Find the place of peace and spiritual safety. This is done through constant forgiveness and unaffected humility in the very circumstance a believer seems to be stuck in. True humility is to trust and rely on the very one who holds your life in His hands and has your best interest at heart. During the process, yielding to a defensive attitude will take you down a road that you will not enjoy, for it will open the door to anger, sorrow,…
A recent post came from a favorite author, Jon Bloom. Called Seven Ways to Pray for Your Heart, each prayer begins with “whatever it takes, Lord”. The prayers are bold, and they are courageous. The prayers show God that we are engaged in what we want to happen in our life. “Whatever it takes, Lord” shows that we trust God completely on the Spiritual Journey to make us Christ-like. Whatever it takes, Lord, give me delight in You as the…
In a dream, my dear friend offered to help me fix parts of my fence; both the broken and missing pickets, as well as, some of the vertical posts and the horizontal cross bars. After making our list, we ventured to the local lumber yard to get supplies. With my truck backed up to the lumber pile, my friend began sorting through piles of boards for what we needed. He found some that were twisted, some looked petrified or splintered,…
Feeling lost, alone and helpless, and subsequent crying and upset, can be part of the Spiritual Journey. Many feelings will surface but they are not the guide: The eternal Spirit is. Crossing over is difficult, dry, alone and confusing, but you are being prepared to leave what is and enter what will be. While there is movement forward, no place is going to be fitting for a long time. Home isn’t where you want to be, work isn’t where you…
“Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.” – C.S. Lewis
Overcoming is not meant to conquer and destroy every obstacle that hinders movement. To overcome is to eliminate the power of a situation and the ideas that stem from it. The response to the obstacle or oppression determines whether it continues or ceases activity. Obviously, the situation would not exist if it were possible to merely walk away from oppression or ignore it altogether. Overcoming difficulties in life does not require physical strength or mental brilliance. To triumph over whatever…
Circumstances, big or small; situations, major or minor. We sometimes feel taken in by these occurrences in our lives, manipulated and mistreated with the sense that this is not our own doing. We seclude ourselves, nurse the wounds and think we heal only to return to the situation with the thought ‘it will be different’. It is commonly compared to the guy that plays with a dog, having a great time and then the dog bites. The guy runs off…
There was a famous song in 1965 called ‘The Sound of Silence’. One of the artists summed up the song’s meaning as “the inability of people to communicate with each other, not particularly internationally but especially emotionally, so what you see around you are people unable to love each other.” In the spiritual world, silence is found during the times when the heart is being tested. During the silence, the ear of the believer is also being trained to listen…
The sensing of an unfulfilled need is common during the Spiritual Journey. “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” – C.S. Lewis
You will find that as you relinquish how you used do things, which is just another old pattern or habit, that creativity will make things a whole lot more fun and interesting, for you and those around you. When you are conscious of self-rule, all actions will be judged as right or wrong, setting up the believer for torment about what was or wasn’t done. A change of behavior is not the answer because the faulty nature remains hidden, along…