Wednesday Wanderings is a time we set aside to wander in the Presence of Jesus and ponder His truths. When you are ready, prepare your mind, body, and soul to have a transformational encounter with Jesus.

Watch the Wednesday Wanderings Welcome for this week.

Now that we have cleared our minds of the clutter, we can wander on the journey and examine one word: transcendent.

PREPARATION: In our last Wandering, we considered the R.E.A.L. friendship. This week we will consider the transcendent quality of God’s holiness.  When you are ready, you may begin the dialogue with Jesus and state: “Jesus, I invite you to help me to leisurely wander into your Presence. Prepare my heart to receive, and illuminate my spiritual senses to encounter you.”

PROMISE: Psalm 46:4  (ESV)

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.

The city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.  This is the setting of our hymn this week.  And I would like you to imagine the river whose streams make glad that is city flow as the holiness of God pours forth from His eternal throne.  Think about how powerful a river is, and how it can wash away whatever stands in its path.  These qualities are true of God’s holiness and we are going to allow our imagining of a river of holiness to lift our understanding of this transcendent quality of God.   

PSALM: Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty originally was written by Reginald Heber in 1826.

A river is powerful.  But a river in the city of the Lord God Almighty…how powerful might that me.  Especially a river that makes the city glad.  Let’s wander along that river.

PARABLE:  

So the image above depicts a river flowing through a city.  Often cities are built around bodies of water.  They were used for transport and commerce as well as a source of water which is crucial to life.  It is no surprise then that a river would be the source of gladness in the city of God.

But let us imagine in the city of God that this river is not an ordinary river.  The wording of this Scripture can be taken a couple ways.

1. That the city of God is the holy habitation
2. That the river is the holy habitation

I think both may be true.

Certainly the former is, but what if the second is as well.  What if this river flowing through the city is in and of itself a holy habitation of the Most High?  What if God dwells in the river and spreads something of Himself as far as its streams flow?  What if everywhere those streams go there is a gladness that flows forth from God that can be replicated in nothing else?  What if His holiness is conveyed in those waters?

Imagine walking beside such a powerful river.  Imagine how refreshing it would be to quench the thirst of your soul with its waters.  Imagine how restoring it would be to immerse yourself fully in its cleaning flow.

Are you getting the picture?  What is keeping your from wading into this river?  The current may seem overwhelming, but it is safe.  Take a few moments and put your toes in.  Then your ankles.  Go as far as you are comfortable.  Thank God for the access He has provided through His Son, and go deep if you are willing.  Let is sweep you along as you soak in the gladness of the Lord God Almighty.

PONDER and WANDER:  

If you choose, Ponder the questions: What is keeping me from stepping into the river?  How might I go a little deeper today?

Soul care training exercise: 

Imagine you are on the banks of this cleansing river.  Jesus has brought you to it and made it accessible to you.  All you have to do is step in.  Maybe your river looks a little different that the one above.  Maybe it looks more like the one below.  Close your eyes and imagine Jesus inviting you to step into that river with Him.  Take some time to consider this exercise.

• 

  Take time to still your soul and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

• Ask Him to let you see what might be keeping you dry.
  • Is it the expectations of others?
  • Is it your own complacency?
  • Is it a lack of faith in its power?
  • Is it something else.
• Look at the river. Do you realize you have access to it?  There is nothing stopping you.  The Lamb of God has paid the price and you can enter.  Will you step into it today?
• How will you take that next step into the river today and find cleansing?

PRAYER:  Jesus, thank You for leading me to this powerful cleansing river that is the holiness of God.  I could never have found it without Your help, and could never have accessed it without Your sacrifice.  Empower me to step into it early every day, and then abide in it.  I can not do this on my own.  Thank You in advance for helping me. Amen. 

PRAISE: Now that you have emptied your soul of the clutter and wandered with Jesus, take a closing moment to thank God for the river of His holiness. Let the work of your wandering fill you with the love of Christ.

Then take the mindfulness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes of wandering into the next ones and beyond.

Until next time, be Resonant.

The post Wading into a River of Holiness appeared first on Resonant 7.

Image attributions:
River City – https://pixabay.com/photos/budapest-bridge-water-chain-bridge-525857/
River – https://pixabay.com/photos/autumn-landscape-nature-golden-219972/

Wednesday Wanderings with Dr. Sherri is a time we set aside to wander in the Presence of Jesus and ponder His truths. When you are ready, prepare your mind, body, and soul to have a transformational encounter with Jesus.

Watch the Wednesday Wanderings Welcome for this week.

Now that we have cleared our minds of the clutter, we can wander on the journey and examine one word: seek.

PREPARATION: In our last Wandering, we considered one word: Prayer. This week we will consider the R.E.A.L. friendship When you are ready, you may begin the dialogue with Jesus and state: “Jesus, I invite you to help me to leisurely wander into your Presence. Prepare my heart to receive, and illuminate my spiritual senses to encounter you.”

PROMISE: Psalm 145:13b (NIV)

Jesus is a relational, empowering, affirming, and loving (R.E.A.L.) , promising keeping friend who has promised to bear ALL our temporary burdens.  His protective care is for all His kingdom and throughout all generations. We can be assured that the promises He makes, He will keep. 

PSALM: What a Friend We Have In Jesus originally was written as a poem by Joseph M. Scriven in 1855.

Jesus, our R.E.A.L. friend is a promise keeper (Psalms 145:13b).  Therefore, we can bring ALL our burdens to Him with expectancy. We can expect that He will bear our temporary burdens (Psalm 55:22).  We can expect that our burdens will not overwhelm us because Jesus will be right their with us (Isaiah 43:2). We can expect that even our suffering will point us to Jesus and yield results that are good for us (Romans 8:28). We can expect that one day, we will not have to pray on earth for we will experience the rapture and our prayers will then become words of praise and endless worship. We know Jesus is our R.E.A.L. friend but what about our friendships here on earth, are they a R.E.A.L. Table of Friends?

PARABLE:  

Jesus is a Promise Keeper. Man and women are not. Yet, if they are R.E.A.L. friends, we can expect them to offer us grace and mercy when we break our promises as we offer it when they do the same. We need a R.E.A.L. Table of Friends who will walk with us on our journey and direct us towards Jesus in times of joy and sorrow. Who is seated at your R.EA.L. Table of Friends? 

• The Relational Seat: The one who spends time with you. Time, space and distance does not matter to this person. They are there to leave you feeling refreshed and better.
• The Empowering Seat: The one who speaks words of encouragement to you, sees your strengths, and uses their words to empower you?
• The Affirming Seat: The one who sees your potential, doesn’t allow you to settle for anything less than God’s best. They challenge you but affirm you.
• The Loving Seat: The one who shows appreciation and love by meeting a need. They don’t even wait for you ta ask, they take action, they feel your obstacle is their obstacle.

PONDER and WANDER:  

If you choose, Ponder the questions: Do I have a R.E.A.L. Table  of Friends? Who is in each role?

Soul care training exercise: Follow the R.E.A.L. steps below to identify who are the R.E.A.L. relational, empowering, affirming, and loving people at your table? Who are the people in your life that include you at their R.E.A.L. table?

• Take time to still your mind and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
• Ask Him to let you see who is seated at your R.E.A.L. table. 
  • Who is seated in the relational seat?
  • Who is seated in the empowering seat?
  • Who is seated in the affirming seat?
  • Who is seated in the loving seat?
• Look at the table. Do the people seated at your R.E.A.L. table still meet the role they once held? Ask the Holy Spirit to show you if there is anyone who needs to be removed or added in this season of your life?
• Celebrate your R.E.A.L. Table of Friends.

Next,

Ask you friends if you are invited by the Holy Spirit to be a part of their Table of Friends. If so, ask them to identify what role they need you to be during this season.

PRAYER:  Jesus, thank you that you are my R.E.A.L. friend. There is nothing fake about who you are or who I am when I am with you. You know my shortcomings and you still love me. Thank you for the R.E.A.L. friends on earth that walk with me on my journey and point me towards you. Help me to be a friend who is relational, empowering and encouraging, affirming, and loving others the way you have loved me. Help me to live without the mask that keeps me from sharing the R.E.A.L. parts of me. In the name of Jesus who sees all and loves all of me I pray, Amen. 

PRAISE: Now that you have emptied your mind of the clutter and wandered with Jesus, take a closing moment to thank God for the R.E.A.L. friend you have in Jesus. Let the work of your wandering fill you with the love of Christ.

Then take the mindfulness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes of wandering into the next ones and beyond.

Until next time, be Resonant.

The post The R.E.A.L. Promise Keeper appeared first on Resonant 7.

Image attributions:
REAL friend circle: https://pixabay.com/photos/people-three-portrait-black-3104635/with added text
The Lord is trustworthy: Photo taken by Mary Shortreed with added text

Wednesday Wanderings with Dr. Sherri is a time we set aside to wander in the Presence of Jesus and ponder His truths. When you are ready, prepare your mind, body, and soul to have a transformational encounter with Jesus.

Watch the Wednesday Wanderings Welcome for this week.

Now that we have cleared our minds of the clutter, we can wander on the journey and examine one word: seek.

PREPARATION: In our last Wandering, we considered one word: SEEK. This week we will consider the language of friendship with Jesus: PRAYER. When you are ready, you may begin the dialogue with Jesus and state: “Jesus, I invite you to help me to leisurely wander into your Presence. Prepare my heart to receive, and illuminate my spiritual senses to encounter you.”

PROMISE: Matthew 11:28-30

^28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Jesus is a friend who walks with us on our journey through trials, temptations, troubles, weakness, and share our sorrows. He does not “Should” on us. Instead, He lovingly teaches us through His unforced rhythms of grace. 

PSALM: What a Friend We Have In Jesus originally was written as a poem by Joseph M. Scriven in 1855.

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged
Take it to the Lord in prayer

We see the acronym B.F.F. as captions under pictures with our friends. Scrivens informs us of our true best friend forever. He describes Jesus as our faithful best friend (John 15:15) forever.  A friendship with Jesus is a friendship with eternal benefits that were demonstrated and sealed on the cross (John 15:13). Jesus does not condemn (Romans 8:1) us for what we should do but offers us forgiveness of our sins. His faithful friendship promises us that we shouldn’t dwell in our discouragements. Instead, when we experience trials, temptations, and troubles (and we will),  we can talk to Him and He will share our sorrows. 

PARABLE:  The word “should” is often used to entangle us in a web of shame. It confines us to expectations of who we should be, how we should be, and what we should be. When we experience trials, temptations, troubles, and the weaknesses of our hurts, habits, and hangups our inner critic and our external critics will curse us with “SHOULDS.” I am so glad that Jesus does not “Should on Us.” He is a gracious friend who joins us in our most discouraging times and loves us like no other friend can love us.

PONDER and WANDER:  

If you choose, Ponder the questions: Who has “shoulded” on me? Am I trapped in a shame web of “shoulds?”

If you identified who has shoulded on you and that you have been trapped in a shame web of who you should be, how you should be, and what you should be by yourself or by others, you may choose to complete the below soul training exercise and  take it to The Lord in P.R.A.Y.E.R.

Soul care training exercise: Follow the P.R.A.Y.E.R. steps below to untangle yourself from the web of should and shame. 

Pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal to you if you are entangled in a shame web.
Repent for the hold the shoulds have made in your life
Ask God to show you who He says you are
Yield to His identity
Expect Him to walk with you on your journey
Rejoice that Jesus is your friend who will help you through your trials, temptations, and troubles and will share your sorrow

PRAYER:  Jesus, thank you that you are my faithful best friend forever. What a privilege it is that I can carry everything to you in prayer. Your name is a strong tower where I can run and be safe (Proverbs 18:10) from shame when others “should” on me. Shield me from the shame triggers of  appearance and body image, sexuality, family, marriage, motherhood, fatherhood, parenting, careers and professional identity, vocations and religious identities, mental and physical health, aging, religion, speaking out, and surviving trauma that attempt to draw me away from our friendship. Give me the wisdom to be able to recognize that shame needs to be acknowledged and understood before it can be overcome. Give me the desire to take it to you in P.R.A.Y.E.R. In the healing name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

PRAISE: Now that you have emptied your mind of the clutter and wandered with Jesus, take a closing moment to thank God for the friend you have in Jesus. Let the work of your wandering fill you with the love of Christ.

Then take the mindfulness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes of wandering into the next ones and beyond.

Until next time, be Resonant.

The post Jesus Wont ” Should on Us”   appeared first on Resonant 7.

Image attributions:

You can come to me in prayer: Pixaby image with added notations
BFF – Belovedwomen.org image with added notations
Shame Web – Brene Brown
P.R.A.Y.E.R. – Pixaby image with added notations

Wednesday Wanderings with Dr. Sherri is a time we set aside to wander in the Presence of Jesus and ponder His truths. When you are ready, prepare your mind, body, and soul to have a transformational encounter with Jesus.

Watch the Wednesday Wanderings Welcome for this week.

Now that we have cleared our minds of the clutter, we can wander on the journey of waiting.

PREPARATION: In our last Wandering, we examined the arrival of Jesus who is Emmanuel, God with Us. This week we will look forward to waiting for the second coming of Christ our Savior and Hope. When you are ready, you may begin the dialogue with Jesus and state: “Jesus, I invite you to help me to leisurely wander into your Presence. Prepare my heart to receive, and illuminate my spiritual senses to encounter you with hope and joy.”

PROMISE: Matthew 1:21 
²¹ She will give birth to a Son, and you shall name Him Jesus (The Lord is salvation), for He will save His people from their sins.

The birth of Jesus is the eternal gift that keeps on giving. The birth of Christ, Emmanuel, was a gift to remind us that God is with us, Jesus will save us, and He will return for us.  We can never exhaust unwrapping the blessings of Jesus’ birth, burial, and resurrection.

PSALM: Angels from the Realms of Glory by James Montgomery.

Saints before the altar bending,
Watching long in hope and fear,
Suddenly the Lord, descending,
In his temple shall appear.
Come and worship, come and worship
Worship Christ, the newborn King.

The Advent is about waiting. From Thanksgiving to Christmas day, we pause and prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus. But Advent also reminds us to prayerfully await and prepare for the second coming of Christ. Waiting for Christmas is easier because we know the date and can count down the days. Waiting for Christ’s second coming is more challenging because we do not know the day or the hour that He will return. So, what are we to do while we wait? According to Montgomery, as we hopefully await the return of Jesus–just as shepherds, wise men, and sages before us–we are invited to come offer Jesus our gift of worship.

PARABLE:  Waiting is not often associated with hope. Waiting can produce frustration. What do you think about when you think of the word WAIT? Whenever I think about waiting, I think about pregnancy. Maybe it is because my first pregnancy was premature and during my second pregnancy, I was on bed rest for seven and a half months.  These experiences taught me the lessons of waiting.

Even in the best of circumstances, pregnancy produces a natural period of waiting. It could not have been easy waiting to give birth to the Son of the Most High. I wonder what the wait was like for Mary as she awaited the birth of a son who would be the light of the world? Did she think about what He would look like? Did she imagine cuddling God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit? Did she read the prophecy of His birth to Him while He was in her womb? Did she worry about how she would nurture His gifts and His purpose?

I believe Mary understood the value of waiting and gives us a template of what to do while we wait for Jesus to return. After being visited by the Angel Gabriel, she paused to seek clarification of God’s promise (Luke 1:28, Luke 1:34); she responded with a prayer of acceptance of God’s will and purpose (Luke 1:38); she prepared to trust and believe the promise given to her (Luke 1:45); and then she worshiped with hope and joy while she waited (Luke 1:46-47). We learn from Mary’s experience of the miraculous birth of Jesus that waiting teaches us to pause, pray, prepare and worship.

PONDER and WANDER:

CHRISTmas is an opportunity to ponder God’s promises, remember God’s presence, and to anticipate Christ’s return.  As Saints of God, our wait has not ended with the unwrapping of the presents. The celebration continues as we wait with hope and expectancy that we still have the greatest gift coming (Titus 2:13) when Jesus will complete His saving work. When we apply the lessons of waiting, we can endure the wait of the return of our King with hope and joy. When our hearts are filled with hope and joy, we will worship.

Ponder the Questions: Do I wait for Christ to return as expectantly as I wait for Christmas Day? What am I doing while I wait?

Soul care training exercise: We don’t know when Jesus will return. For now, we can focus on preparing during the new year.

Take a few minutes to breath in and out. As you invite the Holy Spirit to illuminate your spiritual senses:

Pause and seek God’s promise of hope to fill you with joy and peace (Romans 15:13) as you wait expectantly for Him to return (Lamentations 3:24).

Pray and seek God’s Purpose (Proverbs 3:6) for your life in 2020.

Next, Prepare (Jeremiah 29:11) and seek God’s plan of how you will serve Him and others in 2020 as you wait for Jesus to return.

Finally, offer Christ the gift of your Worship.

Merry CHRISTmas, follower friends! May the hope of our God fill you with joy and peace throughout the year!

PRAYER: Thank you Jesus for being the greatest present ever given to the world!  I am filled with hope and joy because you chose to be my Savior. Next week, I may forget the gifts under the tree, but I will remember you. I am so glad that every day you fulfill your promises within my life. Help me to be mindful, this year, of your eternal blessings. In the name of Jesus, Emmanuel, I pray. Amen.

PRAISE: Now that you have emptied your mind of the clutter and wandered with Jesus, take a closing moment to thank God for His Presence!  Let the work of your wandering fill you with hope and anticipation that Jesus will return for us!

Then take the mindfulness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes of wandering into the next ones and beyond.

Until next time, be Resonant.

The post While you wait, Worship appeared first on Resonant 7.

Image attributions:
Jesus the eternal gift: https://pixabay.com/photos/cross-symbol-gift-thrown-away-2168317/ with text
My gift to Jesus is Worship: Belovedwomen.org with text added 
Instructions for waiting: https://pixabay.com/photos/background-banner-celebration-4654716/with text