This post has been used before in The Jesus Conspiracy but I will be spending some time thinking about this next year and how I will intend to cultivate my relationship with God. I hope you find this helpful and I'm sorry if it is not fresh. You also may want to spend sometime praying for those in our church family that are grieving.
We all have certain rules or mottos that shape our direction like “Never give up,” “Never say never,” or “Just do it.” Developing a “rule for life” is a way of intentionally guiding the rhythm and shape of our days in order to direct us toward an end goal. In Acts 2:42 the early Christians “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.” This rule was an effort to join with God in their transformation process of becoming like Jesus. Ultimately, a rule will help you love God more and be more open to His teachings. If it becomes a way of earning points with God, it should be thrown out.
Deuteronomy 30:11-20
Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life
Reflection: (Spend some time journaling through at least one of these questions.)
• What unspoken rules currently govern or shape your life? How do you currently determine what you will and won’t do?
Practice:
Take some time today and this weekend to write a “rule/rhythm for life” or a covenant with God. This is a living, changing document, but begin by creating a skeleton. Here are some questions to help you:
- When do you feel closest to God? What are the particular practices that open you to God?
- What do you currently do to realize your goals and longings? (work, study, pray, socialize, diet, work out) Which of these things hinder and help your spiritual transformation?
- What practices suit your daily, monthly, and yearly rhythm? What limitations are built into your life at this moment? What desires remain steady throughout?
- Where do you want to change? Where do you feel powerless to change?
- Choose several practices (these can change as you experience more, especially next week) that arise from your desire for God to transform you. Take into consideration the limits and realities of your current life.
Sample Rule for Life
- Dedicate every day (in the morning) to be present with God through…. (prayer, worship, gratitude, study)
- Examine my day in the evening and pray this Psalm. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Then confess my sins.
- Worship the Lord alone and with others
-Pray for others
-Meet with a friend or mentor every month to discuss my journey and receive encouragement, teaching, and wisdom.
-Pray three times a day at 9 am. 12 pm, and 4 pm.
This is just a sample and it’s written very simply but it allows us to begin to shape our days so that we are intentionally opening ourselves to the grace of God. Make this a living document and begin to make it more and more specific and detailed.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Belovedness Belongs to All
INTRO
Every week there will be a new prayer to be practiced. These prayers are just suggestions and you don't have to practice the current prayer. Feel free to experiment with any of the previous prayers. Prayer is just an opportunity to spend time with our creator and learn to live and love more like His son, Jesus. There is no one way to pray. All of us are created with different personalities and different ways of relating, not only to one another, but to God as well. If you find a practice that works for you stick with it. God draws each of us in, with different means. Thomas Merton spoke of prayer the best when he said, "Prayer is turning towards God, if you can't pray, just turn towards God."
“Quite often out of an intimate encounter with God, encounters with other human beings becomes possible…If you are the beloved of God, if you start thinking about other people’s lives, you start realizing that they are s beloved as you are. One of the profound experiences of the spiritual life is that when you discover yourself as being the beloved son or daughter of God, you suddenly have new eyes to see the belovedness of other people.
It is very interesting because it is the opposite of what happens is the world when they say you are very special, that means you are not the same as the rest. If you win an award and they say you are different than others, then that award is valuable because not everybody gets that award. The world is saying that you are only the best when not everybody else is the best.”
- Henri Nouwen
The Following was adapted from an Advent Devotional by Henri Nouwen.
Mark 9:33-35
They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?" But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
1 John 3:1
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Make a list of blessings and benefits that have been given to you by God, your Savior. Take some time and give thanks for these undeserved gifts and blessings. If possible, pass these blessings on to others.
Pray:
Lord, please take away my desire to make something of my self, to make myself special. Help me to remember my identity is as Your beloved child. May I see others as your beloved as well. I desire to become less, to become the least and help others to see their belovedness.
Amen.
Every week there will be a new prayer to be practiced. These prayers are just suggestions and you don't have to practice the current prayer. Feel free to experiment with any of the previous prayers. Prayer is just an opportunity to spend time with our creator and learn to live and love more like His son, Jesus. There is no one way to pray. All of us are created with different personalities and different ways of relating, not only to one another, but to God as well. If you find a practice that works for you stick with it. God draws each of us in, with different means. Thomas Merton spoke of prayer the best when he said, "Prayer is turning towards God, if you can't pray, just turn towards God."
“Quite often out of an intimate encounter with God, encounters with other human beings becomes possible…If you are the beloved of God, if you start thinking about other people’s lives, you start realizing that they are s beloved as you are. One of the profound experiences of the spiritual life is that when you discover yourself as being the beloved son or daughter of God, you suddenly have new eyes to see the belovedness of other people.
It is very interesting because it is the opposite of what happens is the world when they say you are very special, that means you are not the same as the rest. If you win an award and they say you are different than others, then that award is valuable because not everybody gets that award. The world is saying that you are only the best when not everybody else is the best.”
- Henri Nouwen
The Following was adapted from an Advent Devotional by Henri Nouwen.
Mark 9:33-35
They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?" But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
1 John 3:1
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Make a list of blessings and benefits that have been given to you by God, your Savior. Take some time and give thanks for these undeserved gifts and blessings. If possible, pass these blessings on to others.
Pray:
Lord, please take away my desire to make something of my self, to make myself special. Help me to remember my identity is as Your beloved child. May I see others as your beloved as well. I desire to become less, to become the least and help others to see their belovedness.
Amen.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Prayer for Enemies and Compassion
INTRO
Every week there will be a new prayer to be practiced. These prayers are just suggestions and you don't have to practice the current prayer. Feel free to experiment with any of the previous prayers. Prayer is just an opportunity to spend time with our creator and learn to live and love more like His son, Jesus. There is no one way to pray. All of us are created with different personalities and different ways of relating, not only to one another, but to God as well. If you find a practice that works for you stick with it. God draws each of us in, with different means. Thomas Merton spoke of prayer the best when he said, "Prayer is turning towards God, if you can't pray, just turn towards God."
We often pray for deliverance from those who anger us. We long to be released from those whom we think seek us harm. However, God calls us to compassion, Henri Nouwen said, “Compassion can never coexist with judgment because judgment creates the distance, the distinction, which prevents us from really being with the other.” This prayer is a prayer that leads to the heart of God by calling us to transformation through seeking for the “beloved” not only in ourselves but also in others.
Luke 6:37-28
"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
This prayer for enemies was written by Bishop Nicholai Velimirovich (a Serbian Orthodox bishop who opposed the Nazis and was eventually sent to the Dachau concentration camp.) Take time with this prayer stop and spend time in areas you feel God calling you to stop and take notice of in your own life. This prayer can be very hard at times because of the change it calls us towards. Growth and transformation are never easy or painless; however, God promises the He will be with us always.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them. Enemies have driven me into Your embrace more than friends have. Friends have bound me to earth, enemies have loosed me from earth and have demolished all my aspirations in the world.
Enemies have made me a stranger in worldly realms and an extraneous inhabitant of the world. Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter than an unhunted animal does, so have I, persecuted by enemies, found the safest sanctuary, having ensconced myself beneath Your tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul. Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
They, rather than I, have confessed my sins before the world. They have punished me, whenever I have hesitated to punish myself They have tormented me, whenever I have tried to flee torments. They have scolded me, whenever I have flattered myself They have spat upon me, whenever I have filled myself with arrogance.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them. Whenever I have made myself wise, they have called me foolish. Whenever I have made myself mighty, they have mocked me as though I were a dwarf. Whenever I have wanted to lead people, they have shoved me into the background. Whenever I have rushed to enrich myself, they have prevented me with an iron hand. Whenever I thought that I would sleep peacefully, they have wakened me from sleep. Whenever I have tried to build a home for a long and tranquil life, they have demolished it and driven me out. Truly, enemies have cut me loose from the world and have stretched out my hands to the hem of Your garment.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them. Bless them and multiply them; multiply them and make them even more bitterly against me: so that my fleeing to You may have no return; so that all hope in men may be scattered like cobwebs; so that absolute serenity may begin to reign in my soul; so that my heart may become the grave of my two evil twins: arrogance and anger; so that I might amass all my treasure in heaven; ah, so that I may for once be freed from self-deception, which has entangled me in the dreadful web of illusory life.
Enemies have taught me to know what hardly anyone knows, that a person has no enemies in the world except himself. One hates his enemies only when he fails to realize that they are not enemies, but cruel friends. It is truly difficult for me to say who has done me more good and who has done me more evil in the world: friends or enemies. Therefore bless, O Lord, both my friends and my enemies. A slave curses enemies, for he does not understand. But a son blesses them, for he understands. For a son knows that his enemies cannot touch his life. Therefore he freely steps among them and prays to God for them. Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Every week there will be a new prayer to be practiced. These prayers are just suggestions and you don't have to practice the current prayer. Feel free to experiment with any of the previous prayers. Prayer is just an opportunity to spend time with our creator and learn to live and love more like His son, Jesus. There is no one way to pray. All of us are created with different personalities and different ways of relating, not only to one another, but to God as well. If you find a practice that works for you stick with it. God draws each of us in, with different means. Thomas Merton spoke of prayer the best when he said, "Prayer is turning towards God, if you can't pray, just turn towards God."
We often pray for deliverance from those who anger us. We long to be released from those whom we think seek us harm. However, God calls us to compassion, Henri Nouwen said, “Compassion can never coexist with judgment because judgment creates the distance, the distinction, which prevents us from really being with the other.” This prayer is a prayer that leads to the heart of God by calling us to transformation through seeking for the “beloved” not only in ourselves but also in others.
Luke 6:37-28
"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
This prayer for enemies was written by Bishop Nicholai Velimirovich (a Serbian Orthodox bishop who opposed the Nazis and was eventually sent to the Dachau concentration camp.) Take time with this prayer stop and spend time in areas you feel God calling you to stop and take notice of in your own life. This prayer can be very hard at times because of the change it calls us towards. Growth and transformation are never easy or painless; however, God promises the He will be with us always.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them. Enemies have driven me into Your embrace more than friends have. Friends have bound me to earth, enemies have loosed me from earth and have demolished all my aspirations in the world.
Enemies have made me a stranger in worldly realms and an extraneous inhabitant of the world. Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter than an unhunted animal does, so have I, persecuted by enemies, found the safest sanctuary, having ensconced myself beneath Your tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul. Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
They, rather than I, have confessed my sins before the world. They have punished me, whenever I have hesitated to punish myself They have tormented me, whenever I have tried to flee torments. They have scolded me, whenever I have flattered myself They have spat upon me, whenever I have filled myself with arrogance.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them. Whenever I have made myself wise, they have called me foolish. Whenever I have made myself mighty, they have mocked me as though I were a dwarf. Whenever I have wanted to lead people, they have shoved me into the background. Whenever I have rushed to enrich myself, they have prevented me with an iron hand. Whenever I thought that I would sleep peacefully, they have wakened me from sleep. Whenever I have tried to build a home for a long and tranquil life, they have demolished it and driven me out. Truly, enemies have cut me loose from the world and have stretched out my hands to the hem of Your garment.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them. Bless them and multiply them; multiply them and make them even more bitterly against me: so that my fleeing to You may have no return; so that all hope in men may be scattered like cobwebs; so that absolute serenity may begin to reign in my soul; so that my heart may become the grave of my two evil twins: arrogance and anger; so that I might amass all my treasure in heaven; ah, so that I may for once be freed from self-deception, which has entangled me in the dreadful web of illusory life.
Enemies have taught me to know what hardly anyone knows, that a person has no enemies in the world except himself. One hates his enemies only when he fails to realize that they are not enemies, but cruel friends. It is truly difficult for me to say who has done me more good and who has done me more evil in the world: friends or enemies. Therefore bless, O Lord, both my friends and my enemies. A slave curses enemies, for he does not understand. But a son blesses them, for he understands. For a son knows that his enemies cannot touch his life. Therefore he freely steps among them and prays to God for them. Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
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