Daily Meditation for Thursday, 8 June 2017 : "Empowered to Speak" The Henri Nouwen Society in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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DAILY MEDITATION: "Empowered to Speak"
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Photo courtesy of SDGimagery.com
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The Spirit that Jesus gives us empowers us to speak. Often when we are expected to speak in front of people who intimidate us, we are nervous and self-conscious. But if we live in the Spirit, we don't have to worry about what to say. We will find ourselves ready to speak when the need is there. "When they take you before ... authorities, do not worry about how to defend yourselves or what to say, because when the time comes, the Holy Spirit will teach you what you should say" (Luke 12:11-12).
We waste much of our time in anxious preparation. Let's claim the truth that the Spirit that Jesus gave us will speak in us and speak convincingly.
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For further reflection...
Moses said to the Lord, "Oh Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." The Lord said to him, "Who gave a person their mouth? ...Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." [Exodus 4: 10-12 (NIV)]
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Your response...
Where do you need the Spirit's empowerment today in speaking?
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Continue the Inspiration
Purchase your copy of Henri Nouwen's book "In the Name of Jesus".
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Daily Meditation for Wednesday, 7 June 2017 : "The Power of the Spirit" The Henri Nouwen Society in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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DAILY MEDITATION: "The Power of the Spirit"
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Photo courtesy of SDGimagery.com
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In and through Jesus we come to know God as a powerless God, who becomes dependent on us. But it is precisely in this powerlessness that God's power reveals itself. This is not the power that controls, dictates, and commands. It is the power that heals, reconciles, and unites. It is the power of the Spirit. When Jesus appeared people wanted to be close to him and touch him because "power came out of him" (Luke 6:19).
It is this power of the divine Spirit that Jesus wants to give us. The Spirit indeed empowers us and allows us to be healing presences. When we are filled with that Spirit, we cannot be other than healers.
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For further reflection...
"You show that you are a letter from Christ... written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts... for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." [2 Corinthians 3: 3,6 (NIV)]
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Your response...
Where can you be a healing presence by the power of the Spirit?
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Continue the Inspiration
Purchase your copy of Henri Nouwen's book "The Wounded Healer".
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Daily Meditation for Tuesday, 6 June 2017 : Joint Heirs with Christ" The Henri Nouwen Society in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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DAILY MEDITATION: "Joint Heirs with Christ"
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Photo courtesy of V. Dobson
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We continue to put ourselves down as less than Christ. Thus, we avoid the full honor as well as the full pain of the Christian life. But the Spirit that guided Jesus guides us. Paul says: "The Spirit himself joins with our spirit to bear witness that we are children of God. And if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:16-17).
When we start living according to this truth, our lives will be radically transformed. We will not only come to know the full freedom of the children of God but also the full rejection of the world. It is understandable that we hesitate to claim the honor so as to avoid the pain. But, provided we are willing to share in Christ's suffering, we also will share in his glory (see Romans 8:17).
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For further reflection...
"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." [- 2 Corinthians 3: 17-18 (NIV)]
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Your response...
In what part of life are you longing for change?
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Continue the Inspiration
Purchase your copy of Henri Nouwen's book "The Selfless Way of Christ".
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Daily Meditation for Monday, 5 June 2017 : "God's Breath Given to Us" The Henri Nouwen Society in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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DAILY MEDITATION: "God's Breath Given to Us"
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Photo courtesy of SDGimagery.com
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Being the living Christ today means being filled with the same Spirit that filled Jesus. Jesus and his Father are breathing the same breath, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the intimate communion that makes Jesus and his Father one. Jesus says: "I am in the Father and the Father is in me" (John 14:10) and "The Father and I are one" (John 10:30). It is this unity that Jesus wants to give us. That is the gift of his Holy Spirit.
Living a spiritual life, therefore, means living in the same communion with the Father as Jesus did, and thus making God present in the world.
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For further reflection...
"The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life." [John 6: 63]
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Your response...
In what part of life are you longing for change?
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Text excerpts taken from Bread for the Journey, by Henri J.M. Nouwen, ©1997 HarperSanFrancisco. All Scripture from The Jerusalem Bible ©1966, 1967, and 1968 Darton, Longman & Todd and Doubleday & Co. Inc. Scripture chosen by L. Yeskoo.
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