409

Eucharisteo means "to give thank," and give is a verb, something that we do. God calls me to do thanks. To give thanks away. That thanks-giving might literally become thanks-living."


Ann Voskamp

408

"I am a flame to light other flames."

Ann Voskamp

407

"God does not give rights but imparts responsibilities - response-abilities - inviting us to respond to His love-gifts."

Ann Voskamp

406

"Receiving God's gifts is a gentle, simple movement of stooping lower."

Ann Voskamp

405

"But is it any wonder? That word humility itself comes from the Latin root humus - the kind of earth that grows good crops. God gives the earth to the humus-people, the humble ones."

Ann Voskamp

404

"How much larger your life would be if your self could become smaller in it! - was that it? I had just held evidence of it. The joy of small that makes like large."

Ann Voskamp.

403

"Trust is the bridge from yesterday to tomorrow, built with planks of thanks."

Ann Voskamp

402

"Worry is the facade of taking action when prayer really is."

Ann Voskamp

401

"Praying with eyes wide open is the only way to pray without ceasing."

"Love is not blind; love is the holy vision."

Ann Voskamp

400

"The art of deep seeing makes gratitude possible. And it is the art of gratitude that makes joy possible."

Ann Voskamp

399

"I pay tribute to God by paying attention."

Ann Voskamp.

398

the next few days, I'll be sharing some of my favorite lines from Ann Voskamp's beautiful book: One Thousand Gifts.

"The only real prayers are the ones mouthed with thankful lips."

397

from Humilitas

Then there is General Stanley McChrystal's assessment of what should be done in Afghanistan. 

"I have found in my experience that the best answers and approaches may be counter-intuitive. The opposite of what it seems you ought to do is what ought to be done. So, when I'm asked the question, What approach should we take in Afghanistan? I say, humility."

396

taken from Humilitas by John Dickson

Jim Collins, the Stanford University business analyst and author of the best-selling Good to Great conducted a five-year study exploring what turns good companies into great ones. He defined a "great" company as one that experienced a turn-around in which it financially outperformed the market trend by at least three times for a fifteen-year period. One classic example is Gillette, best known for shaving products. Betweeen 1980 and 1995 the company enjoyed cumulative stock returns 7.39 times greater than the general stock market. Only eleven companies in the US made Collins's "great" category. Most notable were those that didn't make the cut, including Coca-Cola, Johnson&Johnson, Walmart and General Electric, companies that only outperformed the market by 2.5 times.

Many observers were surprised to learn that one of the key factors in all eleven good-to-great companies during the growth phase was what Collins describes as Level 5 Leadership - that is, leadership marked by two characteristics: steely determination and an attitude of humility. Collins records the puzzlement of his research team at the consistency of this finding:

"We were surprised, shocked really, to discover the type of leadership required for turning a good company into a great one. Compared to high-profile leaders with big personalities who make headlines and become celebritities the good-to-great leaders seem to have come from Mars. Self-effacing, quiet, reserved even shy - these leaders are a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will. They are more like Lincoln and Socrates than Patton and Caesar."

Collins's 2009 book How the Mighty Fall bears out the flipside - when successful companies become arrogant, it often spells their downfall.

395

Some Radical Prayers for you to consider:

* A Prayer for Protection * (To be prayed before ministry.)

In the name of Jesus Christ and by the power of his Cross and his Blood, we bind up the power of any evil spirits and command them not to block our prayers. We bind up the powers of earth, air, water, fire, the netherworld and the satanic forces of nature. We break any curses, hexes or spells sent against us and declare them null and void. We break the assignments of any spirits sent against us and send them to Jesus to deal with them as he will. Lord, we ask you to bless our enemies by sending your Holy Spirit to lead them to repentance and conversion. Furthermore, we bind all interaction and communication in the world of evil spirits as it affects us and our ministry. We ask for the protection of the shed blood of Jesus Christ over _______. Thank you, Lord, for your protection and send your angels, especially St. Michael, the Archangel, to help us in the battle. We ask you to guide us in our prayers: share with us your Spirit’s power and compassion. Amen.

(Prayers by Dr. Francis MacNutt) * Prayer To Be Set Free * (To be prayed following ministry.) Lord Jesus, thank you for sharing with us your wonderful ministry of healing and deliverance. Thank you for the healings we have seen and experienced today. We realize that the sickness and evil we encounter is more than our humanity can bear, so cleanse us of any sadness, negativity or despair that we may have picked up. If our ministry has tempted us to anger, impatience or lust, cleanse us of those temptations and replace them with love, joy and peace. If any evil spirits have attached themselves to us or oppressed us in any way, we command you, spirits of earth, air, fire, water, the netherworld or the satanic forces of nature, to depart – now – and go straight to Jesus Christ for him to deal with you as he will. Come Holy Spirit: renew us – fill us anew with your power, your life and your joy. Strengthen us where we have felt weak and clothe us with your light. Fill us with life. Lord Jesus, please send your holy angels to minister to us and our families—guard us and protect us from all sickness, harm and accidents. (Give us a safe trip home.) We praise you now and forever, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and we ask these things in Jesus’ Holy Name that he may be glorified. Amen. (Prayers by Dr. Francis MacNutt)

394

Sorry, I went on vacation and didn't plan ahead...Here is something I've been pondering this last week.

These words from our brother Saint Augustine: "Our hearts are restless until they rest in you."

And these words: Our hearts are insecure until they find their security in you.

I invite you to ponder these, or if you would like think of others. The list goes on and on...

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The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me."

Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathaniel and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote - Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

"Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" asked Nathaniel.

"Come and see," said Philip. 

When Jesus saw Nathaniel approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false."

"How do you know me?" Nathaniel asked. 

Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you."

Then Nathaniel declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."

Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that." He then added, "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

John 1:43-41

I'm going to try and only write one more thing about this passage. Jesus says, "You shall see greater things than that..." Jesus looks at this man and Jesus, with his God eyes, can see the adventure he is about to take him on. 

And think about the adventure for one minute. Nathaniel's going to hold bread that gets multiplied a thousand times! Nathaniel is going to witness a dead child come back to life. He is going to see the blind see, the dead hear, the broken healed. He's going to perform miracles himself. Nathaniel's going to witness his mentor pursue his Father with reckless abandon. He's going to watch Jesus pray. It's going to impact him so much, he's going to doubt that he's ever prayed before. But he is not ashamed. He is changed. He learns to pray. He learns to walk as Jesus walked. All the way to his own sacrificial death. Nathaniel, you haven't seen anything yet. And Jesus knows - and he says to him - what do you say? Ready or not - here we go!