Reset!
2 Timothy 2:22 ESV
22 So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
Your present pursuits (Goals) and intentional omissions (Growth) and constant companions (Group) tethered to (Grace) frame your Future.
What are you running towards?
What are you fleeing from?
Who are you living with?
John 4:23-24 ESV
23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV
24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Ephesians 4:11-13 ESV
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
Matthew 26:26-29 ESV
26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
Henri Nouwen
I have found it helpful to use four words: taken, blessed, broken and given.These words summarize my life as a believer because, when I come together around the table with members of my community, I take bread, bless it, break it and give it. These words summarize my life as Christian because, as a Christian,I am called to become bread for the world: bread that is taken, blessed, broken and given. Most importantly, however, they summarize my life as a human being because in every moment of my life somewhere, somehow the taking, the blessing, the brokenness and the giving are happening. I must tell you at this point that these four words have become the most important words of my life.” The Life of the Beloved p41-42
TAKEN
Henri Nouwen
“From all eternity, long before you were born and became part of history, you existed in God’s heart. Long before your parents admired you or your friends acknowledged your gifts or our teachers, colleagues and employers encouraged you, you were already “chosen”. The eyes of love had seen you as precious, as of infinite beauty, as of eternal value.” “The Life of the Beloved” p.45
Luke 22:19 ESV
19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
BLESSED
Henri Nouwen
“Many people, and we too at times, feel like victims of a world we cannot change… We hear an inner voice calling us evil, bad, rotten, worthless, useless, doomed to sickness and death… Still I say to you, as the beloved son [or daughter] of God, you are blessed.”
“The Life of the Beloved” p.61
Luke 22:19 ESV
19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
TAKEN
BLESSED
BROKEN
2 Corinthians 4:7, 10 ESV
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.
10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.
GIVEN
Henri Nouwen
“It is only as people who are given that we can fully understand our being chosen, blessed and broken. In the giving it becomes clear that we are chosen, blessed and broken not simply for our own sakes, but so all that we live finds its final significance in its being lived for others.”
“The Life of the Beloved” page 84