Contemplative prayer focuses our minds on Christ and lifts our hearts and souls above our daily way of living life with its worries about self-preservation and survival. It frees us from the bondage of being consumed with what will happen to us and opens our heart to experience peace with God. It carries us above…
The danger of religion is we can begin to judge everybody who’s not like us and believe we are the only ones who possess the truth. The deception of spiritual pride produces a false spirituality based on a puffed-up perception of our ego and the high opinion of ourselves compared to other people. Spiritual pride can…
The turnaround and transformation of my heart and mind to follow Christ is a moment-by-moment process of letting go and releasing my self-centered thoughts and exchanging them with God-focused thoughts. As I become fully conscious and aware of the resurrected Christ living in me, I mindfully practice the surrender of my life over to the…
When does the Kingdom of Heaven come to earth? It arrives the moment we open our minds and hearts to receive it. Jesus taught the Kingdom is here and now present in our hearts. The Messiah challenged us to step out of our life experience and contemplate the fullness of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth…
If I could wish you anything, my desire is for you to experience the divine reality the prophet Isaiah described as the heavenly throne room of God. I looked and reflected upon a remarkable scene, where I contemplated you, and I am made for God’s enjoyment and to dwell in union with God and with…
Silence is the sanctuary for God’s presence residing in the depths and recesses of our hearts. In solitude and quiet, we seek and discover the love of Christ dwelling with us. In the silence, we become still to hear God speaking life to us. (Be still and know I am God.) It’s a sacred space…
The romance of the heart is with our humanity and God. When we fall in love with a person in a romantic relationship, they capture our thoughts, feelings, and undivided attention. We fabricate and fantasize about ways of spending every waking moment enamored in their presence and company. Young couples describe their reason for getting…
In various ways, Jesus communicated the Kingdom of God is present in the here and now. His first words were, “The time has come; the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mk. 1:15) There are a new kingdom and a new realm of time and space revealed. There is…
One day I placed a chair in the middle of my study and sat down….whether we recognize it or not, we all need a quiet place one on one with God. I felt like a nomad, thirsty and dying with no visible water in sight. I didn’t know precisely how to quench my spiritual thirst, but…
Someone asked me, what is the most significant hindrance to being aware of God’s presence in your life? It was a simple answer….Me. Without the light of the living Christ, I am like a dead person walking in the world, unconscious of anything but my self-absorbed life. One day touched by the tender grace of…
When we seek an ongoing relationship with God, silence is golden, where we contemplate our communication as a God-centered instead of a self-centered dialogue. Life is not about us, and it never will be. After decades in Christian ministry, the verse, “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10) would help unravel the mystery of walking…
I fondly remember entering the sanctuary of my hometown Methodist Church as a little boy and being told to be silent and respectful as I prepared for worship. The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him. Habakkuk 2:20 I admit the silence was annoying for me, but in my…