And so Lent Begins... 13.02.13

 The LORD is like a father to his children,

tender and compassionate to those who fear him.

For he knows how weak we are;

he remembers we are only dust.

Psalm 103:13-14

We begin our 6 week journey through Lent,

a season to prepare for a deeper experience

of the passion and resurrection of Jesus,

with the acknowledgement of and reflection upon our own mortality.

"Ash Wednesday worship is the chance for us all to openly acknowledge our frailty and sinfulness. 

On Ash Wednesday we are faced with our imperfections. 

We all bear the mark of sin... We all stand guilty before a holy God. 

We all are mortal and will someday experience bodily death. 

Thus we all need a Saviour."  

And that is the good news we anticipate as we journey toward Easter.

 On Ash Wednesday

We can admit our own mortality.

We can talk openly about the limits of this life. Why?

Because through Christ we have entered into life eternal,

 fullness of life that will not end when our bodies give out.

The emotional result of Ash Wednesday observance isn't depression or gloom,

but gratitude and new energy for living.

When we realize how desperately we need God,

and how God is faithful far beyond our desperation,

we can't help but offer our lives to him in fresh gratitude.

And when we recognize that life doesn't go on forever,

then we find wonder anew to delight in the gifts of each and every day,

and to take none of them for granted... 

 Ashes are placed on our foreheads

as a reminder of our mortality and sinfulness.

The person who imposes the ashes quotes something like

what God once said to Adam after he had sinned:

 "You are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Gen 3:19).

This is the bad news of our sinfulness that prepares us to receive

the good news of forgiveness in Christ.

May I inspirit you with this final thought ? ~ 

"How grateful I am for the grace of God that allows us to stare death in the face

so we can live with greater wonder and delight!

How thankful I am for a day that grants us permission to think about death

so we can cherish life even more."

Let's live in Wonder on This Lenten Journey ...

  

Let's #LiveWonderstruck

 

_eHope on Twitter

21 Days of Wonder: 'Rest' #LIVEWONDERSTRUCK

From Margaret Feinberg:

*Apart from rest, we can sleep through the wonders of God. *

Though your schedule may be full, consider what you can do today to imbibe rest
as one of God’s greatest gifts.
Perhaps you can sneak in a catnap. Or allow your eyes to rest during the midafternoon.
Or climb into bed an hour early.
Look for a few minutes when you can just rest—
allowing your mind and body and emotions to recalibrate. 

Drink in rest to awaken more fully to the wonders of God all around. [Tweet this] 

Share with others what you experience through rest.

For me?  

Rest allows restoration.  Body, mind, spirit.
Renewal. Refreshment.
Balance and equanimity.
Living with the sound mind God offers rather than stress/worry.
Rest provides margin.  Room for Peace to increase.

Awareness of God's Presence.

And when God is present, all that God is, is present...

Love, Joy, because we know that it's in God's Presence there is 

fullness of joy!

Everything we need is Present.  God is I AM.

I AM = whatever you need. And God knows exactly what we need!

We just need to give time in God's Presence to receive.

To hear God's heart speaking Life into our heart.

HIGHLY recommended, I give 'Rest' a 5* rating!

source

Wonder Challenge: Whether you’re on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, or your blog,
we’d love to know the answer to this question: When do you feel the deepest rest?
Make sure to include #LIVEWONDERSTRUCK so we can find you!

My response?
I feel the deepest rest when I'm tucked in close to
Father's heart.
Listening and hearing His heart for me.
Feeling His embrace...
That's where I
#LIVEWONDERSTRUCK

I #LIVEWONDERSTRUCK on Pinterest HERE

Tomorrow: GOD

Kindle version of Wonderstruck is now available for reduced price of $7.39 on Amazon. I love a great deal! Here’s the link: http://mar.cta.gs/053

***

Take the 21 Days of Wonder Challenge and awaken to the wonders of God all around.
Learn more, here.

Click here to sign up and receive a bonus eBook: Wonderstruck by Jesus Christ.

Wordless Wednesday Gratitude Habit: 1/9/13

A Gift ~passed by, held, sat with...

'HABITS'

My pictured response to the Wednesday prompt at

Walk with Him Wednesday 

and Ann's Joy Dare of 1000 Gifts of Gratitude in a Year...

Find more Joy Dares at Ann's blog, twitter and fb

more Wordless Wednesday photos at Ramona's

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Everything Beautiful in its Time ~

~ Welcome Summer Time ~

source

 

Beginning 2 weeks of Wednesdays focused on
the practice of 'Citizenship' ~
how to live Here when our Home is Heaven . . .

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Faith is an Open Door ~

Every Wednesday, at A Holy Experience, we Walk with Him, 

posting a spiritual practice that draws us nearer to God's heart.

For the next two weeks…  might we explore: The Practice of Faith… 

What does it look like to believe? How do you practice your faith day to day?

How do you share that faith, deepen faith in Christ, 

live that faith out in the midst of fears?

for me, a faith-filled life is living life with an open door.

open to God, open to others, open to opportunities.

however they may come...

interruptions, God appointments, surprise connxns.

today, wherever we may have closed out life,

closed out faith,

closed out God,

 may we begin to open that door once again...

*be generous with your lives  opening up to others, 
you'll prompt people to open up with God  
generous Father in heaven.* Mt 5.15 The Message

now it's your turn ~

The whole community looks forward to your prayerful reflections, stories, ideas….

Today, if you’d like to share with community The Practice of Faith … slip in the URL to your exact post on the linky…..

If you join us, please help us find each other by sharing

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Meditation from Henri Nouwen for August 10, 2011

Wednesday August 10, 2011    Burning With Love  Often we are preoccupied with the question "How can we be witnesses in the Name of Jesus?  What are we supposed to say or do to make people accept the love that God offers them?"  These questions are expressions more of our fear than of our love.   Jesus shows us the way of being witnesses.  He was so full of God's love, so connected with God's will, so burning with zeal for God's Kingdom, that he couldn't do other than witness.  Wherever he went and whomever he met, a power went out from him that healed everyone who touched him.  (See Luke 6:19.) If we want to be witnesses like Jesus, our only concern should be to be as alive with the love of God as Jesus was. Comment on this Daily Meditation.  Visit our website for inspiration, resources, news, events, community. Text excerpts taken from Bread for the Journey, by Henri J.M. Nouwen, ©1997 HarperSanFrancisco. All Scripture from The Jerusalem Bible ©1966, 1967, and 1968 Darton, Longman & Todd and Doubleday & Co. Inc. Psalms from The Psalms, A New Translation ©1963 The Grail (England) published by Collins. Photo by K. Smith.

for an excellent post on Forgiveness
visit Ann Voskamp as we walk with Him today....

living centred....

wordless wednesday

or 

wordfilled wednesday?

which option to choose?

i've spent 2 days writing my second submission to Cast magazine.

this time for its summer edition,

so i'm feeling 'worded' out!

reading Ann Voskamp's 'Walk with Him Wednesday'

i recognize how my article reflects my own response to some of her questions.

"How do we give our lives away?

Is that what it means to be centered on Christ,

the God who so loved, He gave?"

as i've previously written and posted,
as Christ followers,
as 'Marys',

our 'doing' results from our 'being'.

who we are in relationship with God through Christ,

having developed a relationship that hears His voice,

that sees from God's perspective.

when we are seeing and hearing

we can then choose, like Jesus, to be about our Father's business.

not filling our page with the scribbles of our own activity,

rather, making the mark God intends for us to make.

a quarter inch stroke?

an intricate celtic cross?

an imperfect circle...

the mark isn't what matters.

the obedience is.

for the one who loves Him obeys Him -

"Then my Father will love them,

and we will come to them

and live in them." Jn 14.23

and when God comes to live love in us

we begin to hear love and we begin to see love.

" He wakens Me morning by morning,

He wakens My ear to hear as a disciple -as one who is taught."

Is 50.4

when our ears are wakened as disciples who are taught

we willingly choose to obey.

out of love. 

on mission with God.

what matters is living in God's love relationship,

responding from a loved and loving heart.
there is no fear in love.
thus, no striving. no need to perform.
no need for it. no room for it. 

Eph. 3.19

[That you may really come] to know

[practically, through experience for yourselves]

the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience];

that you may be filled [through all your being]

into all the fullness of God

[may have the richest measure of the divine Presence,

and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!

Amplified

here's to a lifetime of Living.
 Loved!...

Cheers!

 

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