Day By Day #1

Day by Day #1

MORNING/MIDDAY OFFICE

Silence and Stillness before God (2 minutes)

Scripture Reading: John 15:4–5, 8–9, 12

Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. . . . This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. . . . My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

Devotional

Loving well is the essence of true spirituality. It requires experiencing connection with God, with others, and with oneself. It begins, however, with our response to God’s invitation to practice his presence in our daily lives. He then invites us to “practice the presence of people” within an awareness of his presence. But learning to practice his presence is no small task.

There is perhaps no greater teacher to offer us insight on how to do this than Brother Lawrence, an obscure, sixteenth-century Carmelite monk from Paris. He resolved to live in continual awareness of God’s presence, to never forget him from one moment to the next. In fact, he defined prayer as simply cultivating an awareness of the presence of God.

These words from Brother Lawrence have served me well over the years, helping me to remain in Jesus when I am distracted:

The time of business . . . does not differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of the kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees. . . .

I make it my business only to persevere in his holy presence . . . which I may call an actual presence of God; or, to speak better, an habitual, silent and secret conversation of the soul with God.^a

Jesus said it simply: If we remain in him, allowing ourselves to be held in his embrace, his life will flow out of us to others. If we choose not to remain in him, we will have little, if anything, to offer others.

Question to Consider

When can you set aside uninterrupted time each day to begin cultivating an awareness of the presence of God?

Prayer

Lord, it is so easy for me to go through my days without remembering or thinking about you. And it is even easier for me to overlook your beauty in the people around me. Please change the unhealthy ways of relating that are so deeply rooted in me. Shape me into a person who offers your tenderness and kindness to those I come in contact with today. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)

MIDDAY/EVENING OFFICE

Silence and Stillness before God (2 minutes)

Scripture Reading: Matthew 9:10–13

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Devotional

Our passage indicates that Matthew’s tax collector and sinner friends experienced Jesus as loving and safe—even though they had views, and a lifestyle, diametrically opposed to his. How can we have a similar effect on people with whom we differ? Three questions offered by David Benner in his book Soulful Spirituality have been helpful to me in thinking about this question:

Am I fully present or distracted?

Am I loving or judging?

Am I open or closed to being changed?

Question 1. Am I Fully Present or Distracted?

Our ability to have face-to-face conversations with eye contact as well as our ability to connect emotionally has decreased dramatically over the last twenty-five years.^b I am no different. It is not unusual for me to have three to four ideas floating around my brain at the same time and to miss whatever or whomever is right in front of me. So, while I have grown a great deal in this area, it remains critical that I ask myself this first question—Am I fully present or distracted?—before I even enter a conversation.

Question 2. Am I Loving or Judging?

When people outside the church describe Christians, one of the first words they use is judgmental. They are not wrong to do so. Too often, we turn our differences into virtues of moral superiority. And in so doing, we create never-ending ways to subtly categorize people and diminish their humanity.^c

It is not part of our mission to judge people, even in the name of standing up for truth. When we judge, we treat people as objects. Only God, with a knowledge infinitely greater than ours, has the right and the wisdom to judge another person.

Question 3. Am I Open or Closed to Being Changed?

This question is the deal breaker for many, especially if the other person is not a Christian. “Pete, are you saying we have to be willing to let go of what God says is true?” No. I am saying that we are called to love and be present with people like Jesus—without conditions. If we are not open to learn, or to be enriched by the conversation, then we’re not actually in a genuine conversation. We’re in a one-sided monologue.

God calls us to be with and to love people who see the world differently than we do. And we can do so without compromising our faith in Jesus. We begin as humble learners, in a posture of openness and curiosity, asking, “Tell me more. Help me understand how you see the world and came to that decision or conclusion.”

Question to Consider

Whose beauty in those around you might you be bypassing because you are distracted, judgmental, or closed?

Prayer

Lord, when I consider these three questions, and how loved people felt in Jesus’ presence, the hardness of my heart reveals itself. Forgive and cleanse me. Help me to truly love others, to say to them through my attitude, “You are beautiful. You are important. You are of infinite value and worth.” Please make me like you so I might love those around me the way you do. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)

^a Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God (Old Tappan, N.J.: Revell, 1958), 29, 36.

^b David G. Benner, Soulful Spirituality: Becoming Fully Alive and Deeply Human (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos, 2011), 127.

^c Benner, Soulful Spirituality, p. 127.