7 Questions For The Spiritual Journey

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1.    Do I believe that God has placed unique gifts within me that might be used to help others, and that my primary fulfillment in life will come through
       the expression of these gifts?

2.    Do I believe that I have been created in the image of God, and that my highest goal in life is to reclaim or recover my true identity as a child of God?

3.    Do I understand that the implications of questions one and two lead toward a life of discipline (question one) and discernment (question two)?

4.    Do I understand that my well-being is linked to the well-being of others, that my salvation, healing, and growth are connected to the salvation, healing and growth of others, especially those closest to me?

5.    Do I understand that my life will be enriched by a willingness to embrace the perspectives of others?

6.    Do I recognize that my understanding and expression of the Christian life is but one part of a whole, and that it is in the whole that Jesus Christ is glorified?

7.    Do I recognize that I am called to grow into the likeness of Christ, and that my response to God’s grace includes a disciplined personal life and a deepening relationship with his Body, the Church?

(By Ken Carter, Winston-Salem, NC - based on Steven Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989)

Spiritual Eyes

“Prayer doesn’t just change circumstances; more important, it changes us.  It doesn’t just alter external realities; it alters internal realities so that we see with spiritual eyes.  It gives us peripheral vision.  It corrects our nearsightedness.  It enable us to see beyond our circumstances, beyond ourselves, beyond time.”   

(Quote from The Circle Maker,  Mark Batterson, p. 137)

As we continue our Lenten journey, may you see with the eyes of faith the great love our God has for us.  Pray this week with gratitude for this love and that you might have the opportunity to share it in service to others.

God's Grammar

I was captivated by this quote written by Mark Batterson in The Circle Maker (p. 91).

“Never put a comma where God puts a period, and never put a period where God put’s a comma.  Sometimes what we perceive as a period is really just a comma.  We think that God’s silence is the end of the sentence, but it’s just a providential pause.  Praying through the conjunction that allows God to not just finish the sentence but to make a statement.  ‘Lord….if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.’”

 Lazarus died four days before.  Period.  But Martha, in a wonderful statement of faith, puts a comma instead, thus holding out hope.  I see Lent as a time for reflecting on God’s commas in our lives.  He died, but He is risen!  We too will die, but then arise to be with Him for eternity. We suffer now, but ....   You add to this list as you pray this week.

God's Call

When we trace God’s call throughout the Scriptures, we see that “God doesn’t call the qualified; God qualifies the called.”  At the same time, God doesn’t leave us at the altar feeling inadequate, but lifts us up far beyond our human expectations.  “The issue is never, ‘Are you qualified?’  The issues is always, ‘Are you called?”  Lent provides an opportunity for us to reflect on our call and to recommit ourselves to the journey. (Quotes from The Circle Maker,  Mark Batterson)  In this regard, I have found the prayer of Archbishop Oscar Romero helpful.

It helps, now and then, to step back, and take the long view.

The Kingdom of Heaven is not only beyond our efforts,   it is even beyond our vision. 

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.

Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.  No prayer fully expresses our faith.

No confession brings perfection.  No pastoral visit brings wholeness.

No program accomplishes the Church’s mission.  No set of goals and objectives includes everything.  This is what we are about.

We will plant the seeds that one day will grow,  We water seeds already planted.

knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.

We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.

It may be incomplete, but everything is a beginning, a step along the way,

an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results,

But that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are the workers, not master builders, ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future of our own.

May that future be filled with grace, peace, and hope. In Jesus Name.  Amen.