Little by Little….. Why God is smarter than we are!

Little by Little….. Why God is smarter than we are!

May this be our prayer: “I do not want to turn my eyes from you O God. There I want them to stay and not move no matter what happens to me, within or without.” For those who put their trust in God need not worry about themselves. As I think about you my spiritual children, I see that God’s pure love is attentive to all your needs. It is because of this tender love that I need not ask anything of God for you. All I need to do is to lift you up before his face. - Catherine of Genoa (1447-1510)

Catherine comments, “at times I have thought my love complete but later as my sight grows clearer, I became aware that I had many imperfections.” This is the simple but effective strategy that God uses to keep us moving while keeping us humble that we may be encouraged and taught. Gradually God takes the specks out of our eyes that we may keep on moving no matter how slowly it appears.

God and sin cannot live peaceably side by side. As John the Baptist said “I must grow less so he can grow more”, so it is with our self-will as God reveals it to us. Our will must decline so his will can ascend. If we attempt to fight our sin with our will............................ we are doomed to failure. As with any addiction, we must trust in the will of God to set us free and ultimately triumph over our sin. As we step freely into the will of God and ultimately we will see all that he has for us.

This is not all that Catherine describes but for me it is the crux of the issue. It is the stepping into the will of God as he reveals it to us. This allows us to fight battles that we can win and ultimately step towards the freedom that our heavenly Father wants for us. Timing is after all, everything!  The battle belongs to the LORD!

For me it is summed up in in Philippians 1:5-6

 Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this that HE who has begun a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day Christ Jesus.

May you richly blessed in name of Jesus Christ in the coming week  as you seek to follow his good and perfect will.

Until next week.
Paul

Mind Matters

In my last blog I referred to the work of Henry Blackaby in Experiencing God whose basic statement is that God is always speaking and in action. According to our latest author the Quaker Thomas Kelly (1993-1941) so is our spirit below the surface.

Our mental life is constantly in action as well. At one level we are thinking, discussing, seeing calculating and meeting all the natural demands on us in daily life. Thomas suggests that that at a profounder level, deep within we may be also in prayer, adoration, song and worship. The key would seem to be bridge the gap between the levels, to bring our conscious into the unconscious. Bringing the conscious level into the very presence of God. Very much like Brother Lawrence in Practicing the Presence of God.

It would appear that the key is bringing God into our everyday as often as we can. When do actively think about  God, act upon it, until it becomes a natural way of life. I don't imagine this being a short term process. However as we got better at it I believe it could be very rewarding, linking the conscious with the unconscious. The early stages seem quite foreign as I have given it a try, but guess it will get easier.

"Not always a fairytale castle"

This our last journey into the "Virtuous Life", so we are finishing on Teresa of Avila's (1515-1582)Interior Castle. Her writing this followed a vision she had describing a journey from the outside of the castle through its many rooms to the centre. In the centre is the place where  we can completely unite with God. The journey is an allegory describing the trials and joys along the way. Much like John Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress.

Teresa describes how some of us struggle to overcome our sin to even in engage in the process while other remain content at the early stages. God is calling  us unceasingly to come further and further in towards him. Our reason can get in the way as Teresa describes our earthly pleasures can get in the way of our faith developing and taking over. we may seek refuge in comfort rather than the discomfort of moving from room to room. As we change rooms there is a stepping up required, a changing level of expectation.

Teresa describes how we are ruined by our vain habits and the work of the Devil to entice us to seek comfort of the flesh. According to her we should not complain but be resolute as we move forward, no matter how uncomfortable it gets. Doesn't very 21st Century Western World does it?

Blackaby's Experiencing God

So how does this work in the 21st century? Well the thing that came to mind for me was the work of Henry Blackaby in his Experiencing God. He describes hearing/experiencing God as a cycle which we move through. Like Teresa he says God is always talking, but we are not always listening. They also agree that the key to the castle is prayer even though Henry does not put it in those terms. They  also agree God speaks through his word, other people and prayer. Henry's comment is that after hearing God there is often a realignment necessary to be able to follow God.
This may cause a crisis of belief:
This seems very hard!
Did I really hear God?
Is this what he really wants me to do?

Henry suggests that we have to realign with God in this new phase of our spiritual walk to be we God would have us. This would seem to be much how I have experienced my spiritual journey and much how Teresa has described the travel between rooms. The realignment can actually take quite a while if there is a major adjustment needed to establish what God wants for us.

Prayer is the key to the journey but I also believe it is what is at stake in the journey. The enemy would like us to remain "prayer-less" . To God prayer is as important as our breathing.  Not matter where we sit today we can go forward. remember that feeling comfortable in the process is not necessarily an indicator that it is God. There are many occasions where we can feel very uncomfortable in bring obedient to God. The question really is, does that make it wrong? What do you think?

Next week the Spirit -Empowered Life!

Until Next time.

It is what it says.

"Devotion is neither private or public prayer, though private and public prayers are part of devotion. Devotion signifies a life given or devoted to God." This is the profound but simple principle that William law 1686-1761 expounds in A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life. He is basically speaking against "Sunday Christians" who are pious on Sunday and live a life that bears no resemblance to what they profess every other day of the week. They just do their own thing!

He is basically speaking against those have no outward expression of devotion to God beyond their Sunday attendance or their prayer life. Scratch the surface and you will find not much there. he closely aligns with  the Apostle James in that faith will translate to works and an outward expression of what we pray study and read in private and at church. "Faith without works is Dead"

There is no more to be said it profound yet simple. Do you walk the talk?