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A Prayer for Peace, Growth, and Recovery

I wanted to share a classic devotional from St. Francis of Assisi from my meditation book, A Daybook of Grace.

“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; To be understood as to understand; To be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we received. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”

May we all aspire to become willing vessels of peace, love and mercy this day.  Amen.

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Communicate

Recently, I was involved in an incident with another person where several people were negatively impacted by words. In a rather loosely, and I admit less than clear attempt to communicate, I was met with less than kind words. This escalated when someone else attempted to coach and counsel.  Their advice was refused. The person felt justified in their communication, and no amount of reasoning from the coach was going to changed their position.  And now, their verbal assault changed direction from me to the coach. Surprised by the stubborn refusal to listen and learn, the coach changed his approach and  left well enough alone.

I shared this, because we often feel justified in our communication methods.  This is the way I did it, and so be it.  They can take it, or leave it.  I’m right and they’re wrong.  Our stubborn refusal to seek another way leaves no space for healing, adjustment, or additional growth, ours is the ONLY way.   I was reminded of that picture of Jesus standing at the door, knocking, and waiting for the other person to open it.   However, the person in my story made the decision to clench both fists on the doorknob, clutching it so tightly that no one would be able to even slightly turn the handle.  And taken it a step further, he barred the door, refusing to listen, confident his way was right.

Jesus encountered similar situations.  He tried to reason, but once reason was rejected, He left.   He demonstrated love, but when love was refused, He went to those whose spirits were opened.  I came to those who need a physician. [para-phased]   

Even today, He does not work where doors are barred, ears are shut, minds made up, and hearts closed.  He leaves these souls to their own way.  That’s not to say, there are not markers, signposts, guides, souls whose purpose it is to light the way.  But each of us must be willing to open the door, listen intently, and say yes to the opportunity to grow in the wisdom and knowledge of Him.   Individuals carrying the seeds of hard-hearted-ness, (if this is the right word), will not produce the fruit of the spirit; will not produce a space for reconciliation; will not produce hope.

I carry no ill feelings, only feelings of forgiveness for one who has so much to learn.  And as for my “protector-coach” I am deeply grateful to him for coming to my “rescue.”   The lessons learned for me are to be clearer when I communicate, to continue shine a light, walk in appreciation and love regardless of issues and circumstances, and let divine love take care of the rest.

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Where is the Love?

Let me tell you a story.  Once upon a time there was a little girl whose baby brother was very ill.  The little girl watched as her mother and father cared for the little boy.  They wanted so desperately for the boy to get well. But all their attempts at healing failed.  They tried everything, but no one had the answer.   The little girl loved her baby brother.  She thought she must do something to help.  She remembered a story her grandmother told her about a magical bird, a little blue bird with powers to grant wishes to anyone brave enough to find it.  So off the little girl went in search of the mystical creature.

Where is the love?   The little girl in our story went off to find an object, a mythical creature who she hoped would see heart’s desire, and grant her request to cure her baby brother.   When we arrive on this planet, we are also in search of something, or someone who will see our desires, and grant our wishes, and love us.  We struggle with the not only the object, but along the journey.    We go off looking for it, whatever it is, but our internal GPS is off.  We look for love in all the wrong places.  Our vision is distorted, and convoluted. We’ve gotten lost in the jungle, in the desert, in the wilderness; blinded by illusions, lies, legacies, false dreams, images, hurts, pain, disappointments, and those blinded eyes cannot see the truth. We don’t know where is the love, nor what love really is. 

So, where is the love?

Scripture says love comes from God. 1 John 4: 7.  Love is also everlasting.  Love is divine, heavenly, it never fails.  Love is patient, kind; it is not proud or boastful.  Love is wonderous, miraculous, and we were born out of love, so we are both beloved and love.  Now, when I say we are love, and beloved, many of you were probably immediately turned off.  No, not me.  I’m not lovely, I’m not lovable,  I have never really, really been loved.  My father, mother, sisters, brothers, husband, wife; they didn’t love me.  Oh, they said they did, but they didn’t.  If they had loved, they would have___.  If they had, they would have shown me that I was beloved.  Or how can I be beloved when I_______?  Just look at me!  I’ve done so many horrible things.  I don’t know who I am.  I’m all messed up.  No one really loves me.

Beloved is a powerful word.  The mere speaking of it does something to our heart, mind, and soul.  When we first experience what we feel is love, our whole being changes.  Our soul hungers for it.  It becomes a drug.  Once we’ve tasted it, we want more.  But that kind of love is not love as God defines it.    So, where is the love?

“The Lord appeared to us in the past saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. Jeremiah 31:3 NIV

Love is a song of life, hope and deliverance.  It is a clear, sweet heart song like none other. And it is special and different to each of us.  We received it at the moment of conception.  God told the angels look at this one, look how marvelous he is, she is.  They will bring something the world has never known.   How beautiful they are?  Look at them, my son, my daughter.  Look at the love.  See how they shine, sparkle;  My children; My crowning achievement.  I made them in my image;  My beloved.   We heard the voice of love right in the very heart of our DNA.  It was a song that said yes to Him who is love.   It is one of recognition, and angels rejoiced at our new birth, because another song of love filled the earth, another soul bringing glory to Father.  Our yes becomes His symphony, and our combined voices fill the atmosphere with love songs to Him, and those needing to find their love songs.

It is love that creates and heals.  It is love that builds, restores, and gives. It is love which endures all things, and demonstrates courage in the midst of the storms.  It is love that makes a home, and a community. It corrects injustice, and sacrifices.  It is a  song one hears that the soul longs for; it is the melody of life – a sweet harmony experienced when we embrace Him.  When we remember He is love, and His very essence, character is divine love, we are complete.  It is astonishing, magnificent, majestic, saving love.  Beloved, when we get the message of Jesus, that He (God) so loved the whole world that He gave us love wrapped up in Christ, then we see, feel and know we are beloved.  And God’s eyes sparkle, and He smiles when we discovered we are loved by Him.  Fully loved.

Say yes to His love, for he created us; you and me out of heavenly love. Remember our love song, our true song, and refuse to allow yourself to become dull, blurred and seared by the world anymore. No more running around to and fro. Cease the frenzy pace.  Stop, because we are no longer seeking the answer to the question where’s the love. The answer was given to each of us; a prime directive from the God Creator of all.   The real question is, does the world see it?   Does it see the love of Christ in you and me?  When you look at me, and I look at me, do we see love?   Are we reflecting the answer to the question, where is the love? Our lives must reflect the love.  Fully aware, transmit love to the world as He did, and does.   Tell the world, He loves with an everlasting love.  Tell them, we are from God, and whoever knows God must hear the voice of love, because we have been born of God’s love.   Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 1 John 4: 6, 11 [paraphrased].  The world needs to hear the strings of God’s love.  They desperately need to see your belief that you are love, and beloved of God.  It is through us they hear their own love song –  the divine plan of salvation.

So, the answer to the question,where is the love is inside of each of us. It is you.  It is me.  It’s Christ.  Together, we are the answer to question.

O, the little girl in the story, did she ever find the little blue bird?  She discovered, as we all do it where it was.  Right within her.

Today, before another thought of what I have to do; before you begin that internal self talk about this is nothing, or it is not for me, before another moment passes and you say no, come and say yes to love.  Answer the question, where is the love?

 

 

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Behold

“Behold, I make a covenant:before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord: for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.” Exodus 34:10

God told the children of Israel  Behold, everyone around you, will see how great and marvelous your God is.   They will know without a shadow of doubt I am God.   The Great I AM is with you; his wonders to behold.

Behold says to pay attention, look up or around, pause, and stop what you are doing.   Even when reading the word, it feels like  an exclamation point automatically should follow it.  Because something of importance is about to happen, and it is going to be spectacular.   And when our God speaks, it is always breathtaking, astonishing, magnificent.  So take the words spoken to the children of Israel during their journey to the promised land, and linger in the certainty of this covenant. For we have an even better covenant; one written in the incredible righteousness of Christos, Jesus Christ our redeemer.  For it was/is an awesome thing God did for us through Him our precious Behold.

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Are You Ready?

“This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.”  Joshua 1:8

When led of the Spirit, the child of God must be ready to wait as to go, as prepared to be silent as to speak. Lewis Sperry Chafer

Lord, I want to be obedient to you in all things, to gain blessings not just for myself, but for others.  Help me Lord to faithfully serve you.  To go when you say go, and to pause and wait for your instructions.   Amen

 

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A Ode to Meekness

” O, you who search for the Heavenly life! Strive for meekness; increase your patience and mercy day by day; bid your tongue cease from all harsh words; withdraw your mind from selfish arguments, and refuse to brood upon your wrongs: so living, you shall carefully tend and cultivate the pure and delicate flower of meekness in your heart, until at last, its divine sweetness and purity and beauteous perfection shall be revealed to you, and you shall become gentle, joyful, and strong.

Repine not that you are surrounded by irritable and selfish people; but rather rejoice that you are so favored as to have your own imperfections revealed to you, and that you are so placed as to necessitate within you a constant struggle for self-mastery and attainment, of perfection.  The more there is of harshness and selfishness around you the greater is the need of your Meekness and love.  If others seek to wrong you, all the more is it needful that you should cease for all wrong, and live in love; if others preach Meekness, humility, and love and do not practice these, trouble not, nor be annoyed; but do, in the silence of your heart, and in your contact with others, practice these things, and they shall preach themselves.

And though you utter no melodramatic word, and stand before no gathered audience, you shall teach the whole world.  As you become meek, you shall learn the deepest secrets of the universe.  Nothing is hidden from him who overcomes himself.  Into the cause of causes shall you penetrate, and lifting, one after another, every veil of illusion, shall reach at last the inmost heart of being.

Canopied with gentleness [meekness], you shall bless where others curse; love where others hate; forgive where others condemn; yield where others strive; give up where other grasp; lose where others gain, and in their strength they shall be weak and your weakness you shall be strong; yes, you shall mightily prevail.”   James Allen

Psalm 37:11 “But the meek shall inherit the earth..” Matthew 5:5, “Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.”

1 Peter 3:4, “…rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle (meek) and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.”

 

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I will rejoice over them

A Classic Devotional from C.H. Spurgeon

“I will rejoice over them to do them good.” Jeremiah 32:41

How heart-cheering to the believers is the delight which God has in his saints! We cannot see any reason in ourselves why the Lord should take pleasure in us; we cannot take delight in ourselves, for we often have to groan, being burdened; conscious of our sinfulness, and deploring our unfaithfulness; and we fear that God’s people cannot take much delight in us, for they must perceive so much of our imperfections and our follies, that they may rather lament our infirmities than admire our graces.

But we love to dwell upon this transcendent truth, this glorious mystery: that as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so does the Lord rejoice over us. We do not read anywhere that God delighteth in the cloud-capped mountains, or the sparkling stars, but we do read that he delighteth in the habitable parts of the earth, and that his delights are with the sons of men. We do not find it written that even angels give his soul delight; nor doth he say, concerning cherubim and seraphim, “Thou shalt be called Hephzibah, for the Lord delighteth in thee; but he does say all that to poor fallen creatures like ourselves, debased and depraved by sin, but saved, exalted, and glorified by his grace.  In what strong language he expresses his delight in his people!

Who could have conceived of the eternal One as bursting forth into a song?  Yet it is written, “He will rejoice over thee with joy, he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.”  As he looked upon the world he had made, he said, “It is very good;” but when he beheld those who are the purchase of Jesus’ blood, his own chosen ones, it seemed as if the great heart of the Infinite could restrain itself no longer, but overflowed in divine exclamations of joy.  Should not we utter declaration of his love, and sing, ” I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation?”

May this give you hope and blessed assurance in our God, who rejoices over you.  Have a blessed day.

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Listening To God

Listening to God requires that we first listen for God, Robert Benson once said.  We have to be in a position to want to hear from God, by being still and knowing God is God.

“Has God trusted you with silence-a silence that is big with meaning?  God’s silences are His answers. Think of those days of absolute silence in the home of Bethany! Is there anything analogous to those days in your life? Can God trust you like that, or are you still asking for a visible answer? God will give you the blessings you ask if you will not go any further without them; but His silence is the sign that He is bringing you into a marvelous understanding of Himself.” Oswald Chambers   Are you satisfied with the silence?  Make no mistake that silence is also God speaking.

We are to listen for Him, and not be concerned about the manner or method He chooses to speak to us. Remember that burning bush. God spoke to Moses on the backside of a mountain in a bush. Scripture is filled with different ways God spoke to His people.  Our responsibility is to be attentive when He speaks, and obey. His voice is unmistakable. It is like the dawning of the sun. It fills the soul and spirit with hope, joy, love and warms your heart.  He is probably speaking to you right now.  Telling you don’t worry about this day; He has everything under control.
St.Teresa of Avila said, “We should accept with simplicity whatever understanding the Lord gives us; and what He doesn’t we shouldn’t tire ourselves over. For one word of God’s will contain within itself a thousand mysteries.” The value of listening to God is that we will finally hear him as He is – God. All those questions are answered, we cease from struggling over the mundane and trivial.  We seek Him knowing all is well with our souls.  Peace, Power, Presence.  Are you listening to God?
Listening to God provides our way home.

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He is Already There

In the midst of your day, in every meeting, appointment, activity, or event, Christ is already there.  He is Risen.  The master’s hand is already at work.  He has gone ahead to make the way smooth.  His power, love, and glory is already in the room.  And you will see Him there.

He is already there.  No need to worry, fear, fret or be concerned about what to say or do; he is already there.  Eugene Peterson once said, “We are always coming in on something that is already going on. Sometimes we clarify a word or feeling, sometimes we identify an overlooked relationship, sometimes we help recover an essential piece of memory – but always we are dealing with what the risen Christ has already set in motion, already brought into being.”

He is already there.  Take comfort in knowing Christ is already there.  Matthew 28:5-7 (MSG)

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Quiet

It is quiet today.  A time to pause and reflect on the goodness of God.  While so much of the world whirling, take a few quiet moments and say yes to God.  Feel His presence, bathe in His love.  No need to rush, or seek to do anything, just rest in Him.   Let your soul and spirit find expression in His perfect peace.

Have a day of quiet, and discover what fulfillment there is with God.