Oh yes, Jesus still speaks

This is sort of a long story,
because it's been a long time coming.

I now realize that I can trace the start
of everything back to a short, one-day,

bright, fall conference when God

spoke to me deeply about this verse:

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power,

together with all the Lord's people,

to grasp how wide and how long and high and deep

is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses all knowledge--

that you may be filled to the measure of all the fulness of God."

Ephesians 3:18-19

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Then, when Jake and I visited our
friends' church, the church announced
that they'd be rooting their selves in
the book of Ephesians all year. I wasn't
convinced that I had to keep coming
back to that church, but something in me

woke up.
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And just two weeks ago, I got an email

from a friend who said this was his prayer

for our semester:

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power,

together with all the Lord's people,

to grasp how wide and how long and high and deep

is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses all knowledge--

that you may be filled to the measure of all the fulness of God."

Ephesians 3:18-19

___________________________________

For a while now I've been very intrigued

by the practice of lectio divina. It is an art

of reading the Bible, not to study, but to know,

to hold in our hearts. This sound especially

refreshing and life-giving, in contrast to the

scholarly reading and studying I've been doing.

Also, recently I've been approaching the

thought in my mind of maybe, possibly

trying to kill this obsessive compulsive

thing--maybe 2010 is the year to kick it.

scary to admit.

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At first I didn't even notice it. I've been

reading through the gospel of Mark and

I prayed before reading last Tuesday that

God would really bring me a lesson.

"Help me to see what you have to say," I asked.

I read right on by this verse and onward, and

then I realized that that was it. God surely

brought me this verse:

"Jesus said, 'You have a fine way of

setting aside the commands of God

in order to observe your own traditions.'"

Mark 7:9

This speaks very clearly to me about me

succumbing to compulsions, because they

really do come between me and God.

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At that point in reading Mark, I knew I

should stop to meditate on that verse,

but first I pulled out this awesome book

to see what it had to say about lectio divina.

And you'll never guess what it said (or maybe

you will.) The author writes that lectio divina

is a way to read the Bible deeply so that we

know, not in our mind, but in our heart, God.

She said is it like understanding the wind by

feeling a breeze on our cheeks. She said it is

the sort of knowing and understanding the

Bible talks about when it says:

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power,

together with all the Lord's people,

to grasp how wide and how long and high and deep

is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses all knowledge--

that you may be filled to the measure of all the fulness of God."

Ephesians 3:18-19

___________________________________

Time after time He speaks,

God's character stays intact,

how can the world call these

"coincidences"?

These sort of cyclical incidences

always flagpost my journey. They

help me to know that I am following.

I may not be on a set path, but I

am getting closer to Jesus.