Meditations Monday: Seeking Fault

Dear Lord; Happy Meditations Monday Father!

And once again Lord, we lay behind us yet another lovely weekend filled with family, friends and Your obvious Love for us all.  While the scorching weather restricted our outdoor activities, there were many Blessings to be found inside with good company, good food and great fun to be had by all.  Thank You so much for those days of respite Father!

Today’s Meditations Monday Scripture comes from Chapter 9 of the Gospel of John:

“As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.  His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”” – John 9:1-3 (NIV)

Now Father, something I hear quite regularly from people going through difficulties in their lives is “What did I do to deserve this?” or “Why is God doing this to me?”.  I’ll admit it, I’ve even had those thoughts myself over the years.  In the case of this passage, when Jesus and His disciples came across a man who had been blind since birth, the question was raised as to whose sin was at fault for his affliction; the man’s or his parents.  Jesus clearly replied that it was in fact neither, but instead was intended to allow for Your Grace to be made manifest.

This is an important and powerful truth Father, and one that I fear we all miss now and again.  As the limited beings we are, we try desperately to put everything into a “Cause and Effect” bubble.  And while quite often there are certainly consequences for our actions, not all earthly suffering is a direct result of a specific “Instigating” sin.

When my son Jonathan was born and we were initially given his grim diagnosis, I spent many hours asking “Why?!?… Why would You do this to us?!?”  I was angry, and scared, and very insistently sought answers that at the time, seemed never to come.  Ten years later, I realize now that Your Plan for his life, and for mine to a great extent, needed those events to unfold as they did.  Our lives, and the lives of many others were altered by his struggle, and Blessed in ways we’re still unraveling today.  We weren’t being persecuted for something we’d done, but were instead walking a journey designed by the One with the “Big Picture” in His sight.

“but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”

Heavenly Father, as this week begins I pray that in times of trial you open our hearts and minds to this fundamental truth.  Let us see past our desire to seek fault and lay blame, and gain strength from the knowledge that Your Path for our lives comes from a far greater perspective than our own.

Amen.

~Phather Phil

Closing the Week in Prayer

Dear Lord; Happy Friday Father!

To conclude this week’s postings Lord, I’d like to say a couple of prayers if I may.

First off Father, it’s hot here today… in fact, dangerously so.  With a temperature of around 100 degrees and high humidity, the heat index shows us at around 117 degrees outside.  For those of us who are Blessed with good health it’s oppressive enough, but for those who are more vulnerable to the effects of these conditions (young children, the elderly, asthmatics, etc.) this weather can pose serious health risks.  Please wrap all those affected by these climatic conditions in Your Protective Embrace.  Let them feel the cooling breeze of Your Holy Spirit, and give them the resources needed to combat the effects of this weather.

Secondly Lord, several of my “Bloggy” friends are attending the “She Speaks” Conference this weekend.  I pray that Your Presence is felt in abundance at this gathering, and that their hearts and minds are opened wide to gain what this experience has to offer.  Please protect and watch over their families while they’re away, and bring them home safely when it’s completed.

And finally Father, I’d like to thank You for leading me to find the Glo Bible website today.  I’m always on the lookout for new sources of information to assist me in my Walk with you, and the Glo Bible is an amazing tool.  After downloading the free version and working with it for part of the morning, I ended up purchasing the Premium content as well.  I’m looking forward to spending time exploring it this weekend, and placing it in Jonathan’s hands as well.  With all the rich multimedia and interactive tools Glo contains, I think it could open a whole new line of thought and prayer for him as he delves deeper into Your Word.

Heavenly Father, I thank You for yet another Blessing-filled week.  I pray that Your Divine Peace and Comfort is felt by all those in need, and for Your continued Guidance in making choices and decisions that best glorify Your Will for us.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Thankful Thursday: Every Season

Dear Lord; Happy Thankful Thursday Father!

Well Lord, once again we come to the Thankful Thursday post here at phatherphil.org.  It’s been a pleasant week following our return from vacation, however I will admit to missing the wonderfully comfortable weather and serene environment we enjoyed in the mountains.  We’ve been beset by days of hot, humid weather here, so the contrast to our time away is made even more obvious.  However as one of my fellow Christian Bloggers noted, every season exists for a purpose, and this too shall pass when You intend it to.

Anyways Father, no matter the weather conditions I always have a multitude of Blessings to give thanks for.  Such as…

151. Quiet back roads on which to travel to and from work each day.

152. Having the vast research resources of the Internet at my fingertips.

153. A safe drive home from our recent vacation.

154. A lovely dinner out with Shannon on her birthday.

155. Being able to attend the Meet & Greet last Sunday for Kay’s Kamp (Jonathan is SO excited).

156. Whispered challenges on my heart to Dig Deeper.

157. Time spent “Plugged into You”.

158. The perspective gained from visiting other churches.

159. Being a Father to two wonderful little boys.

160. Discussions about Scripture with fellow Christians that help me grow in Christ.

161. Having my children just give me a hug for no specific reason.

162. Quiet time to sit in the dark and read Your Word through YouVersion on my Nook Color.

163. Finding a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant with amazing BBQ.  🙂

164. Receiving my shipment of Pocket Gospels of John from The Pocket Testament League (ptl.org).

165. A good cappuccino after church on Sundays from The Young Bean.

Heavenly Father, thank You once again for all those Blessings you grant us, both those that are obvious and those that may go unseen.  As we Strive for full restoration in Your service, please open our eyes and hearts to better recognize the amazing gifts You bring to our lives each day.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Digging Deeper…

Dear Lord; Happy Wednesday Father!

You know Lord, I love it when You plant a seed in my heart and it drives me to seek out answers.  Such was the case with the Scripture verse I posted to my Facebook Wall today:

“Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” – 2 Corinthians 13:11 (NIV)

But apparently You weren’t done with me on this one.  Over the following hours, the phrase “Strive for full restoration…” kept running through my head, over and over.  Finally, I decided to do some research on that particular expression in context and see where it led me.

Now Father, as You know I usually reference the New International Version (NIV) Bible as that’s the version that speaks to my heart most often.  However, when I run into a passage that churns in my head one of the first things I do is to compare it to other translations to see it from other perspectives.  In the case of this verse, the variance seems to be significant across translations… even in the case of the previous NIV (1984):

“Finally, brothers, good‑by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” – (NIV 1984)

“Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.” – (KJV)

“Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice, set things right, be encouraged, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.” – (NET)

“And that’s about it, friends. Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure.” – (MSG)

Wow… There’s obviously some differences there Lord.  Realizing that these translations stem from words that may not have an exact English equivalent, I then decided to dig deeper and see what the Biblical Scholars had to say on this phrase.  From what I found, it appears the original word was Καταρτιζεσθε, which according to Clarke’s Commentary converts to mean : “Be compact; get into joint again; let unity and harmony be restored”.  Other commentaries were similar, but the description that finally settled my heart was from Wesley’s Notes which stated : “Be perfect – Aspire to the highest degree of holiness.”.

Strive for full restoration…

I love seeing where Your whispers take me Father.

Heavenly Father, I thank You for making Your Presence known through these quiet instructions to my heart.  I pray that You continue to challenge me to dig deeper into Your Word, so as to bring my Walk even closer to Your side.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Unplugging from the World

Dear Lord; Happy Tuesday Father!

I have a confession to make Father:

I’m a chronic multitasker.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been one of those people who delights in doing several things at the same time.  My brain tends to work on overdrive most of the time, processing stimuli from a number of different directions all at once and reacting accordingly.  Combine that with the amazing array of smartphones, tablets, personal organizers and computers that pervade my world, and I spend quite a bit of my day on overload.  And while it’s been a useful condition over the years for dealing with a rapidly moving business environment, I’ve come to realize that in many cases my predilection for multitasking is not only problematic, but can be unhealthy as well…

I have significant problems with insomnia.

I get frustrated easily when things around me don’t “keep up”.

I suffer from high blood pressure and hypertension.

My patience with others can become very limited.

I find that when I don’t accomplish as much as I expected to, it leads to feelings of self-doubt.

Thankfully Father, with Your help I’ve been making some headway in controlling this side of my persona.  By deliberately choosing to focus my attention on one project at a time, and listening to Your Voice for guidance all the while, I find I actually achieve more and at the same time gain the strength and peace of Your Presence as well.  I’ve also been doing some things to “disconnect” myself from the high-speed world around me such as…

Limiting my smartphone usage to emergencies and family needs only outside of working hours (this has been a difficult change for me).

Not spending time logged into Facebook, Twitter or social networking sites when I’m home in the evenings.

Going for long walks in the woods, along the shore, or other places where I can dwell in Your Abundance.

Spending quiet time in prayer, studying Scripture or reading other Christian-focused books.

Taking time out of the workday for a Stillness Sabbatical now and again.

Writing out these conversations we have each day.

While I realize that we live in a world that emphasizes constant connectivity and productivity Lord, I’m finding that as my Walk with You progresses my time spent in simpler pursuits is far more satisfying.  I’m not planning on finding a cave and becoming a hermit mind You, but I am enjoying the balance and clarity that comes from “unplugging” from the world, and “plugging” into You.  🙂

Amen.

~Phather Phil