21 Nov 2013
by jennifermcintyreblog
in Devotions
Tags: community, direction, faith, God'sLove, growth, Prayer, transformation
So, brothers and sisters, because of God’s mercies, I encourage you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to God. This is your appropriate priestly service. Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is—what is good and pleasing and mature. ~Romans 12:1-2 (CEB)
“’Being in the world without being of the world.’ These words summarize will the way Jesus speaks of the spiritual life. It is a life in which we are totally transformed by the Spirit of love. Yet it is a life in which everything seems to remain the same. To live a spiritual life does not mean that we must leave our families, give up our jobs, or change our ways of working; it does not mean that we have to withdraw from social or political activities, or lose interest in literature and art; it does not require severe forms of asceticism or long hours of prayer. . . . What is new is that we have moved from the many things to the kingdom of God. What is new is that we are set free from the compulsions of our world and have set our hearts on the only necessary thing. What is new is that we no longer experience the many things, people, and events as endless causes for worry, but begin to experience them as the rich variety of ways in which God makes his presence known to us.” ~From Making All Things New by Henri J.M. Nouwen
Almighty God, send your transforming power into my life as I seek to serve you this day. Grant unto me wisdom, courage, grace, and strength to faithfully fulfill the work to which you have called me. In the name of Christ. Amen.
19 Nov 2013
by jennifermcintyreblog
in Devotions
Tags: Beloved, faith, freedom, hope, identity, Prayer, strength, worship
You surround me—front and back.
You put your hand on me.
That kind of knowledge is too much for me;
it’s so high above me that I can’t fathom it. ~Psalm 139:5-6 (CEB)
“If any doctrines within the whole compass of Christianity may be properly termed fundamental, they are doubtless these two, -the doctrine of justification, and that of the new birth: The former relating to that great work which God does for us, in forgiving our sins; the latter to the great work which God does in us, in renewing our fallen nature. In order of time neither of these is before the other; in the moment we are justified by the grace of God, through the redemption that is in Jesus, we are also ‘born of the Spirit;’ but in order of thinking, as it is termed, justification precedes the new birth. We first conceive [God’s] wrath to be turned away, and then [God’s] Spirit to work in our hearts. ~From “sermon 45” by John Wesley
Almighty God, Thank you for the good work you do in me every day. I thank You for going before me, coming behind me and walking beside me everyday. Amen
13 Nov 2013
by jennifermcintyreblog
in Devotions
Tags: Beloved, faith, God'sLove, identity, Prayer, Thanksgiving, worship
God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘ I am has sent me to you. ‘” ~Exodus 3:14 (CEB)
“I am! Here is the home of the spirit, where we can hear and say, ‘I am,’ a kingdom of persons, a life larger than life. When God says ‘I am,’ all nature replies ‘Thou art,’ according to Christopher Smart, the mad poet of the eighteenth century, but then Jesus says ‘I am’ and we too can say ‘I am,” I have learned, and God says ‘Thou art,’ as if to say
You are,
You are known,
And you are loved.
~From The Homing Spirit by John S. Dunne
Creator Lord, who is and was and always will be, to say You know my name astounds me. To say I am loved by You leaves me humbled. I am who I am because you touched my heart. Thank You for calling to me. Amen.
11 Nov 2013
by jennifermcintyreblog
in Devotions
Tags: Beloved, courage, discernment, freedom, growth, identity, Prayer, strength, worship
No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. ~John 15:15
“We talk about God in the third person. We teach about God. However, we don’t teach about our spouses or about good friends. We introduce them, not teach about them. Too often we relate to God as a myth or a theorem to be talked about and not as a friend.” ~Norman Shawchuck
O Lord, You are my closest friend from my youngest years. I remember talking to you from the time I was small. Yet I have to confess that though you are my dearest friend I find at times it hard to speak of You to others. Why do I fear to share something so precious? Why do I fear to share the reason for my light, my hope in dark times? I confess this to You O Lord, to ask of You strength and courage today to share with others what You have done for me. Open my mouth when I find it hard to speak, still my heart and quiet my mind so that I may simple tell others of the love You have shown me. This I ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.
08 Nov 2013
by jennifermcintyreblog
in Devotions
Tags: courage, direction, faith, freedom, God's time, living, Prayer, Second chances, Thanksgiving
Who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. ~1Peter 1:5-9 (NIV)
“Life, the contemplative knows, is a process. It is not that all the elements of life, mundane as the may be, do not matter. On the contrary, to the contemplative everything matters. Everything speaks of God, and God is both in and beyond everything.
Having the faith to take life one piece at a time- to live it in the knowledge that there is something of God in this for me now, here at this moment- is of the essence of happiness. It is not that God is a black box of full tests and trials and treats. It is that life is a step on the way to a God who goes the way with us. However far, however perilous.” ~From Illuminated Life by Joan Chittister
Almighty God, in the everyday ordinariness, may I see you. May I live this moment to its fullest so that my every waking moment glorifies You. May the regrets from yesterday or the worries for tomorrow not take away from the beauty that is, today. Amen.
07 Nov 2013
by jennifermcintyreblog
in Devotions
Tags: Beloved, grace, growth, hope, identity, Prayer, Second chances, strength
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ~Hebrews 10:22 (ESV)
“Life is not a game we win, and God is not a trophy we merit. No matter how ‘good’ we are, we are not good enough for God. On the other hand, no matter how ‘bad’ we are, we can never be outside of God. We can only hope in each instance to come to such a consciousness of God that no lesser gods can capture our attention and no trifling, self-centered gods can keep us from the fullness of awareness that is the fullness of Life. It is the project of life, this coming to Wholeness, this experience of Purpose beyond all purposes, this identification with everything that is.” ~From Illuminated Life by Joan Chisttister
Draw me ever closer Lord to a true heart in full assurance of faith. Protect my heart Lord from an evil conscience. Help me to remember that I am a new creature washed pure by You. Amen.
06 Nov 2013
by jennifermcintyreblog
in Devotions
Tags: Beloved, courage, depression, God'sLove, growth, hope, identity, Prayer
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. ~Psalm 57:17 (ESV)
“Faith is not belief in an afterlife based on today’s moral litmus test. To the contemplative ‘bad’ and ‘good’ makes no matter. Each has the capacity to become the other. Out of bad much good has come. It is often sin that unmasks us to ourselves and opens the way for growth. Mature virtue is tried virtue, not virtue unassailed. Great good, on the other hand, whatever its effect, has so often deteriorated into arrogance, into a righteousness that vitiates its own rightness. But both of the, both bad and good, lived in the light of God, blanch, are reduced to size in the face of the Life that transcends them.” ~From Illuminated Life by Joan Chittister
Heavenly Father, I stand amazed at how You can take my brokenness and turn it into beauty. I thank You for allowing me to see myself through the light of Your eyes. Thank you for putting my world into perspective. Amen.
04 Nov 2013
by jennifermcintyreblog
in Devotions
Tags: Beloved, confidence, discernment, growth, hope, identity, Prayer
Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. ~Heb. 3:12-14 (CEB)
“Faith is such a necessary virtue: unless you teach your moods ‘where they get off.’ You can never be either a sound Christian or even a sound atheist, but just a creature dithering to and fro, with its beliefs really dependent on the weather and the state of its digestion. Consequently one must train the habit of Faith.
The first step is to recognize the fact that your moods change. The next is to make sure that, if you have once accepted Christianity, then some of its main doctrines shall be deliberately held before your mind for some time every day. ~From Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
Heavenly Father, Help me to remember this day my original confidence in You. May I not be swayed by passing trials. May I not be effected by moods of uncertainty but step forward in faith. Amen.
28 Oct 2013
by jennifermcintyreblog
in Devotions
Tags: community, compassion, direction, growth, hope, identity, living, Prayer
And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? ~Mark 8:34-37 (CEB)
“Spirituality is about seeing. It’s not about earning or achieving. It’s about relationship rather than results or requirements. Once you see, the rest follows. You don’t need to push the river, because you are in it. The life is lived within us, and we learn how to say yes to that life.” ~From Everything Belongs by Richard Rohr
Heavenly Father, help me to see with my spirit so that I may hear Your words speaking to my heart. Help me to have a full relationship with You. Help me to be Your hands and Feet in the world. Amen.
25 Oct 2013
by jennifermcintyreblog
in Devotions
Tags: compassion, discernment, hope, identity, living, loving one another, Prayer
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” ~John 13:34-35 (CEB)
“For a Christian, an economic system is a means to an end- a mechanism for exchanging goods and services. . . . nothing more. We steer our lives by a higher value- the love ethic of Jesus. Central to our bearing the cross is our acceptance of Jesus’ love and our attentiveness to the needs of others. Love, not mammon, must be our guiding light.
Each of us can choose to change out of aspiration rather than desperation. We have the choice to live our faith. But living our faith will require ‘righteousness,’ that is, a genuine relationship with God. Compassion will be our guiding light, our rule I life. Justice will lead us to faithful stewardship- to care for and work on behalf of others in the global community. Shalom will be our reward.” ~From Climbing the Sycamore Tree by Ann Hagmann
Heavenly Father, may I be known this day by the love I show. May I aspire to be more like Jesus in my words and actions. May they be a testament of Your work in my life.
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