Chapter 27 clarified the “Place” to meet God in our lives in 7 Bible passages, as follows:
Hebrews 10:19-27
Mark 1:35-39
Acts 1:1-11
Genesis 13:1-18
2 Samuel 24:18-25
Luke 14:7-14
Matthew 6:5-14
Prayer:
Let your prayers this week be that God will direct you to some particular place for your regular prayer and that he will make it a sacred and holy place for you.
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 27 was “Near to the Heart of God” by C. B. McAfee. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
Benediction:
“Father, teach me your Kingdom is all about (around) me, teach me it is within me, teach me so that I may withdraw into it and so that I may live my life centered there. Amen”
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of M. Basil Pennington, Henri J. Nouwen William Law, E. Stanley Jones, Thomas Howard, Oswald Chambers, Morton T. Kelsey, Madeleine L’Engle and Jane Howard. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
· “…the place where one enjoys God.”
· “…to pray always in the same place … would have an effect upon your mind … as would very much assist your devotion.”
· “…a prayerful life … is not a life in which we say many prayers, but a life in which nothing, absolutely nothing, is done, said, or understood independently of him who is the origin and purpose of our existence.”
· “The Holy Spirit came upon the waiting group not in the Temple nor in a synagogue but in the upper room. …Religion was put where it belongs – in the human heart. Her (the Temple’s) holiness had shifted from places to persons. And rightly so.”
· “I would like to suggest that at least one place (among others) which may be hallowed anew as the place where … all of life may be offered up in oblation to the Most High, is the family household.”
· “… ‘enter into thy closet’; and remember, it is a place selected to pray in, not to make little addresses in, or for any other purpose than to pray in, never forget that.”
· “…find a place where the outer confusion can be shut off… . The purpose is not to create, or make something happen, but to allow it to happen, and where it takes place is an individual matter.”
· “My special place is a small brook in a green glade, a circle of quiet from which there is no visible sign of human beings. …If I sit for a while, then my impatience, crossness, frustration, are indeed annihilated, and my sense of humor returns.”
· “…a sense of place…these days is not achieved easily. …all the old symbols are gone. …So what are we to do…? …Live here, wherever here may be, as if we were going to belong here for the rest of our lives.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 27 not quoted) mean to you?
Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Chapter 26 - Time Management
Chapter 26 illustrated “Time Management” in 7 Bible passages, as follows:
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Psalm 90:12
2 Corinthians 5:18-6:2
Job 7:1-10
Psalm 39:4-6
James 4:13-17
Ephesians 5:10-17
Prayer:
The hassle with being a better manager of your time is making the decisions about what is now most important and what is no longer important. But if you ask God what he’d remove if it were his life, he would gladly tell you.
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 26 was “Take Time to Be Holy” by William D. Longstaff. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
Benediction:
“O Christ, when I look at you I see that you were never in a hurry, never ran, but always had time for the pressing necessities of the day. Give me that disciplined, poised life with time always for the thing that matters. For I would be a disciplined person. Amen”
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Anthony Bloom, M. Basil Pennington, Evelyn Underhill, Susan Annette Muto, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, James Stewart, and Henri J. Nouwen. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
· “There is absolutely no need to run after time to catch it. It does not run away from us, it runs toward us.”
· “…when you can use five minutes, three minutes or half an hour for leisure and for doing nothing …you sit down and say, ‘I am seated, I am doing nothing. I will do nothing for five minutes,’ and then relax and continually throughout this time (one or two minutes is the most you will be able to endure to begin with) realize, ‘I am here in the presence of God, in my own presence and in the presence of all the furniture that is around me, just still, moving nowhere.’ …you must (then) decide that within (these two or five minutes) which you have assigned to learning that the present exists, you will not be pulled out of it by the telephone, by a knock on the door, or by a sudden upsurge of energy that prompts you to do at once what you have left undone for the past ten years.”
· “There is in the lives of most of us a good bit more freedom and flexibility to organize (a time of apartness), if we really want to.”
· “Spiritual achievement costs much, though never as much as it is worth.”
· “Once we begin wisely allotting time for reading and reflection, wondering and writing, we shall soon notice the reward. Life becomes less pressured. Christ, not the clock on the wall, becomes the center of our lives. Amazingly, we seem to accomplish more…”
· “Since meditation on the Scriptures, prayer, and intercession are a service we owe and because the grace of God is found in this service, we should train ourselves to set apart a regular (time) for it… This is not ‘legalism’; it is orderliness and fidelity…”
· “But look at Jesus. Busy and crowded as our days are, his were emphatically more so. …and yet the harder the days were, the more time did Jesus make for prayer.”
· “The only solution is a prayer schedule that you will never break without consulting your spiritual director. Set a time that is reasonable, and once it is set, stick to it at all costs. …Let everyone know that this is the only time you will not change and pray at that time.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 26 not quoted) mean to you? Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Psalm 90:12
2 Corinthians 5:18-6:2
Job 7:1-10
Psalm 39:4-6
James 4:13-17
Ephesians 5:10-17
Prayer:
The hassle with being a better manager of your time is making the decisions about what is now most important and what is no longer important. But if you ask God what he’d remove if it were his life, he would gladly tell you.
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 26 was “Take Time to Be Holy” by William D. Longstaff. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
Benediction:
“O Christ, when I look at you I see that you were never in a hurry, never ran, but always had time for the pressing necessities of the day. Give me that disciplined, poised life with time always for the thing that matters. For I would be a disciplined person. Amen”
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Anthony Bloom, M. Basil Pennington, Evelyn Underhill, Susan Annette Muto, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, James Stewart, and Henri J. Nouwen. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
· “There is absolutely no need to run after time to catch it. It does not run away from us, it runs toward us.”
· “…when you can use five minutes, three minutes or half an hour for leisure and for doing nothing …you sit down and say, ‘I am seated, I am doing nothing. I will do nothing for five minutes,’ and then relax and continually throughout this time (one or two minutes is the most you will be able to endure to begin with) realize, ‘I am here in the presence of God, in my own presence and in the presence of all the furniture that is around me, just still, moving nowhere.’ …you must (then) decide that within (these two or five minutes) which you have assigned to learning that the present exists, you will not be pulled out of it by the telephone, by a knock on the door, or by a sudden upsurge of energy that prompts you to do at once what you have left undone for the past ten years.”
· “There is in the lives of most of us a good bit more freedom and flexibility to organize (a time of apartness), if we really want to.”
· “Spiritual achievement costs much, though never as much as it is worth.”
· “Once we begin wisely allotting time for reading and reflection, wondering and writing, we shall soon notice the reward. Life becomes less pressured. Christ, not the clock on the wall, becomes the center of our lives. Amazingly, we seem to accomplish more…”
· “Since meditation on the Scriptures, prayer, and intercession are a service we owe and because the grace of God is found in this service, we should train ourselves to set apart a regular (time) for it… This is not ‘legalism’; it is orderliness and fidelity…”
· “But look at Jesus. Busy and crowded as our days are, his were emphatically more so. …and yet the harder the days were, the more time did Jesus make for prayer.”
· “The only solution is a prayer schedule that you will never break without consulting your spiritual director. Set a time that is reasonable, and once it is set, stick to it at all costs. …Let everyone know that this is the only time you will not change and pray at that time.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 26 not quoted) mean to you? Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
Monday, March 16, 2009
Chapter 25 - Consciousness
Chapter 25 framed Biblical “Consciousness” in 7 passages, as follows:
Isaiah 32:14-20
1 John 3:19-4:6
Philippians 4:2-9
Romans 8:26-27
1 John 5:1-12
1 Corinthians 2:6-16
Acts 9:1-9
Prayer:
Everything is clamoring to become a part of you. You must carefully choose the things and thoughts you will allow to get inside. Ask God to begin to cleanse your consciousness. Then determine in prayer that you will guard the threshold of your mind.
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 25 was “Prayer Is the Soul’s Sincere Desire” by James Montgomery. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
Benediction:
“Father, protect me from the onslaught of things, both good and evil, that will bid for my attention this day. Make me to remember that all that I allow inside my heart will become some part of me as I pray. Let me come to you in singleness of heart and purity of desire. In the name of Christ. Amen”
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Albert E. Day, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Howard Thurman, M. Basil Pennington, Thomas R. Kelly, and Henri J. Nouwen. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
· “… the consciousness of man can enter into a living, knowledge-communicating, life-transforming relationship with God. … the consciousness of such a relationship would not be possible if the human consciousness can be aware only of what the eyes see and the ears hear and the hands touch and the tongue tastes and the nostrils smell. … God is a legitimate inference from events. …But God may also be an immediate object of consciousness.”
· “If God does not have power to speak to us, how should we possess the power to speak to Him? Thus, prayer is part of a greater issue. It depends upon the total spiritual situation of man and upon a mind within which God is at home (blogger’s emphasis). … The issue of prayer is not prayer; the issue of prayer is God.”
· “When a pool is greatly agitated by the breezes and the wind, one can throw in a pebble or even many pebbles and there is no noticeable effect. When a pond is perfectly at peace and one casts a pebble into it, the gentle waves spread in every direction till they reach even the farthest shore. … when we come to achieve a deeper inner quiet, then we are much more discerning.”
· “How, then, shall we lay hold of that Life and Power, and live the life of prayer without ceasing? … offer your whole selves, utterly and in joyful abandon, in quiet, glad surrender to Him who is within.”
· “‘In the beginning,’ John Eudes said, ‘your thoughts will wander, but after a while you will discover that it becomes easier to stay quietly in the presence of the Lord.’ … When you are faithful in this, you will slowly experience yourself in a deeper way.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 25 not quoted) mean to you?
Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
Isaiah 32:14-20
1 John 3:19-4:6
Philippians 4:2-9
Romans 8:26-27
1 John 5:1-12
1 Corinthians 2:6-16
Acts 9:1-9
Prayer:
Everything is clamoring to become a part of you. You must carefully choose the things and thoughts you will allow to get inside. Ask God to begin to cleanse your consciousness. Then determine in prayer that you will guard the threshold of your mind.
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 25 was “Prayer Is the Soul’s Sincere Desire” by James Montgomery. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
Benediction:
“Father, protect me from the onslaught of things, both good and evil, that will bid for my attention this day. Make me to remember that all that I allow inside my heart will become some part of me as I pray. Let me come to you in singleness of heart and purity of desire. In the name of Christ. Amen”
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Albert E. Day, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Howard Thurman, M. Basil Pennington, Thomas R. Kelly, and Henri J. Nouwen. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
· “… the consciousness of man can enter into a living, knowledge-communicating, life-transforming relationship with God. … the consciousness of such a relationship would not be possible if the human consciousness can be aware only of what the eyes see and the ears hear and the hands touch and the tongue tastes and the nostrils smell. … God is a legitimate inference from events. …But God may also be an immediate object of consciousness.”
· “If God does not have power to speak to us, how should we possess the power to speak to Him? Thus, prayer is part of a greater issue. It depends upon the total spiritual situation of man and upon a mind within which God is at home (blogger’s emphasis). … The issue of prayer is not prayer; the issue of prayer is God.”
· “When a pool is greatly agitated by the breezes and the wind, one can throw in a pebble or even many pebbles and there is no noticeable effect. When a pond is perfectly at peace and one casts a pebble into it, the gentle waves spread in every direction till they reach even the farthest shore. … when we come to achieve a deeper inner quiet, then we are much more discerning.”
· “How, then, shall we lay hold of that Life and Power, and live the life of prayer without ceasing? … offer your whole selves, utterly and in joyful abandon, in quiet, glad surrender to Him who is within.”
· “‘In the beginning,’ John Eudes said, ‘your thoughts will wander, but after a while you will discover that it becomes easier to stay quietly in the presence of the Lord.’ … When you are faithful in this, you will slowly experience yourself in a deeper way.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 25 not quoted) mean to you?
Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Chapter 24 - Anxiety
Chapter 24 challenged us with 7 Bible passages to help us discern the presence of “Anxiety” in daily life situations, as follows:
Philippians 4:6-7
Matthew 5:25-34
Luke 12:1-12
Matthew 13:1-23
Luke 11:38-42
Luke 21:34-36
1 Peter 5:6-7
Prayer:
Can you identify your greatest fear? And could you confess it to God? If you keep it hidden within you he can never cleanse it, much less use it to his glory. Offer your fears and anxieties to him this week.
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 24 was “Come, Thou Long-expected Jesus” by Charles Wesley. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
Benediction:
“O God, who is the life of all who live, the light of the faithful, the strength of those who labor, and the repose of the dead: I thank you for the timely blessings of the day, and humbly beseech your merciful protection all the night. Bring me, I pray, in safety to the morning hours; through him who died for me and rose again, your Son my Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.” (The Book of Common Prayer)
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Howard Thurman, Annie Dillard, Thomas à Kempis, George MacDonald (edited by C. S. Lewis), Andrew Murray, Hannah Whitall Smith, Anthony Padovano, Joshua L. Liebman, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Philip S. Watson, and Henri J. Nouwen. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
· “There is a sense of wholeness at the core of man … That warms the depth of frozen fears …”
· “I meant to accomplish a good bit today. Instead I keep thinking: Will the next generations of people remember to drain the pipes in the fall? I will leave them a note.”
· “To preserve peace in time of trouble our will must remain firm in God …”
· “The next hour, the next moment, is as much beyond our grasp and as much in God’s care, as that a hundred years away.”
· “Troubled soul, thou art not bound to feel but thou art bound to arise. God loves thee whether thou feelest or not. …Heed not thy feeling: Do thy work.”
· “All growth in the spiritual life is connected with the clearer insight into what Jesus is to us. …the more I learn to live the real life of faith, which, dying to self, lives wholly in Christ.”
· “…there are two things which are more utterly incompatible than even oil and water, and these two are trust and worry.”
· You find no difficulty in trusting the Lord with the management of the universe, and all the outward creation, and can your case be any more complex or difficult than these, that you need to be anxious or troubled about His management of you?”
· “Prayer is successful not in terms of what it logically produces or pragmatically achieves but in terms of what it forces reality to experience.”
· “… I set down my inventory of earthly desirables: health, love, beauty, talent, power, riches and fame… With a pencil stub he crossed out my entire schedule. …Then … he wrote down three syllables: peace of mind.”
· “Earthly possessions dazzle our eyes and delude us into thinking that they can provide security and freedom from anxiety. …The fetters which bind us to our possessions prove to be cares themselves.”
· “I have always been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted, until I slowly discovered that my interruptions were my work.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 24 not quoted) mean to you?
Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
Philippians 4:6-7
Matthew 5:25-34
Luke 12:1-12
Matthew 13:1-23
Luke 11:38-42
Luke 21:34-36
1 Peter 5:6-7
Prayer:
Can you identify your greatest fear? And could you confess it to God? If you keep it hidden within you he can never cleanse it, much less use it to his glory. Offer your fears and anxieties to him this week.
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 24 was “Come, Thou Long-expected Jesus” by Charles Wesley. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
Benediction:
“O God, who is the life of all who live, the light of the faithful, the strength of those who labor, and the repose of the dead: I thank you for the timely blessings of the day, and humbly beseech your merciful protection all the night. Bring me, I pray, in safety to the morning hours; through him who died for me and rose again, your Son my Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.” (The Book of Common Prayer)
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Howard Thurman, Annie Dillard, Thomas à Kempis, George MacDonald (edited by C. S. Lewis), Andrew Murray, Hannah Whitall Smith, Anthony Padovano, Joshua L. Liebman, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Philip S. Watson, and Henri J. Nouwen. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
· “There is a sense of wholeness at the core of man … That warms the depth of frozen fears …”
· “I meant to accomplish a good bit today. Instead I keep thinking: Will the next generations of people remember to drain the pipes in the fall? I will leave them a note.”
· “To preserve peace in time of trouble our will must remain firm in God …”
· “The next hour, the next moment, is as much beyond our grasp and as much in God’s care, as that a hundred years away.”
· “Troubled soul, thou art not bound to feel but thou art bound to arise. God loves thee whether thou feelest or not. …Heed not thy feeling: Do thy work.”
· “All growth in the spiritual life is connected with the clearer insight into what Jesus is to us. …the more I learn to live the real life of faith, which, dying to self, lives wholly in Christ.”
· “…there are two things which are more utterly incompatible than even oil and water, and these two are trust and worry.”
· You find no difficulty in trusting the Lord with the management of the universe, and all the outward creation, and can your case be any more complex or difficult than these, that you need to be anxious or troubled about His management of you?”
· “Prayer is successful not in terms of what it logically produces or pragmatically achieves but in terms of what it forces reality to experience.”
· “… I set down my inventory of earthly desirables: health, love, beauty, talent, power, riches and fame… With a pencil stub he crossed out my entire schedule. …Then … he wrote down three syllables: peace of mind.”
· “Earthly possessions dazzle our eyes and delude us into thinking that they can provide security and freedom from anxiety. …The fetters which bind us to our possessions prove to be cares themselves.”
· “I have always been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted, until I slowly discovered that my interruptions were my work.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 24 not quoted) mean to you?
Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Chapter 23 - Distractions
Chapter 23 referred to 7 Bible passages to help us focus on the subject of “Distractions”, as follows:
Luke 6:46-49
2 Timothy 1:1-14
Proverbs 3:1-18
Ephesians 6:10-20
John 5:1-15
James 3:13-18
Luke 10:38-42
Prayer:
Try to use some of the ways of adoration and meditation to aid you in freeing your mind from all the things that would invade your mind as you would pray.
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 23 was “Sweetly Resting” by Mary D. James. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
Benediction:
“Father, you are full of compassion. I commit and commend myself unto you, in whom I am, and live, and know. Be the Goal of my pilgrimage, and my Rest by the way. Let my soul take refuge from the crowding turmoil of worldly thoughts beneath the shadow of your wings; let my heart, this sea of restless waves, find peace in you, O God. Amen.” (St. Augustine in Little Book of Prayers)
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Igumen Chariton of Valamo, Evelyn Underhill, Henri J. Nouwen, M. Basil Pennington, Andrew Murray, Harry Emerson Fosdick, Morton T. Kelsey, George MacDonald (edited by C. S. Lewis), and Brother Lawrence. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
· “You must not allow your thoughts to wander at random, but as soon as they run away, you must immediately bring them back…. St. John of the Ladder says of this, ‘You must make a great effort to confine your mind within the words of prayer.” (Ed. Note: St. John of the Ladder is quoted in honor of Bill Schmidt. LOL)
· “Most of our conflicts and difficulties come from trying to deal with the spiritual aspects of our life separately instead of realising (sic) them as parts of one whole.”
· “Moods are worth attention. I am discovering … that I am subject to very different moods, often changing very quickly.”
· “… ‘Think glorious thoughts of God – and serve Him with a quiet mind!’ …the more glorious and more spacious our thoughts of Him are, the greater the quietude and confidence with which we do our detailed work will be.”
· “How completely we are dependent on the coming and abiding presence of his grace.”
· “… I lack the urgency and desire to pray. … so also will I deliver you from the sin of prayerlessness – only do not seek the victory in your own strength. … Be assured of this – I will teach you how to pray.”
· “… the privilege of prayer, the supreme opportunity of friendship with God kept vital by deliberate communion…”
· “One has to set aside time for silence and then turn toward it with composure, letting go of immediate things a little at a time in order to enter a world where dreams and also the energy for life are born.”
· “… the pilgrim must be headed back from the sidepaths into which he is constantly wandering.” · “Let it be your business to keep your mind in the presence of the Lord. … the will must bring it back in tranquility.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 23 not quoted) mean to you?
Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
Luke 6:46-49
2 Timothy 1:1-14
Proverbs 3:1-18
Ephesians 6:10-20
John 5:1-15
James 3:13-18
Luke 10:38-42
Prayer:
Try to use some of the ways of adoration and meditation to aid you in freeing your mind from all the things that would invade your mind as you would pray.
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 23 was “Sweetly Resting” by Mary D. James. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
Benediction:
“Father, you are full of compassion. I commit and commend myself unto you, in whom I am, and live, and know. Be the Goal of my pilgrimage, and my Rest by the way. Let my soul take refuge from the crowding turmoil of worldly thoughts beneath the shadow of your wings; let my heart, this sea of restless waves, find peace in you, O God. Amen.” (St. Augustine in Little Book of Prayers)
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Igumen Chariton of Valamo, Evelyn Underhill, Henri J. Nouwen, M. Basil Pennington, Andrew Murray, Harry Emerson Fosdick, Morton T. Kelsey, George MacDonald (edited by C. S. Lewis), and Brother Lawrence. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
· “You must not allow your thoughts to wander at random, but as soon as they run away, you must immediately bring them back…. St. John of the Ladder says of this, ‘You must make a great effort to confine your mind within the words of prayer.” (Ed. Note: St. John of the Ladder is quoted in honor of Bill Schmidt. LOL)
· “Most of our conflicts and difficulties come from trying to deal with the spiritual aspects of our life separately instead of realising (sic) them as parts of one whole.”
· “Moods are worth attention. I am discovering … that I am subject to very different moods, often changing very quickly.”
· “… ‘Think glorious thoughts of God – and serve Him with a quiet mind!’ …the more glorious and more spacious our thoughts of Him are, the greater the quietude and confidence with which we do our detailed work will be.”
· “How completely we are dependent on the coming and abiding presence of his grace.”
· “… I lack the urgency and desire to pray. … so also will I deliver you from the sin of prayerlessness – only do not seek the victory in your own strength. … Be assured of this – I will teach you how to pray.”
· “… the privilege of prayer, the supreme opportunity of friendship with God kept vital by deliberate communion…”
· “One has to set aside time for silence and then turn toward it with composure, letting go of immediate things a little at a time in order to enter a world where dreams and also the energy for life are born.”
· “… the pilgrim must be headed back from the sidepaths into which he is constantly wandering.” · “Let it be your business to keep your mind in the presence of the Lord. … the will must bring it back in tranquility.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 23 not quoted) mean to you?
Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
Monday, February 2, 2009
Chapter 22 - Temptations
Chapter 22 used 7 Bible passages to illuminate the subject of “Temptations”, as follows:
1 Corinthians 10:11-21
Matthew 4:1-11
James 1:2-4
Mark 14:66-72
Matthew 16:21-24
Hebrews 2:10-18
1 Peter 2:19-25
Prayer:
“To share his victory we must share in his suffering. And this includes sharing in his temptations. Temptations can serve to strengthen us as they strengthened Jesus. Inquire of him how you might benefit in such circumstances.”
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 22 was “Yield Not to Temptation” by Horatio R. Palmer. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Abraham Joshua Heschel, Ernest Boyer, Jr., George Fox, M. Basil Pennington, Elizabeth O’Connor, James Stewart, Thomas Merton, Hannah Whitall Smith and Thomas à Kempis. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
· “We do not refuse to pray; we abstain from it. We ring the hollow bell of selfishness rather than absorb the stillness that surrounds the world… the secret stillness that precedes our birth and succeeds our death. …Why do we not set apart an hour of living for devotion to God by surrendering to stillness?”
· “…the soul is matured only in battles. And when temptations started up again he did not pray that the struggle be taken from him, but only said: Lord, give me strength to get through the fight.”
· “We are programmed to see temptations as something evil: Lead us not into temptation. It comes as a bit of a surprise then when we read in St. Matthew’s Gospel: ‘Jesus was led by the Spirit out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.’ This is not quite what we would expect the Holy Spirit to do.”
· “These are moments God uses to put in the heart and the mouth the question, ‘Is there another way?’ …from learning there are two ways – one that leads to death and one to life – it does not follow that we enter by the narrow gate. The facts about the gate are starkly simple. One, it leads to life…Two, it is a hard way, and Three, few find it. …We do not ask for courage, because we do not know we have need of it. …This is where the religious lose out on the Kingdom. They assume that because they are aware of the two ways, and because they have chosen the second, they are on it. This is to fall comfortably into the sleep of the crowd again. It may well be a ‘religious’ crowd, but it is nonetheless a crowd.”
· “How did the story come to be in the Gospels at all? The Master’s fight with Satan happened out in a desert, far from the beaten track and the eyes of men. …Jesus was utterly alone… Clearly there is only one explanation: the story came direct from the lips of Christ himself. Why did Jesus tell it? …First, Jesus shared this experience with his disciples in order to help them through their own tempted hours. …second, …the titanic struggle of the desert days and nights had marked his soul forever… He could see and feel it … as if it happened only yesterday … the grace of God and the angels that had brought him through.”
· “Christian life is to be throughout a warfare. …temptations generally increase in strength tenfold after we have entered into the interior life, rather than decrease. …Strong temptations are generally a sign of great grace, rather than of little grace.”
· “…Let us, therefore, humble our souls under the hand of God in all temptations and tribulations, for the humble in spirit He will save and exalt.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 22 not quoted) mean to you?
Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
1 Corinthians 10:11-21
Matthew 4:1-11
James 1:2-4
Mark 14:66-72
Matthew 16:21-24
Hebrews 2:10-18
1 Peter 2:19-25
Prayer:
“To share his victory we must share in his suffering. And this includes sharing in his temptations. Temptations can serve to strengthen us as they strengthened Jesus. Inquire of him how you might benefit in such circumstances.”
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 22 was “Yield Not to Temptation” by Horatio R. Palmer. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Abraham Joshua Heschel, Ernest Boyer, Jr., George Fox, M. Basil Pennington, Elizabeth O’Connor, James Stewart, Thomas Merton, Hannah Whitall Smith and Thomas à Kempis. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
· “We do not refuse to pray; we abstain from it. We ring the hollow bell of selfishness rather than absorb the stillness that surrounds the world… the secret stillness that precedes our birth and succeeds our death. …Why do we not set apart an hour of living for devotion to God by surrendering to stillness?”
· “…the soul is matured only in battles. And when temptations started up again he did not pray that the struggle be taken from him, but only said: Lord, give me strength to get through the fight.”
· “We are programmed to see temptations as something evil: Lead us not into temptation. It comes as a bit of a surprise then when we read in St. Matthew’s Gospel: ‘Jesus was led by the Spirit out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.’ This is not quite what we would expect the Holy Spirit to do.”
· “These are moments God uses to put in the heart and the mouth the question, ‘Is there another way?’ …from learning there are two ways – one that leads to death and one to life – it does not follow that we enter by the narrow gate. The facts about the gate are starkly simple. One, it leads to life…Two, it is a hard way, and Three, few find it. …We do not ask for courage, because we do not know we have need of it. …This is where the religious lose out on the Kingdom. They assume that because they are aware of the two ways, and because they have chosen the second, they are on it. This is to fall comfortably into the sleep of the crowd again. It may well be a ‘religious’ crowd, but it is nonetheless a crowd.”
· “How did the story come to be in the Gospels at all? The Master’s fight with Satan happened out in a desert, far from the beaten track and the eyes of men. …Jesus was utterly alone… Clearly there is only one explanation: the story came direct from the lips of Christ himself. Why did Jesus tell it? …First, Jesus shared this experience with his disciples in order to help them through their own tempted hours. …second, …the titanic struggle of the desert days and nights had marked his soul forever… He could see and feel it … as if it happened only yesterday … the grace of God and the angels that had brought him through.”
· “Christian life is to be throughout a warfare. …temptations generally increase in strength tenfold after we have entered into the interior life, rather than decrease. …Strong temptations are generally a sign of great grace, rather than of little grace.”
· “…Let us, therefore, humble our souls under the hand of God in all temptations and tribulations, for the humble in spirit He will save and exalt.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 22 not quoted) mean to you?
Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
Monday, January 19, 2009
Chapter 21 - Doubts
Chapter 21 referred to 7 Bible passages to address the subject of “Doubts”, as follows:
Luke 7:1-10
Hebrews 10:19-25
Matthew 14:22-36
Genesis 18:1-15
John 6:60-69
Romans 4:1-25
John 20:24-31
Prayer:
“Sometimes we all are in need of praying as the father of the demon-possessed boy (Mark 9) who said to Jesus, ‘I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief.’ Do not be afraid to pray in this way if it reflects your needs.”
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 21 was “Oh, for a Faith That Will Not Shrink” by William H. Bathurst. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Hans Kung, Georgia Harkness, Andrew Murray, Rainer Maria Rilke, James Stewart, John Powell, Madeleine L’Engle and Ernest Boyer, Junior. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
· “Questions of faith are not like riddles or crossword puzzles: with things of this sort it may take some time to find the solution, but once it’s found, everything is clear and simple. …With faith…we have, not human truth which men can state and understand, but God’s truth, which goes far beyond any statement or understanding of man’s. The faith never becomes clear. The faith remains obscure. Not until we enter glory will it be otherwise. …Doubt is the shadow cast by faith.”
· “To deny that God acts to give us moral and spiritual help is an implicit atheism.”
· “…I began to understand that I must lay aside all my efforts, and simply trust the Lord Jesus to bestow on me His life and peace, and He did it.”
· “…be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart…. Do not now seek the answers…. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”
· “Jesus never argued for the validity of prayer anymore than he argued for the existence of God. …God was simply there…. Just so, prayer was not something to be proved by argument; prayer was there…. Did any disciple – Thomas, for example – have doubts about prayer, genuine, honest doubts? Nothing was more likely to vanquish his doubts than the sight of Jesus upon his knees…. The praying Christ is the supreme argument for prayer.”
· “In the process of faith, doubts and crises must occur. …We lose sight of the fact that faith can mature only because of these crises. …One thing is certain, that passage through the darkness of doubts and crises, however painful they may be, is essential to growth in the process of faith.”
· “…the Lord…knows our heart…and how easily we are inclined to rest in prayer as a religious work without an answer.”
· “For many people faith means nothing more than a set of beliefs to which they may either agree or disagree. …God is not a belief to which you give your assent. God becomes a reality that you know intimately, meet every day, one whose strength becomes your strength, whose love, your love.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 21 not quoted) mean to you?
Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
Luke 7:1-10
Hebrews 10:19-25
Matthew 14:22-36
Genesis 18:1-15
John 6:60-69
Romans 4:1-25
John 20:24-31
Prayer:
“Sometimes we all are in need of praying as the father of the demon-possessed boy (Mark 9) who said to Jesus, ‘I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief.’ Do not be afraid to pray in this way if it reflects your needs.”
Hymn:
The hymn for Chapter 21 was “Oh, for a Faith That Will Not Shrink” by William H. Bathurst. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
Meditation Selections:
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Hans Kung, Georgia Harkness, Andrew Murray, Rainer Maria Rilke, James Stewart, John Powell, Madeleine L’Engle and Ernest Boyer, Junior. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
· “Questions of faith are not like riddles or crossword puzzles: with things of this sort it may take some time to find the solution, but once it’s found, everything is clear and simple. …With faith…we have, not human truth which men can state and understand, but God’s truth, which goes far beyond any statement or understanding of man’s. The faith never becomes clear. The faith remains obscure. Not until we enter glory will it be otherwise. …Doubt is the shadow cast by faith.”
· “To deny that God acts to give us moral and spiritual help is an implicit atheism.”
· “…I began to understand that I must lay aside all my efforts, and simply trust the Lord Jesus to bestow on me His life and peace, and He did it.”
· “…be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart…. Do not now seek the answers…. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”
· “Jesus never argued for the validity of prayer anymore than he argued for the existence of God. …God was simply there…. Just so, prayer was not something to be proved by argument; prayer was there…. Did any disciple – Thomas, for example – have doubts about prayer, genuine, honest doubts? Nothing was more likely to vanquish his doubts than the sight of Jesus upon his knees…. The praying Christ is the supreme argument for prayer.”
· “In the process of faith, doubts and crises must occur. …We lose sight of the fact that faith can mature only because of these crises. …One thing is certain, that passage through the darkness of doubts and crises, however painful they may be, is essential to growth in the process of faith.”
· “…the Lord…knows our heart…and how easily we are inclined to rest in prayer as a religious work without an answer.”
· “For many people faith means nothing more than a set of beliefs to which they may either agree or disagree. …God is not a belief to which you give your assent. God becomes a reality that you know intimately, meet every day, one whose strength becomes your strength, whose love, your love.”
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 21 not quoted) mean to you?
Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).
Thanks for your participation.
John
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