Brother Lawrence noted that there is a great difference between acts of the intellect and acts of the will. Acts of the intellect are comparatively of little value. Acts of the will are all important. Our only business is to love and delight ourselves in God. If I understand him properly in this, I agree. There is, it seems to me, far too much thinking and not nearly enough doing. We are great at deciding what is good; but not too good at doing it. I guess there is too much philosophy and theology and not enough service. It seems we are moving, for example, once again into the political season. There is much discussion about how bad off our country is. It’s really easy to see that we are on a bad path. But there isn’t much being done about it. We complain about our politics; but good people shy away from running for office. We complain about the sin of abortion; but there’s not a lot of adopting going on. There is much that needs to be done; and little being done. It’s easy in reviewing Brother Lawrence’s comments above to skip over the last part. That […]
Useless Thoughts – No Substitute for Communion with God – Devotional for July 1, 2011
I just spent some time on Facebook and Twitter reviewing postings of my “friends.” I am reminded of the words of Brother Lawrence: He said that useless thoughts spoil all – that mischief began there. Boy are there some useless thoughts online. I guess we all have a deep desire to communicate. One pretty good thing I did see online today was this:“Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.” – Plato I’m afraid there are few “wise men” on line these days. Maybe our compulsion to communicate is generated by our lack of real communication with our Creator. After all, we were created for communion with God. Again from Brother Lawrence: We ought to reject useless thoughts quickly and return to our communion with God. I am encouraged because even Brother Lawrence did not find this easy. His first steps in trying to establish communication with God did not go real well. In the beginning he had often passed his time appointed for prayer in rejecting wandering thoughts and falling right back into them. He could never regulate his devotion by certain methods as some do. At first, he had […]
Drawn to God – Devotional for Thursday, June 30, 2011
Brother Lawrence practiced the presence of God continually. I find it difficult to keep God continually in mind and His presence constantly at the forefront of my thinking. I have to force myself to think of Him and to turn my thoughts to Him. Thankfully, Brother Lawrence had the same problem. Brother Lawrence said that in order to form a habit of conversing with God continually and referring all we do to Him, we must, at first, apply to Him with diligence. Then, after a little care, we would find His love inwardly draw us to Him without any difficulty. I guess it’s like becoming acquainted with a person for the first time and then building a friendship with them. At first it requires some effort. For some people, it requires a lot of effort. We have to remind ourself to call them or talk to them. But as we begin to know them it becomes much easier. We want to have communion with them. We want to be in their presence. I guess it’s a sign of the superficiality of our relationship with God if we are still at the stage of having to push ourselves to think […]
Satan Continually Condemns – Devotional for Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Spiritual growth requires the recognition that we are sinners deserving of damnation. That only a loving God provides a means of salvation that we do not deserve. If we never come to that realization, sometimes described as “coming to the Cross,” we can never benefit from salvation. Salvation requires a recognition that we need divine intervention. For those humble enough to come to that realization, Satan make work their minds trying to convince the sinner that he is so unworthy of salvation, that such salvation can not be real. Such happened to Brother Lawrence. He said he had been long troubled in mind from a certain belief that he should be damned. All the men in the world could not have persuaded him to the contrary. This trouble of mind lasted four years, during which time he suffered greatly. Finally Brother Lawrence was able to reason: I did not engage in a religious life but for the love of God. I have endeavored to act only for Him. Whatever becomes of me, whether I be lost or saved, I will always continue to act purely for the love of God. I shall have this good at least that until […]
Do All for the Love of God – Devotional for Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Motivation in what we do is so important. We can perform “charitable acts” but if our hearts are not in the right place our acts are for nothing. Brother Lawrence resolved to make the love of God the end of all his actions. In other words, he did all things for the love of God. We often claim this as our motivation, but if we look closer we realize that’s not exactly why we are doing things. We may be active in our church because of guilt for the negative things we have done in our lives. We may enjoy the praise of others for our good works. We may simply enjoy the good feeling we get from our ministry. My work in Kairos brings the issue of motivation to mind. Those of us in the ministry will often honestly say that we get as much or more out of the ministry than those served. This is true. It is an incredible blessing to be in place to see God at work. But that should not be the motivation. We should, with Brother Lawrence, seek to do all things for the love go God. When we are able to […]
Simple Talk – Devotional for Monday, June 27, 2011
Brother Lawrence is considered the great teacher and practitioner of the Practice of the Presence of God. Yet His advice is not complex or deep but simple and straight forwarded. For example, his primary advice for practicing the presence of God is to speak with Him continually, referring all we do to Him. Having been granted entrance into the Holy of Holies without representation. It is obvious that we should exercise this privilege freely. Speaking to God at all times reminds us of His presence and gives that presence the honor it is due. But even more respectful than speaking to Him is listening to Him. The greatest honor we can give another is to listen to him. It is a skill we all could use more of in dealing with our fellow man; all the more so in communing with God. Surely what He has to say is of more importance that anything we might utter. Our words are unlikely to change much but His can change everything. How much time do we spend quietly listening to our God? Not enough. Brother Lawrence said we ought to act with God in the greatest simplicity, speaking to Him frankly […]
Focus on Service – Devotional for Sunday, June 26, 2011
A gentle man of joyful spirit, Brother Lawrence shunned attention and the limelight, knowing that outside distraction “spoils all”. It was not until after his death that a few of his letters were collected. Joseph de Beaufort, counsel to the Paris archbishop, first published the letters in a small pamphlet. The following year, in a second publication which he titled, ‘The Practice of the Presence of God’, de Beaufort included, as introductory material, the content of four conversations he had with Brother Lawrence. At the end of this first conversation Brother Lawrence said that, if my purpose for the visit was to sincerely discuss how to serve God, I might come to him as often as I pleased; and without any fear of being troublesome. If this was not the case, then I ought visit him no more. Brother Lawrence was a man of focus. As a lowly brother he was visited by an archbishop’s counsel. He greeted him respectfully but as to further visits, he was interested only in sincere discussion on how to serve God. Just think the impact on our lives if we limited our activities to those which dealt with how to serve God. No […]
Devotional for Saturday, June 25, 2011
10 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. 11 And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. 13 Not a hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with an arrow; whether man or beast, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near the mountain.” Exodus 19:10-13 Our concept of God isn’t big enough or holy enough. Imagine a God so holy that His people were told not even to touch the mountain on which he visited. It’s true we are privileged to call God, “Abba” or “Daddy” but that should not diminish Him in our eyes; rather it should make His love for us the more remarkable. We are privileged to communicate with God and […]