I heard God's voice
in the wind through the trees;
he said, "My child,
find a song like these."
The waves on the shore
spoke to me
and said, "Our song
is a praise and a plea."
The crickets sing
long and low:
"Sing all you are
and have and know."
Mariposa Lily
July 31, 2012
July 13, 2012
He Would Possess Our Hearts Alone
"Let us not content ourselves with loving God for the mere sensible favors, how elevated soever, which He has done or may do us.... Let us seek Him often by faith.... If we do love Him alone, are we not rude, and do we not deserve blame, if we busy ourselves about trifles which do not please and perhaps offend Him? It is to be feared these trifles will one day cost us dear.
"Let us begin to be devoted to Him in good earnest. Let us cast everything besides out of our hearts. He would possess them alone."
- Brother Lawrence, The Fifteenth Letter
"Jesus said to him, 'If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.' When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
"And Jesus said to his disciples, 'Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.'"
- Matthew 19:21-24
"At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, 'Yet once more will I shake not only the earth but also the heavens.' This phrase, 'Yet once more,' indicates the removal of things that are shaken--that is, things that have been made--in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.
Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire."
- Hebrews 12:26-29
"Let us begin to be devoted to Him in good earnest. Let us cast everything besides out of our hearts. He would possess them alone."
- Brother Lawrence, The Fifteenth Letter
"Jesus said to him, 'If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.' When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
"And Jesus said to his disciples, 'Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.'"
- Matthew 19:21-24
Reading these passages, I cannot help but ask: what are the "trifles" which distract my attention from God? Let us not be lured by the seductiveness of possessions so rampant in our culture! Lord, keep our eyes and hearts fixed on You!
"At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, 'Yet once more will I shake not only the earth but also the heavens.' This phrase, 'Yet once more,' indicates the removal of things that are shaken--that is, things that have been made--in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.
Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire."
- Hebrews 12:26-29
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