Do Nothing But Allow
Good morning... Leading a yoga class on the beach, the instructor said an interesting phrase, "Surrender. Do nothing but allow..." I have never really considered the practical definition of surrender. When I look it up now, I discover these addition phrases. Stop resisting an enemy. Submit to the authority of an opponent. Give into the powerful influence of another. Then I find my way to these simple synonyms. Yield. Relent. Succumb. Acquiesce. Relinquish. Surrender [...]
We Are Free
Good morning... "God sent Jesus to make free persons of us," points out spiritual mentor Henri Nouwen. "He has chosen compassion as the way to freedom. That is a great deal more radical than you might at first imagine. It means that God wanted to liberate us, not by removing suffering from us, but by sharing it with us. Jesus is God-who-suffers-with-us." Salvation. Freedom. Wholeness. This is God's ultimate plan for each and [...]
Get Beyond Yourself
Good morning... "Get beyond yourselves and protecting your own interests; be sincere, and secure your neighbors’ interests first," urges Philippians 2:4 in the VOICE translation. In verses five through eleven, God's Word continues: In other words, adopt the mind-set of Jesus the Anointed. Live with His attitude in your hearts. Remember: Though He was in the form of God, He chose not to cling to equality with God; But He poured Himself out to [...]
Silence Can Save
Good morning... As I have invested hours upon hours creating a companion journal for our upcoming "Awake To Wholeness" Women's Retreat, I ran across these very life-giving words: "Only those who have confronted their pride and come to humility fully experience harmony in relationship with God, with others, and with self," says ninety-four year old Christian mystic Betty Skinner. "Such harmony then opens an infinite vastness for others to move about freely in. Remember [...]
Four Magnetic Words
Good morning... Watching a news story, I pulled out a blank piece of paper and jotted down four strong words. "Hate." "Hurt." "Hope." "Heal." Coupled together, they form opposite ends of the continuum upon which our daily life teeters. Hate/Hurt..........................Hope/Heal It is important to ask ourselves, moment by moment, "Which magnetic pull is grabbing my full attention?" God’s the one who rebuilds...who regathers... He heals the heartbroken and bandages their wounds. He counts [...]
Savor Sabbath: Be Entrusting
Good morning... First Peter 2:23 sticks with me most constantly from this first week of Lenten blog posts. When [Jesus] was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. Many times in our lives stressful storms come our way, and often we cast blame for our pain on the people nearby. We want justice. We want apology. We want [...]
Who Sends Life’s Storms?
Good morning... "Why did Jesus send his disciples into the storm?" asked yesterday's dynamic devotional quoting Paul David Tripp. "He did it for the same reasons he sometimes sends you into storms - because he knows that sometimes you need the storm in order to be able to see the glory," came the quick, tidy answer. "For the believer, peace is not to be found in the ease of life. Real peace is only [...]
Life Is Not Easy
Good morning... From another state, she texted me a screen shot of a book page, sharing a dynamic devotional message from yesterday morning. She had no idea that sitting on my bedside table is the exact same daily devotional book, Paul David Tripp's New Morning Mercies. Since the words of wisdom resonate so profoundly with my faraway friend and with me, I thought you might also be touched by Tripp's rich reflection on [...]
Our Happy Ending
Good morning... As my husband was brushing his teeth yesterday morning, I walked into the bathroom and said, "Happy Ash Wednesday!" "I'm not sure those words really go together," he said. "Happy." "And Ash Wednesday." So I deepened my voice and dragged down my candescence, "Dreary and dreaded Ash Wednesday to you." Later in the day, as our staff experienced together a moving Ash Wednesday service, I walked forward for the Imposition of [...]
Our Learning This Lent
Good morning... This Ash Wednesday, we carry over some meaningful morsels of truth expressed beautifully in yesterday's post. "For Jesus, knowing God fully as he was fully known by God, Oneness with God was more than enough. For grace is clearly at work when a person accepts undeserved pain and suffering and does so because he (or she) is mindful of God (1 Peter 2:19, VOICE). As faithful God-followers across the globe, we certainly [...]
Is It Enough?
Good morning... "The key passage that I think we have to come to terms with is 1 Peter 2:23," says Pastor John in yesterday's powerful posted podcast. "When [Jesus] was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. And so my question for myself and for my friend, for anybody who finds himself like us: Is it enough for God to know [...]
A Perfect Podcast Appears
Good morning... Her dear friend quickly became her quiet enemy. She was hoping for one thing, closeness, connection, and collaboration, and she received the opposite, distance, disconnection, and disappointment. Facing a weekend she dreaded, her heart was filled with jealousy and frustration, anger and angst. This is when God dropped a perfect podcast onto her path. Feeling cared for to her core, she sent me the link, and I, too, felt deeply cared for. [...]