Time

Time, it is what God wants of us, with us. He created it for us…Time, the sun rising & setting, the tides rolling in at the behest of the moon, the seasons changing ~ all the markings of time.

God doesn’t need time for Himself, He is yesterday, today and tomorrow. This is all for us, His gift to us and He wants to share in our time.

Our world is so fast, so inundated with noise and the clamor of consumption, that we so easily miss the subtle grace of the moment. God is in every moment, but how often we miss Him. There is such Peace at our fingertips when we stop to linger over His Word, when we pause to listen to the joyous ways He speaks to us ~ a child’s laughter, the coo of the birds at dawn, that first morning breeze. He speaks, He calls out to our hearts with His whisperings of Love…now  is our time to listen.

““Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Matthew 11:28-30 ~ The Message Version

Clothing of Christ

My heart breaks amidst all the discord and dissension. Friends and families going at each other over their opinions. It is all so sad…

We are not called to live like this! We are called, yes commanded, to love one another. God didn’t tell us to agree on every topic, as a matter of fact just the opposite. We are to love, to seek out the other’s perspective and be Light and Love to one another.

So I give you a new command: Love each other deeply and fully. Remember the ways that I have loved you, and demonstrate your love for others in those same ways. Everyone will know you as My followers if you demonstrate your love to others.

John 13:34 & 35 ~ The Voice Version

It would probably do us all a wondermous amount of good to remember that Christ did not come to condemn this world. To live as Christ means, neither should we.  Because here’s the deal with that…God has all the rights to condemn the world. He’s Perfection, we’re not. Our opinions, our perspectives are limited to what we can see, know and formulate. We cannot know another person’s heart and motives and they cannot know ours. And the only truth we can ever truly know is Christ.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,

but to save the world through Him.

John 3:17 ~ New Living Translation

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.

 No one can come to the Father except through me.

John 14:6 ~ New Living Translation

And no matter what our thoughts are on any subject, what is with all of this finger pointing and claiming to be “right”? It would be a great idea to stop and ask our own soul, “What is my heart’s motive in all this?...Where is my ‘need’ to be right coming from?”

You have searched me—my heart and soul—awakened me from dreaming and tested me.
    You’ve found nothing against me.
    I have resolved not to sin in what I say.
⁴ The path violent men have followed,
    I will not travel. Violence is not my way.
Your ways and Your voice now guide my journey.

Psalm 17:3 & 4  ~ The Voice Version

When we assume that we have all the answers, we quickly move to thinking the other person must be wrong. And even if that were so, we’re still called to love and not condemn and to encourage those around us into the loving arms of Christ… “I have resolved not to sin in what I say.” . Spewing at and judging others accomplishes the opposite and works as a way of self-elevation. (I’m right + you’re wrong = I’m better)   

All this erects walls, where there should be paths of Peace ~ Digs chasms of chaos, where Grace would build bridges to peoples souls.

 Be humble. Be gentle. Be patient.

Tolerate one another in an atmosphere thick with love.

Ephesians 4:2 ~ The Voice Version

Father, may our prayer be for the clothing of Christ…

 

 Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

Colossians 3:12

Forward Facing

The Christian community “has its roots in the future and its branches in the present…Hope is the bridge from the future into the present and the branches of that hope are faith and love.” (emphasis mine)

I love this word picture! These quotes are from the book The Good and Beautiful Community, by James Bryan Smith.  I am reading this book with a group of ladies and this was part the chapter for the week. These phrases were what were going thru my mind this morning, as I entered the labyrinth. They point to everything being forward facing. Nothing anchored in the past, nothing being dragged from behind ~ we are all being drawn forward. No weights, just uplifted. The past can hold us where we were never intended to be.

Another quote from the book is, “they have died to the narratives that control them.” One of the false perspectives we have is that of the “past”. To fear the past, to live in the past, to choose to allow those narratives to play in our soul, is to embrace the non-existent. The lie of the evil one that turns your heart’s focus from the ties of Jesus.

In “spiritual” terms, there is no such thing as the past….at least, I don’t think the way we see it. In this life we are bound to the linear. God meets us here, He indwells all of time. All of our days have been gifted into this world from our Father on High. They come from His temple, our future. To step forward with Him is to dismiss the lie of “past” ~ it is to take on our identity as God’s child and live with Him fully in our future now. To face backwards is to embrace the past as our future, to replace our future with a lie and to accept the spirit of worry in its stead. We have the opportunity, the imperative, to live walking in the certainty of trusting our Father.

The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.

I will advise you and watch over you.

Psalm 32:8

When I step into the prayer labyrinth, it is such a representation of that life. The first of the path proceeds straight forward to the center, but turns as the stones move me on. I could so easily step over them, into Center, and that would be that ~ but the path does not lead that way. That is our life picture, isn’t it? He walks with us at every turn, some steps coming closer to Him and at other times the turns of life seem to lead away ~ but our Lord has laid out every step and He is in everyone of them. Our “now” comes from our future…so, in a very real way, no step of life leads away from Him.

The present only leads us to our future. At the Center, the very purpose of every moment in every day, is God leading us  to Him ~ taking us home.

Take care of yourself, have a good time, and make the most of whatever job you have for as long as God gives you life. And that’s about it. That’s the human lot. Yes, we should make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, accepting what’s given and delighting in the work. It’s God’s gift! God deals out joy in the present, the now. It’s useless to brood over how long we might live.

Ecclesiastes 5:19-20

Learning

“…and find out what pleases the Lord.” 

Ephesians 5:10

Today’s walk was full…full of quiet and peace. The very crackle of the bamboo under my feet seemed an intrusion. I took a copy of the “Labyrinth PRAYER Guide” with me, which I had not done in quite a while. The Scriptures practically jumped off the page.

It begins with Matthew 11:28, The Message Version, and in part it says to “Learn the unforced rhythms of Grace.” First, this is one of my favourite verses of Scripture.

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

The other thing today, is that word “learn”. It seemed to echo in my head throughout this afternoon. To learn the Lord’s Grace, unforced ~ being accepted by me into the TRUE reality of each moment. This brought my prayer to ask that He ‘search my heart, O God’. As I looked down, just under some bamboo leaves there was something sticking out, so I reached to pick it up. It was one of the little wooden hearts from the cross, on the other side of the labyrinth!

He does that, ya know. He reaches down ~ searches and finds that which is lost ~ our hearts, buried under the stuff of this world and far from His cross and He faithfully brings it back into right step with His own heart. He leads us into the Center of His will for each moment. Thank you, Lord that You search for us, find us, lead and teach us ~ O, may we learn!

Learn….the echo of the day. Another word in that phrase is “Grace”.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Galatians 5:22 ~ NIV

Did you notice that Grace is not a fruit of the Spirit? It isn’t in that list! Grace is God working His will out in us, thru us. Grace is a Fruit of HIS Presence and Peace. A part of our learning Grace is to look for Him in all things, to “find out what pleases the Lord.” We cannot “be” Grace, or become Grace-ful. We are only Grace-filled….unforced, given over and offered UP and that is what changes our earthbound hearts.

Later, when I was typing this up, it was really sweet to see how these Scriptures from Matthew and Ephesians worked together in a paraphrasing sort of way ~

And find out what pleases the Lord by learning the unforced rhythms of GRACE….