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Truth In Love
I sometimes find myself on one or the other end of the “truth in love” scale. Jesus never did. It didn’t matter if He was talking to an outcast, a politician, a cheat, a prostitute or one of many kinds of marginalized people of His day, He connected with the person at a heart level, a mile below the surface of their outward “stuff.” Did He end up speaking into…
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As If We Were Family
We, The Church, are Family. We treat each other AS FAMILY. We reach beyond our borders and we love others AS IF they were family. This is the love of Jesus in action, a love we’re commanded to extend. ~ And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. A teacher I listen to often spends the 1st half of his teaching providing background…
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Vulnerabilities – Suitors
I’m monitoring the points of entry to my heart. I field invitations from those who wish to access it. I think of them as suitors, because they woo. That is their nature. They present a proposal that would cause me to open the door allowing them to enter and occupy the place in my deepest heart. Some of my suitors are well meaning. They seek to meet my desires and offer…
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Vulnerabilities – Occupancy
The conversation started in the last post has three arms to it. Under the umbrella of Vulnerabilities are Points of Entry, Occupancy and Suitors. Here’s the Reader’s Digest version: I have certain points of entry (vulnerabilities) that all have as their end-point, my heart. There are suitors that vie for entrance through those points of entry. I am the doorkeeper. I attentively monitor activity at my points of entry. I…
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Vulnerabilities – Points of Entry
Whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster. ~ Proverbs 1 ~ I am discovering that vulnerabilities are not the looming detriment I used to believe they were. I think they are instead something quite neutral. They are very simply points of entry, much like the front door of your house. They are weaknesses to the degree that something harmful accesses them.…
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Eternal Threads
The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever. ~ Psalm 119:160 ~ I don’t read The Word like I used to. Several years ago I opened my Bible to Genesis 1 and for what turned out to be 18 months, carefully moved through the story. I was eager, maybe even desperate that Scripture would come alive in a way that contrasted a…
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Pray Without Ceasing (ETD – Pt. 9)
One of the glorious aspects of being an eternal being, secure in my destiny, is that the process of discovery never ends. So while I am in awe every time I’m in any way illuminated to some truth, I have an expectation that there awaits another equally amazing truth, one layer beneath. I have been thoroughly and wonderfully caught up, meditating on what it means to live my life in…
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The Concession of My Will (ETD – Pt. 8)
The Concession of My Will ~ Submission There is a load of rich Biblical history depicting tenacious men and women beseeching God for what they wanted. Abraham respectfully yet repeatedly spoke with the Lord with regard to the destruction of Sodom. Jacob wrestled for a blessing. Hannah pleaded for a son. The Apostle Paul wanted relief from his “thorn in the flesh.” And Jesus asked, three times no less, that the…
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The Confessions of My Mouth (ETD – Pt. 7)
The Confessions of My Mouth ~ Honesty Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! ~ Psalm 19:12-13 ~ As I consider being in the fourth chair, the subject of honesty turns out to be a multi-layered conversation. On the surface and under the umbrella of humility (ETD Pt. 6), honesty is an obvious…
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The Posture of My Heart (ETD – Pt. 6)
The Posture of My Heart ~ Humility Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; ~ Psalm 61:1 ~ ~ When I draw into the dialogue, a powerful thing happens as I purpose to remember where I come, and Who I come to. For whatever reason, the remembering of these things is part of how God is teaching me to be in His presence. Attitude and perspective are vital…
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Consuming or Pursuing (ETD – Pt. 5)
Consuming or Pursuing ~ Our consumerist culture has pervasively influenced our Christian culture. I don’t think most folks would argue against that point. The temptation from culture is to approach spirituality as consumers. We “shop” for churches, for speakers, for musical preferences, for programs, for bible studies… we pursue with the idea that we are the object of import, so it seems logical, even responsible, that we look around to…
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Entering the Dialogue – Pt. 1
The oneness and diversity that lives within the person of God are one of the most wonderful paradoxes in all of The Bible. Three distinct aspects of Him are referenced throughout scripture. They are clearly aspects of one entity, yet are so unique unto themselves, we are better able to visualize three persons rather than one. But God who said, “Let Us make man in Our image,” is one inexplicably…
