Message of 2-18-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)


Message of the Day

". . . whilst you shut yourself up in patience, meekness, humility, and resignation to God, you are in the very arms of Christ, your whole heart is His dwelling-place, and He lives and works in you as certainly as He lived in, and governed that body and soul, which He took from the Virgin Mary."
  - William Law (1686-1761), The Spirit of Love [1752-4]

(We [you] are the body of Christ. Let Him live and work in you this day.)

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Lenten Study Series

Topic: God and I: Exploring the connections between God, Self and Ego (spiritual theology)
Learning Process: 9 written conferences; private discussion forum for participants; video conferences.
See http://shalomplace.com/inetmin/GodandI for more information and registration options.

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Message of 2-17-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
 - resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

Message of the Day

One way to recollect the mind easily in the time of prayer, and preserve it more in tranquility, is not to let it wander too far at other times. You should keep it strictly in the Presence of God; and, being accustomed to think of Him often, you will find it easy to keep your mind calm in the time of prayer, or at least to recall it from its wanderings.
 - Brother Lawrence (c.1605-1691), The Practice of the Presence of God.

(Taking responsibility for the thoughts we give consent to is one of the most difficult practices, and most essential.)

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Weekend Edition - A Daily Spiritual Seed

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)


Contents:
- Book/Resource of the Week
- Weekend Readings
- Spiritual Guidance
- Saint of the Week
- Affiliate Web Sites
- Theology Note of the Week
- Discussion Board
- Joke of the Week
- Advertising and Archives
- Subscribe/Unsubscribe links. Attributions.

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Book/Resource of the Week

A  Travel Guide to Heaven, by Anthony DeStefano. Doubleday, 2006.
  - http://www.amazon.com/dp/0385509898/?tag=christianspiritu

This is about all you ever wanted to know about that place of beauty, excitement, challenges, fun, and pure delight, namely HEAVEN.  The author provides Scripture quotations to substantiate his thoughts about celebrating all the way to Heaven and thereafter. He contends that heaven is more than fluttering angel wings, harps, and haloes. DeStefano draws on a great sense of logic, fun, and adventure to produce this book of hope and promise.

You may not believe every word that DeStefano writes but you will draw inspiration from the journey he describes.  In his flight plan he offers a welcome and describes the luxury accommodations suited for one’s new body.  He tells about the fellow travelers who will be one’s next door neighbors in the great beyond. The author bids his readers reflect on the “eterni-ness “ of everyones’s stay.

Message of 2-14-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)


Message of the Day

Throughout the world, in nation after nation, men and women have died for their Christian faith. The very least we can do is live for our faith.
- Anonymous

(How might you live your faith more fully this day?)

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Message of 2-13-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

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Message of the Day

Prayer is not a matter of getting what we want the most. Prayer is a matter of giving ourselves to God and learning His laws, so that He can do through us what He wants the most.
- Agnes Sanford

(Pray the grace to be an instrument of God's love this day.)

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Message of 2-12-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)

Message of the Day

Our problem is that we assume prayer is something to master the way we master algebra or auto mechanics. That puts us in the "on-top" position, where we are competent and in control. But when praying, we come "underneath," where we calmly and deliberately surrender control and become incompetent... The truth of the matter is, we all come to prayer with a tangled mass of motives altruistic and selfish, merciful and hateful, loving and bitter. Frankly, this side of eternity we will never unravel the good from the bad, the pure from the impure. God is big enough to receive us with all our mixture. That is what grace means, and not only are we saved by it, we live by it as well. And we pray by it.
- Richard J. Foster

(Pray as you pray.)

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Message of 2-11-14

A Daily Spiritual Seed
- resources for prayer and spiritual growth
- blogcast from http://dailyspiritualseed.blogspot.com (comments option open)


Message of the Day

When God works in us, the will, being changed and sweetly breathed upon by the Spirit of God, desire and acts, not from compulsion, but responsively.
- Martin Luther

(". . . for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Phil. 2:13)

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