3 Rs in ONE'S SPIRITUAL LIFE

Yesterday's sermon had me remembering 3 Rs---Repent, Return to God and be Refreshed (Acts 3:17). Sometimes we get so caught up in the busyness of life that we live overwhelmed and need refreshing. Times of refreshing can come---when we set aside expectations set by ourselves and others in repentance and turn to the Lord.

This time in Memphis.
This time in the eventide with my personal vespers.
This time for worship.
This time inside in my prayer chair

Last summer I also sought refreshment according to God's formula.

Last time in Maine. 

Last time at mid-day, not in the eventide.

Last time, as always, for worship. 

Last time outside in a place for quiet meditation within a sanctuary of God's handiwork. (Psalm 96:11-12)

I felt as if I had ascended the hill of the Lord and was standing in His holy place. (Psalm 24:3)

I'm not young per say but times of refreshing are needed at any age mostly inside my own home but  this sanctuary, in Camden, ME, also filled the bill. It was worth the visit,

CHOOSE: PONDERING ON THE PATIO

Sanctuary---a sacred place of sorts. My patio is such a spot when neighbors aren't out, hubby's not home and extraneous noises are kept at bay. A place to think and ponder on "Meditation Monday."

This morning was such a time. (Psalm 5:3) A time when I pondered my saying, "I don't have time" as a sign I'm running on my own schedule and not God's. Think frantic, frustrated, and harried.
"There is always enough time to do the will of God." (E. Elliott, Discipline, p. 99)
Frustration is NOT the will of God, I know that. I just don't live like I know that.

Choosing to "ponder" on the patio has allowed me to put my time in His hands. How refreshing!

SABBATH SNAPSHOTS: Sanctuary Revisited

11/18/12 In Genesis 12:8, Abraham built an altar after pitching his tent between Bethel and Ai. Bethel is a symbol for communing with God and Ai is the symbol of the world. That's right where we all live today---between quiet times with God and the clamors of the world. That's why we need a Bethel-type "sanctuary." A place to meet with God.

Inside St. George's sanctuary--seeking to capture His created "light." 

Even our soul can become a sanctuary where we fellowship with the Lord, the God and Father of our universe. Sometimes it just takes pulling away to a quiet place---an outside sanctuary to nurture our soul, an inside sanctuary.

Outside sanctuary--seeking "light" from His Word thru prayer and meditation.

R & R = Retreat Reflections #1

2/22/12 Sanctuary. Meditation. Two words that speak loudest in their silence of what my 5 days of retreating became. With morning schedules cleared and no clocks to demand I check the time, I sought the Lord.

I learned that being still is hard and learning to listen is harder still. "Divine whispers," as Richard Foster calls prayer-filled listening, require both. (Sanctuary of the Soul, p.12)

My first morning, I learned in Nehemiah 9, that when the Israelites cried out.... , you (God) heard from heaven. (v.28) Yet they refused to listen (v.29) and weren't paying attention (v. 30) I chose then to make listening a priority and to pay attention to cultivating a spiritual place in my heart---an inner sanctuary of sorts where I could hear from Him.

  

Lots of time was spent in the psalms with meditation and praying the scriptures. Lots of time was spent searching out songs in an old hymnal as well as singing from memory. I sought sanctuary with changed venues, but always it was the place where I would meet God. I was drawn to it. I carried my sanctuary in my heart. 

I journaled---lots. I left tracks of my mornings with marginalia throughout my Bible. I even wrote a poem/prayer to the Lord.

Draw me, Teach me,
Show me Yourself behind my earthly eyes.
Close my ears
...that I might listen with my inmost being.
Still my heart that I might hear Thee from heaven
...loud and clear in the silence.
Open my ears
...only to the whispers and nudges of Your Spirit.
Open only the eyes of my heart, Lord
...and send me out.
Send me out
... filled with quietness and trust of these moments.
Send me out
...to refresh others with the refreshing that has come from Thee.

Meditation began. I was drawn near to the Lord. To that place of quiet confidence and rest. Where is that place? "Near to the heart of God." Sanctuary.