Category: Contemplation

Turn to God

Ruth Kirk

When I awake, I am still with you (Psalm 139:18; NIV).

Turn to God (Luke 13:3; NLT).

At the moment I wake,
May I meet you in prayer;
And wherever I am,
May I know you are there.

At the first flash of fear,
May I greet you, my Guide;
And when pain begins,
May I stay by your side.

As I enter your darkness,
May I see your face;
And at my last breath,
May we kiss, and embrace.

So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him (Luke 15:20; NLT).

The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7; NIV).

References

Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you (Matthew 7:7; NLT).

Clouds and thick darkness surround him (Psalm 97:2; NIV).

Moses went into the darkness where God was (Exodus 20:21; BES).

Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. (Psalm 23:4; NLT).

Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world (John 16:33; NLT).

 

One with God

Ruth Kirk

When you pray, go to your room, shut the door, and pray to God who is in that secret place (Matthew 6:6; TIB).

We’re one in silence,
One in stillness,
One in secret:
One with God.

We’re one in dryness,
One in trouble,
One in failure:
One with God.

We’re one in darkness,
One in sorrow,
One in anguish:
One with God.

We’re one in exile,
One in torment,
One in dying:
One with God.

Nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:39; NLT). 

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help? (Psalm 22:1; NLT).

Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me LORD, my faithful God (Psalm 31:5; NIV).

References

Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world (John 16:33; NLT).

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Saviour, who daily bears our burdens (Psalm 68:19; NIV).

In all their suffering he also suffered, and he personally rescued them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them through all the years (Isaiah 63:9; NLT).

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them (1 John 4:16; NLT).

The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7; NIV).

Oneness

Ruth Kirk

As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him? Day and night I have only tears for food, while my enemies continually taunt me, saying, “Where is this God of yours?” (Psalm 42:1-3; NLT).

Oneness feels like longing
To share your joy and peace.

Oneness feels like searching
For bliss which will not cease.

Oneness feels like crying out
To you in heaven above.

Oneness feels like agony –
And oneness feels like love.

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help? (Psalm 22:1; NLT).

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them (1 John 4:16; NLT).

I will search for the one I love (Song of Songs 3:2; NLT).

Enter your wilderness

Ruth Kirk

Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD (Psalm 27:14; NLT).

The LORD must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion (Isaiah 30:18; NLT).

Enter your wilderness; enter your darkness;
Enter your silence and stillness, alone.
Wait for me there – I am longing to teach you.
Come: seek me now, in your mind.

Enter your wretchedness; enter your failures;
Enter your silence and stillness, alone.
Sit with me there – I am yearning to teach you.
Come: find me now, in your heart.

Enter your loneliness; enter your sorrows;
Enter your silence and stillness, alone.
Rest with me there – I am aching to help you.
Come: meet me now, in your soul.

Enter your suffering; enter your anguish;
Enter your silence and stillness, alone.
Stay with me there – I am ready to heal you.
Come: let me now make you whole.

He bruises, but He binds up; He wounds, but His hands make whole (Job 5:18; NKJV).

References

When you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret (Matthew 6:6; CSB).

Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness (Matthew 4:1; NLT).

Moses went into the darkness where God was (Exodus 20:21; BES).

The LORD longs to be gracious to you (Isaiah 30:18; NIV).

Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-9; NLT).

We are the temple of the living God (2 Corinthians 6:16; NLT).

Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us (Colossians 3:11; NLT).

Don’t you realise that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? (1 Corinthians 6:19; NLT).

Those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31; NKJV).

Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened (Luke 11:9-10; NLT).

 

Contemplation

Ruth Kirk

Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile” (Mark 6:31; NLT).

Just for a little while:

Leave your other thoughts behind,
And love our God with all your mind.

Lay your burdens down, apart:
Then love our God with all your heart.

Set aside your current goal
To love the Lord with all your soul.

Send your fears and failures hence:
Just love the Lord with all your strength.

Love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength (Mark 12:30; NLT).

References

Be silent before The LORD, all humanity (Zechariah 2:13; NLT).

Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honoured by every nation. I will be honoured throughout the world (Psalm 46:10; NLT).

Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and i will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28; NLT).

 

Inner peace

Ruth Kirk

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world (John 16:33; NLT).

Be assured that the testing of your faith [through experience] produces endurance [leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace] (James 1:3; AMP).

Introduction
Inner peace in the face of life’s many trials and sorrows is so precious, yet so difficult to reach and maintain. Fostering it requires deep devotion to God, to our spiritual development, and to loving others.

Inner peace
Inner peace does not rely on everything going well, or on reaching a point where our lives are calm and sorted. Rather, it means:

  • Having rock-solid faith in God, no matter what happens.
  • Constantly sharing everything with God in prayer, with total honesty.
  • Continuing to trust in God, even when we have lost all hope.
  • Clinging to God, even when we feel completely abandoned, as Jesus did on the cross.
  • Knowing that God will bring good out of all that happens to us, no matter how desperate our situation is.

Developing inner peace
Fortunately, inner peace does not rely solely on our own efforts. Rather, it is a gift from God:

  • I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid (John 14:27; NLT).

However, it does rely on us having a loving relationship, and a working partnership, with God.

Biblical guidance
Let’s see what guidance the Bible offers about how to develop inner peace through our relationship with God:

  • If you repent [and give up this mistaken attitude of despair and self-pity], then I will restore you [to a state of inner peace] so that you may stand before Me [as My obedient representative] (Jeremiah 15:19; AMP).
  • Blessed [comforted by inner peace and God’s love] are those who are persecuted for doing that which is morally right, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [both now and forever] (Matthew 5:10; AMP).
  • Glory and honor and inner peace [will be given] to everyone who habitually does good (Romans 2:10; AMP).
  • The fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23; AMP).
  • We who believe [that is, we who personally trust and confidently rely on God] enter that rest [so we have His inner peace now because we are confident in our salvation, and assured of His power (Hebrews 4:3; AMP).
  • Be assured that the testing of your faith [through experience] produces endurance [leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace] (James 1:3; AMP).
  • We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them (Romans 8:28; NLT).

Conclusion
There can be no better conclusion to this short blog than the words of St. Paul:

  • I can do all things [which He has called me to do] through Him who strengthens and empowers me [to fulfil His purpose – I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace] (Philippians 4:13; AMP).

References

I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built (Luke 6:47-8; NLT).

Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Mark 15:34; NLT).

Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last (Luke 23:46; NLT).

Let the peace of Christ [the inner calm of one who walks daily with Him] be the controlling factor in your hearts [deciding and settling questions that arise]. To this peace indeed you were called as members in one body [of believers]. And be thankful [to God always] (Colossians 3:15; AMP).

What is impossible for people is possible with God (Luke 18:27; NLT).

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage (Psalm 84:5; NIV).

Peace I leave with you; My [perfect] peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. [Let My perfect peace calm you in every circumstance and give you courage and strength for every challenge] (John 14:27; AMP).

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me (Psalm 23:4; KJV).

 

I seek you out

Ruth Kirk

Keep on seeking, and you will find (Matthew 7:7; NLT).

Each day, I seek you out
In contemplation,
And yet, I need not venture far
At all –

For I’m your living temple,
God, my Maker,
And you are always present:
In my soul.

I know the Lord is always with me (Psalm 16:8; NLT).

The LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7; KJV).

References

He is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and exist. …We are his offspring (Acts 17:27-8; NLT).

There is …one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all (Ephesians 4:5-6; NLT).

We are the temple of the living God (2 Corinthians 6:16; NLT).

Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us (Colossians 3:11; NLT).

Don’t you know that your bodies are a part of Christ’s body? (1 Corinthians 6:15; CSB).

The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you (Romans 8:11; NLT).

Don’t you realise that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16; NLT).

 

Unconditional love

Ruth Kirk

He is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked (Luke 6:35; NIV).

You don’t have to
Do anything,
Say anything,
Think anything,
Or feel anything –
I love you!

You don’t have to
Achieve anything,
Believe anything,
Prove anything,
Or be anything –
I love you!

He loves us with unfailing love; the LORD’s faithfulness endures forever. Praise the LORD! (Psalm 117:2; NLT).

References

I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine (Song of Songs 6:3; NIV).

The Lord is good to everyone; his compassion rests on all he has made (Psalm 145:9; CSB).

He gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike (Matthew 5:45; NLT).

God is an ocean

Ruth Kirk

During contemplation, we can lose ourselves in God, no matter how we are:

Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the ocean depths (Psalm 36:6; NLT).

He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed (Matthew 26:37; NKJV).

God is an ocean of sorrow;
An ocean of bliss.

God is an ocean of darkness;
An ocean of light.

God is an ocean of healing;
An ocean of good.

God is an ocean of oneness –
An ocean of love.

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them (1 John 4:16; NLT).