The quote above is from: The Practice of the Presence of God by brother Lawrence.

Brother Lawrence lived over 300 years ago, a humble cook. He wrote letters of faith that have surpassed the test of time. Learning how important God is in every present moment, he recognized the Kingdom of God is not only in the ever after; the Kingdom of God is in this very moment and possible to experience and live in right now.

"It is the art of practicing the presence of God in one single act that does not end."

Have you ever attempted that? I know I have. When I am in a solitary environment, a silent retreat for instance, I am quick to lean into His presence and sense Him in every moment.

When I am walking my client's dogs in the rain/snow/sleet, driving in Baltimore traffic, or sitting at my computer when it is becoming possessed by something other than common sense! Well...maybe, not so much.

But, I want to. I desire to. I yearn to.

A word that is mentioned today in our Reading, Reflection and Bible Community is Bondservant. Are you familiar with that term? In the New American Standard Version of the Bible you will find it in several places. (Titus 1, Deuteronomy 32:36, Luke 2:29, Acts 4:29, Acts 16:17, Romans 1:1, Philippians 1:1) Peter, Paul, James, Timothy and many more claimed themselves as bond servants of Christ.

What is the meaning of Bondservant? It is referenced through description in Deuteronomy 15:16-17.

"But suppose your servant says, "I will not leave you," because he loves you and your family, and he has done well with you. In that case, take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door. After that, he will be your servant for life. And do the same for your female servants." Deuteronomy 15:16-17 NLT

Jesus repeatedly tells us that relationship with Him, with God, is dependent upon our desire to have one.
He opens His arms, we decide whether or not to run in.
He encourages us to abide in Him (John 15:4)
He stands at the door and knocks (Revelation 3:20)
He begs God the Father to forgive those slaughtering Him and in reality any who have sinned (like uh, well uh, me), while He bleeds to death on the cross (Luke 23:24)

He desires relationship with me. Do I desire relationship with Him?

"We cannot avoid the dangers of life without God's continual help, so we should ask Him for it ceaselessly. But how can we ask for help unless we are with Him? To be with Him, we must cultivate the holy habit of thinking of Him often." ~Brother Lawrence.

I desire to live every day with God being more important than He was yesterday. How do I. For me investing in His Word, continually asking Him to show Himself, praying for Him to protect me from myself.

I know that I sin, I know that I am weak and often weary. But He sufficiently provides some sort of step by step power that moves forward. I am so thankful for our God who is greater than we can even comprehend or imagine.

I leave you with this thought from Brother Lawrence:
"Brother Lawrence insisted that, to be constantly aware of God's presence, it is necessary to form the habit of continually talking with Him throughout each day. To think that we must abandon conversation with Him in order to deal with the world is erroneous. Instead, as we nourish our souls by seeing God in His exaltation, we will derive a great joy at being His."

The book is small. I encourage you to read it. Click here for the link.

May you find God in your days this week. May you be constantly aware of His presence. May you find talking to Him continually a joy and a romance. May you bless God by getting to know Him. He already knows you.

Praise be to God.
Because He IS the I AM, i am
robyn rochelle cox
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 1 John 2: 15-17

15. Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 17. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

1 John 2:28
And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from Him in shame.

Imagine that day when Christ will return. He will you know. He will return. Where will I be when it happens? Where will you be? Where will this world be? Will it be tomorrow, 20 years from now, or centuries in the future? No one knows. But when I read these words from John it always makes me wonder if it could be in my life time and, if it is, will I heed this advice?

I want to.

I want to remain in fellowship with Christ. I want to be full of courage and not have to shrink back from Him in shame.

We have been given a warning here. Don't love the things of this world. It is as simple and as hard as that. We have been given great insight into wisdom living in this passage. However, this wisdom can be overwhelmed by the cares of this world.

We usually acknowledge those 'cravings for physical pleasure, and everything we see' as unwise. We say to ourselves: "Be careful, stay away from those things." In the Christian world there are those standard 'taboos'. These are easy for us to see as things that are needed to be 'given up'.

But what about the cares of the world that are not frivolous? What about those places of pride in our achievements and possessions that we hold so close to our hearts?

Those cares of this world that are not frivolous? I'm referring to those that are given as important to the belief systems we are grounded in. Doing good in our community, being of service, buying a home for our loved ones to live in, finding a partner to do life with...
Things like family, community, caring for the poor, sick, hungry. The list of good deeds goes on.
I remember having great pride over some really good things in my past.

I am taken back to a rainy day in the early years of the turn of our century, @2000. — A really rainy day.

As a single mother, I took great pride in being romanced by God and *enlarging my tents through my teaching position, my home, and especially my kids. I taught a Bible study in my home every Wednesday evening and I loved the women that came and did life with me there. My home church was grounded firmly in the Bible and it was growing rapidly. We as a body of believers were being challenged to listen to God in ways we had never done before. I had wonderful book mentors during these years, like A.W.Tozer, George McDonald, Maj. Ian Thomas, Eugene Peterson... and I took pride in learning from them.

But nothing changed and called me to *enlarge my tents so much as a mission trip to Europe. These pieces were all stepping stones, but the final push was the call I heard after traveling to Holland in 2000 with our church's youth. It wasn't right away, it took some time, but it was there and the more I begged God to clarify it, the more real it became.

On that rainy day I was re-reading the paperwork I had received from Greater Europe Mission, a mission organization I was praying about joining. Every inquiry made was a door I anticipated to be closed, yet it led to open door upon open door. The paperwork I was re-reading was the final agreement to become a full-time missionary in Europe.

Selling the home God had allowed me to buy? my car? most of my belongings?Leaving my three young adult children?Leaving my home church, and all of those women in the Bible study I loved so dearly? I was overwhelmed with the reality that God was calling me to leave all of these.

But the greatest sacrifice of all was in my heart that no one knew. Marriage. By signing that paper I just knew I was signing away the possibility of ever marrying again. Because, I would be a missionary and the people I would meet as a missionary would not ever be interested in marrying a divorcee. And I was a divorcee and had been alone since 1988.

All that I was letting go of were good things. None were frivolous.

But God called me at that time to release these very good things.

I find it interesting that the one thing that caused the greatest tears was this view of re-marriage. The thought that I would never marry again was so painful, so gut wrenching, I basically laid over my red-prayer-chair-ottoman and could not stop crying. But, His Still Small Voice did not silence. I listened and signed, mailed the paperwork off, and was accepted. I was commissioned to Greater Europe Mission with Women's Ministries in 2003. God continued to *enlarge my tents.

What did I learn from this experience? Hold people, positions, possessions, and possibilities loosely. Nothing but God need be the driving factor of my life.

It does not mean I do not have them. Good grief, God even brought another man into my life to love me and for me to love. And people think God doesn't have a sense of humor!

But, I want to be able to stand courageously and with no shame when Jesus returns for His bridegroom.

He has romanced me for so many years and I want to continue being loved into loosely holding even those things that are considered good.

*enlarge the place of your tent...Isaiah 54 read it here! biblehub.com

God has not stopped *enlarging the place of my tent. But since that day of surrender, I have to admit, nothing has ever gripped me so greatly and caused me to realize He was calling me into something beyond. I don't ever want to forget it.

I don't want to forget it, because it lead me into a place deeper and more wonderful than I had ever known. And the more I remember it: He is more precious to me.  And, amazingly enough, I value those really good things even more. I just don't hold on to them so tightly. They take their rightful place in my heart.

When I stand in front of Him on the day He returns. He will call me, and any who have followed into something so much more and way beyond.

• Are you listening? Am I? Are you releasing the things of this world? Am I? Are you following Him? Am I? - these are the questions I desire to ask myself. Would you join me?
• Is He encouraging you to "enlarge your tent"?
• Will He find you with courage and unashamed when he comes again?

Let us ban together and pray for each other to remain steadfast until the day of His return. It would be a blessing for you to share your thoughts below in the comments.

Praise be to God, the One and Only Three in One.
Because He IS the I AM, i am
robyn rochelle cox
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Genesis 22: 9-12
9"When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10. And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice. 11. At that moment the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!
"Yes," Abraham replied, "Here I am!"
12. "Don't lay a hand on the boy!" the angel said. "Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son."

Hard stuff!

My head tells me to leave out the part about Abraham picking up a knife to kill his son. My cultural sensitivity says, don't get that graphic, don't think about the knife, that's really harsh.
But then I come back to the reality that God's call isn't all that sanitary. He is not that interested in whether or not it is icky, or hard, or something that I've simply coddled for far too long. He gets to the depths of my soul, opens me up and questions my loyalty.

He really wants to know if I am willing to cut out those things I love, those things I hate to love, and even those people, places, positions, and powers that I put as more important to me than He himself. So He gets pretty graphic in this message.

What is the purpose for His getting so pointed? Why did He call Abraham to sacrifice his only son. The son, mind you, that God had promised Abraham would be the lineage for a great nation. I've heard many interpretations for why God might have done this.

• This is clearly a foreshadowing of God the Father sacrificing his beloved Son, Jesus Christ, it is also a wonderful demonstration of Abraham's faith and acceptance of the covenant that was made with God for a nation to come from Isaac. Abraham went with full expectation of God raising Isaac from the dead.
• The Angel of the LORD is clear that God stops Abraham because Abraham showed that he truly feared God. Abraham was willing to kill his only legitimate son. This son that would be the heir to Abraham.
• Could it be there was also a lesson in becoming a living sacrifice? When we recognize that Abraham was sacrificing his very heart, his promise from God, his beloved son, upon that alter, it makes me wonder about the possibility that God is pointing me to becoming a living sacrifice to Him.
  • Not a dead sacrifice, but a living one.
  • Abraham bound his son, Isaac. Abraham bound him and laid him down on the alter. And God stopped Abraham from causing the death of his only son.
  • Instead God, gave Abraham life with his only son. Can you imagine the joy that must have coursed through Abraham's very veins!

"It is of no value to God to give Him your life for death. He wants you to be a 'living sacrifice," to let Him have all your powers that have been saved and sanctified through Jesus. This is the the thing that is acceptable to God." ~ Oswald Chambers

From the outside I look pretty sanitary. I have never been a drinker, never smoked anything in my life, never been a big cusser (I don't claim to never say a curse word - I have been known to say them and I even have a few that are my favorites). But on paper and even in real life, I look pretty tame and 'Sin' free. BUT, those sins that plague me are deep and well-rooted. I am constantly riping out another weed. Some of them hide in the flower bed for awhile.

Do you know what I mean? Those sins that can be covered up by really nice, niceties? These are the sins that no one can see. The anger, the bitterness, the fear. Yes, fear. Fear is the opposite of trust. Thus fear... a topic for another day.

I have seen judgment raise its ugly head while sitting quite innocently at a red light and looking over into the car next to me, seeing a young girl with a really low t-shirt on and immediately making a judgement. It shocked me. But it popped out and I was disgusted with myself. I was almost thankful that this happened in the ear shot of my husband. I had to apologize to both God, my husand, and I swear if that young girl could have been found, I would have apologized to her.

I have committed a few horrible acts of sin. I have confessed these to a few people. But I have done that after confessing them to Adonai and then finally to take them to Jesus. — These are all God of course, but with each character trait of the Father the Word reveals another Name (Adonai,(Lord, Master) Elohim (God), Jehovah Jireh (God, Provider) etc.,and of course Jesus is part of the Trinity: God Father, Son, Holy Spirit — This simply means it took me a while before I was able to receive God's forgiveness for the grievous sin I had committed. For instance, I am a divorced woman that does not believe in divorce. A tough place to stand and serve God. And of course that is not the most grievous.

But God has been so gentle when I have come to Him with my sin. He has opened His arms and reminded me that His purpose in sending His son Jesus was to mend the bridge that was broken between us.

His desire is for me to be a living sacrifice. To come to Him regularly and let Him do a thorough cleansing of my heart. Finding a place alone and saying "Here I am": my car, my office, my red prayer chair. Good grief, Susanna Wesley, the mother of John and Charles Wesley even took her apron and threw it over her head against the cries of 10 of the 19 children that she bore. She promised God. So, she in the midst of deep hardship, was loyal and loving in her living sacrifice to God. She cried out, "Here I am."

And the rewards that I have received in my life are innumerable. And the reward that Susanna Wesley received in her life: John and Charles Wesley. And the reward that Abraham received in his life: Isaac living and breathing and carrying on the chosen nation to bring the Messiah. The Savior of the world Jesus.

Read Susanna Wesley's story here: from Joni Erickson Tada's founded group- Joni's Friends

If you have experienced that "Here I am" moment please share in the comments below. It is such an encouragement!
If you haven't, I encourage you to find a place to get alone with God, climb any mountain you must and lay down those loves that have become more important than God.
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You are invited to join us at Reading, Reflection, Bible Community. Join other believers from all walks of life as we read and meditate on His words.
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John 1:5 "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
Light penetrates and pierces darkness. In the midst of confusion, in the depth of despair one thing upon which you can hold is what you have learned in the Light. You might be there now, you might be there in the future. More than likely you have been there in the past.

New Year's is filled with the making of goals and the excitement of the future. I myself am a huge new year calendar planner. I make goals, and I  stick to them. I was blessed with a boss years ago that gave all of her teacher's a calendar already filled out with every meeting we would be required to attend, all of the important dates were there, and all of our scheduled observations were filled in. I loved building in around that structured monthly calendar.

Because of her example I have done that every year since. I became accustomed to it. (Modeling is so important)

And Jesus modeled leaning into the Light. He didn't fret. He didn't concern Himself over the little things. He simply leaned into the Light. The structure of His life was already planned out. He set out and followed the plan.

And yet, there come times when we are in the dark. Even Jesus was in the dark in the Garden of Gethsemane. The place of confusion, darkness, despair is not a pretty place to visit. It is not a wise place to live. But when we are there, sometimes it is hard to get ourselves out of it.

Jesus leaned into the light of His Father and did not forget in the darkness what He had learned in the Light.

In John 1:5 we find that Light shines in the darkness. If you are in the darkness you can depend on light being there too. He is. Jesus is there. He is the light and He can and will break through the darkness. Never forget in the darkness what you learned in the light. Begin to repeat that truth and Light will grow.

I memorized this verse years ago. Often, I forget how deeply it is embedded in my heart.

Until, I need it and then it comes up and out of my mouth. "The LIGHT shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." Praise God.

Do not forget Jesus when you are faced with the dark overwhelming problems that will come up in 2017. He is there and He will bring light and clarity. Don't forget Him when you are making those decisions.

Never forget in the darkness what you learned in the Light.

Luke 1:78-79 "Because of God's tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace."

Zechariah and Elizabeth were gifted with their son John later in their lives. He was a promise that seemed impossible. But Elizabeth had a baby way beyond child bearing years. John was to usher in the Messiah. Zechariah prophesied about John being the one that would prepare the way for the Messiah. In this prophesy Zechariah foretold of the Messiah as the morning light from heaven. This light that will be given to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death. The light that will guide us to the path of peace.

Never forget how merciful our great Father God is, who sent us Jesus, the Light, to guide us to the path of peace.

John 8:12 "Again Jesus spoke to them saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

OK. Can I just get an Amen? Listen to this truth. Jesus is the light of the world. Following HIM leads us out of darkness into the light of life.

 In the last few years I have heard a lot about knowing the Why of your plan. 

I have now seen 6 decades come and go. I could almost mark my life off in decades. My 20's married-with-small-children. My 30's divorced-single-university-student-mom-and-then-
teacher. My 40's single-mom-with-teenagers-growing-into-adults. My 50's single-missonary-learning-foreign-language/culture/life. My 60's beginnings? They are new-life-new-husband and-new-God-calling.

Since my mid-twenties I can honestly say I have had only one Why in my life, where major goals are set. That is this:

I will follow Jesus and not walk in darkness but will have the Light of Life!

There has not been one decade since about age 28 that I would say I desired anything more than to follow Jesus. NOT that I have had an easy life. As you can see in my line up of decades, there have been some pretty hard and lean years. To live a life of divorce when one doesn't believe in divorce isn't easy. To raise three children alone is never easy. To spend years on a mission field alone is never easy. But my why? My why was to follow Jesus and I can testify as well as others that have walked shoulder to shoulder through this life with me:
                                    I have had the Light of Life with me! Make Him your Why!

 
John 12:46 "I have come into the world as a light, so that no one that believes in me should stay in darkness.


Enough said.


2017 is here. Are you planning for this year? Do you know your Why?
I encourage you to share your thoughts here. Do you agree?

***I don't add any personal thoughts to the membership community daily verses. The power there is the Word standing alone, being read, pondered, and shared within the community. I read, pray, and share like all other members. Find the membership page in RR&BC - We invite you in!