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Realizing the presence, promise, and power of the Kingdom of God.

Ruled for Love

August 17, 2011

Sounds like a pretty good program to me.

Got Discipline?

August 04, 2011

"Spiritual discipline" describes a way of life.

Have you looked upon the face of Jesus yet today?

The keenness of profoundest contemplation, on the other hand, once it has perceived the countenance of the truth, neither hesitates, nor slips, nor is ever darkened by any cloud.

  - Eriugena, Homily on John 1.1-14 (Irish, 9th century)

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

  - 2 Corinthians 4.6

Have you gazed into the face of Jesus today, and seen the glory which can be known there?

Jesus is alive from the dead and reigns at the right hand of God in a glorified body of flesh and bones. He has a face, and His face is the most beautiful face anyone could imagine.

His face reveals the glory of God. The glory of God is the very presence of God, which weighs on those who encounter it with a spiritual joy and pleasure that cannot be described. The Scriptures describe the face of Jesus for us, so that we know what to seek as we turn, through profoundest contemplation, to behold Him.

Paul prayed that we might have this experience (Eph. 1.15-23). He commanded us to seek it (Col. 3.1-3). As we look, with the eye of faith, on the unseen face of Jesus, we grow to know and love Him more, and we find the Spirit working in us to transform us into the image of Jesus Christ.

But profoundest contemplation is required - taking the time, summoning up every glimpse of the face of Jesus given to us in the Word of God, holding those images together in our minds, and focusing, with the eye of the heart, until the glory comes forth to meet and engulf us.

To see the face of Jesus, and to know the glory emanating from it, is our privilege and calling.

Have you looked upon the face of Jesus yet today?

T. M. Moore, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Everything depends on how we respond to trials.

Cherish Devotion

March 29, 2011

A Framework for Faith/Spiritual Disciplines

Cherish every practice of devotion greatly.

  - Anonymous, A Rule for Hermits (Irish, 9th century)

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

  - Psalm 42.1,2

Consider how much is bound up in that word, "cherish." What we cherish we delight in and enjoy. Things cherished are precious treasures, to be cared for diligently and shared proudly. Cherished things occupy our minds, thrill our hearts, and never fail to satisfy. We tend to spend a good deal of time and invest much in the way of attention in the things we cherish most.

Do we cherish prayer? Time in God's Word? Moments of solitude or of quiet reflection on the Lord's presence in created things? Does our heart yearn with the yearning of the psalmist, "When shall I come and appear before the Lord?"

Wouldn't that be wonderful? What can make it so? Well, it would help us to cherish our devotional practices if through them we actually engaged the Lord in His glory, partook of His presence, and knew His Spirit working within us to will and do of God's good pleasure. In the presence of the Lord, when we know we're there and we're seeing His beauty and experiencing His glory, then we know fullness of joy and pleasures forever more (Ps. 16.11). Whatever brings us to such a heightened sense of the knowledge of the Lord we will surely cherish, and resort there again and again.

But if our devotions are perfunctory, dutiful, or merely intellectual and academic, we will not cherish them much. We might continue to do them, but not with the kind of joy and intensity of focus that comes from actually meeting the Lord in prayer and in His Word.

In your times of devotions, seek the Lord.Wait patiently and expectantly on Him. Strive to know His presence and to engage His glory. Don't let Him go until He blesses you. If your disciplines and devotions don't yield this, then get some help revamping and retooling them. Because this is what they're for.

God longs for us to know Him and to experience His glory in transforming ways. Spiritual disciplines are the arena for this, and, when they yield that sweet and awesome encounter with the glory of God, we will know joy and pleasure, and we will cherish those times more and more.

Today at The Fellowship

We appreciate your prayers and help in spreading the word about The Fellowship. Please encourage your friends to visit the website and sign-up to receive Crosfigell. Let us know your prayers needs, and please keep us in your prayers as well.

T. M. Moore, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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