The Promise Of The Spirit

Stengthened by the promised Spirit of the Divine, let me surrender myself into my Father's hands, living in trust and in hope as I follow the way of discipleship toward the fullness of His Kingdom.

"Hold firm and take heart. Hope in the Lord!" (Ps 27:14)

Let me pray to the Lord who is the origin, companion, and goal of our life's journey.

You do not disappoint those who hope in your mercy: remember that I am slow to believe, and strengthen my faith.

You guide those who walk in darkness: teach your path to all those who seek the road of life.

O Father, your are my guide and guard along life's path. Lead me in the way of justice and love, righteousness and peace, by the guidance of the Spirit.

Stay with me Lord, through the gift of your Spirit.

The Promised Spirit

Have you ever considered how extraordinary was the behavior of the first disciples?
In the face of all hostility, they devoted themselves not to self-defense or vengeance but to prayer and works of charity.

Strengthened by the promised Spirit of God, let me surrender myself into his hands, living in trust and in hope as I follow the way of discipleship toward the fullness of his kingdom.

My Creator,
You do not disappoint those who hope in your mercy:
‑ remember that I am slow to believe, and strengthen my faith.
You guide me when I walk in darkness
‑ teach your paths to all those who seek the road of life.

O my Creator,
You are my guide and guard along life’s paths.
Lead me in the ways of justice and love,
righteousness and peace,
by the guidance of the Spirit.
Amen

A human life may sometimes look too short to be worth much, but my Creator, who sees the works of his hands from the perspective of enduring love, clothes even passing wildflower with splendor.
I may be but a breath, a puff of wind, a handful of dust ‑ but that breath of life that animates me is the Spirit of God.

I am in my Creator’s hands because I am the work of His hands.
All that I have and am belong to him.
Through the gift of the Spirit, let me put my trust in Him and walk always in His ways.

My Creator is true: he has a long memory for his own promises and a short memory of my failures to keep mine.
In the gift of his promised Spirit, I find my daily joy.

The Spirit of truth is an uneasy gift.
Truth can lead me into dangerous places, but truth is my greatest protection against the power of sin and darkness.

O my Creator,
Keep me in your truth!
In the midst of confusion,
In the midst of temptation,
In the midst of conflict,

Save your people!
From all that divides us,
From all that sows seeds of
dislike and disdain among us,
From all that is not love,
Amen.

Besides the river that watered the garden of Eden, the Creator offered the first couple the choice between obedient love and self-seeking darkness.
The choice remains mine to make each day.

Violence often seems to succeed where goodness fails to accomplish much.
The world is full of “unsung saints” who achieve no pubic success but who persevere in living upright lives that accomplish the greatest of goals: to see and dwell with the Creator always

The immensity of my Creator’s compassion for me is the measure of the compassion He asks me to show another in my exile, my brokenness of heart, my wounds, and my lowliness.
How can I possibly show compassion as great as His?
Not alone.

The way of my Creator leads to wisdom, joy, light, and life;
the way of evil leads to foolishness, suffering, darkness, and death.
Let me live by my Creator’s law.

My Creator, light my way.
O Lord, your word give wisdom to the simple:
‑ make me simple of heart.
O Lord, your word is sweet to the taste:
‑ grant me the discernment to prefer its taste to any empty words we may hear.
O Lord, your work is steadfast, abiding for ever:
‑ keep my feet firmly on the path of everlasting life.
Amen.

My Creator is exalted in mystery and majesty, triune and one in glory, yet nearer to me than I am to myself through the divine indwelling.
What can I offer but praise that dares to go beyond the small boundaries of my finite understanding into the realm of light inaccessible?

Let me put into my Creator’s hands my heart, my soul, the deep recesses of my being wherein dwell those beliefs and thoughts that govern my actions, so that He may guide me in the ways of the sunlight of the new day.

As evening falls, let me give thanks and praise for the faithful love and guidance He has given me and let me ask for forgiveness where I have failed to follow in his ways.

How often do I rediscover the psalmist’s insight: hidden guilt festers; honest admission of guilt heals!

O my Creator, be merciful to me, a sinner.
For words and deeds of impatience and anger:‑ pardon me, O Lord.
For words and deeds of selfish grasping:‑ pardon me, O Lord.
For words and deeds of unkindness:‑ pardon me, O Lord.
For those sins of which I am most ashamed:‑ pardon me, O Lord.

O Creator of mercy and compassion,
all my guilt lies open to you,
all my secret sins are know to you,
all my ugly ways are clear before you,
yet you never cease to offer me your redeeming love.

Have mercy on me in my pitiful attempts to cloak my sinfulness with false bravado, and grant me the joy that come with full repentance.
Amen.

The Fruit Of The Spirit

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
(Gal 5: 22-23)

I experience these friuts fo the Spirit by means of God's power alone.
My part is to entrust my life to him.
When the Spirit begins to bear these fruits in my life, my dependency loses its power.
With joy and peace I overcome the pain of my broken past.
With love, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness I restore my relationships and make amends.
With patience, I persevere through the difficult times.
With self-control I stand against my tendency to relapse.
God's Spirit can supply everything necessary for a successful recovery.

The Fruit of the Spirit

How does the Spirit of God manifest itself through us?
Often we think that to witness means to speak up in defense of God.
This idea can make us very self-conscious.
We wonder where and how we can make God the topic of our conversations and how to convince our families, friends, neighbors, and colleagues of God's presence in their lives.
But this explicit missionary endeavour often comes from an insecure heart and, therefore, easily creates divisions.

The way God's Spirit manifests itself most convincingly is through its fruits: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Galatians 5:22).
These fruits speak for themselves.
It is therefore always better to raise the question "How can I grow in the Spirit?" than the question "How can I make others believe in the Spirit?"
--Henri Nouwen

The Source of All Love

Without the love of our parents, sisters, brothers, spouses, lovers, and friends, we cannot live.
Without love we die.
Still, for many people this love comes in a very broken and limited way.
It can be tainted by power plays, jealousy, resentment, vindictiveness, and even abuse.
No human love is the perfect love our hearts desire, and sometimes human love is so imperfect that we can hardly recognise it as love.
In order not to be destroyed by the wounds inflicted by that imperfect human love, we must trust that the source of all love is God's unlimited, unconditional, perfect love, and that this love is not far away from us but is the gift of God's Spirit dwelling within us.
-- Henri Nouwen

Empowered to Pray

Prayer is the gift of the Spirit.
Often we wonder how to pray, when to pray, and what to pray.
We can become very concerned about methods and techniques of prayer.
But finally it is not we who pray but the Spirit who prays in us.

Paul says:
"The Spirit ... comes to help us in our weakness, for, when we do not know how to pray properly, then the Spirit personally makes our petitions for us in groans that cannot be put into words; and he who can see into all hearts knows what the Spirit means because the prayers that the Spirit makes for God's holy people are always in accordance with the mind of God" (Romans 8:26-27).

These words explain why the Spirit is called "the Consoler."

-- Henri Nouwen

Empowered to Be

Who are we?
Are we what we do?
Are we what others say about us?
Are we the power we have?

It often seems that way in our society.
But the Spirit of Jesus given to us reveals our true spiritual identities.
The Spirit reveals that we belong not to a world of success, fame, or power but to God.
The world enslaves us with fear; the Spirit frees us from that slavery and restores us to the true relationship.

That is what Paul means when he says:
"All who are guided by the Spirit of God are sons [daughters] of God, for what you received was not the spirit of slavery to bring you back into fear; you received the spirit of adoption, enabling us to cry out, 'Abba, Father!'" (Romans 8:15).

Who are we?

We are God's beloved sons and daughters!

-- Henri Nouwen