A Discipleship of Abundance

I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

John 10

As we head toward Thanksgiving, it is good to remember the Author of our abundance.

We can celebrate our blessedness during this commemorative holiday, or we can fret over all that there is to do, and all that we haven’t gotten done.

For those of us who cook during this time, the list of dishes, and the hope that all will be delicious and hot, can be overwhelming.

But what if we remember that Christ has come to give us life, and to give it abundantly?

What if we remember a hillside, in the middle of nowhere, where 5, 000 hungry people were fed with a few loaves and fish?

What if we consider that the reason all were fed was due to generosity and blessing?

All of us have blessings.  All of us have challenges.  Sometimes these are the same things!

This Thanksgiving let us practice abundance.  Let us consider that Christ is blessing our cooking and our preparation, our guests and our feast.

At the Center for Spiritual Development we will take some time on the Friday after Thanksgiving to walk in gratitude for all that is-blessings and challenges.

We will walk to remember that whatever happened the day before we were held in God’s embrace and we are still being held.

Let there be a pause for gratitude in your holiday weekend.

Meet at the Labyrinth-4: 30-5:30

Friday, November 25.

Blessings,

Debra

A Discipleship of Silence

For God alone my soul waits in silence,
   for my hope is from him. …Trust in him at all times, O people;
   pour out your heart before him;
   God is a refuge for us.

Psalm 62

When we walk as disciples of Christ, we are invited to a new level of truth in our living and in our acting.

Silence and emptying are two parts of the prayer that lead to a more authentic relationship with God.

We need silence as a space for listening.

We need to ‘pour out our hearts’ to the Spirit, emptying ourselves.

The heart, according to the ancient Hebrews was the seat of human thoughts and emotions.  It was the innermost, hidden or deepest center of the human being.

In the Psalm when we are asked to pour out our hearts we are being asked to lay bare all that we feel and all that we think—all we are afraid of and all that we desire.  We are asked to share our whole selves.

We are asked to ‘pour out’ to make space for God’s thought and desires.

We are invited to a whole new orientation to our situation, and even to our very lives.

Discipleship is really about moving ever deeper and ever closer into the heart of God. 

We will be changed.  We will be transformed.

The beauty of this transformation is that we become what we always were.

Emptying our hearts of excess baggage makes us free to become our true selves.

This is the love of God in Christ-

He has come to give you back to yourself.

Blessings,

Debra

A Discipleship Too Deep for Words

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.  And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.  We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:26-28

Sometimes the world gives us more to pray about than we can articulate.

Our prayer lists are already lengthy.  Our hearts are already heavy.

And here is the grace of God.

We don’t have to articulate prayers in order to pray.   Often, sitting within the presence of the Spirit is the prayer.

Letting go into the Spirit’s intercession is particularly comforting during times of grief.

When we have lost a loved one, words fail us.  When we accompany someone on their journey of grief, words fail us.

But the Spirit, who knows the true heart, knows exactly what is needed for us and for those we love.

When my mother died suddenly, it was the prayers of others relying on the Spirit that sustained me.  I could feel the support within my heart, and I knew that I was not alone.

Grief has a mind of its own and moves in and out of our hearts like a river weaving around rocks and hills.

When we open to the Spirit’s prayer in us we enter a different river—the river of assurance and Presence.

Our prayers will not stop the flow of grief.  Our prayers will acknowledge the love and hope of God.

For surely the God who gave His own Son will not leave us to face the darkness alone.  We have the continual assurance of God’s light illuminating even the saddest corners of our hearts.

Blessings,

Debra