A Sojourner’s Thoughts

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Flowing Love – Lectio Reflection 1/17/14

Verse
If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both. (1 John 4:20, 21 MSG)

My Word or Phrase
Loving

My Image
What comes to mind as I think about this verse is a stream. You see the water in a stream does not just sit there, it is flowing, it is active. This is what our love should be like, flowing, active. We are to be loving God and loving others – remembering that it is not an either/or but it is both – loving God and loving others.

My Invitation
We are told in Matthew to love God with all we are – heart, mind & soul and to love others as well. My invitation is to make sure that my loving God and loving others is a continuous process. Like the stream of flowing water, my love must be allowed to run free; to continually be loving God and loving others. I must make sure that there are no dams that have been built to block my love from flowing freely. What are the dams that I build to block this flow?

My questions to you are: How is your love flowing? Have you built dams that are blocking the flow or your love towards God or others?

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Getting Serious

My Lectio reflection from this morning.

Verse

“When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.“Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” God ’s Decree.“I’ll turn things around for you. I’ll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you”— God ’s Decree—“bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it. (Jeremiah 29:13, 14 MSG)

My Word or Phrase
Seriously seeking God

My Image
I am playing a game of hide and seek with God. God is the hider and I am the seeker. Neither of us are any good at the game. God is “hiding” in plain sight and I am “seeking” with my eyes closed. I’m not very serious about find he who is hiding.

My Invitation
To open my eyes and seek after God seriously.

To often I go through life seeking God but my eyes are closed so I don’t see him, my ears are closed so I don’t hear him, my life is to busy so I can’t experience the things God has for me. I need to step out with my eyes open, my ears attuned to that still small voice, and taking the time to experience the life God has for me.

How serious are you about seeking after God? What’s standing in your way to seek after God fully?

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Lectio Reflection 12/27/13

Verse
Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality. (Romans 12:11-13 MSG)

My Word or Phrase
Fueled & aflame

My Image
As I read this I have a fireplace “burning” on my TV. To keep this fire going one need to add fuel – otherwise it will burn out. We need to continually fuel out soul – reading, prayer, silence, solitude, serving to keep from burning out.

My Invitation
My invitation is to remember to feed my soul – being intentional about setting aside time to be present with God, being intentional about serving others but also seeing God in those impromptu situations where He reveals Himself to me in unexpected ways (like me playing the fireplace video before I had even picked these verses to meditate on).

How is your fire burning? Is it a roaring blaze, a comfortable fire, a pile of embers waiting to be fanned back to life, or is it a cold pile of ashes that needs a new spark to come back to life?