Category Archive: Meditations

• Humility of the Saints

  

  Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
  For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.
  Colossians 2:6-7, 9-10

  In contrast to the pride of hypocrites is the humility of the saints. To put on Christ is to increase in the understanding of the fallen heart’s condition apart from Him. All the vices are native to the heart of fallen humanity. The greater the knowledge of God’s goodness in the saints’ hearts, the more they know that their very best apart from God is not good enough. They know that such a good degenerates and does not stand the test of time. In choosing to fear God rather than others, they opt for inner integrity, a change from the inside out that ends in fullness of being. [1]

  This humility of the saints is real freedom, a personal integrity grounded in Christ. To recognize what we would be apart from Him — while going on to be built up in — Him saves us from pride. The humble are free and genuine, original saints who can live and love unselfconsciously. Humility energizes us to continue the steep ascent to our glorious destiny, and to care for those who join us on the way.

  PRAYER
  Lord Jesus Christ, we thank You for descending to our lowest lows so that we could be raised to Your highest heights. Give us grace to expose our sin and struggles to You and to those You’ve provided to help us stay true. In Your mercy, deliver us from any empty persona pride would erect. Grant us greater humility, gracious Lord.

  [1] Leanne Payne, Listening Prayer (Grand Rapids, Hamewith Books, 1994), 50.
  Painting: Alexandre Bida, Christ and the Pharisees, 1874.

• Union with the King of glory

  

  Lift up your heads, O gates!
  And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
  that the King of glory may come in.
  Who is this King of glory?
  The Lord, strong and mighty,
  the Lord, mighty in battle!
  Lift up your heads, O gates!
  And lift them up, O ancient doors,
  that the King of glory may come in.
  Who is this King of glory?
  The Lord of hosts,
  he is the King of glory!

  And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

  Psalm 24:7-10, Ephesians 1:22-23

  God keeps us in His holiness (John 17:15) as we remain in obedient subjection to Him (Romans 6:22). We must remain in union with Christ (John 15:4-5, 17:9). But true union with Christ is hardly understood or walked out today. The abysmal rift or chasm between head and heart, acting and being, masculine and feminine, leads many to think that a more or less spiritualized perfectionism is what union with Christ means… Only in union with Him, listening to Him and carrying out His orders, are we holy. Any substitute for this leaves us without the knowledge of ourselves as prideful sinner and well as saint.

  We are all grievously tarred with the same brush. We all have that within us that wants to remain separate, to be holy by keeping the law perfectly. In effect we want to be God. We want to carry Christ’s banner — but in this age of individualism we only want to carry it if it has our name and imprint on it. We want to be in control; we want to bring others to their knees in admiration and submission. This pride is in every human heart. We tip over into evil the moment we forget to confess the tyrant within and acknowledge that our holiness is at every moment Another’s: it is incarnational. [1]

  Observing Christ’s ascension helps us joyfully subject our hearts to His reign. Pride is quieted as we kneel in awe at this finale of His self-giving. His exaltation secures us so completely that we need none of our own. Contemplating Him as enthroned Lord and adoring Him as King of glory makes our hearts true. We needn’t – and indeed can’t – climb one single rung toward heaven on our own. He is our link, and by union with Him we can hope to be faithful subjects. We become His fullness by obeying Him, by living His mission and following HIs commands. Our confidence comes not from checking our own inventory, but because He is strong and mighty. Another lives in me, another lives in you, and He is the King of glory! 

  Prayer
  Our Father, we thank and praise You for giving Your Son, and for seating Him at Your right hand, in glory. We confess that all creation belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ, who reigns far above every claim of name or power. Holy God, forgive the prideful movements of our hearts — the wish to make a name for ourselves, to wield our own power. Give us grace to join our voices with the hosts of heaven who worship at your throne. 

  [1] Leanne Payne, Listening Prayer (Grand Rapids, Hamewith Books, 1994), 231.

  Painting:  Rembrandt, 1636, The Ascension, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

  Meditation prepared by Sarah Colyn, drawing on the writings and ministry of Leanne Payne.

• The Objective Reality of Beauty

  On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
  and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
  They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
  and I will declare your greatness.
  They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
  and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
  Psalm 145:5-7

  It is in loving God, other men, and all creatures for themselves that we begin to partake of their goodness and beauty. Looking at and loving that which is other than ourselves, we begin to “incarnate” it. This is vital to artistic growth, just as it is to spiritual and psychological growth. Alienation in the form of introspection, self-love, enclosure in the circle or sphere of subjectivity is not the way to know oneself; outer-directed interaction with the objectively real is. To know and love God is the beginning of all joy, and it can yield the gift of a divine self-forgetfulness which is the secret of great art. [1]

  

  Beauty is gratuitous, but it is also necessary. By it, God draws us out of ourselves and into His life. Beauty and goodness attract us, and we naturally move into the self-giving dynamic of love. From the simplest act of breathing to the greatest works of our hands, we’re made to participate in God’s creative purposes. Moment by moment, day by day, we become more of what we love, offering the beauty and goodness He is making in us to the display of His splendor.

  PRAYER

  Holy God, Creator God, our Father, we praise Your majesty and beauty. We thank You for disclosing Yourself in all that You make and do. We thank you for this awesome and astonishing world, and for coloring our lives with Your multi-splendored grace. Kindle love in our hearts, great Lover of our souls, that Your holy creativity might flow freely through us. Amen.

  [1] Leanne Payne, The Broken Image (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 1981), 92.
  Etching: Wenceslas Hollar, 1607-1677, Creation of the Firmament State 2 [public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
  Meditation prepared by Sarah Colyn, drawing on the writings and ministry of Leanne Payne.

• The Blessing of Self-Giving

  “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
  Acts 20:35b

  There is Another who lives in our midst, and He has the Spirit without measure. With Him are all the gifts and all the fruits of the Spirit. Because Jesus, the Gift, lives in and with us, the gifts and the fruit of His life are present and can radiate through us. Thus are we empowered to preach, teach, and heal. [1] 

  

  The Father gave His Son, Jesus gave Himself, and the Holy Spirit is given to us, so that we might participate in God’s life of self-giving. Jesus points us to the mystery of love in proclaiming that giving, even more than receiving, grants supreme well-being. He has poured out His life, and the cup never runs dry. It’s an intriguing invitation – become a self by donating yourself, find fullness of life by offering your life. Do we dare to step into that flow? 

  PRAYER

  Thank You, Jesus, for being our Gift. Thank You for imparting Your joy by enabling us to share Your life. Thank You for inviting us to add ourselves to Your offering. We say yes Lord and lift our hearts to You. Take us into Your mystery of inexhaustible outpouring – love Your world through us. 

  [1] Leanne Payne, The Healing Presence (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 1995), 215.
  Mosaic: Helen McLean & Alessandra Caprara, 2010, Christ in Glory, Church of the Transfiguration, Community of Jesus [photograph in public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
  Meditation prepared by Sarah Colyn, drawing on the writings and ministry of Leanne Payne.

• Power to Repent

  In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying,
  “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 
  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing,
  he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 
  Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 
  And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ 
  I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
   The ax is already at the root of the trees, 
  and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
  “I baptize you with water for repentance. 
  But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. 
  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 
  His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, 
  gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
  Matt 3:1-2, 7-8, 11-12 NIV

  

  John the Baptist really demolished that idea [that simply being a descendent of Abraham made a Jew safe in the life to come]: Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. The Spirit of Power would be given — the Spirit who when He enters a man creates and brings the order of God where there has been disorder and chaos. He brings truth, divine certainty, knowledge of what to repent from, the power to repent. [1]

  The warning words of John the Baptist confront careless and proud tendencies that would refuse the gift of a changed life. Repentance truly is a gift, and by it the Holy Spirit can accomplish purity in our hearts. In Lent we make an intentional effort to submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit’s creative inner work. We can trust God to shine a light where we need to change, and to marry His power to our weakness as we walk it out. 

  PRAYER
  Come, Holy Spirit, bring order to our chaos. Empower us to welcome Your stirrings; pierce our hearts, loose tears, and grant us grace to let them keep falling until our hearts are cleansed. We renounce resignation to disorder. Descend into us, Refiner’s Fire.

  Leanne Payne, The Healing Presence (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 1995), 239.
  Painting:  St. John the Forerunner, St. Paul the Apostle Orthodox Church, Dayton, Ohio [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
  Meditation prepared by Sarah Colyn, drawing on the writings and ministry of Leanne Payne.

• Repentance and Resurrection

  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was
  raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
  For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.
  So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
  Romans 6:4, 10-11

  

  In a city where I once lived, there was a quiet little chapel built to the side of the main sanctuary of a church. It had a wonderful crucifix over its altar, and above that an exquisite old stained-glass window depicting the risen Christ. I had learned to walk in the Spirit and knew the joy of the Lord. The ministry He entrusted me with, however, was growing rapidly. It was then that I learned to work into my life, as Agnes Sanford refers to it, a rhythm of repentance and resurrection. I was so busy serving the Lord and helping others that I usually had little or no conscious knowledge of sin and pride in my heart, but I learned to set aside a time to be very quiet, letting Him show me the repenting I needed to do, and the changes I needed to make in my life.

  At these times, I would go to this little chapel and there look up to the crucifix. Then when I knew what to repent of, I would in prayer take my stand in His cross and with Him die to it. Sometimes this would take awhile. Having died once again with Him to the old man or self, I would (before rising from my knees!) look up to the stained-glass depiction of Him as risen Savior and take my place in His rising, all the while exulting in my forgiveness and true identity in Him.

  I no longer have access to this wonderful little chapel, but this practice is firmly planted in my heart. All of us have access to Christ’s cross, and to build in such a rhythm of dying and rising with Christ is surely the way we stay spiritually and psychologically healthy. [1]

  Whether we’re busy serving and helping, or caught in the cares and snares of the world, we need God to search and know us. In Lent the Church calls us to linger in the chapel of the heart, quieting ourselves under our Lord’s merciful gaze. He knows the perils of our journey intimately, and longs to cleanse and restore. Let’s give Him the time it takes to do this work, for our good and His glory.

  Prayer

  Come, Holy Spirit. Help us walk in newness of life by showing us where we’ve gone astray. Strengthen us in these desert days that we might be still and welcome Your probing kindness. Lead us to repentance, merciful One. Reveal the subtle sins that our eyes can’t see. Give us grace to invite You in to the secret shame we hide from all others. Teach us this rhythm of dying and rising with You.

  [1] Leanne Payne, Restoring the Christian Soul Through Healing Prayer (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 1991), 63.

  Resurrected Christ stained glass by Ott Freres, in a church in Gimbrett, France.

• Beloved Lovers

  

  Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus. Matthew 1:18-25

  The God of the Old Testament, Yehovah and Elohim, the God who is faithful and true, who is all loving-kindness, came into our world in the Son — gave Himself for our salvation. This is why the cross is right at the center of our faith. He who is love, peace, truth, righteousness, faithfulness gives Himself for us and to us. He lives in us. This is glory, fullness of being. This is identity. [1]

  By His coming, Jesus restored us to the love that flows between Father and Son; He lives in us so that we might know we are beloved sons and daughters. As our hearts come alive, we discover that we’re not just needy objects of love, but also generative lovers who desire the good of others. Like Joseph, we have something real to give Him: ourselves.

  PRAYER

  Lord Jesus Christ, I thank You for how Your glory awakens my glory and Your fullness of being becomes mine. Your deep calls to my deep, and my heart rises in love. I give myself to You Lord. Have Your way in me. Burn away impurity, warm coldness, and love Your world through me.

  [1] Leanne Payne, The Broken Image (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 1981), 141.
  Painting: Guido Reni, 1640, Saint Joseph and the Christ Child [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
  Meditation prepared by Sarah Colyn, drawing on the writings and ministry of Leanne Payne.

• Joyful Relationship

  With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
  And you will say in that day:
  Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
  make known his deeds among the nations;
  proclaim that his name is exalted.
  Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously;
  let this be known in all the earth.
  Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion,
  for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
  Isaiah 12:3-6

  

  Satan and the evil spirits hate the Incarnation (and incarnational reality) because in it the God of the Old Testament, He Who is faithful and full of loving kindness, is made present to our world. In Jesus Christ the full revelation of God is made present to man. This, as John’s Gospel shows, is a revelation of light, and to know Jesus is to know the Father and to walk in light. To be in sin is to be in darkness, and to fail to believe in Jesus is to remain in one’s sins and in the kingdom of darkness. This believing is manifestly an experiential knowing, a relationship with a Person, as Luther says, closer to us than we are to ourselves. [1]

  Read more…

• Preparing Hearts

  Jesus said to them…
  “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows,
  not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
  Be on guard, keep awake.
  For you do not know when the time will come.
  And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”
  Mark 13:5a, 32-33, 37 ESV

  

  Knowing that Jesus is truly Emmanuel, God with us, and learning to practice His Presence is vital to being healed and remaining healed. This practice of the Presence is not a method, but a walk with a Person — and in this walk there is always healing. And there is also, as the Scriptures and our experience plainly shows, an ongoing dialog. Listening to God then is a vital part of the practice of the Presence. [1]

  Because Jesus is coming, we actively listen to His voice, alert to what is true and what really matters. He calls us, not to the draining vigilance of anxiety, but rather to the bright-eyed attentiveness that is natural in the presence of a great love. It is a privilege and joy that we have time today to prepare our hearts for His ultimate coming. There is nothing better we can do now than receive His healing word that continually makes us readier to live in His presence forever.

  PRAYER

  You, dear Lord, have loved me so well, from long before I knew Your Name. I want to listen to Your every word and follow Your every leading. Breathe Your Spirit within my spirit, and wake my soul to walk with You. Minister Your wholeness to my body and soul. Speak Lord, Your servant is listening.

  [1] Leanne Payne, The Broken Image (Westchester, Ill, Cornerstone Books, 1981), p. 54.
  Illustrated manuscript: Rossano Gospels, 6th century, The parable of the ten virgins [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
  Meditation prepared by Sarah Colyn, drawing on the writings and ministry of Leanne Payne.

  
  

• The Advent of Hope

  Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. 
  I John 3:2-3 NIV

  

  To have the hope of heaven restored to the soul is first of all to regain the great hope of Christ’s appearing and the mind-boggling promise that we shall be like Him. The power of hope is mysterious in all the ways it ministers life to us, but in this Scripture we see that this hope “purifies us” even now. [1]

  Meditating on Jesus’s birth also draws our attention to His second coming. We are going to see Jesus! We are going to be fully alive and whole! Perfect fulfilment with Him will never end! When we anticipate such glory, this world’s numbing, distracting, and corrupting counterfeits are put in their place. The intentionality of Advent makes purifying space for our hearts. We wait for Him actively, eager to begin now in the life that will be wholly ours when Christ appears. 

  PRAYER

  Holy God, we praise You for Your perfect ways. Your promises are beyond our comprehension, so we look to You and receive the supernatural gift of hope. We long for the day of your return; make this longing in us active and pure. Come, Lord Jesus.

  [1] Leanne Payne, Restoring the Christian Soul :  Overcoming Barriers to Completion through Healing Prayer (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 1996), p. 217
  Painting: Sandro Botticelli, 1500-1501, Mystic Nativity [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
  Meditation prepared by Sarah Colyn, drawing on the writings and ministry of Leanne Payne.

  
  

• Creation of Being

  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. Genesis 1:1-5

  

  God the Father, who has the Power of Being, heals and affirms us. By fiat He spoke the worlds into existence; by fiat He can and does create in us a new and solid sense of being. Through healing prayer, this process (God’s fiat) is greatly quickened. Healing prayer, rightly understood and ministered, is the most creative work in the world, for through it a way is made for God’s command to be uttered, and by it the soul is made ready to hear and receive it.[1]

  The God who said, “Let there be light” by divine command speaks to us, “Let there be being!” and creates in us a solid sense of being. As He created the earth out of nothing He creates being in us through healing prayer. He blesses and affirms our masculinity and femininity, and where there has been an empty void in our hearts caused by wounds and deprivations, He fills it with a sense of solidity. We cannot fail to have hope for our redemption in His image when we contemplate the immensity of God’s being. 

  PRAYER

  Holy God, we know that you alone have the power of being. You can create in us a new sense of being. Help us to remember your immensity of being and not our own failings and inadequacies. We open our hearts to You now and welcome the creation of our beings. Thank you for making us solid and secure, knit together by Your power of being.  

   [1] Leanne Payne, Healing Presence (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 1994), p. 54.
  

  Painting: Jan Bruegel the Younger, 1601-1678, God creating the Sun, the Moon and the Stars [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
  

  Meditation prepared by Mary Carrington, drawing on the writings and ministry of Leanne Payne.

  
  

• Living Water

  “The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the LORD will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs.” (Isaiah 41:17–18)

  

  It is good to end a book on listening prayer with a brief meditation on Christ, our Lord, as the free-flowing fountain of life. In waiting on Him we receive. We have heard Christ say to us, even as he spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well: 
  
  If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.… Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life (John 4:10, 13–14).
  
  The Apostle John, now with the benefit of hindsight, interprets His meaning in the light of Pentecost and the pouring out of the Spirit upon the faithful. Infinitely beyond what we can fathom or even begin to express, to live is to receive new life from Christ. We “live and move and have our being” in Him (Acts 17:28). We are empowered for the work of the kingdom. It is my hope that the life of prayer, as we have touched on in this book (Listening Prayer) will encourage many to ask for and receive a mighty baptism in Christ’s Spirit as well as many a subsequent infilling and renewing in the same Holy Spirit. [1]
  
  The hymn, Flow Oh Mighty Holy River paints a beautiful image of the fullness that we can receive from the living water of the Holy Spirit. Our Father longs to quench our thirst when we are weary and refreshes us with His waters of joy and His abundant blessing. He revives and encourages our heart, as we sit before Him in prayer, with His abundant grace. We are like flowers opening up to His gracious blessing, like mighty oaks drawing up the water of life through deep roots. Let us open our hearts so that we will be filled to overflowing with His living water.  Let us drink abundantly from the fountain of very life itself. 
  
  PRAYER

  Holy God, thank You for the beautiful gift of your Holy Spirit. We rejoice that you are continually renewing and refreshing us with the encouragement, strengthening, peace, and joy of Your Holy Spirit. We open our hearts to you to receive your abundant fullness not only for ourselves but also for the work of Your kingdom here on earth. 

   

  [1] Leanne Payne, Listening Prayer (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 1994), p. 235, 236.  

  Painting: © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro, 2016. Christ and the Samaritan Woman Mosiac in Sant’Apollinare Nuovo – Ravenna,  [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

  Meditation prepared by Mary Carrington, drawing on the writings and ministry of Leanne Payne.

• Hope Cares

  Dear Ones,

  I’ve been immersed recently in the topic of hope, and am convinced this supernatural virtue is particularly crucial for Christ-followers today. Hope carries us when the quickly-gathering darkness appears to be winning. Hope keeps our hearts anchored in Christ as we await the fullness of His kingdom. The heavenly orientation of hope sharpens our discernment, strengthens our courage, and steadies us to persevere. Because hope is so essential, it’s also under continual assault. The Enemy poses clever and relentless temptations to lure us away from hopeful living, and our prideful sin-nature has its own reasons for straying. I enjoy baking — or maybe it’s that I enjoy eating baked goods — and have cupcake papers in my kitchen from a brand called “If You Care.” This packaging makes me laugh out loud because it’s such a comical instance of the counterfeit of hope that pervades western culture. 

  

  This sneaky counterfeit of hope is what church tradition calls presumption:  the failure of humility that supposes we’ve arrived. Presumption wrongly assumes that there’s no need for the fear and trembling of working out our salvation. The moralistic tone of “If You Care” is marketing a clear conscience to any customer who buys their brand (and inferring guilt to any who don’t). So many movements today suggest that we humans, in our own strength and goodness, are in a position to right what is wrong in the world. Presumption forgets that God is on the move, setting things right in the only efficacious and wise way, and that His initiative will be fully consummated by Christ’s second coming. God invites us to join His mission, to point to and rejoice in and serve the coming of His kingdom. If you care, the best thing you can do is to seek to become a deeply devoted follower of Christ who lives every moment humbly walking in His Spirit. By remaining intently focused on His promises, and His will and power to fulfill them, we will enjoy the glorious privilege of playing some small part as He sets things right. By remaining intently focused on Him, we will be saved from the delusion that we’ve arrived at a place of personal goodness and wealth whereby our humanistic caring and social action can give us peace with God and our fellow man.

  The other enemy of hope this silly slogan echoes is despair, a sinister vice that traps us in a place of no-more-becoming. “If You Care” suggests it’s possible not to care. In reality, as long as we’re alive we do care, we do long for fullness of life for ourselves and the world around us. Despair isn’t able to extinguish the imperishable spark of desire, it just wars against it by pushing it down. Those who have convinced themselves they don’t care are fighting a miserable inner battle against the indestructible desire for fulfillment. Despair pretends it doesn’t care. But we who have a truly Christian anthropology know better. Our outlook is distinct from the moralistic, neighbor-judging hostility that dismisses those who haven’t joined our cause as not caring (and thus as having a less-than-human heart). It is our privilege to see as God sees, to know that the spark of life yet burns in every heart, that a bridgehead of good remains by which His grace can invade. When we have strayed into the swamp of despair (all too easy when life gets tough), we need the Body to help us hear Christ’s voice calling us back to hope. We need brothers and sisters to woo, prod, nurture and challenge us to take possession again of our desire for life. We must reach out to one another and say, “You do care, so let’s sojourn on together in the hope we have in Christ!”

  

  Yours in Him,

  Sarah Colyn

  Painting: James Tissot, 1886-1894, The Pilgrims of Emmaus on the Road [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

• A Personal Pentecost

  For it is in Christ that the complete being of the Godhead dwells embodied, 
  and in him you have been brought to completion. 
  Every power and authority in the universe is subject to him as Head.
  Colossians 2:9-10 NEB

  John the Baptist said to those repenting of their sin, “I baptize with water, but he [the Christ] will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit, and when He does, He imparts Himself to man. The Pentecostal Presence and power is vital in the healing of neuroses. It is the passing on of life to the soul lacking life, the passing on of being from the Source of all being to the one who has heretofore more nearly identified with non-being. The message of Pentecost is that God centers Himself in His people; we are a people of the Presence. Every soul coming out of the world’s lifestyle needs to pray for a personal Pentecost — and receive it. He is then centered in God, and God is centered in him. He can then hear God while standing and walking with Him in the vertical position. [1]

  

  Those who witnessed the wonder of Pentecost as told in Acts 2 were amazed by the presence and work of the Holy Spirit. Believers are no less amazed today as we see Him work wonders through the miraculous healing of souls. He fills in deficits and straightens out distortions that no merely humanistic method of healing can reach. The personality immersed in anxiety becomes familiar with peace. The grasping, desperate heart is granted a solid, secure center. Dignity grows as we who had been trapped in fruitless immaturity grow nearer to our full stature in Christ. We can celebrate Pentecost not just as a moment in the history of the Church, but as a movement flowing through our lives. Alleluia!

  PRAYER

  Lord Jesus we thank you for this very personal, very real baptism of Your Spirit. Give us grace to fully and eagerly receive You. Thank You for centering us in You, and for centering Yourself in us. Grant solidity and fullness of being to each of us, that we, Your people, might stand up straight and hear You well. Come, Holy Sprit, come!

  [1] Leanne Payne, The Healing Presence (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 1995), 63.
  Painting: Juan Bautista Maíno, 1615-1620, Pentecost [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
  Meditation prepared by Sarah Colyn, drawing on the writings and ministry of Leanne Payne.

• Standing in the Cross

  I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
  
  The sufferer needs to understand that if he will stand in the Cross and hurt, there is a place [for the pain to go], an end to the pain. I explained [to Patsy] how it is one stands and hurts. “See the Cross… see yourself standing and hurting, acknowledging all these feelings, but this time let Christ take them into Himself. Let them flow into Him, just as you would sins you have confessed.” Just as we take our place in Christ’s dying, dying again with Him to our own sins, so we die to those diseased feelings, by allowing Him to take them into Himself. And we learn to wait still suffering if necessary, until relief and healing come. But we do it from our true center, not from an immature or false one.   [1]

  

  Many are suffering losses as we walk in the Covid wilderness, the loss of good Christian fellowship, the loss of celebratory gatherings, and the loss of meeting with family and dear friends. In many, isolation may trigger long-forgotten childhood feelings of abandonment and rejection. Leanne asks us to look up and gaze at Christ in the Cross in the midst of our suffering. Let Him take the pain into His body on the Cross, and let us exchange the pain for His Heavenly glory that will fill our souls with His resurrection presence.
  
  PRAYER

  Gracious Lord, You know the pain of being abandoned by Your own Father on the Cross. You know our suffering and pain as we walk in the Covid wilderness. Let us live from our true center and enable us to look with courage to the Cross and to let our pain, our diseased feelings, flow into that Cross that bears all things, even those trials that are too great for us to bear. Help us to exchange our pain for Your wonderful life.
  

  
  

  [1] Leanne Payne, The Healing Presence (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 1995), p. 205. 
  
  Fresco: Giovanni Battista della Marca, 16^th Century, The fresco of Crucifixion in church Chiesa di Santa Maria ai Monti [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
  
  Meditation prepared by Mary Carrington, drawing on the writings and ministry of Leanne Payne.
  
  For further reading, please visit Pandemic Imagery & Symbol: A Testimony

• The Incarnation in You

  
  “For to you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a Baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
  Luke 2:11-12

  God’s love for us is so great that as we wait in His presence, praising Him who is perfect love, He descends anew to and into us, drawing us into Himself. We become incarnate of His love, wisdom, and righteousness. We thereby always have love to give back to Him. In “looking, longing, loving, we become like the One we vision.”[1] This is a built-in incarnational principle. C. S. Lewis puts it this way:

  

  In the Christian story God descends to reascend. He comes down; down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down…to the very roots and sea-bed of the Nature he has created. But He goes down to come up again and bring the whole ruined world up with Him.[2]

  In praise, as in all true prayer and worship, we clothe ourselves anew with the Lord. There is a fresh mantle of His presence. We take on God’s character and take in Christ’s mind. That is, we “put on the New Man” and as a happy corollary we die anew and increasingly to the “Old Man,” which is the old self-in-sinful isolation. In such a union, praise is as natural as breathing.[3]

  The great miracle and hope of the incarnation never fails to amaze us as we gaze at the Christ child in His manger every Christmas. Christ living in us reflects Himself in us today. In “looking, longing, and loving” we become like Christ. Simon, the impulsive, becomes Peter the Rock and Mary Magdalene turns from her sin becoming an ardent follower of Christ. The old-self dies and God’s glory shines though us as we embrace the miracle of the incarnation. As Irenaeus wrote in Against Heresies, “the glory of God is a living man.”
  
  PRAYER

  Holy God, we open our hearts to You this Christmas as we gaze at You in the manger. We are in awe at the miracle of Your incarnation and we long to reflect Your incarnate glory. Awaken in us a great desire to be transformed into Your image and likeness. Quiet our hearts so that we can “become incarnate of Your love, wisdom, and righteousness.” Help us bring Christ and His radiant Heaven-scented presence into Your world this Christmas.
  
  
  [1] John Gaynor Banks, The Master and the Disciple (St. Paul, Macalaster Park Publishing, 1954), 22. 
  [2] C.S. Lewis, Miracles, (London: Collins, 1963), 115
  [3] Leanne Payne, Listening Prayer,  (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 1995),  38.
  Painting:  Lorenzo Monaco, 1406-1410, The Nativity, [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
  Meditation prepared by Mary Carrington, drawing on the writings and ministry of Leanne Payne.

• Persistence in the Presence

  We fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen.
  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
  2 Corinthians 4:18

  

  To acknowledge the Unseen Real requires a concerted effort of the will at first. We might think of it as actually practicing the Presence. The practice of the Presence then, is simply the discipline of calling to mind the truth that God is with us….Brother Lawrence, writing to a friend who is in great pain and suffering, tells her what it means to see the “sovereign Physician who is the healer of both body and soul,” with the eyes of the heart: [1]

  I can feel that which faith teaches; I can sense what faith sees. This, of course works great assurance in me….So continue always with God. To be with Him is really your only support and your only comfort during affliction. [2]

  Practicing the presence requires discipline but it gives us great assurance that God is with us and within us. We often do not remember, especially when we suffer, to acknowledge the Unseen and practice His Presence. We are often tempted by digital distractions or other hindrances instead of practicing His Presence. When we practice His Presence, He comes quickly to help us, encourage us, strengthen us and comfort us. In our time of affliction let us persist in practicing His Presence.

  PRAYER

  Gracious Lord, forgive us for not acknowledging the Unseen and practicing Your Presence. Enlarge our hearts so that we may enter into Your Unseen and Ultimate Reality and Your  Heavenly kingdom. Nudge us gently back into Your Presence when we stray or are tempted by digital distractions and other hindrances. Like a good shepherd, lead us beside the still waters to refresh, encourage, and strengthen us in Your Presence. Thank you for the assurance that You are our Father and You are always with us.

  
  [1] Leanne Payne, The Healing Presence (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 1995), p. 25, 26, 31.
  [2] Practicing His Presence: Frank Laubach, Brother Lawrence, Library of Spiritual Classics , vol. 1(Portland, ME: Christian Books, 1981), p. 6, 7.
  Painting/Stained glass: Alfred Handel, d. 1946, photo:Toby Hudson  St John the Baptist’s Anglican Church, Ashfield, New South Wales The Good Shepherd [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
  Meditation prepared by Mary Carrington, drawing on the writings and ministry of Leanne Payne.

• With Us In Suffering

  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
  and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
  when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
  Isaiah 43:2

  God’s children are sometimes the most bitterly tried. For them the fires are heated seven times; they suffer, not only at the hand of man, but the heavens seem as brass to their cries and tears. The enemy of souls has reason to challenge them with the taunt, “Where is now your God?” You and I have perhaps been in this plight. We have said, “Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies?” [1]

  The matter of suffering is seldom dealt with today in such a way as to help us either understand or undergo it. Some of the popular drivel we hear seems almost to deny that the Christian does suffer….This is one more example of the modern’s estrangement from his own soul. [2]

  The Christian does suffer, but we can lean into the heart of a loving, compassionate, and merciful God, walking through suffering with Him. Many of us are currently suffering from anxiety and fear and other negative emotions as we experience suffering from the Covid crisis but we can trust that God will help us. When we suffer, the enemy of our souls taunts us with the thought that God has forsaken us but this is far from the truth. We may think that God has forgotten to help us, but our loving, gracious God always holds us in His attention and care.

  PRAYER

  Lord, we acknowledge the reality of suffering. Remind us of Your love and comfort when we endure suffering. Reassure us that You are with us and walk through the fires with us. Let us fervently believe that You will never leave us or forsake us even in the greatest suffering we endure. Thank You that we are always held by Your gracious and loving arms and that we need not fear.

  [1] F.B. Meyer, Our Daily Walk (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1982, March 21.
  [2] Leanne Payne, The Healing Presence (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 1995), p. 207.
  Painting: Simeon Solomon, 1863, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

  Meditation prepared by Mary Carrington, drawing on the writings and ministry of Leanne Payne.

• Those Unoffended by Suffering

  Blessed is the one who is not offended in me.  (Matthew 11:6)
  
  Whether or not the suffering is remedial or that produced through the redemptive activity of carrying the cross, we need to understand that “blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me” (Matt. 11:6 KJV ). F. B. Meyer refers to this as “the beatitude of the unoffended, of those who do not stumble over the mystery of God’s dealings with their lives.”[1] It is the blessedness of those who, though they do not understand the trial, yet “rest in what they know of His heart.”
  We are tempted to stumble. . . . But it is then that we have the chance of inheriting this new beatitude. If we refuse to bend under the mighty hand of God—questioning, chafing, murmuring at His appointments—we miss the door which would admit us into rich and unalloyed happiness... [2]

  Christians suffer and often we don’t understand why we suffer. If we do not yet understand why we suffer, we can still rest in God’s great love towards us.  As we undergo suffering and patiently walk through our suffering, God blesses us with His abundant grace and comfort. Let us choose to “not be offended” by suffering. As Jesus entrusted Himself to His Father we can entrust ourselves to our Heavenly Father and “rest in what we know of His heart.” As we are still before the Lord and quiet our souls before Him, His comfort, blessing, and peace will come even in the greatest of tragedies.

  PRAYER

  Gracious Lord, forgive us for murmuring  as we endure suffering. Help us to be still and quiet our souls before You. Let not suffering and sorrow harden our hearts but let us chose to open our hearts to You so that we will be filled with Your tender healing and comfort. Help us by Your grace to enter into the blessedness in our sufferings. May we not forget that Christ, the Hope of Glory, lives within us to strengthen and encourage us.

  
  [1] F.B. Meyer, Our Daily Walk (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1982, March 21.

  [2] Leanne Payne, The Healing Presence (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 1995), p. 207.
  Painting: Carl Heinrich Bloch, 1873, Kristus i Getsemane, An angel comforting Jesus before his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

  Meditation prepared by Mary Carrington, drawing on the writings and ministry of Leanne Payne.

   

• The Good of Fellowship

  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.  2 Cor 13:14 

  To speak of the true self, of personality at all—that is of man as fully human—is to speak of man’s fellowship with God and with others. Even before the Fall, with its catastrophic disruption of all relationships, God said: It is not good for the man to be alone . .” (Gen. 2:18). The poet Milton, commenting on this word, said: “Loneliness is the first thing which God’s eye nam’d not good.” We know ourselves only in relation to God and others. [1]

  The effects of the fall threaten to push us away from God and from one another, but God’s grace, love, and fellowship are stronger. In these days of pandemic-prompted distance and societal strife, we need to drink deeply from the fountains of His grace. He has not left us alone or lonely, and there is no disease or difficulty that can separate us from His love. Let us reach out to Him and to one another and engage in the spiritual fellowship that is ever-present and ever-good. 

  PRAYER

  Gracious Father, we thank You for the immensity of Your love that holds us all. Lord Jesus, we thank you for Your grace that brings us into fullness of life. Holy Spirit, we thank You for the very real fellowship by which You knit us together. Brighten our spiritual eyes and energize our hearts that we might live this day in our full humanity, in relationship with You and with one another.

   

  [1] Leanne Payne, The Healing Presence (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 1995), 58.
  Stained glass: Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1660, Dove of the Holy Spirit, St. Peter’s Basilica [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
  Meditation prepared by Sarah Colyn, drawing on the writings and ministry of Leanne Payne.