Could we go from this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0HIjCsljyo&feature=related
to these thoughts?
http://walkinganewpath-pilgrim.blogspot.com/
A stretch maybe, but possible with a little help.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Walk A New Path
For the past several days I have been following a new path of Bible Study and morning connection with God. Well, at least most of the time it has been morning. I have read and tried to relate to Oswald Chambers and his writings in his book My Utmost for His Highest. It has been a good time for me as I attempted to dig into this man's thoughts on living the kind of Christian life that would honor God.
After a year in the pursuit of this, felt led to use the Bible as my primary source of study, not because of any dissatisfaction with Chambers, but I felt like God was telling me to learn straight from Him, not by using any man as an intermediary. Chambers was good, and also deep, many times way over my head. He was a probing writer and caused me to dig down and really think about my life, how I was living it, and how it related to what I felt God had in mind for me.
So, there is a new blog, one that still focuses on my life, with its attendant struggles and occasional victories, but one that will try to take its primary message from God's Word and not from a man, however godly he might be.
I may come back and write from Chambers from time to time, and I hope to do that because he is probing and deep, but the thrust of my study time will be found at:
Walk a New Path
I would invite anyone to make this journey with me. You will not find any great insights or deep thoughts, but you may be able to relate to some of the same questions and struggles. Feel free to agree or disagree, to point out my bad interpretations, or my bad theology, but just remember, this whole exercise is based on my pursuit of God and His will for me in this stage of my life. It is primarily written to get my inner thoughts out in the open as God leads me, and not for condemnation or edification of anyone else. Be forewarned.
After a year in the pursuit of this, felt led to use the Bible as my primary source of study, not because of any dissatisfaction with Chambers, but I felt like God was telling me to learn straight from Him, not by using any man as an intermediary. Chambers was good, and also deep, many times way over my head. He was a probing writer and caused me to dig down and really think about my life, how I was living it, and how it related to what I felt God had in mind for me.
So, there is a new blog, one that still focuses on my life, with its attendant struggles and occasional victories, but one that will try to take its primary message from God's Word and not from a man, however godly he might be.
I may come back and write from Chambers from time to time, and I hope to do that because he is probing and deep, but the thrust of my study time will be found at:
Walk a New Path
I would invite anyone to make this journey with me. You will not find any great insights or deep thoughts, but you may be able to relate to some of the same questions and struggles. Feel free to agree or disagree, to point out my bad interpretations, or my bad theology, but just remember, this whole exercise is based on my pursuit of God and His will for me in this stage of my life. It is primarily written to get my inner thoughts out in the open as God leads me, and not for condemnation or edification of anyone else. Be forewarned.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Do Justice...
The Scripture for today was in Matthew 12: 14-21
Using the system on the Examen.me website, which is to encourage interaction with God, there are 4 steps:
Step 1: Now that you have read the passage, how is the Lord revealing himself to you? Quietly reflect on the words and phrases the Holy Spirit is emphasizing in your heart.
Using the system on the Examen.me website, which is to encourage interaction with God, there are 4 steps:
Step 1: Now that you have read the passage, how is the Lord revealing himself to you? Quietly reflect on the words and phrases the Holy Spirit is emphasizing in your heart.
Jesus healed those who followed him out of that place (either that synagogue or that city or that area). By showing up, they asked and he did not turn them down. He did not ask them to do anything, no prerequisites, no doctrine, no nothing, just needing healing.
In the prophecy of Isaiah the word Justice is emphasized, and I immediately think of the verse from Micah 6:
Micah 6:8
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Do Justice: Treating every one as equals, not looking up or down at another person, being fair and honest with all men, both outwardly and inwardly (my definition).
In the prophecy of Isaiah the word Justice is emphasized, and I immediately think of the verse from Micah 6:
Micah 6:8
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Do Justice: Treating every one as equals, not looking up or down at another person, being fair and honest with all men, both outwardly and inwardly (my definition).
Step 2: Capture all you have meditated on and bring it as a prayer before God. Let your heart cry out with praise, confession, gratitude, sorrow, or comfort.
Dear God, You have decreed Justice and it is one of those attributes of Yours that I am commanded to live out. I confess that I often look down on people while attributing their status to some moral flaw or self imposed habit. I also confess to treating some folks as my betters because their status in the world is higher than mine, therefore I defer to them, while not even considering those whom I deem lower for any reason. Outwardly, I may not appear to discriminate but inwardly I know I do. I need a heart transplant and a major attitude adjustment. In short, I need your healing hand in my life today.
Dear God, You have decreed Justice and it is one of those attributes of Yours that I am commanded to live out. I confess that I often look down on people while attributing their status to some moral flaw or self imposed habit. I also confess to treating some folks as my betters because their status in the world is higher than mine, therefore I defer to them, while not even considering those whom I deem lower for any reason. Outwardly, I may not appear to discriminate but inwardly I know I do. I need a heart transplant and a major attitude adjustment. In short, I need your healing hand in my life today.
Step 3: Capture all you have meditated on and bring it as a prayer before God. Let your heart cry out with praise, confession, gratitude, sorrow, or comfort.
Dear God, You have decreed Justice and it is one of those attributes of Yours that I am commanded to live out. I confess that I often look down on people while attributing their status to some moral flaw or self imposed habit. I also confess to treating some folks as my betters because their status in the world is higher than mine, therefore I defer to them, while not even considering those whom I deem lower for any reason. Outwardly, I may not appear to discriminate but inwardly I know I do. I need a heart transplant and a major attitude adjustment. In short, I need your healing hand in my life today.
Dear God, You have decreed Justice and it is one of those attributes of Yours that I am commanded to live out. I confess that I often look down on people while attributing their status to some moral flaw or self imposed habit. I also confess to treating some folks as my betters because their status in the world is higher than mine, therefore I defer to them, while not even considering those whom I deem lower for any reason. Outwardly, I may not appear to discriminate but inwardly I know I do. I need a heart transplant and a major attitude adjustment. In short, I need your healing hand in my life today.
Step 4: Examen how you can align your actions, attitudes, and choices with the truth of today's scripture.
In verse 15 of Matthew 12, it states: "Jesus, aware of this....
I need to be aware of:
1. my attitudes towards others
2. my discrimination
3. my heightened estimate of myself
If I am aware and see myself through God's eyes, then I can see others as He does and relate to them accordingly.
In verse 15 of Matthew 12, it states: "Jesus, aware of this....
I need to be aware of:
1. my attitudes towards others
2. my discrimination
3. my heightened estimate of myself
If I am aware and see myself through God's eyes, then I can see others as He does and relate to them accordingly.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Riding the New Horse
Day 2 on the new plan, I just have not figured out whether or not to change the blog, but probably will as soon as my daughter tells me how.
I really looked forward to pursuing this new course this morning, and wanted to see how God would actually honor this new direction. It seems to me to be a more direct way to hear from God. I know that others write good stuff and have insights that I need to have, but I would like to see what God reveals through a direct contact with His Word
My plan is to use a reading from the Gospels each day and record what I feel like God is saying to me through this. The site I use is Examen.me and everything is self-contained to make it a convenient process. The only thing I need to bring to the table is a quiet spirit, a listening heart and a willingness to be available to the things I need to learn and hear.
The reading this morning was from John, chapter 11, the story of Lazarus death and physical resurrection. Two of the items that struck me as I read it several times had to do with Martha's sense of "what could have been" had Jesus showed up when he could have prevented her brother's death, and also the question by Jesus to Martha, "Do you believe".
The story is familiar, maybe too familiar, but a lot of the time, I have stored up these incidents from the pages of the Bible in my brain, without them making an impact on my heart. Head knowledge may be OK, but it is not life changing until it manages to get to my heart. If Jesus asked me that question, and I think He just did, I would quickly answer in the affirmative, but does it transfer to making a difference in the way I live? Would anyone watching my life from the outside know that I made that affirmation, and meant it, or would I have to tell them?
Even though I change horses in the middle of the stream, my need for HIs help continues.
I really looked forward to pursuing this new course this morning, and wanted to see how God would actually honor this new direction. It seems to me to be a more direct way to hear from God. I know that others write good stuff and have insights that I need to have, but I would like to see what God reveals through a direct contact with His Word
My plan is to use a reading from the Gospels each day and record what I feel like God is saying to me through this. The site I use is Examen.me and everything is self-contained to make it a convenient process. The only thing I need to bring to the table is a quiet spirit, a listening heart and a willingness to be available to the things I need to learn and hear.
The reading this morning was from John, chapter 11, the story of Lazarus death and physical resurrection. Two of the items that struck me as I read it several times had to do with Martha's sense of "what could have been" had Jesus showed up when he could have prevented her brother's death, and also the question by Jesus to Martha, "Do you believe".
The story is familiar, maybe too familiar, but a lot of the time, I have stored up these incidents from the pages of the Bible in my brain, without them making an impact on my heart. Head knowledge may be OK, but it is not life changing until it manages to get to my heart. If Jesus asked me that question, and I think He just did, I would quickly answer in the affirmative, but does it transfer to making a difference in the way I live? Would anyone watching my life from the outside know that I made that affirmation, and meant it, or would I have to tell them?
Even though I change horses in the middle of the stream, my need for HIs help continues.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Confirmation or Happenstance?
There has been a question in my mind over the past several days. Should I continue with the Oswald Chambers devotional writing each morning as a kickoff time of study and meditation?
My thought was that, although Chambers was a good writer, a deep thinker, and a man of God, should I use the words of a man, however good, to be the basis of my study? Why not go straight to the Bible, God's Word, and let God speak to me, If He would, right from that?
So this morning, I logged on to the site I use for journalling and decided to look at another part of that site which led me through a particular part of the Gospels each day, with steps that encouraged me to read and think on that passage and then put down what I felt God was lifting out for me to focus on that morning. There were five steps that focused and then refocused my thoughts and prayers on God and where I wanted to be in relation to Him
My prayer, before I started all of this new thing, was for God to reveal to me the way I was supposed to go for my study right now. Here is how that prayer was answered.
The Examen.me study was on John 9, and the story of the blind man healed by Jesus with the mud from his spit. The words that seemed to be lifted out of this passage for me were threefold.
1. I am the Light of the World
2. How were your eyes opened?
3. Go
Thinking on these words, my mind ran straight to a song that Mayre Lou and I had tried to remember from the service yesterday. We knew it was one we used to sing when our little (then) church began, but we could not place the title or even the words.
The song was "Light of the World" and it begins:
"Light of the world
You stepped down into darkness.
Opened my eyes, let me see.
Beauty that made this heart adore You
Hope of a life spent with You"
So, did I get a confirmation on the way I should go, or was it pure happenstance?
Good grief, will I have to change the name of my blog, too?
My thought was that, although Chambers was a good writer, a deep thinker, and a man of God, should I use the words of a man, however good, to be the basis of my study? Why not go straight to the Bible, God's Word, and let God speak to me, If He would, right from that?
So this morning, I logged on to the site I use for journalling and decided to look at another part of that site which led me through a particular part of the Gospels each day, with steps that encouraged me to read and think on that passage and then put down what I felt God was lifting out for me to focus on that morning. There were five steps that focused and then refocused my thoughts and prayers on God and where I wanted to be in relation to Him
My prayer, before I started all of this new thing, was for God to reveal to me the way I was supposed to go for my study right now. Here is how that prayer was answered.
The Examen.me study was on John 9, and the story of the blind man healed by Jesus with the mud from his spit. The words that seemed to be lifted out of this passage for me were threefold.
1. I am the Light of the World
2. How were your eyes opened?
3. Go
Thinking on these words, my mind ran straight to a song that Mayre Lou and I had tried to remember from the service yesterday. We knew it was one we used to sing when our little (then) church began, but we could not place the title or even the words.
The song was "Light of the World" and it begins:
"Light of the world
You stepped down into darkness.
Opened my eyes, let me see.
Beauty that made this heart adore You
Hope of a life spent with You"
So, did I get a confirmation on the way I should go, or was it pure happenstance?
Good grief, will I have to change the name of my blog, too?
Sunday, January 1, 2012
A 2012 Wish List
I guess the question that continues to buzz around in my brain this morning is this: What will I become in 2012? Not what will I do this coming year, but who will I become?
When I woke up this morning, my first thoughts were of my schedule for this coming week. Not that my calendar is full by any means, but what was there? What I discovered was that they were all "good things", things that belonged on my Christian "to do list".
There was church this morning with a couple of responsibilities to take care of, a financial counseling session on Tuesday, a Bible Study on Wednesday, and a Prison Ministry meeting on Saturday, all good, but if I am not careful, they will just be good things to check off on my list. They can make me look good, but they can just become "things".
Will I be any different when January 1, 2013 rolls around, providing I'm still here of course? Will I grow in my faith, in my relationship to God and His Son Jesus, in my attitude of service, or in my daily walk?
God has allowed me to give some close examination to my life as I have written this blog throughout 2011, but, as I have put down several times, it is far easier to recognize things and write about them than to actually try to live them.
I want to become the man, husband, father and grand father that God wants me to be. I not only want to know what God wants, I want to want what God wants, not for my glory but for His. I want to not only write about this journey, I want to live it out also.
My wish list sounds kinda long, but I want it to be His, too.
When I woke up this morning, my first thoughts were of my schedule for this coming week. Not that my calendar is full by any means, but what was there? What I discovered was that they were all "good things", things that belonged on my Christian "to do list".
There was church this morning with a couple of responsibilities to take care of, a financial counseling session on Tuesday, a Bible Study on Wednesday, and a Prison Ministry meeting on Saturday, all good, but if I am not careful, they will just be good things to check off on my list. They can make me look good, but they can just become "things".
Will I be any different when January 1, 2013 rolls around, providing I'm still here of course? Will I grow in my faith, in my relationship to God and His Son Jesus, in my attitude of service, or in my daily walk?
God has allowed me to give some close examination to my life as I have written this blog throughout 2011, but, as I have put down several times, it is far easier to recognize things and write about them than to actually try to live them.
I want to become the man, husband, father and grand father that God wants me to be. I not only want to know what God wants, I want to want what God wants, not for my glory but for His. I want to not only write about this journey, I want to live it out also.
My wish list sounds kinda long, but I want it to be His, too.
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