Now I wonder whether I have sufficiently realized that during all this time God has been trying to find me, to know me, and to love me. The question is not "How am I to find God?" but "How am I to let myself be found by Him?" The question is not "How am I to know God?" but "How am I let myself be known by God?" And finally the question is not "How am I to love God?" but "How am I to let myself be loved by God? - Henri Nouwen - The Return of the Prodigal Son
What if this were true?
What if God allowed us, drew us into the wilderness so we would eventually stop running?
What if God wanted to know the authentic us? The us of the DNA he created, not our own propaganda or our own desires. What if in the process of God knowing us, we might begin to understand who he created us to be. Some things in our past may begin to make more sense to us, as we let God know us.
What if all this were true, it could make 2013 very different from 2012, if we make concious choice to be found by the Father who loves us!
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverge in a wood, and I
I took the road less travelled
and it made all the difference - Robert Frost
Sunday, 30 December 2012
Tuesday, 11 December 2012
Living in the moment
God, when He was asked His name answered, "I am." He did not say that He was "I will be" or "I was". We can still expect to find God there. Many of us spend all our time living in the the past or the future yet expect to connect to the anointing and be blessed. I believe that to have a full connection with the Spirit of God we must dwell in the now. It is so easy to live in the past or live in the prophecies of the future and miss what God has for us now.
I have come to believe acknowledging who God made us to be is crucial to our long term fulfillment and development. I have been quietly allowing the words of Ken Gire to soak through me from the book Windows of the Soul. This has proved life changing in enabling me to look back over my life. That does not mean I chose to dwell in the past, but I acknowledge my experiences and their possible significance for my present. The Chapter on the Window of Vocation helped me identify and acknowledge talents, giftings and desires that I have never seen in that light.
This has brought implications on how I now choose to live today. I used to be waiting for the fulfilment of the prophecies over my life to come into being. By doing that I actually denied the power of living for now because I was always waiting for something more or different. I now choose to live in the now...the phophecies can look after themselves. I choose to live in this moment. It is all I have and I am the better for it.
"I took the road less travelled and it made all the difference"- Robert Frost.
I have come to believe acknowledging who God made us to be is crucial to our long term fulfillment and development. I have been quietly allowing the words of Ken Gire to soak through me from the book Windows of the Soul. This has proved life changing in enabling me to look back over my life. That does not mean I chose to dwell in the past, but I acknowledge my experiences and their possible significance for my present. The Chapter on the Window of Vocation helped me identify and acknowledge talents, giftings and desires that I have never seen in that light.
This has brought implications on how I now choose to live today. I used to be waiting for the fulfilment of the prophecies over my life to come into being. By doing that I actually denied the power of living for now because I was always waiting for something more or different. I now choose to live in the now...the phophecies can look after themselves. I choose to live in this moment. It is all I have and I am the better for it.
"I took the road less travelled and it made all the difference"- Robert Frost.
Tuesday, 4 December 2012
Less is More 2
I have been thinking about the "less is more" concept I wrote about in early October. At that time I was just trying to slow down my overstretched and busy lifestyle. I am not sure that I have managed to acheive that, but there are certain things that I feel that I have achieved.
One of them is to slow down the amount of "God content" I try to take on board. I have been studying academically for longer than I care to remember. I feel that this has drastically affected the way I interacted with God. It was as if He had become just another subject to learn something about, another box to be ticked for the day. Where is the relationship in that?
I feel many of us withdraw into a box ticking mentality rather than seeking true relationship.
One thing I have discovered is that when I read books, devotionals or articles of a spiritual nature, I usually read them over a week or month. However if I stretch this to reading them for a month or many months, I get better results. It is a type of soaking process that means I read and reread passages over and over again. I have found that it is not just interaction with the text as before but with the heart of the Father. It means that not only is my mind changed but my heart, and my soul too. Deeper not Broader!
This has meant that as I soak and chat with my Father I am changed from the inside out....permanently; not just till the next new thing comes along.
Give it a try - slow down and listen!
What have you got to lose?
"I took the road less travelled and it made all the difference" : Robert Frost.
One of them is to slow down the amount of "God content" I try to take on board. I have been studying academically for longer than I care to remember. I feel that this has drastically affected the way I interacted with God. It was as if He had become just another subject to learn something about, another box to be ticked for the day. Where is the relationship in that?
I feel many of us withdraw into a box ticking mentality rather than seeking true relationship.
One thing I have discovered is that when I read books, devotionals or articles of a spiritual nature, I usually read them over a week or month. However if I stretch this to reading them for a month or many months, I get better results. It is a type of soaking process that means I read and reread passages over and over again. I have found that it is not just interaction with the text as before but with the heart of the Father. It means that not only is my mind changed but my heart, and my soul too. Deeper not Broader!
This has meant that as I soak and chat with my Father I am changed from the inside out....permanently; not just till the next new thing comes along.
Give it a try - slow down and listen!
What have you got to lose?
"I took the road less travelled and it made all the difference" : Robert Frost.
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