Lisa notes

X – Spiritual X-rays {26 Surprising Ways to Encounter God, A-Z}

By LisaNotes October 28, 2016 26 Surprising Ways to Encounter God 12 Comments

“There is no place in my soul, no corner of my character, where God is not.”
– Evelyn Underhill

x-ray

Photo credit: Aidan Jones via Foter.com

X—X-ray

Likely you’ve had several x-rays in your life.  Maybe at the dentist office. Or for a weekend warrior injury. Or compliments of TSA when you’re going through security at the airport.

But what about a spiritual x-ray?

If the purpose of an x-ray is for doctors to see inside us without having to cut, isn’t this exactly what God does, too?

When Samuel was looking for Israel’s next king, the Lord told him that he looks on the inside, not the outside.

“But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7

God does the same with us.

He sees us from the inside out, without having to cut us from the outside in.

Try This

Think of the last x-ray you or someone in your family has had done. What was revealed? How did the information prove helpful later?

Now pray about how God sees you, a spiritual x-ray. What is he seeing?

  • Any broken places that need to be set?
  • Any weapons you’re smuggling that need to be discarded?
  • Any cancerous spots previously undetected that need to be treated?

Be open to thoughts that God is exposing. Quicker healing could depend on it.

Learn More

* * *

When has a physical x-ray been helpful to you? What about a spiritual x-ray? Please share in the comments.

Coming up tomorrow:

  • Y—You
    Who is the “you” in front of you today? That’s where you’re supposed to see God.

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W – Welcome It All? {26 Surprising Ways to Encounter God, A-Z}

By LisaNotes October 27, 2016 26 Surprising Ways to Encounter God 12 Comments

“This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.”
– Rumi

welcome mat

W—Welcome

Something good happens.

  • We welcome it.
  • We thank God.
  • We’re happy.

Something bad happens.

  • We try to make it go away.
  • We beg God to remove it.
  • We’re bothered by it.

But what if, regardless of what happens, we welcome God into it?

If it’s good, that’s easy. If it’s bad, while still working and praying to eliminate it, can we invite God to help us accept it? Just for the moment. As an opportunity to partner together. Just for what it is, subject to change.

I’ve been working on this all year. My One Word for 2016 is Welcome.

Welcome-OneWord2016-LisaNotes

I’ve sliced it up twelve ways, taking one month to intentionally accept something different as encounters with God, things I wouldn’t ordinary welcome into my life.

It’s not been easy. But it’s been good.

Try This

What’s happening in your life, your family, your body, your work in this season? Is it easy or hard to welcome? See if any of these ways hits home to help you better accept it.

Here are the Welcome topics by month.

Learn More

* * *

What are you working to accept, or welcome, in this season of your life? Is it hard or easy? Please share in the comments.

Coming up tomorrow:

  • X – X-ray
    Have you had a spiritual x-ray?

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V – Valuables and God {26 Surprising Ways to Encounter God, A-Z}

By LisaNotes October 26, 2016 26 Surprising Ways to Encounter God 12 Comments

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
– Jesus (Matthew 6:21)

valuables-treasure-money-pink-coins

V—Valuables

What do you most want to protect? What’s the first thing you’d grab in case of a fire or a flood?

Where is God in those things?

When I’ve cleaned out homes after a flood or a tornado, my heart hurts to see a family’s treasures in tatters (or missing altogether). Family Bibles soaked beyond repair; special dishes in pieces; wet pictures in cracked frames.

It makes me think about my own valuables. I’d hate to lose photos, letters, personal gifts.

But why? Because those items represent people. They are ones I love, who God has gifted into my life.

The ‘what’ matters because of the ‘who.’

Try This

Think about your own valuables. Look around the room you’re in. If you had 30 minutes to leave your home forever, what would you grab first?

Then consider the ‘who’ behind each item.

Can you see God’s provision of a person associated with your valuables? Spend a few minutes thanking him for the valuables in your life. Then share that gratitude, if possible, with those who are most valuable to you.

Learn More

evacuation-video

* * *

What 3 things would you grab (other than people and pets!) if your house was on fire (and you safely had time)? I’d get my external hard drive with all my photos, my shadow box with Kali’s hair, and my laptop or phone (it’s a tossup). Please share in the comments.

Coming up tomorrow:

  • W – Welcome
    Can we welcome God in everything?

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Five Books I Recommend – October 2016

By LisaNotes October 25, 2016 Books I Recommend 30 Comments

Once a month I give book recommendations from what I’ve read. From October’s nightstand, I recommend these two non-fiction and and three fiction books to you.

five-books-i-recommend-october-2016-lisanotes

Nonfiction

1. The Road Back to You
An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery
by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile

the-road-back-to-you

If you want an introduction to the Enneagram, a personality typing system, this is an enjoyable and informative book to read. My full review and why I liked it is here.

“Every number on the Enneagram teaches us something about the nature and character of the God who made us. Inside each number is a hidden gift that reveals something about God’s heart.”

2. The Road to Character
by David Brooks

the-road-to-character

I first came to enjoy David Brooks as a political analyst during this election. He writes for the New York Times. But now that I’ve read his book, I appreciate him even more for his gentle spirit in holding up high values and moral character. Each chapter in this book is the life story of a well-known leader and thinker from throughout the centuries.

“We sometimes think of saints, or of people who are living like saints, as being ethereal, living in a higher spiritual realm. But often enough they live in an even less ethereal way than the rest of us. They are more fully of this earth, more fully engaged in the dirty, practical problems of the people around them. Day and her colleagues slept in cold rooms.”

Fiction

3. The Underground Railroad
by Colson Whitehead

the-underground-railroad

Excellent novel. This is the powerful story of Cora, a slave on a Georgia plantation, in the 1800s. When she receives an opportunity to escape, she leaves on a literal underground railroad, a system of tracks and tunnels beneath the ground. The story chronicles the ups and downs of how she goes and where she ends up. Excellent both in plot and in perspective and in writing.

“Their fear called after them even if no one else did. They had six hours until their disappearance was discovered and another one or two before the posses reached where they were now. But fear was already in pursuit, as it had been every day on the plantation, and it matched their pace.”

4. The One-in-a-Million Boy
by Monica Wood

the-one-in-a-million-boy

Another excellent novel. This is the moving story of 104-year-old Ona and her friendship with a special 11-year-old Boy Scout, even though he dies on the third page of the book. The novel travels nicely back and forth through time as you piece the whole puzzle together. It’s a heart-wrenching story.

“You know, one meets so many people, the years pass and pass, but there are certain times, certain people— . . . They take up room. So much room.”

5. Everyone Brave Is Forgiven
by Chris Cleave

everyone-brave-is-forgiven

This novel is a beautifully-told story of World War 2 from the British side. It chronicles the journeys of the young socialite Mary in London, a black American student Zachary that she befriends, and Alastair, an art curator who enlists in the British army.

“And yet this is when he must write: no, in the lull between attacks when his letter would go straight out on the next available airplane. War made one do everything when one wasn’t at all ready. Dying yes, but also living.”

Reading Now

  • Underground Airlines
    by Ben H. Winters
  • Pursuing Health in an Anxious Age
    by Bob Cutillo
  • Stumbling on Happiness
    by Daniel Todd Gilbert
  • Search Inside Yourself
    by Chade-Meng Tan
  • The Great Spiritual Migration
    by Brian McLaren

* * *

What are you reading this month? Please share here.

Whats-on-Your-Nightstand-at-_5-minut

My books on Goodreads
Previous reading lists

U – Underground with God {26 Surprising Ways to Encounter God, A-Z}

By LisaNotes October 25, 2016 26 Surprising Ways to Encounter God 8 Comments

“If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time.
But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”
– Lilla Watson

underground

U—Underground

Sometimes we have to go underneath things to get grounded.

Think of the Underground Railroad. While not really underground nor a real railroad, it was an undercover system in America in the 1800s to rescue enslaved blacks in the south. Using safe people, safe routes, and safe houses, the Underground Railroad led slaves to freedom.

While we do still have people enslaved all around the world today that need physical rescues, we can also make us of Underground Railroads (of sorts) to help rescue others from spiritual slavery as well.

Perhaps you’ve felt confined in a religious tradition or trapped in an unhealthy lifestyle. Then God sets you up to meet someone in a separate context who talks of a different way. Or God sends you a book to read. You pray to him. You watch for his next signpost. You follow the safe path (possibly risky, too) to escape from shackles to freedom through God’s grace.

If God has already rescued you, you’re primed to help others find the path.

This network of guidance matters.

Sometimes we have to go against a comfortable culture to save a life.

I recently finished reading Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad (I highly recommend it). It’s a fictionalized version of American in the 1800s using a literal underground railroad to free slaves.

It was a good reminder that as long as anyone is enslaved, we all are.

“Looking down over the universe of the park, she saw the town drift where it wanted, washed by sunlight on a stone bench, cooled in the shadows of the hanging tree. But they were prisoners like she was, shackled to fear.”

Try This

Where do you feel confined? Ask God to meet you in this stronghold. Ask him to show you the path to freedom. Watch for the people and the ways he’s giving you personal direction into previously unnoticed openings and passages.

Then think of areas you’ve already been rescued from. Do you know anyone left behind that could use a friendly word? Can you give guidance and encouragement to help someone else find the light that you’re living in?

Learn More

* * *

Who has God used to show you the path to freedom? When has he used you to show others? Please share in the comments.

Coming up tomorrow:

  • V – Valuables
    What do you most want to protect?

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T – Tangles and God {26 Surprising Ways to Encounter God, A-Z}

By LisaNotes October 24, 2016 26 Surprising Ways to Encounter God 16 Comments

“It is not the outer objects that entangle us. It is the inner clinging that entangles us.”
– Tilopa

tangle-fish

T—Tangles

When my daughters were young, I didn’t like combing out their tangles. They had thick hair. Tugging at the tangles hurt them. It hurt me. (We used No More Tears for years to make it easier . . . and lots of braids.)

Life sometimes feels this way, too. Tangled up. Knotted. Like a gnarled necklace that we can’t untwist.

Where is God in this mess?

Try This

Think of an area in your life that feels complicated.

Then pray about one or more of these suggestions to encounter God in the tangles.

  1. Recruit a friend.
    Getting tangles out isn’t a task to be done alone. Who has God sent your way that might be just the person to walk through this situation with you?
  2. Use some oil.
    Sometimes we have to gently massage a situation and loosen it up before it’s ready to let go of our tangles. What small step can you take today to detach from the mess and relax its grip on you?
  3. Cut it out.
    When all else fails, God may want you to just cut the tangle out. Might he be asking you to drop this conflict altogether and run fast the other way? When the tangles get too snarled, cut your losses and flee (Hebrews 12:1).

Learn More

* * *

Is there a tangle in your life right now? Can you work it out or will it need to be cut out? Please share in the comments.

Coming up tomorrow:

  • U – Underground
    Sometimes you have to go underground to save a life.

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If you’d like to receive 26 Surprising Ways by email, sign up here.