7.10.23            Symptoms of Inner Peace   One of the great gifts of the journey of following Jesus is the emergence in us of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) as step by step we give up one issue after another that stands between us and God. The qualities that we most long for, I […]

7.3.23  The Purpose of Our Lives   God participated in our creation, creating each one of us, and marking us for a purpose in His kingdom which would fulfill us in all that we do. Of course, as we grow up in childhood several other things are implanted in us. First, our self-image is crafted […]

6.26.23   In Galatians 5:19-23, Paul contrasts the “acts of the flesh” with the ‘fruit of the Spirit.’ The flesh deals in all that we feel free to do in the world, regardless of the objections of our conscience or the laws of God(v. 19-21). “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, […]

6.19.23            The four Stages of the Classic Spiritual Journey   Benedict J. Groeschel, a Catholic priest and Franciscan friar, in his book, Spiritual Passages: The Psychology of Spiritual Development, writes about the traditional journey of following Jesus Christ with its four stages of spiritual depth: Awakening, Purgation, Illumination, and Union.[1] As I work on my […]

6.12.23   As we follow Jesus, we will begin to see and feel the changes that He offers us as He heals each issue that stands between us and God that we lift up to Him in prayer. Step by step, issue by issue, the freedom from the world’s ways that He offers us begin […]

6.5.23   Each human being grows up in a family and a culture that influences so much of who we become as we mature. That influence is largely unconscious, but it becomes the lens through which we see the world and make our choices. So, we follow those directives about our lives without really realizing […]

5.29.23   Last week I wrote about being present to others, that is totally—heart, mind, soul, and body—with them. Perhaps I should have started with being present to God, because that is where and how we learn to be present to one another. In fact, it is the main lesson to learn as we follow […]

5.22.23   When we live in this world and are of this world, we cannot be present to anything, much less access our deeper selves or God or anyone else. There is so much noise in our minds about what we need to do next or our unspoken reaction to what is being said or […]

5.15.23   One of the most interesting things about living on this earth at this time is that only God knows where we are going or what will happen to us. We live as if our plans and agendas will happen, but are often disappointed by what actually happens. That’s because we are not in […]

5.8.23   Each of us alive now is meant to be on the Earth at this time and in the place where we are. The question each of us needs to ask ourselves and God is this: What is God calling me to do in the world now? What am I particularly well placed to […]