Today's Devotions

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Showcase: Assorted Treats

  • Listening to God +

    Scripture 1 Chronicles 22 11 “Now, my son, the Lord be with you, and may you have success and build Read More
  • August Devotional: Repentance +

    Scripture Read More
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A Christ-Life Through Spiritual Alignment

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Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. Romans 7:15-25 If I go through a rough patch of road littered with potholes, I shouldn’t expect my car to continue driving smoothly or my steering wheel to remain steady. And yet I do expect to be able to make it through each and every day with little attention paid to being in synch with God. As Paul makes clear in his letter to the Romans, it is one thing to want to be alive to God, and another to act this out each day. How am I to live devoted to Christ if my own self wars against the desire? Process spirituality is about committing my whole being to a daily body-mind-spirit alignment.

I cannot rely on my human understanding or effort alone to enable me to deal with problems in a manner that glorifies God. My spiritual steering wheel is still jerking in my hands if I align myself by using only willpower and a few minutes of prayer and scripture study. I was not made to endure the world alone; I was created to walk in partnership with the holy of holies. I need to submit myself each and every moment to the presence of God, my master mechanic, coming before Him wholly and humbly intent on surrendering who I am and what I understand to His will, His direction and His grace. I am in need of his professional tools to calibrate my life so it doesn’t become a broken heap after every 3 miles of living.

His alignment requires me to engage in a daily process of submitting myself to the direction of the Holy Spirit, who guides my review of His word (for daily updates) and ensures my systems are monitored through prayer. Process spirituality involves my ongoing consecration to Christ, living as if He is the only one who has the skills to keep me going in each and every circumstance He places me, while the Holy Spirit maintains a smooth and steady steering wheel, enabling my actions to be the product of God’s love.

Reflections to Consider

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Publications

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Music

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Audio & Video

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Favorites

  • Prayer - Does it Make Any Difference, Philip Yancey +

    Contemporary classic that probes the meaning of prayer for 21st century believers, and provides extended, personal anecdotes from a wide Read More
  • Blog of the Week: Mister Noah's Neighborhood: Philip Yancey blog +

    Below is a wonderful blog by Philip Yancey--see the link at the end of the posting. Mister Noah's Neighborhood Posted Read More
  • Why Not Give the Christians a Chance: Philip Yancey on prison ministries +

    Below is an excerpt from a recent blog post by Philip Yancey--a thoughtful examination of prison ministries.The link to the Read More
  • The Winter Season of Faith: Philip Yancey's blog +

    The following is taken from Philip Yancey's blog. A link to his website is at the end of this excerpt. Read More
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Hidden Blessings

  • Transforming this World: The Hope of Glory by NT Wright +

    Wright confronts the perspective that this world doesn’t matter, and that we live only to be in heaven. He shows Read More
  • What is Good in a World that Defies Hope: a talk by NT Wright +

    This is the second part of three talks by NT Wright at Harvard University in November, 2008 on the topic Read More
  • The Stream, the Lake and the River: NT Wright +

      Acts 2.1-21; John 7.37-39; a sermon at the Eucharist on the Feast of Pentecost, 11 May 2008, by the Read More
  • Jesus in the Perfect Storm by NT Wright +

    Zechariah 9.9-17; Luke 19.28-48; A sermon for Palm Sunday, April 17, 2011, In the University Chapel of St Salvator, St Read More
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