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Meditative Journaling

Ivey Rorie On January 11, 2022 / Word of the Day / Leave a comment

Psalm 77:6

I will remember my song in the night; I will meditate with my heart, and my spirit ponders.

There are many good verses which encourage meditation, but this one is interesting because it combines singing and a revelation about one’s spirit pondering God’s miracles.

I wrote to you yesterday about using prayer and meditation to overcome weariness. Part of weariness is stress. I was reading a newsletter from my health care system when I ran across this advice for dealing with the anxiety and depression of the season. The author wrote, “Controlled breathing and journaling about your stressors are other good options.”

I didn’t write to you about journaling yesterday because I was saving it for today. Journaling, singing, prayer, and meditation are all methods you can use, daily, to alleviate stress so that it never collects to the level that you become weary and worn out as yesterday’s author was. Today’s verse isn’t specifically about journaling, but I chose it because it reveals a process of meditative communion that is fundamental in journaling with Jesus.

Journaling with Jesus is different than the type of journaling most of us learned initially. This type of journaling is actually a meditative process. You begin by slowing down your mind and body and then turning inward to hear the voice of God within you. As I intimated yesterday, beginning with your Bible is a fabulous way to start. As you immerse yourself in the Word, the world automatically begins to drift away. Your heart rate might even slow as you calmly breathe.

I often begin with the Bible. The next thing I know, I am speaking aloud to the Father. Soon I find myself led to another verse and before you know it, I am immersed in Bible, pens and my journal. I also make notes in my Bible. If something big went off in me, something personal for my edification, I might write the date in my Bible next to the verse.

In the 4 Keys to Hearing God’s Voice, Dr. Mark Virkler teaches two-way journaling. It is a method for helping a person to hear the voice of God. I recommend this book and the class as well.

The point is, I want you to invest time in meditating before God. This is time of communion between your spirit and His, a time to share thoughts and for Him to speak mysteries to you. The beginning is to slow yourself down and turn your attention to your own spirit and your Father. Then, perhaps, you engage with the Word. Inevitably, if you spend time in the Word you find something to talk with God about. And when you have spent time hearing God speak, then you are gonna want to write it down. Don’t forget singing, praising and prayer as ways to connect your heart to God’s.

I hope this helps you and that 2022 will be a year of greater intertwining of your heart and God’s. I pray that when you look back on 2022 you will remember it as a year when you drew closer to Yahweh. Be blessed!

Methods

Ivey Rorie On January 29, 2021 / Word of the Day / Leave a comment

Psalm 105: 4

Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually.

That is some good advice if I have ever heard it and it brings up a good point. This is a message for the ages. This is not the first time God has instructed His people to seek Him. So, the message for 2021 is a message for every day of the Christian life. It isn’t new, just what God wants to focus our attention on for this year. Let’s look at other ways to draw near to the Father as we answer the question, “How do we seek Him?”

Prayer, or better still, communication with Him is another key. What does that mean? We have lots of tools at our disposal but just chatting with Him is number one with me. Often, when we discuss prayer a more formal image comes to mind. Also, we usually think of prayer as a form of solicitation or request. Those are important communiques but in search of intimacy we need normal, not formal, conversation with Him. Yahweh is interested in everything you are interested in. So just talk with Him about those things. You will be surprised by some of His comments.

Here are some other ways to connect you may not have thought of. We can also journal, paint, sing, etc. These can all be ways to interact with God. What if you yielded your spirit to the Holy Spirit as your paintbrush hovered over the canvas? What if you just let what the Spirit is feeding your spirit flow out of the tip of the brush? Can you imagine that?

What about journaling? Is that something you like to do? Here is a journaling method you may not have yet discovered. It is called two-way journaling and you can find out more about it at Communion with God Ministries’ website. You can also go my website to see some of my journaling of scripture. Just click on “Journaling with Ivey.” It is a good jumping off place for your own journaling.

What other ways can you think of to draw you deeper in your relationship with God. What are other ways to seek Him?

The River

Ivey Rorie On January 24, 2020 / Word of the Day / Leave a comment

Lamentations 3: 22 – 23 NLV

The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.

This is the same verse as yesterday, but I sent you a different version. Today I am going to share with you my personal journaling which came out of this verse. Sometimes as I meditate on scripture, Father gives me something for the Word of the Day. Sometimes, it’s just for me. This was just a bit of imagery, nothing serious. None the less, I hope you enjoy it and see how pondering that scripture and the words in it blossomed into a fuller thought complete with visual aids.

“This makes me think of a river. Like the river, God’s love is a constant flow. I am ever amused at how the river keeps refilling. The water I look at right now is leaving, moving downstream for some other to enjoy and appreciate. Meanwhile, my vista is constantly restored. The transition and refilling is so continuous, so constant that the transition between the previous flow and the new is transparent, invisible. There is no segue, no seam, just one continual flow of water. It is almost as if old water is not being replaced by new. For all its dynamic power and movement, there is a perspective of the river which makes it feel like a snapshot.

What is new, is old again. There is no emptying even though there is constant refilling. Like God’s love, the river constantly replenishes itself so that what we experience is ceaseless flow.

God’s love is the perpetual renewing of His grace flowing in and through our lives.”

In Stillness

Ivey Rorie On December 15, 2017 / Word of the Day / 1 Comment

Psalm 46: 10 KJV

Be still, and know that I am God.

This is one of those verses which I like and often quote from the King James Bible. It is also probably the one scripture that did more for my ability to converse with God than any other. To come to know God, I had to be still. The NASB version is very instructive on this verse. It reads, “Cease striving and know that I am God.” This rendering of the verse spoke loudly to me. I was very frustrated with my inability to hear God speak to me. It turned out that I needed to not try so hard. I just needed to be still physically and mentally, then I could and did hear him.

You have heard me mention Dr. Mark Virkler’s Four Keys to Hearing God’s Voice and Dr. Jim Richard’s Heart Physics. Each of these are good tools for helping you calm yourself down so that you can hear God speaking inside of you. My favorite tool of all is breathing. Yep, I said breathing. I have learned how to take a deep breath and clear the stress and anxiety from my mind so I can hear Him speak. Sometimes my mind is so active that it is like a pinball game inside my head. That is when I just need to take a deep breath and relax. In the beginning it might take me a while to settle but now I can usually notice a difference with one big breath. I also turn my mind to a picture of Jesus. Usually in times of busyness and chaos, there are lots of pictures and words running through my mind. So, I take a deep breath and perhaps picture Jesus seated next to a mountain stream. In a moment I join him there and the rest of the world slips away for a few minutes.

You will learn about journaling in the Four Keys. Check out, also, some examples of my journaling at http://www.bornofthespirit.today/learning-to-hear-directly-from-god/. Journaling is another good way to calm your mind. When you give your mind and hands something focused to do the chaos calms.

Once I could hear Father speak to me, our relationship began to change quickly. I began to recognize Him as a Dad every bit as much as God. From there I soon recognized His presence with me. More and more He became an integrated part of my life and more and more I yearned to have Him in every moment of my day. He and Jesus have become my friends. They are who I like to talk with. I point out my observations to them and they share their perspective with me.

As, I said, I have not arrived at the end of the journey by any means, but, becoming more intertwined with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit has changed my life, as you would expect it would. I find I long for them even more because life with them is good. Life has stress but when you have best friends like Yahweh and Jesus, it sure helps. They fill me with their peace and take my stress. They take my judgment, replacing it with compassion. Living in them and with them is just better than life without them.

I have shared some of my journey to getting to know the Holy Trinity and how I am intertwining my life with theirs. I invite you to share your experiences and successes so others may find a closer walk with Jesus. Simply click the link below to share your thoughts. Thanks.

Rich Dwelling

Ivey Rorie On November 28, 2017 / Word of the Day / Leave a comment

Colossians 3: 16

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you.

I would like to ask you to pause over these words today. For those who have been Christians for a long time and especially who have attended church for many years, the words of our faith become familiar. As such, they almost disappear. They become invisible in their familiarity. That was not the case for Paul’s audience. All he wrote was new and unfamiliar. This phrase must have sounded bizarre to them. What does it mean to have the word of Christ dwelling within us, much less richly dwelling within. What did Paul intend to convey.

Today I read some journaling I did with God on Isaiah 1: 19 (please see this entry at http://www.bornofthespirit.today/isaiah-1-19/). Though there are differences in the verses and the ideas contained within, there is a grand similarity. That is that there is something in us that is making alive all that we need to see manifested in the world around us. The living word is alive within us and that makes a difference in everything. The concept of the living word is, perhaps, a bit difficult to grasp. How can we embrace this truth so that it impacts our lives and the world around us?

We are walking, talking vessels of the Holy Spirit of God. Everywhere we go, so goes the Spirit. God’s design does not have His Word confined to the church building. It goes wherever we go. It is not the dead word but alive so it is best conveyed by a living vessel. Does this begin to sound like a heavy burden for us to bear? The wire that transmits electricity to your home conveys a lot of power but it does very little other than be available. The power is the electricity. The wire is to electricity what we are to the Holy Spirit.

There is something about God that I find truly astounding and consistent. His power does not degrade the wire but rather infuses it with life. God always accomplishes multiple blessings in one act. You have the ability to carry His light into every conference, meeting and encounter but at the same time, His power within you is blessing every cell of your being. He always blesses you first and then wishes to extend that blessing beyond all boundaries. He is the God of overflow so His plan is to overfill you so that the excess blesses all people around you. Isn’t that astounding?

First, let us become internally aware. Become consciously attuned to the life of Christ within you. Sensitize your being so that you perceive the Lord’s tenderness within. I want you to think about the life of Christ within you so that you can experience the fullness of life in your own bones and spirit. Life should flow out from you but it should first begin in you. All that Christ is, all that he won for you is inside each one of us right now. That is a huge concept, one most of us have not yet fully embraced.

Take a moment to stop and think what this might mean in your life. I pray it blossoms into an expanding revelation of His glory within.

Taking Notes

Ivey Rorie On July 12, 2017 / Word of the Day / Leave a comment

Habakkuk 2: 2

Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets, that the one who reads it may run.

Some of you are familiar with journaling or have at least heard me discuss it. Because I am a student, I think of it as taking notes. That is perhaps the most accurate description available for this process. One simply writes down what they hear God say, or even what they think they hear. Just write it all down. Then, like any good student, review your notes after class. When you review what you have written down, you will likely be able to tell if it was God speaking or if it was you. If you are not sure, send it to someone proficient who can help.

Today I would like to feature the Born of the Spirit website and share with you some of my scripture journaling. Scripture journaling is where I choose a scripture and ask Father to speak to me about it. This sample has been chosen from the Born of the Spirit website where I post a journaled verse each week. I also pose a couple of questions which you may want to ask the Father. Click Here to visit the Born of the Spirit site.

If you need a counselor to whom you can send your journaling, go to Communion with God Ministries. There are trained counselors waiting to assist you through this free but limited time program. Both the Communion with God and the Born of the Spirit websites are from our friends Mark and Patty Virkler and Charity Virkler Kayembe.

I hope you enjoy the journal entry below.

Proverb 16: 7

When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

Father, what would you like to show me about this verse?

My child, haven’t you noticed that when you are living in me and through me, life seems to flow more smoothly. The life you live, the life you choose to live is what gives energy and power to every situation you experience. When you live in and through me, there is an empowerment of peace because I am peace, I am the Lord of peace and my peace I left with you. Though this is an Old Testament verse, can’t you see the New Testament implications of it? It is not solely that your ways are pleasing to my Father but more that your ways are increasingly becoming my ways. You are adopting my ways and that brings peace into your environment. The more of me you absorb, the more your world will mirror mine. I have overcome the trouble of the world. Rest, therefore, in my peace and allow it to overflow onto all you do.

Cup of Coffee

Ivey Rorie On July 11, 2017 / Word of the Day / Leave a comment

1 Chronicles 22: 19

Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God.

Well, the 30 days of seeking God are completed. How did you do? Did you have some major revelations? Or did God speak to an particular issue in your life? I certainly hope so. Write to me and let me know what you gained from the experience and how God blessed you. I would like to share with you one of the biggest epiphanies I gained through this 30 day adventure.

As I spent time seeking God one of the first hurdles to navigate was how to seek Him. I use two-way journaling as a way to capture what the Father says to me and one day He told me, “Journal, sing, read your Bible or start a new devotional.” Those were all things which resonated with me. Frankly, it is pretty much the list of what I do now. Then there was a change in the tone of what He was telling me. I think He gave me the list above to validate the things which I currently do. Those were the bridge to where He wanted to take me. Next, He told me not to simply wait for something to float into my head but rather to pursue Him relentlessly. What did that mean? Wasn’t I in the midst of seeking Him. Again, it was more validation but colored with encouragement to press in even more. All of this was preparing me, and my heart, for what He really wanted to say to me. “Ivey,” He said, “Come sit down in My office and let’s visit. Let’s share a cup of coffee and chat each morning. Just spend time with me. Don’t be concerned with formal devotions. Let’s sit and discuss each item on your list and I will advise you.”

What do you think of that? Someone asked me recently if I speak aloud to the Father. Yep! I talk aloud to Him as if He is bodily sitting in my office because that is my reality. He is with me as He is with you all of the time. So, Father simplified and demystified seeking Him. He told me to “inquire of Him in all things.” Well, that is simply having a conversation with Him and getting His input. One of the titles that came to my mind as He was telling me all of this was “Pray Less.” In that time together He taught me to forget religious methods and just chat with Him. That is pretty amazing really. The creator of the universe, the God and Father of us all, the big guy just wants to sit and have a cup of coffee together. You know, I can do that. I am not the most religious person on the planet and truthfully, I hope I never become that but it turns out that Dad isn’t asking of us that we pray beautiful prayers that are so poetic that they should be published. He’s got folks for that. What He desires of you and me is less prayer and more chat, more visiting over a cup of coffee. I am really just amazed by the humility of the situation and His desire for simple, unadorned time with each of us.

As a general aside, He may tell you to meet Him over the kitchen table or the front porch swing. Maybe He drinks tea with you instead of coffee. There is nothing magical about the office setting. He knew that setting would resonate with me. That’s all.

The God Creator of the universe has boiled down the whole religion paradigm to a very simple statement. “Come, let’s share a cup of coffee and visit.”

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