Devotions based on Henri Nouwen’s book, The Inner Voice of Love

Just because we are Christians doesn’t mean we are free from temptations. We might have times we are so blessed and so in God that we forget we are still living in this world of powers and principalities. But we need protection lest we be pulled out of our true self and experience the darkness around us. Sometimes we are pulled out before we are even aware of it so we need to be alert. As fellow Christians we need to support, protect, and hold one another close to God’s heart. We belong to a minority in a large, hostile world. As we become more aware of our true identity as a child of God, we will also see more clearly the many forces that try to pull us away from God. We may have the sudden feeling that all things spiritually are false substitutes for the real things of life, or that prayer is fantasy, that God is just a word etc. We can’t trust these thoughts and feelings when we are pulled out of true selves. We must return quickly to our true place and pay no attention to what tricked us. We need to protect our innocence by holding on to the truth: we are a child of God and deeply loved!