Way

Jesus said:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me."

John 14:6

Way means:

A road, path, or highway affording passage from one place to another.
An opening affording passage.
Space to proceed.
Opportunity to advance.
A course that is or may be used in going from one place to another.
Progress or travel along a certain route or in a specific direction.
A course of conduct or action.
A manner or method of doing.
A usual or habitual manner or mode of being, living, or acting

Truth means:

A proven or verified principle or statement.
Faithful reproduction or portrayal the truth of a portrait
An obvious fact; truism; platitude
Honesty, reliability, or veracity
Accuracy, as in the setting, adjustment, or position of something

Life means:

The state or quality that distinguishes living beings or organisms from dead ones and from inorganic matter.
The period between birth and death
A living person or being to save a life
The time between birth and the present time
The remainder or extent of one's life
The amount of time that something is active or functioning.
A present condition, state, or mode of existence
The state or quality of being faithful

Through means:

In one side and out the opposite or another side of
Among or between; in the midst of
By way of
By the means or agency of
Into and out of the handling, care, processing, modification, or consideration of
Here and there in; around
From the beginning to the end of
At or to the end of; done or finished with, especially successfully
Up to and including
Because of; on account of
From one end or side to another or an opposite end or side

From beginning to end; completely

Jesus said that he is the way, the truth and the life. The way means that he came and showed us a path, a way to live, that leads us to truth and life. He is the truth because he is the actual "reproduction" of God here on earth. He, God, came to show us how to live. Living this way, the truth, brings us life. This brings us life not only in the next life, but in the life we are in right here, right now.

You see that most of us that call ourselves "Christian" look only for Jesus to return and to "save" us from this life. We give little thought that Jesus came to show us how to live this life with principles of truth that will lead us to a happy and fullfilled life NOW! Yes, Jesus died on a cross for our sins so that we could be with God forever. He was our substitution, our lamb, our sacrifice, our payment. However, that death on the cross was also there to show us how to live a life of love, sacrifice, and compassion ourselves. This is what leads to life here on this earth.

Jesus stated this over and over. Paul stated this over and over. Yet we continue to forget that Jesus saying that he is the way, the truth, and the life is not just about the cross and his death, but also about the manner is which we live.

So today, live as Christ would. Forgive those around you. Do not show condemnation or anger, but love and kindness. Think on and see the good in all things and people around you. Be thankful for what is in your life rather than worried about what is not in your life. This will bring you life and joy NOW! This will also bring us to God the Father! We go through the way of living Jesus taught. Then we will find God living and being in our lives NOW! No one comes to the father except through Jesus and his way of love!

Namaste'

Oh So Thankful

Tonight I watch "Mega Tsunami" on TLC. I watched as people told their stories of that day and watched the videos of people in terror. I watched a father find his 15 year old daughter in a picture on a wall of dead bodies for people to identify and witness this moment of devastation. I watched as a couple was interviewed about losing their 5 year old daughter that day. They explained what it was like not being able to hold onto her in the powerful water and identifying her body and having to be asked three times if this was their daughter. I watched as they grieved and could not even console each other during the interview about that day.

I went upstairs and sat on my son's bed and just held him. I stroked his face and kissed his cheek and whispered in his ear how much I loved him. I cried tears of joy to just be able to do that right here right now. I got to hear him laugh tonight. I got to hear him say "I wished that my elf, santa, and God would love me" when he pulled the wishbone from a chicken at dinner with his mother. It is Christmas. I know that I have been concerned about "what am I going to get everyone, how am I going to get it," and many other things that really do not matter when you see how others have faced loss. So I wanted to write to remind myself, and hopefully others, that there is so much to be thankful for each and everyday. Some may not have jobs, unable to buy presents, unable to offer what we may think would be a "good Christmas." I am going to choose to be thankful for all that I have, especially my family. To be with them on each day, to be in their presence, to watch them learn and grow and change, to have the honor and privilege to be a part of love with them - this is what I will focus on. I will just be oh so thankful that on Christmas day, and everyday, I get to see them and be with them. Cherish each of these moments. I know it is said everywhere you go, but truly anything other than this is a waste.

Namaste'

All God's

Sometimes we act like it is all up to us. You know - we have to make things happen, make sure that people get "saved," make sure that life happens in the way that we think it should, make sure we are doing all the right things to make sure God is pleased - on and on we go thinking that we are the ones in control of our world. This is the reality:

Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

Ephesians 2:7-10

Everything is all God's idea. We think that we have impact on God's ideas. We do not play a major role with God and God's ideas. Life is God's gift from start to finish and God will take us to where God will. We must just "trust God enough to let him to it." This is our "job." This is our one and only job - get out of the way and trust, allow God to be God.

Our one and only job is to connect with God. To think like God thinks and to allow God to work in life as is planned. The work "we had better be doing" is allowing God to work as God wants, to believe and trust God has our best interest at hand, and connect with God through spirit each moment of our lives. We connect with God in our thoughts, our actions, our beliefs. Are we loving and kind to others? Do we believe that God needs us and we need God? Do we understand that we are divine children of God and we will have what we need and desire in the most perfect way with grace? We do not do anything, we are all being done. God is working. We need to allow.

Namaste'

Meditation

We all want a happy and fruitful life. We all want to be "happy all the time." We all want a life of calmness, peace, and inner satisfaction. However, I wonder how many of us are willing to daily the practice of having this type of life. I know that we all would like to just have this kind of life "appear" magically the moment we make a decision to follow the way of Jesus. However, even Jesus had a daily practice that few are willing to follow:

While it was still night, way before dawn, he got up and went out to a secluded spot and prayed.

Mark 1:35

In prayer and meditation we train the mind, the brain, the spirit to understand and know the ways of God. It is in the stillness and quietness of the mind that we will find God speaking to us. It is in those times that God can use the moments of our life, the reading of scriptures, the things we feed our mind with, to bring an inner peace and calmness that "passes all understanding." We hone our peace of mind in prayer and meditaion. We are able to take the outer circumstances of life and understand what is real and what is really a delusion. We begin to understand that we do not have to have things to be happy. We do not have to have money to be happy. We do not have to make the circumstances of our life match some predetermined plan we have. No, it is within the training ground of prayer and meditation that we are transformed to arrived at a blessed state that the very luster of our inner peace protects us from any worry or concern about the circumstances around us. It is here that we actually experience:

I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.

Philippians 4:11-13

So today think about submitting yourself to times of quiet. Think about spending some time each day in solitude, quietness of mind, prayer, paying attention to your thoughts to allow God to bring you to a place of even mindedness. Practicing this connection to God daily is the only way to think like God thinks and find that the circumstances of your life have no power over the spirit of God in you. So take time to meditate on this everyday:

Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

Philippians 4:8

Train your brain. Train your spirit. Feed them both well and keep them fit for peace to have a home.

Namaste'

Yin and Yang

We have this idea that somehow we must defeat evil. We have the idea that evil is something that should never be there. We have this idea that it is good vs. evil and one of them has to win. What about the idea of strength and weakness instead of good vs. evil? Strength is good and we all have strengths. Weaknesses may be difficult at times, but we learn from them to make us stronger. We resist our weaknesses so often because we see them as evil. We see them has bad, something to be defeated and resisted. What if the weaknesses we have are there to help us strengthen ourselves and others? What if these two things actually work together and are used by God to make us whole people?

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 12:20-21

When we do not fight against evil we overcome it. One version of this passage says so not let evil overcome you, but overcome evil with good. When we get angry with someone, resist someone or some situation because we think it is evil - we are letting evil overcome us. We are not acting in love, compassion, patience, or kindness. We are reacting with anger, frustration, and resentment. Evil then wins and we learn nothing.

I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

2 Corinthians 12: 7-10

Think about it - strength and weakness - are both great teachers. What we see as evil - bad breaks, opposition, abuse, accidents - are great teachers in our lives. They may be seen as weakness, but they are there to give us great strength. God's strength will show through in those times. It is in those times that we can allow things to happen. Being kindness, love, and compassion.

So today stop resisting everything that comes into your life as evil. Allow it to be there knowing that it is not a handicap but a gift to allow strength to be built in you. Learn from this teacher and you will find that peace will rule your heart and what we need will show up at just the right time.

Namaste'

Blessed

So when are we "blessed?" I now that most of us think of being blessed as having all that we need - plenty of money or food, a job, gas in our car, a house to live in, etc. - basically we think of having things to be blessed. What if that is not the measure of blessing at all? What if the measure of blessing is how much peace, joy, kindness, love, and compassion - the attitudes we live life with? I think we could have all the money and pleasure in the world, but never find blessing. We could have it all and live our life with an attitude of anger, resentment, dissapoinment, and hopelessness and we would not be blessed. Here is how Jesus looked at being blessed:

When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:
"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.
"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.
"You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.
"You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
"You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.
"You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.

Matthew 5:1-10

These are the beatitudes in the Message version. I challenge you to go back and read them in whatever version you want and you will find that these are arts of living, ways of living, attitudes about living life that will make you blessed. Blessed, not because of what you have on the outside, but because of how you live on the inside and what comes out of you to others. The way of Jesus.

Namaste'

Anything

Anything - what does that leave out? All things - what does that leave out? Anything means: any object, occurrence, or matter whatever, to any degree or extent; at all. All things means: Constituting, being, or representing the total extent or the whole. So what does that leave out? I mean I doubt things all the time because they do not turn out like I think they should. I worry about things because I think they should turn out differently. I forget so easily that God said that anything, all things, are possible:

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!

Ephesians 3:20

Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”

Matthew 19:26

Does this mean that God will do exactly what I want the way I want it? That everything will work out just the way I have planned it in my head? I do not think so. Whatever I am imagining, or guessing, or thinking of - God is thinking of something better! My human thoughts and wishes are powerless. I must learn to think like God thinks. How does God think? God thinks "how can I serve" and does not worry about what is in it for self. If I can just get that, if we can just get that, I believe that we will see what God can really do.

I know that things will not work out exactly like I think they should and this really should not be my focus. Since it will not always be "my way" I need to accept that and be happy and joyful no matter the moments circumstance. I need to allow God to do as God will and just be in the moments I can thinking like God thinks always asking the question, "how can I serve?" If I do this all those other things will be taken care of by the Creator in each moment who is DOING far more than I could ever dream or think of. God does not leave anything out.

Namaste'

Understanding

Do we think that we really love and understand others? I know that at times I really do not. I really do not show compassion when I really need to be showing compassion. Jesus taught us that we should be so filled with the love of God that we would not judge.

"Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt? It's this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor."

Matthew 7:1-3 (The Message)

You want to be happy? Well your, my, happiness depends a great deal on our willingness to understand others and do our best not to judge. Most of us can easily talk about another person's bad qualities, their wickedness, the things that we think we would never do. We can do this for hours and thrive in it and leave that discussion feeling good about ourselves. It is amazing that we can do this for hours at a time, but avoid our faults, wickedness and bad qualities at any cost. Any mention of them causes us to become angry and we begin to think and say things like "how dare they!"

So next time you or I are tempted to talk about the faults of others do this: immediately begin to talk loudly about your own mental and moral shortcomings for the next five minutes and see how you like it. If we do not like to talk about our own faults and it hurts us to do so, we certainly should feel more hurt when saying unkind and harmful things about other people. So train yourself, and eveyr member of your family, to refrain from talking about others.

We do not help others by talking about their faults in public, we only hurt them more. We shame them and they give up trying. You know it because we have all been there! When someone is down they are all too aware of their fault and the reasons they are there. We should pull them out with loving and kind words. So today silently heal yourself of the desire to criticize and judge. This will teach others to be better by your example of a emphathic heart.

Namaste'

Developing Compassion and Loving-Kindness

During the "New Kind of Christian" conference I spoke about having an inner life like that of Jesus. I talked about "thinking like God thinks" and having the mind in you that was in Jesus - Phil. 2:5. Jesus was so full of the love of God that there was room for nothing else in his thoughts, actions, or feelings. How do we get there would be the question. How do we get to a place were we have loving kindness and compassion on everyone, including those we consider enemies? How do we really get to a place to live out the way of Jesus in this passage:

"You're familiar with the old written law, 'Love your friend,' and its unwritten companion, 'Hate your enemy.' I'm challenging that. I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.
"In a word, what I'm saying is, Grow up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you."

Matthew 5:43-48 (The Message)

This comes only by being able to practice it "outside of the game of life." There is no way to just have compassion on the spot when it is needed. We all have a part of us, I like to call it EGO, that wants to assert its rights, make sure we defend ourselves, and wants to keep us from being hurt. We must use our "quiet times" to sit and think about those that have injured us and put ourselves in "their" shoes so to speak. There is no way for me to develop compassion for the mean clerk at the store if I have not already practiced this scenerio in my mind. There is no reference point for me to pull from, no experience I have had that reminds me to show compassion here. I react the way I "always" do.

I must spend time each day thinking about the ways I am loved, the things I am thankful for, and give myself compassion and loving-kindness. After giving it to myself, I must imagine giving it to someone else when they harm me because, just like me, they are trying to do their best and have forgotten there are other people in the world. I can think of someone specific that has/is causing me problems, or I can think of someone or people in general. We are actually training our brain, and our spirit to be in tune with the Holy Spirit within us and to think like God thinks! This is a huge component to prayer and "quiet time," or devotions. To sit, be still, and prepare your inner life to be the same as that of Christ. We actually develop neuronal (brain pathways) connections that will remind us how to be compassionate in those moments if we practice this.

It is like a professional athlete training his body for the sport he plays. We are training our spirit to change the word in each and every interaction.

Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever.

1 Timothy 4:8 (The Message)

Namaste'

Live Generously

I am sadden when I see stories like the one of the officer and the man who was arrested at his own house. It saddens me that they could not sit down and be humble. It saddens me that they both are going to have to "be right" rather than being able to say things could have been different. This is not a blog/commentary about that specific situation. It is a blog to challenge us all on how we do this everyday.
How many times do we say to ourselves, friends, or family - "I am right and I am not going to apologize - I did not do anything wrong! They need to apologize to me!" We have heard it said and we say it and think it. This is not the way of Jesus. The following is the way Jesus taught us to live:

"Here's another old saying that deserves a second look: 'Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.' Is that going to get us anywhere? Here's what I propose: 'Don't hit back at all.' If someone strikes you, stand there and take it. If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously."

Matthew 5:38-40

If we claim the name of God, of Jesus, do we "live generously?" I do not think Jesus is saying that if you get hit just let them keep hitting you. I think he is saying here that if someone offends you and you get mad at them, hit them back, hold to your anger you have done nothing to change the situation. You have only joined them in their anger. They have changed you!

We need to be the agents of change. We are to bring the love and peace into this world. If we are offended or hurt somehow could we be able to show compassion, understanding, and grace towards those who have hurt us? Or are we going to hurt back, hold onto being "right," and join them in the lower energy of anger? Could we raise the level of living by showing love?

This is how Jesus lived his life and how he asked us to live ours - give your life away. In each moment see how you can step aside and let others through. Stop worrying about if you will get recognized or not. Stop thinking about how people should treat you. Start thinking about how you should treat people. Start thinking about how you could recognize and thank others. Stop being selfish and start being selfless.

I wish both of these men could say to themselves and each other "yea I could have done that different." Somehow not hit back for the percieved offense. What a great lesson would have been taught. This is our job as people of grace in this world.

Namaste'

Do You Love?

I tell clients all the time to truly love we have to allow people, even those closest to us, to be how they want to be, pursue the things they want to pursue, and think the things they want to think. Our job is not to make people be a certain way, but to allow them to be what God has created them to be and to allow God to do that work. Love is a very difficult thing for us. It is power, but power that comes through humility and trust.

Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always "me first," Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, Doesn't revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.

I Corinthians 13

So today just love, just allow, just trust that God actually has things under control. Let people and God be themselves. They will work it out if we stop interfering and just love.

Namaste'

Friend or Servant?

So are you a friend or servant of Jesus? I know weird queston right? That is because most of us see ourselves as a servant of Jesus, but we actually are called to be friends. What is the difference?

"I've told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I'm no longer calling you servants because servants don't understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've heard from the Father. "

John 15:11-13 (The Message)

So which is it? Do we truly understand the way of Jesus? Do we truly understand that we are to love as God has loved us? God has loved us with a love that loves no matter what. God does not wait for us to change before love is given - love is given without question. Love is the way of Jesus. Love should be our way with others. We understand that the greatest commandment is to just love. We understand that love is the greatest attribute we could have. We understand that love is allowing people to choose to love God, to choose their life, and to make decisions about how they will live life. We understand that when we love like this - with no pressure to have to make a decision - people freely choose to love God. When we do not love - when we have to convince people and make them do something - people will not love God.

Today understnad what Jesus is thinking and planning and be a friend to Jesus by loving others freely.

Namaste'

Train and Practice

So are you training? I know that I have lost my practice the last few weeks with what has been going on in my life. I stopped training and practicing putting together my thoughts and they have become loose and more automatic without my thinking about it. I have slipped on my meditations in the morning. You have not seen a blog in over a month. I find that when this happens to me I loose my sense of God. God is present, but I "forget" that and I think that I cannot overcome things in my life. I forget that I have the power to change my biology through practicing being aware of my thoughts, my self, and then being able to train my brain to think different things. I miss out on the truths of these scriptures:

Now pass on this counsel to the followers of Jesus there, and you'll be a good servant of Jesus. Stay clear of silly stories that get dressed up as religion. Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever. You can count on this. Take it to heart. This is why we've thrown ourselves into this venture so totally. We're banking on the living God, Savior of all men and women, especially believers.

1 Timothy 4:6-8

We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.

2 Corinthians 10:5

So today I will throw myself back into my practice. I will no longer be subject to the things that I am automatically thinking without questioning it. I want to realize God and I can only do that by using the tools that have been given to me - prayer, meditation, examination, being aware of my thoughts, reading, and giving of myself to others through compassion. These are the tools that will remove all of the "percieved" obstructions in life.

Namaste'

What Do You See?

So what do you see? When you look at the picture to the right of this blog what do you see? Do you see a bum that needs to get a job and is just living off the goodness of others? Do you see a man that just down on his luck and with a little effort he will be able to get out of it? Do you see a man with a story that may be interesting to hear, but you would never get involved to help? Do you see a man with a story that could be yours and it moves you to compassion to really get to know him and find out what can be done to help? Which one is you? Be honest with yourself - no one knows you are reading this - so answer yourself honestly.
You see the way we answer this question, the way we see this person in this picture will let us know how much we are walking in the way of Jesus. The higher our energy level - that of love - the more likely it is that we see a man with a story that could be ours and we are moved with compassion to take action. The lower our energy level - that of worry, anger, frutration - the more likely we are to see a man that is a bum and needs to get a job. We are judgemental. Who are you in this story:

Jesus went across to Mount Olives, but he was soon back in the Temple again. Swarms of people came to him. He sat down and taught them. The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, "Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?" They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him.
Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, "The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone." Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.
Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. "Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?"
"No one, Master."
"Neither do I," said Jesus. "Go on your way. From now on, don't sin."
Jesus once again addressed them: "I am the world's Light. No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in."

John 8:1-12

So are we more like Jesus willing to show love because we understand that we all fall short and we could be there? Or are we like the religious leaders who came hoping for judgement, telling ourselves that this person is worthless and our anger and hate take over?

Today work on walking in the way of Jesus and look at others as we want others to look at us. We all want the "benefit of the doubt." We all want people to understand the "whole story" before they make a judgement about how we got to where we are. We all want grace, but are we willing to give it?

Namaste'

Exclamations of Thanks

I wanted to take some time this evening as my son sleeps to say that I am so thankful to have people in my life that care so much and pray for my family. I am overwhelmed and humbled at that fact. It is amazing to me that God has taken care of all of us! God is love, beauty, kindness, compassion, and peace. I can only think of all of you much the same as Paul thought about the people who were his friends and support him:

Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart. I am so pleased that you have continued on in this with us, believing and proclaiming God's Message, from the day you heard it right up to the present. There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.
It's not at all fanciful for me to think this way about you. My prayers and hopes have deep roots in reality. You have, after all, stuck with me all the way from the time I was thrown in jail, put on trial, and came out of it in one piece. All along you have experienced with me the most generous help from God. He knows how much I love and miss you these days. Sometimes I think I feel as strongly about you as Christ does!
So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 1:3-11

I give exclamations of thanks for all of you tonight and most definitely when I think of you all tomorrow! I pray that we all can get involved in making Jesus attractive to everyone! You have all help me so much in my life and I can only hope that I could just give some of that back to you all in some way! Love well and as always.....

Namaste'

Store Owner

I just had to right about this today. Do you realize that you are the owner of a store and you can put your hands on anything that you need when you need it? This may not be "things" like houses, cars, money, or stuff. We can put our hands on things like peace, purpose, love, kindness, joy, happiness, and compassion when we needed. These things are worth much more than any kind of thing we could buy or have. This is the kingdom of God available to you right here and right now:

"Then you see how every student well-trained in God's kingdom is like the owner of a general store who can put his hands on anything you need, old or new, exactly when you need it."

Matthew 13:52

Jesus tells this to his followers right after many stories about what the kingdom of God is like. If you have time, go and read Matthew 13 and find out what the kingdom of God really looks like. The kingdom of God is something that we do not have to wait on, it is something that we can have right now and is waiting for us. We need to change our inner life, work patiently on our inner life, and match our inner life up to Jesus and his inner life. If we can practice this then we can be a "well trained student" that has all the joy, peace, love and kindness available to us when it is needed by those around us. This is the kingdom of God. It is our responsibility to bring this kingdom to people here and now. Those things are the precious gifts that the kingdom offers to us. The kingdom of God offers us more than treasure or power, it offers us what we all look for - peace, joy, and love.

Be a well trained student of Jesus and his way today and everyday. Be able to be an excellent store owner and manager. Be a store full of love, grace, kindness, and joy so that others can acces the kingdom with you and through you until they become store owners themselves.

Namaste'

Wonder and Awe

How much of your life do you life in wonder, belief and awe? How often do we miss the things right in front of us offering the light of God into our lives? Today as you read this let this be your thought all day long - "I will live this day in wonder and belief, with my eyes wide open, allowing God to show me the light that is offered in every situation." All to often we live with our eyes closed to God being there. When we close our eyes to God being there by saying things to ourselves like, "I can't believe this is happening to me," or "this should not be happening," or even "I am so tired today," the light of God cannot penetrate our lives.

"Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!"

Matthew 6:22-23

So today pull up the blinds in your life. Notice what you are thinking and how you are viewing your life. Are the blinds down and you are complaining about not being able to see the sun? Are you telling yourself that God "could not allow this if God loved me," or "I can't trust anyone or anybody?" If you are then your blinds are pulled down and no light will be let in. Live today with your eyes wide open in wonder and belief. Allow the light in, pull up the blinds and let the light of God fill you up! God is everywhere! Look for God and see your life fill up with light and energy.

Namaste'

Perspective

What is your perspective on life? Perspective is a view, a way of seeing things, or a way of regarding situations or facts. One event in our lives, one relationship to another person, or anything that happens can be seen from many different perspectives. Life is like one of those hologram cards. You know the ones I am talking about, my son has one with spiderman on it. If you hold it one way Spiderman is on the card on the right side of the pole, and if you look at it from another way Venom is on the card on the left side of the pole. As you move the card back and forth you see somthing different. Same card - different perspective.

So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that's where the action is. See things from his perspective.
Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you'll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

Colossians 3:1-4

So what is your perspective? What do you see as your real life? Do you worry about things, money, stuff, what will happen next week or next year? This is seeing things from your perspective as a physical being, thinking that all this stuff, or your reputation is really important, that you can't live without it, and that it somehow tells you what you are worth and who you are.

Christ's perspective is much different. God sees us as spiritual beings having a human experience. This is your real life, the spiritual. A life that is to be lived with the mind of Christ, being content with being unnoticed, but loving. Being content by not being attached to things or reputation, but continuing to serve others. This is the joy of real life! So today, like that hologram card my son has, turn your life and view it from a different perspective and see how things change when you look at them from a different way!

Namaste'

Confidence

Have confidence today. God has worked it all out. Everything from the things we think are trials to the most joyous occasions, God is in the mist of working on us and taking care of us. Have confidence in this today!

Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn't gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God's chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture: They kill us in cold blood because they hate you. We're sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one. None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.

Romans 8:26-28, 31-39

Sometimes scripture just speaks for itself. Be confident today. God is right there, the question is not if God is there. The question is do you believe that and change your thinking to believe it and act as if it is true? Or will you spend your days believing and acting like God has abandonded you, even though this is not true? The choice of confidence and faith is up to you.

Namaste'

Compassionate Acceptance

I know I often have the first reaction to reject someone, not listen to someone, or to "write off" someone who does not think like I do. I think that we all have this tendency. We want people to agree with us, think like us, and be like us. We are under the assumption that this will make our world go better somehow. "If only everyone thought like me then the world would be great." This is what we say to ourselves about our spouses, our children, our family, our friends, and all people whether Christian or not.
However, we have been asked to do something much radically different than this kind of living and thinking. We have been asked to have compassion and acceptance for ALL those around us. Everyone is invited to the table of God to eat, fellowship, and partake of the goodness offered in God:

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, a 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 terribly 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.

Romans 14:1-4

I love the last verse. I think about this often and try to practice it. God does not need our help in convincing people of anything. All we are commanded to do is to love, accept, and show people that there is a better way to live life. It is up to God to "change lives." We are all guest at the table of God. When I say all I mean all. Everyone is welcomed to sit at the table with God in life. God will work out the relationship with them, our one and only job is to invite them to the table, allow them to be who they are, and let have an experience with God! It is not our job to create a list of people who are and are not allowed in God's welcome. How terribly rude!

So today, and everyday, allow your spouse, your children, your family, your coworkers, and everyone you meet to be who they are. Allow people to be invited to the table of God and let them experience God for themselves! Understand that you once were at a place in your life when you just needed someone to understand you and let you be you - this is compassion. We all need a place to be just who we are and loved - this is acceptance. Put these together today and let God be God and watch the miracles happen!

Namaste'