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Matthew Kelly is an avid story teller. And I’m just thinking you’re about ready for some “lighter fare,” but beware, their truths are heavy! These two stories are taken from his book The Rhythms of Life. I trust both will stretch  you.

Perhaps you are familiar with Leonardo da Vinci‘s famous painting The Last Supper. Leonardo was living in Milan at the time he painted it, and when he committed himself to that particular composition, he wanted to find thirteen men to pose, one for each of the disciples and one as Jesus. He wanted each of his models to look exactly as he envisioned Jesus and each of the disciples to have looked. And so his search for these men began.

One day while he was sitting in church, the voices of the choir were so angelic that he turned around and looked up into the choir loft. As he did his gaze fell upon one young man in the choir. He perfectly matched how Leonardo had visualized Jesus to look. After church Leonardo approached the young man, explained his project, and inquired as to whether he would be interested in posing for the painting. The young man agreed, and the following week he spent four days posing for Leonardo in his studio in Milan.

Leonardo’s search continued, and he quickly found someone to pose as Peter, Simon, and Matthew. Within eleven months he had found and painted all the persons in the scene except for Judas.

Leonardo could not find his Judas. He looked everywhere. He would walk through the streets of Milan, some days for endless hours, searching the nameless faces in the crowd for a man who embodied how he envisioned Judas to have looked. Eleven years passed in his search for Judas when he finally realized he had been looking for his Judas in the wrong places.

Leonardo thought, if I am to find a man who has the qualities and appearance of Judas, I must look where such men are gathered. With that in mind, Leonardo went to the prisons in and around Milan, searching for a man with pain and anger in his eyes, with harsh impatience on his face, with the scars of pride and bitterness on his cheeks, and with the marks of brokenness in his features – a man who looked to him like Judas.

After many days and many prisons, he came across that man. He explained to the man what he was doing and asked him if he would be willing to pose for the paining. The prisoner agreed, and Leonardo made arrangements for him to be brought to his studio in Milan under guard.

The following week he was brought to the studio, and Leonardo begin the final stage of his work. As he painted, Leonardo noticed that the prisoner was growing more restless and distressed, even by the hour. Leonardo observed that the man would look at him, then at the painting, and every time he seem to be filled with a certain remorseful sadness.

By the middle of the second day, Leonardo was so disturbed by what he was witnessing in his model that he stopped work and said to him, “Is there something wrong? Do you not like my work?“ The prisoner said nothing, and Leonardo inquired once more, saying, “You seem very upset, and if I am causing you pain in any way, perhaps we should stop.“ The man looked at the master painter and then at the paining one more time. As his gaze fell away from the painting, he lowered his head, lifted his hands to his face, and began to weep inconsolably.

After several minutes, Leonardo was finally able to settle him down. “What is it?“ He asked.

The prisoner looked expectantly into the artist’s eyes and said, “Do you not recognize me, master?“

In confusion, Leonardo replied, “No, have we met before?“

“Oh yes,” the prisoner explained. “Eleven years ago I posed for you, for this same painting, as the person of Jesus.“

In each of us there is a Judas and a Jesus. Our lives here on earth are an incomplete work unless we can discover the Judas and the Jesus within us. We must come to know our strengths and our weaknesses. It is often very easy to find the Jesus within us. Too often we shrink from the task of examining our faults. Yet it is only by knowing the flaws and defects of our character that we can begin to work to overcome them.

Our weaknesses are the keys to our richer, more abundant future. Our strengths are already bearing the fruit they can. Our weaknesses are the unfarmed lands of our character. Pull the weeds from that land, till the soil, plant some seeds, and we will yield a great harvest.

Most people don’t want to know about their weaknesses. This is a classic sign of mediocrity. While the rest of us are standing around arguing for our weaknesses, trying to convince people that our lack of character is our character; the heroes, leaders, legends, champions, and saints who fill the history books went looking for their weaknesses. They didn’t hide their weaknesses, and they didn’t hide from them. They woke early each morning and went out to face them, because they knew their weaknesses were the keys to their richer, more abundant future.

If you want your future to be bigger than your past, start to transform your weaknesses into strengths!

Are you prepared to face the Judas in you?

The following heavenly trivia is priceless!

When God was creating the universe, some of the angels were discussing where each of them felt God should hide the truth. One angel said, “I think God should hide the truth at the very summit of the highest mountain.“ The next proclaimed, “I think God should hide the truth at the very depths of the ocean.“ Another said, “No, I think God should hide the truth on the farthest star.“

God overheard the angels and spoke up, saying, “I will hide the truth in none of these places. I will hide the truth in the very depths of every man and every woman’s heart. This way, those who search humbly and sincerely will find it easily, and those who do not will have to search the whole universe before they do.”

Know thyself; know your strengths and weaknesses; your relation to the universe (more accurately, God); your potentialities; your spiritual heritage; your aims and purposes; take stock of thyself.           Socrates

This is Eugene Peterson and this is the introduction to The Message New Testament.

Over the course of about 50 years, these writings added up to what later would be compiled by the followers of Jesus and designated the New Testament. Three kinds of writings; eye-witness stories, personal letters, and a visionary poem make up the book; 5 stories, 21 letters, one poem. And in the course of this this writing and reading, collecting and arranging with no one apparently in charge, the early Christians whose lives were being changed and shaped by what they were reading, arrived at the conviction that there was in fact someone in charge. God’s Holy Spirit was behind and in it all. In retrospect, they could see it was not at all random or haphazard, that every word worked with every other word, and that all the separate documents worked in intricate harmony. There was nothing accidental in any of this, nothing merely circumstantial. They were bold to call what had been written God’s Word, and trusted their lives to it. They accepted its authority over their lives and most of its readers since have been similarly convinced.

The arrival of Jesus signaled a beginning of a new era, God entered history in a personal way and made it unmistakably clear that He is on our side, doing everything possible to save us. It was all presented and worked out in a life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It was and is hard to believe, seemingly too good to be true. But one by one, men and women did believe it, believed Jesus was God, alive among them and for them. Soon they would realize He also lived within them. To their great surprise, they found themselves living in a world where God called all the shots, had the first word on everything, had the last word on everything. That meant that everything, quite literally EVERYTHING had to be re–centered, re-imagined, and re-thought. They went at it with immense gusto, they told stories of Jesus, and arranged his teachings in memorable form. They wrote letters, they sang songs, they prayed. One of them wrote an extraordinary poem based on holy visions. There was no apparent organization to any of this, it was all more or less spontaneous, and to the eye of the casual observer, haphazard.

The striking feature in all this writing is that it was done in the street language of the day, the idiom of the playground and the marketplace. In the Greek speaking world of that day, there were two levels of language, formal and informal. Formal language was used to write philosophy and history, government decrees and epic poetry. If someone were to sit down and consciously write for future generations, it would of course be written in this formal language with its learned vocabulary and its precise diction.

But if the writing was routine; shopping lists, family letters, bills and receipts, it was written in the common informal idiom of everyday speech, street language. And this is the language used throughout the New Testament. Some people are taken back by this supposing the language meeting with a Holy God and holy things, should be elevated, stately and ceremonial. But one good look at Jesus, his preference for down to earth stories, and his easy association with common people, gets rid of that supposition. For Jesus, it is the descent of God to our lives just as they are, not the ascent of our lives to God, hoping that He might approve when He sees how hard we try.

And that is why the followers of Jesus and their witness and preaching, translating and teaching, have always done their best to get the message, the Good News, into the language of whatever streets they happened to be living on. In order to understand the message right, the language must be right, not a refined language that appeals to our aspirations after the best, but a rough and earthy language that reveals God’s presence and action where we least expect it catching us when we are up to our elbows in the soiled ordinariness of our lives, and God is the furthest thing from our minds.

This version of the New Testament in a contemporary idiom, keeps the language of the message current and fresh and understandable in the same language in which we do our shopping, talk with our friends, worry about world affairs, and teach our children their table manners. The goal is not to render a word for word conversion of Greek into English but rather to convert the tone, the rhythm, the events, the ideas, into the way we actually think and speak.

In the midst of doing this work I realize, that this is exactly what I’ve been doing all of my vocational life. For thirty five years as a pastor, I stood at the border between two languages, biblical Greek and everyday English, acting as a translator, providing the right phrases, getting the right words so that the men and women to whom I was pastor, could find their way around and get along in this world where God has spoken so decisively and clearly in Jesus. I did it from the pulpit, and in the kitchen, in hospitals and restaurants, on parking lots and at picnics, always looking for an English way to make the biblical text relevant to the conditions of the people.      Eugene H Peterson.

The Message is a reading or listening Bible translated from the original Greek and Hebrew Scriptures. I am frequently surprised by how many believers in the non KJV congregations do not have access to The Message. I do realize for some of you translation/version is paramount. And for memorizing, study and teaching, I believe that to be valid. However, I’m not so convinced the Holy Spirit would not have us use other translations/version for such as when I desire to be “immersed and washed” in the essence of a chapter or even an entire book of Scripture to readily capture and absorb its perspective, instruction and wisdom in our street language today.

Also, I see value in providing a seeker unfamiliar with biblical jargon Scriptural texts in a format such as The Message, that they more easily can understand. I concur the discussion ranks higher than merely prime rib or broccoli (14:6-9). Perhaps more like “milk vs. meat”(Heb 5:12, I Cor 3:2).  

Below I  have included selected texts from Romans Chapters 12-15 in The Message that I appreciate. Blessings as you read below challenging your “everyday ordinary life in Christ.”          merlin

Romans 12: 1 – 21 (The Message)

Place Your Life Before God

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life, your  sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You will be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well formed maturity in you.

I’m speaking to you out of a deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we are talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us find our meaning and function as part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned and all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we are made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.

If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.

Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

Don’t burn out; keep yourself fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.

Bless your enemy; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.

Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,“ says God. “I’ll take care of it.

Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.

Romans 13: 8 – 14

Be a Responsible Citizen

Don’t run up debts except for the huge debt of love you owe each other. When you love others you complete what the law has been after all along. The law code, don’t sleep with another person’s spouse, don’t take someone’s life, don’t take what isn’t yours, don’t always be wanting what you don’t have, and any other “don’t” you can think of – finally adds up to this: love other people as well as you do yourself. You can’t go wrong when you love others. When you add up everything in the law code, the sum total is love.

But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing!  God is putting finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed. We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!

Romans 14

Cultivating Good Relationships

Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with – even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently.

For instance, the person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume he should only be a vegetarian and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ’s table, wouldn’t it be terrible rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn’t eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God’s welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help.

Or, say, one person thinks that some days should be set aside as holy and another thinks that each day is pretty much like any other. There are good reasons either way. So, each person is free to follow the convictions of conscience.

What’s important in all this is that if you keep a holy day, keep it for God’s sake; if you eat meat, eat it for the glory of God and thank God for prime rib; if you’re a vegetarian, eat vegetables to the glory of God and thank God for broccoli. None of us are permitted to insist on our own way in these matters. It’s God we are answerable to – all the way from life to death and everything in between – not each other. That’s why Jesus lived and died and then lived again: so that he could be our Master across the entire range of life and death, and free us from the petty tyrannies of each other.

So where does that leave you when you criticize a brother? And where does that leave you when you condescend to a sister? I’d say it leaves you looking pretty silly – or worse. Eventually, we are all going to end up kneeling side by side in the place of judgment, facing God. Your critical and condescending ways aren’t going to improve your position there one bit. Read it for yourself in Scripture:

“As I live and breathe,” God says, Every knee will bow before me; Every tongue will tell the honest truth that I and only I am God.”

So tend to your knitting. You’ve got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God.

Forget about deciding what’s right for each other.  Here’s what you need to be concerned about: that you don’t get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it is already. I’m convinced – Jesus convinced me! – that everything as it is  in itself is holy. We, of course, by the way we treat it or talk about it, can contaminate it.

If you confuse others by making a big issue over what they eat or don’t eat, you’re no longer a companion with them in love, are you? These, remember, are persons for whom Christ died. Would you risk sending them to hell over an item in their diet? Don’t you dare let a piece of God blessed – food become an occasion of soul-poisoning!

God‘s kingdom isn’t a matter of what you put in your stomach, for goodness sake. It’s what God does with your life as he sets it right, puts it together, and completes it with joy. Your task is to single-mindedly serve Christ. Do that and you kill two birds with one stone: pleasing the God above and improving your worth to the people around you.

So let’s agree to use all our energy in getting along with each other. Help others with encouraging words; don’t drag them down by finding fault. You’re certainly not going to permit an argument over what is served are not served at supper to wreck God’s work among you, are you? I said it before and I’ll say it again: All food is good, but it can turn bad if you use it badly, if you use it to trip others up and send them sprawling. When you sit down to a meal, your primary concern should not be to feed your own face but to share the life of Jesus. So be sensitive and courteous to the others who are eating. Don’t eat or say or do things that might interfere with the free exchange of love.

Cultivate your own relationship with God but don’t impose it on others. You’re fortunate if your behavior and your belief are coherent. But if you’re not sure, if you notice that you are acting in ways and inconsistent with what you believe – some days trying to impose your opinions on others, other days just trying to please them – then

 you know that you’re out of line. If the way you live isn’t consistent with what you believe, then it’s wrong.

Romans 15:1-6

Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status.  Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, “How can I help?”

That’s exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t make it easy for himself by avoiding people’s struggles, but waded right in and helped out. “I took on the troubles of the troubled,” is the way the Scripture put it. Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you can get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we will be a choir – not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!

This post too comes from Chapter Two as did the prior from the book “Call to Joy.” Another revealing glimpse for me! Again, my comments are italicized.

A wise  man was once asked, “What do you think most needs to change in the world?” He replied, “I do.“ Most people do not consider themselves perfect, yet even though we recognize our need to change and grow, we often do not take a single step toward doing so.

We are held back by our fear of the unknown. We are scared of what we might become if we change. Absurd as it may sound, we are scared of the very thing for which we were created: our fulfillment. We are cautious about abandoning what we do and what we have (even if these are self-destructive) because we have found in these things some sense of security. Sadly, however, these are also what hold us prisoners to our limitations.

Many of us are scared to dream for fear that we might be disappointed. It is like a young woman who prays and dreams every day for that special young man to come into her life; then when he finally does, she becomes hesitant and wary, sometimes to the point that this confuses him and he walks away. She has focused on the fact that one day he might leave. Sometimes we are too hesitant to let our dreams become realities. And what she is focused on comes true.

Do not be afraid of your dreams coming true. Allow them to emerge and become realities in your life.

Only by envisioning what it is we want to achieve and then by the power of the Spirit of God that dwells within us are we able to achieve anything.

The things that we have, the things we do, and who we are form our identity. People identify with us according to these things, and our identity determines the level of respect we receive from people. Often we think we must acquire or do certain things in order to maintain this identity and sustain this respect. (Perhaps this coercion or blackmail is far worse than today’s identity theft.) 

Change threatens this identity and respect, which are false and idolatrous when the things that form this identity and gain us respect are the very things that prevent us from walking with God. So many people are alienated from God by the things that they think give meaning to their lives but that in fact bring them nothing but emptiness, unhappiness, and only momentary pleasure.

You cannot both change and stay as you are.

What holds us back from changing are things that do not help but hinder, things that bring not life and happiness but death, self-destruction, and sadness. Very often these things are detrimental to both our physical and our spiritual health. In some cases God wants us to give up these things and replace them with much grander things. (Consider the June 4 post titled “Intro to Coaching 101” in paragraph 16 of the story of the children content to play in their back yard mud box when their parents really wanted to take them on a family vacation  to the beach for a week…. Absolutely incomparable!) In other cases he wants us to be more moderate. But always we are being called to raise our sights do the things that are above, to envision our fulfillment.

The first positive step for the journey of the soul is to recognize that you are not completely fulfilled. And then you must acknowledge that you cannot become more fulfilled while you remain exactly as you are today. If you are not fulfilled and happy today and yet, tomorrow you do everything the same way you did today, do you actually believe that you will be any happier?

Perhaps what is holding you back is the fact that in the past you have tried to change and been unsuccessful. Often people see the need for changing their lives and make a particular resolution to accomplish it. Although they have the best intentions, these people often fail to achieve the desired change. Why? Because they are focusing on the negative.

There is no change necessary for your fulfillment and perfection that you are not capable of achieving with the assistance of the divine. Take some time to reflect on the power in this statement.

The answer to this problem is to replace the old activity with the new activity. A person experiencing a problem in the area of purity can respond in several ways. For example, if he is constantly glaring lustfully at women as they walk down the street, his response can be twofold. First, he can learn to admire the pavement instead of scanning everything as he walks down the street, thus limiting the input to his imagination. Then, with his imagination and attention now his slaves, he can use them to begin a conversation with Christ, and he can try to sustain this conversation always and everywhere, “praying constantly“ throughout the day.

Thus, far from focusing on the negative and the “sacrifice“ being made, he moves forward by replacing the activity being removed with one much more positive, beautiful, and fruitful to his development.

Focus on the good, the noble, the just. Focus on the positive and hope in God.

It is the replacement of one activity with another of greater meaning and value that makes attempts to change successful.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above. Colossians 3:1

You ever get the feeling recently there is much more to “seeking the things that are above” than you realized? God very ably has “raised us up” and apparently has placed the ball in our court to “work out our own salvation” as stated in Philippians 2:12. 

Paul’s “working out” our salvation is very different from “working for” our salvation! He is simply explaining that our wonderfully free gift from God is already inside of us; it has already been downloaded and is in our RAM ready for us to access. By “seeking those things that are above,” we bring out those beautiful attributes and character traits by faith. It is our faith that works out what is on the inside of us, perhaps in the form of all those freely Holy Spirit  given apps, certainly not us or our “works.” Perhaps this is  one way we can see our inner salvation visibly through our outwardly manifested  character? Remember, Paul instead of receiving the death sentence on the Damascus road, which he expected, was shown unfailing mercy and love that transformed him into one of the greatest apostles in the Bible. 

Perhaps our first step in this faith building process is for us to finally realize we are not yet fulfilled, or even close? And neither will we be until we either become mentally incapacitated or experience death. In other words, God has much more yet to download in us to enhance our “character traits.” And unless I’m daily “Seeking first the kingdom of God,” I’ll remain clueless and oblivious to what all I’ve missed out on until the day I give my accounting. Remember the 5, 2, & 1 talents in Matthew 25:14-30?

And I will tell you from experience, that “living in the now” and being Spirit-empowered, is sorta like  enrolling in auto pay for all your monthly bills, always on time every time, no mess, no fuss, no late fees. And what’s more, your spiritual “equity account” with Jesus, always has more than enough to see you through. 

Blessings as YOU GO FORTH TODAY SEEKING FIRST THE KINGDOM>>>>>…..merlin  

Again, readers, I am sharing a portion of Chapter Two, Walking with God, from Matthew Kelly’s book, A Call to Joy. My comments are italicized.  Enjoy.

When you acknowledge your imperfections, you are on the brink of great growth and wonderful times.

None of us is perfect. This is a truth that most of us learn early in life. Yet, though we are not perfect, we are perfectible!

We have all witnessed ourselves and others failing in different areas of our lives. Some allow their failure to be transformed into despair and defeat. Others are able to get up, move on, and struggle again.

Something failures just look like failures. Other failures really are failures and need to be recognized as such.

Vincent van Gogh, the Dutch painter, is now hailed as one of the greatest artists of all time. But he did not enjoy the same  acclaim and success during his lifetime. He painted 1700 paintings during his lifetime. He sold only one of them, for a mere $85. Almost 100 years to the day after his death, one of his paintings was sold at auction for $40 million. Sometimes failures just look like failures.

Imagine if after paining five pictures and not being able to sell them, van Gogh had quit. Today we would not have sunflowers and so many of his other works to enjoy.

How do you respond to failure? When you fail, particularly in your struggle to become a better person, how do you respond?

It is interesting to look at the circumstances in which both Judas and Peter found themselves just prior to Jesus death and then to compare how they responded. Judas betrayed Jesus. Peter turned his back on and denied Jesus. They both failed. They both fell. The difference is not that one of them failed and one of them succeeded. No. The difference is how they responded to failure.

Judas experienced discouragement as a result of his betrayal. He allowed his discouragement to be transformed by pride  into despair. His pride was his defeat.

Peter also experienced discouragement as a result of his denial. He allowed his discouragement to be transformed by humility into hope. His humility was his victory.

With whom do you identify when you fail? Judas or Peter? Are you prideful or do possess humility?

Get used to failing. We all fail sometimes. It is often the key to success. It is a big part of human existence and it’s an inevitable part of the struggle. But if you persevere you will emerge victorious and fulfilled. So often it is our fear of failing that prevents us from attempting to change and from seeking the joy we desire.

Powerful stuff.  Simply put! Pride vs. Humility. Pride wasted my best years. I trust you learned humility early. Regardless, it is never too late to CHANGE! Blessings as you fail forward traveling FORTH in Spirit empowered humility>>>>    merlin

Greetings readers. This week I am simply providing you some quotes from Matthew Kelly’s book “A Call to Joy: Living in the Presence of God” from its first chapter, “The Voice of God.”

This book was written over 20 years ago when Matthew was 23 years old. In the prior five years, Matthew spoke to over a million people in seminars, talks, and retreats in 46 countries. Millions more have been touched by his writings and appearances on major radio and television programs worldwide. Young, charismatic,and extraordinarily engaging, Matthew comes to the aid of a generation desperately searching for some meaning in life deeper than the pursuit of material things. Exploring the challenges of our modern world, he brilliantly puts into context the unchanging truths of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. In a Call to Joy, he shares both his remarkable personal story and his uniquely inspiring insights on faith, love, and the trials and triumphs of the spiritual life.

Enjoy!

In the midst of all the hustle and bustle of the world, there is a whisper in the marketplace. The whisper is the voice of God. He is calling to you. He is beckoning to you. He is gently inviting you to a quiet place, and His call is a call to joy. If you listen, you can hear His voice saying, “Come to Me.” He is calling you into His presence so that your life may become a dance for joy.

Holiness is about grasping the moments of each day and using them to grow and become a better person and about assisting others in achieving the same. It is this that gives glory to God.

Smile, say less and listen more, pray, and trust.

A smile is an invitation, and invitation to someone else to dance for joy.

The following is a true story. One day a priest found himself walking through the Bowery in New York City, a place where many homeless people can be found. The priest was with three friends, and they were on their way to take a ferry ride. As they walked along, they came upon a man sitting on the pavement. He was very dirty and look depressed. When he met the priest’s eyes, he beckoned to him to come over. Touched, the priest move toward him. But his friends quickly spoke up: “Come on, you don’t want to go near that bum.”

The priest ignored their warning and move still closer while his friends watched in amazement. The priest said a few words to the man. Then he smiled and moved on to catch the ferry.

As they were waiting to board, the same man came running up to the priest, sobbing like a child; he pulled out a gun and said, “Father, just before you walked along this morning I was about to go down an alley and blow my brains out. When you came along I waved to you and you responded to my call, my cry, my plea. Then you spoke to me as you would speak to someone you love, but it wasn’t any of this that stopped me from doing what I had planned. As you started to leave, you looked deep into my eyes and smiled. It was a first sign of human affection that I’ve been shown in seven years and I just wanted you to know that today your smile has given me life.“

The two spoke for a while, and the priest discovered that this man had been once been a doctor practicing at John Hopkins Hospital. Then the priest gave him his blessing and went on his way.

Later, the priest went to the hospital to find out what he could about this man.He brought the man’s name up to various doctors and nurses and was told that he had in fact been a doctor there, but he was having some trouble so he left. No one knew where the priest could find him now.

Three years later the phone rang and the priest was greeted by a well-spoken voice saying, “Hello, I’m Dr. Lawson. Remember me? From the Bowery? I’m back at the hospital now. I just wanted you to know a smile can make a difference, sometimes all the difference.“

If you do nothing else today, smile at someone who needs to see you smile.

Say less and listen more. These five words have improved my relationships with people more than any others. Everyone has a story. Your story is the thread of your life. It is when we lose or forget our story that our lives begin to fall apart.

Experience is not the only teacher.

The voice of God never ceases in our lives; he just uses different channels.

We are always wanting to know more, yet we are often not prepared to listen. We want to know more, but we do not live what we already know.

Our big struggle takes place between the false self and the true self. The more we abandon the false self and surrender to the true self, the more we grow in perfection. This battle takes place primarily in our hearts. It is a battle between power and love, between the love of power and the power to love. As we discover and nurture our true selves through prayer and reflection, the power to love grows in our hearts and defeat its enemy, reducing our love of power.

Suffering puts us in touch with what is really important. Sacrifice spells out our commitment and confirms our love.

Nothing in this life is a coincidence. There are no accidents, just providence. Providence, providence, all is providence.

To breathe is not a right, it is a gift.

One of the first steps toward being able to recognize and be in touch with the divine plan for you is discovering the difference between a right and a gift. In the modern Western world we have an interesting combination of an overdeveloped sense of rights and over developed ego. When the two are mixed together, they form an extremely harmful formula known as U4 (unfulfilled, unhappy, unsatisfied, and unbearable).

I don’t under stand why I’m alive, or why I wake up each day, how I breathe, and many other things, but I do know that one day I will not wake up. Death, however, is not a mystery. Life is the mystery. Life is sacred.

Life is to be reverenced in all its forms.

To hear his voice you must be willing to change and obey his words. To achieve the necessary frame of mind and heart, we must recognize that God is good and that he calls us to do what is best. His challenge to change is much more than just that. His challenge to change is really a call to growth and to fulfillment. Fulfillment for a person is not a place, it is not a destination, it is a path. Journeying along the path is fulfilling. Standing still on the path is depressing.

When you stand still, you reject “the struggle” and you refuse to change and grow. Simultaneously you reject fulfillment, happiness, the dance for joy, and everything else that is eternally good.

God is your Father. He is a loving Father with wonderful plans for his children. Regardless of the greatest plan you can put together for yourself with the greatest power of your imagination, his plan is better, greater, more exciting, and more rewarding. Believe in his plan. Ask him to reveal his plan to you. Then listen…

Standing still on the path is depressing..  Believe in his plan. Ask him to reveal his plan to you. Then listen. Blessings as you GO FORTH ON YOUR PATH!   merlin

Good evening readers! I have not sat down to write in nearly two weeks …. which is a record  for me since I began this blog. This was certainly not by design, for even prior to my accident and Loretta “nursing” me thru that season, she was planning two 10 day trips this summer and I’ve been adamant that they occur regardless. But what we didn’t plan for was her mother being hospitalized prior and for me now to be responsible for her care while Loretta is elsewhere. But everyone has been helping and all is well.

Actually, it is really a neat experience to spend so much time with Eileen. I’ve “experienced”four additional mothers after losing mine in ’72. I have two presently yet on earth to enjoy, both 93 now, and of course Eileen is immediate family, not an adoption. Perhaps I need to write a book on the dynamics and blessings of being a “vagabond son” and “adopted” by three “experienced” and one “inexperienced” mothers after being “orphaned” at the mature age of 23. Most interesting!    

FYI, I do have a specific chair from which I write in my office. Certainly not fancy, actually wicker. But now here at mom’s, I either sit on the living room couch or at the kitchen table. And I do have the couch covered with books and papers, but worse, is I have not brought a printer over so I make a frequent journey of 102 steps to our home for that or whatever else I may need.

But even more interesting , is how I process several books at once in addition to scripture. I’m reading the One Year Bible again after a twelve year break and the experience is just choice. I am also back to listening to the Message version of the NT again as I did extensively five years ago providing much joy.

I always have a new book ready on audible while driving or similarly focused as such on a  “trial basis” to determine if this new book’s message “moves” me sufficiently to study it more closely later on Kindle when I will underline it. Then, if I think I’ll really refer to it frequently and loan copies to whomever, I’ll even order a hard copy.

It seems there is always one book God has me virtually “inhaling.” Be better if He could just direct deposit it in my brain but truth be told, he has sorta promised that via the Holy Spirit with Scripture, hasn’t He?  In fact, I’m currently listening to Bevere’s “God, Where Are You?! Finding Strength and Purpose In Your Wilderness”  multiple times and specific chapters, maybe even 5 or 6 times. This book is spot on for my life choices today and is also giving me insight to both past and present challenges.

Recently I was told to read for entertainment. I seldom read now strictly for entertainment. The exception to that recently has been all of Paul Stutzman’s books. And I’m sure there’ll be other authors like him who I’ll meet when timely and prudent. At this moment of my life’s focus, I consider all my virtue wisdom books as my form of entertainment. You must understand I didn’t start reading significantly until I was 65. My mistaken thinking prior was I just didn’t have “time.” Now I more fully understand the futility of my self-imposed “desert experience.” By not reading scripture significantly or the virtue/wisdom books, I continually destroyed the potential life giving energy in both my vertical and horizontal relationships reducing my opportunity to “wake up and smell the roses” and “get a life” worth living, both for myself, and with all those persons in proximity to me.

Enough about the necessity of reading. My biggest pet peeve today about typical weekly church pew squatters is the impression I get at least from many, is they don’t read the “good stuff.” And that was exactly me for many years! When you’ve been a non-reader as long as I, (usually non-readers are also non-learners …  remember the Bernard quote in a recent post?) you sorta have a sixth sense about what’s going on in a non-readers life. Perhaps it can even be said, you can read non-readers like a book?

I dare say if the only reading you ever do is your daily reading in the One Year Bible and if you approach that as the opportunity for God to speak truth and wisdom into your life, you will be surprised at how frequently you’ll find something; a truth, an insight, a new understanding, etc. And if your faith is real, in the moment, and in community,  you just gotta share it with someone. However, in the event that your daily Bible reading is merely to check your “did it box,” as I did for thirteen years, it will be sadly and largely, a waste of your time. Your time may be better spent talking with your kids or spouse. I do believe podcasts do not replace reading of scripture though such may enrich your reading profoundly.

If I’m honest with myself and you, I’ve indeed spent much of my life in a DWE. Perhaps not literally, because many of you know I first came to Wayne County OH 51 years ago from MN, a frozen wilderness and you’re not likely aware how I lived in “real time” spiritual deprivation and all its catastrophic losses …especially in relationships, both vertically and horizontally.

Perhaps we’ll talk more about our “desert/wilderness experiences (DWE’s)” next time. I understand it seldom  rains in the desert. If you desire water, it will have to be drawn from wells or springs. John 7:37-39 NKJV states “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” Note that it is not the outpouring (rain) of the Spirit of God that we are apt to experience in the desert. Rather, in the desert, we must draw deep from within our heart, for actually it is from the fountain or well of God that these refreshing waters arise.

Just how does this happen to us? Read Isaiah 11: 2 NKJV where the prophet Isaiah explains the nature of how the Spirit works flowing like rivers out of the believer’s heart.“ And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.”

Consider also these supporting Scriptures:

Proverb 18:4“The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters; the wellspring of wisdom is a flowing brook” (NKJV).

Proverb 16:22 “Understanding is a well spring of life to him who has it” (NKJV).

Proverb 20:5 “Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out” (NKJV).

I believe the key word is “draw.” Remember, the waters of refreshment in the desert do not come from the Spirit’s rain but must be “drawn” from the heart.

I like Proverb 10:11 that says, “The mouth of the righteous is a well of life …”(NKJV). Even better is Proverb 15:23 “A man has joy by the answer of his mouth”(NKJV). Such as when you suddenly realize while living life in real time, you have an Ah Ha moment, and you know that you know! ….The reality is the “Truth having been internalized” is now suddenly flowing out from within you. It should be no great surprise. Truth in, Truth out. Thank you Jesus!

I think too often I have gotten discouraged with the surroundings of my DWE continually pleading with God to do “something” and so I stagnate (sit, soak, and sour) on the “on deck circle” waiting for whatever to materialize. And since it doesn’t or hadn’t, we are tempted to build a “house” there and get comfortable, you  know how it is; keep the job, buy bottled water, install heat and AC. Not a  good idea! Deserts are temporary. Wildernesses require living in “tents” so we can move out quickly. We must be tenacious and persistent in our drive to experience the fullness of God. We must drill deep into our “being” continually supported by scripture as God utilizes the desert to build up our strength and  stamina for our future battles. Understand the DWE is where God brings us to teach us that any attempt on our part to do something for Him, apart from his leading and ability, is merely futility!

God does not waste our less than desirable sinful experiences. We were already forgiven before conceived and upon our confession and subsequent restoration, we are then empowered for his service, possibly in even the very area we experienced our most devastating failures. Now isn’t that scary? Suddenly perhaps a grass hut in Africa and being shoe less doesn’t sound so bad? I say that because something similar is always given as the worst possible nightmare for entering kingdom work!  Even more so, your personal experiential truth!

And when God has us wandering in the DW, please realize God is not wasting time. Actually, He is the one who redeems our time. Where I am today is a vital component of where I am going. Look at it as being the process of going from the promise to ultimately, the promotion. That is the real fulfillment God desires for us. He is God, the Author and Finisher. Continually live in the moment … trust Him and obey what He is showing you today!

John Bevere says it well. “Just because we don’t feel his presence in the prayer closet does not mean that He is denying us. Therefore, our joy is not based on how we feel. Rather, it is based on who He is and the privilege we have of being related to Him. So, we see past the lies of being denied and instead realize He is drawing us out … toward the deeper wells!”

I prefer to think of the DWE as God bringing us first into a state of contentment, but not complacency, so we can live fully engaged in the present. Consider the lives of both Joseph and David. Such patience!

Prepare to go forth all you tent dwellers, move out now since you’ve drank deeply of those cool refreshing waters from your heart. Live in the moment. Accept your divine orders. Conquer your promised land!>>>>> …… merlin

I am continually amazed at how God provides such an abundance of truths from the wisdom writings and how they mesh or flow into my circumstances today. Perhaps I’m encouraged to move ahead in confidence, or to wait patiently though seldom with adequate understanding. Perhaps I’m merely awaiting  confirmation, but all too often it seems, the experience requires a very painful but oh so necessary, total reworking of me and everything I hold dear, or increasingly, NOT dear enough!  

I am increasingly aware I have either developed, been given, or am acquiring  a dream/desire to communicate by writing. Isn’t that just totally absurd? Me write? Who would ever take time to read it? And what would I ever write about? I’m still waiting for several articulate readers to step forth with a heavy dose of a reality check!

In my defense though, coaching protocols today encourage us to discover or uncover our dreams/desires and this leads us frequently back into our earlier days, maybe even back to grade school, to a time when circumstances overruled  dreams and desires. Perhaps your dreams and desires were restrained, repressed, discouraged, misunderstood, or for sure at least, not practical in your life situation then or later for whatever reason. And only now sadly, are you and I finally having the luxury of discovering how the God given desires of our hearts are so intricately interwoven with our natural skills and abilities even though as I did my entire life, lied to myself while pursuing all my other adventures while in my workaholic stupor. Hopefully, you were not as obsessed as I!    

You know this writing all began quite innocently as Loretta had encouraged me to write throughout our marriage but I seldom obliged. I literally had nothing to write about. No creativity was present. Then our two younger sons several years ago threw in their support and this past November, our eldest set me up with a blog that was all new to me. But I did write, or tried at least. Basically, I just looked out the windows, admired the beauty, and started typing.

Some of you remember those first posts. Actually, the first post comes up when you google merlinsmustache.com as “Greetings.” As I recall, Ben was getting ready to leave when he said “you need to quick write something introductory” so he could show me the process before he left. Now I am surprised the post is as coherent as it is considering the time frame of its birth.  

The very thought I would someday enjoy spending hours communicating through a keyboard when I never even took a typing class, was a huge stretch … but  now I even have a future list of subjects I am looking forward to developing when time permits.  

All I can say at this moment on Friday afternoon at 4:59 PM, is this. I find it simply amazing how God has worked in us as Loretta and I are two very imperfect vessels,  especially I. True, we had been considering God’s will or suggestions for our retirement for years. Howbeit now, the focus has evolved into a  consuming passion for us since the 9/18/18 accident. We are not persons of great faith or even significant prayer warriors. But being sidelined on the bench has provided me time for considerable reading, listening, and prayer coupled with an intense seeking to know and experience God as I have never done prior, and it has been in a few words, “simply marvelous.”

Never in my life have I been as happy, fulfilled, and filled with expectations when I really have no concrete basis for such. It certainly is not because I have any great predictions for my liking to write or because I’m getting any accolades from anyone anywhere!

Recently I was listening to an evangelist relate his wilderness experience of God earlier leading him into significant kingdom building activities progressing toward the dream he had heard from God years earlier, but then all the events in this couple’s life were disrupted for several years. And during their wilderness times of silence, solitude and simplicity, he heard God say “I just wanted to know if you were really in love with me, or merely with the dream of what I could do for you.” And that stopped me dead in my tracks as I was working in the lab at the time when I heard it. I hit the 30 second rewind button on audible twice to hear it again. And again. Yes, those 25 words suddenly turned the lights on for me spiritually. Am I actually so in love with Jesus, seeking His righteousness, His holiness, His presence, regardless of the task, OR was I only in love with the dream of what He could do for me. May I explain. 

Only of late do I realize how I have been so deceived in my past quests for spiritual accomplishment. Yes, decades ago I was likely unknowingly the model Pharisee at my church. Eventually I “matured,” and saw the error of my ways and actually went underground by just staying off the platform choosing instead to engage others in their stories of their faith walks and be an encouragement as a faith facilitator. During my Pharisee stint,  I once focused my “merlin’s project attention” on several men outside the church without faith and in visible need of a relationship with Jesus.

There are several key words here: “merlin’s project” and “visible.” The first, project, is what addictive people, such as myself do when they hide behind rather than face their separation from God and remain synthetic in their relationships. Visible in the fact it was readily apparent these men needed Jesus  but what was not visible to me, though it was very visible to Loretta, was the extent to which I personally needed healing and restoration before I could speak truth into these men’s lives. “Merlin’s projects” continually during our marriage consumed and diverted my energy and attention away from my wife and family, even and especially, my spiritual growth, illustrating so well the hypocrisy of these hidden addictions that we often unknowingly tolerate in our relationships, families, churches and communities.

Addictions in addition to those we normally consider, are also found in such as food, travel, entertainment, continual self-centered thoughts, shopping, media, clothes, image, financial security, name brands, children’s activities, sports, software, pets, landscaping, gardens, books, google, tools, music, attitudes, conversation, busyness, intellectualism, creativity, hobbies, politics, minimalism, demonic, spiritualism, reading, games, and especially, physical health and well being, etc.

Understand we human beings are very capable of making virtually anything “addictive” if we inadvertently shift our essential purpose from being “human beings” reflecting God’s-best-possible-version-of-us; to merely becoming “human doings,” reflecting our consumptive addictive busyness and-less-than-desirable-version-of-ourselves.

 Is it possible we’ve been trying too hard to facilitate healing for others as I did with those two men, when actually we desperately need first to receive healing from our “hidden” addictions ourselves? And then when we do recognize our hypocrisy, rather than immediately seeking forgiveness, restoration, and empowerment as we ought, we are embarrassed and understandably so… so we sit , soak, and sour in the safety of our pew, until we just can’t handle all the hypocrisy any longer, so we split. I keep wondering what effect these “hidden addictions” or “displaced affections” are having in our congregations today.  Perhaps this explains why some today are seemingly so easily withdrawing their church support and attendance. 

Or consider addiction’s effect from a different angle. You have heard it said that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. That is not from the Sermon on the Mount either! I believe every area of life can be weakened by one area of addiction.  Mahatma Gandhi once wrote, “Man cannot do right in one department of life while he is occupied in doing wrong in another department. Life is one indivisible whole.” And we all know only the blood of Jesus and His righteousness can make our lives “one indivisible whole” and once and for all, stop all of this daily trivial pursuit nonsense full of excuses addictions! 

I shared all of this to simply say this. I am only now learning to dream real dreams. I have had many dreams over the years but I never wrote them down. Dreams not written down and reviewed frequently are merely of-no- effect-wishes! Likely most of these wishes were quite selfish and self serving rather than “restorative and healing” to both  myself and others in our quest to become the-best-versions-of-ourselves/themselves.

The question now for me this Friday evening on June 14, 2019 is “Do I trust God with my desire to communicate to whomever wherever however with whatever?” Or is my desire, enjoyment and dream to write, merely another one of “merlin’s misdirected self-centered addictive projects” in my feeble attempt at spiritual discovery, hopefully fulfillment? Time will tell. It usually (or always) does.

How about you? Is God tweaking your heart strings yet about anything possibly addictive for you? Are you on the path presently experiencing “restoration and healing,” not only for yourself, but also with the others in your life from over the years, where now, for whatever reason, it seems relationships may have weakened, perhaps even  “soured?” And if so, for very little fault of your own, but you know now without a doubt, that you solely have the power and even quite possibly, the responsibility to initiate the process to make both yourself and “all of them” the best-possible-version-of-themselves now, and hopefully, even guide them into eternity.  Can you trust God on this? The time is now. Become a faith facilitator. Many are watching you! Your destiny and your legacy lie in the balance.

Everything in life begins with a thought, leading to conversation, leading to relationship, leading to dreams and desires, leading to choices and decisions, leading to destiny and legacy, leading to joy or misery ….

Listening, asking questions and offering accountability is what I do.

Destination discovery, goal setting and implementing is what you do.

Celebrating victories is what we do.

Blessings as you go forth now resisting addictions by continually facilitating restoration and healing>>>>   merlin

   

In the prior post titled“on the legitimacy of intellect as a primary human need,” we were encouraged to feed our minds and ask ourselves what stories are we listening to.  But of far greater consequence is the fact that our intellectual needs are seldom seen as urgent and therefore not pursued, and for sure, seldom if ever from the “wisdom writings.”

In time our intellectual desires merely slither away like a snake into a forgotten dark abyss replaced by today’s never-ending barrage of written, verbal and masterfully imaged “largely addictive consumptive noisy trash” in stark comparison to the “wisdom writings of the past” and some of  the contemplative authors of today. As we each tend to our spiritual garden, its needs and desires, we produce clarity, direction, continuity, integrity, etc. and soon discover our other three primary needs; physical, emotional, and intellectual, will all fall into a desirable and productive perspective.    

Today we will reflect briefly on our perceived spiritual needs that I alluded to earlier. I resonate with Kelly’s mention of silence, solitude, and simplicity starting on page 60 in “Rhythms of Life” … and again, since he explains it so well, I’m simply sharing it here and now with you, howbeit in a condensed format similar to Readers Digest Condensed Books. (Please note the verses and comments in parentheses among Kelly’s italicized text in bold are my additions.) Enjoy.    

Only here in the area of spirituality do we come to understand most fully our other legitimate needs – physical, emotional, and intellectual – and gain the insight to live a life that enriches, upholds, and protects our well-being in each of these areas.

Our spiritual needs have a tendency to change as the seasons of our lives change. Each of us has a unique spiritual journey. In different stages of the journey, we have different needs. And yet, there are some needs that are unchanging and necessary in all seasons of our lives – silence, solitude, and simplicity.

The noise of the world is preventing us from hearing the gentle voice within that always counsels us to embrace the-best-version-of-ourselves. We will begin to hear this voice again only when we make a habit of withdrawing from the noise in the world and immersing ourselves in silence. Nothing brings priority to our days like a period of silence each morning. (and especially so after reading Scripture such as the One Year Bible!)

Every day we are faced with a myriad of choices and opportunities. We need time away from all the other voices to discern which of these choices and opportunities will enable us to become the-best-version-of-ourselves and which are merely distractions.

It is also in silence and solitude that life’s preeminent challenge is proposed to us. Brother Silence and Sister Solitude unveil the person we are today with all our strengths and weaknesses, but they also remind us of the better person we know we can be.

In the silence, we see at one time the person we are now and the person we are capable of becoming. In seeing these two visions at one time, we are automatically challenged to change and grow and become the-best-version-of-ourselves. It is precisely for this reason that we fill our lives with noise, to distract ourselves from the challenge to change.

Commitment to the purpose of becoming the best-version-of-ourselves is the singular key to living life meaningfully and passionately.

Silence has been a great friend to the extraordinary men and women of every age. Many of life‘s great lessons can be learned only in the classroom of silence, especially those that teach us about our individual talents and how we can use them to fulfill our destiny.

Blaise Pascal, the 17th century French philosopher, scientist, mathematician, and writer, wrote: “All of man’s miseries derive from not being able to sit quietly in a room alone.“ Learn to be quiet. Learn to be still. These are among most valuable lessons in our journey. (Be still and Know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations…. Psalms 46:10)

We come now to the spiritual need of simplicity. Simplicity is one of the governing principles of the universe, yet with every passing century humanity looks to greater complexity to solve its problems and improve its life. If we learn once again to listen to the gentle voice within, we will hear it counseling us many times a day to simplify our lives. When the voices of the world propose the multiple complexities of modern living, the gentle voice within will whisper: Why complicate your life? 

Simplify. Simplify. Simplify your life and you will find the inner peace that the poets and saints of every age have coveted more than any possession. Silence. Solitude. Simplicity. Three great friends! They may be the subtlest of our legitimate needs, but when they are honored our spirits soar to unimaginable heights, and we are left only to wonder how or why we ever followed the promptings of all the jeering voices of this world.

When we tend to our legitimate spiritual needs, everything else seems to fall into perspective. Only then are we able to let go of the past, wait patiently for the future, and live with an intense passion for life in the joy of the here and now. We feel healthy. We feel more fully alive. Our lives fill with vitality, and life becomes an exciting adventure instead of the day-to-day drudgery of counting the minutes away.

The fulfillment of our legitimate spiritual needs leads us to place our essential purpose at the center of our daily lives. When silence, solitude, and simplicity become a part of the fabric of our lives, we are much less inclined to neglect our other legitimate needs. Only with the focus, perspective, and vitality that are born from the spiritual disciplines will we ever learn to transform each moment and experience of our lives into opportunities to become the-best-version-of-ourselves. Spirituality brings clarity, direction, continuity, and integrity to our lives.

The reason most of us neglect our legitimate needs (physical, emotional, intellectual,spiritual) is that we are too busy pursuing our illegitimate wants. We ignore our legitimate needs because we erroneously believe if we get enough of our illegitimate wants, it won’t matter that we are not taking care of our legitimate needs. This is a fallacy of monumental proportions because you can never get enough of what you don’t really need because fulfillment comes only from having what you need.

Notice I included the first paragraph of the next chapter, Beyond Our Wants. Kelly correctly identifies our problem, as needing to move beyond our superficial wants so as to begin to discover our deepest legitimate desires. We will discover our needs and desires are divinely and providentially linked. Imagine that!

Thanks for reading. Blessings as you go forth in your spiritual discovery of SILENCE, SOLITUDE, & SIMPLICITY (You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone O LORD, make me dwell in safety. Psalms 4:7-8) >>>>   merlin

The prior post titled Intro To Real Life Coaching RLC 101 was indeed long enough to be a chapter in a book. I do apologize but here forth I shall try to shorten them. You must read and digest the prior post before beginning this one or you will not understand either fully as it is my only post introducing the essence of life coaching.

Basically RLC 101  was about learning to live life wisely … referencing Romans 5:1-5. Frequently we get lazy and resist being life-long learners. We can all identify with the “not getting in the car example and going to the beach” at some time or another in our life, as well as the elation and exuberance we feel when we continually re-discover the essential purpose and meaning for our life! Seldom ever merely “once & done!”

The remainder of this post is taken verbatim from the book “The Rhythms of Life: Living Every Day with Passion & Purpose” by Matthew Kelly. I’ve chosen this portion of text beginning on page 56 because I believe its emphasis on our legitimate intellectual needs is both a logical and pertinent continuation for my stated rational of coaching intellectually in RLC 101. Kelly states, intellectual needs are never urgent, when compared particularly to our physical and emotional needs; perhaps less true for our perceived spiritual needs. I have no need to be personally innovative or “re-state (reinvent) the wheel” when a gifted author such as  Kelly states my sentiments on “Christians getting lazy intellectually” so well. I call it “maximizing stewardship efficiency” (MSE). Time and energy are always limited regardless of age.

Enjoy being stretched!.

“Ideas shape our lives. Ideas shape history. We all have a need for a constant flow of ideas that inspire us, challenge us, illumine our minds, teach us about ourselves and our world, show us what is possible, and encourage us to become the-best-version-of-ourselves.

We need a diet of the mind just as much as we need a diet of the body. The ideas we feed our mind today tend to form our lives tomorrow.

I think of it in this way: We become the stories we listen to. It does not matter if we get those stories from movies, music, television, newspapers, magazines, politicians, friends, or books – the stories we listen to form our lives. But perhaps the more important question is what stories do you listen to? What stories are forming your life?

Our problem is that our intellectual needs are never urgent, so it is easy to overlook them. When was the last time you said to yourself,  “I urgently need to read a good book today?” It doesn’t happen. Why? For one, our intellectual needs are not primary needs. If we neglect them, we won’t die. But mental vitality leads to physical, emotional, and spiritual vitality. Everything in our lives begins as a thought.

The reason people neglect their intellectual development is that they associate books and learning with school and work. Most people have very little leisure time, and they don’t want to spend that time doing what they perceive as“work.“ One of the great tragedies of modern education systems is that they are failing to instill a love of learning. All too often, learning is seen only as a means to an end. It is necessary to pass an exam, or get a degree, or gain a promotion. Learning, like so many other aspects of modern living, has been violently disconnected from our essential purpose.

When we take all of this into account, it is easy to understand why most people neglect their legitimate need for personal intellectual stimulation. At the same time, to neglect our phenomenal abilities to think, reason, decide, imagine, and dream is to enormously limit our potential.

In the category personal intellectual stimulation, we could read magazines about fashion, gardening, sports, finance, music, farming, woodworking, or any other area of interest. We will be entertained, but it is unlikely that we will be challenged to raise our standards and become the-best-version-of-ourselves. To really stretch ourselves, we must delve into the wisdom writings. Selections could include a variety of philosophical texts, the writings of countless spiritual leaders past and present, and the scriptures. It is in these writings that the intellect comes face-to-face with the most profound questions and truths about the world, creation, God, humanity, and our individual journeys. Wisdom writings constantly hold before us a vision of the-best-version-of-ourselves. These writings seek not to entertain us but to reveal to us who we are and why we are here. The wisdom writings gently call us out of our comfort zones and challenge us to improve, develop, grow, and live life to the fullest.

Our intellectual needs are many and varied. Most of us have a need for a professional intellectual focus. We all need different forms of entertaining intellectual stimulation. But we must challenge ourselves to move beyond these intellectual comfort zones and to embrace writings that challenge us to ponder  the deeper questions, truth, and mysteries of our existence. As Mark Twain wrote, “The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them. “

Books change our lives. I believe that with my whole heart. In the room where I write in my home, I have more than a thousand books. But on the top shelf of one of the bookcases at eye level I have 37 books. Each of these books has had an enormous impact on my life. I can tell you where I bought them, what city in the world I was in when I read them, and what the circumstances and situations of my life were at the time. From time to time, when I become discouraged, confused, lonely, fearful, or simply begin to doubt my life, and myself, I go to that bookshelf. I glance along that row of books and one of those books  calls out to me. I take it from the shelf and rediscover the inspiration that first earned it a place on the top shelf.

Our bodies need regular exercise and a balanced diet, and so do our minds. You have a legitimate need to nourish your mind. If you choose the right diet of the mind, your life will be directed by ideas of excellence and greatness. If you allow the media and secular culture to select your intellectual diet, your life will be formed by distraction and mediocrity.

Books change our lives. Begin your own great book collection. Choose books that will help you to achieve your essential purpose and become the-best-version-of-yourself. Make daily reading one of the defining habits of your life.”

Blessings as You Go Forth Reveling in Your Newly Acquired

Appreciation of Your Intellect>>>>    Merlin

PS: The offer is still good if you desire my help in creating for you a preliminary personal book list.       merlin.erb@gmail.com

Good morning on this third day of June 2019. It has been a phenomenal week with doors opening, new venues, and numerous possibilities. But I did learn of one shocking revelation, the type that initially strikes mild terror in ones heart, but then, after reflecting on who really is in charge, peace was soon restored. I have heard truth and justice always prevails, but sometimes I sure do wish they would prevail a bit faster!

I was reminded today of this perspective in my reading of these verses from Romans 5: 1-5. “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only that but rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

 May these words under gird this post and invigorate your faith walk today.

God is increasingly exposing me to other people’s pain and their life’s dis-satisfactions, and now as I’m about to begin living as a life coach, I guess I had best understand that only by guiding people into self-discovery of their life’s fulfillment, can I ever expect to be paid for any of my services. The benefit of using coaching questions  rather than advising or telling in a mentor or consultant role is very simple.

Questions hold the power to cause us to think, create answers we believe in, and motivate us to act on our ideas. Asking moves us beyond passive acceptance of what others say, or staying stuck in present circumstances, to aggressively applying our creative ability to the problem.

Coaching starts with the assumption that the key to change is not so much knowing what to do, rather, it is being motivated to do it. Research shows ( and experience confirms ) that people are more motivated to carry out their own ideas and solutions. Asking creates buy-in, and buy-in gets results. Tony Stoltzfus in his books on leadership coaching whom I refer to frequently, estimates 80% of his clients already know what to do; they just don’t have the confidence to step out and do it. Self-confidence is a huge factor in change.

The discipline of coaching uses relational influence to empower clients to take responsibility for their goal achievement. Or more succinctly, coaching is client centered, relationship based, and goal-driven. Coaching builds on that foundation by examining the four skill areas in the coaching conversation: listening, asking, acting, and supporting.

For all you other fellow Christian coaches in residence, I presume the Holy Spirit exposes you to other people’s challenges and dis-satisfactions much like me; always in his divine timing, though we may never consider such interventions always necessary or beneficial for us. Today individualism is rampant in western cultures and in the church as well, and frequently in conflict with kingdom living as set forth in the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew chapters 5-7.  Although historically significant in the early church, today the Sermon on the Mount is experiencing diminished value. It is rarely taught, seldom caught and hardly ever, visible in action.

In Mark 1:17 we read Jesus invited Simon and Andrew to “follow me and I’ll make you fishers of men.” Perhaps that invitation by Jesus serves as the first example of Jesus implementing a universal call to life coaching thereby commissioning all of us to  consider coaching on some level in life, at least if we take his “fishing” and“kingdom living” invitations seriously. Has the church now relegated “making you fishers of men” to merely adding converts:  “making a decision for Christ,” be baptized, join a church, do your share, pay your share, etc.? And increasingly, we see being baptized and joining a church less emphasized favoring even greater individualism. Is this a natural outcome of the social club gospel? Where is the transformation, the empowerment, the joy, the happiness, the hope, the fulfillment for us in all that?  

And so as we“on deck coaches” await our assignments, the majority of this observed pain in other people’s challenges and dis-satisfactions, appear much like an open Windows screen that is always in the background on your Desktop and only rarely do you accidentally click on it…. and instantly your memory is refreshed of all those past “Patterns of Defeat” as Kelly calls them, that squander now not only your time, but even more devastating, suck down the energy level of your mind instantly …. compared to your physical stamina which is usually good for hours… unless of course, it’s drawn down too in similar fashion by the Windows memory refresh.

So how does this work for real? Imagine just seconds prior to physical competition such as in a track or swimming event, this devastating negative instant replay of a past failure appears, that causes your mind again to become a major obstacle and you are powerless, you lose your edge, your focus, and too often, you do not even place in the competition. For some of you, these “Windows of pain” are all about you; for others, you may identify through the relationship of spouse, family, business, work, church or mere acquaintances.

By now we all recognize we are indeed a piece of work needing God’s restorative touch in order to become the best-possible-version-of-ourselves as coined by Matthew Kelly in many of his books. And I realize even though I am very much a novice in this coaching field yet, I have been in training all my married life as I am now beginning  to piece together the processes that occurred within me as Loretta and others attempted to guide me to gain and implement spiritual truths in my search and rescue. Or rather than, as gain and implement, you might be more accurate to say learned and obeyed. I am now quite convinced had I been lovingly confronted and coached or discipled (actually I needed considerable discipline early on) into real learning as I have been in recent months, I could have accomplished in merely years what took decades, judging now by my growth since September 18, 2018. God desires us to mature in his wisdom,to be fully discipled or coached in truth, and then in return, to disciple or coach others for kingdom living.

Because of my slow spiritual maturation, I now understand just how easy it is to become so deceived and sidetracked. Early on even in high school and perfected during my college years and early adulthood, I became this church organization person in love with church trivia; genealogies, leadership, program, name dropping, a classic modern day Pharisee indeed! All the despicable stuff I see now as I look in my rear view mirror. May God forgive me!

I say all that to say this. Kelly in his book “Perfectly Yourself: Discovering God’s Dream For You” has a quote from Benjamin Barber that echoes deeply within me: “I divide the world into learners and non-learners. There are people who learn, who are open to what happens around them, who listen, and who hear the lessons. When they do something stupid, they don’t do it again. And when they do something that works a little bit, they do it even better and harder the next time. The question to ask is not whether you are a success or a failure, but whether you are a learner or a non-learner.”

Because of my history, you can understand how painful it is for me to watch others I love make the same mistakes as I did by not embracing learning to live life wisely. I see resistance to learning everywhere in our cultures of individualism. But it is most disheartening when resistance to learning the lessons of life is so entrenched in the church by those in such close proximity to all the teachings of Jesus necessary to live a joyful, hopeful, and fulfilled life. Revisit Romans 5. Sufferings > Endurance > Character > Hope > No Shame!!! Why? How? Because God’s love has been “poured” (not dripped!) into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.

I compare this resistance to spiritual growth to the story I heard of children playing in their sandbox filled mostly of mud when their parents were trying to get them to join them in the car to go to the beach on vacation for a week. They simply were not open to the opportunity their parents wanted so desperately to give them. Either the children couldn’t visualize the opportunity or trust their parents invitation to experience the unknown and give up the security of their mud box.

Oh, I don’t doubt that most all of you know we are lavishly and  infinitely loved, and hopefully, all in receipt of salvation, perhaps have even joined a church and serve on the Board or teach a class. Church culture has a knack of usually making us look good, smell good, and sound wonderful, when in reality, we can be spiritual minimalists and often, quite miserable since too often, we are “knowing” but not “being.” Consider the bright side of that. At least you know! Coaching can help with not the not being. We appear to be spiritual in form but actually possess very little substance or understanding, and seldom have any gas (transformation or empowerment) in our tank even though we always tithe our 10% plus religiously as though it were an insurance premium.

My big error in life occurred because I simply did not trust God with my life early on and I never got in His car as His child and went with Him to the beach to experience all the joy and learning He desired for me. For then, had I trusted Him at the beach, as I grew and matured as a young man facing the challenges of adulthood, I would have learned to trust Him to lead me through the daily intricacies of relationships, careers, lifestyles, exercise, entertainment, money, investments, nutrition, friends, etc. Again, all under girded by suffering with Christ, producing then endurance, then character, then hope, then no shame!  Why & How? Because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.  All for my good and His glory!    

So now today, it is my observation that both in our society and the church, there are many individuals very dissatisfied with their present lot in life. Kelly says “It has been his experience that nothing changes a person’s life more than the discovery of one solitary truth: There is meaning and purpose to life. More specifically though than that, it is when ” you discover there is meaning and purpose to your life!

That once established, as presented in Scripture, will open doors for you and enable you to literally fail your way to success IF you  are willing to learn! Daily Bible reading, study of Scripture and reading good books if only 3-5 pages a day, will totally change your outlook and approach to life as you focus on-becoming-the-best-possible-version-of-yourself-you can be. Read Romans 5:1-5 again. Be immersed in its challenge and profound comfort.

Now, I must say though, in the event you are not ready yet for the scriptural emphasis, don’t let that be a deterrent! Be assured that only reading good books by authors I mention frequently and others, will profoundly improve both your disposition and subsequently may quite soon, improve your position in life as well … particularly, for living a more joyful,  hopeful and fulfilled life.

And may I share something else? Frequently, after you read numerous good books, I understand in time reading scripture often becomes meaningful. Strange indeed! Actually, I think not if you really understand and appreciate how God works. Email me for a suggested book list designed specifically for you as a non-believer.

Blessings as you GO FORTH AS A  (coach-in-training) THIS WEEK>>>> merlin