Drawing near to God

Sometimes we are afraid to draw near to God in prayer. Instead of coming close to him we pull away, clinging to our suspicion that He will not receive us.

Henri Nouwen encourages us: "Perhaps you can find your way to prayer by carefully listening to the words of the angels to Zechariah, Mary, the frightened shepherds, and the women at the tomb: "Don't be afraid." Don't be afraid of the One who wants to enter your most intimate space and invite you to let go of what you are clinging to so anxiously...

Don't be afraid to offer your hate, bitterness, disappointment, to the One who is love and only love. Even if you know you have little to show, don't be afraid to let it be seen. Often you will catch yourself wanting to receive your loving God by putting on a semblance of beauty, by holding back everything dirty and spoiled, by clearing just a little path that looks proper. But that is a fearful response, forced and artificial. Such a response exhausts you and turns your prayer into torment."

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Silence

Sometimes just the thought of a few hours of silence can freak us out.

Kathleen Norris writes about the reaction of one of her students to sitting in silence: "It's scary," a fifth grader complained. "Why?" I asked, and I believe that he got to the heart of it when he replied, "It's like we're waiting for something--it's scary!"

Exactly! When we're at The Springs we enjoy leisurely hours of silence and we are expectantly waiting for the Lord. The first time, it can be scary. Once we get used to the idea, it becomes one of the true gifts of the retreat. There is so much we can experience when we listen and wait. It really not actually very scary after all.

We come to understand what the psalmist had in mind when he wrote: "Be still and know that I am God."

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Rest

One of the gifts of The Springs is time to take a nap. It's usually one of the first things I do.

I may want to jump right into a time of prayer or Bible reading, but if I’m too tired, I can’t concentrate, I can’t reflect or think deeply or keep from nodding off when I close my eyes. What I need is a nap.

It's wonderful to have my own room so I can lay down and get the sleep my body needs. And that's OK!

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Does journaling really help us resolve our emotions?

Listen to a 60 second podcast by psychologist, Matthew Leberman, on his recent findings that putting our feelings into words (journaling) helps to reduce the intensity of our emotions. (Scientific American, "60 Second Science")

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Praise the Lord!

PRAISE THE LORD!!

Psalm 133 reminds me (Christy) to praise the Lord from the rising to the setting of the sun from now to forever. The Psalm goes on to remind me that I am a barren woman who has been made the happy mother of children. Oh how hard this is to remember!

The SPRINGS retreat is coming and I am so excited this year I can hardly contain myself. Being the mom of two amazing children is such a blessing, but it is so hard for me to praise the Lord every moment for this. I get so caught up in being busy - working part time distracts me; doctors appointments, physical therapy, speech therapy, etc for my lovely little one with a genetic disorder; and dance class, library time, parks for my energetic three year old - all leave me exhausted and clinging to God's promises of strength and grace for each day. I can't wait to have three days to just bask in His presence without having to cling so desperately to his promises. I want to just love God for God, not only because he gives me strength and peace and love, but because he is God and worthy to be praised! I get to walk trails, nap, praise him with singing, fellowship with beloved sisters, read my Bible for hours, journal, sleep without interruption -

OH PRAISE THE LORD.

(Written by Christy Wold)

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I Know

The Springs has become such an important part of my life. It is a time set apart to focus on the Lord. A time of refreshing. Times of quiet and solitude. Time to "listen." Time to reflect. Time to take a walk and enjoy the beauty of God's creation. Even time to take a nap!

Looking back, I can see how the Lord has used my times at the Springs to give me a deeper understanding of His character. I remember the day I went for a walk (after waking from a wonderful nap!), and I was so aware of the beauty of the flowers and the mountains, the joy of hearing the birds singing. At the same time, there were situations going through my mind that were grieving my heart. As I stopped and looked closely at a flower, or looked up at the spectacular mountains, I sensed the Lord's presence in such a special way, and became so aware of His sovereignty. I sensed in my heart that He was saying over and over "I know...." He knows where I'm at. He knew I would be admiring these flowers on this day. He knows the situations that are burdening my heart. In quiet communion with Him, as each thought came through my mind, I sensed Him saying "I know." What a comfort that brought. What a peace that passes understanding!

I finished my walk, got my Bible and journal, and spent the next few hours looking up all the Scriptures that describe what God knows. Powerful. And life-changing. My all-powerful and loving Father God knows every detail of my life, and is with me and working in every situation!

That experience embodies to me the heart and purpose of the Springs. A time set apart, to be refreshed, to receive from Him, to worship, to "soak" in His Word. I know I left there changed, encouraged and strengthened.

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Social Networking

If you'd like to stay in touch, several of us are on FaceBook.
Register, and then invite us to be your friend. Luann Budd, Christy Wold, Susan Booker.

We've also begun a NEWIM Facebook Group -- come join us.

Newim also has a blog: http://www.newimtalk.blogspot.com/. Leave a comment or start a discussion.

We'd love to stay in touch.

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The Springs is just weeks away

Yesterday, I was at a NEWIM Board meeting. Maureen is just joining the Board. As we introduced ourselves and shared our connection to NEWIM, Maureen said that she's a CPA, working in southern California. She was first introduced to NEWIM when a friend invited her to The Springs. She went on to say that next to her conversion, The Springs was the most significant experience in her Christian journey.

As incredible as that sounds, many of us knew what she meant. It's truly amazing what the Lord does in our lives when we set apart a couple of days to be with Him.

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Chapel at St. Anthony's

Martha writes: "I thought you might enjoy seeing these photos I took inside the Chapel at St. Anthony Retreat Center. I thought the mural was magnificent, especially with all of its symbolism."

"Two weeks have passed already since we were all together at the Springs Retreat! The retreat was all I had hoped for, and more! I would like to express my appreciation to each one of you for the countless hours you spent in planning, preparing and praying for, and then facilitating, the retreat. I learned so much from every one of you. I'm grateful for this time, set apart, that I got to share with you and the other women on the retreat. I was blessed by the experience of being on the retreat and want to thank you all." -- Martha Deal

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Wild Turkeys came too!

Twenty-two women gathered at St. Anthony's, 30 miles east of Visalia last week, for a wonderful retreat. The weather was beautiful. ..in the 70s, cold nights and warm days. The Sierras were snow-covered and gorgeous. The grounds spectacular as the fall colors were just beginning to appear.

Thursday morning a flock of wild turkeys joined us! That was pretty fun. Our community quilt was such a rich resource of stories about the faithfulness of God -- story after story was shared of how God taught us to pray from "Now I lay me down to sleep" prayers to the prayers that sustained us through difficult times.

"The faithfulness of God," Elaine shared, "was so evident as I reflected on what the Lord has done in my life in the area of prayer. It all begins and ends with His faithfulness."

This photo is high resolution - so it can be downloaded and printed.

Women came from Pasadena, Bakersfield, Fresno, Oakdale, San Jose to spend time being with the Lord. Scotty joined us from Kentucky! Josie lives in Kiev and was able to join as well. What a great time! I'm looking forward to April 29-May 1, 2009 already!

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NET Bible

I've been looking for a new Bible for almost a year and I just found one that I really like. It's the New English Translation (NET) available free online if you want to download and print the text yourself -- or you can buy the Reader's Edition for about $50 in genuine leather, with great satellite maps, a very readable font, and companion CD with all kinds of information. There are a few notes at the bottom of each page but not a lot -- I like that for devotional reading. I can go online and get all of the notes (70,000) if I want more information. I also like their mission -- to get the 2 billion people who speak English around the world a free Bible they can download.

On their website http://www.bible.org/ they have a huge array of bible study resources and the free, downloadable NET Bible. Scholars are saying that it is the best phrase for phrase translation available today. I'm really enjoying it.

From Bible Study magazine, Nov&Dec 2008:
"the NET Bible was published in 2005...At times it is more accurate than the NASB, more readable than the NIV, and more elegant than either. It is clear and eloquent, while maintaining the meaning of the original. In addition, the notes are a genuine gold mine of information, unlike those found in any other translation. The NET aims to be gender-neutral. The NET Bible is the Bible behind the bibles. It's the one that many modern translators use to help them work through the original language and express their meaning in literate English. I would highly recommend that each English-speaking Christian put this Bible on their shopping list." Dan Wallace, professor of New Testament Studies and Greek at Dallas Theological Seminary and founder of the Center for Study of New Testament Manuscripts which offers free images of New Testament manuscripts online at http://www.csntm.org/.

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How do you keep hanging on?

Betsy writes (as she finishes chemo and looks forward to a month of radiation treatment): I can see a large hill between me and the end of 2008. My great hope is a promise God made me that " I will finish well." I am hoping that what He meant by this is that we will discover in January that the cancer is licked and that the path to healing and restoration will be unhindered. Is my hope mis-guided? I hope not. One thing I know for certain: He is faithful and keeps all His promises, even when we don't understand it all, and even when we don't get it all right. He does! He is good all the time and His unfailing love lasts forever! This truth about the nature of God has become a cornerstone for my faith. Even when everything around us is unsteady, God does not change. If He is completely good and loves us with unfailing love, then that means that He is willing and able to meet us in the smallest and the biggest needs we have. So the journey of faith continues... and I have to say, I'm glad it does!

How do we hang on through tremendously difficult circumstances? We put our trust in the truth found in Scripture about the character and the nature of God.

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Take back your Time

Aren't we always looking for more time, telling people how we have no time, using lack of time as an excuse for not doing all kinds of things including things we know we should?

A while ago I decided to stop talking about how busy I am. After all, I make the choices for how I spend the 24 hours that God has given to me...no one is making me busy except myself and no one, besides me, will give an account for how I spend my time. I've come to the conclusion that my days are full just like everyone's days are full and it's my choice. If I don't want to be so busy, I can do something about it--maybe not this week, but certainly in the next two or three months. I own my time.

No time is more profitably spent than the time I use to heighten the quality of my walk with God. If I think otherwise, I have been badly misled. The real question is, will I take time to do what is necessary for a vital, passionate life in Christ or will I try to get by without it? The testimony of hundred of folks down through the centuries testify to the truth that there is no substitute for time spent with the Lord.

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The Remedy

"Allowing service for Christ to steal our devotion to him is a radical failure in personal soul care. But it is one from which the practice of communing with Christ in times of solitude and silence can deliver us." (Willard, The Great Omission, 130)

How many times have we come to The Springs absolutely empty, poured out, exhausted...and how many times have we found that the rest and refreshment of time to take a nap, walk the trails, read our Bible, and simply be silent and alone with the Lord has completely restored us.

Silence, Solitude, and Time are a leaders best friends...they are essential to our soul care.

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Silence and Solitude

"In drawing aside for lengthy periods of time, we seek to rid ourselves of the corrosion of soul that accrues from constant interaction with others and the world around us. In this place of quiet communion, we discover again that we do have souls, that we indeed have inner beings to be nurtured. Then we begin to experience again the presence of God in the inner sanctuary, speaking to and interacting with us. We understand anew that God will not compete for our attention. We must arrange time for our communion with Him as we draw aside in solitude and silence." (Willard, The Great Omission, 130)

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The Sweet Spot

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength." That's the goal of our lives and that's once of the fundamental purposes of The Springs. How do we live with passion for the Lord every day?

Passion seems to be about having a strong desire to see something happen. Passion is a feeling-- such a strong feeling that I act on it. Passion leads me to say, "yes," and fuels my days with energy, drive, vitality, growth.

I've never seen so clearly how essential it is to get my passion, my feelings and emotions, all lined up with what I know I want to do. When what my mind wants to do, or thinks I should do, is at odds with what I feel like doing, the chances my mind will win over time is slim. That's when life becomes hard. That's when I'm struggling and feeling the life drained out of me. I'm in a constant battle, feeling tempted, distracted. When I want to read my Bible, but feel like cleaning the house, will I read my Bible? Maybe. But not passionately. If I live for very long not feeling like engaging in spiritual things -- that's when I start having my "obligations" not my "devotions." I can live there -- but it's a tough spot. (I think this experience is more an experience of resistance, than an experience of "the desert" - when we feel like God's Presence has been withdrawn. The dynamics of the "dark night of the soul" are all different from what I'm thinking about in this reflection.)

Getting interested in some aspect of the Christian life (recently for me it has been learning how to share my faith using conversational approaches to evangelism) and exploring with increasing curiosity all aspects of something brings zest to my life.

I love exploring a question (what is the gospel?) or learning a new skill (graphic design). I never have all the time I wish I had to pursue it, which is a good thing, I think. It keeps me hungry for more.

When I believe God has called me to the task, then I am even more passionate to pursue it.

There is a sweet spot of vitality for me when my feelings, my call, and what I know I ought to do all converge. When I have a strong desire to pursue something, I believe that I have been called by God to accomplish it, and I know it's what I ought to do -- wow! I'm energized, passionate, sleeves-rolled-up and running.

How can I live with passion everyday? Getting to the sweet spot is key.

Someone wrote: "You only lose energy when life becomes dull in your mind. You don't have to be tired and bored. Get interested in something. Get absolutely enthralled in something. Throw yourself into it with abandon."

I think for me one of the keys to spiritual vitality is finding the sweet spot where curiosity, call, commitment all converge. It is possible to get our feelings aligned with our call and commitment so that we want to do what we need to do. By paying attention to my passion, and what makes me want to do something, I've discovered ways to approach my spiritual life so that rather than fighting myself and battling a sense of resistance, I'm wanting to do what I know I should.

Living in the sweet spot is just the opposite of ho-hum, business as usual, dull, routine, bored, going through the motions, tired, lukewarm. I love living in the sweet spot. It's worth spending time to figure out what help you to get there.

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Feelings and Desire

What role do our feelings play in our devotional life?

As I've been paying attention to my passion for the Lord every day, I am aware how much my "feelings" play a role in my spiritual life. We are so prone to do what we feel like. Our desires do lead us to the choices we make. There are mornings when I come to my desk for my quiet time and I feel like responding email, working on some work, cleaning my desk. Other days, I easily turn everything off and begin my devotional time.

I had no desire to do work this morning. I wanted to read and pray. That's what I felt like so that's what I did. A couple of weeks ago I was up against a deadline and I had a strong desire to finish my talk, and that made it nearly impossible for me to focus on my devotion. I tend to follow my desire, do what I feel like, and if I choose to go against my feelings, then it takes a whole lot of discipline and self-control.

So the easiest way to live would be to get my feelings, my desires, to be in line with what my good intentions are. If I intend to read my Bible and pray, and I have the desire to do that, for sure it will happen if it is at all possible. However, if I'm dieing to finish a project, I'm really enjoying working with a new software program, I'm up against a deadline, then I may be more driven to do my work than my devotion. So how do I get my feelings to line up with my good intentions?

Desire really is key to having passion and to determining how easily I'll give myself to do what I actually sit down and do. How do I direct my desires to help me grow in my love for Christ? Can I develop practices or exercises that will help me get my feelings and desires to pull me toward Jesus rather than compel me toward distractions and avoiding Him.

"There is only one big thing--desire. And before it, when it is big, all else is
little." Willa Cather

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Entering a Life of Worship

What is the chief end of man? What is the purpose of life? According to the Westminster Confession the answer is clear: To glorify God and enjoy him forever. As a young adult, I puzzled over what it meant to "glorify God," but as I've gotten older and continued to ponder it, I think that glorifying God has a lot to do with how I think about God, His Person, His character, His glory (Exodus 34) and how those thoughts draw me in to worship Him, and worship isn't to just be something that I do at church on Sunday morning, but to become a lifestyle, a 24/7 practice of my life.

What is the purpose of our lives? I think I would say, to live a life of worship. (Rom. 12:1-3)

Let the words of Christ dwell richly in you. Let the psalms and hymns and spiritual songs create an undertone of worship throughout our lives. Join in with the angels who are worshipping in heaven right now. "To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever." (Rev. 5:13) And let our love of God, our worship of Him, overflow into a life of compassion and mercy--loving others.

Willard writes: "Worship is the single most powerful force in completing and sustaining restoration of our whole beings to God. Nothing can inform, guide, and sustain pervasive and radiant goodness in a person other than the true vision of God and the worship that spontaneously arises from it. Then the power of the indwelling Christ flows from us to others."

Matt Redman in his book on worship encourages us to set apart something in our lives that will serve as a call to worship. That seemed like a wonderful idea. I've set apart the sunrise and for months now, every time a see the sunrise, it calls me to stop, turn my focus to the Lord, and worship him.

Worship isn't something that I have on my to-do list -- another chore. That's not the spirit of worship.

Worship overflows from my heart. Fill my heart, soul, mind with the words and thoughts and visions of God...pay attention to His fingerprints in my life, the wonderful points of grace, that I might be deeply grateful to Him for all He is doing and has done. Caring for my soul in these ways is my responsibility -- it's my responsibility to walk with God -- and when I do, love and worship overflow and transform me from the inside and overflow in love and mercy as I live out my worship in service and ministry.

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A Puritan test for our Love of God

Thoughts from Thomas Watson, a Puritan (I needed to read this 3-4 times before I got what he was saying):

The first fruit of love is the musing of the mind upon God. He who is in love, his thoughts are ever upon the object. He who loves God is ravished and transported with the contemplation of God.

"When I awake, I am still with thee" (Psalm 139:18).

The thoughts are as travelers in the mind. David's thoughts kept heaven-road. "I am still with Thee."

God is the treasure, and where the treasure is, there is the heart.

By this we may test our love to God: What are our thoughts most upon? Can we say we are ravished with delight when we think on God. Have our thoughts got wings? Are they fled aloft? Do we contemplate Christ and glory?

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Keeping the Lord before Us

One of the most essential practices of the spiritual life is to keep the Lord before us all of the time. David knew this: "I keep the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure" (Psalm 16:8-9).

So how do we do this? It takes practice. But the goal is to have our mind come to rest in the Lord, not in all of the other noise that occupies our thinking. Once we start paying attention to all of the things going on in our thoughts, we'll become aware of how little time we spend "keeping the Lord always before us." So the goal is to have our thoughts return to the Lord.

At the Springs, we have the time to quiet the inner noise. Sometimes it takes 24 hours of solitude before we can be fully present to the Lord. I've found some ways that help me to quiet the inner noise - things as simple as keeping a list so that my mind doesn't have to be continually reminding of things I don't want to forget.

Along with quieting the inner noise, we need to fill our minds with Jesus. We open ourselves to Him and direct our thinking toward Him. This is our goal. We can develop the habit of keeping the words of the Gospels in our minds by reading them carefully day by day, and re-reading them. We can memorize them. I find that when I am actively working on memorizing a passage, then I can recall it to mind throughout the day.

Keeping the Lord before us is a choice, a habit, a skill that we can practice and become better at. If we stick with it, keeping our mind focused on the Lord and at peace in Him, will become the default. Our minds will return to Him naturally, as a matter of habit.

Don't get discouraged. Take baby steps and you will find that keeping the Lord before you becomes such a gift.

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