I have just finished my morning gauntlet of prayer and study. I am moving in to the rest of my day and further into the rhythm that will be 2027 and 2028.
These last days of sabbatical are the beginning of a new practice that will probably take the rest of 2026 to work into the fibers of my being.
Yesterday I took my sister to the Irish Festival at the Winchendon Community Park for her birthday.
We listened to some amazing music and did some window shopping at the booths. We shared bangers and mash and Guiness beef stew, apple cider and apple fritters. Then we finished the day with cake and ice cream at home with the kids. It was a great day.
As the day came to its finish line, I walked the dogs and closed in the chickens making sure Hen Solo was with her sisters before locking the coop gate. It was an early night to bed and I realized as I laid my head to the pillow that I had not followed the rhythm as planned. I had not planned for the expectations of others. I had not considered alternative pathways to move into the evening gauntlet of prayer and study. I had not taken an aside from the festivities of the day to pray for even ten minutes.
I have prayed today that Jesus would help me move in to the rhythm He has shown me as my next step. I have asked Him to show me how to fold the rhythm into the life He has given me, how to adapt this life and its demands to the life He is bringing me into. The way lies before me. Learning and wisdom are the prayers of my heart. I ask without doubting that I will have the learning and wisdom and that what He wants will be established.
I teach my people that the Holy Spirit lives in us when we come to a place of faith in Christ Jesus. Paul the Apostle taught that in the Book of Romans…
But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) 10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life[d] because you have been made right with God. 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. Ro. 8:9-11
So if Peace is a fruit of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit lives inside of us believers, then we have all the peace that the Holy Spirit has inside of us.
For that reason I no longer pray for myself to have more peace or more love….or more of any of the fruits of the Spirit. I already have the fullness of the fruit in me. Instead I pray that I would recognize the fruit and that God would give me grace to remove all the things that block the fruit manifesting fully in my life.
When it comes to peace, one of the things that helps me remove the blockages to that peace, is to regularly find places that help me recognize the fruit of peace, and to spend time in those places.
I think everyone probably finds peace in different kinds of places. I find peace in quiet spaces. In lonely spaces. In spaces where I can rest. In spaces that defy the ordering hand of man, wild spaces.
I find peace in the forest garden, spending time watching the squirrels and rabbits, listening to the songs of the birds in the trees and the gentle violins of crickets.
For me peace is not clean and ordered it is messy but comfortable. It is a place where life can be free to do what it wants. It’s a place where my mind can wander and never run out of discoveries. It is a place that offers beauty without demanding I fix it or keep it.
Like I said I think the places we find peace are different for every man and woman but for me finding a place of quiet chaos helps me to recognize the fullness of peace in my heart.
The blue hours before the sunrise are some of my most productive hours of the day. I am usually up and at it around 2 A.M. This morning it was 1:17 A.M. when I first became aware of the world around me again. The day started with three hours of basking prayer. I will describe basking prayer to you sometime, but suffice it here to say, it is some of my most visionary prayer time, even if I don’t fully understand the visions.
Today is a busy day. I have a meeting at 9, an artist’s group at 10 and a wedding at 4 in Topsfield MA which is an hour and a half from here.
So my morning started with a mandatory weigh-in, step count from yesterday and a stretch ( the most mandatory of those three things is the stretch if I want to walk without a severe limp).
I am currently reading the Book of Numbers in my daily devotionals. IF YOU READ THE BIBLE DAILY WHAT ARE YOU READING? IF YOU DON’T PRACTICE BIBLE READING WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?
By 6 A.M. I was out doing the farm chores: walk the dog, feed the dog, feed the chickens, water the chickens, clean the coops, empty the dehumidifiers, feed the birds, de-sludge the furnace and walk the gardens to see what needed picking and what started blooming. I picked peas and radishes this morning.
By 8 I was having my second cup of coffee and was dressed in my first outfit of the day, ready for my 9 A.M. meeting concerning ministry opportunities.
I received word at 4:35 A.M. this morning that my mother-in-law, Dale Stevens, went home to be with Jesus.
I cannot say she passed away, because for Dale, while death was a moment of weakness,I know it was also the moment that led to her greatest strength. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body..’ Death has been swallowed up in victory.‘.” 1 Cor. 15:42-44, 54
I have to say, Dale was a wonderful mother-in-law. She cared for her family with an indefatigable passion and a living faith and she accepted me into her family and cared for me as a member of that family. Even after my wife and I divorced Dale never cut me out. She always left a door open for me and kept relationship with me even across the miles. I will always be thankful for her love and care. I am praying now for my ex wife, her sisters and all their husbands, their children and my children and all that extended family as they mourn this foundational loss.
Tina (my ex wife) called from South Carolina, the other day and asked if I would sing over Dale in her hospice bed. I had the opportunity to sing over her twice and each time I sang songs of our hope in Heaven. As I sang, I was reminded that we may be parted for some moments now, but soon we shall all be reunited around the throne of the Living God.
In January our church held its annual congregational fast. For 21 days we prayed together, fasted together and meditated on 1 John . Here are my thoughts from those times of devotion in 1 John.
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our[a] joy complete. 1 JOHN 1:1-4
MEDITATIONAL THOUGHT:
Sharing your personal encounter with Jesus brings complete joy to the community of faith.
MY THOUGHTS:
One of the things I am working on in the new year is in collaborating with people in my congregation to share stories about how God is showing up in their lives. I realize my role in the Sunday morning service is to bring the “rightly divided Word of truth” from the Scripture, but the part of sharing testimony can and even should come from the congregation. The body of Christ needs to see how the “rightly divided Word of truth” works out in personal circumstances. I need to see that in my own life and the lives of those around me so that I can be encouraged all the more as I see the day of Lord drawing near. That day is close now I think.
WHAT STORIES ARE YOU SHARING TO ENCOURAGE YOURSELF TOWARDS FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE LATELY?
Here is our afternoon meditation for the 21 days of fasting and prayer. This is day 16 of our 21 days! I have heard and learned so much and I have so many questions to seek of the Lord.
1 JOHN 3:4-10
Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.
1 John 3:4-10 (Source: Equip the Called)
Theme: Children of God vs. Children of the Devil
1. No one who abides in Him keeps on sinning willfully; a transformed life is the evidence of new birth.
2. The Son of God appeared for this purpose: to destroy the works of the devil.
3. Practicing righteousness is the sign that you are a child of God.
THINKING TIME:
WHAT DOES TRANSFORMATION MEAN TO YOU?
WHAT ARE THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL YOU RECOGNIZE AROUND YOUR LIFE?
HOW DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL TO KNOW THAT JESUS IS DESTROYING THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL IN YOUR LIFE?
Well it’s the final countdown of our 21 days of fasting and prayer, but we are only on the ninth meditation of the fast. We are going to continue catching up throughout this final week of fasting. Please Join us in the meditations.
1 John 2:18-25
Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.[e]21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
24 As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is what he promised us—eternal life.
1 John 2:18-25 (Source: Equip the Called)
Theme: Warning Against False Teachers
1. The presence of antichrists is a sign of the last hour; stay alert and grounded in truth.
2. Remaining in the teaching you heard from the beginning ensures you remain in the Son and the Father.
3. Denial of Jesus as the Christ is a denial of God the Father; confess the Son always
THINKING TIME:
HOW DOES SOMEONE DENY THAT JESUS IS THE SAVIOR (THE CHRIST)?
HOW CAN YOU REMAIN IN THE TEACHING THAT BROUGHT YOU TO CHRIST?
I was in a conversation with a few members of my staff this morning. We were talking about the state of the world… trying to solve all the world’s problems I guess….not coming up with any good answers. It feels like parts of our world are burning down.
Then one of my assistant pastors said, “I was in prayer and meditation the other day and I got this word from God. God reminded me, ‘ You don’t belong here.’.”
That really encouraged me. I was reminded, in that moment, that I am not here to fix the world. The sense that this world is beyond fixing is correct. Peter said, “By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.” 2 Pet. 3:7
That encouragement got me thinking about what God is doing in my circle of influence. Here, in little Winchendon, I am seeing a strengthening of community. I am seeing an increase of ingenuity, invention and encouragement. People are coming to Jesus. People are learning to pray. People are being discipled. Our little corner of the world is changing for good. I see a growing potential and opportunity.
So if I cannot change the whole world whatam I doing here? I am hereto be a witness to the TRUE HOPE OF THE WORLD within my circle of influence.
Jesus said, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8
I am here as an ambassador of another Kingdom which is yet to come. Paul the Apostle said, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” 2 Cor. 5:20
I am here to bring the comfort I have received to others. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.2 Cor.. 1:3,4
I cannot change the whole world. I may not even be able to change any small part of it permanently, but I can tell people of a world that is not broken. I can tell them how to get there, and for the time I am here in this broken world I can bring comfort to the piece of the world I am dwelling in, even as it faces the fire that the rest of the world is being engulfed in.
Today started out in prayer. I was up as usual by about 3 A.M. and did my private prayer time and then joined in online with our churches Tuesday Jesus 45 prayer meeting from 6-6:45 A.M.
Normally I run this meeting, but for the next three meetings Deacon Jody Clapp will be filling in for me and I will just attend remotely.
I watched the sunrise from my balcony in Florida as we prayed together.
After prayer it was breakfast and then morning devotionals with Pastor Amanda , James and Sadie, the teenagers who are competing in the National Fine Arts portion of the convention.
We are reading from Psalm 119 this week. Here is the portion we read and prayed over today:
We left by 9 A.M. for the OCCC (Orange County Convention Center) and spent the day there to watch James’ and Sadie’s performances and to peruse the other portions of the show and exhibit halls.
Here is some of the artwork from the festival. All of this is done by teenagers.
I have just returned from our fellowship’s Annual Network Conference which was entitle MISSION DEI
Our focus sessions were wonderful here are a few thoughts I came away with.
“Where your treasure is there your heart will be also.”- Jesus
“What you treasure does not follow your heart. Your heart follow what you treasure. Be intentional with what you treasure.” Jim Bradford
“Our doxology must inform our practice not vice versa.” Dr. Kim
“We spend much time focused on what Jesus taught and not enough time noticing how Jesus was with people.” Dr. Kim
“We need to spend less time in behavior modification and more time in heart transformation.” Dr. Kim
“The expulsive power of a new affection.” Thomas Chalmers
The pathway to deliverance is not found in trying to get rid of what is ugly, but it is found in embracing a new beauty that so consumes us that there is no longer room for the old ugliness.
