Spread My Love

“Spread your love everywhere you go.” Mother Teresa


“Love for the Lord overflows into passionate living—loving those around me.

Jesus opened himself to receive his Father’s love to the point that he was filled up to overflowing. As he met people who were hungry and thirsty, some physically, most spiritually, he loved them. His love overflowed and embraced everyone he met.

My call is to love as Jesus loved.

Why does this sound like news to me today? Mother Teresa put it well, “Spread your love everywhere you go.”

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Quenched

"Dedicate your life to a cause greater than yourself, and your life will become a glorious romance and adventure." Mack Douglas


Thirst. Unquenched desire, longings—all of these are an invitation to passion. When we’re hungry and thirsty, that's when we get to the place where we realize that nothing we are doing really satisfies us—we are desiring something more. Something deeper. Something real. And then we are ready to hear Jesus: "Those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty again." (John 4:14a)

Lord, if this is true, give me this water!

When we come to him thirsty, the Lord Jesus gives us the Spirit of God. He gives us himself. He is the refreshment we desire. He alone quenches our souls’ restlessness and emptiness. He alone satisfies. We are set free. Freed from the ceaseless need to find something that will satisfy. Quenched. Well-watered. No longer obsessively, yet perhaps unknowingly, driven to be loved. When I come to Jesus, his Holy Spirit flows into my life and turns my passion to find something to satisfy my deepest longings into a passion for Himself and a passion for sharing his love and goodness on earth. Life becomes a glorious romance...and adventure.

Passion lived.

Every day.

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Stirrings

“When we experience awe, when we perceive something bigger than ourselves, perhaps a mystery, or wonder, or that “which lies within our reach but beyond our grasp,” we are experiencing God. “ (Abraham Heschel quoted by David Benner in Opening to God, pg. 140)

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Beloved, Listen

“You are my beloved. On you my favor rests.”

Jesus heard these words from his Father as he was baptized by John. Treasured words. Is it possible that the Father would say such words to us?

Henri Nouwen thinks so. He writes: “We are the Beloved. We are intimately loved long before our parents, teachers, spouses, children and friends loved or wounded us. That’s the truth of our lives. That’s the truth I want you to claim for yourself. That’s the truth spoken by the voice that says, “You are my Beloved.”

“You are my Beloved, on you my favor rests. I have molded you in the depths of the earth and knitted you together in your mother’s womb. I have carved you in the palms of my hands and hidden you in the shadow of my embrace. I look at you with infinite tenderness and care for you with a care more intimate than that of a mother for her child. I have counted every hair on your head and guided you at every step. Wherever you go, I go with you, and wherever you rest, I keep watch. I will give you food that will satisfy all your hunger and drink that will quench all your thirst. I will not hide my face from you. You know me as your own as I know you as my own. You belong to me. I am your father, your mother, your brother, your sister, your lover and your spouse…yes, even your child… wherever you are I will be. Nothing will ever separate us. We are one.”

Take just a minute right now. Close your eyes and open your heart to the Lord. Listen attentively to the voice of the Father calling you his Beloved.

Do you notice any movement within your spirit of being drawn? If so, that’s the Lord. If so, it is his Spirit calling your spirit.

Open your heart. 

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Boundless Love

Watch a sunrise… Ah! The Father really likes me. He’s very fond of me. He is a compassionate God who loves me in my brokenness. When we look to Jesus, we find him looking at us with a gaze of infinite tenderness.


Jesus told a story: Day laborers arrived at various times throughout the day. Some only worked an hour while others had worked hard all day, yet the extravagant farmer paid all of them the same.

God has opened heaven and extended his boundless, extravagant love for all who will come. Come, experience the love of God for you, today, right now, as you are. His love overflows for you.

His love may scandalize all who think that people have to work hard to earn his love. The truth is, his love knows no bounds. We are fully, completely, boundlessly loved by God even if we are broken and arrive at the last hour.

“I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?” (Matthew 20:14-15). God’s generosity is boundless.

Watch the sunrise tomorrow morning. Let the beauty of dawn speak to you of the beauty of God’s boundless love. His love extends to you.

Even if it’s the last hour, it’s not too late to come. 
 

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Openness

“OPENNESS TO GOD is simply a response to the hunger that God places in your heart. Any openness to God that you experience is a gift. Don’t try to generate more. Simply ask God to increase your awareness of the depths and extent of your spiritual hunger—the yearning of your spirit for God’s Spirit. God will do the rest...” (Benner, Opening to God, p. 40)

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Registration is open for The Springs Retreat, November 2-4, 2011

If you are thinking about going to The Springs in November, now's the time to sign up. We have 14 spots available. Go to http://www.newim.com/ and click on "shop" - to register online.  Or email DarleneDerby@comcast.net with questions or scholarship information. 

Luann Budd will be leading Track 2 this fall, focusing on the contemporary use of the Prayer of Examen.

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An Invitation

I dare you, while there is still time, to make the love of God your magnificent obsession.


If we get alone for a few days we’ll notice underlying our more external desires is another layer of inner longings.

We long to feel loved for who we are, not based on what we do but just for being us. We long for a deep sense of well-being that wells up from within and lightens our load. We long to live with zest, energy, passion – so that we feel alive. We long to know our purpose, why we’re on the planet. And we long to make a significant contribution for good with our lives. How can we satisfy these longings?

These longings, all of our longings, can actually be paths that will lead us toward God. He is wooing us. Think of them as an invitation.

Let your longings lead you to Jesus, the Lover of your soul.
 

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