Monthly Archives: July 2020
The following is a “3-Minute Retreat” from Loyola Press. (You can sign up for these yourself, if you would like. They are free, though you can also buy some books and keep Loyola in business, if you wish to do that.)
“This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.” (John 15:12)
“How familiar to us are these words of Jesus? Perhaps too familiar, that they have lost their meaning. Jesus shared with his disciples the same love he received from the Father. What is clear to Jesus can at times be vague to us. We are able to love others because we have first been loved by God. It’s one thing to know that in our heads. It’s quite another to be convinced of it in our hearts. The key is to make time in our busy lives to stop and allow God to love us, to actually feel God’s love for us personally. Loving others will flow naturally from our deep belief in God’s personal love for us.”
“How can I open myself more fully to God’s love today?”
“Is my experience of God based more on knowing or on feeling? How might I begin to merge the two?”
Do I allow myself to be loved by God? Or am I too busy?
Too busy to be loved! Is that crazy or what?!?
The correct answer is that, of course, it is crazy. And yet, it is always possible to make time for craziness. But do I carve out time to be loved?
It isn’t just about God, either. My wife and little dog want to give and receive love. Do I make time for them? A friend and I got together for coffee and breakfast this morning. Important to let myself be loved by my friend and to love him. (He picked up the tab, which is a very loving thing to do, by the by.) A 12-step friend just called. Again, a chance to be loved and to love someone else.
All day long, I have opportunities to be loved and to love others. Slow down, self! Slow down, and let God and others love you! Slow down, and let yourself love others. Slow down.
“Thanks for Everything!”
I am into list-keeping. Lists keep me more or less on track. Even in my personal journal, I do lists. I am especially fond of gratitude lists. I usually try to list 50 things for which I’m grateful. It’s a wonderful way to start the day, and I heartily recommend it.
This morning, I paused after item 49, and thought, “I need to make item # 50 count!” So, I wrote the following: “Every little and not-so-little thing you do for me and everyone and everything else in the universe.”
I immediately thought of some of the psalms that broaden praise and thanksgiving to God to embrace God’s goodness to all of creation. The biblical psalmists were not just into thanking and praising God for God’s goodness to them individually. At least some of the psalmists were also aware of God’s goodness to all people, and indeed to all creation. Psalm 104 is just one example. In this psalm, God is praised for his care even for wild animals and sea creatures.
I love Toby Mac. I love his songs and I love his concerts. He has a song out that is getting lots of play time on Christian radio. It has a very simple title—“Everything.”
“Everything”
I’m captivated, I’ll say it
I’m on a whole new intrigue
My space invaded, upgraded
I hear You talking to me
It’s in the boom of the thunder, it’s in the cool of the rain
And I’ll say I don’t ever want to get away
Tonight is beautiful
It’s got my mind on You
And everywhere I turn is a reminder
I see You in everything, all day
And every beat of my heart keeps reminding me
I see You in every little thing, all day
No matter where I go I know Your love is finding me
I see You in everything
You’re all up in everything
My soul’s awaken
I’m taken by all the beauty You bring
You got it blarin’, I’m starin’
Love watching You do Your thing
There’s no mistaken Your style
No mistaken Your touch
I see the grand, I see the subtle of Your love
Lord, I see You in everything, all day
And every beat of my heart keeps reminding me
I see You in every little thing, all day
No matter where I go I know Your love is finding me
It’s finding me in everything, all day
And every beat of my heart keeps reminding me
I see You in every little thing, all day
No matter where I go I know Your love is finding me
Tonight is beautiful
It’s got my mind on You
And everywhere I turn is a reminder
From the sparkle in her eyes to the starlit open skies
You bring my heart to life, fill me with wonder
Oh, I can see Your love, Your love in everything
And that’s why You’ll always be my everything
Yeah, I can see Your love, Your love in everything
And that’s why You’ll always be my everything
And a God who is able and willing to take care of the entire universe—everything—is a God worth trusting to meet my own little needs.
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- “Even a Sliver of Light” April 9, 2024“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:6, English Standard Version) I missed the total eclipse yesterday. There were a number of good reasons for this, but […]
- “The Process in Miracles and the Miracle of Process” March 11, 2024“2 Kings 5:1 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. 2 Now the Syrians on one of their raids […]
- “The Power of Encouragement—Even for Old People” March 10, 2024“But encourage each other every day while it is ‘today.’ Help each other so none of you will become hardened because sin has tricked you.” (Hebrews 3:13, New Century Version) Yesterday, I was walking at a nearby park. There was a large group of young people some of whom were running while other young people […]
- “Endurance” March 10, 2024“For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.” (Hebrews 10:36, English Standard Version) “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us […]
- “The Limits of Non-Judgmentalism” February 24, 2024“Matt. 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. Matt. 7:2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:1-2, English Standard Version) This morning, in my virtual 12-step meeting, we discussed the topic of judgmentalism. There were many wise […]
- “Delighting in Being Told What to Do?!?” February 23, 2024“Psa. 112:1 Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments! 2 His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures […]
- “Character is the Real Lesson” January 19, 2024I am often confused about what lesson I’m really supposed to be learning. For example, this morning I was trying to knock out several Spanish lessons. My intentions were a lot better than my internet connection. I’ve done three lessons. Or rather, I’ve done two lessons. One of them I did twice because the internet […]
- “The Year of Becoming Un-Planked” January 1, 2024Each year, I try to come up with one word or a short phrase for what I intend to work on in the upcoming year. 2024 is “The Year of Becoming Un-Planked”. What?!! What does that even mean? So glad that you asked! Jesus said to his disciples, “Why do you look at the speck […]
- “Searching for the Noble One” December 26, 2023My wife and I were reading Luke, chapter 2 on Christmas Day. Luke 2 talks about the shepherds being told to look for this very special child—in fact, this King—in a stable. I prefer the word “barn”. I grew up on a farm. I know what a barn is. A stable is entirely too biblical […]
- “That Don’t Impress God Much” December 14, 2023DTEB, “That Don’t Impress God Much” “That Don’t Impress Me Much” (Song by Robert John Lange and Shania Twain) Micah 6:8 (MSG) “But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be […]
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