Conversations, Reflections & Meditations


	Main Page \| My Articles for The Life Connection \| Prayers and Meditations \| Poetry Haida Gwaii Reflections \| Education & Home-School \| Family
Sign Guestbook \| View Guestbook Comments? Questions? [email protected]	Prayer topics Panting for the Water I Want to be Like Jesus - Suffering And All Real Servants Serve for God's Approval Only Beware the 'Deeper Things' of Man's Philosophies Panting for the Water Date: August 3, 2004 Dear Lord, Is it bad to ask for some relief? Okay, see, I went so hard in July. I didn’t realize how much of my time was occupied with babysitting my little grandson (it was such a pleasure!). So now that he’s hardly here, I’ve really been at loose ends – and finally I realize what it is. So, time to get to work on other things. And I was just going to go straight to studying French, but realized all of a sudden that I need You! “As the deer panteth for the water…” With all that’s been going on for the past month or two, I’ve kind of ended up in a dry and thirsty, and kind of rocky wilderness. And the water has been there, but I either didn’t have the energy to reach it, or just allowed myself to get distracted, tired and so on. Forgive me, Lord. You have been with me every moment. I’ve just been like the seeds in the parable that landed here and there, sometimes not taking root, just shriveling up. But mostly getting choked out by the cares of the world. And yet I am not a new believer, and I didn’t have to let it happen because I did see it happening, and I did not battle to overcome it, or even throw myself at Your feet and beg for Your help. I just have a hard time with accepting Your side of the deal. In a business, with a “silent partner” who is putting up the initial funding, if the active partner wasn’t investing that funding into the business, the whole thing would fall apart, no matter how hard he or she worked, and what he or she knew about business. That’s what I am having a hard time learning in my relationship with You; taking time from the mad rush of doing the business, to go to the bank, make withdrawals of necessary funds, go to You for Your advice, and then use the funds to make the business go. Thank You for this understanding, this picture! Return to the top I Want to be Like Jesus - Suffering and All Date: August 11, 2004 O dear Lord! I woke up singing “Refiner’s Fire!” “Refiner’s fire, my heart’s one desire, Is to be holy, Set apart for You Lord. I want to be holy, set apart for You, my Master, ready to do Your will. Purify my heart, let me be as gold and precious silver, purify my heart, let me be as gold, pure gold.” Oh! I just had to stop and grab my guitar and play and sing that – several times. And a round of “River of God” too! My heart is overflowing with joy and love for you, Lord. And oh! Such a longing to reach people with the incredible Good News of Jesus! To be holy – set apart for You, My Master, ready to do Your will! My precious daughter just dropped by with a Tim Hortons croissant and hot chocolate for me! What a sweet girl. She is so tired, Lord. Please – I told her I’d pray for her – please show her your love in a real practical way, and give her all the energy she needs, and even a bit extra, for all her needs today. And Lord, please help her body to regain its strength. Most of all, Lord, please let her come totally to You, and learn to rest in You, dear Jesus! Thank You, Lord. Amen. Lord, if I want to be like Jesus, I too need to learn to embrace suffering, and then place myself, with it, totally into Your hands. It’s scary to say this, Lord, but it is my heart’s desire, to be absolutely conquered by You, to be able to smile at suffering, knowing that through it You are making me into the holy image of Your Son, my Savior, who died a cruel death so that my horrible sins could be atoned for. My Redeemer! “There is a redeemer, Jesus, God’s own Son. Precious Lamb of God, Messiah, Holy One. Thank You, oh my Father, for giving us Your Son. And leaving Your Spirit till the work on earth is done… When He comes in glory I shall see His face, And there I’ll serve my King forever, in that holy place.” But oh, Lord, let me be Your totally willing servant, here, now, first! I love You, Lord! I praise and worship and glorify You! You are holy. You are God Almighty – all mighty! Over everything. Ingrained in my life, so that all other things fall away. No excuses. Developing an eternal relationship with You, Jesus, the Truth. The Way. The Life. When I was playing my guitar for those few minutes this morning, I realized suddenly that my joy and confidence is back. But I think – hope, pray, commit to – that this time my confidence is in You, not in me. Thank You again and again and again for Your gift of musical ability which I asked and prayed for, both singing and instrumental, for surely it is a gift. Since I certainly wasn’t born with natural talent, and all those lessons didn’t really make me very talented! But You used them anyway, to prepare me for Your gift, didn’t You? Now, Lord, I want, I commit!, to using Your gift to glorify You, to edify Your church, and to bring others to You and mentor them, to spread the Good News of Your kingdom. Return to the top Real Servants Serve For God's Approval Only Date: August 12, 2004 Oh dear, I just read the chapter on servanthood in The Purpose Driven Life. I realized I really have trouble with “maintaining a low profile.” Like yesterday I was telling ____ that I brought drinks and snacks to the painters at the new church office the other day. Well! That just effectively blocked my reward from God, didn’t it? Forgive me, Lord! I also have a tendency (okay, it’s not just a tendency – I do it, a lot!) to tell people about all the different things I am doing for the church and so on. I guess I feel that people think I don’t do much of “value” because I don’t “have a job/work.” Oh dear Lord, please help me to really realize and internalize (and act upon) the fact that “Real servants don’t serve for the approval or applause of others. They live for an audience of One.” Oh help me, Lord, to really have this attitude, to do all things for Your glory, Your approval alone! Return to the top Beware the 'Deeper Things' of Man's Philosophies Date: August 15, 2004 Dear Lord Jesus, I just have to talk to You especially, because I know You, and that means You are alive! You are God! Not just a “metaphor” or “myth” of a particular brand of spirituality. And not just one of 14 other messiah-figures. I don’t know why I felt so sick today, but I’m sure I would never have otherwise listened to that mid-afternoon CBC Radio program. That man has a lot of seeming “truth” mixed into his “faith” – but apparently, despite his years as an Anglican priest and a seminary instructor, and of traveling the world as religion editor for the Toronto Post, he’s never really known You. How, I wonder, can he continue to call himself a “Christian” when he actually thinks You never existed, even in an “historical Jesus” form? He claims Paul never talked about You, except as referring to “the cross” (which he also takes metaphorically, of course), yet he ignores Paul meeting You on the road to Damascus, and the several references Paul later makes to that meeting. Of course, that man also thinks that very little, if any, of scripture has any historical basis. He admits to a few “accidents.” So probably he thinks that Paul is a myth or a metaphor, too, though he did say that he thinks Paul was a gnostic, which is kind of funny, seeing as Paul was quite apparently opposed to gnosticism. That poor girl interviewing him seemed quite breathless and totally impressed with his viewpoints, but obviously she doesn’t know You, or any thing much about the gospel either. That guy kept on talking about how we need to go beyond the metaphor to the deeper things – and in a truly Christian sense that is true – yet his “deeper things” are the very things Paul warned about, the philosophies of man given a spiritual veneer. He knows the scripture and “tradition” well, for he uses Christian terminology so easily and so convincingly, yet he preaches “another gospel” completely. I don’t know why You had me listen to this program (being too sick to do anything else), but I sense You had a purpose. Oh, Lord, even if it’s to remind me of Your reality, it is so worth it! I’m sorry about getting upset with the kids today. I was just too sick to handle arguments and put-downs. I know I’m in charge of my attitudes, and can choose not to react, but sometimes the old flesh, all worn out and sick, gets in the way. That is one thing the radio speaker had right, at least partially: this whole journey is a conflict and a meeting of flesh and spirit. He had some things so right. But without a real Jesus at the core, it is all ultimately meaningless, isn’t it? Even the reporter said something to that effect. Oh Lord, how sad it is for false teachers, how great will be their punishment, and do they even know they are wrong? I guess so, or at least they have at some point chosen to refuse what is right, haven’t they? What a mission field You have opened my eyes to, Lord. I see a lot more clearly now where many people’s “spirituality” is coming from. Oh dear God, the point of the gospel, the Good News, the whole center, is Jesus! Without the real Jesus, there is nothing but a black hole inexorably sucking all the little glimmers of light into it. Thank You, Jesus, for being the light, the way, the truth, the life. Thank You for being real. For bringing me into relationship with You, with the Father, with the Holy Spirit – with God! (That guy had some interesting “starting points” about Your Spirit breathing life into us, Lord, about making us into Your image, but without Your Son, it leads to… to what? Warm mumbly-jumbly spiritual feelings?)…. It’s 2:19 am Lord, and here I am writing in the dark, and I can’t see the lines on the paper! I’ve been thinking about the radio interview and the whole “metaphor” thing. The guy pointed out that the metaphor is really the only way we have of describing God. He makes so much issue of Jesus’ sayings being taken from sayings of other religions and other “messiah” figures, such as the Egyptian god Horus, who is supposed to have claimed, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (and 128 other similarities between Jesus and Horus, apparently!). The thing is, Jesus claimed God-hood. So how else would he describe Himself, but in metaphoric terms that the people from his culture would have strong cultural and historic and “spiritualistic” and philosophic ties to? The Jewish people spent 400 years in Egypt. They were surrounded by Greek culture. They were probably even influenced by Indian culture, as they lived at a crossroads of trade and travel for all these cultures (and it is thought by many that Paul may have gone toward India during those initial years after his conversion, and that Thomas actually went there as a missionary). There were already long-term connections; and Greek culture, in which the entire Roman world was saturated, glorified the gaining and discussion of all kinds of beliefs and philosophies. To “steal a metaphor” myself, the guy being interviewed on the radio has lost sight of the forest, as he zeroes in on all the trees (so he “can’t see the forest for the trees”). Poor fellow. He’s fallen right into the enemy’s trap of trying to make people take their eyes off the real Jesus. Which is probably easy to do if you haven’t had – or perhaps started to have, but then neglected growing – relationship and knowing of Christ (the parable of the farmer sowing the seeds on different soils; the warning about knowing Christ and then turning back). God, please help this man; help me to really see and know Jesus. And Lord, please make clear to other people’s minds the baselessless of his philosophy. He has found an “acceptable” religion, one where everybody can believe what they want, one which makes everyone their own god, and ultimately appears to provide escape from responsibility and obedience to the One True God. Okay, I must go back to sleep now. Thank You, Lord…. 7:37 am… I just finished reading Psalm 41, and it struck me again: it really is all about God, not about us. But mankind wants to be at the center, they want a god that makes them to be god. Just like satan suggested to Eve, “You will be like God.” Return to the top
Main Page \| My Articles for The Life Connection \| Prayers and Meditations \| Poetry Haida Gwaii Reflections \| Education & Home-School \| Family


	Main Page \| My Articles for The Life Connection \| Prayers and Meditations \| Poetry Haida Gwaii Reflections \| Education & Home-School \| Family
Sign Guestbook \| View Guestbook Comments? Questions? [email protected]	Prayer topics Panting for the Water I Want to be Like Jesus - Suffering And All Real Servants Serve for God's Approval Only Beware the 'Deeper Things' of Man's Philosophies Panting for the Water Date: August 3, 2004 Dear Lord, Is it bad to ask for some relief? Okay, see, I went so hard in July. I didn’t realize how much of my time was occupied with babysitting my little grandson (it was such a pleasure!). So now that he’s hardly here, I’ve really been at loose ends – and finally I realize what it is. So, time to get to work on other things. And I was just going to go straight to studying French, but realized all of a sudden that I need You! “As the deer panteth for the water…” With all that’s been going on for the past month or two, I’ve kind of ended up in a dry and thirsty, and kind of rocky wilderness. And the water has been there, but I either didn’t have the energy to reach it, or just allowed myself to get distracted, tired and so on. Forgive me, Lord. You have been with me every moment. I’ve just been like the seeds in the parable that landed here and there, sometimes not taking root, just shriveling up. But mostly getting choked out by the cares of the world. And yet I am not a new believer, and I didn’t have to let it happen because I did see it happening, and I did not battle to overcome it, or even throw myself at Your feet and beg for Your help. I just have a hard time with accepting Your side of the deal. In a business, with a “silent partner” who is putting up the initial funding, if the active partner wasn’t investing that funding into the business, the whole thing would fall apart, no matter how hard he or she worked, and what he or she knew about business. That’s what I am having a hard time learning in my relationship with You; taking time from the mad rush of doing the business, to go to the bank, make withdrawals of necessary funds, go to You for Your advice, and then use the funds to make the business go. Thank You for this understanding, this picture! Return to the top I Want to be Like Jesus - Suffering and All Date: August 11, 2004 O dear Lord! I woke up singing “Refiner’s Fire!” “Refiner’s fire, my heart’s one desire, Is to be holy, Set apart for You Lord. I want to be holy, set apart for You, my Master, ready to do Your will. Purify my heart, let me be as gold and precious silver, purify my heart, let me be as gold, pure gold.” Oh! I just had to stop and grab my guitar and play and sing that – several times. And a round of “River of God” too! My heart is overflowing with joy and love for you, Lord. And oh! Such a longing to reach people with the incredible Good News of Jesus! To be holy – set apart for You, My Master, ready to do Your will! My precious daughter just dropped by with a Tim Hortons croissant and hot chocolate for me! What a sweet girl. She is so tired, Lord. Please – I told her I’d pray for her – please show her your love in a real practical way, and give her all the energy she needs, and even a bit extra, for all her needs today. And Lord, please help her body to regain its strength. Most of all, Lord, please let her come totally to You, and learn to rest in You, dear Jesus! Thank You, Lord. Amen. Lord, if I want to be like Jesus, I too need to learn to embrace suffering, and then place myself, with it, totally into Your hands. It’s scary to say this, Lord, but it is my heart’s desire, to be absolutely conquered by You, to be able to smile at suffering, knowing that through it You are making me into the holy image of Your Son, my Savior, who died a cruel death so that my horrible sins could be atoned for. My Redeemer! “There is a redeemer, Jesus, God’s own Son. Precious Lamb of God, Messiah, Holy One. Thank You, oh my Father, for giving us Your Son. And leaving Your Spirit till the work on earth is done… When He comes in glory I shall see His face, And there I’ll serve my King forever, in that holy place.” But oh, Lord, let me be Your totally willing servant, here, now, first! I love You, Lord! I praise and worship and glorify You! You are holy. You are God Almighty – all mighty! Over everything. Ingrained in my life, so that all other things fall away. No excuses. Developing an eternal relationship with You, Jesus, the Truth. The Way. The Life. When I was playing my guitar for those few minutes this morning, I realized suddenly that my joy and confidence is back. But I think – hope, pray, commit to – that this time my confidence is in You, not in me. Thank You again and again and again for Your gift of musical ability which I asked and prayed for, both singing and instrumental, for surely it is a gift. Since I certainly wasn’t born with natural talent, and all those lessons didn’t really make me very talented! But You used them anyway, to prepare me for Your gift, didn’t You? Now, Lord, I want, I commit!, to using Your gift to glorify You, to edify Your church, and to bring others to You and mentor them, to spread the Good News of Your kingdom. Return to the top Real Servants Serve For God's Approval Only Date: August 12, 2004 Oh dear, I just read the chapter on servanthood in The Purpose Driven Life. I realized I really have trouble with “maintaining a low profile.” Like yesterday I was telling ____ that I brought drinks and snacks to the painters at the new church office the other day. Well! That just effectively blocked my reward from God, didn’t it? Forgive me, Lord! I also have a tendency (okay, it’s not just a tendency – I do it, a lot!) to tell people about all the different things I am doing for the church and so on. I guess I feel that people think I don’t do much of “value” because I don’t “have a job/work.” Oh dear Lord, please help me to really realize and internalize (and act upon) the fact that “Real servants don’t serve for the approval or applause of others. They live for an audience of One.” Oh help me, Lord, to really have this attitude, to do all things for Your glory, Your approval alone! Return to the top Beware the 'Deeper Things' of Man's Philosophies Date: August 15, 2004 Dear Lord Jesus, I just have to talk to You especially, because I know You, and that means You are alive! You are God! Not just a “metaphor” or “myth” of a particular brand of spirituality. And not just one of 14 other messiah-figures. I don’t know why I felt so sick today, but I’m sure I would never have otherwise listened to that mid-afternoon CBC Radio program. That man has a lot of seeming “truth” mixed into his “faith” – but apparently, despite his years as an Anglican priest and a seminary instructor, and of traveling the world as religion editor for the Toronto Post, he’s never really known You. How, I wonder, can he continue to call himself a “Christian” when he actually thinks You never existed, even in an “historical Jesus” form? He claims Paul never talked about You, except as referring to “the cross” (which he also takes metaphorically, of course), yet he ignores Paul meeting You on the road to Damascus, and the several references Paul later makes to that meeting. Of course, that man also thinks that very little, if any, of scripture has any historical basis. He admits to a few “accidents.” So probably he thinks that Paul is a myth or a metaphor, too, though he did say that he thinks Paul was a gnostic, which is kind of funny, seeing as Paul was quite apparently opposed to gnosticism. That poor girl interviewing him seemed quite breathless and totally impressed with his viewpoints, but obviously she doesn’t know You, or any thing much about the gospel either. That guy kept on talking about how we need to go beyond the metaphor to the deeper things – and in a truly Christian sense that is true – yet his “deeper things” are the very things Paul warned about, the philosophies of man given a spiritual veneer. He knows the scripture and “tradition” well, for he uses Christian terminology so easily and so convincingly, yet he preaches “another gospel” completely. I don’t know why You had me listen to this program (being too sick to do anything else), but I sense You had a purpose. Oh, Lord, even if it’s to remind me of Your reality, it is so worth it! I’m sorry about getting upset with the kids today. I was just too sick to handle arguments and put-downs. I know I’m in charge of my attitudes, and can choose not to react, but sometimes the old flesh, all worn out and sick, gets in the way. That is one thing the radio speaker had right, at least partially: this whole journey is a conflict and a meeting of flesh and spirit. He had some things so right. But without a real Jesus at the core, it is all ultimately meaningless, isn’t it? Even the reporter said something to that effect. Oh Lord, how sad it is for false teachers, how great will be their punishment, and do they even know they are wrong? I guess so, or at least they have at some point chosen to refuse what is right, haven’t they? What a mission field You have opened my eyes to, Lord. I see a lot more clearly now where many people’s “spirituality” is coming from. Oh dear God, the point of the gospel, the Good News, the whole center, is Jesus! Without the real Jesus, there is nothing but a black hole inexorably sucking all the little glimmers of light into it. Thank You, Jesus, for being the light, the way, the truth, the life. Thank You for being real. For bringing me into relationship with You, with the Father, with the Holy Spirit – with God! (That guy had some interesting “starting points” about Your Spirit breathing life into us, Lord, about making us into Your image, but without Your Son, it leads to… to what? Warm mumbly-jumbly spiritual feelings?)…. It’s 2:19 am Lord, and here I am writing in the dark, and I can’t see the lines on the paper! I’ve been thinking about the radio interview and the whole “metaphor” thing. The guy pointed out that the metaphor is really the only way we have of describing God. He makes so much issue of Jesus’ sayings being taken from sayings of other religions and other “messiah” figures, such as the Egyptian god Horus, who is supposed to have claimed, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (and 128 other similarities between Jesus and Horus, apparently!). The thing is, Jesus claimed God-hood. So how else would he describe Himself, but in metaphoric terms that the people from his culture would have strong cultural and historic and “spiritualistic” and philosophic ties to? The Jewish people spent 400 years in Egypt. They were surrounded by Greek culture. They were probably even influenced by Indian culture, as they lived at a crossroads of trade and travel for all these cultures (and it is thought by many that Paul may have gone toward India during those initial years after his conversion, and that Thomas actually went there as a missionary). There were already long-term connections; and Greek culture, in which the entire Roman world was saturated, glorified the gaining and discussion of all kinds of beliefs and philosophies. To “steal a metaphor” myself, the guy being interviewed on the radio has lost sight of the forest, as he zeroes in on all the trees (so he “can’t see the forest for the trees”). Poor fellow. He’s fallen right into the enemy’s trap of trying to make people take their eyes off the real Jesus. Which is probably easy to do if you haven’t had – or perhaps started to have, but then neglected growing – relationship and knowing of Christ (the parable of the farmer sowing the seeds on different soils; the warning about knowing Christ and then turning back). God, please help this man; help me to really see and know Jesus. And Lord, please make clear to other people’s minds the baselessless of his philosophy. He has found an “acceptable” religion, one where everybody can believe what they want, one which makes everyone their own god, and ultimately appears to provide escape from responsibility and obedience to the One True God. Okay, I must go back to sleep now. Thank You, Lord…. 7:37 am… I just finished reading Psalm 41, and it struck me again: it really is all about God, not about us. But mankind wants to be at the center, they want a god that makes them to be god. Just like satan suggested to Eve, “You will be like God.” Return to the top
Main Page \| My Articles for The Life Connection \| Prayers and Meditations \| Poetry Haida Gwaii Reflections \| Education & Home-School \| Family