“This is the Lord’s Day-the Day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.” This verse, has always haunted me, in the best of ways! What Day is it that we find ourselves rejoicing in, especially on hard days? Where is that Day within our days, in which we find ourselves rejoicing? And how do we enter into it daily?

 Daniel’s prayer also teaches us to confess into thanks into praise every day. That’s clearly one way into The Day! Start with confession, then enter into thanks, and perforce into praise.

And, St John reminds us, if we think we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar. For all have sinned and fallen short, daily. So what is this practice of finding the Day of the Lord, daily?

I’m working on the practice of finding the Day within my days. “In the architecture of time, it’s easy to lose sight of the temple.” as one Rabbi put it. We lose sight of where His Presence is, and start floundering around in mere circumstance. St Paul teaches us that the key to spiritual contentment is to meet God through whatever circumstance you find yourself in. Then all experiences become potentially meaningful and transformational–whether in prison or a palace. Or as Augustine said: “Love God and do what you will.”

I think often of the discipline of finding “The Lord’s Day” within my own. That space where we are meant to meet Him and therefore rejoice. Making all our passing circumstances become tents of meaning and transformation. I try to pray my way into That Day, daily, so that my activities and circumstances become tabernacles of meeting God. That seems like one of the keys to living meaningfully, and allowing all our cirumstances to be potential places or spaces of being transformed or growing—whether our jobs, cooking, walking dogs, picking up kids from school, reading, conversation—everything is a medium through which to meet God, to find The Day of the Lord.

It is somehow our daily practice to find That Day! Let’s interpret our days through that place called His Day! And do so daily. Thinking about this today! How to live today in The Day!

What parts are ours to do in our spiritual growth!

Been thinking about how St Paul in mentoring his disciple Timothy tells him to stay very active in his spirituality. To do certain things, and not others. In the letters to Timothy we are overhearing someone mentoring and training a younger elder. So Paul is passing on and imparting some of what he himself had learned, that would be needed in Timothy’s leadership. He tells him to remember the prophetic words spoken over him, and goes on to tell him to be active in many other areas of his own spirituality and leadership. Good meditation. We have to resist certain urges, rule over ourselves, be little internal governors over our soul and bodies.

Paul tells Timothy to be active in his spirituality—to flee and to pursue certain things. Grace is needed (yet as Dallas Willard said, it is also easy to be paralyzed by Grace in terms of spiritual growth; spiritual growth does not just happen to us, we are partners in becoming! We have to actively do things daily), but there is also an active pursuit or intentionally laying hold of—putting to death, calling to life in our daily spiritual practice. To put certain things on and take certain others off. The scripture do not teach us a passive spirituality. It is very intentional and active all the way through. We are responsible for part of our formation and to position ourselves for transformation. Pursue the ways of righteousness, flee away from (quickly run from) the ways of death. We are collaborators in becoming more whole.

Studying Jeremiah’s times as much like like ours, and a good interpretive lens for now, and came across this passage from Abraham Heschel’s “The Prophets” again…great book on the prophets i’m re-reading for interpretive maps. So well written and clear.  Plus, Jeremiah was asked to dramatize and do public performance art often to symbolize God’s messages. To go bury his underwear, as one of my favorite episodes goes…(God has often asked me to bury my underwear). About his times, Heschel writes:

 “His contemporaries had no understanding of the portent of their times, of the way in which God was present at that time. They did not care for time. But a prophet has a responsibility for the moment, an openness to what the moment reveals. He (or she) is a person who knows what time it is.” Nice definition about how the Kingdom interfaces with time and space. So the kings asked the prophets often, Ok, what time is it? They were to be like spiritual watches, and watchers!

Kindness is a practice. You have to really choose it every second. It’s one of His Ways. It’s not easy for us, because we are very selfish by nature. But we choose kindness. We choose to be generous to others, and we have to actively choose it. Because we don’t have the wisdom to know what is just or fair entirely in the moment. We do not fully know justice, so our option is to be kind to others regardless of their behavior or our way too quick judgements of them. We don’t know where they are coming from when they arrive on our doorstep. So be kind. Then you can consider and interpret things (come let us reason together!—that place of peach where you can start to understand a situation; go there firstly!) That’s your work. We are not in a position to judge another person’s day. We are in a position, constantly and sentiently, to extend Grace and be kind to them. We really have to choose to live out the fruits of the Spirit hourly—that’s the daily work of sanctification). In traffic, when a delivery person shows up late, when we are frustrated about this or that. Thats’s our sanctification process—choose kindness to one another. Enter Peace and then start to interpret things. That’s His Way.

How true healing works:

How to begin healing: true healing begins with forgiveness. We have to visit the Cross often for our own sins and the others who have sinned against us. We have to be little mini-priest, even within ourselves in order to move forward in life.

 That’s the basic practice: confession, into forgiveness, into thanks and perforce into praise. That is the pattern of healing and reconciliation. I’ve studied the healing process for years in therapy and counseling, it always starts with realizing your weak and wrong, and in need of a Higher help, and then forgiving others for their poor actions against you. We really can’t even grieve until we confess and forgive others. It’s a basic way towards wholeness.

 Reading an article today, again about the healing process…

One way to start healing is to start forgiving! This is true between family members and nations. Reading this today, made me think again today about the practicals of healing-forgiveness begins the process, for it makes room in us, for God to come in and dwell.

It’s a spiritual law about being human-if we want to heal, we have to forgive.

 Anyway, here’s the quote i liked from Leanne Payne again in a section of her book. “Restoring the Soul; completion in Christ through healing” (great book, insightful about what it means to be a human). This section was entitled, Failure to forgive Due to Being Out of Touch with One’s Heart.

“ In the day when people’s heads are so out of touch with their hearts. many have unforgiveness and do not realize it until, in prayer for healing the Holy Spirit reveals it.

 Often when praying with such persons, I find that a memory of abusive or abnormal behavior by another will come up. The person will not know he needs to forgive the offender. I will have to say, “You must confess this as a sin against you, and you must name it specifically for the sin that it is, and then, before God, extend forgiveness to the offender. The specific naming of the sin and of the offender is important. This is no abstract transaction, but a very real dealing before and with our God.” (Restoration of the Christian Soul, pg. 83) Good to recall the power of forgiveness in healing! It’s the starting point really.

 This is true between genders, generations, races, and nations! The basic principles of the Cross haven’t changed. Nice to be reminded today in study! We can’t avoid forgiveness in the healing journey.

We know that hourly confession of our own sins is a basic practice, as St John taught us. We start and end the day with confession, assuming we have sinned; then we move on in the way of His Cross to forgiving others. That’s the trajectory of our healing journey! For forgiveness is one of His Ways!

For the love of women!!!

 And, since I’m in the mood to share some of my raw thoughts today, also in my spare spiritual time, been praying for women.

  Wanted to share this prayer for all my female friends. Feels like the gender wars and confusion is one of the most basic dis-integrations happening in our time. It’s really in my eyes, an identity issue, but we need to see one another clearly. The scriptural categories to see women through are simple: bride, daughter, mother and grandmother. That’s about it. Let’s see one another purely, or as He does, so we can love one another into wholeness. So here’s for all my many women friends. Been praying for you! We are all poems of God worthy of dying for, if we saw one another correctly. So let’s lift one another up—especially between the genders and generations! We need it now. Here’s one, for the love of women:

  Blessings  for women everywhere-not worship, but blessings. I bless you specifically with safety to become who you are, being fully seen, protection and sanctity!

 Riding the wave of this wedding, and considering the gender contention around these elections, today I recalled standing there at the wedding last weekend, staring at all these beautiful daughters, wives, mothers and grandmothers at one point, and feeling Father’s heart for all women. We are given those categories of sight in scripture to see women through–daughter, sister, bride, mother and grandmother. That’s it really. Good to remember.

  I try to do that in my heart and my imagination always. To be vigilant with our categories of perception is an essential tool now!

 Anything less is a broken image of how He sees us. I want to see people whole, especially women in our times, or closer to how He sees us. Seeing one another well is healing for us all, and is a discipline for both men and women. Let’s sanctify our imaginations to see  one another well, it helps–ie in alignment with Kingdom categories of vision. Then we will treat one another as kings and princes, queens and princesses–that is, as who we really are!

Sorry, every once and awhile, i just have a pure father moment….

  Listen women. I just want to bless you all from a place of wholeness (at least in this area) from a man of God (or one who is at least chasing after His Character), who is not in competition with you or wanting to abuse or use you, or who needs you for my own needs. And who tries not to form you in the image of my own needs-or objectify you, but to appreciate and encounter you as you are–a poem of God! Each so specially nuanced! And worthy of endless consideration, honoring and protection into becoming…

 Be blessed and seen women! I’m very thankful for you all. In the midst of so much confusion (in the midst of a crisis in distinctions-gender, authority and every other area!), just want you all to know how dearly you are loved, covered, and seen, adored cared and heart-warred for.

 Speaking from His father heart to you all. Be blessed lovely persons! Father love to you in the deeper spaces of your subtle, and unseen, and ever more beautifying  parts of your hearts. You are dearly loved cared for and seen. Sorry for all our sins against you, but we are here, and care about your journey, and will protect it. Much love, from father’s in Him, everywhere. D

From Jeremiah the prophet: two juxtaposed considerations! Sometimes my favorite quotes were already said: plus Jeremiah’s times were just like ours—fall and rise of empires, crisis in leadership, the need to hear God’s clear Voice of interpretation. Those willing to risk their lives to speak truth etc…Certain times in history are good lens through which to look at your own. We need Jeremiahs and Daniels these days!  Those who can manifest both the heart and mind of God. Anyway, these two verses spoke to me today.

“The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it” (Jeremiah 18:7-8).

Something to consider, that i came across today.

God reminds us that the opposite is also true: “And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it” (verses 9-10).