Today's Encouraging Word

Image via Wikipedia

Solitude is as indispensable to man’s spiritual welfare as sleep is to his bodily well-being; and pure thought, or meditation, which is evoked in solitude, is to the spirit what activity is to the body. As the body breaks down when deprived of the needful rest and sleep, so do the spirits of men break down when deprived of the necessary silence and solitude. Man, as a spiritual being, cannot be maintained in strength, uprightness, and peace except he periodically withdraw himself from the outer world of perishable things and reach inwardly towards the abiding and imperishable realities.

While a man is absorbed in the contemplation of inward realities he is receiving knowledge and power; he opens himself, like a flower, to the universal light of Truth, and receives and drinks in its life-imparting rays; he also goes to the eternal foundation of knowledge and quenches his thirst in its inspiring waters. Such a man gains, in one hour of concentrated thought, more essential knowledge than a whole year’s reading could impart. Being is infinite and knowledge is illimitable and its source inexhaustible, and he who draws upon the innermost depths of his being drinks from the spring of divine wisdom which can never run dry, and quaffs the waters of immortality…Man’s true Home is the Great Silence – this is the source of all that is real and abiding within him.

James Allen

(from Byways to Blessedness)

A Sublime Whisper

Image via Wikipedia

L.D. Turner

I am convinced that one of the most critical tasks facing humankind in this age of rapid-fire change and shifting cultural landscapes is the rebirth of what I like to call cosmic mysticism – a way of looking at the world through eyes of wonder, awe, pristine innocence, and above all, an innate sense of the interconnectivity of all that is, all that ever was, and yes, all that ever will be. Some may call it an exaggeration but I think otherwise. Unless we rediscover this vital sense of cosmic mysticism, an increasing number of species, humanity included, are headed for extinction.

This cosmic mysticism I am speaking of is a natural mysticism, built upon the experiential foundation of the existence of a divine presence that permeates and suffuses all of creation. Known by countless names by myriad cultures across the span of the ages, this sublime presence is that which animates and gives life to all things. Nature is imbued with this power, this divine energy, and all that exists owes its being to this force.
Throughout history this force has been called by many names. The name, however, is not important. What is important is that we learn how to contact, harness, and direct this divine energy for the development of ourselves, our brothers and sisters, all sentient beings, and our world. This is the essence of the meaning and purpose of life at its most fundamental level. We are here to grow and in order to grow we must learn to use divine energy efficiently and purposefully. Just as a plant needs the sun to develop and reach maturity, we need this celestial energy in order to truly become what we were intended to be.

What is the origin of this energy? What is its purpose? Is it intelligent and purposeful? Or, is it random and impersonal? Humankind has answered these questions in myriad ways, some more accurate than others, since the dawn of time. For our present purpose, it is unnecessary to speculate on these issues. In fact, such speculation may pose an obstacle to the task at hand, which is to deal with this flowing, vibrant, and vital energy in terms of its practical application to living each day with personal excellence.
Further, it is through the kinship of this universal divine energy that all humankind, in fact, all creation is related in one giant organized family.

Although many things in the modern world conspire to deafen us to the subtle voice of the Father, rest assured that his voice is indeed there. God calls to us continually, asking us to put down our nets and, like the fishermen disciples of old, come and follow. Jesus tells us in John 6:44 that no one comes to him unless the Father first draws him. What this means in highly practical terms is that we not only have a God, we have a proactive God that seeks relationship with us. Our end of the bargain is to put ourselves into a position of deepening receptivity, so that we might hear his voice more clearly and experience his love more intensely.
There are others who hear God’s voice and respond, accepting his offer of grace, forgiveness, and acceptance into his blessed family. These are generally sincere disciples and are often quite active in their local church fellowship. They also involve themselves in service work and serve the Master to the best of their ability. Yet it is these very people – these sincere followers of the Lord – who, in their heart of hearts, often find themselves asking, “Isn’t there something more to the Christian life? I feel like something is missing. I can’t put my finger on it, but there is a vague emptiness…”

It is to these genuine disciples that the still, small voice comes beckoning in the silence of a sleepless night, or drifting in on the golden leaves of an autumn wind. That irresistible, persistent voice that repeatedly whispers:

Come, follow me….


John Eldredge and the late Brent Curtis, in their book entitled The Sacred Romance, describe the various ways, both vivid and subtle, that the Divine calls to us in his relentless pursuit of relationship:
Someone or something has romanced us from the beginning with creek-side singers and pastel sunsets, with the austere majesty of snowcapped mountains and the poignant flames of autumn colors telling us of something – or someone – leaving, with a promise to return. These things can, in an unguarded moment, bring us to our knees with longing for this something or someone who is lost; someone or something only our heart recognizes.

When we find ourselves in earshot of such a calling, we need to recognize that we are both blessed and vulnerable. We are blessed in that the divine source, the creative power that put this awe-inspiring universe together, seeks relationship with us. The incomprehensible intelligence that maintains all that we see and even more remarkably, the mysterious quantum realm that we don’t see, together in harmonious balance desires intimacy with us – intimacy beyond anything we have ever known.

Yes, friend, God calls to us in a gentle voice that only the mystic can truly hear. And in that persistent calling, the Creator invites us to join in the mysterious dance of spiritual transformation. Unfortunately, far too few of us truly comprehend the critical importance of this divine calling, which often rides in softly on the fragrant breeze of an early summer evening or conversely, in the absolute silence of moonlit midnight in the depth of January. Of those who do hear the sublime calling, even fewer respond and this a tragedy beyond measure, as it often leaves those desperate souls with an incessant pondering of what might have been. C.S. Lewis speaks of this holy pursuit and its profound significance:


Even in your hobbies, has there not always been some secret attraction which the others are curiously ignorant of – something, not to be identified with, but always on the verge of breaking through, the smell of cut wood in the workshop or the clap-clap of water against the boat’s side? Are not all lifelong friendships born at the moment when at last you meet another human being who has some inkling (but faint and uncertain even in the best) of that something you were born desiring, and which, beneath the flux of other desires and in all the momentary silences between the louder passions, night and day, year by year, from childhood to old age, you are looking for, watching for, listening for? You have never had it. All the things that have ever deeply possessed your soul have been hints of it – tantalizing glimpses, promises never quite fulfilled, echoes that died away just as they caught your ear. But if it should really become manifest – if there ever came an echo that did not die away but swelled into the sound itself – you would know it. Beyond all possibility of doubt you would say, “Here at last is the thing I was made for.” We cannot tell each other about it. It is the secret signature of each soul, the incommunicable and unappeasable want, the thing we desired before we met our wives or made our friends or chose our work, which we shall still desire on our deathbeds, when the mind no longer knows wife or friend or work. While we are, this is. If we lose this, we lose all.


Lewis is describing that universal “something,” that existential empty spot that Augustine said could only be filled by God. It is, indeed, the call of the sublime lover, the Creator himself, beckoning us to turn and face our true home. It is the baying call of the Hound of Heaven, which is paradoxically both a blessing and an irritant.

Most amazingly, he is not calling us to go into a monastic hideaway or a hermit’s cave, but to stay put right where we are. And if we stay and we become open and discerning, he will use the mundane events of our daily round as his methodology of instruction. More often than not, God’s classroom is characterized by the pedagogy of the ordinary and it is precisely in the realm of the unremarkable that true divine alchemy occurs. Sue Monk Kidd, a woman who knows this process through personal experience, describes it this way:

It seems to me that Christ continually calls us through the daily events of our lives…In moments like these God stirs the waters of our lives and beckons us beyond where we are to a new dimension of closeness with Him…God desires to transform certain experiences of ours into awakening events. These may be our most common moments, but if we let them they can become doorways to a deeper encounter with Him. Who knows at what moment we may begin to wake up to the astonishing fact that Emmanuel (God with us) is still God’s name, that every moment the Word of God, Jesus Christ, is coming to us.


I know that in my experience, God calls me in ways I never expected. I have discerned his voice in the sacred silence of meditative stillness and his message has often slapped me to my senses as it spoke from the pages of Holy Scripture. I have also learned to be increasingly sensitive to his call as manifest in the choreographic harmony of the natural world and especially when it dances in the eyes of a child.

© L.D. Turner 2012/All Rights Reserved

Related articles

• Deep Calling Deep: A Sublime Encounter (lifebrook.wordpress.com)
• Love the divine energy for enlightenment (soundhealingifc.com)
• Why Progressive Christianity Needs Process Theology (Bruce G. Epperly) (pastorbobcornwall.blogspot.com)

Today's Encouraging Word

Image via Wikipedia

You need to ask this simple question to get yourself properly adjusted and in focus: What should I be doing? Every one of us has a unique and important role in human history. All of us have been created by God to bring him honor through serving humanity and doing something that makes a difference in the world. There is a hero within you waiting to be awakened. Some were born to be the hero of a story of epic proportions, others perhaps the hero for one small child sponsored across an ocean. Both require a hero’s soul and have a hero’s call. While you can’t do everything, you were created to do something of incredible importance. The tragedy is if you try to be everything and do everything, you may so diffuse your effect that you will not optimize who God made you to be and what he created you to accomplish. This is why you need convergence. You need to bring together all of your talents, gifts, passions, intellect, energy, time, and resources and harness them in such a way that you focus on the mission God has given you for your life.

Erwin Raphael McManus
(from Wide Awake)

Related articles

• Soul Cravings (upsidedownbethlehem.wordpress.com)
• Do Something (tammyhelfrich.wordpress.com)

Wise Words for Today

The danger of spiritual deception is real. As a pastor I shudder at the thought and lie awake at night when I consider the possibility that scores of people who sit before me on a Sunday morning might think they are saved when they are not. Scores of people have positioned their lives on a religious road that makes grandiose promises at minimal cost. We have been told all that is required is a one-time decision, maybe even mere intellectual assent to Jesus, but after that we need not worry about his commands, his standards, or his glory. We have a ticket to heaven, and we can live however we want on earth. Our sin will be tolerated along the way. Much of modern evangelism today is built on leading people down this road, and crowds flock to it, but in the end it is a road built on sinking sand, and it risks disillusioning millions of souls.

David Platt

Lessons in Spiritual Potential: Releasing False Limitations (Part Two)

L.D. Turner

Tucked away in the first chapter of 2 Peter are profound teachings that relate directly to the themes we have been discussing. I firmly believe that one of the chief reasons so many Christians seem so powerless to effect positive change in their lives stems from the fact that they don’t understand the full extent of what Christ accomplished in his mission here on earth. Let’s take a look at what Peter tells us:

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in world by lust.


Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge; and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness; and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.

For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or shortsighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.

Therefore, brethren, make certain about his calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble. For in this way entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. [2 Peter1: 2-11]


In the first section of this passage, Peter reminds us that grace and peace in our lives comes through knowledge of God and Christ. Then he makes an amazing statement. He tells us that Christ, through his divine power, has granted us everything pertaining to life and godliness. He has already given us all we need to become whole in Christ and live a life of holiness. All we have to do is, with empty hands and an open heart, reach out and receive it. Further, Peter goes on to tell us that through believing and appropriating the promises made by Christ, we may become partakers of the divine nature.

Do you really realize what this means? Do you see the profound reality that Peter is putting right before our eyes? We, even as limited, fallen, and broken humans, can partake of the nature of God Himself. When I truly reflect on this statement, I tremble in awe.

In the next section, Peter lists for us the virtues that grow out of living from this divine nature. They are:
Diligence

Faith
Moral Excellence
Knowledge
Self-control
Perseverance
Godliness
Brotherly Kindness
Love


Even superficial reflection will tell us how much better our lives, and our world, would be if we would but just make these principles and integral part of our daily lives. If we looked to these virtues as the guiding factors in determining how we lived, life would truly be filled with peace and grace.

In the third section, Peter asks us to be honest with ourselves. He asks us to deeply reflect on our calling, the fact that we are the chosen ones of Christ. Do we really want the kind of life Christ is offering us? Are we willing to make the necessary sacrifices? Are we willing to be led and formed into an image of godliness through the power of the Holy Spirit? If we answer in the affirmative, then we can be assured that we will not stumble. Does that mean life will be without problems? Emphatically no. Does that mean we will never have to struggle with our lower nature, the world, or ourselves? Of course not.

What Peter is saying here is that if we live our lives according to the nine virtues he outlines, we will never stumble, and we will never fall. We will ultimately succeed in growing to be more Christ-like in thought, word, and deed.

Let’s take a look at the same passage, this time from Eugene Peterson’s The Message:

Grace and peace to you many times over as you deepen in your experience with God and Jesus, our Master. Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you – your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.

So don’t lose a minute in building on what you have been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.

So friends, confirm God’s invitation to you, his choice of you. Don’t put it off; do it now. Do this, and you’ll have your life on a firm footing, the streets paved, and the way wide open into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.


I think Peterson’s version drives Peter’s message home in a clear, concise manner. Whichever version you prefer, the point is the same. God, in his infinite grace and wisdom, has already provided everything we now need or ever will need in order to live a godly life. Through the successful mission of Christ, his life, his death, his resurrection, and his ascension, we are not only justified in the sight of a Holy God, we are also empowered to live as new creations, capable of far more than we can ever imagine. We can, indeed, walk in Christ’s victory and operate in this world as more than conquerors; we can truly become everything that God intended for us to be and carry out our mission of being Christ’s agents here on earth; agents in carrying forward the Father’s kingdom agenda.

In the words we often use here at LifeBrook: God has provided for us all that we need in order to become the optimal versions of ourselves for the glory of God and the benefit of others.

As Paul so aptly put it, through the completed work of Christ we have been blessed “in the heavenly realm” and are capable of becoming “living epistles.” This is the true message of the gospel – indeed, good news.
Let go of limited thinking and come to expect God’s best because that is what He wants for you. He wants you to become the absolute best version of yourself, growing increasingly in the image of Christ. Begin to see the future with faith, hope, and vision. With diligence, let the Holy Spirit help you to create new wineskins of thought. Keep in mind that God can’t pour new, creative thoughts into your old limited wineskins. It is primarily for this reason that Paul stresses the need for tearing down “strongholds” that we have erected in our minds. Viewed from a basic perspective, a stronghold is an almost automatic mental/emotional response that has become a deeply ingrained part of us.

When life presents you with problems, many times there is nothing you can do about it. However, you can have complete control over your response to any problem life sends your way. You can have greater peace of mind if you just choose to have the right kind of thoughts. Focus your entire being on finding solutions, rather than wallowing in the problems at hand.
Work diligently to find your Inner Light, that still, quiet part of your being that serves as the Holiest of Holies where you and God connect. Once you find this sacred sanctuary, continue to take proactive measures to deepen and maintain your contact with this sacred aspect of your being. The more time you spend in “sacred silence,” the better. In addition to reducing stress and helping you to relax, you will also become more centered and focused. Important spiritual traits will begin to flow out of the sacred silence and into your everyday life; traits such as improved concentration and mindfulness, attention to detail, and emotional balance.

Scripture tells us that God has graciously provided everything we need to live a rewarding, fulfilling life. What we have to understand is the fact that most of this has been provided in the spiritual realm. That’s why Paul can make a statement like “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Our task is to place ourselves in a position where we can bring these blessings out of the spiritual realm and into our daily lives. This is where the classical spiritual disciplines come in. By practicing the disciplines we position ourselves in a state of receptivity.

(c) L.D. Turner 2011/All Rights Reserved

Lessons in Spiritual Potential: Releasing False Limitations (Part One)

Cover of The Greatest Secret

L.D. Turner

As new creations in Christ, one of our first tasks is to face ourselves honestly and assess the level of our current functioning. I have discovered that when most people do this, they come to the stark realization that they are generally living far beneath the level they are capable of. In fact, most studies show that the vast majority of us a easing along through life like a six-cylinder car running on four.
Sputtering and gasping, we are capable of a lot more. As followers of Christ, it is imperative that we come to an understanding early in our walk of faith that the Master calls us to a much higher standard.
Ron McIntosh opens a chapter in his book, The Greatest Secret, by telling a great story that makes the point that to a large degree, we are controlled by the limitations we set for ourselves. In essence, our own thoughts impact what we can and cannot do to a far greater extent than we may realize.

In 1983, Australian Cliff Young set a new world record for the ultra-marathon distance race of 600 km. Three factors make this feat so incredible it almost seems beyond belief. First, Young not only broke the record, he demolished it by topping the old record by 36 hours. Second, Young was 61 years old when he did it. And finally, Young was not a trained athlete or world class runner. He was a local farmer who liked to run.

Ironically, Young was able to shatter the world’s record primarily because he did not realize that what he was doing was impossible.
The accepted strategy among ultra-marathon runners for the 600 km run is to run for 18 hours, rest for six hours, then repeat these same intervals until the race is completed.

Someone forgot to tell Cliff Young.

Young began the race with the mistaken notion that you were supposed to run the distance straight through and that is exactly what he did. The 61 year old farmer set a new world’s record in the process. Because he did not grasp the fact that running straight through was impossible, Cliff Young was not limited by the accepted standard. In the end, he set the standard.

From a biblical perspective, we begin to remove the limitations set on us by coming to fully grasp and accept our new identity in Christ. Until we accomplish this task, our efforts will remain limited. In Christ we are indeed new creations (2 Cor. 5:17), with a new power, energy, and presence at our disposal. We have been blessed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and further, as we are told in Ephesians 4:10, Christ, by rising higher than the highest heaven, has filled everything in the universe with himself. Add to this the fact that we have within us the same power that raised Christ from the dead, and you can begin to see just how powerful we are now that we are “in Christ.” McIntosh describes the process of our new nature as declared in 2 Cor. 5:17 this way:

This verse shows the key difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. It isn’t about people trying to live for God, but living through Christ (Galatians 2:20), who now indwells you by His Holy Spirit. This personal encounter with God gives people a new spirit, a new nature, and a new identity. Once you are born again, God creates a new nature in you. You now have new inherent tendencies, new instincts, and an inborn character that comes from God. You spirit is brand new, but your mind has to be renewed.


I would add that in addition to the new spirit, new nature, and new identity described by McIntosh, we also are operating in a new universal milieu. By infusing himself into everything, Christ has vivified all that is, seen and unseen. He has given all things new life and part of that new life is a heightened sensitivity and responsiveness. This especially is true of the subconscious mind, which is the divine matrix through which our thoughts manifest things according to their nature, positive or negative.

Let me pause here for a moment to deal with an issue that must have arisen in your mind by now. Does this mean that Christ has infused everything and everyone with his nature? Yes, that is exactly what scripture tells us in Ephesians 4:10. Does this mean that all people have access to being a new creation, with the power that raised Christ from the dead? Yes it does.
Does this mean that everyone, including atheists and those that deny Christ has the same inner power stemming from Christ’s actions? No, it does not. It would seem that there is something required to activate this new identity, new power, and new nature. I am thinking that what is needed to activate these things is “faith.” In addition to faith, we also must connect with – align with – and abide with Christ. Another way we activate these blessings is through obedience to Christ’s principles and yet another way is through proactive service to others.

To be continued......

(c) L.D. Turner 2011/All Rights Reserved

Arise! Your Time Has Come

Image by eddymul via Flickr

L.D. Turner

If we take an honest and thorough look around us at this current juncture in the history of the Christian faith, I believe it is safe to say that we are at a critical crossroads. In America, people are leaving the church in droves and the term “Christian” has come to be viewed as a derogatory label rather than indicating a positive, constructive force in contemporary society. Recent research also shows that even those remaining loyal to the faith increasingly view the organized church with a marked level of suspicion and distrust.

With this negative backdrop, it may seem surprising that I want to briefly speak a few encouraging and motivating words regarding where we, as individual Christians, go from here. Yet that is precisely what I want to do. With the faith at such a crisis point, it is more vital than ever that a new, passionate, and creative cadre of Christian evangelists step forward and blaze fresh and attractive pathways not only into the faith, but into authentic Christian discipleship. Following the lead of the Master, Paul and the early apostles envisioned and preached a faith that was vibrant, service-oriented, and above all, transformational. Given the contemporary cultural milieu and the general disrepute into which Christianity has fallen, we cannot afford to settle for anything less.

I am convinced that God is moving in this world in new and exciting ways. Some of these movements are perhaps unfamiliar but soundly biblical in nature. For example, as the church undergoes the negative trends mentioned above, there may well be a sublime, positive purpose undergirding this entire process. Perhaps God is in fact dismantling aspects of the faith’s superstructure that have become time-worn and outmoded. Like anything else, there has to be an emptying before there can be a fresh filling. It is difficult to predict the exact forms this new in-filling will take except to say they will be different than what many long-standing Christians are used to. It is imperative that we understand that as uncomfortable and confusing as this process might be, it is absolutely necessary.

I am also convinced that God is calling many among us to be a part of this positive vanguard of Christ-followers who are stepping to the front and leading the way in these challenging but exciting waters. God is looking for faithful, open-minded, and creative sons and daughters to take the point in this vital endeavor – brothers and sisters who understand that Christianity is an approach to life, not just something we do on Sundays or at mid-week potlucks. Two interrelated words describe the kind of passionate followers Christ is calling out at this crucial period in cultural history: consecrated and committed. Both these terms refer to people who are willing to sacrifice, surrender, and get their hands dirty as they go about the task of laying a firm foundation for the Master’s kingdom. Noted Christian sociological researcher George Barna describes these consecrated, committed believers this way:

The United States is home to an increasing number of Revolutionaries. These people are devout followers of Jesus Christ who are serious about their faith, who are constantly worshipping and interacting with God, and whose lives are centered on their belief in Christ. Some of them are aligned with a congregational church, but many of them are not. The key to understanding Revolutionaries is not what church they attend. Instead, it’s their complete dedication to being thoroughly Christian by viewing every moment of life through a spiritual lens and making every decision in light of biblical principles. These are individuals who are determined to glorify God every day through every though, word, and deed in their lives.

The Master is calling those among us, perhaps you, who are willing to make the commitment to take up his mantle and reawaken his church. I am convinced he is looking for living epistles who are shining examples of what it really means to be a radical, revolutionary Christ-follower. More than ever this world needs his salt and light and the Master openly seeks those willing to step forward – those willing to shake and shine.
I am reminded of the call issued in the 60th chapter of Isaiah and feel this precise time in the history of the Christian faith is ripe for such a high calling. Listen closely as the Spirit speaks through the prophet:

Arise, shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. (Isaiah 60:1-3)


I feel this calling directly upon my heart and it is my sincere hope that more and more of you do as well. It is not that I expect kings and nations to come to me, but perhaps other people who are floundering in darkness, despair, and confusion. It is, indeed, like my personal “dawn.” No doubt darkness covers the earth and there is a thick darkness over its peoples, and I think this may be especially true regarding the church.

I first became clear about this calling in my life several years ago when the Spirit moved deeply in my heart during my early morning reflective meditations on scripture. I had slowly been working my way through several sections of Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Proverbs. When the call came it was in relation to Isaiah 60: 1-3 as quoted above. As time passed, this calling became more and more obvious in my life in ways both large and small. The LifeBrook blog, which I started in early 2008, was a part of my response to that calling. In addition, I composed a highly personal affirmative prayer that I used on a daily basis over the next two years. The prayer, which became an integral part of my daily devotional life, continues to be something I use to remind myself of why I am here and what the Master expects of me. The prayer is:

Lord, I indeed arise and thank you that my light has come and that your glory has risen upon me.
Although darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the people, Lord you have risen upon me and placed the light of your glory over me. Because of the brightness of this new dawn over me, others can witness your love and glory through my thoughts, words, and deeds. I thank you for the blessing of your presence and your light, the light that lights everyone who comes into the world, within me.
Lord, I thank you for this blessing and this opportunity to serve you in this dark and desperate, yet exciting and challenging age. May all that I think, say, and do bring honor to your cause and to your name.
In Jesus name, Amen.


It is my heartfelt hope and fervent prayer that at least in some small way this short article has stirred your spirit. I encourage you to prayerfully spend some quality time with the Master, in whatever way works best for you, and seek clarification on what the Lord is calling you to do. If you are genuinely serious about your faith and you desire to create a lifestyle that is Christ-centered, Christ-honoring, and spiritually significant, then rest assured that he is indeed calling you. In ways both great and small, each of us has something to contribute – some talent and some task that we can perform that brings both honor and glory to the Master and the kingdom.

Again, we are fortunate to live in such a challenging and opportunity-filled time. What is happening in the church only seems negative when viewed from a superficial perspective. Those of us who are, as Barna calls us, “revolutionaries,” take a deeper angle on all this. We realize that the dismantling of the old is necessary in order for a new, fresh, infilling to occur.

Each of us has a role to play in that infilling. Spend time communing with the Sacred Light that shines within you and I am assured that you will find clarity on exactly what it is you are to do. God gave you talent, ability, and multiple skills. Two things are thus certain: there is someone right now who needs exactly what you have to offer and secondly, for you to carry your talents and gifts to your grave unused would be a tragedy of immeasurable proportion.

Think about it.

© L.D. Turner 2011/All Rights Reserved