Monthly Archives: February 2011

The amount to which we are full of our “selves” is the amount to which we are not full of God.

A big part of spiritual formation is getting our “selves” out of the way, so the Spirit can work in us.

Jesus never asks us to go “for” him before we have been “with” him.  Check it out in Mark 3:14.

The God who made you is with you.  God never walks away from anyone or anything He has made.

John Michael Talbot rightly notes that sometimes the things which seem dead in our spiritual life are merely “asleep,” awaiting the return of their “season.”  Not everything in the spiritual life happens at the same time or with the same … Continue reading →

The current issue of Atlantic Monthly magazine features an article entitled, “The New Global Elite.”  It describes a growing identifiable community of what the article describes as super-rich, self-made people who are ambivalent about the rest of us—a group that is … Continue reading →

Why do we think we can save our own souls when we cannot even scratch our own backs?

We journey with God step by step.  Amy Carmichael wrote, “If only the next step is clear, then the one thing to do is take it.”

There’s no better prayer than this: “Lord, teach me to pray.”

We can use two questions to evaluate the authenticity of our spiritual formation:  (1) Do the discoveries I make about myself lead me further into God?  and  (2) Do the discoveries I make about God lead me further into myself?  … Continue reading →

The two best prayers we can ever pray are “Help!” and “Thanks!”  The first reminds us we are dependent.  The second reminds us that we are blessed.  Pray these prayers often throughout the day.

I agree with Richard Rohr when he says that Christianity looks completely different in relation to how we answer this question, “Are you trying to earn God’s love, or return God’s love?”

It is a good thing to study the Bible; it is a better thing to let the Bible study you.  This second kind of reading is called Lectio Divina.

To be a mystic is not to be “other worldly” and certainly not “holier than thou.”  It is to be conscious of God’s transforming presence in your life and to be cooperating with God so that grace may be at … Continue reading →

I recently read an ad that came unsolicited to my emailbox.  There’s a place where you can pay money and get an educational degree in four weeks.  You can pick the one you want, all the way up to a … Continue reading →

Jesus is praying for you from heaven, interceding at the right hand of the Father on your behalf see (Romans 8:34 and Hebrews 7:25).

Amy Carmichael reminds us that if we can only see the next step, we must take it.  We can walk the entire spiritual path only seeing one or two steps ahead.

Jean Pierre de Caussade reminds us that true spirituality is simply doing the next thing we have to do, and doing it for God.

Beware of perpetual “busyness.”  The early Christians believed it was one of Satan’s best ways to defeat us.  God will not give you more to do than you can do; people will.  Do what you can to live in “the … Continue reading →

Never compare your work for Christ with someone else’s.  We “die by comparison.”  Do what you can for Christ (Colossians 3:17).

In classic Spiritual Formation the “amount” we read is not as important as the “attentiveness” with which we read.  In early Christianity, people would ask a spiritual guide to “give me a word that I may live.”  They knew that … Continue reading →

Christianity Today magazine recently interviewed Billy Graham.  Having turned 90, he looked at his life in relation to a number of interesting topics, including things he would do differently if he could go back and make changes. He said, “I … Continue reading →

We have a number of people in our friendship network who are undergoing great suffering.  They are doing so despite the prayers of many people.  Some are very sick.  Others are unemployed.  Still others are going through divorce.  All are … Continue reading →