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Christian Vision

We rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.

While we were yet helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man—though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. - Romans 5: 2, 3-8

God loves us! I say it again, God loves us! These three words are the foundation of Christian hope, Christian truth and Christian love.

The Heart

Wood Duck, McClane Creek Nature Trail, Capital Forest, WA USA

We spend billions and billions of dollars each year on beauty products. TV and social media are saturated with a focus on appearance, but what is of real importance is the heart.

The heart is the place where the battle between good and evil, joy and sadness takes place. Place God on the throne of your heart through diligent prayer, quiet meditation and deliberate actions of love and you will win the battle for your heart and find true peace, happiness and joy.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! - Psalm 139:23-24

A great meditation for the heart is Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7.

And always follow Jesus’ teaching to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” - Matthew 22:37

Following Jesus

McClane Creek Nature Trail, Capital Forest, WA USA

Jesus asks those near to him to follow him over 20 times in the bible, but only a very few followed him all the way to the cross.

Why? Perhaps Jesus provides some insight in his listing of the steps needed for discipleship.

“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” - Luke 9:23

Denying ones self is a shedding of those desires that separate us from a more perfect love of God and man. For example, for the rich young man in the Bible (see Matthew 19, Mark 10, and Luke 18) it meant no longer being possessed by money and possessions. Followers of Christ should exam their lives and their conscience and go to prayer asking our Lord what they need to deny in order to more closely follow Him.

Picking up your cross daily is an encounter with the challenges God places in your life for the advancement of the Kingdom of God. For some it may be performing a job that is not satisfying in order to provide for your family, for others it might mean taking care of a loved one that needs assistance despite the demands, and for others it might mean enduring suffering with faith and prayer. It is interesting to note that Jesus asks us to pick up our cross daily because in life our cross can change as we change, and the needs of those around us change. Ask for the Holy Spirit each day for assistance in carrying your cross.

This all might sound hard but getting closer to Jesus is well worth it.

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him”

- 1 Cor 2:9

Gift

Take time to reflect on the loving actions of God as giver, as a gift and as perfect love.

God, the Father, the Creator, “said, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3)” and the universe was born as a gift for all.

God, the Word, the eternal Son, became man and gave himself “even unto death on a cross (Philippians 2:8)” to rescue man from sin and death. “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)”

God, the Spirit, the Love between the Father and the Son, gives himself to live within us. “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19 - 20).”

The gift of the Holy Spirit allows for us to enter into the loop of God’s grace so that we can become more like Jesus, a gift for the world.

Are you living your life as a gift for the world?

Pure Heart

Great Blue Heron, Nisqually Wildlife Refuge, WA USA

Dear Jesus, help me to be more like you.

Help me to love God with all my heart, mind, body and soul.

Help me to cast away my selfish desires and to seek only your Father’s will in my life.

Help me to love my neighbors as myself.

Dear Jesus, may the power of your holy spirit turn my heart of stone into a heart like yours.

Amen

Dignity

Trees standing alone in a clear-cut, Capital State Forest, WA USA

We are all made in the image and likeness of God and as such have dignity, an inherent, inalienable worth. Dignity, not earned, but freely given by our Creator to each and everyone of us. This gift, this common bond we all share, makes it possible for us to see the beauty in each other, and not just our differences. Let us mend the fabric of our shared humanity, not obscuring our differences, but listening to each other, learning from each other, seeking understanding, seeking truth, and seeking what it means to love.

God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness. - Genesis 1:26

God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. - Genesis 1:27

God blessed them - Genesis 1:28

God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good. - Genesis 1:31

A Light to the Nations

Sunset at Lands End, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

The light of the early Christian church spread ever so quickly with little money and without the use of power or violence, it spread. First “in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (ACTS 1:8). The light of love is still spreading. How are you spreading the light of Christ’s love?

#LighttotheNations #WalkwithGod #nature #God #Jesus

The Magnificence of Jesus

Great Blue Heron, Nisqually Wildlife Refuge, WA

Love seeks its beloved.

Love protects its beloved.

Love sacrifices for its beloved.

Love respects the freedom of its beloved .

We are Jesus’s beloved.

Let us live our lives in a manner that is worthy of such a great love.

The love that is God.

The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him? Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth. - 1 John 3:16-18

Moment by Moment

Rhododendron Flower, Squaxin Park, Olympia, WA

May our Lord Jesus Christ, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, in the love of the Father, dwell with you throughout the year. Amen

#MomentbyMoment #WalkwithGod #nature #God #Jesus

The Greatest Treasure

Trail Olympia, Washington with overlay of Blessed Virgin Mary carrying child Jesus (as appearing at the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St.James Cathedral)

Merry Christmas! My inspiration behind this picture is the Jesus comparing the kingdom of heaven to the purchase of a great treasure - see Matthew 13:44-46.

Be Still, Listen

House Finch, Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, WA USA

Joseph went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child - Luke 2: 4-6

#WalkwithGod #nature #God #Jesus #BeStill #Listen #TheCryoftheBaby

God Speaks In Our Heart

God speaks in our heart

in the cry of a baby in the manger

God speaks in our heart

in the holy family’s exile to Egypt

God speaks in our heart

in the healing of lepers

God speaks in our heart

in the saving of the woman caught in adultery

God speaks in our heart

in an innocent man’s forgiving of his tormentors

God speaks in our heart

in the death of an innocent man on the cross

God speaks in our heart

in the resurrection of our Lord

God speaks in our heart

through our family, friends and acquaintances

God speaks in our heart

in our joy

God speaks in our heart

in our suffering

God speaks in our heart

in granting us his peace

#WalkwithGod #nature #God #Jesus #SpeaksInOurHeart

A Single Candle

Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, WA USA

Jesus, shine you grace upon us so that we can be the “light of the world” (see Matthew 5:14-16).

Jesus, give us the confidence to know that the light that comes from your grace can penetrate even the darkest of hearts.

Jesus, give us the courage to shine your light for you are “our light and our salvation; whom should we fear” (see Psalm 27:1).

#WalkwithGod #nature #God #Jesus #Light

Sharing

Christmas is rapidly approaching. It is a time for supporting one another. Let us listen to one another, support one another and care for each other in love.

I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. - John 13: 34-35

#WalkwithGod #nature #God #Jesus #LoveOneAnother

Perfect Reflection ion His Love

Just before his passion and death Jesus has this beautiful conversation with his father about his desire for us. This is a conversation within the Trinity, within the heart of God. The following is an excerpt from this conversation.

I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. - John 17: 22-23

#WalkwithGod #nature #God #Jesus #Love

Love One Another

Mallard Hen and Drake, McLane Creek Park, Olympia, WA USA

Loving one another, sounds easy. Take a look at the crucifix where the greatest display of love took place. Love can be hard but we are asked by God to love anyway. Remember, love is not a self-centered, mushy emotion, but rather “willing the good of the other” (St.Thomas Aquinas).

Who is it challenging for you to love? How can you love them through actions of your will? Ask God for the grace to love.

#WalkwithGod #nature #God #Jesus #Love

Prayer of the Humble

View of Bear Gulch Fire in Olympic National Park from Top of Mount Walker, WA USA

For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy. - St. John Damascene (675 - 749 AD)

#WalkwithGod #nature #God #Jesus #Humility #Prayer

Preserve the Faith

I love All Saints and All Souls days where we remember those that have passed before us. This year I am particularly drawn to the final words of Saint Paul while in prison facing execution, “For I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. (2 Timothy 4: 6-7)”

Let us all finish the race, keeping and preserving the faith.

#WalkwithGod #nature #God #Jesus #FinishTheRace

How May I Serve

As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace. - 1 Peter 4:1

#nature #God #Jesus

The Gift

I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. - John 6:51

Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? - 1 Cor 3:16