the way of letting go

Opening Prayer: O Lord, help me to never think too much of myself, or to try and get others to think too much of me.  Help me to never see myself as indispensable to what you are doing in this world, for when I start seeing myself that way it only shows that it has become more about me than about you.  Wean me from need, O Lord, and free me to love.  Help me to put my hope fully in you, and not in myself.  Amen. 

Scripture: Psalm 131:1-3

Journal: What do you need to let go of these days?  What is standing in the way of you having a stilled and quieted soul?  Will you let go of it?

Reflection: “O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high.  I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.  But I have stilled and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.  O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.” (Psalm 131:1-3)

When we are finally willing and able to let go of our own self-importance, our sense of indispensability, and or need to be needed, only then will we have the courage and the strength to put our plans and agendas aside and give God the space and the time to do whatever he wants to do.  Life becomes about him and not about us. 

Only when we are weaned from need will we be truly able to love, trusting fully in God’s unfailing love and power and care.  Only when we are finally able to be stilled and quieted, “like a weaned child with its mother,” is our hope really in the Lord and not in ourselves.  Thus, a stilled and quieted soul is the fruit of truly open hands.

Pray

Closing Prayer: O Lord, help me to open my hands completely to you.  Help me to let go of anything and everything that keeps me from being fully and completely yours.

get a move on

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, forgive me when I allow my life with you to get stuck or stagnate because I am unwilling to do what it takes in order to take that next step toward maturity.  Forgive me when I allow my life with you to take a back seat to other things that seem more urgent and pressing.  Forgive me when I give so much time and attention, so much effort and energy, to the things of this world that I forget—or refuse—to pay attention to the things of the Spirit.  My reasons for not taking that next step with you are abundant.  Forgive me, Lord Jesus.  Help me to leave the “elementary” things and move on to a deeper in my life with you.  It’s time!   

Scripture: Hebrews 6:1

Journal: What is the next step for you as far as spiritual maturity is concerned?  Are you willing to take that step?  What does that look like?  How and where are you reluctant and resistant to change?  Why?

Reflection: “Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity.” (Heb. 6:1) There is such a beautiful and terrifying invitation in that statement; something we all deeply want, yet something we are afraid to move toward.  Most likely that’s because what it’s going to take to get to that next level of maturity is costly.  It is not nearly as costly, however, as it is incredible.  It is oh so worth it! 

We live in a world that seeks minimum investment for maximum return.  Unfortunately, spiritual maturity doesn’t work that way.  Maybe that’s why so many seem stuck or stagnate in their lives with Jesus; they are simply unwilling to invest, or endure, whatever it takes to get to the next level of maturity—especially if it involves moving downward rather than upward.  And make no mistake about it, spiritual maturity almost always comes about as a result of descent rather than ascent.  It’s the Jesus way. 

The strange thing is that when we finally muster the courage to follow his leading, wherever that might be, we find that the way downward is actually the way to freedom and life, if we are willing to take that step.  What does stepping toward maturity look like for you these days?

Pray

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, give me the courage to take that next step toward spiritual maturity, whatever it may look like.  Amen.

sharing in his sufferings

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you that you did not avoid suffering, but willingly entered into it on my behalf.  Thank you that because of that, you are now able to enter into my suffering with me.  Help me, Lord Jesus, to know what it means to enter into your suffering with you.

Scripture: Philippians 3:10

Journal: How do you typically handle suffering?  What is your knee-jerk reaction?  What would it do in you if you began to see your suffering as a means of deeper union with Jesus?

Reflection:

     stigmata

could it be

that the deepest

union with Christ

comes not through ecstasy

but through suffering

him knowing my pain

and me knowing his

Pray

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to see suffering, not as an annoyance and frustration, but as an invitation and opportunity—an invitation to know you, and your sufferings, more intimately.

one thing

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, give me the grace and the strength and the courage to make you my one thing.  Amen.

Scripture: Luke 18:22

Journal: What is your “one thing?”  How do you know that?  What would it look like for Jesus to be your one thing?

Reflection: “You still lack one thing…” (Luke 18:22)

It is easy to say that Jesus is our one thing, but it is much more difficult to live as if that were true.  All we have to do is look carefully at our lives, they will tell us the truth.  Whatever we spend most of our time and energy thinking about, consumed with, worrying over, building, defending, and protecting—that is our one thing.  And any “one thing” that we put before Jesus is a disordered affection.  Jesus demands to be our first and truest affection, not just one of many.  That’s exactly what he is trying to tell the rich young ruler: “If you put anything before me, then it is your God.  So take your pick, the choice it up to you.”

Pray

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, don’t let me fool myself.  Show me what my one thing is.  And if it is anything other than you, help me to leave it behind, whatever that may mean, and follow you.  Amen.