Silence, stillness and solitude-one of the great spiritual disciplines. To be alone with God is to taste with your lips, to touch with your heart, to see with your inner eyes the wonder that is God. Lift up your heart with love and seek God, just Him, and nothing else.
A Pocketful of Miracles, Part 1
A Pocketful of Miracles. A clip from the movie. It is amazing to see what hope will and can do in one’s life.
A Pocketful of Miracles
Last night I watched a classic movie based on a story by Damon Runyon called A Pocketful of Miracles. In the story an old bag lady, a hustler brilliantly played by Bette Davis, learns her daughter, whom she hasn’t seen in years is coming to America. The problem is the old lady’s daughter believes her mother is a member of high society. Through a series of “miracles” her life and the lives of those who comes to her rescue are transformed.
Didn’t Christ do this? His gift opened the door so we to experience the miraculous. To enjoy a life filled with wonder, joy, abundance. But there is a problem. Catherine Marshall described it this way, “It would be wrong to have a “poverty complex,” for to think ourselves paupers is to deny either the King’s riches or to deny our being His children.” But isn’t this exactly what we are doing? We are either living below the miracle, or deny miracle exist. Our Jesus came so we could become partners, and hand out pocketful of miracles.
A Soul’s Rest
Little Blessings
Little Blessings
Thomas Kinkade in his book, Lightposts for Living, asked this question, What small things can I do today bring a blessing to someone else? He talked about small, not huge, gigantic, or enormous things. How often do we think in order to make a difference, it [the thing has to be large, or on a world-wide scale? In the rush of the world we forget the power of the “small.” A smile, laughter, a phone call, card, or your welcoming spirit can do much to transform the people and space around you. Let’s commit ourselves to be a blessing to someone else by giving away lots and lots of small things. Remember, both receiver and giver will be blessed.
Enjoy this small gift of beauty.
J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain in Missouri’s Country Club Plaza district, sculpted in Paris in 1910 by the late Henri Greber.
Living with Purpose
What I saw and experienced during those hours was the realization that as human beings we have conditioned ourselves to stay stuck in our pain, our regret, our mistakes, our stuff because we can use it as an excuse for not living with purpose and promise. Jesus said he came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. But we don’t want abundant life. We would rather stay in the pain, or in our mess than seeking God and discovering the purpose for which we were created.
There are millions of hurting people seeking an answer to the question, why am I here? Our search for the answer begins not with things, people, stuff; but with God. Beloved, discover how to live your life with purpose by discovering God.
As the Deer
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” Psalm 42: 1-2 NIVThe desire to seek after the Lord should be constant. Our lives never satisfied with material things, needless activities and experiences. That’s why we consume more, fill our homes with stuff and go from relationship to relationship, because our souls are missing God. We need the living water that only He can provide. By drinking of the life-giving, soul satisfying, spirit filling waters of God, we find soul satisfaction no earthly pleasure can match.
All Things New
The film by Mel Gibson, The Passion of the Christ depicts the last 12 hours of Jesus Christ on earth. If anyone who has seen the film can’t help but be moved by the gruesome, horrific scenes. However, there are some poignant ones. One in particular tugged at my heart. Jesus’ mother running to get closer to Jesus as he’s carrying his cross. Followed by a disciple and the other Mary, she stopped with tears dripping down her face, frozen in time as her mind floats back to a earlier time. 
Caught between two moments in time, she remembers,when he was a child and had fallen and she ran to comfort him, and now this moment her son now a man has fallen to the ground, bloody, bruised, beaten. She runs to him again and gently touches his face when he speak to her in whispers, “See mother, I make all things new.” Sorrow and hope wrapped in precious blood surrounded by sneers, taunts, whips, angry voices. Abundant life slowly, straining with every painful step through Via Dolorosa to create a new, bright shiny life for the world-for you and me.
A Soul’s Rest
This morning the skyline was gleaming with purple light, the whole world seems to be rising quietly, softly with the dawn. I began the day with Psalm 69: 6-36, but paused on verses 30-32[KJV].
“I will praise the name of God with a song, and magnify Him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bull. The humble shall see this and be glad; And you who seek God, your hearts shall live.”
I arose with the dawn, and a song of praise upon my lips for the blessing of my Savior. His wonderful gift at Calvary has restored me, and given me a new life. My soul is at rest-secure in this knowledge.
Loving God with Excellence 
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