Category Archives: Intimacy

Perspectives, part 2

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“. . .when [Brother Lawrence] had failed in his duty, he only confessed his fault, saying to GOD, I shall never do otherwise, if You leave me to myself; it is You who must hinder my falling, and mend what is amiss. . .after this, he gave himself no further uneasiness about it.”

This is a perspective I seek. It demonstrates that our identities are not enmeshed in our actions and/or the results of our actions (either falling or victory), but in Christ alone. Our security is not in what we do, but in Christ. Therefore, if we fall or fail, our security as sons and daughters of God remains in tact. His love for us does not falter. Likewise, any victory we celebrate is not due our own effort. Nor does does it cause God to love us more. The victory, in fact, belongs to Him. He extends His grace in that He celebrates His victory with us as His beloveds.

I could spend a lifetime in this text (Practice of the Presence of God) and urge all who want to experience a deeper love for God to read and meditate on the conversations with Brother Lawrence, a lowly kitchen worker and exalted son of God.

Prayer:
Whether I fail or succeed, may all I do point to the glory of Christ, our Lord.

Perspectives from Bro. Lawrence

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Today I begin a journey of rest. Not rest in the physical sense, but a journey to enter the rest of God – a promise I intend to claim (Matthew 11:28)!

I began a devotional reading of Brother Lawrence’s Practice of the Presence of God. What devotion he demonstrated! What a model! Brother Lawrence (Nicholas Herman) was an unlearned, low class man who was admitted as a Lay Brother to an order of Carmelites in 1666. He had a remarkable conversion experience at the age of 18 that propelled him into a love with God of unmatchable proportions.

Not making it beyond the first page of this text, I find myself in utter awe and astonishment of his love and devotion to God. His great disappointment in God is this: “he had desired to be received into a monastery. . .so he should sacrifice to God his life, with its pleasures” but he “met with nothing but satisfaction” in his sacrifice. Truly, he embraced the Apostle Paul’s perspective that all things are loss compared to knowing the glory of Christ (Philippians 3:7-9).

This simple man also shares the value of continual conversation with God and how shameful it is “to quit His conversation, to think of trifles and fooleries.” What wisdom!

O Lord, create in me a heart designed only for You. May I consecrate my time and my heart to knowing and living by Your Truth. Keep me in Your Presence, O God.

Children of God

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I wonder if we sometimes take it for granted that we are “children of God.” More rightly spoken, that we can be called “children of God.” In order to understand the value and worth, the great honor and privilege, the humbling magnificence of such a claim, one must intimately know the Father. Otherwise, it is simply a phrase without depth or meaning that one bystander might state in passing to another.

The Apostle John knew what it meant to be a child of God. He knew Jesus personally and therefore knew the Father. He exclaimed, “see how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God” (1 John 3:1). How great a love!! Can we even fathom such a love? The truth is, we cannot. Our finite minds cannot comprehend the love of the Father, the triune God, without the grace and power of the Holy Spirt. Even then we barely touch the cusp of his infinite love for us, which is more than enough to sustain our hearts and minds on the journey to Christlikeness.

To be called and known as a child of the Most High, the Creator of All, the Lord and Savior. . .what a sweet gift! Yet what fear accompanies it! I reference the fear of the Lord, that awesome understanding that He is God and I am not, and that my life is for His pleasure and will to be done vice my own. So I pray raise me as Your own, dear Father of the Stars. Fill me with Your wisdom and instruction. As the psalmist sings, “make me know Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You I wait all the day” (Psalm 25:4-5).

Thoughts of the Cross

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When I sit in the silence of my prayer closet, I discover in great surprise each time that I am not alone. The Most High, the Maker of the Heavens and of Earth, the Magnificent Lord of All draws near. How can it be? The Greatest of Greats in my weak and humble state. Breathe deeply. Every breath is not only by the grace of God, but is a gift of His presence–an intake of His Spirit into mine. From the beginning He breathed life, His Spirit, into humanity. Into eternity. He’s still breathing.

When Jesus breathed His last breath on the glory of the cross, I breathed my first. His Life became mine while mine became His, purchased by His pain and suffering–the Passion of the Cross. What a divine mystery! The miracle of the Gospel of Jesus, my Lord.

From the anguish of the cross, He looked deep into my soul and professed His love to me amidst my rebellion. How could I resist those eyes, those tears of love? Together we weep. I weep for His pain; He for mine. I weep for His love; He for mine. I weep because I am unworthy of Him; He because He sees my worth to Him. I weep because He chose me; He because I chose Him. My tears are tears of freedom–the beginning of life and life to the fullest. This is why He came (John 10:10).

O Lord, I profess to You. . .You have my full attention. I devote my life to your apprenticeship. May Your beauty be ever before me as You bring me into deeper intimacy with You.