Living in God’s Love #JourneyLent

Mary Helen Wheelock

We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do.  For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.  And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.  As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.   I know that nothing good lives in me that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing.  Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.  So I find this law at work; When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.  For in my inner being I delight in God’s law but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched person I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God- through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:14-24)

Now from Psalm 100

Shout for joy to the Lord …

Now that I am firmly in middle age, having heard many sermons, read many Biblical critiques, studied many lessons, I find that I am drawn more and more into contemplative prayer.

Worship the Lord with gladness . . .

I’m at a point of distilling what I’ve heard, read, learned, thought and lived.  I’m sometimes tired of all the discussion and just want to boil it down to the simplest words or phrases and hold these in a quiet peaceful mind.

Know that the Lord is God . . .

 To listen to what God has to say to me rather than the reverse. 

 . .  . we are the sheep of his pasture

 I can sometimes spend whole minutes or whole hours on a single word or phrase.  Words like hope, grace, joy, strength, peace, gladness, worship, thanksgiving, love . . . I can do this because these are links to previous discussions.  I know the discussion has value but sometimes the single word is enough. 

. . . praise . . .

My focus is now on thanking God for His many blessings and living out Christ’s message of love for all.

  . . . For the Lord is good and his love endures forever . . .

How do we share this passion for living in God’s love?