Month: June 2015

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Devotional Resources

Devotional Guide: Self-Denial

VISIO DIVINA – DIVINE SEEING

HEARING God’s Word, SEEING God’s Word, PRAYING God’s Word

The term, visio divina, is Latin for “divine seeing.” The practice of the visio divina is a method of connecting God’s Word with God’s creation using visual arts.

Theme: Self-Denial

"I have been crucified with Christ"
“I have been crucified with Christ”

Psalm 22, Galatians 2:15-21, Romans 6:1-14

Suggestions for how to practice the visio divina

  1. Place the name of God on your forehead by making the sign of the cross and saying, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
  2. Pause for a few moments with your eyes closed and take five to ten deep breaths.
  3. Look at the picture and take notice of any figures, shapes, colors or textures appeal to you.
  4. Read on of Scriptures under the picture, beginning with the Psalm. It is helpful if you use the same Scripture for a few of days (there is no hurry to finish the visio divina). Do not read the Scripture for the purpose of study, but let it speak to your heart. Take note of the emotions as well as the thoughts this passage brings to mind.
  5. Connect the Scripture to the picture. Are there common or uncommon elements between the two? Are there godly desires that you find rising to the surface of your thoughts? What is God revealing to you about who you are, about who God is?
  6. Now pray the Scriptures and picture using what you have discovered during this visio divina time.
  7. Finish by saying (if you use the visio divina in the morning), “May God order and direct my day through Jesus Christ according to his word, ” or (if you use the visio divina at night), “Grant me, O God, a restful night in Jesus Christ according to your word.”
  8. Either go about your daily routine, or lay you head on your pillow in peace.

If you like to write, you might consider journaling your thoughts when you are finished (not during) your time of meditation on God’s word.

Click on the picture to view a larger version.

God bless this journey of divine seeing.

Copyright Douglas P. Brauner

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PWTE Daily Devotion

Bloom Where You’re Planted

Jones Park, Pikes Peak, Colorado

Serving God right where we are.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

I know it’s an old cliché that states, “bloom where you’re planted,” but I couldn’t think of a better title for this picture. This iris bloomed far from the beaten bath; far from where I’d expect an iris to bloom. This plant was doing what its genetic makeup said it was born to do no matter where it was planted, even if that meant no one would notice its beautiful flower.

The test of our character is being what God has gifted us to be whether people notice it or not.

Jones Park, Pikes Peak, Colorado
Jones Park, Pikes Peak, Colorado

“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts.”
1 Peter 4:10 New Living Translation

Peter reminds us that we’re a gift from God. He freely and lovingly has gifted everyone one of us with his “great variety of spiritual gifts.” The question is not whether we’ve been gifted by God, but how we’ve been gifted by him.

When we understand that we are given as God’s gift to the world, we will also understand that he has called to be what we are even if people don’t seem to care.

Take this flower out of Jones Park and the scene isn’t as beautiful. Take you and me out of the world and God’s creation isn’t as beautiful.

So I urge you, instead of worrying about making a difference in this world, simply be what God has gifted you to be, living to the praise and honor of the one who has saved you even if it feels like nobody is watching.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Categories
PWTE Daily Devotion

Making Tracks

Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado

By clicking on this SoundCloud link you can listen to today’s PWTE devotion

We experience some pretty cold temperatures in Colorado Springs in the winter as frigid Canadian air makes it’s way into the Pikes Peak region. The advantage of this cold weather is the feeling of privacy you don’t often get when you visit the Garden of the Gods at other times of the year.

Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado

For some reason visitors to Colorado Springs don’t think about strolling the Garden when it’s twelve degrees Fahrenheit (sarcasm intended). A place crawling with people in the summer had only four cars in the parking lot when I took this picture.

Though we humans might not find the Garden of the Gods the best place to visit when it’s cold, there are a number of God’s creatures that call it their home no matter how frigid it might be. The hardy human patron will find a number of rabbit tracks, deer tracks, and other tracks scattered throughout the Garden in the dead of winter.

“Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young at a place near your altar, O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, my King and my God!” Psalm 84:3 New Living Translation

The sons of Korah sing about the beauty of God’s dwelling place. They sing about the temple in Jerusalem and  how wonderful it is for them to make tracks to the temple where God dwells.

Do we desire to make tracks to be near God’s altar? I love the beauty of Colorado Springs, the place I am blessed to call home, but greater still is the home where my soul finds rest; in the community of God’s baptized. This is not to say that there isn’t solace in the Garden, but there are gifts you and I receive in the community of God’s people that we don’t receive elsewhere.

What joy to make tracks to the house of God.

Copyright Douglas P. Brauner