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When I met Christ I felt like I had swallowed sunshine.” (E. Stanley Jones, +1973, Christian missionary)
“Rise up in splendor! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines uon you. See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples; But upon you the Lord shines, and over you appears His glory….Then you shall be radiant at what you see, your heart shall throb and overflow.” Is 60:1-2,5a
“Experience has shown me too late
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that we cannot judge people by their vices,
but on the contrary by what they hold intact and pure,
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by the childlike qualities that remain in them, however deeply one must search for them.”
(George Bernanos, +1948, a prolific French author and soldier in world War I)
“Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide.” Is 11:3b
“Jesus loves as a PURE GIFT….
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He makes others better by loving them. Not only does he NOT accuse their mediocrity,…but He takes up their defense and gives them His heart, His time, His trust.
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He knew that if (such) people were weak, small, mediocre, it is precisely because they lacked the love to grow and because others did not love them enough.
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What does our Lord do? He calls forth, arouses, renews the best part in man, the part that is hidden in each and every person. Because Christ loves, and shows His love in creating new and good things…
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Everybody who meets Him once again begins to believe, to have trust in God and in themselves.” (By Fr. Bernard Bro, a Dominican priest and author of “Learning to Pray”)
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If we see with eyes of compassion the hardness in others and in ourselves as merely stunted growth from lack of love…how differently we would then treat ourselves and our neighbor. Loving ourselves and others in Jesus could cause a flourishing of new growth…a springtime in Him who is love.
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“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you. ” Luke 6:36-38
Let every moment of my day…
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Overflow with Your Love.
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And may this Love…
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Become a wellspring for others.
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“You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows.” Ps 23:5b
Bountiful blessings on your weekend!
There must be empty…in order to fill.
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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.
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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”.
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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
Have you ever traveled to the desert?
There is a strange beauty about the desert that is foreign to our eyes.
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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.
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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.
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But in the wrestling there is a letting go…
And in the letting go we will discover the beauty of the desert…
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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
Who do you look like?
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Like your mother? Like your father? Like your Great Aunt Bessie or your Uncle Troy?
Genesis 1:27 says, ” God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them.”
We favor our Heavenly Father.
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In the depths of who we are…Yes we favor our Heavenly Father.
For we are stamped with His Divine image.
Gaze deeply into the mirror…Ponder the whole of you…
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Know that YOU are a reflection of Him, your Heavenly Father.
Now live your life in confidence of this truth…
You are a Son or Daughter of GOD!
Think of all the ways you profess your faith….
openly whenever necessary…sometimes in words, mostly in actions.
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Think of all the ways you confidently bear witness to your faith…
spreading it to those who cross your path.
Think of all the ways daily you acknowledge Jesus before others.
“Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.” ( Matt 10:32)
Therefore you, who acknowledge Jesus before others, know that the Father acknowledges you!
Your heavenly Father, your Abba, sees you not just as part of a crowd…
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He knows you intmately, individually, uniquely.
As children often seek attention from their earthly fathers…
how glorious to think that Jesus speaks of you to the Father.
(Yes, we know the Father knows all, but sometimes to cultivate joy and gratitude from the heart, we need to become that little child again).
Jesus at the right hand of the Father speaks to Him of you!
You are a topic of their conversation.
Receive this joy deeply of how proud your Heavenly Papa is of you…
Let it sink within adding fire to your steps of charity.
Yes, you have acknowledged Jesus before others…and He has acknowledged you before the Father.
Your Heavenly Papa is proud of you.
He sees you. You are not just hidden in a crowd.
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You are His child – a son or daughter of God.
May this day you know the powerful embrace of love that comes from your proud heavenly Father.
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“Behind and before You encircle me and rest Your hand upon me. ” (Ps 139:5)
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Oh God you are my PROTECTOR.
“Behind and before You encircle me and rest Your hand upon me.”
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Oh God you are my STABILITY.
“Behind and before You encircle me and rest Your hand upon me.”
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Oh God you are my FOUNDATION.
“Behind and before You encircle me and rest Your hand upon me.”
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Oh God you are my SUPPORT.
“Behind and before You encircle me and rest Your hand upon me.”
Like the seamless garment Jesus wore upon the earth…
I am encircled in Your love. Clothed in Your presence.
“Such knowledge is beyond me, far too lofty for me to reach.” (Ps 139:6)
God doesn’t PROTECT you…
From that which He can use to PERFECT you.
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“Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer.” Rom 12:12
through Him with Him in Him... 