HOME
What is I2...?
Home Groups 
Classes
MP3 / podcast
Teachings
MP3 / podcast
Book of Luke
Daily  Devotions
Related Links
Suggested
Videos
Contact
Us
 
MYSTERY MUSINGS
 
  (05/11/08) "Change to Grow"
 
As we enter the inner world of the Spiritual Disciplines, there will always be the danger of turning them into laws. But we are not left to our own human devices. Jesus Christ has promised to be our ever-present Teacher and Guide. His voice is not hard to hear. His direction is not hard to understand. If we are beginning to calcify what should always remain alive and growing, he will tell us. We can trust his teaching. If we are wandering off toward some wrong idea or unprofitable practice, he will guide us back. If we are willing to listen to the Heavenly Monitor, we will receive the instruction we need.

Our world is hungry for genuinely changed people. Leo Tolstoy observes, Everybody thinks of changing humanity and nobody thinks of changing himself. Let us be among those who believe that the inner transformation of our lives is a goal worthy of our best effort.

Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth, Harper San Francisco, 1998 p.10-11

  (05/04/08) "We Can't Save Ourselves"
 
"As long as we think we can save ourselves by our own will power, we will only make the evil in us stronger than ever."

-- Heini Arnold
  (04/27/08) "Be Led by Christ"
 
"If Christians use the weapons God has ordained--if we lay our talents at His feet, dying to our own pride and amibition, obeying biblical moral principles, empowered by His Spirit, guided by a Christian worldview perspective--then even if by external standards we seem to have lost, we have really won. Outsiders looking on may conclude that we have failed. Even Christian friends and leaders may shake their heads disapprovingly and advise us that we've made a mistake. But if we have genuinely given our lives over to God's purposes and are being led by Him, then we have won a battle in the unseen world."

Nancy Pearcey, Total Truth: Liberating Christianity From Its Cultural Captivity, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL, 2004, p. 363
  (04/20/08) "What do you seek?"
 
We are supposed to ask and receive but we are to seek Him instead of His blessings. Then watch the miracle that happens:

Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:32b-33

When we focus on our kingdom—being as self-centered and shortsighted as we are we still find ourselves distressed, incomplete, and unsatisfied. But when we focus on God’s kingdom, He has promised to take care of our kingdom.

We are not self-seeking when we ask the Father to meet our physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. We are merely asking for the strength needed to fulfill our kingdom responsibilities. We are kingdom-seeking.

Jesus promises that if we as His followers will focus on His kingdom, He will personally manage the affairs of our own kingdoms. Jesus gives us an offer we should be unable to refuse: You focus on My kingdom, and I in turn will manage your kingdom.

Yours is the kingdom.

Yours is the power.

Yours is the glory.

Now and forever. Amen and amen.

From The Prayer of Jesus: The Promise and Power of Living in the Lord’s Prayer by Ken Hemphill, Broadman and Holman Publishers, Nashville TN, 2001

 I  R  R  E  S  I  S  T  I  B  L  E  
                     I  N  F  L  U  E  N  C  E 
   
                      MYSTERY MUSINGS