Devotions from Gary Thomas’ book Pure Pleasure There is no doubt how important praying, serving, giving, meditating etc is. But they are not the only pleasures, for God accepts more than “religious activities”. We must give ourselves permission to sip a cup of coffee, watch a football game without feeling as if God has to…
Devotions based on the book Pure Pleasure by Gary Thomas “Contempt for pleasure, so far from arguing superior spirituality, is actually ….the sin of pride. Pleasure divinely designed to raise our sense of God’s goodness, deepen our gratitude to Him, and strengthens our hope of richer pleasures to come in the next world. “ J.…
Devotions from Gary Thomas’ book Pure Pleasure Dr. Houston said “For Christians who live closely with God, life is like a festival.” In fact if we live in a spirit of gloom it denies the effectiveness of Jesus sacrifice on the cross. He set us free and our freedom needs to be realized and celebrated.…
Devotions from Gary Thomas’ Pure Pleasure Do we really know what it means to live in the love of God and to believe He delights in us? Julian of Norwich said,” He makes us love all that He loves, for His love’s sake, and makes us take pleasure in Him and all His works. God…
Devotions from Gary Thomas’s book, Pure Pleasure God delights in our delight! In Isaiah 62:4-5 it says “The Lord will take delight in you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.” Enjoying God and what He has created (in the way He intends us to enjoy it) brings…
Devotions from Pure Pleasure by Gary Thomas Jesus said “I came so that they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” ( The message translation) “The good things of this earth, created by God to be received with thanksgiving and praise- things such as friendship, good food…
I spent this past weekend at St. Scholastica monastery in Duluth helping with a week-end retreat for folks enrolled in a spiritual direction program. I am one of the facilitators of the program. This is my third year in helping. It has been one of those surprises of God’s grace and favor as I journey with Him during…
Devotions from Gary Thomas’s book, Pure Pleasure Maybe when you read the title of Thomas’ book, you thought of sin, like- “If it feels good it must be sin!” But God wants to bless us with so many pleasures and gifts from His hand that delight us – and in delighting us brings pleasure back…
Devotions from Mother Teresa/No Greater Love The work God calls each of us to do is a means to put our love for God into living action. Our vocation is to belong to Him. If we say Yes to God it means we surrender fully, without reservations and allow only God to make plans for…
Devotions based on Mother Teresa/No Greater Love “The prize with which God rewards our self-abandonment is Himself.” Suffering will never be completely absent from our lives but we must not be afraid of suffering. Our suffering can be a means of love if we make use of it. Suffering in itself is useless but suffering…