Pathways Press.com

MEDITATION:

Written by Jonathan R. Bailey, a contemporary writer and technology entrepreneur serving in the area of Christian Spiritual Formation. This is an excerpt from his book “The Eternal Journey.”

If you’re like me, your experience with obedience is more exhausting than exhilarating. But when we walk into the Unitive way, everything begins to change. We find that we not only want to obey God, but we are able to obey God. We don’t just agree that his will is our highest good, but we act like it. We rejoice to find that obedience is not the resignation of our will, but the faithful exercise of it. Every thought, every word, every deed ends in perfect fulfillment. John Henry Newman called this the perfect Christian state, the place where our “duty and our pleasure are the same, when what is right and true is natural to us.” A tree naturally obeys God by growing solid and strong, a dolphin naturally obeys God by slicing in and out of ocean water, and we will naturally obey God too – by making His divine goodness visible, by fleshing out what it means to be a real human being, designed in His image and developing His likeness.

PRAYER:

Written by Megan Bailey, a contemporary author and content producer.

 Father, I believe. Help me in my unbelief and doubt. I not only desire but desperately need the blessings that accompany the faithful of heart, those who trust in Your promises without doubting, sons and daughters who know who they are because they know to whom they belong. I am thankful that I belong to You. I know You walk by me and hold Your promises true. Keep my mind away from hesitation and embrace Your promises fully. I know that with You, anything can happen. Amen.