The Clallery

 

 

"God is far less concerned about your behaviors than you think He is, and He is far more concerned with your heart than you’ll ever know. I’m not condoning sin. But I am saying that the heart is the issue—if you get the heart in right alignment with God, the behaviors follow."  ~ Rob Reimer, "Soul Care: 7 Transformational Principles for a Healthy Soul", Carpenter's Son Publishing (2016). Bible passages to ponder... Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart,     for everything you do flows from it. Psalm 51:10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,     and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

“Heart pondering is noticing what arises in our depths in response to something – feelings, memories, longings, hopes, and fears. This is what Mary the mother of Jesus did at the Annunciation when she pondered what she had heard from the angel in her heart. Mental pondering adds enormous value to normal thinking but heart pondering broadens both the inner reflective space and the tools you bring to the pondering. Don’t settle for mental pondering. Begin to also learn and practice heart pondering.” ~David G. Benner, Living Wisdom: Acquiring the Mind and Heart of Christ (2018, Cascadia Publications, Toronto, Canada), available as a free PDF download from www.drdavidgbenner.ca, p.12-13. A Bible passage to ponder... Luke 1:46-55 (Mary's Song) And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy ...

“Christian spirituality is, in its entirety, rooted in and shaped by the spiritual text. We don’t form our personal spiritual lives out of a random assemblage of favorite texts in combination with individual circumstances; we are formed by the Holy Spirit in accordance with the text of Holy Scripture, God does not put us in charge of forming our personal spiritualities. We grow in accordance with the revealed Word implanted in us by the Spirit.”  ~Peterson, Eugene H. (2006). Eat This Book. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, p.15. A Bible passage to ponder... John     6:48-50 "I am [Jesus is] the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die." 

  After the angel Gabriel had announced to Virgin Mary that she was pregnant with Our Lord Jesus, Mary went from Galilee to Judea to visit her relative Elizabeth, soon to be the mother of John the Baptist. Mary entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. ’“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice, she exclaimed: ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!’” (Luke 1:41-45) Then Mary praised God in joy that her soul magnified the Lord for the blessing of all nations “to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God” (Micah 6:8). “Mary said: ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he ...

 

  The boat once was covered with dirty stains, being plunged under a wave and then surfaced. All the stains were washed away, and the oars were lost! The inside of her hull was purged, ready to be filled with God’s Word. Without any oars, the boat is being chartered celestially in faith down the windy coastlines, across the stormy seas, up the streams, across serene lakes, while witnessing God’s almightiness on “making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland”. Along with other boats of different colours and shapes, she sails in and towards the Kingdom of God!  ~ Clara, The Clallery

  The buzzing bee is about to work; the idling bee is at work. How much pollen have you collected? How much pollen are you collecting? How much more pollen are you going to collect? How much pollen have you been producing? How much pollen are you producing? How much more pollen are you going to produce? The flowers are blooming; the idling flowers are at work. ~ Clara, The Clallery