Month: April 2010 (Page 2 of 3)

Devotions from Margaret Silf’s book, The Wayfarer

When we look at our lives and our personal giftings, we come to realize that His love that is being poured into us is alive and active.  God pours himself into the funnel of our lives, and enters the core of our being through the narrow channel that we call our life, our experience. He acts upon us in certain ways, and shares Himself with us, whether we realize it or not. If our lives are free enough to let God pass through them, in a flow of grace, then something will pour out of the other end.  It will show itself in the ways we act and share ourselves.  Will we respond by bringing life and love where there is none?  Will we act co-operatively? Will we act healingly? Will we act uniquely, offering our own personal gifting to the world?

We come into the world with nothing and receive everything. All we can ever hope to do for God is to give Him back what is His own.
When our personal existence here on earth is over we will all have made a difference. We are free to choose if we will leave this world a little fuller of Life than when we arrived or if we leave it diminished.

In our hearts may we desire to be funnels of God’s love in the world. Let us reflect each day if His love is flowing through us and if we are adding flavor to the world around us.

May we be able to pray, “You gave me every gift, and to you I return them. Use each one entirely according to your will. Give me only your love, and your grace, and that is enough for me.”

Devotions based on Margaret Silf’s book, The Wayfarer

As we look back on our personal experiences of pain, we will often find it produced great growth in our lives.   In these very places of our brokenness that we thought was a barrier between us and the Lord, may be the very place where we find Him most readily.  “We shine with the light of God only when the scouring pads of experience have stripped away our rough edges and encrustations.”  We need to get in touch with our woundedness  and let these experiences be remembered in the Lord’s presence,  with the knowledge that in Him is a deeper security and peace.

The risen Jesus comes to us often in an ordinary moment that we so easily miss, if we are not looking with the eyes of love.  We must let go of the fears that dominate our lives and keep us captive, afraid to live out some aspect of who we really are.   Jesus wants to break through our blindness of despair and fears of uncertainty and empower us with new hope.

The resurrection is not an end but a new beginning. “We are called forward into the rest of our lives, not as mourner at the foot of our brokenness, but as carriers of the new life that has poured out of that breaking. “ Let us not cling to what is still earthbound but move on to all that lies ahead. Let us move on with empty hands that are free to receive all the gifts that are waiting for us along the forward journey.

Devotions based on Margaret Silf’s book, The Wayfarer

As we journey with Jesus we may come to the choice of whether we will follow Him into the place of suffering and hardship. It we do it will cause us to lean on Him as our rock and face the many things that may be unwelcomed to us.

That may also happen in our friendships with others when we must decide if we will go with them through a tough situation or whether we will desire our own comfort and security more. If we choose to be with that friend it will likely lead to life and reflect His attitude of love. “The pathway of extraordinary love, deliberately chooses to cross the threshold of his own suffering and death.”  Do we choose to live true to the core of our being and have the courage to implement those true choices in our real day-to-day experiences?  Jesus chose the way that appeared to lead to the loss of everything, in order to bring us with Him, home to the Father’s heart.

We also need to ask for grace to acknowledge those aspects of ourselves that lead us to betray, deny, abandon, compromise, etc. God wants to redeem these very things within us but we need to open them up to Him. It requires us to expose our hearts to Him for cleansing.  Then He can then strengthen the tendencies in us to be faithful, patient, and trusting.  We may be surprised at the new growth that will take place in our lives, even from those things that were painful!

Devotions from Margaret Silf’s book The Wayfarer

What does it mean to live and bear fruit for His kingdom?  Each of us does this in our own unique way as we live out our own unique circumstances and are open to God’s love and grace flowing freely through us..  One thing we all need is humility of spirit.  This calls us to accept the circumstances in which we find ourselves with a positive attitude.  IT means we actively seek to bring life out of those circumstances. We must choose to respond to our particular issues in a life-giving way and thus bring His loving presence to our world. Jesus infused love into every situation. His attitude was always one of forgiving love and mercy to those who waver and fall and find themselves in the captivity of sin. But those who hold others captive through narrowness, and abuse of power He vigorously opposed.    What are our underlying attitudes? Do we respond in loving, life-giving ways?

Even when we are bound by fear or feelings of hopelessness or helplessness we can invite Jesus into those situations and ask Him to touch them with His love. Also when we are rejected by another we can ask Him to set us free from our dependency on the good opinion of others.

May He help us to grow beyond where we are at now and to be opened to His way of living and loving.

Devotions from Margaret Silf’s book, The Wayfarer

The Lord wants us to come into His presence and be real and open to whatever comes up… willing to take off the censorship filters and let Him be God in our lives.  We need to be truthful with Him and with ourselves. Sometimes we pray about everything except the one burning issue in our lives that we don’t want to look at. The author had two people in her life that were giving her grief and she kept pushing them out of her prayers. But instead God wants to be in all of our life and relationships and open to the movements of the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes the seed which has been sown in our hearts seems to grow silently in the darkness and then all of a sudden a new shoot starts to show in our daily life. It seems to amaze us but it is His hidden work.  Often we see the growth of God more easily in others than ourselves. Why not share with others how you notice the Godseed growing and sprouting in their lives and let them do the same for you?

It’s important to stay connected to the Vine as we have all we need to live and grow. 
To journey with the Lord is not a burdensome journey, even though it may lead us through many hardships. The joy it generates in our hearts will make the path easy. He says, “I am he Way on which you walk, the Truth that you are searching for, the Life that will make you fully who you are created to be.”  Let us follow Him as He calls us!

Devotions based on Margaret Silf’s book, The Wayfarer

As we journey with the Lord we each have a unique calling.  To me as a housewife Jesus might have said, “Come follow me and I will help you to make a home where God himself may dwell.” To a nurse or Dr. the invitation might be to “Come follow me and I’ll teach you how to heal hearts and souls.”  To a fisherman he might have said, “Come follow me and I will teach you how to fish for the minds and hearts of your fellow men.”  etc

As we feel called to follow the Lord what do we need to take with us on this journey?

1. We need the staple food of Prayer. …constant communion with Him as we listen to Him and take time for Him.

2. We need trust . That comes out of our own helplessness, not from all our achievements.

3. We need integrity….The willingness simply to be true to ourselves with no room for pretensions.

4.  We need readiness…to expect the unexpected and be wakeful to notice God’s presence in our daily lives.

5. Wholeheartedness…to retain enthusiasm that we had when we first came to know the Lord

6. Discernment…to distinguish between what is leading us closer to God and what leads us away from Him. Discernment should continually grow sharper as we exercise it.

7. Detachment…the ability to avoid getting sidetracked and to not depend on things or people.

Let us journey with Him as we spend time together, learning from Him, hearing His wisdom and instruction, listening to His stories, watching Him in action and spending time alone with Him.

Devotions based on Margaret Silf’s book, The Wayfarer

“As life moves on, we have to leave behind a phase of our lives that we have grown through, to move on to the uncharted territory of the next stage of our living.”  For most of us the transition is not accomplished without pain, and a degree of fear of all that lies ahead. But there is excitement too, if we have purposely chosen this next step.  Jesus wants us to journey with Him and learn from Him as we walk the road together.  He will not force us to go further than we choose to go. Sometimes this call to move on to a new phase comes with a jolt and we may be tempted to stay in our own comfort zone. But if we do, we will miss the opportunity for transformation. Just as He calls us to become  a living presence of Himself and His love, the enemy seeks to pull us in the opposite way. When we choose to go God’s way there is a sense of rightness and peace. But if we choose the way of the enemy we will feel turmoil at the center of our being as we know we are going off course. May we choose daily for Life in every little thing we do. The core of our being knows that the end is worth the means. May we be willing to face hardship if that is what it takes to live true. There are no short cuts to transformation. “The journey will pass through dark and dangerous places, but ultimate security lies in traveling with God.”

Devotions from Margaret Silf on Wayfaring

We must align our dreams with the dream God is dreaming for us and attune our choices and decisions to the inner compass within us. Just like Mary who gave her consent, we also must make room for Him to make a home within us. As we allow God to become incarnate in us, we have no knowledge of what that will look like but can only trust in faith. But he asks for our willing and wholehearted participation in a living, dynamic process. Often we may have to face scorn when we allow God to become incarnate in our lives. We must expect this even as it happened to Him.
May we also recognize Christ coming to birth in others around us.  “Whenever the Christ in one of us meets the Christ in another, there will be an exchange of gifts.”  Sometimes we might be called to protect the newborn Christ-life in others and take action to help them along the way. Let us also be grateful for the ones who have recognized the Christ-life coming to birth in us and helped us along the way.