Today's Document
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he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
Monterey Bay Aquarium
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d e v o n
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sheepfilms
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i don't do bad sauce passes
oozey mess
@theartofmadeline
Origami Around
Claire Keane
Discoholic 🪩
Mike Driver
祝日 / Permanent Vacation
Sweet Seals For You, Always
Love Begins
One Nice Bug Per Day
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@catchyourbreath
Come, ye weary, heavy laden, Lost and ruined by the fall; If you tarry till you’re better, You will never come at all... Let not conscience make you linger, Not of fitness fondly dream; All the fitness He requireth Is to feel your need of Him.
COME, YE SINNERS by Joseph Hart, 1759
We live in fear of shining a light on the very darkest parts of our hearts—afraid to whisper those dark parts by name, let alone hold them in our outstretched hands in plain sight of the One who bled and died to redeem them.
Raechel Myers
Some plants die if they have too much sunshine. It may be that you are planted where you get only a little, but you are put there by the loving Farmer because only in that situation will you produce fruit unto perfection.
He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.
Luke 16:15 NIV
"...few things are needed--or indeed only one."
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (LUK 10:38-42 NIV)
I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before their eyes. In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin. The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful; they fail to act wisely or do good. Even on their beds they plot evil; they commit themselves to a sinful course and do not reject what is wrong. Your love, Lord , reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You, Lord , preserve both people and animals. How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart. May the foot of the proud not come against me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. See how the evildoers lie fallen— thrown down, not able to rise!
Psalm 36:1-12 NIV
Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord.
Song of Solomon 8.6
Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in His love than in your own weakness.
Mother Teresa
Rarely in life do we live in the now; we’re typically distracted, thinking about the future, or reflecting upon the past. When you’re running you’re not distracted by these encumbrances. You’re simply living each footstep as it comes.
DEAN KARNAZES
Life is a precious thing, and in even its humblest form it is superior to death. This is eminently true in spiritual matters. It is better to be the least in the kingdom of heaven than the greatest out of it. The lowest degree of grace is superior to the noblest development of unregenerate nature. Where the Holy Spirit implants divine life in the soul, there is a precious deposit that none of the refinements of education can equal... The same holds true of our prayers and other religious exercises: If we are quickened in them by the Holy Spirit, they are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ, though we may think them to be worthless things, while our grand performances in which our hearts were absent, like dead lions, are mere carcasses in the sight of the living God. We need living groans, living sighs, living despondencies rather than lifeless songs and dead calms.
Matthew 25.34-36, 40
"I never look at the masses as my responsibility. I look only at the individual. I can love only one person at a time. I can feed only one person at a time. Just one, one, one. As Jesus said, 'Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do it to me.' So you begin... I begin. I picked up one person... The whole work is only a drop in the ocean. But if we don't put the drop in, the ocean would be one drop less. Same thing for you. Same thing in your family. Same thing in the church where you go. Just begin. One. One. One. At the end of our lives we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, or how many great things we have done. We will be judged by 'I was hungry and you gave me [something] to eat. I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless and you took me in.' Hungry not only for bread but for love... naked not only for clothing but naked of human dignity and respect. Homeless not only for want of bricks, but homeless because of rejection." -- Mother Teresa
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
Romans 8:26 NIV
Mark 5.30-34
"As emotionally mature Christian adults, we recognize that loving well is the essence of true spirituality. This requires that we experience connection with God, with ourselves, and with other people. God invites us to practice his presence in our daily lives. At the same time, he invites us to 'practice the presence of people,' within an awareness of his presence, in our daily relationships. Jesus' profound, contemplative prayer life with his Father resulted in a contemplative presence with people. Love is to 'reveal the beauty of another person to themselves,' wrote Jean Vanier. Jesus did that with each person he met. This ability to really listen and pay attention to people was at the heart of his mission. It could not help but move him to compassion. In the same way, out of our contemplative time with God, we too, are invited to be prayerfully present to people, revealing their beauty to themselves."
Lord, I can relate to the Israelites in the desert in their desire to return to what is predictable -- even if it is miserable. Change is hard. Grant me the courage of Moses to walk the delicate balance of being still and moving on to the new life in Christ that you have for me.
Prayer from The Daily Office
Exodus 14.10, 13-16
"The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still" "Move on" How do these words from Exodus 14.14 apply to me today? This morning's sermon by Dr. Tan was from Joshua 10 and the title was "no survivors." During the message, the question was raised "What residual survivors do I have in my camp of sin?" This was a timely message in light of my conversations with Czrilla yesterday about the spiritual warfare occurring within our lives, and also relevant to the James study I'm currently going through with JJ's Crew. In my personal life I believe there are areas of compromise that I need to address & overcome by being strong in the Lord's power. As I'm becoming aware and more attentive to the Spirit's prompting and discernment, I want to be obedient-- quickly, faithfully, completely-- with my lifestyle, habits, choices, values, thoughts, motives, actions, and response. I do sense that God wants me to be still during this season by resting in Him and truly believing my identity, security, and confidence is in Him. I'm submitting to His timeline, to His Will, and to His perfect timing. I know He's faithful. What do I need to move on from? There's a few bad habits, insecurities, and tendencies that I want to replace, overcome, and release. There's old ways and false ways of thinking and doing I need to unlearn, and adjustments to make that will bring me into greater alignment with His calling. Each day and every moment is an opportunity to turn toward my Maker and submit. At His feet I lay my burdens and pride down, and on my knees I rest in surrender. -JS
1 Kings 19:1-5
One way I can respect myself in light of my God-given human limits is to examine my motives as I serve. If I notice that I'm acting from a need to prove myself instead of truly caring for the other's needs, I can step back and first submit my heart to the Lord. I can identify whether or not I'm giving out of what I have, or trying to give what I don't (e.g. time, energy, resources, ability). If the latter, I must seek the Lord's wisdom on whether or not to proceed. One ministry that's been on my mind is prayer. I've never sought to be the point person to be leading or interceding for our small group, and I truly believe that the Holy Spirit is our leader and that we are all called to pray for one another. I do have the desire and willingness to pray for others, and it is not easy and there are many days or moments when I feel weary and discouraged. I'm guilty of assuming that our prayer group is solely responsible to cover the weekly prayer lists, rather than empowering others to lift one another up and listen to God. There are phases when I struggle and waver in my commitment to love and serve my brothers and sisters and want to give up. Like Elijah, I've felt burned out. Its not so much the act of praying itself, but I think keeping my heart tender, soft, and compassionate makes me vulnerable and fragile. I feel at times the heaviness of interceding for the needs of others and the ache for the yearnings of His Spirit. Last night we had 3 show up to our group prayer time. I've noticed that over the course of these months since we set apart this time to pray, usually the same faces (mainly about 8 guys who I'm grateful for their dedicated partnership & support, and myself) show up. I'm not sure why this is. We didn't assign or appoint specific people to be the prayer "warriors." I hope that other people in our community are also joining us remotely by praying for one another and also for us. I hope that prayer isn't formalized or contained to just a weekly meeting. I hope that we pray beyond ourselves and our own needs and remember others. I hope we can learn to listen to God and wait on Him. I hope all of this for us and for myself. As I move forward with some ideas to rally others toward having healthy, frequent, and intimate conversation with God, I pray that He will equip and empower me to act in humility, submission, and to give out of genuine love. -JS
When I give something I do not possess, I give a false and dangerous gift, a gift that looks like love but is, in reality, loveless-- a gift given more from my need to prove myself than from the other's need to be cared for. One sign that I am violating my own nature in the name of nobility is a condition called burnout. Though usually regarded as a result of trying to give too much, burnout in my experience results from trying to give what I do not possess-- the ultimate in giving too little! Burnout is a state of emptiness, to be sure, but it does not result from giving all I have; it merely reveals the nothingness from which I was trying to give in the first place.
Parker Palmer