Wednesday, December 30, 2015

“Turn around and believe that the good news that we are loved is better than we ever dared hope, and that to believe in that good news, to live out of it and toward it, to be in love with that good news, is of all glad things in this world the gladdest thing of all. Amen, and come Lord Jesus.”  ~ Frederick Buechner

ZECHARIAH 13-14

9The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.

REVELATION 21

 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’^b or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”



JOURNAL

It is God who makes all things right. It is God who transforms. To know that it is not solely dependent on me and my efforts, brings a peace and joy. It allows me to breathe easy and to rest in the knowledge that it is God that works all things for good.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

“Stop trying to protect, to rescue, to judge, to manage the lives around you . . . remember that the lives of others are not your business. They are their business. They are God’s business . . . even your own life is not your business. It also is God’s business. Leave it to God. It is an astonishing thought. It can become a life-transforming thought . . . unclench the fists of your spirit and take it easy . . . What deadens us most to God’s presence within us, I think, is the inner dialogue that we are continuously engaged in with ourselves, the endless chatter of human thought. I suspect that there is nothing more crucial to true spiritual comfort . . . than being able from time to time to stop that chatter . . . ” ~ Frederich Buechner 

ZECHARIAH 10-12

12I will strengthen them in the Lord

and in his name they will live securely,”

REVELATION 20

4I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God.



JOURNAL

It is a great reminder to know that my life is not all that matters. To know that there is a greater story and I can play a part in that greater story.  I play my part well when I accept God's love for me and in turn give that love to others. It really is not as complicated as I make it, it only becomes complicated when I am tempted to make things and circumstances more important than obeying God and loving others.

Sunday, December 28, 2015

“The true definition of mental illness is when the majority of your time is spent in the past or future, but rarely living in the realism of NOW.”  ~ Shannon L. Alder

ZECHARIAH 7-9

‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? 6And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?

8And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: 9“This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. 10Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’

REVELATION 19

“Praise our God,

all you his servants,

you who fear him,

both great and small!”



JOURNAL

Being present in the current moment is one of the most difficult things for me to do. Largely it is because I have become conditioned to consuming my mind with the past and the future. It is a habitual response to fear and uncertainty. One that serves to help me but one that has definitely gone awry and does not serve me as needed.

To focus my mind on the present and on the righteousness and goodness of God and his creation is all my mind needs in order to live in joy and to accomplish good in every hour of every day. If I fear God and surrender to his truth then man can hold no fear over me. Unknown circumstances or unknown responses from men can never move me to irrational or hasty actions if my heart and mind are sold out to God and the present moment.

Monday, December 14, 2015

“To be fully seen by somebody, then, and be loved anyhow - this is a human offering that can border on miraculous.”  ~ Elizabeth Gilbert 

AMOS 1-3

8The lion has roared—

who will not fear?

The Sovereign Lord has spoken—

who can but prophesy?

REVELATION 5

“You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals,

because you were slain,

and with your blood you purchased for God

persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.

10You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,

and they will reign^b on the earth.”



JOURNAL

This is a healthy reminder that God loves all the world and all people from every tribe and language and nation. Jesus' death was for all and God has made them to be part of his Kingdom. It is this same love that seeks me out and forgives me of all the ways I sin. It is in this spirit that I am loved and saved.

Friday, December 11, 2015

“Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.” 
~ Marilyn Monroe

HOSEA 9-11

12Sow righteousness for yourselves,

reap the fruit of unfailing love,

and break up your unplowed ground;

for it is time to seek the Lord,

until he comes

and showers his righteousness on you.

REVELATION 2

These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich!

JOURNAL

Trusting God is  the healthiest thing that someone can do. Faith in God is the antidote to addiction and co-dependency because it does not use people or things to fill needs of self-worth and identity.

Of course this is far easier said than done...as our culture tends to push us to the brink of always pretending to be something we are not.  That never seems to work out the way I would want...usually though not to the extreme of the following clip.  Oh how awesome to live life as honest and authentic as Buddy...

Thursday, December 10, 2015

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” 
~ Corrie ten Boom

HOSEA 5-8

For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
    and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

REVELATION 1

3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.



JOURNAL

Most days it is difficult to bring my mind back to the present moment and to clear it of all worries, doubts etc. Yet this is key in grounding myself in the presence of God. God's word has a way of clearing all of the clutter  and getting me into the mindset of being present. It is amazing how clear things can be and become.

It is in these moments that I realize the smallness of my life compared to the infinite of God. Yet this doesn't diminish my significance but rather deepens it. I don't have to become, I just simply can be...

This clip from Apollo 13 is such a great reminder of how clearing the clutter and unfortunate circumstances often provide the clear path home.

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

“God will not look you over for medals, degrees or diplomas but for scars.” 
~ Elbert Hubbard

HOSEA 1-4

2When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.” 3So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son...

1The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”

JUDE

8In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. 9But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”^d 10Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.

20But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

22Be merciful to those who doubt; 23save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.^f



JOURNAL

The journey of life is wild and full of seeming contradictions and struggles and difficulties. Yet it is designed by God and is to be lived under that authority and in trusting God, not in merely following my primal instincts. We have been given a brain and an ability to think and choose. Therefore we have the power to follow and choose God, who has given and chosen us.

This is our calling and it involves being pure in the midst of unspeakable evil and chaos. 

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” ~ Oscar Wilde

EZEKIEL 47-48

“And the name of the city from that time on will be:

THE LORD IS THERE.”

1 JOHN 1

5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all^b sin

JOURNAL

God's presence is the presence of life, passion, love. It is the only true life and it is what drives me to righteousness. It is what drives me to truth. It is what sustains me and moves me into difficulty instead of the easier path. It is a driving force that is far beyond my understanding. It is what helps me to distinguish and realize that this force is far beyond me and far greater than my life. 

To walk in the light of God is to be changed and to be moved to love others. If I am not then I am not walking in the light of God.