Month: October 2010 (Page 3 of 3)

Devotions based on Brennan Manning’s book, The Rabbi’s Heartbeat

The author said that what is denied cannot be healed. If we remain in hiding and deny the reality of our sin, we deprive the community of our healing gift. “In Love’s service, only wounded soldiers can serve.” ( Thorton Wilder)   If we conceal our wounds, out of fear or shame, our inner darkness cannot be illuminated or become a light for others. But when we dare to live as forgiven people, we join the wounded healers and draw closer to Him. The art of gentleness toward ourselves leads us to be gentle with others.  Henry Nouwen implies that grace and healing are communicated through vulnerability and brokenness. Just like AA members who don’t forget their brokenness are able to bring healing to others and lighten their pain. Our own pain and sadness makes us aware of our inner poverty so that Christ can pour his healing into the empty space inside us.  Like Paul we can say that we can boast in our weakness that the power of God would be seen.  ( II Cor. 12:9)

Devotions from Brennan Manning’s book, The Rabbi’s Heartbeat

God wants us to stop hiding and openly come to Him.  Why do we hide what we feel ourselves to be ( which we assume is unacceptable) and put on the appearance of what we are not?  God loves who we really are—whether we like it or not, and calls us to come out of hiding into a safe place. No amount of spiritual posturing makes us more presentable to Him. To feel safe is to stop living in our heads and sink down into our hearts and to feel accepted. It is feeling relaxed without need to impress and with out self-consciousness. All we do is to surrender our poverty and acknowledge our nothingness before Him.  Whether we understand it or not He loves us, He is present to us, He lives in us, He calls us, He saves us, He offers us compassion and love. Let us experience that we are the one He loves!

Devotions from Brennan Manning’s book, The Rabbi’s Heartbeat

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are.” I John 3:1

 The Father doesn’t want us to be perfect but real. Yet at times we try so hard to please God and impress others that the energy is sucked right out of us. We want to present a perfect image but it leaves us feeling brittle, lifeless and fruitless. We need a divine transfusion, and to know that He is for us not against us.  He wants to cut away our hypocrisy so that vitality can come to our souls. As we accept ourselves and receive His love, then we can revel in His grace. God’s sorrow is our fear of him, our fear of life, and our fear of ourselves. He longs to draw us into His embrace as His beloved child.  No matter what our past has been or our present we can come back to the shelter of His love. Thomas Merton said, ”Quit keeping score altogether and surrender yourself with all your sinfulness to God who sees neither the score nor the scorekeeper but only His child redeemed by Christ.”

Devotions from Lisa McMinn’s book, The Contented Soul

“Our ultimate happiness is not found in external circumstances but in a trust that we are made for eternity.” God is present with us now but one day we will be brought into His direct presence. In the meantime we may go through suffering which may allow us to identify with His suffering and the pain that exists all around us. When we experience these times we learn the sufficiency of His grace and come to know Him as our ultimate source of peace. This life is only our beginning and what a future we have to look forward to. We can choose to live joyfully which takes some courage. Henry Nouwen said that the reward of choosing joy is joy itself. If we choose to claim joy hidden in the midst of suffering, life becomes a celebration.  “Joy never denies the sadness, but transforms it into fertile soil for more joy.”  We don’t’ deny the darkness, but we can choose not to live in it. Even a little bit of light can dispel a lot of darkness.

Let us choose joy and a willingness and desire to pursue contentment in spite of our circumstance.

Devotions from Lisa McMinn’s book, The Contented Soul

 “Life is not about my happiness but about the joy of recognizing that we all emerge from one source-and that source is God who loves us.” 

Contentment is rooted in remembering.  But often we have twisted memories when it comes to wrongs others have done to us or wrongs we have done to others.  We need to remember our mistakes, to note our sins, and to repent or we live in shallowness and discontent.   “Contentment born of humility recognizes that we belong to God and to each other, allowing us to confront our sins, to learn from our mistakes and to remember who we are.”  God is faithful and gives our hearts the opportunity to turn back to His loving embrace.  Let us remember what He has done so that we know we are forgiven and that we belong to Him and not ourselves.  Let us remember  God who remembers us!

Devotions from Lisa McMinn’s book, The Contented Soul

Memory holds our experiences together so that we re not disconnected souls living without connection to our past or our future. As Christians we remember Christ’s death and resurrection and look forward to what is ahead. We remember that we are not alone and that God was always present with us and will never forsake us. He calls us by name to remember who we are. We can recognize that we are both great and small.  Sometimes we focus so much on our imperfections that we don’t embrace them as part of the process in which we are brought to God. As we know our littleness and emptiness it gives God space in which to work. Even though it is a gift of grace to know we are little we must keep pushing on to claim our greatness. We are pure capacity for God and can be more!  Some of us think too highly of ourselves, others think too little, but most of us think too much about ourselves.  But let us remember Whose we are and walk contentedly.

Devotions from Lisa McMinn’s book, The Contented Soul

Some profound moments of contentment come as we recognize that we are part of and belong to something bigger than ourselves.  On the other hand we find ourselves living in discontent when we live in isolation, as though we belong to no one or nothing. When we are more concerned about our own personal agenda and rights it diminishes our sense of community and  duty to look out for the well being of others. We can get overly focused on ourselves and become unhappy and lonely people.  Of course, to belong to something bigger than ourselves, we must give up some measure of control over our circumstances.  It often means we must decide not to choose something that we think may harm others or creation.  As we stop thinking of our community and the earth as existing for our personal convenience and well-being, we begin to see how we are part of a greater whole. As we live in harmony with others and with our world we come to peace and a sense of belonging. We can bless and serve others by volunteering at a soup kitchen or a youth ministry, Food shelf etc. And as we show care for others and creation, our own souls grow and stretch. “In serving we receive blessings because we are made for relationship, for community, and to do good.” Let us find contentment as we love Him and serve and bless others.