Recently I made a commitment to up my prayer life. It is easier said than done. Putting the time in is one thing, but being earnestly engaged and getting into a place of praying effectively is quite a challenge. I have realized afresh that to be effective in prayer one must be committed to doing what the saints of old called “praying through.”
Archive for June, 2010
The power of reading prescribed texts
Posted in Answers to Prayer!, Growth & Development, News & Reflections, Relationship with God, tagged appointed readings, daily bible devotions, daily bible reading, daily bible reading plan, daily devotionals, daily devotions, daily reading and meditation, daily readings, devotional readings on June 29, 2010 | 2 Comments »
It never ceases to amaze me how God uses the simple practice of following a daily scripture or devotional reading plan to speak a timely word of encouragement. Yesterday was no exception. It was a big day for me as I had to report to the hospital at 5:30 AM for surgery to remove a cyst from my neck. Despite being in a time crunch Susan and I took a few minutes together to read to one another our respective appointed readings for June 28.
In search of the optimized life
Posted in Life Balance, Relationship with God, tagged being and doing, doing God’s will, finding fulfillment in life, good vs best, harmonizing soul and role, living life to the fullest, making the most of life, optimization of life, optimized life, soul and role, the optimized life on June 25, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Optimization refers to choosing the best element from a set of available alternatives. It is a popular internet term related to search engine optimization of websites. The byproduct of such optimization is improved performance. I found myself praying this morning for an optimization of my life.
What separates the ordinary from the extraordinary?
Posted in Growth & Development, Relationship with God, tagged extraordinary, extraordinary life, extraordinary living, from ordinary to extraordinary, moving from ordinary to extraordinary, ordinary to extraordinary, true Christianity on June 24, 2010 | 2 Comments »
What separates an ordinary life from an extraordinary life? One word – extra. The “extra” added to”ordinary” makes something “extra”-ordinary. That is true in anything that we do, on the job, in relationships, and in life. And it is should be especially true in Christianity.
The surprising ways God loves us!
Posted in Relationship with God, Relationships, tagged acceptance, book of Ruth, covenant love, God’s unconditional love, how God loves us, love, loving the unlovable, relationships, unconditional acceptance, unconditional love on June 23, 2010 | 2 Comments »
In reading through the book of Ruth this morning the character of the widow Naomi riveted my attention. What was it about her that caused her daughter-in-law Ruth to love her so? It is a love that is described as “better than that of seven sons.” (Ruth 5:15)
If life is short, how should I live?
Posted in Life Balance, Relationship with God, Window into my Soul, tagged brevity of human life, brevity of life, facing death, living for God, making life count, months to live, prepared to die, six months to live on June 21, 2010 | 6 Comments »
I shared in my last post “Dr. Death or Dr. Hope – it’s a choice!” about how a recent health crisis has given me a fresh perspective on life. The Bible and past experience instruct us that trials such as this are opportunities to learn God’s ways and more perfectly align our wills with His will for our lives. God has certainly used this lump in my neck to do that. In realizing how frail and fleeting life really is, here are some resolutions I have made.
Dr. Death or Dr. Hope – it’s a choice!
Posted in Life Balance, News & Reflections, Relationship with God, Window into my Soul, tagged facing death, finding hope, hope of the resurrection, living for God, prepared to die on June 19, 2010 | 4 Comments »
When I walked out of a surgeon’s office a little over a month ago I was in a state of shock. Five days earlier I had discovered a mysterious lump about the size of a grape on the right side of my neck. “Lord,” I thought, “I can’t believe what I just heard. Is that you? Is your voice, the voice of my Good Shepherd somewhere to be found in all this? Is it my time? Is this that dreaded news that sets in motion the inevitable chain of events that leads to the close of life this side of glory?” Despite prayer, standing on the promises of scripture and constant confessions of faith I must admit that it was a major spiritual battle for me. However, the wrestlings of soul over the brevity of life provided a needed spiritual awakening that has brought me to some renewed affirmations regarding my faith relationship with Jesus Christ.
Reflections and Lessons from 40 Years of Marriage (Part 5)
Posted in Marriage, Relationships, tagged bitterness in marriage, enemies of marriage, marriage, marriage advice, successful marriage, successful marriage advice, successful marriage tips, trust in marriage on June 16, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
This is the fifth and final installment of Reflections & Lessons from 40 Years of Marriage. Today I am focusing on two aspects of the marriage relationship, trust and the enemies of marriage, that if not properly handled can end up being deal breakers. Check out the previous four posts for the first eight points.
Finding joy in the journey
Posted in Life Balance, News & Reflections, tagged joy in the journey, joys of sailing, renewal, rest, sailing, slowing down, time to talk, time to think on June 14, 2010 | 2 Comments »
This week I am crossing one off the bucket list. As you read this, I am incommunicado on a sailboat in Northern Lake Superior – somewhere between Thunder Bay, Ontario and Isle Royale. Sailing is one of the things that renews me. One of the things I love about sailing is that it slows everything down. Think about the quality of unhurried interaction afforded Jesus and His disciples through their times together under sail on the Sea of Galilee.
