Knowing God

Words (Photo credit: tempestuousseas)

“Daily, quiet reflection on the Word of God as it applies to me becomes for me a point of crystallization for everything that gives interior and exterior order to my life,” wrote Dietrich Bonhoeffer ....“Why do I meditate?” asks Bonhoeffer. “Because I am a Christian. Therefore, every day in which I do not penetrate more deeply into the knowledge of God’s Word in Holy Scripture is a lost day for me.” ...

from Barnes and Noble-Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Meditating on the Word  

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Joyous Easter!

What does it profit a writer to gain the whole world and lose his or her soul?

The love of God constrains us to respond to His love. Joyous Easter, dear follower of Jesus Christ!

Hold onto faith in Christ, the promised Messiah.

Hold onto Hope.

Hold onto Love.

Hold onto God.

Thanks be to God for His eternal gift of salvation to us through His Son!

Nothing else can give to us the Joy that is in Christ Jesus. 

Think, Reason, Believe...Pray

(Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

prayer.. (Photo credit: aronki)

Jean Purcell

Follow on Twitter @opinaripeople
and @OpineBookCafe

The Latin word opinari means "to think, to reason, to believe." It is the root of the English word "opine," a favorite of Sherlock Holmes. Opine is the word my husband and I chose to name a place we once had, where we went to reflect, read, and discuss..."Little Opine." At Little Opine we mainly worked on the overgrown land, made repairs and trips there to take trash-bins-on-wheels to the end of the drive for pickup days.

We visited Little Opine on weekends for a couple of years. In winters, we made wood fires in its little alpine stove. Little Opine is where I started to plan for the first book of our start-up publishing company, named Opine Publishing. Exhausted Rapunzel by Deirdre Reilly became our first full-length book, a humor book by a newspaper columnist we know very well.* 

Opinari, being the root of our name and ideas, continues to resonate with us. Think, reason, believe. Those words lead me to think pray. Writers of books for thinking readers need a life of prayer. The Psalms are a good start for those not yet practicing this.

I agree with the view that when one can hardly think, reason, or pray, we still believe. Faith remains because love remains. The times when we lean intensely into prayer for strength, steadiness, and love...are the times when it is most difficult to pray. Here is also where selected psalms can help us to pray. We can read and pray anywhere, sitting or kneeling, walking, enjoying the outdoors...

Everything done through Opine Publishing has been covered in prayer. We are human and Opine is a small publishing house. The new eStore features other publishing houses' books as well as our own. "And crown our efforts with success"...the pleasures, insights, and refreshment of memorable books.    

*first daughter

Opine Publishing titles:

Refugee Was My Name by Mogama/2012

The Mourner's Comforter by C. H. Spurgeon/2007

Only Believe  by Beryl Adamsbaum/2004

Not All Roads Lead Home by Jane Bullard/USA/expanded edition/2004

Seeking God's Face by Beryl Adamsbaum/2003-04/USA and UK editions

Not All Roads Lead Home/UK/original edition/Study Guide(out of print)/2000

Not All Roads Lead Home by Jane Bullard/UK/original edition/1996 

Christian Writers and Spiritual Needs

Image by Old Shoe Woman via Flickr--Christian group at church in Valdosta, GA, USA.

by Jean Purcell

editor@opinebooks.com

Follow on Twitter @opinaripeople

Commentary 

We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God...  (2 Corinthians 10:5a-New Living Translation).

As I read from 2 Corinthians 10 this morning, I thought, "Believers face obstacles too," although the context was how to help others that seek God. You and I, as Christian writers, need reminders to destroy every proud obstacle, which is anything that prevents or tries to prevent us from knowing God. God helps us in our writing efforts if we seek Him, our dearest and wisest Guide:  
      

     When You said, "Seek My face," my heart said to You, "Your face, O LORD, I shall seek" (Psalm 27:8-NASB)

      
     Many obstacles appear through that "terrible thing to waste," as a popular slogan says of the mind. The mind is fertile ground open to good or bad thoughts; the bad and negative ones make barriers to knowing God and to the whole-health mental life that comes from God.    
     As Christian authors, let's be aware of our thoughts, intentions, and actions. We are subject to the same kinds of temptations that Jesus faced. The disciples and others were, too; yet like us they lacked Jesus' perfection. John the Apostle said to acknowledge and confess our sins and to repent. This is required obedience (e.g., read 1 John).
     Are we aware of proud obstacles? The psalmist prayed, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if  there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:23-25).
     Let us daily seek God in such a way, God who made us. Let us enjoy the writing work clear of obstacles, in the light and freedom of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Dear Lord, I offer deep thanksgivings and praises to You for Your salvation. Search my heart and my thoughts so that I may be with You day by day, nothing between us. Enable me to see, discern, and destroy every proud obstacle to knowing You. Amen. 

Copyright (c)2011 Author Support at blogspot.com

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• Are You Filled ~ or Empty? (rhondaburke.com)
• Daily Bread: 2 Corinthians 11:1-15 [False Prophets] (jeuneafriqueza.wordpress.com)