**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**
Our heart speaks ... if only we would pay attention. Our heart communicates through high emotion, strong words and even in silence. Our heart speaks its depths and learning to pay attention to it takes time, discipline and a willingness to hear.
We can also learn to listen to the heart of others. Listen for what is the deeper issue going on, the deeper desire and the deeper struggle. The first step in this is listening for the heart of God.
Take time today to ask God what is His heart. Ask Him to show you through his word - the Bible. As you see God's heart, you will see yours and be able to see the heart of others.
The heart speaks. What is yours saying today?
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Game Changers
**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**
"Because what if we believed instead, that those little people we are sacrificing for each day, that they are growing up to be game changers." A Mustard Seed Journey Blog
These words convicted me and resonated with me. So much of my energy is spent on prevention rather than creation. What is more of my energies were spent on creating rather than preventing, trusting rather than fearing?
What are the needed boundaries AND needed freedoms?
Prayer: God help us. Help us to discern needed boundaries and needed freedoms. May our energies be spent on creating, stemming out of faith rather than preventing, stemming out of fear. Amen.
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
"Because what if we believed instead, that those little people we are sacrificing for each day, that they are growing up to be game changers." A Mustard Seed Journey Blog
These words convicted me and resonated with me. So much of my energy is spent on prevention rather than creation. What is more of my energies were spent on creating rather than preventing, trusting rather than fearing?
What are the needed boundaries AND needed freedoms?
Prayer: God help us. Help us to discern needed boundaries and needed freedoms. May our energies be spent on creating, stemming out of faith rather than preventing, stemming out of fear. Amen.
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
Friday, September 13, 2013
Enjoy Today!
Enjoy something today! Maybe it is a great piece of chocolate, a special coffee drink, time with a friend, creative time with a child, etc. Make the choice to enjoy the day and delight in God's goodness to you!
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Delight
**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**
Driving home from work a few days ago my son is singing/yelling a son to his favorite cartoon. He is going all out. His voice cracks, his voice doesn’t stay in the same key and his words do not reflect the real words of the song. He doesn’t care and he is having so much fun! And me … I am delighting in it.
Oh how I wish I had this confidence. The confidence that those around me would let me be me. The confidence that I will be accepted no matter what. We all long for acceptance and specifically for unconditional love.
I delighted in listening to my son and it was a picture for me of the delight God has in seeing and hearing me. He created me and delights when I am me. I don’t have to work for his delight, he created and delights in me.
May you sense God’s delight today!
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
Driving home from work a few days ago my son is singing/yelling a son to his favorite cartoon. He is going all out. His voice cracks, his voice doesn’t stay in the same key and his words do not reflect the real words of the song. He doesn’t care and he is having so much fun! And me … I am delighting in it.
Oh how I wish I had this confidence. The confidence that those around me would let me be me. The confidence that I will be accepted no matter what. We all long for acceptance and specifically for unconditional love.
I delighted in listening to my son and it was a picture for me of the delight God has in seeing and hearing me. He created me and delights when I am me. I don’t have to work for his delight, he created and delights in me.
May you sense God’s delight today!
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Take Part
**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**
There are times when our hearts are heavy, burdened by sadness and a deep sense that things are not the way they are supposed to be. Our hearts are weighed down as the reality of sin, the reality of evil and the reality of pain fill the headlines. Even if these realities aren’t in the headlines we see them in our lives and in the lives of those we love.
A heavy heart is a sign to us that things are not as they should be. And as our hearts are heavy so is even greater the heart of God. So tell him about your sadness, vent your anger at injustice, ask him if there is anything you are called to fight for. And if you are, fight well. We get to take part in the good in the world.
So take part in the world. Take part because you follow a God who desires justice, peace and wholeness.
Take part because you love as God loves, in grace and truth.
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
There are times when our hearts are heavy, burdened by sadness and a deep sense that things are not the way they are supposed to be. Our hearts are weighed down as the reality of sin, the reality of evil and the reality of pain fill the headlines. Even if these realities aren’t in the headlines we see them in our lives and in the lives of those we love.
A heavy heart is a sign to us that things are not as they should be. And as our hearts are heavy so is even greater the heart of God. So tell him about your sadness, vent your anger at injustice, ask him if there is anything you are called to fight for. And if you are, fight well. We get to take part in the good in the world.
So take part in the world. Take part because you follow a God who desires justice, peace and wholeness.
Take part because you love as God loves, in grace and truth.
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Asking for Help
**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**
It is so hard to ask for help. We’ll exhaust ourselves before we ask another for help. We’ll awkwardly carry a heavy load, bend with a child in one arm to pick up a paper clip and many times overexert ourselves then grumble under our breaths that no one is helping. So, why can’t we just ask for help??
Asking for help means admitting that I cannot do it all on my own and that I might need others. Asking for help means I actually know what to ask for. So many times I am so overwhelmed and so accustomed to taking care of everything I don’t even know what help to ask for!
I believe asking for help takes humility, it takes knowing yourself and it takes being realistic about life.
How can you ask for help today?
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
It is so hard to ask for help. We’ll exhaust ourselves before we ask another for help. We’ll awkwardly carry a heavy load, bend with a child in one arm to pick up a paper clip and many times overexert ourselves then grumble under our breaths that no one is helping. So, why can’t we just ask for help??
Asking for help means admitting that I cannot do it all on my own and that I might need others. Asking for help means I actually know what to ask for. So many times I am so overwhelmed and so accustomed to taking care of everything I don’t even know what help to ask for!
I believe asking for help takes humility, it takes knowing yourself and it takes being realistic about life.
How can you ask for help today?
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
Monday, September 9, 2013
Good Will Overcome
**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**
Some days it is hard to believe that good will win, that good will overcome evil. So many days it seems like evil is taking over, that we should expect more evil than good and that goodness will not make it.
Some days our faith dwindles and we cannot see how good will come through, how God will come through. Some days we are grasping for any evidence of goodness and we hold on by a thread.
Today, may God give you the grace to hope and the faith to believe. May your hope increase and your faith grow even in the seeming absence of goodness.
Good will overcome.
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
Some days it is hard to believe that good will win, that good will overcome evil. So many days it seems like evil is taking over, that we should expect more evil than good and that goodness will not make it.
Some days our faith dwindles and we cannot see how good will come through, how God will come through. Some days we are grasping for any evidence of goodness and we hold on by a thread.
Today, may God give you the grace to hope and the faith to believe. May your hope increase and your faith grow even in the seeming absence of goodness.
Good will overcome.
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
Friday, September 6, 2013
Inner Life
**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**
As I read the story of Mary and the announcement of the virgin birth in Luke I am continually struck by Mary’s inner life. Repeatedly in the first chapters of Luke the gospel writer says that she treasured and pondered the words and works of God in her heart.
I want to be one who attends to God, hears Him and treasures what He says and ponders it. In order to be that a few things need to take place:
Slowing down
Quiet
Paying attention
Listening
Waiting
Trusting
How about you? Can you hear what God is saying?
If so, do you treasure his words or are they equal with all other voices?
Do you meditate on those treasured words and let them sink deep?
As I seek to, I invite you to as well.
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
As I read the story of Mary and the announcement of the virgin birth in Luke I am continually struck by Mary’s inner life. Repeatedly in the first chapters of Luke the gospel writer says that she treasured and pondered the words and works of God in her heart.
I want to be one who attends to God, hears Him and treasures what He says and ponders it. In order to be that a few things need to take place:
Slowing down
Quiet
Paying attention
Listening
Waiting
Trusting
How about you? Can you hear what God is saying?
If so, do you treasure his words or are they equal with all other voices?
Do you meditate on those treasured words and let them sink deep?
As I seek to, I invite you to as well.
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
Thursday, September 5, 2013
A Rich Life
**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**
I have been graced with a rich life. These words struck me just a few mornings ago. As I was reflecting on various events of my life, these words rung true – I have been grace with a rich life.
Disclaimer: a rich life by no means is to be understood as an easy life. My life has not been easy. In fact, it may be through many of these difficulties that my life has become rich.
Have you been graced with a rich life? How has life been made fuller and deeper for you?
Will you thank God for what he has done in and through your life?
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
I have been graced with a rich life. These words struck me just a few mornings ago. As I was reflecting on various events of my life, these words rung true – I have been grace with a rich life.
Disclaimer: a rich life by no means is to be understood as an easy life. My life has not been easy. In fact, it may be through many of these difficulties that my life has become rich.
Have you been graced with a rich life? How has life been made fuller and deeper for you?
Will you thank God for what he has done in and through your life?
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Clean Community
**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**
Community is messy. It's full of mistakes, hurts, forgiveness, reconciliation. Rich community includes ups/downs, rights/wrongs. It includes what it is to be human, and for Christians, humans trying to follow Christ.
Clean Community … what an oxymoron! I do not think such a thing exists!
I love community but hate the messiness of it. Stepping on toes, hurting someone, being hurt, misunderstandings, weariness, false expectations, disappointments, etc. So community is anything but clean and it is utterly messy.
In this beautiful mess is life, a rich life, a life lived with others and with God. There is opportunity for reconciliation and redemption. Community is not clean but often it is so worth it. In exchange for the messes we get meaning, depth and authentic relationships. In exchange for messes we receive grace and we offer grace.
May you embrace the messiness of community today.
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
Community is messy. It's full of mistakes, hurts, forgiveness, reconciliation. Rich community includes ups/downs, rights/wrongs. It includes what it is to be human, and for Christians, humans trying to follow Christ.
Clean Community … what an oxymoron! I do not think such a thing exists!
I love community but hate the messiness of it. Stepping on toes, hurting someone, being hurt, misunderstandings, weariness, false expectations, disappointments, etc. So community is anything but clean and it is utterly messy.
In this beautiful mess is life, a rich life, a life lived with others and with God. There is opportunity for reconciliation and redemption. Community is not clean but often it is so worth it. In exchange for the messes we get meaning, depth and authentic relationships. In exchange for messes we receive grace and we offer grace.
May you embrace the messiness of community today.
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Looking Weak
**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**
I hate looking weak. I fight it because I am so competitive. I do not want to look weak. I do not want to be taken advantage of. I have a great aversion to looking weak yet God calls me to be vulnerable, therefore exposing my weakness.
So I spend a lot of effort to appear strong, competent and with it. A LOT of effort. Then God takes hold of me and calls me out. He calls me to put my heart on the line, to trust and to look weak. He calls me to be vulnerable and honest.
And here’s what happens … my vulnerability opens doors for others to be real, honest and vulnerable. It gives them permission to share their hearts, their struggles and frees others to be. We get to be human together.
How can your vulnerability be a gift to another? How will showing your weaknesses give permission to someone to be themselves?
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
I hate looking weak. I fight it because I am so competitive. I do not want to look weak. I do not want to be taken advantage of. I have a great aversion to looking weak yet God calls me to be vulnerable, therefore exposing my weakness.
So I spend a lot of effort to appear strong, competent and with it. A LOT of effort. Then God takes hold of me and calls me out. He calls me to put my heart on the line, to trust and to look weak. He calls me to be vulnerable and honest.
And here’s what happens … my vulnerability opens doors for others to be real, honest and vulnerable. It gives them permission to share their hearts, their struggles and frees others to be. We get to be human together.
How can your vulnerability be a gift to another? How will showing your weaknesses give permission to someone to be themselves?
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
Monday, September 2, 2013
Words for the Weary
**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**
If you have been given the privilege of strength or the energy to walk with God today then lift up the weary. If you can hear God’s voice and see his hands at work, encourage those who cannot. For the sake of others, take to notice God and notice him on behalf of others. Listen for his voice in your life and theirs.
This listening doesn’t come as a way of manipulation, control or accomplishment of your plans. This listening doesn’t lead to offer an empty hope, but a hope that is realistic, realizes life is hard and that God is good. This listening comes in order that you might encourage, in the right moment and with the right amount. This listening turns into an uplifting word.
So many are weary, how can you listen to God and lift them up?
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
If you have been given the privilege of strength or the energy to walk with God today then lift up the weary. If you can hear God’s voice and see his hands at work, encourage those who cannot. For the sake of others, take to notice God and notice him on behalf of others. Listen for his voice in your life and theirs.
This listening doesn’t come as a way of manipulation, control or accomplishment of your plans. This listening doesn’t lead to offer an empty hope, but a hope that is realistic, realizes life is hard and that God is good. This listening comes in order that you might encourage, in the right moment and with the right amount. This listening turns into an uplifting word.
So many are weary, how can you listen to God and lift them up?
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
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