to take those thoughts captive to Christ Jesus?

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV

This is a discipline that truly takes practice. We must learn not to let ‘awfulizing’ become the way we think. We must turn our thoughts and our ways to His thoughts and ways. You can likely tell by my catching and quoting this from a fictional novel that I have been at this practice for a while. No, I have not mastered it, but like my other spiritual disciplines it does help me grow closer to Jesus.

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Faith, Just do it, Memories, Nature, Prayer, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Traveling

Water Prayer

[First photo by r m dutina]

While traveling in the Smoky Mountains one year I bought what could be a flower vase. It was pinched in the middle giving it two ‘spouts.’ The longer I looked at it and handled it the more it became a vessel for my prayers. We were always near the running water of the spring rivers be it the Little Pigeon or “one of the 2,100 miles of rushing mountain streams and rivers that flow through the park.” I would show you a photo, but when we downsized I let the vase/pitcher go. 😦 sigh

Here was part of my inspiration

And so my morning prayer gradually became

Jesus, I pour out this water
before the undivided Trinity:
Let my living be this day
an offering and thanksgiving.
This day caress me.
This day possess me.
Open my ears and eyes
to Your Love for us.

Try making a ceremony around your prayer time. I have taught that many ways. When you get a drink of water, say a prayer, turning your attention to the Holy One. Are you a coffee addict? Dedicate each sip to the Trinity. 

Keep a glass near the water faucet and try a water prayer of your own. Or use mine. 
The idea is to turn your heart and mind to Him who loves you best.

Our soul is like a stream of water, which gives strength, direction, and harmony to every other area of our life. When that stream is as it should be, we are constantly refreshed and exuberant in all we do, because our soul itself is then profusely rooted in the vastness of God and his kingdom, including nature; and all else within us is enlivened and directed by that stream. Therefore we are in harmony with God, reality, and the rest of human nature and nature at large.

Dallas Willard in Renovation of the Heart