December 11, 2023 #809 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY September, 2023 My Stephen Ministry group is delving deeper into empathy. What stood out to me tonight is that I cannot be empathetic and allow my ego to be involved. My first step is to put myself in the other person’s shoes. The next step is to […]
December 4, 2023 #802 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY October, 2023 “I wanna tell you people it’s a natural fact/ Every man don’t understand the Bible alike/ And that’s all, I’ll tell you that’s all/ But you better have Jesus, I’ll tell you that’s all.” –Denomination Blues by Ry Cooder There is no spiritual blessing in […]
November 27, 2023 #795 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY September, 2023 As I’ve said before, God speaks to me through other writers. It is cool when a spiritual reading mirrors exactly my own life experience: “Over time I have learned two things about my spiritual quest: First of all, that it is God who is seeking […]
November 20, 2023 #788 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY October, 2023 The situations may be complex, but the pathway is simple: be led by the Spirit of Christ. That may seem like an either/or decision or a hopeful guess, but it is really a “learn how” development program. The basic ingredients are love and awareness mixed […]
November 6, 2023 #774 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY July, 2023 “Jesus said to him, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.” (Matthew 22:37–38). Ever have a verse just pound you in the heart? That […]
November 13, 2023 #781 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY September, 2023 “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Matthew 7:14). I am reminded of the fruitlessness of attempting to share my faith with someone who is not ready to hear it. Or, as my former muse Phil Ochs sang: “Soldiers disillusioned come home from […]
October 30, 2023 #760 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY July, 2023 “Then onward in the journey I come to understand that every hair is numbered, like every grain of sand.” –Bob Dylan. Another epitaph line. St. Paul says that nothing past present or future can separate us from the love of God in Christ (Romans 8:38). […]
October 23, 2023 #753 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY August, 2023 Empathy–the subject of our Stephen Ministry study. Atticus told Scout (in To Kill a Mockingbird): “…you can never really understand a person unless you put yourself in their shoes.” That is the beginning of empathy. What stood out from our study is it’s not really […]
October 16, 2023 #746 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY July, 2023 So many people write so brilliantly about God. I love the Bible–there is no substitute for it–yet my faith has been so greatly enhanced by writers who express their views about God–about what the Bible means–about how it plays out in this world–about how we […]
October 9, 2023 #739 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY August, 2022 (a year ago) I do experience some doubts about my writing project. All four of my sisters and several other relatives have asked to be taken off my email list. My own children barely acknowledge it (and then in kind of an embarrassed way). If […]
October 2, 2023 #732 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY April, 2023 Family strife. I suppose it is all around me, even in my families (I pray I am not a cause!). It’s all deep and complex and usually hidden. If I was a family counselor, I could only offer one piece of advice: read I Corinthians […]
September 25, 2023 #725 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY September, 2022 (a year ago) “Let all who take refuge in the Lord rejoice; let them ever sing for joy. Spread Your protection over them, so that those who love Your name may exult in You. For You bless the righteous, O Lord, You cover them with […]
September 18, 2023 #718 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY May, 2023 Conversations. In every discussion, there can be a time to listen, a time to speak up, and a time to walk away. Wisdom is learning to recognize those times. September 19, 2023 Golf Tuesday–happy to say I’m playing again… #719 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY August, 2023 A […]
September 11, 2023 #711 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY June, 2023 The inner journey. It’s so easy for me to get caught up in daily events that I give the inner journey short shrift. But that’s where I can most easily cultivate the fruits of the Spirit, and it’s where I can most easily sense His […]
September 4, 2023 #704 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY June, 2023 Murky vision. Sometimes my life can become cloudy and unclear and I question whether I am really following God. I start looking inward. Looking inward is a positive and beneficial exercise. I need to remember when I am looking inward I am also looking for […]
August 28, 2023 #697 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY June, 2023 When Jesus said I am the Way and the Truth and the Life, it wasn’t an egoistic exclusionary statement. It wasn’t like, Hey it’s Me not Buddha. It was to let us see what God is like–to show us–to reveal Himself. The Way–follow Him; the […]
August 21, 2023 I recently had an experience dealing with physical pain. While it seems self-indulgent to recount it, it was an adventure and had definite spiritual benefits. So this is PAIN WEEK… #689 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY June 19, 2023 I have a stabbing, burning pain in my right shoulder blade. It only occurs when […]
August 14, 2023#682. HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY June, 2023 One of the tenets of Stephen Ministry is that we are caregivers and Jesus is the Curegiver. I think this principle applies to every conversation I have when I am reaching out to someone who is struggling with something. A wonderful book called Coffee with […]
August 7, 2023 Ahhh, back on schedule… #675 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY April, 2023 “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” (I Timothy 1:5). Paul states the goal–same as Jesus said when asked the greatest commandment. How do I strive for the […]
July 31, 2023 #368 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY May, 2023. Meditation (n. …focusing of one’s thoughts on something so as to understand it deeply…). I asked my Stephen Ministry group if any of them practiced meditation–the lesson we were studying was on learning to direct our thoughts. Only one said she did. This is newish […]
July 24, 2023 #631 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY May, 2023 This from my Stephen Ministry meeting: “Growing old is an adventure in slow.” I love that so much. I go through days where not very much happens at all–and yet, when I crawl into bed I think, What a fine day! All that made it […]
July 17, 2023 #624 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY May, 2023 I can’t just receive mercy. I have to allow it to flow through me. It won’t stop. Or, as the Bible puts it, “..forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” July 18, 2023 If it’s Tuesday, I’m thinking about golf… #625 HOW […]
July 10, 2023 Meditation Monday… #617 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY May, 2023 I have discovered a pitfall in the art of meditation. If I go into it with a distracted or unsettled mind, it is much easier to jump off track and even stay off track. Further wandering means further out of touch. I try […]
July 3, 2023 The verse and comic strip say it all for Meditation Monday… #610 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY June, 2023. “Cease striving and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) (comic from Coffee with Jesus by David Wilkie) July 4, 2023 Tuesday’s child is full of grace…(and golf!) #611 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY June, […]
June 26, 2023 Meditation Monday… #603 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY June, 2023 This is my thesis: Prayer is my way of spilling my guts to God. Meditation is my way of preparing myself to listen for Him. Here’s a great one: (inhale) Grace and mercy and peace (exhale) from our Lord Jesus Christ. I believe […]
June 19, 2023 God has opened a new door…I call it Meditation Monday #596 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY February, 2023 God has shown me a new technique to use in my effort to draw nearer to Him (…of course, any such effort is predicated on the assurance that His desire is for me to draw […]
June 12, 2023 #589 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY March, 2023. A person of influence–that is what I want to be. I want to influence people by encouraging them to try God. In any situation. Whatever the circumstances. As much as they can. I want them to know they are not taking this journey alone. That […]
June 5, 2023 #582 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY April, 2023 Results. When I was younger, they were the be-all and end-all for me. Does she like me back? Did I get the job? Will they publish my book? Now that I am older, I realize how skewed my perspective was. Faith is a far more […]
May 29, 2023 #575 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY April, 2023. A springtime wonderland! Sitting on my back porch, April 21–two red-bellied woodpeckers fighting over suet, mockingbirds loving the stale Pillsbury flaky biscuit I put out, hummingbirds making their first appearance (including a ruby-throat), 75 degrees with an imperceptible breeze, Willie on my speaker, golfers playing […]
May 22, 2023 #568 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY MAY, 2023. “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:3). This is the Bible’s answer to my ego. Hallelujah! May 23, 2023 If I’m writing about golf, it must be Tuesday… #569 HOW GOD SPOKE TO ME TODAY April, 2023. Comarodoratie. That […]
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