Good morning. Today is Tuesday, June 4, 2013. Yesterday was actually a pretty decent day. Christi’s first day back at work went pretty well, but she was pretty tired when she got home. We had dinner from Subway and went to bed early. Stephanie cleaned her room yesterday.
I’ll give you a moment to let that sink in.
She also cleaned out her closet.
I’ll give you about five minutes to let that sink in.
Today is Hug Your Cat Day. I’m all about that. Just be careful. If the cat does not want to be hugged, it can be extremely painful. Here is a very cute video of two cats hugging.
(From Great Stories from History for Every Day)
On this date in 1940, the evacuation of the Allied forces at Dunkirk was abandoned. It was considered largely successful, as almost 340,000 troops were evacuated with the help of the Royal Navy and RAF. The escape became known as “the miracle of Dunkirk,” and was, by some, considered a victory in itself. However, as Winston Churchill made his speech later that day, he cautioned, “We must be very careful not to assign this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Wars are not won by evacuations.” His speech also included these famous words as he “roared defiance:” “We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight on the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”
Today’s birthday is Michelle Phillips, born on this date in 1944. Michelle was one of the “mamas” in The Mamas and the Papas. Here is a You Tube clip of one of my favorite songs of theirs, “I Call Your Name.”
Honorable mentions go to Dennis Weaver, 1924, Bruce Dern, 1936, Gordon Waller, 1945, Joe Hill, 1972.
TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL
Praise the LORD! Praise the name of the LORD, give praise, O servants of the LORD. Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing to his name, for it is pleasant! For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Psalm 135:1, 3, 5
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Psalm 90:14
Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn! Psalm 108:2
Father, I pray that I might be satisfied with your steadfast love, that I may rejoice and be glad in you, all of my days. Teach me something today, as I look into your words.
Here’s a quote from today’s Tabletalk Magazine reading.
“To ask questions of God in faith means asking Him with the willingness to be content with His answer or even if He never appears to give us an answer at all. To ask questions of the Lord in a faithless manner is to demand an answer or to find certain answers unacceptable. As we wrestle with God in prayer, let us take care that we always come before Him in faith, trusting in His goodness and willing to be content with whatever He gives us.”
Amen.
Today’s reading in A Year With God is called “Guided by the Spirit.” The scripture reading is John 16:12-13.
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”
After Christ ascended and the Spirit came to earth, Jesus was liberated from the limitations that he had placed upon himself to become this Jewish teacher and healer. “With this liberation the person of Christ became free to move with the word of the gospel of the kingdom throughout the inner life of the disciples and about the world at large.”
I have to say that I disagree with the above quote. According to scripture, Jesus is still in physical form at the right hand of the Father, where he will stay until he returns to the earth in judgment. The Holy Spirit is a separate entity, and is not Jesus. The subject of the trinity is a tricky thing, while all three persons of the Trinity are “God,” they are not all each other. I don’t want to dive any further into a discussion on the Trinity here, but I have to disagree with the above statement in this book. It is the Holy Spirit that is “free to move with the word of the gospel of the kingdom throughout the inner life of the disciples and about the world at large.” In fact, it is probably incorrect to even say that Jesus lives in my heart, when it is, in fact, the Holy Spirit.
But this misses the point of the reading, I think. The point is that we are now guided by the Holy Spirit, with his direct influence on our lives. Jesus does guide us through the Spirit “into understanding and truth.” A prayer is offered at the end of this reading.
“Father God, I have seen these last days how faithful you are in guiding your people. Help me to rush to you with my arms open wide, seeking your Spirit at all times in your word, in other people, in Christ moving in the circumstances of my life. I ask for patience for those times when the way is murky. Clear away all the static in my life, so that I can hear you more clearly. In your name I pray. Amen.”
And if we take this thought along with the above quote from Tabletalk, the aspect of seeking his guidance includes the faith to accept whatever guidance he gives (or doesn’t give).
The final section of 19 Mercies, by Brennan Manning, is called “Trust.” Mercy number 17 is “Trust in your Father’s delight.”
A Trappist monk, Basil Pennington, is quoted as saying, “A father is delighted when his little one, leaving off his toys and friends, runs to him and climbs into his arms. As he holds his little one close to him, he cares little whether the child is looking around, his attention flitting from one thing to another, or if he’s intent upon his father, or just settling down to sleep. The father doesn’t care, because essentially the child is choosing to be with his father, confident of the love, the care, the security that is his in those arms.” Wow! What an amazing quote! Our prayer should be just like that! We have immediate access to our Father’s “lap.” We can “settle down in our Father’s arms and His loving hands.” Or thoughts and imaginations may wander, we may even fall asleep. But we choose to remain with him, “giving ourselves to Him, receiving His love and care, letting Him enjoy us as He will.” And let us not only pray what we are comfortable with! Let us reveal “our whole trembling self to Him with all our anxieties, dark desires, fears, sensuality, laziness, and incompetence!” His perfect love casts out all fear!
O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore. Psalm 131
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 1 John 3:1
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Before
the world was made, He chose us in Christ to be holy and
spotless, to live through love in His presence, determining that
we should become His adopted sons through Jesus Christ.”
The Apostle Paul
Father, help to experience more times like this, where I just sit in your lap and be with you, regardless of where my mind goes. May my prayer times be this intimate; may I truly bring to you every deep and dark secret that I possess, and lay them down at your feet, allowing your perfect love to cast out all my fear. I struggle still, with this steadfast love of yours. Even though I have stated that I accept it, and I do, it is still something that my flesh simply cannot believe, so there are multiple times every day when I doubt it, when I feel unworthy of it, when I simply can’t believe that anyone could love me the way you love me. I pray that I can grow deeper into this love and become a conduit of your love to those around me. Help me to help them find your love! May I be a peacemaker in my world.
I pray for this day ahead. May it be a smooth day for both Christi and me. I pray for her strength and stamina today as she goes to work. I pray that her job will remain stable in the days ahead, or, if not, that you are preparing something in advance for her to move to. I pray for Stephanie today, that she might find your love as she looks for Jesus in Colossians 1. Give her wisdom as she seeks your face. I pray that my work day will go well, again today. Thank you for the relief that I had yesterday in the work day.
Your grace is sufficient.
Look for the guidance of God through the Spirit, but be ready to accept whatever answers he gives or doesn’t give. Then immerse yourself in his steadfast, crazy, overwhelming love.
Grace and peace, friends.
Spaces of Beauty, Grace, Prayer, and Mercy 