The Days of Our Lives...

"There is no shortage of good days. It is good lives that are hard to come by.”
Annie Dillard

Companionable and Indispensable

"A really companionable and indispensable dog is an accident of nature. You can't get it by breeding for it, and you can't buy it with money. It just happens along."
 ~E B White



Marin Luther King Jr. Day

"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity."~ Martin Luther King, Jr. [May we all live today ... every day ~mjm]

By: Marie Maher

GRACE

Grace is not rational…The gospel of grace throws our glory train off its tracks. Instead of calculating, mastering, and determining, we find ourselves completely helpless, left with no option but to fall into the everlasting arms of the God who could consume us in his wrath but instead embraces us in his Son. (Mike Horton)

May my day be "fruitful"



Mother Teresa's business card:

The fruit of SILENCE is Prayer,

the fruit of PRAYER is faith,

the fruit of FAITH is love,

the fruit of LOVE is Service,

the fruit of SERVICE is Peace

I don't know if this is really Mother Teresa's business card or not, but it certainly is a truism and she has lived it out well. 

Love



"To love means to be with another and for another for their benefit."  Chaplain Mike, Internetmonk.com

Hadn't thought of it quite that way before but it makes sense.

A Listening Heart

A Listening Heart

There is a magnet in a seeker’s heart
whose true north is God.
It bends toward the Voice of God
with the ear of the heart
and, like sunflowers in the sun,
turns all of life toward
the living of the Word.

This listening is pure of pride
and free of arrogance.
It seeks wisdom—
everywhere, at all times—
and knows wisdom by the way
it echoes
the call of the scriptures.

The compass of God implanted
in the seeker’s heart
stretches toward truth
and signals the way to justice.

A truly listening heart knows
that we lose the chance for truth
if we give another—any other—
either too much, or too little,
control over the conscience
that is meant to be ours alone.

And yet, at the same time
mutual obedience,
real listening,
holy listening
forever seeks the spiritual dialogue
holy wisdom demands.

This listening with the heart
to the insights of another
is not the obedience of children,
or soldiers,
or servants,
or minions.
It is the obedience given to a lover
because of love alone.
– fromThe Monastery of the Heart: An Invitation to a Meaningful Life by Joan Chittister

Is.  50:4 (adapted) O, Sovereign Lord  give me  words of wisdom,
      so that I  may know how to comfort the weary.
   Morning by morning awaken me
      and open my understanding to Your  will.

Teach me to listen.

Tension

I feel a constant tension, but I guess it isn't a bad thing.  As the lyrics to the song, Altar and Door (by Casting Crowns) go, I  am between who I was, who I am and who God is making me to be.

I was also thinking of the song Who Am I, (by Casting Crowns)

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart
Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are...

Thanks, God for a brisk walk and thoughts of you. Thanks for my fluffy, handsome walking partner who drags me along.   Thanks for health and the ability to walk.  Thanks for a balmy day in January and the bright sunshine.  Thanks for an I-pod so I can listen to tunes while I walk.  Thanks for who you are and for working in me.

My mindset

(photo from biologycorner.com)



The issue of mindset has come up several times this week.  I have been thinking about how Christ is not part of my life....but is my very life.  In these verses in Col. 3:1-4 it speaks about how,  if I am dead and alive in Christ I should set my mind on things above.  What does that mean?  The same idea came up in Small Group in Romans 8:5 of the mind set on things of the Spirit.   So as this new year is off and running I want to keep in mind the "1 thing" (Luke 10:42) to fellowship with and abide in Christ;  to seek first His kingdom (Matt. 6:33) and to know Him more fully (Phil. 3:10).  Lord, please teach me what it means and how to set my mind on things above.

Three Words for 2012

I am revisiting my post from last Jan. 16, 2011 in which I chose three words to set the stage for my goals for the coming year.  My words for this year are SOLI    DEO    GLORIA    which means "glory to God alone."  That's what I want all my life  activities to be...



Starting 2012.....

As I prayerfully enter into the New Year I agree:

A New Year's Prayer

To thee, O God, I give up myself, to be used and employed for thee. I desire to live no longer than I may do thee some service. Make what use of me thou pleasest, only let me obtain mercy of the Lord, to be found diligent, humble, and faithful. O that the work of this year may be better done than that of the last, and my time more filled up; and that I may never grow weary of well doing.
To thee, O God, I give up myself, to be disposed of by thee as thou pleasest. I know not what the year may bring forth to me, or to my family. But welcome the holy will of God; and God, by his grace, make me ready for it. If it be the last year of my life, my dying year, may I but finish my course with joy; and farewell this world. Whatever afflictions may this year befall me, I desire none of them may move me from God and my duty, amen.(a prayer by Matthew Henry, January 1, 1707)

From Bob Hostetler's blog: http://bobhostetler.blogspot.com/

Here's another good one:

Lord God Almighty,
I understand that I am unable to do anything without your help,
so I ask you to enable me by your grace to fulfill your will.

Give me grace to do whatever brings most glory and honor to you,
pleasure and profit to me,
and life and love to others.

Help me to number my days,
spending my time wisely,
living my life with all my might while I still have breath.

Humble me in the knowledge that I am chief of sinners;
when I hear of the sins of others,
help me to not look upon them with pride,
but to look upon myself with shame,
confessing my own sins to you.

When I go through difficulties and trials,
remind me of the pains of hell
from which you have already delivered me.

Place people in my path who need my help,
and give me a compassionate and generous spirit.

Fill my heart with such love
that I would never do anything out of a spirit of revenge,
nor lose my temper with those around me.
Hold my tongue when I am tempted to speak evil of others.

Thank you for the gospel and for the hope of glory.
Help me to live in light of these truths every day of my life,
so that when the time of my death arrives,
I will rest assuredly in you,
and you will be most glorified in me.

In Christ’s name…

- Trevin Wax (adapted from the first 21 of Jonathan Edwards’ resolutions), first posted on January 3, 2010