Tag Archives: Lent

Emptiness turned Openness

Posted on by

4

empty

As Lent continues, I am coming to a deep understanding…

the giving up creates room in my heart…

an emptiness…

So many of us live in a culture of such fullness within our hearts and minds…

Have we become like the innkeeper who shouts, “There is no room here!” shunning the Lord?

To know God requires an emptying of self and yet cannot emptiness become openness?

It’s in the way we envision it…emptiness or openness.

Emptiness transformed by grace becomes an openness in which the fullness of praise can erupt.

Lord, I seek you in my emptiness…and I find you Lord in the openness.

Advertisement

Put Out Into the Deep…

Posted on by

1

image via from the heart of j

image via from the heart of j

Jesus said to Simon Peter…

“Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”

Isn’t Lent about deep water…the depth of conversion?

Putting out into deep water calls for a deepening of faith…a journey into the unknown…a powerlessness that leads to a more complete dependence on God.

And when we lower ourselves in humility into the healing presence of God…

we are caught into His loving arms and are more deeply connected to Him who is our Savior.

Lord, grant us the courage to head for the deep waters, the humility to be immersed into the depth, the trust that You are with us and long for us to be more completely in union with You.

This Lent may we all hear the call to, “Put out into deep water.”

Sand Storm of Purification…

Posted on by

2

imagesW9B4PZDQ

The desert…

The place of encounter…

Inner wrestling with Truth resplendent…

Stripped of the color of everyday…

The starkness…the silence…the heat…

The sand storm of purification in the rending of the heart…

Brings an oasis of grace…peace unshakeable…spirit renewed.

“Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God.” Joel 2:12-13

Blessings on your Lent. May your journey in the desert bring you ever deeper into the Heart of Jesus.

Heavy Breathing…

Posted on by

16

There must be empty…in order to fill.

image via wenryett.blogspot.com

 

Fill up with gas, fill out an application, fill an empty canvas with paint, fill our stomachs, fill the vacancy.

All start with empty….with a hollow space.

Our breathing reminds us of this. We exhale our breath within and our lungs deflate.  We inhale and our lungs expand.

image via fotolibra.com

 

We exhale to release…We inhale to increase.

In the desert we exhale letting go of all that stands in the way of union with the Lord.

We inhale His life, His grace, His love, His mercy, His will for our lives.

We inhale “Fiat”….”Let it be done to me according to Your Word.”

We exhale “surrender”…all that stands in the way.

Inhale “Fiat”….Exhale “Surrender”.

Inhale “Fiat”…Exhale “Surrender”.

Inhale “Fiat”…Exhale “Surrender”.

image via vividlife.me

 

This is our heavy breathing while wrestling on our journey in the desert.

“Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your kind spirit guide me on ground that is level.” Ps 143:10

TIckets to the Desert…

Posted on by

12

Have you ever traveled to the desert?

There is a strange beauty about the desert that is foreign to our eyes.

image via danielim.com

 

Our eyes are not accustomed to its beauty so we easily dimiss it.

And yet the desert is a place of discovery.

We begin a journey now into the desert as we prepare our hearts for Easter.

No need to pack anything for this trip…we bring with us our own baggage of false self and strongholds.

image via globaltravelinsurance.com

 

The Spirit drives us into the desert through the restlessness of our hearts…

and gives us two questions that quicken our steps…

What keeps me from giving everything to Jesus?

What am I going to get out of the way that blocks Jesus’ merciful love in my life?

These two questions are our entrance tickets into the desert.

Here we will come face to face with our false self and our strongholds…

And we will wrestle…yes we will wrestle.

image via fatherjudge.com

But in the wrestling there is a letting go…

And in the letting go we will discover the beauty of the desert…

image via fanpop.com

and in the discovery of the beauty we will be filled with the LOVE that molds us into our true selves.

“Streams will burst forth in the desert.” Is 35:6b