Author: LovingGodWithExcellence

I am a minister, speaker, and creative individual passionate about learning, experiencing and expressing God at the highest levels, and sharing the love of God with others. My devotion is expressed through my faith, family and communities of love throughout the globe. I enjoy the opportunity to explore the intersection of innovation, creativity, faith and personal transformation. I have authored two books, and working on several others including a new book on grace.
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Clarity

Scripture Luke 2:41-51

When Jesus was 12 years old, he remained in the temple among the religious leaders listening and asking questions.  When his adopted father and his mother came looking for him and inquired why he had remained behind. His reply, he had to be about His father’s work [paraphrase]. Even at a young age, he was totally clear about his mission. He was engaged in the work of God. And just what was this work, and why was it so important?  It was the inner work of clarifying who God is, and why we should believe in Him.

Jesus is still engaged in this work. He is still listening, addressing questions to our hearts.  This major work involves clearing out the debris and filth of the sin that so easily besets us.  Think about it, as beloved children of God, we too are called to listen to the sweet voice of the Savior, to inquire, to seek Him, to ask questions, and then bring the light of the message of the gospel to the whole world. It is a courageous act.  Just as it took courage for Jesus to remain behind and stay in the temple listening, and teaching those much older than he the truth of God.

Thomas Kinkade, the painter of light wrote in his book “Lightposts for Living: The Art of Choosing a Joyful Life” about the day when he choose a difference path that the one his teachers told was the way to go. He said, “Suddenly I realized that the self-centered, self-serving artistic approach I was being taught was just the opposite of what I wanted my life and my art to be about. And at that moment a different philosophy began to form itself in my mind, one that has driven my life and career ever since.”  He realized his art was not about him, but about the people who would be touched by the gift. Thomas Kinkade made a decision, and became clear about his purpose.  And the world has enjoyed his gift, and will for many years to come.

Jesus came because he was clear about his direction and purpose.  His purpose was clear-salvation for us. Are you clear about your purpose and direction?  Are you about the Father’s work?
I hope so.  The world needs your light.

Claire de Lune by Claude Debussy

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Gifted for Leadership- Solitude

This article from the blog Gifted for Leadership is exceptional.  It is written for women, Christian women who want to go further in their ministry.  Check it out.

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Life Eternal

Life eternal—eternal love. Nicholas of Cusa was a Christian mystic who lived during the 1400s wrote Vision of God. One quote that touched me deeply last night was “Life eternal is nought other than that blessed regard wherewith Thou never ceasest to behold me, yea, even the secret places of my soul. With Thee to behold is to give life; ’tis unceasingly to impart sweetest love of Thee; ’tis to inflame me to love of Thee by love’s imparting, and to feed me by inflaming, and by feeding to kindle my yearning, and by kindling to make me drink of the dew of gladness, and by drinking to infuse in me a fountain of life, and by infusing to make it increase and endure.”

To know love so completely that you glow with the radiant light of the Son. To feel the warm embrace of His loving arms around you in any and all situations. To see His loving reflection in your eyes, and know that all is well with your soul. That is life eternal.

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Abundance

Oshkosh, Wisconsin      Photo Credit: Denise L. White

 

 

Peer at the clear light of God. Isn’t it wonderful? He provides everything needed for true life-real life. Not the shallow water of despair and futility, but the radiant life which strengthens, embraces, creates and stirs our hearts toward goodness and light-toward God.
John 10:9-11 [New American Standard Bible] states, “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. 11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”
There is one condition to having an abundance life, and it is through the doorway of Christ. Being with Him you find eternal life with the [only]Person who offers you everything both now and forever.
Attempts made at trying match what God offers doesn’t measure up. There is nothing this world offers which compares with amazing treasures awaiting those who enter through the door with Christ. Henry David Thoreau once said, “What is called genius is the abundance of life and health.”
The abundant life is only available in the awesome, magnificent presence and power of God.
Go ahead! Peep in.

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Gentleness

Galatians 5:22-24 New International Version (NIV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Philippians 4:4-6 New International Version (NIV)
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Colossians 3:11-13 New International Version (NIV)
11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

1 Timothy 6:10-12 New International Version (NIV)
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

1 Peter 3:14-16 New International Version (NIV)
14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats[a]; do not be frightened.”[b] 15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

The spirit of gentleness is like a shining garment woven with thread of goodness and strength that provides comfort, security, and faith. Pick up the garment of gentleness, wear it well, and then share it with others.

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Possibility

If all things are possible with God, then all things are possible to him who believes in him. Corrie Ten Boom

I read during my Saturday devotion about moving forward. The devotion was entitled Keep Going, and it described when God instructed the children of Israel to break camp and start moving because they had stayed at Mount Horeb too long. How ironic it is that as people we become comfortable in place and within circumstances even if it hurts. We don’t want to venture beyond our surroundings because we don’t know what’s out there.

We stay on a job too long until force to leave. We endure painful relationships for so long because it appears nothing can be done to rectify or resolve it.
We’ve been told to move along, get moving, try something new, or change our perception from fear to possibility, but can’t seem to gather enough momentum.
God told the nation to keep advancing, and do not veer off the path He established. He has told us the same thing; move forward and experience the fullness of life, but we chose to stay too long at Mount Horeb.

If God-the creator and sustainer of all life, told you [us] to keep going into the realm of possibility, what is holding us back? Fear, lack of faith, people? Whatever we call it, it all boil down to, we don’t believe God.
To get away from the mountain requires grasping the truth of God and his character. He is God, and nothing in the universe is more powerful. In the beginning He created life, and gave us the power to live and live it[life] more abundantly. God created possibility and also sustains it. Circumstances, situations, lifestyle changes, whatever you want to call it, does not surprise, frighten or cause God any alarms. He has all of life firmly, securely and lovingly in His hands. He can handle any situations you and I encountered, as well as any opportunity with the same competent, all-powerful and loving manner in which He created the universe.
If we lack anything, Jesus said seek and you shall find, knock on the door of God, open it and there you will discover what is needed to keep moving into the bright, clear air of possibility. Like the songwriter said, Just a closer walk with thee is all it takes.

It’s time for us to move away from the mountain, and keep walking into our destiny. It’s time to shed the skin of what is now and embrace the light of what is possible. Corrie Ten Boom said, All things are possible with God, but only for those who believe in the All Possible God.

Do you believe?

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Humility

“True humility is a flower which will adorn any garden.  This is a sauce with which you may season every dish of life, and you will find an improvement in every case.” C.H. Spurgeon

Walking around with a covering of humility in this era of self-promotion seems a bit out of place, or does it? What does it mean to be a humble person?  Is there any value in being humble?  Does the world celebrate the truly humble?  Does it [the world] need more humble people?

Humble means

  1. modest:modest and unassuming in attitude and behavior
  2. respectful:feeling or showing respect and deference toward other people
  3. lowly: relatively low in rank and without pretensions

Think of Mother Teresa, a small woman who showed respect, and love for those suffering due to illness and bigotry.

Think of Martin Luther King, a black man who demonstrated that a person’s worth is not defined by skin color, or race but by the fact they are gifts from God.

Or Sand Springs Baptist Church in Athens, Texas that recently raised money to help an avowed atheist who pushed for the removal of Nativity Scene from the county courthouse.  When asked why they did it, the simple answer was because he needed help.  No fanfare.  No trumpets blazing, just the simple commitment to demonstrate that a humble spirit can experience the wonders of God. 

The world prefers the proud and brash. When it does recognize the humble, it comes after much upheavel. The humble prefers to do their work in quiet, knowing a greater reward awaits them.

The humble person is a witness bearer for the truth.  They may reside on your block, even in your home, but they have learned a wonderful lesson, and that is the immense joy of showing love through humility. 

Spurgeon was right.  Humility is a sweet flower that looks good on any table.  How about yours?

 

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Prayer

“The richness of God’s word ought to determine our prayer, not the poverty of our heart.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

I once thought of prayer as the thing you do when things went wrong, or I did something wrong. At another stage in my spiritual walk prayer was an activity where I sent my requests, my desires, my wants up to heaven’s door, and waited for “my” answer. Or praying for other people, particularly those in my family, who needed help, assistance, resources and money was an expectation during religious services, and specified times. Of course, prayer was encouraged as a spiritual discipline that one should practice on a daily basis to maintain a “right” relationship with God.
Over the years, I’ve learned through trial, and much error that prayer is and will always be divine communication with the Holy of Holies-with God. And that you don’t have to come with an agenda, or lists of people, issues, or circumstances needing prayer. One just has to come seeking to spend time with God.

Prayer is sharing your concerns, and desires, yes but it is so much more. It is filling your mind, your spirit, your soul with God. It is being in His presence, sensing and hearing from Him. And yes, it is also about the people, places, and things which concern us. But more importantly, our prayer life is our Spirit Life. It is a sacred, intimate discussion with the One person who is so wonderful, so marvelous that you want to the spend time with him in prayer.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote brilliantly when he said that richness of God’s word should determine the length, breadth and depth of our prayer and not external matters. Prayers built on the reality of the truth of God’s word and divine work gives a fuller meaning our time with God, because we pray out of love and gratitude, and not despair.

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Walk Worthy

Excellence is defined as the quality or state of being outstanding and superior, or an outstanding feature: a feature or respect in which somebody or something is superior and outstanding. Some say we know it[excellence] when we see it. It is a quality or characteristic no one or nothing else possess. We call it rare-superior-unique-above all the rest. Our Lord and Savior was given to us as an example of excellence-perfection in both man and God. And he calls us to demonstrate excellence in our walk, in our work, and in our worship. Just as He walked down that narrow street to Calvary he expects us to carry ourselves in a manner befitting the King of Kings.

Colossians 1: 9-14
“We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,[e] 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[f] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Via Dolorosa

As Resurrection Sunday approaches, let us not forget the price paid, the manner in which it was paid, and recommit ourselves to walk worthy of Christ the King.

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Compassion

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Colossians 3:2

Alexander MacLaren said, “It is of no use to say to men, “Let not your heart be troubled,” unless you finish the verse and say, “Believe in God, believe also in Christ.”

What is compassion all about? It is about believing in the God of compassion, and recognizing even in the midst of our rejection of him, God-the Christ had compassion on us. He died for us so that transformation, restoration and salvation could be ours. Compassion is about the gift of love and forgiveness even if recipient of the gift never respond. It is still their gift. We see it as God sees our stubborn refusal to accept all that he is. He desires for us to have the gift, and it grieves him when he sees his children walking away from their birthright.

Empathy and sympathy are the two lynch-pins of compassion. The desire to love and suffer for someone else which allows us to offer compassion. God desired to relieve us of the pain of eternal separation from him by offering up his only son, Jesus.

So, when all the things that trouble us, and keeps us awake at night, turn your minds and hearts to the blessed hope of Jesus and eliminate the emotional baggage. Meditate on the compassion of God, his goodness, his grace, and the gift of His abundant love. Cultivate your compassion and show the world your faith in God.