Journal Time
Have you had that moment in your life when your heart changed? If so, write about, remember the moment- the sites, the sounds, the smells of the moment.
If not, find a quiet place and pray. Pray for the Holy Spirit to awaken the characteristics of Christ in you.
Write down your thoughts of Galatians 6:10. What example are you setting?
If not, find a quiet place and pray. Pray for the Holy Spirit to awaken the characteristics of Christ in you.
Write down your thoughts of Galatians 6:10. What example are you setting?
Last week we learned that Goodness is being like God inside and out.
I have been reading and hearing about too many "spiritual" leaders that preach the health/wealth gospel. Being the hands and feet of Christ does not always include having perfect health or a large bank account.
Watch this video...................
I have been reading and hearing about too many "spiritual" leaders that preach the health/wealth gospel. Being the hands and feet of Christ does not always include having perfect health or a large bank account.
Watch this video...................
Why did I share this video? We really need to keep it real. I watch social media and the messages that it is sending just hurts my heart. The perception that we can portray on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are very different than what is truly happening on the other side of the lens.
Our goal is to be Christ-like, but with the amount of time the general population spends on social media, Christ's character is the furthest likeness we will find. I know that this is something that I struggle with. I love the connections and friendships that are built but then I find myself turning green with jealousy. I catch myself ignoring my daughters as I "check in" with my virtual friends. I would rather scroll through Facebook than sit and take God's word into my empty soul.
I know that I am being worked in and on right now. It is time to put my phone out of reach and FOCUS! I am missing out on what is happening around me and opportunities that God could be using me - they are passing by right in front of me while I am staring at my phone. I know that this is something that I need to change, maybe yours is different. This week we have to recognize what is standing in our way and actively do something to change it. We all have something. It's time to get real.
Here is a blog post that I recently wrote about making a few changes:
http://www.carolyncarleton.com/blog/time-for-change
Our goal is to be Christ-like, but with the amount of time the general population spends on social media, Christ's character is the furthest likeness we will find. I know that this is something that I struggle with. I love the connections and friendships that are built but then I find myself turning green with jealousy. I catch myself ignoring my daughters as I "check in" with my virtual friends. I would rather scroll through Facebook than sit and take God's word into my empty soul.
I know that I am being worked in and on right now. It is time to put my phone out of reach and FOCUS! I am missing out on what is happening around me and opportunities that God could be using me - they are passing by right in front of me while I am staring at my phone. I know that this is something that I need to change, maybe yours is different. This week we have to recognize what is standing in our way and actively do something to change it. We all have something. It's time to get real.
Here is a blog post that I recently wrote about making a few changes:
http://www.carolyncarleton.com/blog/time-for-change
Journal Time
What do you have to get real about in your journey to develop the fruit of goodness in your life?
What are three things that you can do this week to "get real"?
What are three things that you can do this week to "get real"?
I have had a heavy burden laying on me while I pray for those in this online workshop. The choice of busyness is hurting families, is getting in the way of you become all that Christ has created you to be.
As we study the fruit of goodness I have been constantly aware that it begins within me. That the fruit of goodness is a result of the relationship I have with Christ. The results of that are what shines from me.
As we study the fruit of goodness I have been constantly aware that it begins within me. That the fruit of goodness is a result of the relationship I have with Christ. The results of that are what shines from me.
Being involved in an online study gives you the opportunity to work at your own pace, but also become non-committed to it as well. This is a week for action. Change and growth happen when we are actively choosing to move in the direction that we are committed to. Let's make change happen.
Silence means being still so that we can hear the Voice that searches our hearts and minds. We must quiet our own hearts and mouths if are to be able to listen to the voice of God.
Silence also means excusing ourselves from the voices of others. The demands of the world around us do not easily go away. We hear countless requests and demands each day over the radio, on the television, and from the people around us. Each vying for our time and attention. Certainly some of these voices are important for us to hear-especially the voices of our family. However, there is One Voice that is above all necessary for us to hear. For this reason, we must develop habits of being unavailable to the voices all around us so we can learn to hear the Divine Voice.
Silence is also necessary to free ourselves from our tendency to control. Silence frees us from the tyranny we hold over others with our words. Thomas Merton wrote, "It is not speaking that breaks our silence, but the anxiety to be heard." When we are silent, it is much more difficult to manipulate and control the people and circumstances around us. Words are the weapons we lay down when we practice silence. We give up our insistence of being heard and obeyed. Silence forces us to surrender to the will of Another.
Solitude and silence, combined with an engaged mind. These are the practices to open our lives up to the grace of God. God says, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).
Solitude and silence, combined with a mind that is actively waiting on God will enable us to view life as God reveals it to us. We will consider our actions and the motives behind them. We will consider the actions of others and allow God to season our response with compassion and forgiveness-because we first recognize the compassion and forgiveness God has shown to us.
Solitude and silence, when matched with such attention, destroy the darkness of loneliness as we recognize that there is One who is eternally present with us. No longer will we coerce people into paying attention to us. These practices will strengthen our awareness that there is no such thing as solitary confinement-for though we may find ourselves abandoned by people, God has not, nor will He ever abandon us. We are freed from the suffocating chains of isolation as we recognize that we are not alone, for example: Paul rejoicing while he was in prison.
In silence and solitude, we discover that our infinitely empty lives can only find fulfillment in an infinite God. So in silence and solitude, we seek Him-and find Him!
The most fantastic thing occurs when we develop what Brother Lawrence termed, "the practice of the presence of God." When our emptiness has been replaced by the fullness of His presence, we begin to view all other parts of life in a new way. God removes the "continual lust for more" (Eph 4:19) that results from a life apart from Him, and replaces it with contentment and ridiculous generosity.
Silence and solitude combined with attention to the presence of God; these are the starting point for all other practices. They place us where we may listen to hear God's perspective on our world, our circumstances, our goals, and our relationships.
Well, how do you do it? How does a person go about putting these practices into practice? There are many ways (more, in fact, than I will list below); for there are many ways we try to fill our lives with the finite. Allow me to suggest the following principles and practice.
1. Solitude and silence may require time and space.
a) Make or find a place where solitude and silence can occur.
--Find a quiet place in a library, a room in your home, a room in a church; somewhere where you will not be interrupted.
--Consider making a spare room in your house into a sanctuary. We make rooms for watching television, why not make one for communing with God?
--As an experiment, try to see how quiet you can actually make your home, car, etc.
b) Create a regular, non-negotiable place in your schedule that is solely for the purpose of being alone and still before God.
c) Once a year carve out three or four days where you can be completely alone. There are many retreat centers designed specifically for such a purpose.
d) If you have large blocks of time where you are alone (at home, in the car), leave the television, radio, etc., off and focus your thoughts on scripture and in prayer. We who know how to worry also know how to meditate-it is just a matter of what our minds dwell on.
2) Solitude and silence do not always require time and space. When you develop a habit of solitude and silence, you will be able to take them with you wherever you go-especially in the hectic places of your life.
a) Look for the short times each day where you can find solitude and silence. Use those times to focus your attention on seeking God's presence.
--The quiet morning moments before you get out of bed.
-- In the shower (one of my favorites!)
--The moments you see a beautiful blue sky or green fields or imposing mountains. Let them direct your thoughts on the Creator.
-- Think of your own moments during the day.
3) Solitude and silence always require attention. Silence and solitude without engaging the mind will put us to sleep.
Silence also means excusing ourselves from the voices of others. The demands of the world around us do not easily go away. We hear countless requests and demands each day over the radio, on the television, and from the people around us. Each vying for our time and attention. Certainly some of these voices are important for us to hear-especially the voices of our family. However, there is One Voice that is above all necessary for us to hear. For this reason, we must develop habits of being unavailable to the voices all around us so we can learn to hear the Divine Voice.
Silence is also necessary to free ourselves from our tendency to control. Silence frees us from the tyranny we hold over others with our words. Thomas Merton wrote, "It is not speaking that breaks our silence, but the anxiety to be heard." When we are silent, it is much more difficult to manipulate and control the people and circumstances around us. Words are the weapons we lay down when we practice silence. We give up our insistence of being heard and obeyed. Silence forces us to surrender to the will of Another.
Solitude and silence, combined with an engaged mind. These are the practices to open our lives up to the grace of God. God says, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).
Solitude and silence, combined with a mind that is actively waiting on God will enable us to view life as God reveals it to us. We will consider our actions and the motives behind them. We will consider the actions of others and allow God to season our response with compassion and forgiveness-because we first recognize the compassion and forgiveness God has shown to us.
Solitude and silence, when matched with such attention, destroy the darkness of loneliness as we recognize that there is One who is eternally present with us. No longer will we coerce people into paying attention to us. These practices will strengthen our awareness that there is no such thing as solitary confinement-for though we may find ourselves abandoned by people, God has not, nor will He ever abandon us. We are freed from the suffocating chains of isolation as we recognize that we are not alone, for example: Paul rejoicing while he was in prison.
In silence and solitude, we discover that our infinitely empty lives can only find fulfillment in an infinite God. So in silence and solitude, we seek Him-and find Him!
The most fantastic thing occurs when we develop what Brother Lawrence termed, "the practice of the presence of God." When our emptiness has been replaced by the fullness of His presence, we begin to view all other parts of life in a new way. God removes the "continual lust for more" (Eph 4:19) that results from a life apart from Him, and replaces it with contentment and ridiculous generosity.
Silence and solitude combined with attention to the presence of God; these are the starting point for all other practices. They place us where we may listen to hear God's perspective on our world, our circumstances, our goals, and our relationships.
Well, how do you do it? How does a person go about putting these practices into practice? There are many ways (more, in fact, than I will list below); for there are many ways we try to fill our lives with the finite. Allow me to suggest the following principles and practice.
1. Solitude and silence may require time and space.
a) Make or find a place where solitude and silence can occur.
--Find a quiet place in a library, a room in your home, a room in a church; somewhere where you will not be interrupted.
--Consider making a spare room in your house into a sanctuary. We make rooms for watching television, why not make one for communing with God?
--As an experiment, try to see how quiet you can actually make your home, car, etc.
b) Create a regular, non-negotiable place in your schedule that is solely for the purpose of being alone and still before God.
c) Once a year carve out three or four days where you can be completely alone. There are many retreat centers designed specifically for such a purpose.
d) If you have large blocks of time where you are alone (at home, in the car), leave the television, radio, etc., off and focus your thoughts on scripture and in prayer. We who know how to worry also know how to meditate-it is just a matter of what our minds dwell on.
2) Solitude and silence do not always require time and space. When you develop a habit of solitude and silence, you will be able to take them with you wherever you go-especially in the hectic places of your life.
a) Look for the short times each day where you can find solitude and silence. Use those times to focus your attention on seeking God's presence.
--The quiet morning moments before you get out of bed.
-- In the shower (one of my favorites!)
--The moments you see a beautiful blue sky or green fields or imposing mountains. Let them direct your thoughts on the Creator.
-- Think of your own moments during the day.
3) Solitude and silence always require attention. Silence and solitude without engaging the mind will put us to sleep.
- Consider memorized Scripture. Chew it over in your thoughts and apply it in appropriate ways to your circumstances and relationships.
- Consider an attribute of God. Think of the significance of the fact that He is present (also, able to do the impossible, gracious, good, just, etc.) Fruit of the Spirit- Beatitudes
- Consider the faithful actions of God in the past (Israel, the Church, and in your life). Read Scripture and see His works in history. Reflect on your past. Ask God to reveal the ways He has provided for you.
- Listen. Wait in active stillness.
I have to admit that this has been a difficult fruit for me to grasp.
This morning I was thinking about the fruit of goodness in my life and I started to think about the goodness of God ~ which I really can't understand.
As I look back at different situations in my life I wonder where the goodness of God is during those times. Why did I have to journey through those difficult and dark times?
Psalm 23:6 Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.
The following video is one that I have watched several times over the past few years. It's message is something that needs to be heard and one to be reminded of:
Rachel's story is not unlike what thousands of women around the world have experienced. A diagnosis that changes a woman's life and inevitably takes from her what we consider to be most precious.
After four and a half years of vigilantly fighting breast cancer, the 37 year old wife and mother of two was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
But for Rachel the essence of life is found in her relationship with God through Jesus. And that's why Rachel is convinced that death is not dying.
This morning I was thinking about the fruit of goodness in my life and I started to think about the goodness of God ~ which I really can't understand.
As I look back at different situations in my life I wonder where the goodness of God is during those times. Why did I have to journey through those difficult and dark times?
Psalm 23:6 Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.
The following video is one that I have watched several times over the past few years. It's message is something that needs to be heard and one to be reminded of:
Rachel's story is not unlike what thousands of women around the world have experienced. A diagnosis that changes a woman's life and inevitably takes from her what we consider to be most precious.
After four and a half years of vigilantly fighting breast cancer, the 37 year old wife and mother of two was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
But for Rachel the essence of life is found in her relationship with God through Jesus. And that's why Rachel is convinced that death is not dying.
Rachel Barkey went home to her Lord on July 2, 2009 at 37 years of age. Rachel is survived by her husband Neil and her children Quinn and Kate, parents Ben and Cathy Sawer, brother David (Johanna) Sawer and sister Andrea Sawer.
Rachel had a full and blessed life. She was a loving wife and mother who delighted in serving others, throwing parties, helping friends and spending days at the cabin with her family. She loved everyone selflessly and her passions were evident in everything she did. Rachel adored her children – Quinn and Kate were her greatest gifts. She will be greatly missed by her family, her friends and everyone whose life she has touched.
For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:17