Soul Provider: Spiritual Steps to Limitless Love, by Edward L. Beck.
“In The Ladder of Divine Ascent, Saint John Climacus described the thirty steps all seekers must take on the path to spiritual fulfillment. In Soul Provider, Beck explains the significance of the steps, demonstrating how they lead to deeper understanding of our present-day spiritual journeys, provide for our souls, and draw us closer to God.”
Psalm 73:28 (NKJV)
But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, That I may declare all Your works.
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Drawing closer to God – that is what (I think) I want. So I had picked up this book at the library …
James 4:6-10, New King James Version (NKJV)
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
Humility Cures Worldliness
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
I had a birthday during this time, and I reflected on my life – who and where (I think) I am, who and where (I think) I want to be, who (I think) God says I am - and what (I think) I have to do to get me where (I think) I need to be.
Psalm 139:23-24, King James Version (KJV)
23Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
24And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Romans 12:1-3, New Living Translation (NLT)So then I keep getting all these messages about “change” and “transformation.” With the Lenten season coming up, I am already thinking about change, and spiritual growth. But when I am finally ready to read this book, I open it and see this quote:
A Living Sacrifice to God
1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
3 Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this
warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.
We would rather be ruined than changed;I don’t want to be ruined, and I think I want truth more than illusion … so I kept reading on and off for several days. Finally, I am almost finished with the book. I go to church on Sunday, and hear the following Scripture read:
We would rather die in our dread
Than climb the cross of the moment
And let our illusions die.~W.H. Auden
1 Peter 5:5-7, New King James Version (NKJV)
Submit to God, Resist the Devil
5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
I thought about humbling myself “under the mighty hand of God” as I read the chapter on prayer, and note the reference to the “Jesus Prayer” – “Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” The book mentions the healing of Blind Bartimaeus (as found in the 10th chapter of Mark.) The next day, I went to a Bible study and we were studying from Luke 18, verses 31-43, with verses 35-43 involving what appears to be the same healing – a blind man who called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” So now I may look into praying the “Jesus Prayer” – especially during this Lenten season – and see what effect it will have on my spiritual development.
Hebrews 10:19-25 (New International Version, ©2011)
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
While I was looking up the Auden quotation on the internet(http://www.quotegarden.com/change.html), I found another one as well, still in regards to change:
If you would attain to what you are not yet, you must always be displeased by what you are. For where you are pleased with yourself there you have remained. Keep adding, keep walking, keep advancing. ~Saint Augustine
Makes me think of the ending of the song: It Ain’t Over, by Maurette Brown Clark (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnHDDgdJ7Y8)
Serenity Prayer
(from http://www.thevoiceforlove.com/serenity-prayer.html)
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen.
…and my journey with Him continues…
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