10 Mar 2013
by jennifermcintyreblog
in Devotions
Tags: community, compassion, direction, discernment, faith, freedom, God'sLove, identity, living, loving one another
“I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other. This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other.” ~John 13:34-35 (CEB)
“The shalom bringers spread a sense of warmth, comfort, hope, and well-being even before a word is spoken. They themselves are the interlinking, not just their words and actions. They do not talk about religion all the time. They are not constantly telling us to cheer up and look on the bright side. They may not say anything special at all, but when we are with them we feel understood, accepted, welcomed.
When we think of these men and women in our lives, we feel as if God is reaching out to us through them. We know that if God is like them- only much more so- then the universe is in safe hands. The glory of God shines through their faces and touches us through their hands.
We call them the children of God.”
~From Forgiveness, the Passionate Journey by Flora Slosson Wuellner
May I be known this day O Lord, by Your Love that flows out from me. Thank You for the love, comfort hope warmth and kind word You have given me through others. Guide and direct my steps this day that I may in turn love as You would have me love. Amen.
09 Mar 2013
by jennifermcintyreblog
in Devotions
Tags: change, community, compassion, direction, discernment, faith, freedom, growth
But whenever someone turns back to the Lord, the veil is removed. The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Lord’s Spirit is, there is freedom. ~2 Cor. 3:16-17 (CEB)
“Here, O God, I pray for a realization of my condition in your eyes. Help me to see and know myself as you see and know me. Give me clear insight into my relationship with you. Let me know myself as you know me.
Give me assurance that I belong to you. Remove from me those nagging doubts and needless fears that I may not be good enough to be numbered with the great company of heaven.
On the other hand, if I am living in separation from you, if I am more a creature of evil than a child of God, O Great Physician, use your convicting scalpel on me. Perform within me the surgery necessary to heal me of all soul-sickness.
Christ, I abandon myself to you. Do with me every necessary thing to assure my entrance into eternal lif- and the heaven already prepared for me.” ~Norman Shawchuck
Amen.
08 Mar 2013
by jennifermcintyreblog
in Devotions
Tags: community, compassion, direction, discernment, faith, freedom, God'sLove, hope, identity, loving one another
I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may follow my statues and keep my ordinances and obey them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God. ~Ezek. 11:19-20 (NRSV)
“When we were traveling in India, . . . we had the unforgettable experience of talking with Mother Teresa. We remember savoring that time: the sunlight on the balcony, her wise and wrinkled face with piercing eyes, the sisters in the courtyard below doing laundry, and her parting words, ‘Please pray for us that we will be faithful, and not interfere with God’s works.’
In the immediacy of that moment, we were given a gift- and that gift involved what we should and could do (be ‘faithful’), and what we shouldn’t do (‘interfere with God’s work’). She truly believed that she and her sisters- whose devotion to God and care of the rejected and dying ones in our world is legendary- needed to be aware of this possibility and to guard against getting in the way of God’s work. Those who criticize Mother Teresa for not attacking the systemic problems that cause persons to be sick and hungry and dying on the streets of Calcutta and Chicago may be called to do that very thing. But Mother’s calling was to share compassion and love and to feed and hold the dying. Each of us must discern and answer our own unique call.
Mother Teresa’s request presupposes that God is active and that we only muck up the situation when we forget that our understanding is partial. We must avoid the temptation to play God!” ~From Sacramental Living by Dwight W Vogel and Linda Vogel
What a reminder that we are not called to do it all. We are called to do our part. If we all do our part, some will do the feeding, the holding, the loving and others will fight the battles that attack the root causes and injustices for hunger and suffering. What part are you called to do?
Heavenly Father, Help me discern my part of the battle against hunger and suffering. Help me to be faithful this day and to not interfere with Your work in the world. Amen.
06 Mar 2013
by jennifermcintyreblog
in Devotions
Tags: compassion, direction, discernment, faith, God'sLove, hope, identity, living, loving one another
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death… Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do” forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. ~Phil 3:10, 13-14 (NRSV)
“Probably our journey of forgiveness will be impossible unless we realize we cannot do it alone. We are not the source of our healing. Truly the kingdom of God within us as Jesus told us. But that kingdom is God’s presence, and we need God’s help to experience that inner glory.
As with any deep dealing and release, the empowered mercy of God within and around us is ours to claim. We must face the facts: we are vulnerable (woundable); we have been hurt; we need to name our hurt and our deep needs as clearly and fully as we can. Little can change until we have faced where we actually are.” ~From Forgiveness, the Passionate Journey by Flora Slosson Wuellner
It is hard to be about the work of God if I have not taken the time to know where I come from. I cannot be in God’s presence if my mind or heart is stuck in a place in the past. God is found in the present-ness of life. God’s kingdom on earth is that peace in my heart that goes beyond my current circumstances. God’s peace is that ability to reach out to others in the midst of my own pain. In that reaching out I see God’s love in action and my heart becomes flesh again.
Heavenly Father, please replace this heart of stone for Your heart. Help me feel Your presence in my life this day. Help me to experience that inner glory and peace that You have promised to me. Amen.
05 Mar 2013
by jennifermcintyreblog
in Devotions
Tags: direction, discernment, faith, freedom, hope, identity, living
This is my prayer , that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God. ~Phil 1:9-11 (NRSV)
“Action, just as silence and the word, can help us to claim and celebrate our true self. But here again we need discipline, because the world in which we live says, ‘Do this, do that, go here, go there, meet him, meet her.’ Busyness has become a sign of importance. Having much to do, many places to go, and countless people to meet gives us status and even fame. However, being busy can lead us away from our true vocation and prevent us from drinking our cup.” ~From Can You Drink the Cup? By Henri J. M. Nouwen
So often I fall into that trap of “If I am busy then I must be about God’s work”. That is not always true, especially if it was not my work to do in the first place. I must always be mindful to seek God’s will in the work of my hands so that I do not interfere with His ultimate plan.
Heavenly Father, help me to discern the work that is meant for my hands. Help me to not interfere in Your work. Guide me along the path that you have created for me so that I may help in the building up of Your kingdom. Amen.
04 Mar 2013
by jennifermcintyreblog
in Devotions
Tags: change, community, compassion, direction, discernment, dissapointments, faith, God's time, God'sLove, growth, living
And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit ~2 Corinthians 3:18 (NRSV)
“Our questions can serve us well in a time such as this, a time of grave uncertainty, of soaring potential, of fragile yet resilient hope. Our questions and questing are crucial, because they can help us live into the answer of the future. I am certain of one thing: the love that is God is at the heart of the answer, just as it is at the heart of each moment- past, present, and future. Faith today, tomorrow, and always seeks to live, to love, and to be loved fully. It seeks the Holy and waits (though not always patiently) to be found; it nurtures and activates wisdom and compassion. It chooses to embrace hope and to be embraced by hope, even when overwhelmed by despair; it seeks life even in the face of death. We act in faith, knowing that we see only dimly. But living in faith, we act anyway, choosing and doing the best we can. We act and live in confidence that someday we will see face to face, that we will live into the answers. For God’s grace embraces our questions as well as our answers and our blindness as well as our vision, just as the sun shines steadily through the night, waiting to illumine the sky at dawn.” ~From Wrestling till Dawn by Jean M. Blomquist
I cannot run from the questions that haunt my heart. I must not assume that God criticizes me for even having questions. It is when I wrestle with the questions that I come to find the answers. I must remember that God is big enough to handle all my questions. He knows that it is in my questions that the veil begins to life. Through my questions I begin to be transformed.
Heavenly Father, Thank You for Your patience in all the questions I have. Thank You for pointing me in the right direction to discover the answers. Help me to see more clearly and to have the patience to wait out the answers. Amen.
02 Mar 2013
by jennifermcintyreblog
in Devotions
Tags: change, direction, discernment, faith, freedom, growth, identity, living, transformation
“You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its saltiness, how will it become salty again? It’s good for nothing except to be thrown away and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city on top of a hill can’t be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they put it on top of a lampstand, and it shines on all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before people, so they can see the good things you do and praise your Father who is in heaven. ~Matthew 5:13-16 (CEB)
“When we think of models of the transformed life, we naturally turn to the saints of the past or look at more contemporary heroes of faithfulness like Mother Teresa or Douglas Steeve. Because we do, we often overlook those near us who daily claim the power of God to live life at a higher level than it could be lives alone.
Living a transformed life is not possible on our own. Most of us do not live up to the best that we know how to live. Deep within we know that there is room for improvement. We can do better. Connecting our desire to do and be better with God’s amazing grace creates a partnership that transformation.
We know that living a transformed life means living at God’s direction with grace-given capacity. This is more than we can do on our own, and, in fact, living the transformed life does not mean trying harder. It means trusting more and staying close to the only One who can make us more than we are.
As we learn to put our trust and faith in God, we become open and available to receive God’s forming and transforming power in our own lives. In our better moments we know that it is God at work within us that provides the transformation. This is the day to claim God’s leads to presence and help as you live the transformed life.” ~From A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God, Ruben P. Job
May Your Presence be in my life today O Lord, transforming me into a light that shines for others to see. I thank You for the grace you so freely give me every moment. Thank You for making me more than I am on my own. Amen.
27 Feb 2013
by jennifermcintyreblog
in Devotions
Tags: community, compassion, direction, faith, freedom, God'sLove, hope, identity, living
So when we couldn’t stand it any longer, we thought it was a good idea to stay on in Athens by ourselves, and we sent you Timothy, who is our brother and God’s coworker in the good news about Christ. We sent him to strengthen and encourage you in your faithfulness. We didn’t want any of you to be shaken by these problems. You know very well that we were meant to go through this. In fact, when we were with you, we kept on predicting that we were going to face problems exactly like what happened, as you know. That’s why I sent Timothy to find out about your faithfulness when I couldn’t stand it anymore. I was worried that the tempter might have tempted you so that our work would have been a waste of time. Now Timothy has returned to us from you and has given us good news about your faithfulness and love! He says that you always have good memories about us and that you want to see us as much as we want to see you. Because of this, brothers and sisters, we were encouraged in all our distress and trouble through your faithfulness. For now we are alive if you are standing your ground in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for you, given all the joy we have because of you before our God? Night and day, we pray more than ever to see all of you in person and to complete whatever you still need for your faith. Now may our God and Father himself guide us on our way back to you. May the Lord cause you to increase and enrich your love for each other and for everyone in the same way as we also love you. May the love cause your hearts to be strengthened, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his people. Amen. ~1 Thessalonians 3:1-13 (CEB)
All of God’s life is available to each of us already, but not yet. Ordinary suffering will not be taken away, not the suffering we must face when we bear witness to God’s love and are met with the world’s hostility and scorn. But our suffering will have meaning, will be lifted up, transformed by the unceasing love of God. ~Robert A. Jonas from Henri Nouwen: Writings Selected with an Introduction by Robert A. Jonas
Heavenly Father, I thank You for Your transforming grace that has worked its wonders within me. May I this day be an example of Your light to someone who may need it this day. May I be a blessing to someone amidst their trials. Help me be Your love to the world. Amen.
26 Feb 2013
by jennifermcintyreblog
in Devotions
Tags: change, direction, discernment, faith, freedom, God'sLove, loving one another, strength
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus. Turning to them, he said, “Whoever comes to me and doesn’t hate father and mother, spouse and children, and brothers and sisters—yes, even one’s own life—cannot be my disciple. Whoever doesn’t carry their own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
“If one of you wanted to build a tower, wouldn’t you first sit down and calculate the cost, to determine whether you have enough money to complete it? Otherwise, when you have laid the foundation but couldn’t finish the tower, all who see it will begin to belittle you. They will say, ‘Here’s the person who began construction and couldn’t complete it!’ Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down to consider whether his ten thousand soldiers could go up against the twenty thousand coming against him? And if he didn’t think he could win, he would send a representative to discuss terms of peace while his enemy was still a long way off. In the same way, none of you who are unwilling to give up all of your possessions can be my disciple. ~ Luke 14:25:33 (CEB)
“The Christian way is different: harder, and easier. Christ says, ‘Give me All. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down . . . Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked- the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours.’” ~From Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
Christ wants our hearts, but he also wants us to count the cost. He wants a life time full-fledged commitment from us that is lasting. I also think we need to count the cost every day. To give my whole life to Christ requires me to live my life intentionally. If I am to live for Christ I cannot walk through this world aimlessly.
Heavenly Father, Help me to focus my actions on Your will for this day. May all I do be for Your glory. Help me as I try to be a true disciple. Help me to show Your love to those I meet this day. Amen.
22 Feb 2013
by jennifermcintyreblog
in Devotions
Tags: direction, faith, growth, Lent, living, Prayer
Unless it is the LORD who builds the house, the builders’ work is pointless. Unless it is the LORD who protects the city, the guard on duty is pointless. It is pointless that you get up early and stay up late, eating the bread of hard labor because God gives sleep to those he loves. ~Psalm 127:1-2 (CEB)
“This enlargement of the human person cannot be achieved solely by our own efforts. Under our own steam, we cannot contain and bear the deep coincidence of opposites that we are. But they are borne within us when we give ourselves to God. For Henri, the Eucharist is the inspiration and source of all self-giving. The Eucharist carries us into and beyond ourselves so that we can give happily and gratefully even when our egos press upon us to hold back. The Eucharist, he often said, means thanksgiving, and thanksgiving means celebration. Without the Eucharist, we are preoccupied with personal survival, categorizing our experience into pleasure and pain, and doing whatever we can to extend our life-spans, to maximize pleasure. The communal eating of bread and wine is a celebration in which we realize that life and death are intertwined, that ‘fear and love, joy and sorrow, tears and smiles exist together, Life and death kiss each other at every moment of our existence.” ~Robert A. Jonas from Henri Nouwen: Writings Selected with an Introduction by Robert A. Jonas
I love you, O Lord, my strength. You are my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. You are my God whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Amen. (Psalm 18:1-2)
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