The Sound of His Voice
Change and growth occur as I gracefully grow into changes that reflect who I am – even as who I am comes into focus. This ugly duckling becomes a swan in time. The fruit eventually bears the good nature of the seed. Developmental stages may look awkward, but in the end, Christ is reflected in me, as me. Conscious reliance on Christ is my practice. It is the work of believing and the renewing of my mind. It is not easy to rely on His action within me, especially if I can’t see the work He’s doing; but He’s asked me to trust even when it seems He is neglecting a...
Read MoreHoly Union
Writing is both an outlet and an inlet. I let go of unnecessary weight and take in an easy yoke. Writing slows down my inner world so that perceptions that were just beyond my reach come close enough to access. I grasp the inner nature of things more intuitively when I put pen to paper. Clear (and often sudden) understanding of emotions and impulses that were rejected from my awareness (but still able to influence my behavior) is an advantage I experience when I write. The mental retrieval of my resources in Christ Jesus are quickened when I write. Scripture bears that I have the mind...
Read MoreDisarming Temptation
I still experience invasions of fear, hate, worry, lust, self-seeking, and weaknesses in the flesh. But I see that the real damage is done when I think that “I” should be able to resist those invasions or be capable of not reacting to the duality I still witness. In that moment, I fall into the abusive pattern of independent thinking and I feel obligated to respond to a “should” or a “should not.” Condemnation quickly follows. The “shoulds” stumble me every time I buy into the lie that says that I should be watching myself, fixing my life,...
Read MoreTrusting Enough
If I say that I trust God enough to “let Him do” the work in me then the challenge is to trust Him enough to NOT try to do it myself. This is a vigilant posture; everything in the flesh WANTS to tackle the job – it wants the credit for the changes that occur. Creative jargon provokes me into vain attempts to conquer my own foe. The flesh lusts for the power and glory that belong to God. A question I ask myself is whether or not I will receive His love despite the flesh. Can I remain in peace and at rest in the face of flesh? If nothing can separate me from His love...
Read MoreNo Judgment
Judgment can be a ravenous wolf or subtle like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It finds its way into the fold any way it can and even whispers through the veil of many prayers. Variations of the “thank God I’m not like other men” prayer abound. I want to see that when I judge another I judge myself. It is a two-edged sword and I cannot have one without the other. When I draw conclusions about you, I pronounce judgment and execute a sentence upon myself to perform in opposition of that which I have judged. It can be as simple as saying “you are messy” and...
Read MoreOrganically Choosing Life
In my quiet time, I looked in a concordance and found the word choose (Hebrew) means: to take a close look at something to determine my preference in the matter. It holds the connotation of testing or examining. The root origin is related to tilling the ground.The idea is that, through examination, I am able to distinguish the best or most useful option. I believe making a choice is more organic than commonly portrayed. Organically speaking, I grow into the choices that reflect who I am even as who I am comes into focus. An ugly duckling of a choice becomes a swan in time. True choosing...
Read More