The dross is being removed so that you are ready ...
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Monday, October 30, 2017
Saturday, October 28, 2017
Friday, October 27, 2017
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Monday, October 23, 2017
Saturday, October 21, 2017
Friday, October 20, 2017
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Please pray for Trevor who is currently in the Concordia Hospital ER being treated for a 'heart attack' suffered last evening.
Meditations—points to ponder
When we
read with the heart, we slow down, breathe deeply and read
thus following a long and time honoured
approach to the sacred text called Lectio
divina:
Latin for spiritual or divine
reading. Lectio divina means listening
to the text of Scripture—
really listening—being yielded and still; submitting
to the text; allowing its message
to flow into us rather than our attempting to
master us.
It means ...
·
Reflecting on the text: permitting ourselves to become fully
engaged
(mind and heart) by the drama of the passage …
·
Praying the text: allowing the Biblical reality of this with-God life give rise
to our heart cry of gratitude or confession or complaint or petition …
·
Applying the text: seeing how God’s Holy Word provides a
personal word for our life circumstances …
·
Obeying the text: turning, always turning, from our wicked
ways and into the way everlasting …
Psalm 139:23–24 (The
Message) — 23 Investigate my life, O God,
find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
get a clear picture of what I’m about;
24 See for yourself whether I’ve done
anything wrong— then guide me on the road
to eternal life.
In this with-God
kind of life, we see in the Bible the very life to which we are called.
It is
exactly the life Jesus is referring to when He declares ...
I came that they may have
life, and have it abundantly. [John 10:10b]
The Spiritual Disciplines are the God-ordained means
by which each of us is enabled
to bring the individualised power-pack we all
possess—the human body—
and place it before God as a living sacrifice …
Romans 12:1 (The
Message) — 1 So here’s what I want you to do,
God helping you:
Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating,
going-to-work, and walking-around life—
and place it before God as an offering.
Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.
By this process we become, through time and
experience, the kind of person
who naturally and freely expresses ...
Galatians 5:22–23 (The
Message) — 22 But what happens when we live God’s
way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an
orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We
develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart,
and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find
ourselves involved in loyal commitments, 23 not
needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies
wisely. Legalism is helpless in bringing
this about; it only gets in the way.
Richard
Foster with Kathryn Helmers Life with God: a life-transforming new approach to
Bible Reading pp12-13
John
15:5 (The Message) — 5 “I
am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you,
the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant.
Separated,
you can’t produce a thing.
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Meditations—points to ponder
Our practice of the Spiritual Disciplines is kept on
course by our immersion in Scripture.
It is that this reading, studying, memorizing
and meditating
is totally in the service of the
life that really is life…
1 Timothy 6:19 (NRSV) thus
storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation
for the future, so
that they may take hold of the life that really is life.
1 Timothy 6:19 (The
Message) If they do that, they’ll build a
treasury that will last,
gaining life that is truly life.
We long with all our hearts to know for ourselves this
with-God life that Jesus brings in all its Fullness.
We will discover the
Footprints of God in our daily existence—
we will venture out with God into
areas where we have previously walked alone or not at all.
The aim is not
external conformity (whether to doctrine or deed)
but the re-formation of the inner self—of the spiritual core,
the place of
thought and feeling, of will and character ...
Richard
Foster with Kathryn Helmers Life with God: a life-transforming new approach to
Bible Reading p10
Psalm 51:6 (NRSV) You
desire truth in the inward being;
therefore teach me wisdom
in my secret heart.
Psalm 51:10 (NRSV) Create
in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.
2 Corinthians 4:16 (NRSV) So
we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature
is wasting away, our inner
nature is being renewed day by day.
2
Corinthians 4:16 (The Message) So
we’re not giving up. How could we!
Even though on the outside it often looks
like things are falling apart on us,
on the inside, where God is making new
life,
not a day goes by without his unfolding grace.
Monday, October 16, 2017
Meditations—points to ponder
The Bible is all about human life with God. It is about how God made this with God
life
possible and will bring it to pass ... Immanuel—God with us.
This title given to Jesus reflects that He is
the One and Only Redeemer because it refers to God’s everlasting intent for
human life ... i.e. that we should be a
dwelling place of God.
The various stories of God’s interaction with His
chosen people illustrates how
the with God life works in all circumstances of human existence.
This mosaic
suggests a beautiful design for the way in which we view the Scriptures.
The
Immanuel Principle is a cosmic principle
that God has used all along
in creation and redemption.
It is the wellspring of
the River of Life flowing through the Bible surging
with the gracious words of
God to all humankind I am with you.
This
River pours into the thirsty wastelands of the human soul inviting us to enter
with its insistent call Will you be with
Me?
Richard
Foster with Kathryn Helmers Life with God: a life-transforming new approach to
Bible Reading pp6-9
Ephesians 3:17 (NRSV) and
that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith,
as you are being rooted and
grounded in love.
Ephesians
3:17 (NLT) Then
Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him.
Your roots will
grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.
Sunday, October 15, 2017
Meditations—points to ponder
There are multiplied millions of people who say,
sincerely,
that the Bible is the guide
to life but who still starve to death
in the presence of its spiritual feast.
The source of this problem lies in the fact that too many people study the
Bible
for information or knowledge alone and/or seek a formula
to solve a
pressing life-problem.
What we must face up to about these two common
objectives for studying the Bible
is that they always leave us or someone else in charge.
In fact, they are simply
ways of controlling what comes out of the Bible
rather than entering
the process of the transformation of our whole person
and of our whole life
into Christ-likeness.
If we want to receive from the Bible
the life with God that is portrayed
IN the Bible,
we must be prepared to have our dearest and most fundamental
assumptions
about ourselves and our associations called into question.
Richard
Foster with Kathryn Helmers Life with God: a life-transforming new approach to
Bible Reading pp4-5
2
Timothy 3:16 (NLT) — 16 All
Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make
us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and
teaches us to do what is right.
Saturday, October 14, 2017
Meditations—points to ponder
The purpose of this learning to live with
God is to transform us into
the likeness
and character of Jesus. God’s everlasting intent for human life
is
that we should be in every aspect a dwelling
place for God.
We are, in God’s time and in God’s way, to be set free from
the list in
Galatians 5:19-21 and we are in God’s time and in God’s way to take on
the spiritual
fruit of Galatians 5:22-23.
This is an inner
process of transformation.
The heart is deeply and surely healed, restored
and redirected by God alone.
Old
affections of hate, guilt and envy are simply gone.
New affections of faith, hope and love are in their place.
Love, joy
and peace in the Holy Spirit seem to flow from us—
simply and naturally—supernaturally
in fact.
Q: How does such a transformed life come into being?
Through vision;
intention and means—these three operating under the Grace of God
will
immerse us in a life that is penetrated throughout by love,
that responds to
everything in the light of God’s overriding governance for good,
that has Power
to overcome evil with Christ-likeness.
We will increasingly live the with
God life.
Living the with God life will see us
catch the vision of …
Isa 43:19 I am about to do a new thing; now
it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and
rivers in the desert.
But the intrinsic power and greatness of the Bible does not make it easy for us
to receive
the LIFE it offers.
We must grasp the Bible for it to be
adequate to our needs.
Richard
Foster with Kathryn Helmers Life with God: a life-transforming new approach to
Bible Reading pp2-3
Jeremiah
15:16 (NRSV) — 16a Your
words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the
delight of my heart; …
Friday, October 13, 2017
Meditations—points
to ponder
Scripture identifies two types of life: (i) bios—the physical, created life; and
(ii) zoë—the spiritual eternal life.
Likewise
there are two types of death: (i) teleute—physical death; and
(ii) thanatos—spiritual death.
Thus it is
entirely possible for a person to be physically alive (bios)
whilst being spiritually dead (thanatos).
But the salvation that is in Jesus Christ
immerses us into the hidden reservoir
of Divine Love and Power.
Jesus declares
that LIFE = zoë ...
John 10:10
(NRSV) — 10b … I came that they may have life,
and have it abundantly.
1 John 5:11
(NRSV) — 11 And this is
the testimony: God gave us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son.
Romans 5:10
(NRSV) — 10 For if while
we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much
more surely, having been reconciled,
will we be saved by his life.
LIFE! LIFE! LIFE! It is all about life-
imperishable, unceasing zoë. This is the en
route to our Destination. We must seek out this life, pursue it, turn into
it—
because there is also a principle of death within us—which stems from the
fall.
Therefore we must be constantly saying yes to life and no to
death.
We must always be discerning Life-giving actions and attitudes
from
those that are death-giving.
John
11:25 (NRSV) — 25
Jesus
said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even
though they die, will live,
Thursday, October 12, 2017
Today we begin a new series authored by Richard Foster
one of the outstanding leaders
and writers of books relating to prayer and spiritual
formation.
I invite you to check out his website at
It is a plethora of rich resources for you to explore.
Meditations—points to ponder
Just as God was saying in ancient times, He is saying
today:
I am with you in all the love,
terror, pity, pain and wonder that is your life.
I am with you ... are you
willing to be with Me?
This is the Immanuel Principle—the dynamic of spiritual transformation
intertwining
divine action and human reaction.
As
we allow the Scripture to lead us into the process of transformation,
we
discover that it is not a matter of religious beliefs and behaviour.
Rather we
are entering into a dynamic, pulsating life!
When Paul writes in Col 3:3 for
you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
He uses a very specific word to identify the secret of
our life hidden with Christ in God—Zoë—the eternal, uncreated life that
originates in God alone.
Richard
Foster with Kathryn Helmers Life with God: a life-transforming new approach to
Bible Reading Preface
Colossians 3:3 (NRSV) — 3 for
you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Colossians
3:9–10 (NRSV) — 9b …
seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices 10
and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which
is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator.
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Meditations—points
to ponder
The 'lost' must be willing to hear of and
recognise their own ruin before they can
find how to enter a different path—the
path of eternal life
that leads into spiritual formation in Christ-likeness.
Spiritual
formation is not something that may or may not be added on
to the gift of
eternal life as an option.
Rather, it is the path that the eternal kind
of life should naturally take.
It is not a project of ‘life enhancement’ to one’s current without God lifestyle …
rather it is the
process of developing a different kind of life—
the life of God
Himself—sustained by God as a new reality
in those who … have confidence that Jesus is the Son of
God …
John 20:31 (ESV) — 31 but these are written so that you
may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you
may have life in His Name.
... and are caught up in Christ’s life,
in what
He is doing by the inward gift of new
birth, …
2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) — 17 Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has
come.
The old stuff no longer matters
for here in
this new creation is the radical goodness
that alone can thoroughly renovate
the heart.
Dallas Willard Renovation of
the Heart—putting on the character of Christ p15
Romans
5:5 (NRSV) — 5 and
hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Meditations—points
to ponder
Paul is describes lost people in his letters.
We’re not lost because we are going to
wind up in the wrong place …
we are going to wind up in the wrong place because
we are lost.
To be lost means to be out of place.
When we are lost to God we are not where we are supposed to be in
His world
and hence are not caught up into His Life.
We cannot participate in
His very great Promises …
2 Peter 1:4 (ESV) — 4 by which he has granted to us his
precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers
of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world
because of sinful desire.
Essentially, 'lostness' causes us to be our
own god and our god can’t help us.
When
we are lost to God we are lost to ourselves—
we do not know where we are or how
to get where we want to go.
The lost in
Christian terms are precisely those who mistake themselves for God.
They
falsely identify and cannot recognise what is closest to them—
namely
themselves. Then, as we have noted, they really do think
they are in charge of
life …
although admittedly, to manage it successfully they may have to bow
outwardly
to this or that person or power … but they are not in charge
and they
have no confidence in the One Who really is God.
Romans 1:20–21 (NRSV) — 20 Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine
nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the
things he has made. So they are without excuse; 21 for though
they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they
became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened.
Monday, October 9, 2017
Meditations—points
to ponder
Paul describes in Romans 1 the progressive
departure from God
that leads to life as we know and see all around us.
Human
beings have always known (and still do) that there is a God
and have had some
degree of understanding of Who He is and what He is like …
Romans 1:19–20 (ESV) — 19 For
what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal
power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation
of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
The first Commandment deals with this
inclination away from God …
Exodus 20:2–3 (ESV) — 2 “I
am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the
house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods
before me.
In a world apart from God the power of
denial is absolutely essential
if life is to proceed. The will or spirit,
psychologically cannot, sustain itself
for any length of time against what it
clearly acknowledges to be the case.
Therefore it must deny and evade the truth
and delude itself.
Paul’s
inspired insight into the root of human evil,
'there is no fear of God before their eyes',
must never be forgotten
by anyone who wishes to understand spiritual formation.
Dallas Willard Renovation of
the Heart—putting on the character of Christ p9-10
Romans
3:18 (NRSV) — 18 “There
is no fear of God before their eyes.”
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