Our Daily Journal as a Community of Faith
Ξ February 7th, 2008 | → 156 Comments | ∇ Articles |
Feel free to write your experiences, insights and findings here for other adventurers to glean from.
It’s great to be on this Journey together!
- Pastor Rik
on February 7th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Day 1 is really impacting me. I echo what Elder Rick said regarding God’s love for us! Today God is reminding me about His great love.
on February 7th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
So far this morning has been incredible. There have been many circumstances through my life that I didn’t feel I’ve given over to God. As I pondered through childhood memories, I must admit that I drew up some not so stellar memories which made me feel distressed. It brought about the question how God could love me as I am because I was only looking at the power of sin in my life. I wasn’t centering everything around Jesus and what he did for me. I can’t say that I fathom how much God loves me, but as I continued to go through our study I came across the article “Courage to Accept Acceptance” by Peter Van Breeman. Although I’ve heard numerous times how much God loves me it never really hit me until I read this article. I still don’t understand God’s love and wont until I’m with him, but I realize that I’ve been accepted by him and that is something that I can’t say I’ve ever felt to this degree before. I do understand that right now things are going well and I’m able to place my courage in God right, but I pray for when the tides change and this life starts to nag at me that I would learn how to put my courage/faith in God and learn how to trust him better. I would like to be like Isaiah was when the Lord called out in Isaiah 6:8 and know unequivocally that I would say “Take me I’m ready!”
on February 8th, 2008 at 6:08 am
Lord, as life streams around me today, a creek of rushing water crashing into bolders here, swirling in an eddy over there, slowing down as it edges gently around a corner only to then enter the rapids again, please help me to stay coneected with through it all. No matter the day, help me to walk with you and talk with you, and especially to give thanks yo You in it all. Praises be to your Holy Name!
on February 8th, 2008 at 6:56 am
God is always with me I must acknowledge Him and His presence with me. No more disguises or masks God let me be who You made me to be all the time. Sad or happy even upset at times and joy full most of all. Let You in me shine brighter than the sun. Allow me to deal with my evil and harsh past and shed the baggage that I have been holding onto. Keep making me into your perfect image and self. Continue to help me seek you I mean really be looking for You in Your word and in situations and especially in people. Make me aware of Your Spirits presence and also of the Accuser’s presence so I can begin to pray for your protection. You are everywhere and in everything Your fingerprint is all over. Thanks for putting images of yourself all over the world.
on February 8th, 2008 at 8:53 am
I am really impacted today by the imagery the author uses to describe the process and fruit of contemplation. Thank You, God that in the midst of a mixed-up home life, You made me Your own. I give praise to You for this Journey. I thank You for drawing me, for calling me to come closer to You today. Help me sense Your presence throughout this glorious day with You!
on February 8th, 2008 at 9:06 am
This morning, God brought back to me a particularly distressing memory from my early adulthood. I was caught off guard by how deeply it affected my emotions. I was actually grieving, as if it had been yesterday. Then, my Father asked to invade! He showed me where He was in that situation, that He had been there all along… and a sweet joy flooded and overwhelmed me. It was amazing and totally unexpected! He really truly does give beauty for ashes, strength for fear, gladness for mourning, and hope for despair — if only we will surrender to Him what hurts us. Man! What an awesome God we serve! And to think He chooses to call us FRIEND…
on February 8th, 2008 at 9:26 am
I specifically loved the prayer by Ted Loder, “It would be easier for me to pray.” For years now, “Guerrillas of Grace” has been one of my favorite books.
on February 8th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
I just added a music link to Last-FM on the main page under “links”. I really enjoy this type of music while in prayer. I hope that this will help inspire each of you!
on February 9th, 2008 at 12:50 am
Today, I recalled an event I was reminded of yesterday as I was going through the photo album of my life. When I was a teenager, my family, along with my best friend, went vacationing down in Mexico. Not realizing, ignorantly, the dangerous situation we could’ve found ourselves in, my friend and I decided to sneak out of our hotel room to go club hopping. Upon returning from our stealth operation (so we thought), we opened the door to our room, three sheets to the wind, and found my dad sitting on our bed…mad as hell! Needless to say, we sobered up real fast and fortunately lived to tell about it. As I dug deeper into this memory to try and uncover why God wanted me to camp there for a moment, a name popped into my head….Natalee Holloway. A flood of emotions hit me like an unexpected wave crashing down on me. God why did you spare something horrible happening to me but not Natalee? Then, I heard in my head what most Christians say when they try to explain the unexplained. “Well, that’s because things happen for a reason” and “God has a plan” or my favorite, “It was just her time“. Blah, blah, blah! I’m sick of hearing those clichés. If God is love, then where is the love in all of that? I’ve wrestled with the “reason”, “plan” and “time” thing since I accepted Christ. I believe it… just don’t buy in to it. Try and make sense of that statement! I resolved myself into chalking it up to my laundry list of questions I have, and hope to get answers to, when I’m called home. As I finished up some of the readings tonight, Luke came over to me wanting my attention. As I turned to him, I cradled my son’s face in my hands, looking into his big, blue eyes and said, “I love this face.” And then it hit me. I can’t begin to explain how much love I have for my children and to think, the depth of God’s love for me is so much more. Indescribable! You are amazing God!
on February 9th, 2008 at 7:10 am
I have been raised so that You may be praised! Thank you Lord for the very gift of life, and help me to remember my true purpose. We are so incredibely rich – thank You for all of the “things” in my life, and help me to see past the superficial and to increasingly realize that they are there for a purpose. Help me to praise you more frevently, to revere you more fully, and to serve you effectively. I pray blessings upon the community of believers of which I am apart; help us on our journy of searching and seeking a more intimate relationship with You.
on February 9th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Today is the first day of the rest of my life! I will praise You, Oh God with all of my heart. In each circumstance help me see You. Through every person I encounter may I see You. I echo my brother’s words today and say thank you for this community of believers in which You have graciously placed me. Please bless us with an extra-measure of Your presence today!
on February 9th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Man this process of blogging is killer to see how the true Spirit of God is moving among His people. If we did not set up this blog we would have not had the opportunity to share these new blessings of understanding that God is giving us. Thanks God for using a regular guy like Ignatius to spur us on hundreds of years later. Thanks for using regular people like all of us, help us change the world towards you. I have a HUGE SMILE as I am typing this blog. When I am in the Spirits presence all your problems and issues just get washed away this is why we must stay closer and closer to Him every day. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO… Also My wifeys comments Rock she is so blessing me by seeing her grow in her walk with You God.
on February 10th, 2008 at 1:37 am
As I look back on my life I see GOD, in every breath that came into my lungs. He has been teaching me and molding me for leadership in the kingdom of heaven. As I look back to my early years I was learning from my parents and siblings of how not to live my life. Every year in my life was a massive advance in my maturity. From when I was five and my sister was involved with guys and I went out into the front yard and yelled at these teenagers like a lion defending his cubs. Then I move forward to the eight grade when my mother decided to test the waters and get a divorce. That was one Saturday night that changed my life as I knew it at the time because the family would never be together anymore. Then ninth grade came and as we were packing and consolidating our “stuff” in preparation for the sale of the house my brother and I agreed that we would rather live with our father. After making him aware of our recent and unexpected “change of heart” as we got into his 1987 Toyota Corolla FX he asked us if we were sure. After we said “YESSS!!!!” and explained why, he began the process of buying my mother out of her portion of the estate that they had jointly owned for 22 years. After I was in a better environment, without alcohol and a negative atmosphere, I was able to focus on my studies. My dad was so proud of me when I got straight A’s and as I went through high school I continued to do great. Graduating with high honors with the CSF golden tassel and the NHS golden rods, my father was so proud of me. Fast forward a couple years… The picture of my father, looking so peaceful with his arms to his side on the living room couch with his head slumped down and to the right. He sits there unresponsive, cold, stiff, discolored. I ran to the phone, 9-1-1… and they said that he was gone and there was nothing that they could do. So began the next advance in maturity. One hour later I had made all of the calls to crematoriums in the area and had picked the one to go with and read through the trust that the Lord was pressing on his heart to create just a few months prior. Through my father’s passing I have been introduced to a new family and the promise that I will see my dad again and he will hug me and say, “ I am so proud of you son, now you know why I put you in responsibility of my Trust, you really were so bright, look at what you did with your life, WOW look at your beautiful children and your wife, she was truly an angel, I am so proud of you.” Now I stand before you a 60 year old man in a 22 year old body. God does everything for a reason and I am living proof that He molds our futures by guiding our lives through the experience, strength and hope that we carry on to formulate our future.
on February 10th, 2008 at 1:45 am
Day 2 really touched my heart, “If we love someone, sooner or later, we will want that person to know that. We might send a valentine, and then a box of candy, and then perhaps a phone call or a meeting. All the time there is a creative, on-going revelation which presents the beloved with the opportunity to receive the affection, or not. The lover wants his or her love to be experienced and received.”
Here is a poem of reflection upon myself and my timidity.
Prisoner of the words that are left unsaid
So lonely do to my silence
I feel so lonely because so often I don’t speak do to what others might think.
Shyness, it’s a disease, but there is a cure, do you know what the cure is?
It is the willingness to give up you life and let GOD guide you.
I am learning, but I can’t shake the disease, it has a hold on me and the medication only seems to help temporarily.
I am prisoner, in my own body I must say.
And I want to come out and not feel so entrapped in this loneliness.
I am so Lonely.
I am So Lonely!
on February 10th, 2008 at 7:12 am
Dear Lord,
Journeys that involve entering unchartered waters or that involve the unknown are scary. Yet I desire to face the “unfreedoms” in my life. I so want to be free of the fear of failure, the pursuit of material things, concerns about health and wealth, and any and all other unfreedoms that keep me from a deeper dependance on You. I see that these universal human inclinations often become spiritual limitations. As the writer of today’s journey session says, help me not to be “overcaring” about any of these areas in my life. I believe that through a closer walk with You this is possible. Be with and bless my Brothers and Sisters today. We look forward to gathering together as a family to worship and praise your holy name!
on February 10th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Man I wanted to be the first one to blog tonight after what was just an incredible time of sharing and crying together. Together infers a family. An for once I really feel that the people at the Well are a family of believers in Christ. Family who prays for one another who cry’s together and mourns together and who are one in spirit heart and mind. Thank you so much for all who spoke there heart, Ms Sarah for sure I hope my wife and I can be there for you just know we are if you need ANYTHING. And for Rik Crass who is just a spiritual Poet. Thank you God also for my new small group that you hooked me up with too. Keep wooing us towards You. Adonai Adonai Adonai The Ancient of Days Gracias Senior.
on February 10th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Wow, tonight was an amazing experience and being able to hear what everyone is going through just encouraged me and motivated me to keep on going through this study. I’ve grown up in a christian home, went to a private christian school for 12 years of my life, and I always thought that once you asked God into your life there was nothing else needed. Needless to say, once i’ve moved here to California, everyone at The Well has shown me that there’s much more too it. That it’s actually a relationship that I get to have with my father in Heaven, like I would have with my dad on earth. I understood this whole concept now, but putting that into action was what was difficult for me. I would get motivated for a few days and then that fire in me would die down, but this study is totally different. It has made me realize that I WANT to spend time with God, and that it’s impacting the way I live in only the few days that I have, and imagine what he can do if I keep this going! One point that stood out to me on day one is not to want something out of the study right then and there. That is something I will keep thinking about throughout my study because I like to see results right away which is a problem, but I need to learn that God works slowly. One other point was that we don’t need to worry about the acceptance from others, but only the acceptance from God. When we realize that God accepts us, what else really matters?
on February 11th, 2008 at 6:19 am
Last night in our small group we reviewed how we were attempting to reconstruct our day so that we might give priority treatment to our Journey. Everyone has been seeing benefit from it, but it has required making some changes in schedules etc. Just about the time we characterized these as “sacrifices”, though, we were reminded about a God who loves us so much that He sent his Son to hang and die on a cross in our place.
Considering the material in today’s session I almost want to ask “Why?”. How can you love mankind when we are so consistently arrogant? How can people be so cruel to each other? Why is there so much injustice in the world around us?
Then there was the analogy of the picture in its frame. The image on the canvas is overwhelmingly your great grace and love. The frame on the periphery is sin, and the intention is for it to direct our gaze inwardly to that unimaginably magnificient image! Help us to help others come to this great realization as well.
Finally, I am thankful that you have created me with a conscience. Help me to always be sensitive to it, and may the guilt that it leads to help to direct my eyes back onto the picture.
Thanks for being here with me today. This was not an easy study and meditation, but I will look for your purpose in it.
on February 11th, 2008 at 7:54 am
I had an interesting turn of events this morning. I woke up just mad at God. It took me some time to actually put my finger on it. After sorting through the range of emotions, justification for why I should be mad, and the guilt for thinking I should be able to be mad at God, I had a thought: This is why the Messiah died for us. We all think our way of doing things is best. Isaiah says, “we all like sheep have gone astray.” Well, after going through the fifth day’s study I realized why I needed to be reacquainted with my own sin. So, I really took time to read through the atrocities cited in today’s exercise and realize once again… This world needs Jesus! Thanks God for the recalibration of my heart.
on February 11th, 2008 at 7:55 am
As I read this morning I realized that I really did not feel anything about the distruction of the world and the sin in it – I know that it is there but it really has not touched my life. BUT than I thought is that the way I feel about my own sin. I have to know it, hate it and see it before I can go on. Not really sure where to start, I guess that this really is the first place just let GOD be God.
on February 11th, 2008 at 8:22 am
It amazes me how desensitized I’ve become to sin. I had either forgotten or denied that sin is a rejection of God, and that it hurts His heart!
One of the poems in yesterday’s study had a line that stuck in my conscience: “Lord, I want life… show me how to die.”
Lord, I desire to live in a way that doesn’t embarrass You or hurt Your heart. Teach me how to die to myself so that I can live for you!
This is such a new thing for me, this praying my live back to God minute by minute, meditating on some aspect of His involvement in me. But it reminds me of a song Keith Green wrote in the 70’s, and so, with Keith I sing my prayer to God.
“I make my life a prayer to You.
I want to do what You want me to.
No empty words, and no white lies.
No token prayers, no compromise.”
on February 11th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Long time believer, first time blogger. I just wanted to share a couple things. Last night was an awesome time of worship and sharing in our groups. It really made me realize how important it is to take time and really talk to our brothers and sisters and know what’s going on in their lives. Also, I wanted to comment on the day 4 reading thinking of people who inspire us. The first person on my “don’t know” list was Mother Theresa. I’m actually reading a book on her life and she is some example!! She had that “harmony” and “freedom”. She wanted nothing more but to follow “her Jesus” and the call to share His love with others. I love listening & singing to worship and praise songs. The one that’s been on my mind today is “Your Grace is Enough”. I don’t just want to just sing it, but live it!
on February 11th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
As I look back I see myself insulated from the effects of the outside world, sheltering myself from some of life’s precious experiences. My dad always said to go out and experience all that life has to offer, but I refused to listen do to my innermost shyness and insecurity. As I look back I see what God has shaped me to be and what he has taught me. It has been a blessing because now that I am older I can see things that others take for granted as everyday occurrences, but I can see GOD, it is awesome to be this close to my Lord and I just strive to become closer to him. God can strip away my insecurities and shyness and open the door to the kingdom. I have learned so far through this study that everything does not matter, it is all about GOD and with him, everything will be GOOD!
on February 12th, 2008 at 6:09 am
Lord, you know me, you kow my heart. You see me and experience me when I am striving to live for you, but you also see me and know the black spots deep within as well. I realize that before this day is out I run the risk of being judgmental and to feel anger. Even in the process of driving to work this morning I am without your help likely to assume that someone’s rude or selfish driving is directed at me personally and to take offense. Dear Lord help me to do what I ought to as a child of God in all that I do and choose not to do today. I know that you came to save sinners, and I am one.
on February 12th, 2008 at 7:30 am
1. Henri J. M. Nouwen: An Ash Wednesday prayer
How often have I lived through these weeks without paying much attention to penance, fasting, and prayer? How often have I missed the spiritual fruits of the season without even being aware of it? But how can I ever really celebrate Easter without observing Lent? How can I rejoice fully in your Resurrection when I have avoided participating in your death?
Yes, Lord, I have to die–with you, through you, and in you–and thus become ready to recognize you when you appear to me in your Resurrection. There is so much in me that needs to die: false attachments, greed and anger, impatience and stinginess…. I see clearly now how little I have died with you, really gone your way and been faithful to it. O Lord, make this Lenten season different from the other ones. Let me find you again. Amen. (A Cry for Mercy: Prayers from the Genesee, Orbis)
Nouwen (1932–96) was a Dutch priest, writer, lecturer, spiritual guide, and leader at the L’Arche Daybreak Community for people with mental and physical disabilities.
on February 12th, 2008 at 7:30 am
God, I can’t believe at times that You could love even me. Through all of my fallen-ness and all of my foolishness you still call me to follow You. I’m theologically aware as well as predictably prepared to acknowledge your offer of forgiveness. But, what is the most troubling to my soul is that I continue to walk away and do my own thing. My heart is broken terribly over my sinfulness, yet it isn’t broken enough that I would act more like Jesus. What a terrible situation to be in! Please, reach down and give me the courage to face my personal sin this 6th day. I ask for Your continued help over my brothers and sisters today as we look to You, our God and our Savior.
- Pastor Rik
on February 12th, 2008 at 9:11 am
My heart is torn and I know I am the worst of all sinners! But mine are tears of joy… that You would reach down to a disgusting filthy urchin like me, and take me in Your arms and kiss my face! You, the King of the Universe Who created all things, would be willing to even look at me? I can hardly wrap my mind around it. But I know I am so very happy to find peace and comfort and contentment in Your lap with my head against Your chest. I’ve been asked to call You ABBA, Daddy. And because You forgive and accept me, it doesn’t matter what circumstance I find myself in — my joy can’t ever be diminished or tarnished, even a little! It’s true what You said, Lord… “She who is forgiven much, loves much.” And I love you with all that I am! Whatever You need to do, Lord, to make me useful for Your kingdom — You have my permission to do. No matter what the sacrifice I have to make or how much it hurts. I surrender. Just remind me of this prayer when it gets difficult, okay?
on February 12th, 2008 at 9:23 am
Lord,
Please open my heart to love. Open the hearts of those around me to love me as I do to them. Please cleanse our hearts and souls from the sin that we partake in. I pray that I can glorify you lord today, in everything that I do. Please lord, shelter me from the impurities of this world and guide me through the circumstances that impact my development in you. In glory of Jesus Christ, my personal lord and savior, who took in the sins of this world so that I can have the opportunity to rest in heaven with my fellow brothers and sisters.
Amen.
on February 12th, 2008 at 9:47 am
How can it be? That You, my king, would die for me? God, please open my heart today and shine a spotlight on the transgressions in my life. Remove the veil from my eyes and let me see your love and mercy in every moment of rebellion. I pray that we all experience your amazing love today!
on February 12th, 2008 at 11:49 am
This was a tough day – hard getting up – but thankful I did – If we are truly honest sin is all around us. – I never think like God. – Help me Lord – and Thanks for loving me so much.
on February 12th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
I have been crucified with Jesus, and the cross has set me free;
Today I have risen again with Jesus, and He lives and reigns in me!
on February 12th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Today has been filled with communication about the lord. During and between classes the subject of the lord has intermingled within every spectrum of discussion. It is as if I am radiating the glow of the lord. It is amazing to see the lord work through me in such a heterogeneous and abstract solution called college, everyone comes from such a diverse background but yet we all have something in common through our lord, Jesus Christ!
on February 12th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
Considering today’s topic of study, isn’t it strange that with such a common experience of sin that the followers of Jesus Christ across this tiny planet still remain so separated from one another?
We truly share so very much in common!
on February 12th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
Phew! What an intense day. I thank You and praise You, Adonai, for sustaining me today. Your mercy of showing me that I need to let go of shame I’m holding onto was a revelation for me. I had no idea the magnitude of guilt I was carrying. It still hasn’t hit me and I beg You to knock me over with it. Yeshua, I so want to live like I’m worth the price you paid. Priceless!
on February 13th, 2008 at 5:58 am
Oh Lord God! I like Achan have stolen from you, chosen me over You time after time. And I’ve been foolish enough to think I could bury and hide the devoted things which I have called plunder under the floor of my tent. First of all, how foolish I am! You created all, know all, and sustain all; you have not been deceived. Secondly, my sin separates me from you and the mercy and love you so desire to give. And lastly, sin in my life prohibits me from being all that I can be for myself and others, to be most effective as your servant and ambassador. Please, please, please Lord forgive me.
And now, a great hope you have blessed me with through today’s study. It came from the Luke 5:1-11 reading. Did you catch it? Did it fire you up with encouragement!?!? Here we see a smelly old bunch of fishermen who just experienced the equivalent of the ’super bowl’ of fishing expeditions! They, with the spoken word of Jesus, went from total fishing failure to immediately filling both boats to the point of sinking. And what did these men who knew nothing but fishing, who had devoted their entire lives to fishing do? They “left ever4ything and went with Jesus”!! Wow! Did you catch it? Did you see the magnitude and speed of God-inspired change? This gives me GREAT HOPE. God is in the people changing business! Lord I thank You for not giving up on me but instead continuing to work in my heart. May I drop the nets that so often consume me, leave them behind, and turn to You.
on February 13th, 2008 at 6:47 am
Looking at our own sin for two days is like a running a marathon. It seems like to much to handle. If I am stressed about looking at my own sin imagine God seeing everyone sinfullness since day one. God help me to do more than scratch the surface of my own personal sins. It is easy to do just a basic review of the sins in my life help me to go into the secret rooms of my life that only You and I know about and then let me lay them at your feet just as if I was John and your mom at the Cross when your earthly bodies heart stopped. Let me cry cry cry out to You.
on February 13th, 2008 at 7:03 am
“Amazing love, how could it be? That You my King would die for me?” Paul said, Your power is strongest when I am weak.” My sin is when I make that statement like this, “My power is the strongest , when You are the weakest.” Not that God ever becomes weak, or even that we become strong through sin. But, my view because of sin twists everything in my life. I see that I’ll gain by following my own desires. I’ll succeed by doing my own thing. And God becomes ineffective in my view of life.
Wow, my sin is the ultimate destroyer of worlds… my own! God, please help me to see this day the destruction I cause when I don’t follow You!
on February 13th, 2008 at 7:55 am
Lord, the bell rings in 5 minutes and I don’t want to be here today. I’m down and discouraged. Why? Just last night I clung to the fact that you are my one certainty. Everything else might be unknown,temporary, disappointing- but you…you are enough. Fill me. Help me BELIEVE that right now with my whole heart. Fill me up so much that there is no desire for anything else. Fill me with your joy so that I point others to you. Give me strength today Lord. Let me slow down and make choices that will glorify you.
on February 13th, 2008 at 8:14 am
3. Mother Teresa: Dying and rising
Lord, help us to see in your Crucifixion and Resurrection an example of how to endure and seemingly to die in the agony and conflict of daily life so that we may live more fully and creatively.
You accepted patiently and humbly the rebuffs of human life, as well as the tortures of your Crucifixion and Passion. Help us to accept the pains and conflicts that come to us each day as opportunities to grow as people and become more like you. Enable us to go through them patiently and bravely, trusting that you will support us. Make us realize that it is only by frequent deaths of ourselves and our self-centered desires that we can come to live more fully; for it is only by dying with you that we can rise with you. (A Gift for God: Prayers and Meditations, HarperSanFrancisco)
Mother Teresa (1910-97) founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta and was beatified last year.
on February 14th, 2008 at 6:07 am
‘Israel, return! Come back to the Lord, your God. SIN HAS MADE YOU FALL. Return to the Lord and say, “Please forgive our sins. Accept our good sacrifices of praise instead of bulls. ASSYRIA CAN’T SAVE US, AND CHARIOTS CAN’T HELP. So we will no longer worship the idols we have made. Our Lord, you show mercy to orphans.” Israel, you have rejected me, but my anger is gone; I will heal you and love you without limit.’
Where do I place my trust? Will our U.S. armed foces save us? N.A.T.O.? Things I have accumulated? Am I to rely on investment strategies, perhaps Social Security? How much security is there in man made things? Perhaps the greatest threat we face is not the evil doings of man against us but instead not recognizing that we have a sin problem that separates us from You unless we are reconciled thru confession, repentence, and freely accepting the mercy you yearn to give us.
Ironically, our currency says ‘In God We Trust’. May it be that we as a body of believers can remove this token statement out of our wallets and make it instead a truth of growing conviction in the way we live.
on February 14th, 2008 at 9:41 am
I have no fear in examining my sin and seeing how retched I am, because You already knew! Everything I have ever done, and everything I will still do was right there in front of You. You knew, and You chose to come for me anyway! It hurt You then, and what you went through to redeem me was agonizing. I can only imagine…
And even though I don’t fear looking at my sin, I am deeply ashamed, and I grieve over what I put you through! You even sweat blood in the garden of Gethsemane over what You would have to endure. Just a command, and the angels would’ve come and taken You out of there! But You stayed, and You laid down Your life so I could go with You. Thank you, my Lord and my King!
On Wednesday nights, I teach the children what I know: Jesus would rather die than to go to heaven without you! And so, He did.
on February 14th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Today’s journey is like a breath of fresh air after the rain. What a feeling it is to be able to just meditate in Your loving embrace today. Help me realize the magnitude of Your loving forgiveness. It’s so perfect that today happens to be Valentine’s Day! Although, for You, Lord, every day is Valentine’s Day isn’t it? I liken Your unconditional love for me to my love for my children. I’ve always told them that no matter what they do, I will always love them. Nothing they do will ever change that. I may not approve of, or agree with, their choices or actions, but my love is still constant. Sounds familiar huh? Unchangeable; unconditional; indescribable; these are words that come to mind when I think of Your love. Help me in my human understanding of forgiveness to experience Your true love for me.
on February 14th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
I think I’ve always thought of myself as not being a “big sinner”, (whatever that means, a sinner is a sinner, period.) It may be because the sins that are subtle are often ones you don’t even realize yourself. I definitely know that I am a sinner, but I’m realizing that I really don’t acknowledge a lot of that sin. Having to think about sinful patterns was really eye opening. God brought many things to my mind that I am doing, and not doing. Things I was not asking God for help on, and so, was not sharing His love the way I should be. I know now how important it is to recognize all of my sin so I can feel the true depth of God’s mercy and love for me.
Lord, I pray for your guidance as I seek to know You in a more intimate way. That You will help me have the kind of compassion and forgiveness for others as You have given me. Continue to open my eyes to subtle sinful patterns in my life, so I can come to You and seek Your forgiveness and guidance. Thank you for the best Valentine of all…Your love, mercy, and grace.
on February 14th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Gracias Señor, por tu muerte en la cruz para me. Te amo porque tú estoy amándome. Feliz día de San Valentín para mi salvador colgado en la cruz para pagar la sanción lleno mis pecados, ése es amor verdadero.
on February 14th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Mi corazón salen a las familias del los que hijos o hijas que han pasado lejos durante tirar pasado de la escuela.
on February 15th, 2008 at 5:44 am
“As I listen to the Lord tell me not to be afraid, I begin to realize this is NOT about my own SELF-IMPROVEMENT program. As I hear the Lord promise, “I will always be with you,” I can feel a calm come over me.”
Lord thank goodness it’s not about me and what I can do or my inherent goodness or even my intent to be better. I am so glad that “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him (Psalm 103:11)”. And I know that as I stop trying to do battle on my own but instead depend on You for help in overcoming unfreedoms I can move forward with confidence since John reminds me that “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world”.
Lord I pray today that I can truly let the peace that comes from You control my every thought. Help me to live out of the abundance of your amazing frogiveness and healing. And help me to be an agent of your blessing to those that I encounter along the way.
on February 15th, 2008 at 7:10 am
I keep thinking that there is nothing that I can do to repay God for all He keeps doing for me. The only thing I keep being led to hear is keep saying Yes to Me my Son. Just say yes when Jesus calls me. Not I’ll think about it or let me pray about it Just Yes Yes Lord Yes Yes Lord. God let me know about you but also feel your presence and sense your Spirit in and around me. Let me enjoy the company of Angels that are around me. Because if You are in me then the Angels must be here as well attending to you and praising You. Let me be so close to that so that I may be able to hear there singing to You. It is cool to know that God has a purpose for every bad thing that ever happened to me and every sin I committed it is all to make us better and more understanding of who we serve. Our lives are not about us at all. Even Jesus life was not about Him it was about His Father. Help me to lead people to know about You Lord and not about me. God make my faith in You come alive and do amazing things to show others the Way. In coming closer to you I am realizing that I have been right all along I can only be the way I am excited all the time for God WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I am not freak to serve Jesus is exciting and makes you happy inside and out. I am not sorry for being myself and for always being pumped up about the lord. That person who told me along time ago that this fire and excitement will go away soon was sure wrong and I am glad of that. God keep me pumped up and fired up and on top of a cloud with You always. Thanks for healing me Doctor Ancient of Days. Barukh atah Adonai
on February 15th, 2008 at 8:15 am
This morning as I wrote and read his word he was actually talking to me. I ask how can I repay you, How can I show you how much I love you – he said give mercy, have patience – love the people around me. The last time I did the study I started to pray differently now this time I am reading his word differently – he is actually talking to me…..Again it is making a difference – I spend more time being aware of his presence. As I left work on Wed. I was inclined to call someone and tell them something that happened, but that still little voice said “NO” – and if I hadn’t spent an hour that morning with my father – I would have never heard him talking to me. – I never realized how much I gossip. That was very hard to admit. There is so much to learn – and I thank God he choose me. I just love him.
on February 15th, 2008 at 10:40 am
I really love this blog thing! No wonder the kids are so into it! There is so much brave honesty here. I agree with what Rick Crass and Mikey said, this isn’t about self-improvement or about me at all — it’s about a loving God who just wants to walk this life with me. And right now, He’s guiding me through this study to really examine how I follow the rules of this world, just like Ephesians 2 says. The world says I have every right to be angry when someone does something mean to me. But the scripture tells me that IF I forgive others, THEN my Father in heaven will forgive me. But if I choose to hang on to it and not forgive others, then neither will my Father forgive me. The choice is mine: do I want to be self-righteous with a hard heart, or will I surrender my pride and dignity for Him, so He can work in and through my surrendered heart.. a heart He can mold and use? The bottom line is: the world is wrong! I have no rights. I was purchased with blood and I am not my own. I belong to my Master! And it doesn’t matter what someone else does to me. Jesus already paid for that. If I recognize that in my everyday life, I can live a love more like 1 Corinthians 13 — where my love is patient and kind, isn’t jealous or boastful, or proud or rude. A love that is not irritable or easily angered. A love that doesn’t demand its own way. A love that keeps no record of when it has been wronged. A love that never gives up, never loses hope, and endures through every circumstance. A love like my God’s heart!
on February 15th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Lord I cannot even make it through the day without being…..I need you evey minute of the day – please be with me…. I’m not even sure why I am the way I am.
on February 15th, 2008 at 11:14 am
God is so Incredibly Awesome to help us as a group go through this 40 Day Journey! Thank You God for a great day to be alive knowing that You forgive us and love us beyond our ability to completely understand!!! This day I choose to live for You. Thank You Father for Forgiveness!
on February 15th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
The thing I like best about fasting is that it makes me practice my devotion in the tangible world. I have to choose over and over whether to give in and satisfy my flesh, or to die to myself, take up my cross, and keep my lips closed! I have to make a conscious decision to be obedient every time I feel hungry. I choose to love God more than I love me. For me, it’s a dress rehearsal for my daily Christian walk. God is SO COOL!
on February 16th, 2008 at 4:56 am
He loves us! He’s in love with us! He desires an intimate relationship with us! The very maker of the universe and all it contains not only is aware of me, He cares about me and desires a perfect union of oneness! And I thought my marraige was dynamite! So then let us live so the world might see and understand Who’s we are.
on February 16th, 2008 at 8:39 am
The more and more I get into this study the more I can hear or sense God calling me every morning to join Him. Through this fast I am getting a heightend sense of hearing God. Maybe God is calling and speaking to us all the time but because of our lack of real commitment we miss out on Him speaking directly to us. Think about it if your to busy all day and your running from here to there always and you barley have time to pray how could you expect to hear from God. But I really think that when you make a commitment to God through fasting He opens up a small doorway to His heart. I am not boasting about my own fast it is hard but Jesus fasted and Moses and Elijah and many of the Hebrews why is the Church in the whole world not fasting? I am glad that God is breaking through to me in my relationship with Him. Keep helping me to take the next step towards you whatever that is.
on February 16th, 2008 at 8:52 am
Thank You God for this day. Thank You for asking me to see the little girl in the dingy hospital room. Thank You that You are asking me to see the world around me that is crying out… Thank You God that You desire me to desire You!
Help me to see the needs all around me, and help me to hear You call me to care.
on February 16th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
The Bible tells me so!
So glad my church family is along for this great adventure!
on February 17th, 2008 at 7:32 am
“I am beginning to understand, my Lord, that it isn’t the results of my Yes that are important. It is my Yes.”
Thank you Lord for your universal invitation to respond to your offering of love. No matter who we are, no matter the unique experiences, challenges, blessings, crises, and victories that we’ve experienced we all have received your invitation. You meet us wherever we are, and you stand ready to accept whatever “Yes” we are capable of responding with. Help me to increasingly say yes in scope and depth and breadth to your invitation.
on February 17th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
I am loved by the lord and he is with me through the ebbs and the flows. I enjoy learning how he loves me and I pray that he can teach me how to love.
God, Please teach me how to love others, help me to break out of my shell and to not be shy. I pray that you are preparing my mate and that you make it obvious of when you want to write that chapter in my life. Please help me to make you the center of my life and help me to better utilize my school time to allow me to not feel stress when I spend time with you. Lord please help me to learn how to have fun, teach me how to not worry about the laundry list of things that I need to do.
“We have different gifts. Different graces have been placed in our hearts. Unique crises and experiences of suffering have shaped our unique ability to be compassionate and suffer with others. There are special aspects of the call that are addressed to each of us, according to our age and our resources and abilities to influence others. We want to hear the call as it is addressed to us individually.” Thank You lord, Please use me to glorify you lord, take away any barriers that impair me from being able to help someone in their situation as you have helped me.
on February 18th, 2008 at 5:58 am
-”The Good Shepherd, who lays down his life for the sheep, came in search of the straying sheep. When he found it, he took it on the shoulders that bore the wood of the cross, and led it back to the life of heaven.”
Lord help me to trust in Your strong shoulders today. The same strong shoulders of the One who bore the cross are willing and able to bear me so that I can have an escape from my own sinful nature. Help me to never forget the cost of the cross and the amazing love, and help me to seek new ways to say ‘Yes’ to You.
-”Yet some people accepted him and put their faith in him. So he gave them the right to be the children of God. They were not God’s children by nature or because of any human desires. God himself was the one who made them his children.”
How good it was last night to spend time with my brothers and sisters and to be encouraged and challenged to continue on the Journey. Lord please help me to continue to honor my commitment through study and meditation and remembrences and prayer. And Thanks for adopting us as Your own!
on February 18th, 2008 at 8:04 am
Jesus left paradise of Heaven for us down here. How could you leave that place, my only answer is love. Jesus is caused to act when sin enters the world. God is Holy and can not look upon sin so He used the second part of the trinity to become human the only way for God to be around such sin full things. God then chose to use Mary to house Jesus his son. He does not have her have relations with Joseph to bring Jesus into the world. He is God remember and He uses the Spirit of Himself to impregnate Mary with Himself. It’s like the Matrix God had to get Jesus here somehow. The way in which we as humans no to get new life is through child birth. One of the oldest punishments from the garden sin, God uses to bring us his son through child birth pains. Through much pain comes great joy and that joy is Jesus Christ our Lord. This story of Jesus does not start in the life of Mary no it starts in the garden.
on February 18th, 2008 at 10:53 am
“The power of attraction begins with our watching the gestures of another person. Persons reveal themselves with every physical movement of hands, face, legs and the entire body itself. People are telling others about themselves without even knowing it.”
God Help me to move from being a spectator to an innovator. Help me to not just look from affair but to actually get to know your children. I feel as though even in my writing I am not even touching the essence of this prayer. You know the emptiness that I have in my heart and I pray that you can continue to fill that void and that you can bring the right people into my life to help me overcome the obstacles that the devil puts in front of me. Thank you for putting me in this great family, I am so thankful for your utter faithfulness and love for me.
on February 18th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Wow, God is amazing. To know that when i’m looking back into my sins i don’t need to dwell on them to become part of me again because he has forgiven me is just vital for me.
Oh God, to know that someone as great as you cares and loves someone as small as me is amazing. I love you so much, and to look out onto your creation and see what you’ve created blows my mind. I am so thankful for your never ending forgiveness to all of my sins.
You are amazing God!
on February 19th, 2008 at 5:36 am
“There is emptiness and hollow places in our hearts and lives. We pray with them and stay with them, not filling them up so as to take our prayer away. We are learning to ache with the world and its ancient longing for return and unity with its loving creator. Today we go to prayer, not to escape longing, but to embrace it.”
-Dear Lord, oh may it be that I increasingly recognize the “picture frame” opportunities in life. Experiences that are intended to refocus my attention from the periphery so that it may be redirected to the beautiful central picture of Your tremendous love and grace. Help me to not be afraid or discouraged or angry about these times but to learn to truly welcome them as unique opportunities to more deeply experience You and to trust in You.
Thank you also for reminding us today that throughout all of history, from the ancients to the nation of Isreal to Your dwelling on Earth all the way to us there has been a common thread of orchestrated connected purpose. HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD! WON’T YOU SING WITH ME, HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD! I want the whole world to see, how great, how great, are You God.
“We unite ourselves with all men and women who have struggled to be god and have gratefully surrendered to their blessed reality of being children of the one God, Who remains faithful to those who seek.”
-Lord, how much simpler & how much better it is to be Your child than to try to be You. Help me to live my life with purpose and to strive to be more Jesus-like, but may I never forget that I will never be too old or grown up to crawl up on Your lap or to be embraced by your strong and loving arms. And I pray blessings on all of your kids today; help us as we journey together through this adventure.
on February 19th, 2008 at 7:58 am
God, thank You for impacting me through the night with Your voice in my dreams. Thank You for this time of study and contemplation this morning. You met me here today. You are impacting me, and You are changing me from the inside out. Please help me to live in Your freedom this day. And please help me to love You as You deserve!
on February 19th, 2008 at 8:20 am
Thank you to everyone who has been blogging. Especially Rick Crass. I wake up every morning eager to see what God has in store for me through Him and His kids. Man o man you can surely tell that you are one of His Kids. We are just scratching the surface of becoming a family at the Well. Let’s continue to lean on each other and work together and not against one another. We all have to do one thing and that is do your part for God. Don’t worry about me or someone else doing there job just work on how God has gifted you to be His son or daughter. Keep your eyes on HIM.
on February 19th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Lord, I thank You so much for using this 40 day Journey to bring me and my brothers and sisters closer to You. I want to RSVP to Your invitation of love and say yes to You every day!!! I know it wont always be easy, and my selfish desires will get in the way, but I know You will be there right by my side to encourage me, to give me strength, and pick me back up when I fall. As I’m beginning to experience the magnitude of Your love in a deeper way, I think of the gift I was given many years ago, that I received and opened to reveal Your love and forgiveness. I now realize that the gift goes so much deeper. There are parts that have been left unseen, and as I come to know Your love in a deeper way, I am starting to see more of that gift which gives it greater meaning. Thank You for Your incredible Love for me!
on February 20th, 2008 at 6:17 am
“It takes a certain humility to be surprised; a humility that allows there to be the unexpected, unusual and the frightening.”
-Lord help me to be humble and in doing so to be open to Your movements around me and through me in new ways. While thinking, and the use of logic and facts serves me well at times, may I never be so programmed and rigid in my approach that I quell the mysterious and magnificent way that you want to move. Not that anything I do can change Your will, it’s just that as I lean on my own understanding I will miss being able to percieve You at a deeper level, to understand how You are acting in various situations, and I’ll also likely miss many blessings along the way. It seems somewhat a paradox, but the more I am humble and open to You, the better I can understand You and the more often You will surprise me at the same time!
-Lord thank you for bringing Jacques & Lisa Pieterse our way on Sunday. Although they are from San Diego (via South Africa!) they are new to our community. They seem hungry to settle into a new community and also to find a new church home. Could they represent a new surprise from You to our church?
on February 20th, 2008 at 7:40 am
The following portion of our reading regarding “openness” really hit me today: “it is an abiding outlook or sensitivity to what is ‘out there’ or ‘in here.’”
I guess I always looked at “being open” as a passive outlook, a willingness. And I’m sure that’s a part of it as well. But, here I find that it’s described more as a readiness to respond both inwardly and outwardly to God.
Lord God, I really want to be “open” to You today. Please open my eyes to see You at work!
on February 20th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Wow God your are constantly allowing the scales shed off of my eyes one at a time. Through every step closer I get to You you share something secret about yourself to me. Keep me close to You today.
on February 21st, 2008 at 6:02 am
The night is clear and cold. The men are tired; having completed their evening care-taking tasks at the end of a long and arduous day. They have eaten and now are settling in for the night’s welcomed relief. The fire is dying down as they are finishing conversations and finding their resting places. Some of them are gazing up into the night sky. THEN YOU ROCKED THEIR WORLD (& ours as well!)
Lord I want to be more like the shepherds. They were 1)on task tending their sheep 2)open to an unannounced heavenly visit 3)sensitive and discerning enough to know something real and BIG was happening 4)not so tied down to life that they weren’t willing to instantaeously adjust and respond 5)willing to forego their rest that night (a good thing) to be obedient to the instruction they had received (a better thing)6)able to receive both a surprise from You and an unexpected blessing & 7)back on task tending the sheep by sun-up. WOW! Look at all we can learn from a small group of “lowly” shepherds.
Lord, help me be open to Your word. May I take it in and sense it’s sweetness and goodness as it enters my mouth. And now for the harder part. May I then have the stomach to fully digest it. For it is only after it has been broken down and absorbed into my system that it can fully nourish and sustain me. Increase my hunger for Your word so that it will fuel me on my journey.
on February 21st, 2008 at 8:20 am
What is it I must learn from your beginnings. I see that you dealt with trials from even before your came out into this world. From the time of your announcement from the Angel all kinds of problems start to occur for Mary and Joseph and Jesus. To both Mary and Joseph the Angel of the Lord shows up to them. What he shared with them made such a major impact on both of them that they did exactly what he said to do. They did not waiver when things got rough. You can tell by there actions and what they did that they met with the Lord and they for sure had a relationship with Him. I now look at myself and say have I met with God and if so let’s look at my actions. Have I been so moved to do what God is leading me to do. If so then I have been changed and renewed and transformed. If not maybe I have not met with God. Take Mary after she meets with the Lord’s messenger what does she do she sings a song to the Lord. Am I singing songs in my heart are you singing songs. We don’t have to look far, we just have to look at ourselves. Thanks for letting me examine myself daily, make my day be a sweet song to you Lord.
on February 22nd, 2008 at 5:15 am
So today’s session has been one huge stretching exercise for me. I have often wondered about the life of Jesus between the ages of 12 an 30. Then I had teenagers of my own! What was Jesus the pre-teen and then the teenager like? I know that he was fully human and at the same time He was God, but how did He navigate through those years and all the challenges they presented? Although it is true ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree’, in this case He’s the apple and the tree. Then there’s Hebrews 4:15 which says ‘he was tempted in every way yet was without sin’. So I struggle with this seeming paradox of the fully man fully God combo thing.
Lord I want to know you better. I see through the New Testament that You were challenged by those who misunderstood You, opposed You, even were angry at you. I see Your tenderness in meeting people where they are and then caring enough to deal with their true needs. You had to be disappointed in those around You, even the Twelve (those who were closest) yet You never ceased loving. Help me to seek to understand all that I need to in order serve You but also to accept some things that are beyond my finite mind’s ability to comprehend fully.
on February 22nd, 2008 at 6:12 am
G-morning and blessings to all my Brothers and Sisters. After waking up this morning I thought of you all and was warmed by knowing that God loves us so much that he sends his saints to encourage and love on us. It is most interesting to ponder the reality of our savior being born of flesh and blood and living a life growing up like many children do……………except this child is the Son of God!. This God man was sent just for you and me and for our salvation that we might have peace everlasting and dwell with him wrapped around his loving arms forever! Pondering all this is most humbling and reminds me that GOD will never lead you where HIS GRACE cannot keep you. Have a sparkling day all, I love you all and thank GOD for you today and always.
In His Grace
Ron
on February 22nd, 2008 at 8:32 am
Man thanks Ron and Rick for filling my cup this morning. I did not have time before I left for work to do the study this morning but reading what you blogged is a great start for a rainy day. Thanks for sticking with the study and being a great example to your brother. I love you guys.
on February 22nd, 2008 at 8:51 am
Ditto what Mikey just said, as I was getting ready to read this morning I first read the blogs. Great words! Very inspiring as well. Thank you guys and girls so much for being faithful with the blogs, it has really inspired me. It helps to know that we’re not alone on this journey.
Well like Rick I have often wondered, as the ancient Christians did, about the early years of Jesus. This meditation over the last couple of days is helping me to understand better what Joseph and Mary must have gone through. So, the end result is that it helps me to draw near to Jesus in a more tangible way.
Thank You God for a rainy day to think, contemplate and worship You!
on February 23rd, 2008 at 1:18 am
Thank you lord for answering my prayers, thank you for allowing me to interact in another social situation, it may have felt awkward but I know you are trying to teach me how to interact. Help me lord to say the right words in communication.
Lord, help me to open up to your brothers and sisters, help me to interact and relate with them. I want to embrace this yearning I feel in my heart. You know better than anyone, the emptiness I so often face when another success stares blankly back at me from a mirror. It’s the kind of success that means so little and yet it means way too much. “God blesses those people who depend only on him. They belong to the kingdom of heaven!” That, more than anything, is what I long for in my life. Please God, teach me to depend on you. Show me how to give my life away to you, for you. Guide me in the path of life you chose for yourself.
on February 23rd, 2008 at 6:42 am
Today the study to me is all about life perspective and self identity. Possessions, prestige, man’s honor, selfish pride, recognition, power. Lord, how can we so easily be drawn in? I earnestly ask that these not be what defines me, for to the extent that they are I have missed the mark. You call us to a different path of humility and service so that we can achieve our identity in another and better way.
I used to send our girls out the door on the way to school with the admonition “Show them who you are!” It was a way for me to tell them to be good, make right choices, and live up to their potential. Now 30 years later I realize that as I weave my way through the day, You are right there with me saying “Show them who you are IN ME!”. So, God help me live my life in a manner that the true measure of my worth is in how successful I am in becoming more like Jesus, obedient to You and in loving service to others.
on February 23rd, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Ok, today was tough! How often I find myself wondering how Jesus would live if He had come today. This exercise causes me to reevaluate my desire once again. Thanks God for continuing to work on me, with me! Bless Your Holy, Holy, Holy Name!
on February 23rd, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Using our brains and our hearts to contemplate the life of our Lord is Gods plan for us. To think of our human experiences and then connecting them to the stories of Jesus life helps us to join in with the humanness of Jesus and make Him more real to us. We can not see him with our eyes but thanks to Ignatius and this 450 year old process we are able to see Jesus with our minds and then those thoughts move our whole selves into His loving arms. Remember He is always waiting for us. Be open to using all of your mind body and soul to relate and connect with Him. We all meet with you in different ways. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
on February 23rd, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Todays lesson talked to me about our exhuastive search for our identity and how that search is what drives us to accept the worlds outlook of, bigger is better, richer brings freedom, beauty brings success, you deserve a break today, 1st place is the only thing, smarter gives you power etc, etc, etc………..these things all keep us focused on material things and on our self gratification and leaves us precious little time for the things of God, or allow us much time to think of others and their needs. The more subtle approach by the evil one is to keep the hardworking christian so busy with what is perceived as the things of God that he or she has little time to truly give to God what he desires and that is time with HIM, HIS Saints, and telling others about him. The lesson today tells me that this robs us of our humility thereby taking us away from GODS true mission in our lives… The lesson told me it is most important to emulate Christ and his humbleness and that being humble is not the awareness of how humble we are, but a daily lifestyle of putting God and others first. This seems like it should give us no time to think of our successes but only the grace GOD gives us to love and serve him more fully. Thank you LORD let this day give you praise.
on February 24th, 2008 at 7:20 am
A confession. Somehow I think that I moved right by Day 16 and got a day ahead. So my journaling for today’s seesion I posted yesterday. Can I do a sanity check? What day are we actually on – is it Day 18 today? I got the calendar out and tried to count days from Ash Weds. & it seems we should be on day 18.
Whichever day it is Lord it just reinforces to me why I should be more than glad to put You in charge!
on February 24th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Thanks Lord for allowing my wife and I to get spiritual direction from you through this study. You are helping our marriage and allowing us to communicate more about you. Continue to help us be married to you first then each other. Loving You Lots
on February 24th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Thank you lord for allowing me to open up and help my fellow brother know what is going on in my heart. Help me to find JOY in my life, happiness is short lived and often not fulfilling. Help me to open up and grow in your light, bring those people into my life that can teach me how to live and mature. Help me to connect to my brothers and sisters in all stages of life so that I can learn from their experience so I can move into the next stage in my life. I know I have a lot of catching up to do, so I ask you to bring the right people into my life to teach me the subjects that I am insufficient in. Thank you lord for being with me, if you are with me then nobody can be against me.
on February 25th, 2008 at 6:05 am
“Once Jesus entered His life, each of us became the center of His ever-lasting life. He has entered our human struggles and there is no end . . . . We pray this day with the constancy, the fixed-commitment of His love for our life’s journey.”
Help me Lord to fully acknowledge my humanity and to humbly accept the gift of your presence within me. I agree with the author of our exercise this day – “We pray with good will this day and consider how radical, how differently Jesus lived and desires to live through us. Our conversions are not moral, but now, more relational and attitudinal.” Help me to increasingly adopt the mind and heart of Christ, and may this growing presence within me permeate my attitudes and guide my relationships. I really do seek these mercies, yet I know that any progress is a gift from You through your eternal goodness. So to God be the glory!
on February 25th, 2008 at 7:36 am
Can I be led like Jesus to listen to the Father like Jesus did. We look at the progression of Jesus life and His time leading up to His ministry. What am I progressing towards. What is it that God is leading me or preparing me to go through or do for Him. Am I taking my life as serious as Jesus did or am I just going through the motions. Help me Lord to have a purpose like you do. Thank you again for last night and the tears that are being shed for you. Keep breaking our hearts for You and each other and those who don’t know You yet. Use us to do your will.
on February 25th, 2008 at 8:14 am
Poverty of Soul! I am struck anew with the realization that following Jesus means the total commitment and devotion toward humility. My life’s dreams must be subjugated to the foot of the cross if I am truly to follow Jesus! I must let go of tomorrow’s allure and pursue the one with “no place to lay His head.”
Thank You God for Jesus! Thank You for this wonderful plan to live life to it’s fullest by letting go of the frivolous, and by-passing the pursuit of the meaningless.
Please help me to follow You!
on February 25th, 2008 at 9:33 am
As soon as I start to feel half-way righteous or humble, You show me just how badly I suck!!! I need You so much, Lord! How often do You ask me to leave everything and follow You, yet I hesitate to drop my nets? There are so many things I want to hang on to… They keep me from following You. Like You did with Mary and Joseph, You stepped in and changed my life forever! There is no going back now. And I don’t want to go back! I want the strength to follow wherever You lead. I don’t want to be a coward. YOU ARE WITH ME! What more could I possibly need? Who cares if others think me foolish? Who cares if, by giving myself away, I appear poor and silly? To the world, real Christians look like idiots. So what? So did Jesus! I will pour myself out as a drink offering. I will lay my life down for others. I will sell all that I have to purchase the Pearl of great price. I will give Him permission to mess with my head so that I think less about me, and seek first His kingdom and His righteousness — not so that all the other things will be added to me as well, but so that He will be pleased. I want more than anything to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” Therefore, I will drop my nets and follow HIM and become a fisher of men. I will recognize daily that I am the owner of NOTHING.
– “When all is gift, we can no longer measure ourselves by what we’ve accumulated.” –
So be it. He is the Potter, I am the clay. He is the Master. I am the slave. Be glorified in me, my beloved Lord Jesus!
on February 26th, 2008 at 5:16 am
“It is so important to remember that this is not about the choice to be a good person as opposed to being a bad person.”
Lord, thank you for placing me in the midst of a body of believers who have taken the first step. We have realized that we are sinners apart from You, but that You love us so much that you provided Your Son to sacrificially cover our sins. That in and of itself good and exciting news!
But You desire much more than that. You want us to be fully Yous in the way we live, the choices we make, and who and how we serve. As I read today’s exercise I can see that I still have ‘attachments’
on February 26th, 2008 at 5:35 am
Part 2 (also known as I accidently hit the ’submit’ button!)
As I read today’s exercise I can see that I still have ‘attachments’ that prevent me from knowing and serving You as fully as we both would like. So help me not to get caught in the ‘never getting around to it’ mode or to rationalize or dismiss these attachments. Instead may Christ’s pull on my life be such a force of spiritual gravity that it causes me to without much thinking be inclined to do the right things. I know that if I have the faith to step off my perch surrounded by my attachments into the freedom of spiritual gravity I can be drawn to Christ (much like the apple that detaches from the tree falls to the ground because of physical gravity). Once I am drawn into planet Christ, He will help me refocus my life and live it in a way that is pleasing to and brings honor to Him.
on February 26th, 2008 at 6:02 am
Thank you Lord for sending your son as our example on how to resist temptation, dying to self and all our selfish desires. It is probably the hardest life challenge to resist and overcome! Like Paul said,, “The athlete prepares daily for the race he is to run” ( I corinthians 9:24) so that he might be ready to win the race so are we to be in strict training (reading the word, praying, humbling ourselves before God, sharing Christ) so that we resist the subtle and sometimes not so subtle temptations of Satan. God Bless you all, may you run the good race today and for all the days GOD gives you. I love you all very much.
Ron
on February 26th, 2008 at 6:41 am
Desire does become choice but we need God first. Do I hear God’s invitation? There’s that word again “unfreedoms” not sure I got it the first time around Lord. Choice of Life – I could always make things sound right Lord – God’s will vs. mine Hmm This should slow me down a bit – to think about what I am doing, Lord even when I think that I am doing the right thing is it your will – please teach me to want to know the difference and then do it. Lord I know there are many times I don’t ask first. Lord as I look honestly about myself my heart aches with pain – how can I let people in when I might not be honest with myself – Lord that has to come first help me please Jesus. So much stuff to think about – Lord show me at your pace and open my heart to what you want me to change and know. Amen.
on February 26th, 2008 at 7:21 am
Theses exercises are helping me to stretch my thinking of who you are Jesus. It’s healthy to contemplate the everyday life of Jesus. It allows us to connect our humanness to his humanness. It’s just like witnessing or listening, if you can relate to a persons situation then they start to trust you and then is when the healing can begin. God I allow you to heal all of the things in my life that hold me back from you. Help me to continue to BECOME
on February 26th, 2008 at 7:38 am
Attachments and the three classes of people’s responses. I find myself in each of these three classes depending on the circumstances, the time of day, the mood, the distractions. Please Lord, help me to let go of everything that has a hold on me and that keeps me from serving You. Please let me know You more deeply today as I say ‘Yes” and let go!
on February 26th, 2008 at 10:04 am
I still wonder why I do things – for prasie of man or for the glory of God -
on February 27th, 2008 at 5:11 am
Lord like the disciples let me hear and be attentive to your call for my life today and each day of my life you have given me. Lord give me the courage and strength to be obedient, and like the disciples drop what hinders me from following you more completely to and thru those unchartered waters. Lord, let this day give you praise.
on February 27th, 2008 at 5:32 am
Wow… will I be obedient to You, even unto death? Can I withstand persecution, should it come?
— Yesterday’s exercises included a phrase that has stuck with me and even become more alive in today’s exercise: “…so that we become freed from anything possessing us.” —
Lord, Your love is extravagant! How can I possibly hold back anything from You? Yet, I know I do. I am so selfish and proud… please turn my heart of stone into a heart of flesh, soft and pliable. Set me free from anything that possesses my mind, my time, my resources – so I can be free to serve You in the complete and surrendered way You desire. I love You and I believe – help my unbelief!
on February 27th, 2008 at 5:51 am
So I am on the edge of an unbelievable force field. But instead of being drawn into a “Death Star” I am being pulled towards Christ the ultimate ‘Life Star’. And all I have to do is to allow His spiritual gravity to impact me at a greater level and draw me to Him. Once its influence reaches the point that it overcomes opposing forces on my life, it’s all over! At that point I’m totally committed to becoming one with Him. May it be!
My parents and many wise people were right – “If it is too good to be true, it probably isn’t!” But here’s something that seems too good to be true that turns out to be good and absolutely true. You did come from heaven to earth. You did come to show me the way, my debts to pay. And just when I feel that I am not worthy to receive Your amzing gift or have doubts about my ability to live a changed life, You help me to understand. I AM WORTHY precisely because I realize that WITHOUT YOU I AM NOT WORTHY! Help me to humbly accept the incredible strength and dignity of your presence next to me so that I will live for You always.
on February 27th, 2008 at 7:40 am
I am hearing Jesus say one word to me today it is COME.
on February 28th, 2008 at 5:19 am
Lord your love has embraced me before I was born and was sent to hang on a tree for me, how humbling and rich with love that is to contemplate. Let your love overflow in me and spill into the lives of those you embrace and love as well. Let all my spiritual poverty melt away by the richness of your powerful love. Make me attentive to that small still voice within me and give myself over to obedience.
Lord bless all my Brothers and Sisters and those to come and let this be a SPARKLING day for all.
I love you all.
Ron
on February 28th, 2008 at 5:27 am
“Freedom is all about confronting the temptation to use one’s power to feed oneself. Self absorption always defeats our ability to freely give ourselves for others.”
-The selfish voice within says:
‘But you desrve this’, ‘Just this once won’t hurt you’, ‘They don’t understand’, ‘This isn’t really so bad’, ‘Just look at what they do, it’s so much worse’
-What does Jesus example teach us?
“He chose not to arrogantly use his gifts. He chose freedom. His first choice was to give himself to whatever God desired.”
-It is interesting that the height and spiritual epiphany of Jesus’ baptism is immediately followed by the devil’s temptation. Isn’t that the way it goes with me sometimes too? Just about the time ‘I get it’ or receive some new spiritual revelation or am able to be obedient in a new or deeper way, isn’t that whe Satan comes a knockin’ at my door? Oh may it be that the next time this happens I will remember One Who always stands ready at the door of my heart, gently knocking while awaiting an invitation to come in!
-Also, I really like the comments about the loaves of bread. Satan wasn’t just trying to get Jesus to demonstrate his power by performing the rock-swap miracle, he was trying to tempt Jesus as His deepest need of the moment. And I was really blessed by Ladislaus Boros. “He did not betray us for a crust of bread. To him our wretchedness was sacred.” In my humanness I want to argue: ‘No, it was more than a crust. We’re talking loaves here! For someone who was starving!’ Then I realize how subtle the devil is. It really isn’t so much about the loaves, it’s about giving into temptation and taking the first bite. And experience has taught me that those things that Satan wants to sale me as shiny and attractive and tasty and filling and fulfulling end up being empty and hollow. Lord help me crave You and Your Word instead.
on February 28th, 2008 at 7:44 am
Our constant battle is that we live in the world and that once we turn to God we end up fighting a battle of the will. Who’s will do will follow ours or God’s. These contemplations help to know God’s will for our lives because we begin to start thinking more of God than of the world and it’s problems for the day. Teach me to live in balance with You. Let me not just talk about you God but to live for you each moment of of every day.
on February 28th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
We just as a group surpassed 100 entries on the blog. This is all coming from the Spirit moving among. One of the first steps we must all take in relinquishing our grip on our own understanding of who we think God really is and allow the true Spirit of God to change us into His image and likeness. In Acts in the 1st century the church all came together and met in the temple and prayed and shared life together well now in the year 2008 we are all coming together by way of cyber space and the world wide web. This goes right along with Rik’s message of Wednesday night speaking of the end of times. Keep communicating to God and each other until He comes on a cloud from the east. Always be watching and waiting and ready. God please continue to sink deep with our souls and help us to fall so in love with you all we can do is serve and give and share YOU with everyone we meet and talk with. Your 800 feet tall God and I want to be at your feet all the time. WOOO HOOO its so hard for me to not share with all of you how pumped up and excited I am right not God is just making me smile so big it hurts in a good way though. Think about how it is going to be when we are all in His presence. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhweeeeeeeeeeeyaayayyy. I know i’m freaky but take that one up with the maker of the universe.
on February 28th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Hey everyone! My parents sent me this study and I thought I’d go along the journey with you all! I’m on day 7 and I’ve been so blessed by it already! It’s so neat to see how God builds on the “theme of the day” by connecting it to all my experiences. The truths He’s trying to show me become so clear when I’m in constant reverence and praise! In day 6 I read the story of the prodigal son and something popped out at me. For some, life has not always consisted of a relationship with Christ. Most of these people can relate with the younger brother who lived for worldly desires and eventually returned to his Father. I’m pretty sure I was born in a church pew ☺ and so I related more with the story of the “faithful” older son who thought he was more deserving of the love of his father. It’s as if God were telling me, “My [Daughter] , you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we should be glad and celebrate! Your brother was dead, but he is now alive. He was lost and has now been found.” Why is it that I think I deserve any recognition or special attention from God? My sins have placed me in the same boat as anyone else; it’s only by God’s grace that I am saved. I feel so self-centered sometimes, only desiring to grow in Christ and not share His gift of love with anyone else. I’ve been convicted these past few days to not only look to my interests but the interests of others. I’ve been begging God to break my heart for the lost like never before and to give me compassion for those who are suffering. Dissecting my imperfections has given me a new insight into the wonder of God’s grace!
on February 29th, 2008 at 5:25 am
Week 23 could very well be my favorite week cause it talks of a love (this could be off from everyone else as I’m using the study material from the first time I did this) that covers the entire planet and all who reside there. It is a love I pray that I and all who are on this journey together may experience for themselves and so fills our hearts to overflowing that we must open the spillways to our hearts and let that love flow to and cover all those people God has put in our path. Thank you Lord for the Love that hung between here and eternity for a world so thirsty and in need of it. God Bless you all and may you feel all of this LOVE today and all of your days to follow.
on February 29th, 2008 at 5:27 am
‘The one who asks us, “What are you looking for?” knows our answer, and always invites us to “Come, follow me.”‘
Lord You know me. You know my heart. You know my thoughts, my deeds, my intentions. I think that when You ask me what I am looking for, it’s not so much so that You can get an answer, it’s more so that I can spend some serious time with the question. And as the exercise stated, You don’t call to us from way up ahead, nor above, but actually from beside and behind. Thank You for caring so much for us that You are sesnitive to each of our individul desires to join You in a way that places You right there with us, next to us on life’s daily journey.
I pray this morning for my brothers and sisters in Christ. Thanks for this body of believers You have placed us in. Be with each one today – with one who is sick, one who is lonely, one who has just experienced a victory over a personal sin, one who has been blessed by overcoming a challenge in their work, one who is seeking a deeper walk with You. Meet us where we are and reveal Yourself to us in even a gtreater way today. We give You all praise and honor and glory!
on February 29th, 2008 at 7:35 am
God is so personal. Imagine God being king of not a land but everything and that same king wants to know you and me so intimately. He cares for every last detail down to the toothpaste. Loving you in advance for today.
on February 29th, 2008 at 9:59 am
I have felt the call of God over these last few days in a way that continues to call me deeper. I know that this fast helps me to look at my spiritual life in Christ in a more immanent way, and I appreciate the experience. “The Call” of Christ echoes through my ears and throughout these moments of the Journey. I can easily imagine the disciples listening and then being drawn toward this Rabbi. I too am being called and drawn and now follow. Throughout this day, please Lord help me to not slip back, to not give up, to not hold off… but to follow you with a thousand responses of “YES!”
on February 29th, 2008 at 10:01 am
It is good to see all of you blogging! It is so encouraging for this 40 Day Journey. We welcome our sister Amanda on this Journey as well. Peace to each of you today and the presence of Christ!
on March 1st, 2008 at 6:25 am
“The call of Jesus to each of us is not an impatient imperative, but rather a timely invitation to a relationship which will slowly move our desires to live those ways which moved others to distance themselves from The Master.”
-Thank You Lord for Your continued gentle invitation to join You
-Thank You Lord for Your patience
-So often we do have ‘wonderful excuses and with great promises and intentions to return’ to You
-’The real fruit of the day’s reflection will occur to the degree the reflection makes its way into the background of our everyday lives.’
-Mold me, mend me, bend me change me!
on March 1st, 2008 at 12:25 pm
I had no idea when I first began this 40 day journey how much it would impact my life. God is using this as a tool for me to see the true depth of who Jesus is to me, His love for me, and my desire to love Him more and more. Something that really moved me was putting myself right there with Jesus at his birth, holding Him in my arms…how cool was that!!!! Then after Jesus was Baptized, sitting by Him and having Him turn to me and ask me to join Him!!! It just made Jesus so much more real to me! I’ve found myself experiencing a deeper and deeper love for Jesus, and a growing desire to follow Him in all that I do. Hearing Jesus say “stay joined to me, and I will stay joined to you” gives me hope. I know I definitely can’t do this with my own power.
Lord, I pray that You will continue to speak to me, help me to follow You in my day to day life, even with all my weaknesses. I know You are there beside me and behind me to pick me back up and direct me back to Your ways.
on March 1st, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Jesus was not quiet about those things that were happening against His father’s house and the things that people were doing. He spoke up and Got into people’s personal and business lives. We are too easy on people in church. I am speaking about myself as well here. When we see people doing something that is contrary to God’s teachings we must speak up. Jesus spoke up in anger because of His love for there souls. We must have that same love for others when we see them slipping. lift each other up in love. I am needing all of you reading this blog to keep me accountable and I will try to do the same for you. We are here for one another, just like Jesus He came to help us.
on March 1st, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Just got back today from an awesome experience with my brothers in the desert. It was a fruitful time bonding with those brothers and seeing a different type of beauty that He gave us to enjoy. It was neat to read the blogs and see a new face, Linda E. thank you Lord for her being so candid. Love you all see ya tomorrow.
on March 2nd, 2008 at 8:47 am
It is great to see all of us using apart of us all whom we don’t always get to see. The blog is allowing us to use our spiritual gifts and then share them with the world. God is touching all of us in different ways through this journey. We see one another every week but we never talk about these tings this deep. Deep calls unto deep. The deeper we go with the Lord the closer we get to our real home that is in the Lords arms and sitting around His feet. Who knows when the seeds you and I have planted will sprout up and seek God. People have to experience Jesus for themselves but we can be like the Samaritan women and tell people about the One we have met and how He has changed our lives then they can share the same joy that we have. don’t be afraid to share the cool things that God has done for you just like this woman at the well she shared with her whole town and people believed we can do the same thing right here in our town. The story of Lazarus is replay of Jesus dying and Him being put into a tomb and a stone being rolled in front of His cave. Maybe He was crying not only for His friend but for what was going to happen to Him in the future. So many things you learn from re reading scripture. God thank you for taking away my blindness one day at a time.
on March 3rd, 2008 at 5:47 am
Oh Lord, Clean me from the inside! Remove any impurity, refine me, break and remake me. Help me to clarify my intentions and to make each choice with Your will and Your unending amazing love for me and others in my mind and heart. Free me from empty legalistic rhetoric and practices so that I may truly see You more clearly and focus more fully on Your mission. And although You came as a Jew to the Jewish people in fullfilment of prophesy and God’s promise, You died once for ALL and that includes us! We ask that You help us today to live like the children of the King that we are. All prasie and honor and glory now and forever more belong to You, we give to You.
on March 3rd, 2008 at 5:54 am
It was a powerful reading this morning. I was so impacted by the heart of Jesus that would confront those who lived for themselves and their own self-interests. What a loving God! He loves so much that He takes the tough and uncomfortable road of confronting our un-freedoms. Oh dear God, please give me a heart that loves enough to live beyond myself for the good of others.
on March 3rd, 2008 at 7:39 am
Am I seeking to be a poor servant for Jesus? I have pain today just like many others do. Am I having faith enough to say yes to Jesus to heal me. Yes Elohim yes Elohim yes Elohim. I must go on Jesus continued on to the cross even though He walked in pain. I pray to your Father Jesus as You did in Your pain. Don’t let me be blind to You any longer God. Let me see as You see.
on March 3rd, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Today’s reading was a little harder for me than previous days. It’s easier for me to love God by loving others, but harder to love by confrontation. That is part of God’s call for all of us is to live for Him by standing up for what is right and just in God’s eyes, just as Jesus did. He didn’t let anything get in the way of His doing what He was called to do by His Father, whatever the cost would be. He is our example, and the more we grow deeper in love with Him, and desire to be more like Him, He will slowly work on our hearts to help us follow Him, whatever the cost. What would the cost be for us??? Losing a job?? Having someone upset with us?? What was the cost for Jesus???????
on March 3rd, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Thanks for the phone calls Rick Crass and Pastor Rik. Love you guys.
on March 3rd, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Rick, good to have you back… great words. Linda, great thoughts! Mikey… I am praying that you are healed of this cronic pain! Each of you (my wifey too) have been such a tremendous group of encouragers along this journey. May God richly bless each person who has blogged or longed to blog! BTW, what is a blog anyway? (hahaha)
Blessings,
Pastor Rik
on March 4th, 2008 at 4:56 am
Oh God, You are the God of miracles! I can see it in how You revealed Yourself to the Samaritan woman by letting her know You knew her completely, I can see it in how Youe gave the blind man restored sight. I can see it when I witness a baptism, and I can see it in the mighty wonders of the mountains and sea and sky. But most of all I can see it in the way You can touch and mend and heal my heart.
But like the lesson said ‘Now we see Him, now we don’t.’ Why is it we can so quickly turn from the mountain-top of revelation and knowledge to end up in the valley of doubt and despair? Forgive me Lord, and foster and encourage my belief at the same time You are healing my unbelief. Help me to yieid to You every day in every way.
Lord, break us free! Free to be all we can be in YOUR army. And as the ropes of our “unfreedoms” that bind us are falling to the ground, may we both live as changed people and at the same time openly proclaim Your name and goodness so that others may come to recognize You, acknowledge You, follow You.
Thank You for this journey that we are all on. Help us to stick to the path, moving consistently forward so that we can encounter You in new and deeper ways. We love You and Praise You and our hearts sing Glory to Your name!
on March 4th, 2008 at 7:36 am
Break my silly routine today to be able to step out of my bubble and into your bubble which is the world. to be able to help someone. Am I being brad to other people. In the Bible times bread was life. If you did not have bread that could have been the end of you. Jesus offers not only bread to the disciple but Himself. We to now that we have the eternal life of God should be ofereing this life of God to everyone. We have what those that don’t know Him need, we can give it to them it is Love. Today is a new day go on and call soemone or help some lady at the store or even your spouse or kids. Be Jesus for them sometimes we are all they will ever see of Jesus because of there current circumstances. The examples of the Eucharist is such a perfect picture of ho we should give of ourself out of the love of Jesus that we have inside of us. We have this giving desirer when we have been touched by the Holy Spirit. Eat and drink of God all you can don’t worry he can make more you will never be full of Him.
on March 4th, 2008 at 8:04 am
Lord forgive me where I have failed you and thank you for another glorious day where we can walk side by side with you like an old friend secure in the warmth of your healing and loving arms. Like Lazarus who you commanded to come forth from the darkness of the grave you command us to come forth from the darkness of our spiritual grave and live our life in freedoms we have never known. Like the blind man whose eyes were washed by our Lord and was given sight so let the scales of doubt and unbelief about ourselves and your complete love for us fall away through the power of your love so that we may be unhindered to serve you. May the feelings of unworthiness like that of the Samaritan woman melt away in the Grace of the Cross. Thank you Lord for your “Amazing Love” and may all that I am today, all that I try to do today bring you glory honor and praise. May you be with all my brothers and sisters today and may the warmth of your embrace bring all peace and joy.
on March 4th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Thanks Ron and I am glad Maudell is doing good.
on March 5th, 2008 at 5:14 am
Thank you Mikey and all whose humble prayers for Mom have meant so much to our family and have been a sustaining force. Lord let the intentions of my heart be pure today to desire only your mission for my life. Bring my human soul into total submission for your will in my life. Help me to lounge only in your acceptance of my efforts to serve you. Deepen my desire for others to know you and for others who do to draw even closer. Remove any spiritual blindness that entangles me and restricts my ability serve you completely. Thank you for having a love deeper than any I could ever know.
on March 5th, 2008 at 5:46 am
‘Attraction and resistance struggle within us as with His earliest followers.’
-There it is again. The ‘now we see him, now we don’t’ phenomenon from yesterday’s teaching. Since this is a universal issue we all struggle with, I guess it really points right at our humanness. Even the disciples struggled with it, yes even the twelve. Jesus as You increasingly reveal Yourself to me, I pray that You continue to accept me for who I am, with all of my imperfections and inconsistencies. But help me to respond to You with an increasing desire for a deeper relationship and a changed heart that chooses right versus wrong, servanthood over selfishness, and obedience to You always.
-So when I come to the forks in the road, help me to follow You and Your path. I know I will be tempted to take the ‘Jerusalem by-pass’ of avoidance which seems to be a means of self-preservation. But then You remind me again ‘Any desperate attempt to avoid giving our lives away is deadly. But, placing our lives in God’s hands is life-giving.’ Lord, I don’t want to try to gain the whole world. I see that pursuing such an attempt is a path of futility that strays away from You and leads to destruction. Help me say ‘Yes’ to You instead.
on March 5th, 2008 at 6:50 am
Our study for today says, “The closer we allow Him to come, the more we might wonder where the by-pass is for us.” Wow, God! Following Your Messiah isn’t comfortable and it isn’t convenient! Being a real disciple and follower of Jesus means giving up our own dreams and accepting Yours. Please, help me this day give up my personal agenda and take on Yours! Please, make me Your disciple.
on March 5th, 2008 at 7:09 am
Today was such a strong call to me towards self-denial. I wonder what would happen if the world saw us really denying ourselves and loving them and each other like God does? Would it take the form of giving away all that we have to save the starving? Or would it mean that we purchase less and give more? Worry less about how we’ll live tomorrow and care more about coming alive today? Would it resemble a compassion that costs us everything?
I suppose we’re being asked to consider whether there is any other form of true Christianity?
on March 5th, 2008 at 7:41 am
From the upper room to the garden to the cross then to the earth then to the sky again He is lifted up. Sin gets started in the garden and then Jesus contemplates He becoming sin for us in the garden. He did not sin yet He becomes sin for us. My sin connects me and you to the Lord and the cross. Each time I go through His passion it gets harder and harder. What was it like for his mom and John watching You get beat an whipped and then so hurt and sore that they make Simon carry your cross. I bet it was as soon as you left the roman courts. In God calling Simon to help links us all with each other, we all need help and can not do it alone. Then they saw you have all your clothes ripped off naked and all your beatings and lashes exposed they must have had a hard time to even look upon you. Wait it gets worse they drive huge nails into your body then they stand the cross upright and now you are on display for everyone to ridcule. His mom must have wanted it to be her instead of you Lord. Forgive me for my sins the same sins that put you on the Cross. Let me understand the magnitude of what I just wrote.
on March 5th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Our God is so cool! He may not tell us where we’re headed, (we probably wouldn’t go!) but He always gives us just enough light for the step we’re on. He promises to direct our paths when we acknowledge Him and His plan over our own agenda. Thanks, Daddy! I desire for You to heal my blindness to You and Your will, and make me blind to the enticements of the world. Just You… only You… always You.
“…They have no wine.”
“You have no bucket…”
“We have only five loaves and two fish.”
–SO WHAT?–
” Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights.”
(Habakkuk 3:17-19)
LET THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD SAY SO! Woo hoo!!!
on March 6th, 2008 at 5:27 am
Abba Father, your are an awesome heavenly Father to love us so much that you sent your only Son to earth to show us how to Love and be a true servant to others. Help me to be more consistant in dying to self that I might be a true foot washer of others each day you have blessed me with. Let that love shine in me, thru me and and out of me to those you put in my path. Lord let this day give you praise and be with my Brothers and Sisters, let them feel your loving touch and imagine you washing there feet and looking at them with your soft loving eyes and saying, “now go and do as I do”. Let this day give you praise our dear friend.
on March 6th, 2008 at 5:53 am
‘I am filled with love, for the Lord Hears me; the Lord bends to my voice whenever I call.’
-What a beautiful word picture. God, the creator of the universe, Christ, the ‘Priest, Prophet, and King’ attuned to me a puny human amongst billions in such a way that he bends over as a Father to His child to hear me when I call.
-And how often do I avail myself of this opportunity to connect with a direct line to THE God? Wow! Lord, help me to pick up the (spiritual) phone and to give You a call more often. Not just in a fleeting “How are doing way” but to engage in real dialogue about life, its challenges and victories and to listen for what You have to say to me at that moment.
‘I believe, even as I say, “I am afflicted.” I believe, even though I scream, “Everyone lies!”‘
-Life can be confusing and even down right depressing at times when we focus on ourselves or the condition of the world around us. Help me to place my focus and more importantly my trust in You. There is only One who will never disappoint, never leave us hanging, never abandoned us. This is great news – the One who hung on a tree and died for me will never leave me hanging!
‘He is broken and poured out, to completely give himself to our very human struggle, that we might be whole and ourselves become bread for our world.’
-Yes, I do frequently remeber You through communion, and I do understand at some level the sacrifice You made on the cross for me. I am thankful that You bore my sins so that I would become worthy to be a child of the livind God.
-What I rarely focus on is that on that same night You washed the disciples feet as an act of loving service. Lord help me to remmeber that I am both saved from something and saved for something. As I am made whole throught the gift of Your body and blood, it is so that I can become bread to those around me. Help me to desire and honor service to others more each day.
on March 6th, 2008 at 7:44 am
I will discover how the Passion of Christ still affects me to this day today. St Ignatius was a blessed and great man of faith. Because of him being able to tap into the Holy Spirit in himself, we are able to spend everyday looking at different parts of the person of Jesus from His birth to death then His raising from the dead. He also helps us deal with some had issues in our own lives. I want to encourage all of you that if there is something in your life that you have not dealt with this is the time. Allow the Holy Spirit to move you back into those things that are still holding you and I back from being all that we can be for Jesus just like St Ignatius did. Just like Pastor Rik always says we have no idea how much of an impact we can all have on people around us and hundreds of years from now unless the Lord comes back before then. I challenge all of us today to dig deep within yourself through the study today. We only have a couple more days to go. We can do it. Holy Holy Holy is the Lord almighty.
on March 6th, 2008 at 9:47 am
With my deepest feelings I say, “Thank You!”
Thank You for Your body and Your blood. Thank You that You love me more than I can ever understand. Thank You for going the distance, for caring for us beyond our comprehension.
I give thanks to You our God and King!
on March 6th, 2008 at 11:14 am
I’m home sick today, so I finally had some time to read your blogs. It’s such a blessing to read about God’s hand in everyone’s life. Yesterday’s reading asked two questions that really hit home with me. “With whom do I compete?” & “How can I be at their service?” Tough questions! Especially for me. I’m a competitive person by nature, and that desire to win, or just to be the best at whatever I’m doing can fill me with jealousy and animosity towards others. Father, please help me celebrate the beauty of your work in the lives of others. Help me see the beauty of someone else’s children as easily as I see the beauty of my own children. Help me see the beauty of your children! Father, the fear of mediocrity or even failure, prevents me from attempting those things where I have little or no confidence of success. Please help me listen to you, help me rely on your ability not mine, remove my self-conscious sprit and fill me with the confidence of your Spirit.
on March 6th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
I was able to understand that through Jesus suffering and the insults and the pain I get a better glimpse into His love for me. I was led to contemplate what Jesus must have been thinking of while in the Roman prison over night after being beaten. The things he must have been thinking about. He probably was thinking of the cakes his mom used to make him when he was younger and that he missed his family. As blood was dripping from his wounds he must have been thinking of how his best friends deserted him when they were taking him away. All alone yet the father of human kind. When he was brought back into Pilot and all of the thousands of people yelling crucify him kill him crucify him kill him and these were the same people he was going to die for on the cross within hours from that time. All through this passion time he did not hurl one insult back at the people or rulers. He only said father forgive them for they know not what they do. What he meant was that if they only knew He was God they would have never have done this to him. I have no excuse for the screw ups that I do We know who he is. Let’s all make a stand for Jesus and support him and his kingdom and his church. We are the church and we should stand as ONE….. I can never love you Lord like I should but I will spend the rest of my life trying. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8660564057989299152&q=keith+green&total=677&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=4
on March 7th, 2008 at 5:44 am
Todays lesson is powerful. It takes defeat and turns it into victory! In our world today being #1 is the main goal anything less is not acceptable. We must be like the warrior who after he vanquishes his foe stands over him with his foot on the chest of the fallen and beating his chest in victory. Looks, riches, popularity all are signs pointing to an acceptable life. But in Gods economy and through Jesus His Son we are shown how LOVE and SUBMISSION can be victorious.
on March 7th, 2008 at 5:59 am
‘Then, there is the powerful image of Jesus, asking his disciples to pray with him. Instead, they fall asleep.’
-Jesus, forgive me. Forgive me when I take my focus off of You. Forgive me when I choose temporary comfort over an opportunity to know You better. Forgive me when Your Holy Spirit tries to dial me up only to get a busy signal. What blessings have I missed along the way? Who has lacked a word of encouragement when I fail to be Your messenger upon Your prompt?
Then there are the questions about who You are. They are all around us from time to time.
-Do you really believe in Jesus Christ?
-What do you think; aren’t Christians all a bunch of hypocrites?
-What right do Christians have to judge others?
-I’m a good person. It doesn’t really matter if I woship a different God, does it? It’s all really the same, right?
-You don’t really mean to tell me you believe everything in the Bible do you?
And how do I respond? Wait a minute, I just heard a noise. Do I acknowledge You and all that You did and do for me, including the cross? There, that noise again. Louder, but I still can’t make it out. And when the time is ripe for me to tell others about the undeniable dynamic reality of Your presence which I know of first hand, what then? Oh there it is a third time. That noise. I recognize it now. It is a rooster’s crow.
Oh God please forgive me! Yes, for all the times I choose to do wrong. But also for all the times I do not choose to do right.
on March 7th, 2008 at 8:54 am
Thank you guys for blogging today. I was really touched by that Keith Green video, the sweet words of our brother Ron and Rick’s contemporary story of the denials of Peter! You guys bless me!
Dear God, kill this flesh that resists being wholly Yours. Make me infectious with You, Jesus! Let everyone that knows me, know You. Let everyone that talks with Me, feel like they’ve been conversing with Your ambassador.
Please Lord, lead us this day!
on March 7th, 2008 at 10:20 am
If we are to be Jesus’ apprentices… if we are to follow in His footsteps… then that’s a bigger task than we can wrap our minds around. That means that I have to dissolve. Disappear. Gone. No more self. The “me” in me needs to die so God can run the show. It no longer matters what I want. His will is all that matters. The term “living sacrifice” takes on a whole new meaning in the light of following Jesus into His “passion.” Can I follow? Am I deceiving myself as to how dead-to-self I really am (or am not)? Oh, Lord! I want to follow You! Help me be strong. Be strong in me! Be strong for me! Don’t leave me behind…
on March 8th, 2008 at 7:27 am
‘It has taken all this to impress on us how loved we really have been all during our wanderings and strayings.’
Jesus You paid it all on the cross, holding back nothing, giving it all for me and all of the other “me’s” throughout the ages. And as difficult as it is to deal with, I know the Mel Gibson ‘The Passion’ is probably the most accurate depiction of the cross that I’ll ever know. I owe all that I am or ever will be – my life, my re-birth, my hope – to You, and it all comes down to this one moment in time. No wonder the sun stopped shining and the earth shook!
Help this recognition of the reality of who You are and what You did now emboldened us like it did Joseph of Arimathea. I pray that even our imperfect human understanding of these things would remove any “secret disciple tendencies” that we possess, so that we may boldly live renewed lives without fear or shame. We praise You and love You!
on March 8th, 2008 at 8:56 am
So many life lessons in the pages of Jesus life. And using our own minds to contemplate and not depend on others to imagine what it was like for Jesus, is our way of using our gifts from God. Without making the decision to do the 40 day Journey we all of us would not been able to cry like I am doing now about how much Jesus loves us. Through every act of contemplation I become one step closer to real love. The kind of love you would die for. We have to make a personal change to really live out our faith. Jesus gave His whole self I mean His whole self. I need your help people and Lord to give you my whole self every day unto death. This is no joke there are lives and souls at stake. Now I know we are not the ones who save but god uses humans like us to point the Way to Him. When we miss it He then sends one of His angels to nudge us. So the next time your feeling pushed into serving God or helping one of His created beings say thank you to the angel who is whispering in your ear and then do it, whatever it is. I was talking to one of my best friends and I told him I am sick of playing a Christian I want to be a Christian. If this speaks to you then join me in not settling for how your current relationship with God is today. Step it up and begin to have deep prayer and move from the exterior to the interior of your life with God. Through prayer and contemplation and meditation is how we are able to have the physical strength to do God’s will. Jesus did it that way, He fasted he prayed for extended periods of time. He devoted His life to connecting with His Father and then doing what He was led to do. Not just because He was God but because He was humanly being obedient to His Fathers call. To hear our Fathers call we must do those interior things I spoke about every day not just once in a while. I am guilty of not doing those things consistantly either but I am being convicted now to go to the next level of training as His disciple or pupil or son. Please God hear my heart this morning and know I have faults but I am trying as I am crying to you now. Don’t take your Holy Spirit from me EVER PLEASE. Let my actions and deeds show You that I love you. Don’t let be me be worried about what others may think of me and be more concerned if I am disapointing You.
on March 9th, 2008 at 7:29 am
Wow! Oh my God! Yes, He is God! And He is alive! In the words of the old song writer Don Francisco -
HE’S ALIVE!
HE’S ALIVE!
HE’S ALVIE AND I’M FORGIVEN!
HEAVENS GATES ARE OPEN WIDE.
He is The One that overcame the grave to give me new life. He is the only One. And now He earnestly desires to take up residence right here, inside me. He loves me; He will never fail me. Now that is good news!
Then our journey’s lesson of the day has these words. “So the chief priests met with the leaders and decided to bribe the soldiers with a lot of money. They said to the soldiers, ‘Tell everyone that Jesus’ disciples came during the night and stole his body while you were asleep.’ The soldiers took the money and did what they were told. The people of Judea STILL TELL EACH OTHER THIS STORY.”
So what reality have we boughten into? Is it living to worship and obey and commune with the King of the universe? Or is it to believe a lie passed down through the centuries? Through this study I come more and more to realize that my answer lies not so much in what I say but in how I live. Oh Lord, help me to live for you.
on March 9th, 2008 at 8:51 am
I can’t go back to the way I was living before this retreat. That was not living like it was my last day. Living with such power, power not that I am king but that the Kings power flows through me by way of the Holy Spirit. I have been changed by this time with You Lord. Help me and others not slip back into bad habits of not living out our mission for you. Allow me to continue to break bread with You every day and drink You in every morning and through out my day and night. I and all of you who have bowed there heart to Jesus have already received the gift of salvation and grace and forgiveness. So don’t allow the Accuser tell you any lies about your life. Jesus has paid the full price of our slave price. We are now a free slave to Him just like Onesimus became. This also means we are owned by God and when you are the property of God He will never allow anything to happen to you that will harm your soul. Have faith and use your spiritual gifts to lift up the name of God and help others see His power and love.
on March 9th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
He is risen, He’s alive! Those words have gained so much more meaining in my life since the first time I participated in this retreat. As I was contemplating on the lesson for today I was greatly humbled by the thought that Mary (Jesus’ mother), Mary M. and the disciples all must have experienced such an emotion of fear and loss since there Son and Lord had died and grieved for three days until he rose again, praise God the tomb is empty. But we have only to experience the joy of that loss so long ago by accepting him as our Lord and Savior. Lord forgive me where I have failed you in your mission for my life and instill in me a greater urgency to fulfill that mission. Love on my Brothers and Sisters at the Well and let them be surrounded by your Grace, Mercy and Love and bind the evil one who might try to throw subtle and not so subtle lies their way. Let the power of the cross be their stregth.
on March 10th, 2008 at 4:38 am
Good morning Lord and thank you for another day. Todays lesson is a revealing mural in our lives of disbelief and a lack of faith. More importantly this mural paints a picture of a promised fulfilled by our loving and faithful heavenly “Daddy”. Lord whatever my road to Emmaus is let me always see that beautiful sunrise or sunset, a child reaching with his outstretched arms towards a loving and caring Mother, a Dads gentle but strong encouragement to his son that he can get up after falling off his two wheeler and learn to ride and have fun. Let me see you alongside me wherever I am and know that you are “GOD”. Let this day give you praise. Be with my Brothers and Sisters in you and there road to Emmaus.
on March 10th, 2008 at 4:41 am
What were they doing? The two on the road to Emmaus? Were they perhaps returning to their homes? One thing is certain. They were down. The experiences of the recent days had certainly been a roller coaster ride. Lots of excitement and drama, life’s orchestra building up to a crescendo. But then the confusion and the pain as it all ended so suddenly on such a sour note! We can taste their discouragement as we read the holy scriptures.
Then an amazing thing happens. They are not so walled off and self-absorbed that they don’t allow another to join them in their journey. And even though they don’t know him, they allow him to enter into their thought process as they trudge along. And this guy is actually helpful as they try to sort out life and its recent events. He does it by breathing new life and meaning into the scriptures. And as they get a new taste by consuming familiar passages, they begin to be encouraged mightily.
Finally, He supped with them. As he blessed the broken bread and offered it to them, it all clicked. Suddenly their discouragement is transformed right before our eyes in an immediate and powerful way.
Lord, give me some of that Emmaus energy! A spirit of being open to You and others on my journey’s path. An ability to recognize Your presence and reality in the midst of my daily up-and-downs. Allowing You to impact me and lift me up out of the life’s circumstances so that I can be both encouraged and an encourager. And look at how the two responded! They that were downtrodden and discouraged and ready to call it quits at the end of a tiring day – “they got right up and returned to Jerusalem.” May it be with us.
on March 10th, 2008 at 6:39 am
God’s love and my response is the theme today. I’m thankful of knowing God. Surrender myself to Him. Through prayer I need to go back through each day to see how God touched me. It is easier to think of God as a over. As a lover of Renee I can relate to God’s love for me. I would do anything for Renee, I would die for her or be tortured or beaten for her and that is what Jesus did for all of us. I know now that my walk with God will never end. It’s not that the things that I am searching for will all of a sudden make me complete, no I will not be complete until that great an glorious day that we all will be with Him when He comes. Now I am ready to press on each day. I have also learned that even if I do not sense God’s presence it does not mean He is not with me. He is always there with me and that is comforting. I know now that You God want to give me so much more, not material but spiritual. Let me soak You in all day and every day. Amen
on March 11th, 2008 at 4:35 am
I still find it difficult to understand how God could love me or any of us enough to go through the agony of Crucifixion. What prolonged horror. What shame He took on our behalf… no, on my behalf. It’s personal. I crucified Jesus. It wasn’t anyone else. Since the garden it was me who ran and hid among the folage. It was me who blamed the woman and the serpent. And it is me that can stand and say today “Thank You God for Calvary!”
Thank You for the cross… thank You for bearing my shame, my guilt, my offenses!
on March 11th, 2008 at 4:49 am
Lord, in all my intentions give me the grace to be a fisher of men this day and for the rest of my days. My loving Savior let me esteem others greater than myself and love uncondionally. Lord let me pleasing in your sight in all that I say, do and think. Lord love on my Brothers and Sisters and bless them greatly. Amen
on March 11th, 2008 at 5:10 am
Yes, it would be tempting to get caught up in life and to let the experience of this journey to slowly fade away. Like Peter we could decide to just go right back to what we were doing before this Christ stirred things up in our lives. But as we head onto shore this morning to see what our Lord has cooked up for us today, there’s another choice. Come on men! Come on brothers and sisters! Let’s pull the boat way up onto the beach. And when it is high and dry, let’s set fire to it. Why don’t we burn up that which has enabled us to go to and fro in life based on our old sense of direction and motives. Instead, let’s decide to follow You and seal that decision by eliminating any competing agendas. Go with us today and help us to be those who tend the sheep instead.
on March 11th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
We are now being moved from inward to outward in our living this Jesus life. The great thing about this retreat is that it does not leave you hanging. St. Ignatius inspires you to use your gifts and go serve God. I was so moved to show God’s love today to others and He totally helped me in that area. We are never left alone. We are only alone in our minds. We have to break free from the chains of doubt that the devil lies to us about. God’s Holy Spirit is always with us. Thank you God for using me today to brighten one of your childrens day by way of using my gifts. I can’t wait to see you one day. Loving You lots right now.
on March 12th, 2008 at 6:54 am
Today is day 34 for me and it is for sure not the last. I awoke with a smile and a sense of God’s love all around me and ready to start the day. God allow me to move down the path today that you have already laid out for me. You have already gone ahead of me and now it is up to me to fulfill what you have started. Free will is a choice. Do you and I choose to do God’s will or to do our own will. It will always work out for our benefit if we align ourselves with His will. Making the decision in your mind and heart to do His will and not your own is the first step in obedience. Make sure your cry out to God today, speak to Him He appreciates the company and loves the attention just like our kids.
on March 12th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
I again am overabundantly blessed by the gift of this retreat and desire to be ever closer to our Lord and listen more attentively than ever to his soft still voice calling out to me, “follow me, be the servant I have called you to be, continue to grow in your love for me and for those I love”. Thank you for filling my cup to overflowing every day of my life Heavenly Father and bringing any rebellious spirit I might have into humble subjection so that I might serve you better. Thank you for sending the perfect gift ever given in the person of your Son, Jesus Christ. Thank you for the example of Him being obedient and carrying our cross for our salvation. I LOVE YOU and will talk with you tomorrow.
on March 13th, 2008 at 3:50 am
And now the really big question is before us! Is this the beginning or the end? As I reflect over these last few weeks, it is good to realize that I have been called to be free of the “unfreedoms” that sometimes limit my ability to fully engage and enjoy the relationship that You have called me into. In that sesnse, the “commencement” analogy is so fitting. We have completed the retreat, but we all remain on the journey. The celebrated end is really a new beginning. My prayer is that we will choose to lock in the new revelations that we have been blessed with and that we weave the new graces we have been given into the pattern of our everyday lives. Thank you Lord for being with us and being made more real through this retreat, but what we really desire is an ongoing deeper walk throughout life’s journey. Lord help us to give action to our choices and desires so that they may result in us serving You and others better and bring glory to Your name.
on March 13th, 2008 at 8:07 am
I love that this faith we embrace draws us toward a cycle of endings and beginnings. It’s never static unless we’ve disconnected ourselves from it’s source. As we finish a lesson, as we really sense we’ve picked up a new tool for life or a new piece of this life puzzle we’re asked to restart, re-evaluate, resolve to begin again.
So, as I finish this period of fasting, searching, listening, and becoming… I’m reminded that it’s not a period at all but a question mark: Will I begin again?
on February 27th, 2009 at 10:57 am
A little didy while praising God:
As I sit along the waters edge,
Your awesome sun warms me like a blanket.
I see my reflection in the water,
And it looks a little like you.
Could it be that I am learning to love like you?
Thank you Jesus.
And thank you Pastor Rik, for leading us through the 40 day journey. This journey is helping me to forgive and love the people that hurt me when I was a helpless child.