Mindfully Approaching Scripture

"Praying scripture is not judged by how much you read but by the way in which you read. If you read quickly, it will benefit you little. You will be like a bee that merely skims the surface of a flower. Instead, in this new way of reading with prayer, you must become as the bee that penetrates into the depths of the flower. You plunge deeply within to remove its deepest nectar."

                                        ~ Madame Guyon, 7th French mystic

I have to admit there was once a time when I approached God's Word rather causally. Flipping through it randomly, reading passages that I hardly remembered afterwards and feeling content that at least I had opened my Bible in the first place! I never really had a moment of insight, a moment where I thought God was revealing something to me, a moment where peace descended upon me and my heart opened up to embrace the reality of God and where I experienced the realization of the fullness of His glory.  If anything the Bible seemed kind of...well...bland and disconnected to my modern experience. I hate to say it, but in such a state as I once found myself in, I viewed certain books, especially in the Old Testament, as well...obsolete! (I reluctantly write these words because they are not easy ones to admit!...but somehow I don't think I'm alone.)

God has an amazing way of revealing in time His truths to the believer and when the heart is ripe, the harvest will come. I suppose my heart wasn't ripe during those earlier times.  If I was given the seeds of mindfulness to plant into my practice and approach I am afraid they probably would have only sprouted a bit and then wilted. No, it wasn't until I was already aware and deep into the practice of mindfulness meditation for quite sometime, not even considering or thinking of incorporating the practice towards reading and praying scripture, when I read Richard Foster's book, Celebration of Discipline. It was then when I saw the connection.  I have found this practice truly transforming. And honestly, mindfulness applied to anything, whether it be washing the dishes, taking a shower, walking in the woods or meditating, enriches one's experience opening up whole new dimensions of experiencing reality. I encourage all to explore this approach and apply it!

To experience the present more fully is a beautiful way of watching life and reality unfold itself before you. To experience Scripture more fully and plunge into the Word of God and enter the depths of its riches is an experience that leaves one changed and charged with the glory of God. 


As Madam Guyon shares with us, Scripture is unique and shouldn't be read in a trite and flighty manner. Richard Foster supports her view of this and shares his own with these words:

We cannot read Scripture the way we read the New York Times or an article on Wikipedia. The Bible is not susceptible to skimming, to summarizing, to speed-reading; there is a fundamental difference between Google and the gospel. Scripture is deep, rich, complex, and multi-layered. It speaks through nuances and details. It yields its fruit slowly and gently. (Renovare, November 2008 - Vol.15, No. 3)

When we take a few moments before reading Scripture to quiet our minds, pray and then open the holy words of God with a heart leaning forward with eager expectancy, ready to dive into the words and truths they contain, God blesses us for coming to Him with eager and seeking hearts. To be mindful simply means to be fully present. To not be distracted by wayward thoughts that oftentimes compete for our attention and muddle our thoughts, obscuring clarity and hindering perception. May we all be inspired by Madame Guyon's illustration and approach God's Word as bees digging for the sweet and living nectar of God's truths and in doing so, be touched and transformed by His amazing presence and reality.

Heavenly Father,

We thank you for safely bringing us into a new day. We know there are factors in our lives that worry us, pleasantly distract us and otherwise take our attention off from experiencing you in the present moment. May we learn to shed ourselves from such illusions, for nothing compares to your Glory and your Word and the life it offers. When we open the scriptures we ask you to help us be fully present and plunge into its depths. May it refresh and restore us, giving us hope and strength, light and new truths and a deeper sense of compassion and love so that we may, every time our Bible closes, be more and more transformed by your love. May we take the blessings and truths you give us and use them as tools to bring glory to your great name and reflect your love and light to a dim and dark world. May we shatter the darkness that surrounds us with your love and draw others closer to you.

In Jesus' name,

                                           Amen.                                                



Experiencing God's Presence in the Everyday

"How do we enter an intimate, ongoing communion with God? The answer is simple: with practice. We undertake experiments of everyday life in which we are learning to be with God. And the stuff of our  day-to-day experience is the place where these experiments go on. This with-God life takes no time, yet it occupies all our time. When we go to work, we go to work with-God. At work we are learning how to bless those who curse us, how to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice, how our very presence can be a joy to others. And the experiments are numerous and varied: "Today, Lord, teach me somehow to bless every person I meet. Show me the preciousness of each individual. Fill my mind with creative new ideas and show me how to break the horns of cruel dilemmas." The same is true for times at home with family and time with neighbors and friends."

~ Richard Foster, Longing for God: Seven Paths of Christian Devotion

That we might accustom ourselves to a continual conversation with Him, with freedom and simplicity. That we need only to recognize God intimately present with us, to address ourselves to Him every moment, that we may beg His assistance for knowing His will in things doubtful, and for rightly performing those which we plainly see He requires of us, offering them to Him before we do them, and giving Him thanks when we have done.   ~ Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God

Mindfulness has been a transforming process spiritually for me and I am a firm believer that if we silence our oftentimes rambling and distracted thoughts, we open ourselves up to new levels of consciousness and new ways of experiencing God's presence. I wrote about this very thing in a post titled :Experiencing God - http://ascendingthehills.blogspot.com/2010/10/experiencing-god.html .

Prayer, and as Brother Lawrence puts it, continual prayer, is another way to open ourselves up to God's presence and to His reality. I love how, in Foster's passage he says, "This with-God life takes no time, yet it occupies all of our time." That is so true! To open oneself to continual conversation with God and to find God, who is true reality, manifested in the present moment, applying the teachings of Jesus directly in our lives, is something that we can do while doing our most ordinary tasks and chores. In Brother Lawrence's book he mentioned many times to others that his prayer time differed very little from his everyday ordinary moments of doing his many tasks, mostly in the kitchen, at the monastery. He was in sync with God, within and outside of conventional prayer.

It takes awhile to get into the custom of seeking God and experiencing Him continually throughout one's day through experiencing His presence and through prayer. Some don't think it possible, but my opinion differs from theirs. I'm not going to even give the illusion that I live that way. But I know it is possible because of those who have walked the ancient paths of faith before us. Those like Brother Lawrence, whose book I highly recommend, who can help aid us in beginning our journey towards experiencing God ever deeper with each passing day.


Heavenly Father,

Thank you for being the kind of God that we can get to know. The God that opens His arms to His children, beckoning them to draw near. Give us the strength and direction, the focus and prompting from the Spirit, to seek you continually, to grow with you. I pray that with each passing day we enter deeper in our understanding of you and experience you in new ways. May our lives serve as living testimonies of your grace, your mercy and love. May we always seek to bring you glory, honor and praise.

In Jesus' name,
Amen

Richard Foster Quote:Reading the Bible for Spiritual Transformation

"If we want to receive from the Bible the life with God that is portrayed in the Bible, we must be prepared to have our dearest most fundamental assumptions about ourselves and our associations called into question. We must read humbly and in a constant attitude of repentance. Only in this way can we gain a thorough and practical grasp of the spiritual riches that God has made available to all humanity in his written Word. Only in this way can we keep from transforming The Book into a Catholic Bible, an Orthodox Bible, a Protestant Bible, an Ours is More Accurate than Yours Bible...And so the test of whether or not we have really gotten the point of the Bible would be the quality of love that we show."

          ~Richard Foster,Life with God: Reading the Bible for Spiritual Transformation

Some Bible verses that came to mind when I read that passage and others from Foster in regards to reading Scripture for spiritual transformation (emphasis mine):


2 Corinthians 5:17  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Matthew 16: 24-26 ²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. ²⁶ What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

John 15:12-13 ¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

1 John 4:7-8  ⁷ Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

I am no expert, but from experience and what I've read as I've gone through the gospels and Scripture, by reading Scripture with an open heart and open mind, with conviction and expectancy, one cannot help but be changed and transformed. Who could expect anything less from the very living and real Word of God?

In Foster's book he brings up the technique of reading the Bible with expectancy. Not just reading it as some kind of historical account of biblical times or just to get knowledge about the laws of God. But to approach Scripture with expectancy of meeting God there. To be continually open and receptive to the promptings of the Spirit and to expect change in one's heart. After all, that is what sanctification is all about-us moving away from our illusions and attachments towards ourselves and the world and towards the reality of Christ, our wills eventually cleaving to His. Becoming a "new creation" in Christ. And what better litmus test to our progress than the love that we exhibit towards God and to others?  A heart moving closer to God and becoming identified more and more in Christ cannot but help to experience a greater depth of love towards others as the Spirit prompts the heart to move from superficial love to agape love.

Do you feel yourself changed when you read the Bible? Do you feel yourself nourished and full when you finish reading through Scripture? Your soul lifted up and encouraged? Do you feel your heart opening up to new dimensions of love? Do you expect to meet with God when you open up the holy text which reveals His Word, His love letter to you and I and the rest of the world? When you meet with Him do you feel His presence? Do you feel a peace that surpasses all understanding?

If not, take heart...the very things which I just described are possible for everyone. God in His amazing love, makes it possible for all of His children to experience the love and peace of His presence and makes it possible for us humans, in our frailty and brokeness, to be transformed in His love and truth by means of His Word, prayer and meditation.

Let's Pray :)

Heavenly Father,

We thank you for the amazing love that is your reality. We thank you for Your mercy and grace that break the chains of sin in our lives and your light which causes darkness to flee. We seek to be changed and transformed in your presence. We seek to love others, not with conscious effort, but through a changed and transformed heart that makes it natural to love others the way you do. May the Holy Spirit touch our lives with truth and grace and enable us to draw close to you and give us the strength, clarity and spiritual insight to conform more and more to the likeness of Christ. May Scripture come alive when we enter into it with expectant hearts, may it breathe truth and light into our souls.

May you humble us in areas that need humbling, may you remind us of our need for you and may we never, ever cease to seek your face. May the Holy Spirit continually spur us on to greater heights of understanding and experiencing you. We love you and seek you with all our hearts, minds and strength. Thank you for being the kind of God we can call Father and approach with humble confidence.

In Jesus' name,
Amen.

Breaking the Chains: The Path to Liberation (Part 1)

The following verses in Isaiah speak of what God calls the spirit filled believer to do-to preach the good news, to speak to others about the freedom that is found in Christ, to break the chains that bind our fellow brothers and sisters to the world that bars them from experiencing the true freedom and peace in Christ that is meant to be experienced.

Isaiah 61:1

¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
   because the LORD has anointed me
   to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
   to proclaim freedom for the captives
   and release from darkness for the prisoners

But what happens when we are not yet free from all the chains that bind us? Or perhaps we are experiencing a dry spell, a dark night of the soul where we are feeling distant from God?  How, then are we to announce the freedom promised to others when we, ourselves, are experiencing captivity, being bound by our own sins, letting the things of this world steal our peace?

 

Christ does set us free but it isn't as if once our hearts have been awakened by faith we will never have obstacles. I've found that it is a freedom that we have to nurture and sustain through continual refreshment and nourishment in His word.  If you've never had a dry spell in your faith or never had an unguarded moment where sin or lack of peace and restlessness crept into your soul, you might not relate well with this post. For those of you that have, perhaps you will relate!

 

I could write a book about this topic! There is so much to it, so much so that I am going to break this post down into four parts. I've found personally a few things that have been instrumental for me in guiding my heart in moments of waywardness and restlessness back to firm ground and I'd like to share some of them with you so I hope you join me in all four parts and contribute your own thoughts in the comments section.

 

I am no theologian or anything, this is just what I've learned personally through my own walk with God.  And frankly, most of it is common sense, but some of us, like me anyways, find it helpful to be reminded of some of the mose obvious things sometimes. It's amazing how sin can blind us to what is so readily available before us.

 

These are the four steps that were revealed to me that helped my soul transition itself from being  a desert to blossoming once again into a garden, drenched in the light of the Spirit, bearing fruit once again.

 

1. reading scripture

 

2. repentence (serves as  an active step of obedience which bears fruit)

 

3. prayer ( where we openly have discourse with God, admitting our shortcomings and asking Him to help us trust Him more)

 

4. meditation (where we can enter into the presence of God, receving peace that surpasses all understanding, being washed in His spirit and given precious insight and revelation)

 

I'd like to think if we are struggling  with a particular sin that repentence would be our first step towards freedom. For some it might be. And I've read places where it is, but there are times where we are so entrenched in our sin that it's easy for others to just tell us to repent, and less easy for us to follow their advice.

 

There is a time when our hearts aren't ready for repentence. This can be a scary and dark time, when we know we are willingly disobeying our God, and sometimes don't even care (yikes!). How the world has a tragic way of hardening our hearts! Or perhaps God does...for His own purposes..that will be discussed later! This is why I put reading Scripture as the first step. Because it softens the heart that has been hardened.

 

There was a time when I really felt disconnected with God and I felt like I was at a crossroads when it came to my faith. God didn't seem real anymore. He seemed more like a concept whose truth I accepted but less as a reality to be experienced. The advice I got from a trusted source to overcome all of this: read Scripture, starting with the gospels.

 

I almost scoffed at such a suggestion! I mean I had come up with real theological questions and concerns, many of them involving God's character. How could reading the Scriptures turn all of that around? In fact, I had come up with a lot of my concerns in the first place by reading the Bible! I was doubtful, but I trusted my source, for we should always find others that are more spiritually mature (pastors, elders) that we can trust to come to for guidance.

 

All that I can say is that I am so glad I humbled myself and listened to the advice given. I had read a great book by Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline, where in one part he talks about reading scripture mindfully and with imagination. I used some of these techniques when reading through the gospels again during the drought that my soul had found itself in. I was amazed at what I experienced!

 

Foster talks about putting oneself right there in Scripture while reading it. Not using imagination in the sense of perceiving what you are reading as imaginary but rather using your imagination to sense the things going on in what you are reading in the fullest sense. (He explained this so much better than I!) For example, when the gospels talk about Jesus preaching by the Sea of Galilee, let your senses smell the salt air, stand there, listening to Jesus as he preached. Feel the crowd press in around you, hear their shifting feet, feel the sand brush up against your ankles as the breeze beside the sea lifts it, sending it about in swirls. It can be a powerful way to read Scripture. And when done mindfully, each word carrying weight as you read Scripture slowly, the reality of God's truth opens itself before you, unraveling like a red carpet, welcoming you to walk the pathway back home to the inheritance you've already been granted since your heart first awakened to faith.

 

I remember when I first read through Matthew this way, I couldn't stop. I was picking up so many truths that in earlier times when I read that book I had failed to notice. Truths and insights were lifted from obscurity and became real and defined. I began to feel my heart soften and my soul feel that blessed assurance it had longed for and had not felt for quite some time.

 

I also came to know Christ a lot better. I came to know the God who is love and compassion, the gentle shepard of our souls that one shouldn't flee from, but run to. I began to trust him again as he became more and more real to me.

 

I don't want to write too long of a post and lose some people so I will end it here. But I would suggest, and this is just from my experience, that if you are feeling distant from God, if your faith doesn't seem as real as it used to or if you are struggling from a sin that you don't feel you are ready to repent from yet, read Scripture. I would suggest Richard Foster's book. Another practice I've started doing before reading the Bible is lighting a stick of incense or a candle. It helps differentiate reading Scripture from the other things I read. It helps prepare me for the special time I am now entering into with God and His Word. It's a great way to start prayer too. Also praying before reading Scripture is a good idea too! :)

There is a great verse in Galations:

Galatians 5 ¹For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

We need to stand firm against sin, we need to stand firm on the rock that God provides for us for refuge. But if you've found yourself off that rock or your knees buckling a bit trying to balance yourself once again upon it, I would heartily suggest you begin to find that strength once again by entering into God's presence through reading His Holy Word.

 

 

 

I wrote a poem after I felt my chains around my heart and soul loosen and finally break free. I'd like to share it with you. In Closing, I pray the Lord's peace over all of you. May your day, this day, and every day until God calls you home, be filled with His light and love.

Freedom

Freedom leaps within me, like flames within a fire,
Fed by Your Word, sustained by Your promise,
I feel it grow ever higher.


The garden of my heart, once barren, color hard to find,
Blooms within, now a rainbow of life,
Held together by love that binds.


The bronze doors of my soul now openly ajar,
As you shatter the barriers between us,
Breaking in two the iron bars.


May my prayer be like burning incense,
Ever rising up to you,
A joyful fragrance, an offering to my King,
in its darkness the world once slew.


And when the pressures of this place,
Crowd around me once more,
May I bring your name glory as I seek your face,
That all may see the love upon your faithful you doth pour.