I awoke at 4:59 am today, having entered the world of rest the evening prior at 10:28 pm according to my sleep monitor. I didn’t want to stay awake, I yearned for more. So I tapped my tablet and reactivated the music I’d been listening to the evening prior, a playlist from All SE Samonte Hymns 139 that is my music mainstay. Now at 6:39 AM I’m on #60 “Where He Leads Me.” All that time I have been quietly listening to these hymns, drifting in and out, just reflectively thanking God for his love to me, as expressed in so many diverse thought patterns and compilations of melodies, that continually flood my memory this morning of the life and times of my earliest recollections up to this very moment. Music is such an “enabler of worship” that we all innately possess but so seldom do we avail ourselves of its potential in meaningful “clips” throughout our busy hectic days.
This morning I soon realized returning to blissful sleep was simply not happening. About 5:35 I had an attack of sneezing. At least ten of them, followed by a constantly runny nose using up 5-6 tissues. This is very unusual for me. This winter I’ve learned such fits of suffering require multiple capsules of Vit C; this was severe enough to warrant swallowing 4. Prior my max was only 3. We’ll see if it works this time. Right now I’m listening to # 67, “God on the Mountain” as sung by the Higher Ground Quartet, one of my favorites. “But it’s down in the valley, of those trials and temptations That’s when faith is really put to the test. For the God on the mountain, is still God in the valley. When things go wrong, He’ll make them right.” Indeed!
Next up was # 68, “Sin Will Take You Farther.” And isn’t that the truth. If only I had possessed my present clarity of focus when I was a teenager and quite unconsciously without purpose, went about choosing the foundational pillars for many of my future relationships, associations, and investments without being tethered to many meaningful spiritual resources. I am thinking now of such as a vibrant daily devotional life, the presence of a focused mentor(s) guiding me through key decisions while suffering major losses, and unfortunately, not always being fully open to accepting the overtures of a concerned fellowship where I could intimately experience the joys and benefits of a nurturing community.
While writing this, I’ve been listening to “Just over Yonder,” “Trust His Heart,” “Sing to Me of Heaven,” “Trust and Obey,” “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus,” “No Friend Like Jesus,” “My God and I.” “Until Then,” and I will conclude with #78 on this You Tube track of 139 hymns with Michael Overholt’s “Daddy, Will You Be There For Me” as sung by the Esh Family.
I have been blessed, invigorated, and prepared for whatever my day may dish up for me. Hopefully you were encouraged as well! And yes, the Vit C worked within the hour, helped no doubt, by several steaming cups of Loretta’s fresh bone broth.
Before I leave I want to share a few prayer pointers I discovered recently from Matthew Kelly in his last book “Dig the Well Before You Get Thirsty.” He calls it “The Prayer Process.”
1. Gratitude: Begin by thanking God in a personal dialogue for whatever you are most thankful for today.
2. Awareness: Revisit the times in the past 24 hours when you were and were not the best-best-version-of-yourself. Talk to God about these situations and what you learned from them.
3. Significant Moments: Identify something you’ve experienced today and explore what God might be trying to say to you through that event (or person).
4. Peace: Ask God to forgive you for any wrong you have committed (against yourself, another person, or him) and to fill you with a deep and abiding peace.
5. Freedom: Speak with God about how he is inviting you to change your life, so that you can experience the freedom to be the-best-version-of-yourself.
6. Others: Lift up to God anyone you feel called to pray for today, asking God to bless and guide them.
7. Finish by praying “The Lord’s Prayer” or another of your choosing.
Frequently, I do this in the evening as I wind down my day writing down the date on a 3×5 card and numbering 1-6 and summarizing my reflections on each of the six, Gratitude, Awareness, etc. The next morning during my devotions I then review the prior evening’s comments and perhaps even prior days if warranted.
I’ve learned the Christian life is all about a relationship with Jesus and following his commandments, not merely intellectual assent as popularized today in this “bow-down” culture. And I am still failing miserably far too often. The secrete? Simply stay tethered!
Interesting that our Anabaptist forefathers could not understand a Christianity which made regeneration, holiness, and love primarily a matter of intellect, of doctrinal belief, or of subjective “experience,” rather than one of the transformation of life. They demanded an outward expression of the inner experience. Repentance must be “evidenced” by newness of behavior. One’s whole life was to be brought literally under the lordship of Christ in a covenant of discipleship, Their focus was not so much the inner experience of the grace of God, as it was for Luther, but the outward application of that grace to all human conduct and the consequent “Christianizing” of all human relationships. The true test of the believers, they held, is discipleship. The great word of the Anabaptists was not “faith” as it was with the reformers, but “following” (Nachfolge Christi). Quoted Harold S Bender’s “The Anabaptist Vision” Pg 20.
Blessings as you GO FORTH MORE AWARE, FACILITATED & EMPOWERED>>>>> merlin