belonging

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you that I belong to you, and that your desire is for me.  Although it is hard for me to believe at times, that does not change the fact that it is true.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Scripture: Song of Songs 7:10

Journal: How does the desire for belonging take shape in your life?  What would it mean to have your need for belonging fully met in Jesus?

Reflection: It is crazy how much time and energy and effort I expend trying to belong, when all of the belonging I could ever hope for—and more—is already mine in Jesus.  It is like I am working and working, trying to achieve something that I have already been given. 

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Forgive me, O Lord, when I run to the world to get something that only you can give me.  Thank you that I belong to you.

true self

Opening Prayer: For you, O God, created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you. (Psalm 139:13-18, NIV)

Scripture: Psalm 139:13-18

Journal: How do you think God sees you?  How do you think he thinks about you?  How do the words of Psalm 139 speak to that?  What captures your heart in these verses?  Why?

Reflection: Life batters and shapes us in all sorts of ways before it's done, but those original selves which we were born with and which I believe we continue in some measure to be no matter what are selves which still echo with the holiness of their origin. I believe that what Genesis suggests is that this original self, with the print of God's thumb still upon it, is the most essential part of who we are and is buried deep in all of us as a source of wisdom and strength and healing which we can draw upon or, with our terrible freedom, not draw upon as we choose. I think that among other things all real art comes from that deepest self—painting, writing music, dance, all of it that in some way nourishes the spirit and enriches the understanding. I think that our truest prayers come from there too, the often unspoken, unbidden prayers that can rise out of the lives of unbelievers as well as believers whether they recognize them as prayers or not. And I think that from there also come our best dreams and our times of gladdest playing and taking it easy and all those moments when we find ourselves being better or stronger or braver or wiser than we are.  —Telling Secrets by Frederick Buechner

Prayer

Closing Prayer: For You shaped me, inside and out. You knitted me together in my mother’s womb long before I took my first breath. I will offer You my grateful heart, for I am Your unique creation, filled with wonder and awe. You have approached even the smallest details with excellence; Your works are wonderful; I carry this knowledge deep within my soul. You see all things; nothing about me was hidden from You as I took shape in secret, carefully crafted in the heart of the earth before I was born from its womb. You see all things; You saw me growing, changing in my mother’s womb; every detail of my life was already written in Your book; You established the length of my life before I ever tasted the sweetness of it. Your thoughts and plans are treasures to me, O God! I cherish each and every one of them! How grand in scope! How many in number! If I could count each one of them, they would be more than all the grains of sand on earth. Their number is inconceivable! Even when I wake up, I am still near to You. (Psalm 139:13-18, The Voice)

God's kiss

Opening Prayer: O Lord, kiss me with the kisses of your mouth—for your love is more delightful than wine.  

Scripture: Song of Songs 1:2

Journal: When was the last time you received God’s kiss?  What did it do within you?  Will you receive it again today? 

Reflection: The soul that has received the kiss of the Savior—and continues to receive his kiss—is a grateful, joyful, captured soul.  It does not complain or criticize or worry because it has been—and is continually being—filled to overflowing with the unfailing love of God.  It has truly been—and is continuing to be—seized by the power of the Great Affection.

Prayer

Closing Prayer: How I long to finally graduate from being led by fear and insecurity, to being led by your love and your Spirit alone—no shadows, only light.  Help that, Lord Jesus, not only to be my hope, but my reality.  Amen.

my grace

Opening Prayer:  Lord Jesus, in the end all any of us really need is your grace.  Oh we might convince ourselves that we need so much more than that, but when it comes right down to it, your grace is all we need.  Help us to live as if that were true.  Amen.

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:9

Journal: Is God’s grace sufficient for you right now?  Honestly?  Why or why not?

Reflection: My grace is sufficient for you.  No, really, it is!  So stop trying to earn my love and favor.  Stop trying to make it on your own.  Stop beating yourself up and wearing yourself out.  Stop trying to arrange your life in such a way that you won’t need me quite so much.  My grace really is sufficient for you.  It is all you need. 

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Help me to let your grace be enough for me today, Lord Jesus.  For if I really believe your grace is enough, it changes everything.  It totally changes the way I live my life.

the tale of two men

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, forgive me when I get too full of myself.  For when I do that there is no room for you.  Give me the strength and the courage to humble myself before you today, that there would be plenty of space within me for you to move and to work and to act.  Amen.

Scripture: Luke 18:9-14

Journal: What about this passage stirs your heart?  What disturbs you?  Which man can you relate to most?  Why?

Reflection: Once upon a time there were two men; one who thought he had it all together, and the other who was painfully aware that he did not.  One who was pretty sure that he was God’s gift to humanity, and the other who was pretty sure humanity didn’t even know his name.  One who was constantly seeking the spotlight, and the other who was content in the shadows.  One who was ever climbing upward, and the other who was well acquainted with the downward path.  One who was so in love with his own observations and opinions that he couldn’t wait to share his “wisdom” with anyone and everyone in his path, and the other who was fully aware that the only thing he really knew was that he did not know.  One who thought he knew how to pray, and the other who realized he didn’t even know what prayer really was.  One who was so full of himself that there was not any room for anyone or anything else, and the other who was so empty that there was plenty of room for God and others.  One who was destined to be humbled, and the other who humbled himself.  Which one would you rather be, one or the other?

Prayer

Closing Prayer: God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

humility

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to choose the path of humility today, whatever that may look like.  Amen.

Scripture: Matthew 18:1-4

Journal: How will you choose humility today?  Concretely, what will that look like?

Reflection: Humility is, by its very nature, something that must be chosen.  It is a direction we must be determined to go.  It is a choice we all must make.  Humility is when we choose down instead of up, small instead of big, hidden instead of seen, others instead of self.  It is something we must do to ourselves (by God’s grace and strength), not merely something that is done unto us.  We may, indeed, be humbled by the events and circumstances of our lives, but whether or not that produces humility is really up to us.

     It has long been said that “it takes a whole lot of humiliation to get just a little bit of humility.”  But humiliation does not always lead to humility.  In fact, it often leads to anger and resentment and bitterness.  It is what we do with the humiliation that makes humility a possibility.  That’s why Jesus says, “Humble yourselves.”  The only question is: How will we do that today?

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you that you made yourself nothing for us.  May we do the same for you this day.  Amen.

the river

Opening Prayer: There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.  God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at the break of day. (Psalm 46:4-5

Scripture: Revelation 22:1-5

Journal: What would it look like for you to come to the river today?  What is your soul really thirsty for?

Reflection: The first thing she did, after she had taken in her surroundings, was to step toward the river which gushed out from under the altar.  It drew her irresistibly.  She stooped down when she got to the bank and dabbled her fingers in the crystal water.  It was icy cold, but it sent a shock of ecstasy tingling through her body, and without further delay she put off the white linen robe she was wearing and stepped into one of the rocky pools.  Never had she experienced anything so delicious and exhilarating.  It was like immersing herself in a stream of bubbling life.  When at last she again stepped out of the pool she was immediately dry and tingling from head to foot with a sense of perfect well-being.

     As she stood on the mossy bank by the pool she happened to glance down and noticed for the first time that her feet were no longer the crooked, ugly things which they always had been, but were “straight feet,” perfectly formed, shining white against the soft green grass.

     Then she remembered the healing stream of which the Shepherd had spoken, which gushed out of the ground on the High Places.  Stepping straight back into the pool with a shock of sweetest pleasure and putting her head beneath the clear waters, she splashed them about her face.  Then she found a little pool among the rocks, still and clear as a mirror.  Kneeling down, she looked into its unruffled surface and saw her face quite clearly.  It was true, the ugly, twisted mouth had vanished and the face she saw reflected back by the water was as relaxed and perfect as the face of a little child. (Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard)

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Come!  Come!  Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. (Revelation 22:17)