The Springtime of Renewal
Daily there continues a Divine invitation to His presence, it is how the Chief Shepherd gathers His lambs to His heart.
Daily there continues a Divine invitation to His presence, it is how the Chief Shepherd gathers His lambs to His heart.
'Call to Me and I will answer you and teach you great and unsearchable things.
Hannah Whitall Smith (1832-1911), converted to Jesus in 1858 through the influence of the Plymouth Brethren.
As I sit in my office many thoughts seem to be racing each other through my mind, none are winning! But, they all keep racing anyway.
And the good Lord would say to those willing to stop and to listen: Label Me as your 'lover'. I AM the ONLY righteous lover to mankind.
To do two things at once is to do neither.
It is as if the Father and the Son already knew, this theme is persistent in both Testaments: Be STILL before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.
Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.
'We are still prone to value or affirm a kind of heroic exhaustion as being what God wants. Even today you hear people preaching in this kind of way.
I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.
There are people who talk about God, and there are people who know God. ~ Richard Rohr Spiritual ambition does not wed the yearnings of a carnal soul.
Intimacy and busyness are rarely wed, they are unnatural partners. The following tale has often been repeated: .
Faith is not the result of striving, it is the result of surrender.
Ten naysayers reported of the promised land: 'There we saw the giants. ' (paraphrase Numbers 13:33) We cannot tell what loss and sorrow and trial are doing.
Around AD 95 on rugged volcanic terrain in the Greek Mediterranean a banished apostle John sat with his God. His island of exile was Patmos. He wrote Revelation.
Is Christianity stumbling, nay falling to senseless men? Has it become subject to those without spiritual reason? Is the contemporary Christian casual, or are they casualties? We Christians have: the richest of faiths,the storehouses...
What craziness has caught us, what malaise has fallen upon us, that our individual prayer as much as our praying together could fall for such a bold deception: that our words...
"For over a year now and for some time before this, God spoke to me very clearly about the stillness and silence. And the secret place.
Aiden Wilson Tozer was a larger than life twentieth century prophet, who wore the mantle and knew the sackcloth and ashes.
My core strength is revived when I learn much of Jesus. My restorations are in Him.
God's hand formed Adam from dust. God wrapped Adam in His palms as any father does, and nursed him on His breast so close to His heart.
Devotion places me within the house of praise, it is my temple to God. There I find blessing for my heart and spirit.
Stillness is sweet to the soul and a necessary duty to the body. It is the divine prescription for both knowledge and refreshment.
When I pause my body I also still my soul. It is then my soul reaches a safe shelter, and I can set my mind to dwell above.
Recently I had a very brief exchange with a lady who wanted a Word from God.
Caves and tombs are synonymous, for these are places of the dead. The cave is God’s appointed, waiting room.
Spiritual momentum is the gaining of a new craft to most men.
Decay is both the world's enemy and its fabric. Fundamental to life is maintenance lest downfall arrive. Life's upkeep is attended to for peace, or neglected at peril.
Whoever truly captures your heart today will own all your tomorrows. It is my heart's devotion or its absence today that will impact my present and steer my future.
Life is completely occupied. Western man daily roams stupefied to distraction by the persistent bombardment of living - we seldom take the opportunity to be and omit to do.
Hermits choose the home of aloneness. Solitude has become their close friend.
Flowing into each life arrives the season to sit in new streams. To seek solitude is one such stream. Solitude is not for the faint-hearted.
Jesus repeatedly dined on sweet super food. This diet was good for Jesus, so it must too be for me.
A human heart is set to travel, adventure stirs the soul. My heart is set on a pilgrimage, my eyes are fixed to Zion.
The Lord is not slow as He measures His promises. Most men measure differently.
The thought of striking a paddle upstream against the tide of crowds is daunting at the least when it is far easier to be connected 24/7.
As with our Lord and St. Benedict, I too require solitude's fields of refreshment. In solitude I discover more of Jesus. He then disarms me with love.
Saint Benedict (c480-550) was not always a human saint. Born as Roman nobility, he would abandon his normal studies around the turn of the sixth century.
Did Jesus ever make a mistake? His brief season upon planet earth was punctuated in silence, devotion and prayerful solitude. A model we all would do well to heed.
Lovers do not care to share their lover. The heart in love yearns to give to, and share their lover's full attention.
If ever there is an archetypal prophet, an enigma to the common mind, a man given to a roller-coaster faith - it must be Elijah.
Deliberately favored are those the Lord draws into His presence, for they understand the pleasures and work of this earth are mere phantoms, thieves of time.
I fear the doctrine of the church, I disdain the missal and I abhor the ill-judged compromises of ecumenism; for where is the yearning of the soul if it is...
A human spirit encompassed by silence, a soul released from today and a body absent of distress always gains health with solitude.
The best thing about this stillness is that it gives God a chance to work.
Then came the conflict of thoughts for the morrow, with its duties and cares. But God said: “Be still.
Life's battles daily begin with the wrestle to broach the quiet joy of God's presence.
To be still, to seek God requires a catalyst.
"The only thing that scares us is stillness". ~ Anon It was “a still small voice” or the sound of a gentle stillness.
Each man's heart knows largely unseen depths; ravines with dark caverns and recesses rarely (if ever) that see the light of day.
There is a secret to spiritual survival in an erupting world; it is for all who would steadfastly confess the Christ.
Then came the conflict of thoughts for the morrow, with its duties and cares, But God said, 'Be Still'.
Albert Benjamin Simpson (1843-1919) is silent within Christendom today, but this has not always been his way.
Plugs manage every moment of every day. Black, white, regular and irregular shaped plastic appendages are poked into walls, sockets and all power sources.
The forgiveness of sins is the unbinding of the soul, and the uncluttering of the mind.
Spiritual ambition does not wed any yearnings of the carnal soul. It is a humble aspirant and singular purpose that brooks no competitors, nary one at all.
The descent of self is father to the child of spiritual ambition. Spiritual ambition is a man's magnet to divine grace. But he gives us more grace.
One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of...
The ancient Greek myth of Narcissus has long been a healthy lesson to the self-absorbed.
Your eyes gaze upwards, filling with tears that refuse to be restrained. It is very dark, not cold, but oh so dark. It shouldn't be, it is only mid-afternoon.
Soul Snack 210/14 . . . Mankind is skilled at seeking spiritual success in all the wrong places. Christians have learned spiritual success is first doing and not being.
Soul Snack 169/14 . . . What would you do for Jesus if you met Him face to face? Jesus and His premium apostles are atop a high mountain.
Soul Snack 167/14 . . . The most precious time upon earth is dwelling in God's presence; it is a mere morsel of eternity.
Soul Snack 142/14 . . . The most valuable earthly activity is the pursuit of God's presence. The most precious time upon earth is stopping in God's presence.
Soul Snack 83/14 . . . A fresh mission draws, WAIT no - it lures me from evangelical rectitude and shades me under the Tree of Life.
Soul Snack 79/14 . . . Life's treasures are never found by the strivings of the body, only the strivings in the soul.
Soul Snack 52/14 . . . The student's vacant gaze hinted that all was not well.
Soul Snack 44/14 . . . CONCLUDING the 5 PILLARS of DEVOTION ~ Part B Education in tertiary institutions is a universe all of its own.
Soul Snack 43/14 . . . CONCLUDING the 5 PILLARS of DEVOTION ~ Part A Love by its nature seeks union.
Soul Snack 42/14 . . . Separation and holiness are two sides of the same coin. Separation is the foundation, the first vertical pier of solitude.
Soul Snack 37/14 ~ An Introduction . . . Love by its nature seeks union.
Soul Snack 15/14 . . . There are five pillars to personal devotions: Stillness Secrecy Separation Silence and Solitude.
Soul Snack 14/14 . . . I have found life can be captured in spiritual seasons.
Soul Snack 215/13 . . . Morning Sickness Mornings are important to God. Jesus held the habit of rising before sunrise.
Soul Snack 159/13 . . . The Devil is in the Detail The only original thought to ever penetrate satan's mind was to sin.
Soul Snack 98/13 . . . The Secret Place ~ A God rescued the Israelites from Egypt. He accompanied them to the Sinai desert.
Soul Snack 182/13 . . . Stopping ScholarshipA wisp of divine breath passes over each and every soul - it whispers there is more.
Soul Snack 212/11 . . . The Bedroom of the Soul. Ii is my guess that you have seen a teenager's dishevelled bedroom once or twice. Hmm . .
Soul Snack 199/11 . . . 'Fuelishness' Into the middle of daily routine and the muddle of mixed-up feelings a small voice attempts to softly whisper.
Soul Snack 99/11. . . The Highway of Time The acquiring of more time ihas acquired plague proportions within western Christianity.
Soul Snack 32/11 . . . The Shadow of Great Worth A shadow is simply the shade an object gives when the sun is behind it.
Soul Snack 26/11 . . . The Lord's Lounge Room Sit today with the Saviour of your soul. Sit today with the giver of your life.
Soul Snack 143/10 . . . A Sister's Stoush In a wanton abandon she neglected the duties of life and sat at His feet.
Soul Snack 98/10 . . . God's garden Bees buzzed, birds whistled and the world hummed. The sun shone, the leaves glistened and the breeze caressed.
Soul Snack 114/11 . . . Searching for stillness A soul-lifting sunrise speaks of calm. The post-dawn chirping of bright little beaks promises well-being.
Soul Snack 61/10 . . . Memory Lane Sealed in pure white, this dazzling female figure stretched aimlessly across the table to an absent engagement.
Soul Snack 14/10 . . . Famine or feast! Starvation is to be avoided. The World Health Organistaion (W. H. O.
Soul Snack 9/169 . . . Alone with Jesus - B A horde of the hungry sat amongst the dust and the wildflowers.
Soul Snack 9/168 . . . Alone with Jesus - A Deliverance, healings and preaching had wearied these dishevelled disciples.
Soul Snack S4 . . . Drinking the Divine Tinged in the green of good health, she knelt. Silence lightly cascaded over every sinew of her soul.
Soul Snack 8/79 . . . "Soul Space" The air cool and fresh, the mood quiet and still.
Soul Snack 8/56 . . . Escape to God. An elderly Moses and an eternal God meet yet again. The long-suffering Moses approaches an even longer-suffering God.
SOUL SNACK 8/20 . . . THIRSTY SOULS As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you O God.
Soul Snack 8/14 . . . The Root of Greatness - B '. . . they were all amazed at the greatness of God.
Soul Snack 8/8 . . . Pilgrim's Progress "Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
Soul Snack 86/12 . . . The Mistaken Pilgrimage After escaping Egypt the Israelites enjoyed abundant daily food from heaven. They wore sandals that refused to wear out.