Fresh Meat for the Lion

Dear Lord; Happy Friday Father!

Forgiveness Father, is sometimes very difficult.

This past week, I’ve had several instances where people have gone out of their way to say or do something they know will upset me.  Now, generally Father, I’m able to filter out that sort of thing and place my ire in Your hands.  This week however, my thresholds have been a bit lower than usual, and I’ve found myself holding on to those negative feelings instead of releasing them to Your care.

And then today, I reread the Scripture selections You placed on my heart to share on Facebook this week…

Tuesday : “We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.” – 1 John 4:19-21 (NIV)

Wednesday : “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” – John 13:34-35 (NIV)

Thursday : “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” – 1 Peter 5:6-9 (NIV)

I usually feel that You give me these verses each day to help others in their Walks Lord, but I think this time You were talking to me as well.

Jesus gave us two very powerful commands to follow, above all else;

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” – Matthew 22:37-40 (NIV)

In those verses this week, you were reminding me the importance of the second part to that teaching…

“Love your neighbor as yourself.”

In my weakened state, I allowed the enemy to use those moments of pain to gain a foothold inside my heart, temporarily blinding me to the fact that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ; even those who still need to find You Lord.  The “roaring lion” had fresh meat for a few days, but no longer.

Thank You for the reminders Lord.

Heavenly Father,

I thank You for Your gentle guidance when I waver from Your path.  Fill me with Your divine presence, and help me see others through Your eyes, that I may cast aside my earthly notions and recognize Your Blessings in us all.

In Jesus’ Name we pray,

Amen.

~Phather Phil

In a Whisper…

Dear Lord; Happy Wednesday Father!

Following yesterday’s discussion Lord, I’ve been mulling over the whole “Ways God talks to us” question at length.

When I speak with people about their relationship with You Father, quite often they express frustration in trying to understand what You desire of them, and feel that they aren’t “hearing” You as they should be.  I’ll admit, early on in my Walk when I began to recognize Your communications, my “logical” brain cast them aside as stray thoughts and urges of my own making.  I’m not honestly sure at what point that changed, but now I’ve come to count on those intimate “nudges” in my daily life to keep my feet on the stalwart path, and my heart focused on You.

Today was a perfect example.  I hadn’t really decided how I should approach the topic of Your speaking to us, but as I was quietly reading my YouVersion Bible over lunch, I reached a passage You felt fit the situation…

“That’s the one.” You whispered.

The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 

After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 

When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” – 1 Kings 19:11-13 (NIV)

I love it when You do that Father.  🙂

When my journey to You was in it’s infancy Lord, I looked for some grandiose sign announcing Your presence; the powerful wind, the earthquake, the fire… Something that would scream “Hey Phil!  Here I am!”.  What I realized over time however, was that You were there with me all the time; I just wasn’t looking in the right place.  As Elijah found You at Horeb, I found You in the Stillness… In the whispers.

Finding those moments; those times of spiritual clarity where Your voice rings out through the noise we all live in, has become an important part of my days.

I yearn for those whispers Father… for those nudges that guide my way.

Heavenly Father,

I thank you Lord, for Your faithful presence in our lives each day.  Please open our hearts and our minds to better recognize Your influence all around us.  Help filter out the “noise” that congests our spirits, and bring us that peace that can only come through an intimate communion with our Creator.

In Jesus’ Name we pray,

Amen.

~Phather Phil

Hypocritical Worship

Dear Lord; Happy Tuesday Father!

As you know Father, I didn’t post to PhatherPhil.org last Friday.  It was odd for me, because I’ve conditioned myself and put time aside to write to You each day, but on Friday the words just didn’t come.  For whatever reason, I felt disconnected somehow and couldn’t hear Your voice with the clarity I’ve become used to.  I struggled with it, and even tried to force myself to post something, but in the end I decided against just…

Going through the motions.

Although at the time I felt like I was reneging on some “unspoken obligation”, I’m happier that I chose not to post anything at all rather than something that wasn’t of Your inspiration.

And today Lord, I came across a passage in Isaiah that brought it all into wonderful perspective for me:

The Lord says:
“These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is based on merely human rules they have been taught.

Therefore once more I will astound these people
with wonder upon wonder;
the wisdom of the wise will perish,
the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”

Woe to those who go to great depths
to hide their plans from the Lord,
who do their work in darkness and think,
“Who sees us? Who will know?”

You turn things upside down,
as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,
“You did not make me”? – Isaiah 29:13-16 (NIV)

We’ve all done it at one point or another Father; followed the worship “bouncing ball”, but done so without that deep communion in our hearts that gives the spiritual expression it’s purpose.  For many years when I was young, I went to Sunday school and church simply to appease my parents.  It was very much “textbook worship”, and throughout that period I never truly felt the deep, yearning connection to You that I’m Blessed with now.

You know our hearts Lord, and have no interest in hypocritical worship.

Thankfully Father, the “spiritual cloud” that obscured You from me on Friday passed quickly, and I even managed to gain some insight in the process.  I find it wondrous and fascinating that even in those unusual moments when my connection to You isn’t as clear, that You’re still teaching me nonetheless.  🙂

Heavenly Father,

We thank You for Your unending faithfulness and patience with us.  I pray that we all come to You presenting an open heart; with the lessons of Your Son firmly in our minds and enthusiastic praises of You on our lips.  Lift our spiritual clouds Lord, and make the Holy Spirit in us shine like the beacons You intend us to be.

In Jesus’ Name we pray,

Amen.

~Phather Phil

Meditations Monday: Love and Commitment

Dear Lord; Happy Meditations Monday Father!

To begin our week’s conversations Lord, I want to thank You for yet another lovely weekend filled to the brim with Your Blessings.  Friday night we attended a spaghetti dinner at Ewell’s St. Paul UMC to benefit the “Jesus Freaks” youth group.  The food and fellowship were wonderful, and it was very well attended.  Saturday, the boys stayed with friends for the day while Shannon and I got the opportunity to attend an end-of-summer pool party.  Sunday began with an inspiring church service, and then while Shannon played her viola in the Dover Symphony at a local patriotic concert, the boys and I were able to catch up on overdue housework, grocery shopping and laundry.  As seems to be our “normal” lately Father, it was a very busy weekend, but certainly time we’re thankful for.

As You know Father, each morning I’ve been reading a daily devotional message from the Stand Firm magazines that Shannon got me a subscription to for Father’s Day.  This morning’s message was focused on love and commitment, and it very much resonated with things that You and I have been discussing quite a lot as of late.  The passage cited in the devotional was from the first chapter of the Book of Ruth, and details Ruth’s response to Naomi when Naomi attempts to send her back to her family following the death of Ruth’s husband (Naomi’s son):

But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” – Ruth 1:16-17 (NIV)

Such a powerful statement of commitment Lord, and unfortunately something we see far too little of in society today.  Unwavering devotion to those we love, and to You Father, should be our firm goal and desire each and every day.  If we all looked to replace our selfish, wayward thoughts with the yearning to care for and serve others, and to praise You with each waking breath, our world would be truly transformed.

It’s certainly something I’ll be praying on this week Lord.

Heavenly Father,

As we go through the day Lord, please fill our hearts with the desire, devotion and drive to unselfishly and openly bring Your love to those around us.  Grant us the resolve in our hearts Father, that we may committedly focus ourselves on those relationships that You Bless us with; our marriages, our families and our friendships, that we may glorify You thorough those connections.

In Jesus’ Name we pray,

Amen.

~Phather Phil

Thankful Thursday: Our Most Precious Blessing

Dear Lord; Happy Thankful Thursday Father!

Once again Lord, we come to the day of the week on which I add to the ever-growing list of Blessings You’ve bestowed on me.  Between Hurricane Irene, the kids starting school, Shannon starting her new job, and a significant spike in business at my office, it’s certainly been a roller-coaster of a week.  Funny enough, through all of the ups-and-downs we’ve gone through this past seven days, Your Blessings have shined brilliantly through it all.

Therefore Father, continuing where I left off last week, today I’d like to give special thanks to You for:

226. Shannon getting “back on track” with her thyroid medication.

227. That even when my prayers are “arrogant”, You know my heart and forgive me.

228. Dove chocolates with caramel centers.

229. The boys doing well taking on increased household responsibilities.

230. An extra day off work to enjoy with friends and family this weekend.

231. The arrival of my Blood Pressure Medication shipment today.

232. Minimal damage to our home and no injuries from Hurricane Irene last weekend.

233. That I have a Heavenly Father who always has confidence in me, even when my view of self-worth is in question.

234. Dreams that make me wake up with a smile.

235. Finding a new Family Doctor after our existing one closed his practice.

236. Connecting up with all my “Bloggy” friends on Facebook.

237. Five days of absolutely beautiful weather following the hurricane.

238. Merlin’s seizures continuing to be suppressed by the Phenobarbital he was prescribed. 

239. The loan of a carpet cleaner by a good friend when ours broke unexpectedly.

240. Being married to a lady who goes out of her way to remind me that she loves me every day.

…Such a multitude of Blessings You grant me Lord.  🙂

Heavenly Father, once again I lift thanks and praise to You for the many Blessings You grace us with each day; both those that light up the sky with Your presence, and those that Bless our lives without fanfare.  You are indeed a doting Father, a watchful Shepherd and a skillful Potter, and we marvel in the fact that with all that You have in Your care, You still give us individual, personal attention…

Our most precious Blessing.

Amen.

~Phather Phil