Tag: waiting
Protected: Discernment Series: Techniques & Traps
Safely Home
If you’re here as a new visitor from the Midday Connection blog, or elsewhere…welcome! I update 3-4 times per week, and some great things are in store. Please poke around and enjoy. If you want to, leave a comment, or use the contact form (lower black tab reading: “contact me”) to connect. I’m really glad you’re here.
For all of my regular readers, thank you for making it a joy to have a blog. I appreciate you.
Today’s Reflection: Safely Home
I’m preparing for a season of preparation. Strange, huh? I’ll explain.
Many Christians across the world observe the “Christian calendar” which begins at Advent, about four weeks before December 25th. (In 2012 it starts December 2.) Advent is a pre-Christmas time marked not buy consumption, decorating, cooking, and the usual things that busy us in the time before Christmas day.
Instead, it’s marked by a time of special spiritual awareness. Themes of waiting, longing, and anticipation are the focus as we await the coming celebration of Light coming into the darkness: Jesus come to earth as a fragile baby.
But, it’s more then just a spiritual pre-season observance of an event in Christian history, it’s a recognition of a present reality that God has made a way safely home, to him.
The Incarnation is the coming of Immanuel (a Hebrew word meaning: God-with-us). It goes beyond the life, ministry, and death of Jesus of Nazareth as well…to the startling promise of God’s ever-abidding Holy Spirit that resides in us.
This is how God dwells among us, in the core of you and me. We are surrounded by his presence.
You are already home.
With God taking up residence within you, you are the home of God.
(He’s not sitting far off on a bright fancy, throne nestled in a cloud as Michelangelo would paint it, or as Deists may believe. Remember some Theology 101: God is spirit and has no physical body.)
So, during this season, before the holidays kick into hectic full-swing, be mindful and awed by the Goodness and provision of God. Be aware in your body and mind that house the Spirit of God. A gift of unimaginable worth.
Make ready the manger of your heart for a fresh and rich ongoing awareness of God’s love, grace, and presence that will culminate in the joyful celebration of the arrival of God-in-flesh.
If you would like to continue learning about these seasonal themes and enrich your Autumn and early Winter season, keeping visiting. I’ll focus some of my posts on these themes, sometimes with reflections, scriptures, prayers, and such. This time also (soon) includes the 2nd annual Advent Project which is an effort create a space and format for giving and goodwill in the areas of art and other creative expressions.
So, now, it’s your turn…
What touched you about what you read today?
Do you currently observe a season of Advent each year? If yes, in what ways does it have most meaning for you?
“Is Mark Driscoll a Cult Leader?” (Infographic)
In the last post I talked about the qualities of a cult, or a group that has social decay (some cult-like qualities). I got some questions, such as: “So, are you implying that Mark Driscoll is a cult leader?”
Gosh… that’s awkward. Instead of making a pronouncement, I’ll let you judge for yourself.
I made this handy info graphic to make the whole thing easier to understand. Enjoy.
Cool bonus. This image may be shared. Official Creative Commons license of this work.
Like this info?
Embed it in your site!
"'Is Mark Driscoll A Cult Leader?' Infographic" by Lisa Colón DeLay is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- Non Commercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available by contacting the creator: http://lisadelay.com.
Imaginative Prayer-using The Joseph Story
Maybe you haven’t heard of imaginative prayer. Does it sound “woo-woo”?
Woo-woo to you-you seems like doo-doo?
Well, it’s not, unless you have zero imagination. A time of rich prayer using God’s word can inject vitality into an average or stale prayer life.
Here’s how I do it.
I’ve been using the story of Joseph, Genesis 37-50, to aid in my prayer time. As I carefully read and think about the story, I try to climb into it a bit.
I imagine (a.k.a. put my self in the place of a character/s) what it could be like to be sold by family members and taken hundreds of miles away, or be falsely accused and betrayed by the wife of an employer, and waiting helplessly in jail for 2-13 years. Through it all, never giving up on God and his love for me.
I pray with these images, feeling, thoughts, and various associations that strike my heart. I take them to God.
We (me and my Maker) share together in a close intimacy with this amazing reversal-of-fortunes story. I am inspired by Joseph’s story, because it shows my God as unfailing, redeeming unfortunate circumstances, and guiding the Story to his good ends.
Here’s your project.
1. Follow the Genesis link (above), and spend some time with the story. (You can use an old fashion paper Bible too. haha.)
2. Jot down themes, or ideas that come into view.
3. Ask yourself what this story says about God and his character.
4. Pray with your findings. Take them to God. (Don’t expect flashes of divine prophecy, or simple answers to your problems. Just enjoy and live with the themes and the story for a few…moments, hours (or days, depending on how you set to reading and reflecting on this.)
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks for reading.
May God bless you richly.
-Lisa
Art information-Title: ‘Joseph, Overseer of the Pharaoh’s Granaries’
Painter: Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912)
Year: 1874