1-Minute Meditation: Change

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Joy

Today, this week, this month, I am focusing on change. Acting now and not waiting around for someone else to do things that are right in front of me. You can too. All it takes is a step forward. There are seven days in a week and someday isn’t one of them. It’s time to act, to speak up, to move. It’s time for change.
Need More than a Minute?:
1-Minute Meditation: Faith
1-Minute Meditation: Everything
1-Minute Meditation: Choice
1-Minute Meditation: Jesus
1-Minute Meditation: Affirmation
1-Minute Meditation: Fear
1-Minute Meditation: Awareness
1-Minute Meditation: Merton Prayer
1-Minute Meditation:
1-Minute Meditation:

Prayer for Discernment

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Joy

Download the pdf version here Prayer

“You do not need to know precisely what is happening,
or exactly where it is all going.
What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges
offered by the present moment, and to embrace them
with courage, faith and hope.”
~ Thomas Merton ~

Need more than a minute?
1-Minute Meditation: Everything
1-Minute Meditation: Choice
1-Minute Meditation: Jesus
1-Minute Meditation: Affirmation
1-Minute Meditation: Fear
1-Minute Meditation: Awareness
1-Minute Meditation: Merton Prayer
1-Minute Meditation:
1-Minute Meditation:

1-Minute Meditation: Everything

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Joy

The day before me feels like a battle…as if war is being waged and I am not well suited to fight. Because of Christ, I no longer engage anyone or anything in senseless argument or folly. I will cry out to the One who knows me from the inside. I will ask Him to guide my thinking and center it solely on His grace, His goodness and His unfailing love. I will ask Him for gentle reminders of His faithfulness throughout this day. I will ask Him to protect the ones I love and guard their hearts against the fiery darts that others throw. I will envision the army of truth at my side, before me and behind me, entering the battlefield with all of heaven. I ask so little when He is capable of so much. And today…the only thing that will sustain me…is all of heaven.

“Everything”
by Lifehouse

Find me here, speak to me
I want to feel You, I need to hear You
You are the light that’s leading me
To the place where I find peace again

You are the strength that keeps me walking
You are the hope that keeps me trusting
You are the light to my soul
You are my purpose, You’re everything

How can I stand here with You and not be moved by You?
Would You tell me, how could it be any better than this?

You calm the storms, and You give me rest
You hold me in Your hands, You won’t let me fall
You steal my heart, and You take my breath away
Would You take me in, take me deeper now

How can I stand here with You and not be moved by You?
Would You tell me, how could it be any better than this?
And how can I stand here with You and not be moved by You?
Would You tell me, how could it be any better than this?

‘Cause You’re all I want, You’re all I need
You’re everything, everything
You’re all I want, You’re all I need
You’re everything, everything

You’re all I want, You’re all I need
You’re everything, everything
You’re all I want, You’re all I need
You’re everything, everything

And how can I stand here with You and not be moved by You?
Would You tell me, how could it be any better than this?
How can I stand here with You and not be moved by You?
Would You tell me, how could it be any better than this?

How can I stand here with You and not be moved by You?
Would You tell me, how could it be any better than this?
Would You tell me, how could it be any better than this?

Lyrics copied from MetroLyrics.com

1-Minute Meditation: Choice

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Joy

IT’S QUIET.
It’s early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The world is still asleep.
The day is coming.
In a few moments the day will arrive.
It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun.
The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day.
The calm of solitude will be replaced by the pounding pace of the human race.
The refuge of the early morning will be invaded by decisions
to be made and deadlines to be met.
For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day’s demands.
It is now that I must make a choice.
Because of Calvary, I’m free to choose. And so I choose.

I choose love . . .
No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness.
I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.

I choose joy . . .
I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance.
I will refuse the temptation to be cynical . . . the tool of the lazy thinker.
I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God.
I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than
an opportunity to see God.

I choose peace . . .
I will live forgiven.
I will forgive so that I may live.

I choose patience . . .
I will overlook the inconveniences of the world.
Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I’ll invite him to do so.
Rather than complain that the wait is too long,
I will thank God for a moment to pray.
Instead of clinching my fist at new assignments,
I will face them with joy and courage.

I choose kindness . . .
I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone.
Kind to the rich, for they are afraid.
And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.

I choose goodness . . .
I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one.
I will be overlooked before I will boast.
I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.

I choose faithfulness . . .
Today I will keep my promises.
My debtors will not regret their trust.
My associates will not question my word.
My wife [husband] will not question my love.
And my children will never fear that
their father [mother] will not come home.

I choose gentleness . . .
Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle.
If I raise my voice may it be only in praise.
If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer.
If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.

I choose self-control . . .
I am a spiritual being. After this body is dead, my spirit will soar.
I refuse to let what will rot, rule the eternal. I choose self-control.
I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith.
I will be influenced only by God.
I will be taught only by Christ.
I choose self-control.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
To these I commit my day.
If I succeed, I will give thanks.
If I fail, I will seek his grace.
And then, when this day is done,
I will place my head on my pillow and rest.

For the pdf version click here

More Meditations:
1-Minute Meditation: Jesus
1-Minute Meditation: Affirmation
1-Minute Meditation: Fear
1-Minute Meditation: Awareness
1-Minute Meditation: Merton Prayer
1-Minute Meditation: Focus
1-Minute Meditation: Peace

1-Minute Meditation: Jesus

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Joy

I sing the words of this song to my boys every night at bedtime. It’s simple, having only four lines, but the words are powerful and have the ability to guide the course of my day, week, month, year and life.

May I encourage you as you read this to center on every word,
marinating in the beauty of this truth. Hide it away in your heart and
take it out during the course of your week when you are in need of direction.
I promise you this, it will leave you better than when you came.

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
look full in His wonderful face
and the things of earth will grow strangely dim
in the light of His glory and grace.”

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;
who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12:2