Tag Archives: Communing with God

Spiritual Guidance

Eastertide

April 15, 2020

Scripture Reading: Psalm 16

I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
   in the night also my heart instructs me.
I keep the Lord always before me;
   because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
   my body also rests secure.
For you do not give me up to Sheol,
   or let your faithful one see the Pit.

You show me the path of life.
   In your presence there is fullness of joy;
   in your right hand are pleasures for evermore. –Psalm 16:7-11

Nighttime is my cogitating time, and I do share that with the Lord. Psalm 63 is one of my favorite Psalms. I particularly like verses 5-7:

My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,
   and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
when I think of you on my bed,
   and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
for you have been my help,
   and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.

I wish I could say I keep the Lord always before me, but many times these early morning meetings with God are making up for my failure to keep the Lord before me consciously. It is in those lack of conscious connections, I fall back on trusting the Spirit to hang with me on automatic pilot. Athletes call it muscle memory. To have muscle memory, one must continually work out and practice. My faith workout often occurs in those night meetings. In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Paul advises us to Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. It is also the foundation of faith.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the consistency of your presence in those time when my life switches to automatic pilot. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Soothe our Souls

Advent

December 16, 2019

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 7:10-16
Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test. Then Isaiah said: ‘Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted.

Political game playing did not start in the twenty-first century or the first century, as King Ahaz is playing a sly game in the above scripture around 800 BCE. Previous kings, David for one, routinely asked God for a sign to indicate appropriate acts by the King. Ahaz coyly states that he will not put the Lord to the test. Raising Isaiah’s ire, Isaiah responds that whether Ahaz asks for a sign or not, he is going to get one. The sign is that a young woman will bear a son and name him Immanuel which means God with us.

How often do we elect not to consult God on our plans and responses? I wonder if we ignore that step because we may already know the answer and it is not one, we want to hear much less actualize.

God is always with us and will always love us. God wants the very best for us sometimes when we do not want the best for ourselves. We are not puppets. God gives us freewill as God gives all God’s children. Sometimes we get caught in things that result from cross purposes of those children. While the results may not be what we want, God will guide us in new paths that will surprise us with joy and satisfaction if we accept it.

Prayer: Lord, soothe our souls so that we do not withdraw from communing with you. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Restoring My Soul

Kingdom Building

June 18, 2019

Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 19:11-15
He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram.

I have always been intrigued by the phrases in the scripture above and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Have you ever heard the sound of sheer silence? Have we every quieted ourselves enough to be opened to communion with God?

Many years ago, I was questioning myself and my life plans wondering if I was doing what I was supposed to be doing. I took several weeks off from work and took and extended road trip. I postponed leaving so I could attend the wedding of a good friend. A wedding I knew was destined for disruption which occurred. I walked out of the church, got in my car and heading east on I-40 with the radio blaring, feeling badly about the wedding and about all the “junk” that had driven me to take this trip. I stopped for fuel and food that I ate in my car and drove from Oklahoma City to Knoxville Tennessee. After checking into a motel, I crashed for the night. The next morning, I was in better spirits, took the time to eat breakfast that was included in the motel’s service, and headed southeast into the National Forest in North Carolina. I found myself surrounded by beautiful trees under a gorgeous blue sky. I first lowered the volume on my radio and finally turned it off. The sound seemed sacrilegious in a place like this. I even turned the air conditioner off and rolled down the windows feeling a gentle breeze and hearing sheer silence. My soul’s healing began at that moment.

I am sure God was with me in the drive, which was a stupid thing to do, but God’s calming my soul led me to lie down in green pastures* until I returned to the real world where poverty and child abuse remained and allowed me to return to the work to which I realized I was called.

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for your presence in all aspects of our lives and we thank you for healing our souls when they become frayed at the edges of life. Amen.

*From Psalm 23

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Communing with God

Jesus’ Ministry
February 18, 2019

Scripture Reading: Genesis 45:3-22

Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?’ But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come closer to me.’ And they came closer. He said, ‘I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither ploughing nor harvest. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. –Genesis 45:3-7

Choice.  I do not think we fully understand what an amazing gift God gave us when he gave us what theologians call “freewill”. I think of it as choice. God apparently loves the earth and all that is in it including animals, flowers, and trees. God must have also wanted companionship when he created human in God’s own image. While I am sure God experiences joy when we take steps toward reaching our full potential, God shares our consternation when we fail. Communion with God is a constant exchange of love and all its complexity wrapped in and protected by God’s simplicity.

Joseph’s brothers, out of jealousy, chose to sell him into slavery. Who but God, years later, could turn that bad choice into the salvation of an entire people from the ravages of famine?

Commune with me
commune with me
Between the wings of the cherubim
Commune with me
Commune with me
commune with me
Between the wings of the cherubim
Commune with me*

Prayer: Thank you Lord, for gifting us with choice and hanging with us as we muddle our way through learning how to love as you love as Jesus modeled for us. Amen.

*First verse of song Commune With Me by Kirk Dearman, (c)1981 Maranatha! Music, CCLI: 14978, Lic. 1233674 see at http://www.tfbchurch.com/uploads/2/1/0/1/210144/commune_with_me.txt

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Prayer

Living in the Spirit
October 20, 2018

Scripture Reading: Mark 10:35-45

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’ And he said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ And they said to him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.’ But Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’ They replied, ‘We are able.’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.’
–Mark 10:35-40

This scripture perhaps should make us each reconsider how we pray. Are our prayers essentially our job assignments for God? “Here is what I want you to do?” Jesus does say in Matthew 7:7 ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.’ We must understand from our scripture for today that God knows how to say “No”.

God does love us unconditionally and desires the best for us. I guess the question is do we always know what is the best for us? Do we know what is the best for us within the context of what is best for the furtherance of God’s Kingdom? How do we distill what is best for all people in conjunction with what we perceive is the best for us?

It seems we have an epidemic spreading throughout our world and particularly in the USA that what is best can be measured in dollars and cents. Nothing could be further from the truth. Until all have enough to survive and thrive none of us are thriving. A great example of that is the ravages of climate change which can be directly associated with our insatiable desire for using fossil fuels and other sources of greenhouse emissions.

We often relate the Serenity Prayer written by the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr to addiction, but it applies to all of life’s realities. Asking for wisdom in times like these and courage and serenity makes sense.

Prayer:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Communing with God

Living in the Spirit
September 11, 2018

Scripture Reading: Proverbs 1:20-33

Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
   they will seek me diligently, but will not find me.
Because they hated knowledge
   and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
would have none of my counsel,
   and despised all my reproof,
therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way
   and be sated with their own devices.
For waywardness kills the simple,
   and the complacency of fools destroys them;
but those who listen to me will be secure
   and will live at ease, without dread of disaster.’ –Proverbs 1:28-33

We do pay the consequences of our own actions. We are capable of learning from our own mistakes. We can even learn from the mistakes of others and the success of quality mentors. I know I learned more about management from the good manager of the restaurant for which I worked in high school and college then I learned from all the management classes I had in college and graduate school even though those classes were also helpful. Applied learning proves itself. I also learned a whole lot about supervision of staff from observation and experience with some administrators who shall we say had not yet perfected the art of management.

How do we listen to the Lord? How do we extract from the Word, both the written word and the Word that is Christ the applied learning that we need to live fruitfully? How do we listen for God’s guidance in all we do and say even think?

While we all know it is easy to pick up bad habits; just repeat them enough and they become a part of us. The same applies in creating the good habits of routinely communing with God which can and will write that action as a habit on our hearts. I think building the simple habit of examining our day each evening with God allows God and entrance point to reshape us into the whole being God desires for us.

Prayer: God, strengthen my intentionality to develop fully my communion with you. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Work with Me

ClutterLiving in the Spirit
August 10, 2016

Scripture Reading: Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
   you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.
Stir up your might,
   and come to save us! –Psalm 80:1-2

“Work with me here” is a phrase spoken by detectives on television trying to get information to solve a crime. Is it not the phrase Jesus speaks to us as we pray for salvation? The Bible resonates with pleas by God’s people for God to save us usually from disasters of our own making.

I must confess I am not attentive to tasks that would make my life much easier if I would just incorporate them into my routines. I ignore helpful hints about tossing junk mail in the recycle bin as soon as it is determined to be junk mail. For some reason, I feel a need to stack them on my side table thinking I might look at them again, and I have to look at them again when I finally get disgusted with my stack quickly shuffling through the unopened letters and ultimately recycling.

I fear we may do the same thing with our faith. Rather than communing with God on a regular basis we remain self-sufficient until what might have been a small issue has grown into a major one and we seek God’s saving acts as an afterthought. God is the source of sufficiency as well as salvation. As partners with Christ, we must invite God’s strength in every aspect of our lives.

Prayer: Lord, forgive me for my failure to be a full partner in our relationship. Enable my sufficiency to reflect your solutions to life’s small and large challenges. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.

Take this Cup

kidsheartsLiving in the Spirit
August 22, 2015

Scripture Reading: John 6:56-69

56Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.’ 59He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. –John 6:56-59

Our bodies are wondrously made. With all the scientific research and advancement made over the centuries, I think, we have just skimmed the surface of truly understanding the intricacies of the body’s functions. I was just reading the other day about research connecting the workings of our guts with emotional health. Who knew?

From ancient days the mystery of life, the breath of life its coming and its going, have been fodder for science but also for literature, art, and music. It is a reality with which all must deal, considering their own lives and the lives of others. So what do we as followers of Christ make of his discourse of eating his flesh and drinking his blood? His fellow Jews most likely found this abhorrent. Eating any kind of blood is not kosher and cannibalism is worse.

Is this an example of someone trying to use the shock factor to get others’ attention? Is it a means of reconciling the reality of the crucifixion with the eternal nature of God’s plan for God’s people? Or is it metaphor for encouraging us to be nurtured by the gift of God’s Son in the ways of God?

I do know each time I take the bread blest and broken, and drink from the cup filled with the fruit of the vine, I am made more whole personally and am made more one with all the others who eat the bread and drink from the cup offered in the name of the Lord.

Prayer: Commune with us, O Lord, nurture us to grow in wisdom and in truth so that we may play our role in the furtherance of your way. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Staying Focused

prayerEpiphany
Celebration of God
Manifested in the World
February 8, 2015

 Scripture Reading: Mark 1:29-39

In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, ‘Everyone is searching for you.’ He answered, ‘Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.’ And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.  — Mark 1:35-39

 Jesus never lost sight of his focus. While he was constantly barraged by people wanting healing, wanting to hear him, wanting to be his student, he was able to address such needs within the path of his purpose. I think he was able to do this because he always found time to resynchronize with God. From the stories of him related in the gospels, he never particularly seemed rushed. He took time with beggars and rich young rulers, women and children, leaders of the synagogue and widows who gave their mite. He set a good example for us all.

Jesus also was wise in identifying the time to plant faith and move to the next neighbor toward his goal of bringing God’s message to all. He was recruiting workers for the harvest of justice. Of course, the building of community was important to this work, but community was a means to an end not the end itself. One of the great challenges of the Body of Christ today is to retain a thirst for righteousness like that which seemed to drive Jesus while maintaining the community of faith that undergirds the quests. I think it is particularly challenging for those of us who are somewhat removed from the plights of our brothers and sisters in Christ who live in oppression and poverty or the ones in prison or the ones around whose homes the waters of global warming are moving quickly to erode their land.

We, too, need to find our deserted places and communicate with God so that our time, and talent, and treasure is dedicated to spreading the love of God throughout the world as a means to God’s justice being reality for all.

Prayer: Lead me, guide me, along the way,
              for if you lead me, I cannot stray.
             Lord, let me walk each day with you;
             lead me my whole life through. Amen.

*Chorus from the hymn, Lead Me, Guide Me by Doris Akers
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved