Tag Archives: guidance

Choosing a Word of the Year

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For the past few years, I’ve chosen a word for the year. Well, the word actually chose me. Yes, there are online quizzes or reflection questions you could try, but I’ve found just opening yourself to receiving a guiding word will bring one your way. Just listen for it.

⁠In 2019, my word was practice, as in try and try again. Practice gave me permission to experiment, risk, prototype, and fail. Growth, progress, and skill take time. She’s the word of grace this perfectionist needs.⁠

⁠My word for 2020 was rhythm– the movement of practice. Intentionality, flow, consistency. I imagined a spiritually rich and disciplined year. Ha! Instead, it was a boatload of practice. Rhythm was jazz, not a march. Improvise. Keep showing up in the midst of constant adaptation, heartbreak, and lament. Rhythm has so much more to share with me.

⁠My word for 2021 was truth. She arrived in the middle of a Zoom gathering with my author buddies at the Light House. Truth was the permission I needed to make space for deep conversation, especially the uncomfortable and taboo.

When things got tough and I wanted to hold back, I’d find myself saying, “My word for the year is truth” and what I needed to say made its way out of my heart. Every time this happened, the gift of truth broke the conversation open in beautiful and needed ways.   

Truth was the exact word I needed to companion me through the major transitions of 2021

  • a six-week renewal leave which included some travel and a much-needed counseling intensive at Quiet Waters in Colorado
  • saying goodbye to my congregation in Sarasota and hello to my new congregation in New Smyrna Beach, Coronado Community United Methodist Church
  • Ed and I buying a house. We never dreamed we’d have this opportunity before retirement. Plus, we’re finally under the same roof after decades of separation due to work.
  • my mom’s cancer diagnosis and my sister’s incredible caregiving of her. Mom’s doing well.
  • the marriage of our beloved Laura and Kevin
  • the scary and exciting decision to start a publishing business for my writing called Via Lexi. More to come as that unfolds.
  • a new partnership with the good folks at The Pastor’s Workshop as a contributor of prayer, liturgy, and sermon resources
  • the surprising birth of our beloved Lily Joy, our first grandchild, to our beloved Elyse and Sam. She arrived two weeks early and was a girl instead of the boy they thought they saw in the ultrasound. Elyse, Sam, and Lily are living with us, so I get to hold her every day. I’m over the moon.
  • starting 2022 with Covid. I’m quarantining in our travel trailer this week.

That’s a lot.

What’s surprised me most about receiving a word for the year is the way they abide. These wise companions don’t come and go. They move in and continue to offer grace year after year like a tribe of dear friends. They collaborate with one another and encourage one another to share even more with me as I’m ready to receive it.

So, who’s moving in this year? Curious.

Curious showed up bags in hand last week as a total shock. I even kept her at the door a while thinking she’d made a wrong turn, but no. Curious is here to stay. She knows I need her to help me with my dualistic thinking and my ugly bent to judging. So welcome sister Curious. I’m ready to receive.

What word is choosing you this year? I’d love to hear your story.  

Come Holy Spirit- Nine Prayers for Pentecost

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Title Cards for Prayers (3)At his Ascension, Jesus instructs the disciples to go back to Jerusalem to wait and pray for the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1) Around 120 persons did so for nine days straight.

On day ten, the Holy Spirit arrived as promised to empower God’s people to witness and serve in extraordinary, life-giving ways. This is what we celebrate and claim for our generation every Pentecost.

This year I’m inviting us to nine days of intentional prayer, May 14-22, leading up to Pentecost, May 23. Nine days straight of intentional prayer is known as a novena.

Below you’ll find nine prayers. Some original and some collected from other sources. Use some, use all. Use several a day, use one a day. You can, of course, add your own and I hope you will.

Come, Holy Spirit- Lisa <><

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PRAYER ONE: Holy Spirit, Holy One by Lisa Degrenia

People of God, Rejoice!
Our Eternal and Beautiful God is near
The One who gives us new birth by water and Spirit
The One who names us beloved
The One who delights in our very existence
Come and worship

Holy Spirit, Holy One
Holy Spirit, Descending Dove
Alight on me that I may know your presence
Anoint me that I may know your call
Fill me that I may know your power
Guide me that I may know your path
Name me that I may know, that I know, that I know who I am
Amen

O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples. Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wonderful works. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually. – Psalm 105:1-3, NRSV

And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. – Mark 1:10, NRSV

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PRAYER TWO: This is a traditional Catholic prayer. I first encountered this prayer on a Walk to Emmaus retreat.

Come, Holy Spirit,
Fill the hearts of Your faithful
And kindle in us the fire of Your love.
Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be created.
And You shall renew the face of the earth.

O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit
did instruct the hearts of the faithful,
grant that by the same Holy Spirit
we may be truly wise and ever enjoy Your consolations.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Jesus said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”- Acts 1:8

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PRAYER THREE: Fill Us by Lisa Degrenia

Generous, Holy Spirit, You pour out Your power
Your unseen work is real and near and constant
like air, like wind, like breath

Fill us. Fill us now.
Fill us so our cups runneth over

Fill us with boldness to witness and testify
to your victory, your companionship, your call

Fill us with strength and skills far beyond us
Fill us with courage to do hard, holy things

Fill us with passion
Fill us with enthusiasm
Fill us with joy

Fill us with You

For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. – Romans 14:17, NRSV

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. – Romans 5:1-5

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PRAYER FOUR: Your Holy Presence by Lisa Degrenia

Mighty God, we bow before your Holy Presence
You are Breath of Life: make us alive in Christ
You are Dove: name us and claim us for your purposes
You are Light: brighten our thoughts with your wisdom
You are Counselor: encourage us, remind us, guide our steps
You are Wind: disperse the clouds of injustice
You are Divine Spirit: give us grace to heal the harm
You are Tongue: fill us with words of hope, truth, and welcome
You are Fire: ignite your holy love in us
You are Living Water: make us one as we drink of You

Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? – Psalm 139:7

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PRAYER FIVE by Dimitri of Rostov

Come, my Light, and illumine my darkness.
Come, my Life, and revive me from death.
Come, my Physician, and heal my wounds.
Come, Flame of divine love, and burn up the thorns of my sins,
kindling my heart with the flame of your love.
Come, my King, sit upon the throne of my heart and reign there,
for you alone are my King and my Lord. Amen.

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. – Acts 2:1-4

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PRAYER SIX: Pour Out by Lisa Degrenia

Holy Spirit, pour out your power
Holy Spirit, pour out your presence
Holy Spirit, pour out your truth
Holy Spirit, pour out your life
Grace upon grace
Strength upon strength
Life upon life

In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. – Acts 2:17-18

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PRAYER SEVEN: Holy Spirit, Come Again by Lisa Degrenia

Holy Spirit, come again as Guiding Fire,
Lighting the way though our wilderness
Come, Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit, come again as Cleansing Fire,
Burning away all that is false and fruitless
Come, Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit, come again as Refining Fire,
Making our words, our ways, and our hearts pure
Come, Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit, come again as Prophetic Fire,
Releasing the Gospel shut up in our bones
Come, Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit, come again as Empowering Fire,
Granting gifts to heal and transform the world
Come, Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit, come again as Unifying Fire,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Amen

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let everyone who hears say, “Come.” And let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift. – Revelation 22:17, NRSV

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PRAYER EIGHT: Spirit of Truth by Lisa Degrenia

Spirit of Truth, come live in me
Rest on me and ready me

Seeing as you see
Your mind and heart within me
Hearing and heading your counsel
Wisdom of the ages
Divine and life-giving and intimate
Speak, I’m listening

Spirit of Truth, come live in me
Rest on me and release me

Empowered by your might,
Steadfast and vulnerable
Strength of soul and character
Strength of virtue and honor
Strength to build up and make way
Your truth pouring forth, generous and creative
Awakening and instructing and sustaining

Spirit of Truth, come live in me
I ask this humbly
Recognizing the price of this gift
I ask this reverently
For your honor and glory alone
Amen

Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he abides with you, and he will be in you.” – John 14:15-17

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PRAYER NINE: This is a modern translation by the Church of England of an ancient prayer, Veni Sancte Spiritus. Common Worship: Daily Prayer © The Archbishops’ Council 2005 by Church House Publishing

Come, Holy Spirit;
send down from heaven’s height
your radiant light.

Come, lamp of every heart,
come, parent of the poor;
all gifts are yours.

Comforter beyond all comforting,
sweet unexpected guest,
sweetly refresh.

Rest in hard labor,
coolness in heavy heat,
hurt souls’ relief.

Refill the secret hearts
of your faithful,
O most blessed light.

Without your holy power
nothing can bear your light,
nothing is free from sin.

Wash all that is filthy,
water all that is parched,
heal what is hurt within.

Bend all that is rigid,
warm all that has frozen hard,
lead back the lost.

Give to your faithful ones,
who come in simple trust,
your sevenfold mystery.

Give virtue its reward,
give, in the end, salvation
and joy that has no end.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.- Romans 15:13

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© 2021 You are welcome to use the original portions of this work in a worship setting with proper attribution. (by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, http://www.revlisad.com) Please leave a comment for information and permission to publish this work in any form.

Holy Spirit, Pour Out Your Fruit (Galatians 5)

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Sermon Series spirit filled 1110 x 624

Sermon Series: Spirit Filled
Message 5 of 5: Pour Out Your Fruit
Scripture: Galatians 5:1, 13-14, 16-25 
Notes from a message offered Sunday, 7/7/19 at Trinity United Methodist Church, Sarasota Florida.

What is the Fruit of the Spirit?

  • What is your favorite fruit?
  • 9 virtues (character traits) which the Holy Spirit grows in our lives
  • Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control

Who wants more of this in their life? We all do. If you had to pick one to have more of in your life, which would you pick? (I want patience. Give me patience now!)

They are all good like a good piece of fruit. They are good gifts from God.

God expects fruit in our lives. They are the natural progression of being a follower of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit at work in our life. Growth in grace. Being alive and multiplying. Being rooted and grounded in Christ.

This is the fruit of abiding in Christ. The Spirit abides with us and in us. This is the natural fruit from believing and praying and trusting and seeking and serving.

It’s very simple: A follower of Christ should look and act differently than someone yet to believe.

Where’s the fruit? Do we look all that different?

  • Where are the saved crying out in thanksgiving?
  • Where are the bodies, families, and unjust systems healed for the Glory of God
  • Where are the leaders leading out of Godly wisdom and humility?
  • Where are the abused, angry, and addicted rejoicing in Christ’s freedom?

There is fruit my friends, but too often we don’t tell anyone about it. We hide it. We’re afraid of bragging, being weird, we’re shy.

Testimonies of Grace Stimson, Alida Noel Provence, and Pam Rader. 

The Holy Spirit is at work. There is fruit. It’s about having eyes to see it. It’s about wanting it. The Spirit is never forced upon us.

Galatians 5 is all about freedom.

Galatians 5:1
For freedom, Christ has set us free.
Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

  • Freedom from a false understanding of the law which lays a heavy burden on us
  • Purpose of the Law was to show us our need of a Savior- we can’t fulfill the law in our own strength
  • Good gift of the law was twisted into a set of rules – follow the rules you’ll earn God’s love and salvation
  • How are we saved? By grace through faith in Jesus Christ, not by your own doing, not of works and rules (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Galatians 5:13-14
13 For you were called to freedom, brothers, and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. 14 For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

  • Wide swing to another end of the spectrum in understanding freedom in Christ
  • Christ has set me free so I can do whatever I want
  • No- our freedom is so we can love and serve one another

In true freedom, we live by the Spirit not the law, not rules
In true freedom, we are guided by the Spirit not our fleshy selfishness or achieving

Galatians 5:16-25 NRSV
16 Live by the Spirit, I say and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law.

19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious:

  • a “sin list” of 15 actions
  • fornication, impurity, licentiousness (misuse of the good gift of sex)
  • idolatry, sorcery (playing God)
  • Enmities (hostility), strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy
    • Heart of peace sees people as people
    • heart of war sees people as objects, obstacles to be overcome or fixed, projects, problems, a means to an end. People not as people
  • drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. (misuse of the good gift of celebration)

I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.

tug of war

Tug Of War Battle: Flesh vs. Spirit, Heart of War vs. Heart of Peace, Old Life without Christ vs. New Life with Christ. Just like in Tug of War, there will be a surrender. Will you surrender to the flesh or will you surrender to the Spirit? Do you want the Fruit of the Spirit or do you want the crazyville of the sin list?

The Fruit of the Spirit is the evidence we’ve surrendered to the Spirit, that we’re finding true freedom in Christ.

There is an awful, scary warning in the middle of this passage. (v. 21) If you act like the sin list you won’t inherit the Kingdom. But I still get angry… I still envy… I want patience NOW… I don’t have self-control over chocolate, or something else.

We’re awakening and becoming self-aware. The warning is serious, we take it seriously, so we get to work. I’ll work on my patience.

Did you hear the W word? I’ll work on being more patient and there we are trapped again. We turn the list of the Fruit of the Spirit into a new set of laws which will bind us. We work hard to achieve them in our own strength.

Truth: We can’t create the Fruit of the Spirit. All we do is surrender to it. 

We give ourselves grace because it takes a long time to bear fruit. If you were to plant a fruit tree, how long would it take before it bore fruit? If you were to plant seeds, how long would it take? The Holy Spirit is the seed.

John 15:4
Jesus said, “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.”

We abide. Every day we open ourselves to the Spirit. Grow fruit in me. It’s that simple.

An apple tree doesn’t have to focus and work really hard to produce apples. It’s the natural result of seed meeting soil, sun, water.

The Holy Spirit is the seed.  The Spirit meets the soil of our soul. It’s watered by our openness and trust, prayer, scripture, community, seeking, surrender.

Give yourself grace. Tell someone about the fruit.

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Holy Spirit, Pour Out Your Fruit © 2019 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
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Three Holy Spirit Prayers

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The Baptism of the Holy Spirit by Rebecca Brogan

Holy Spirit, pour out your power
Holy Spirit, pour out your presence
Holy Spirit, pour out your truth
Holy Spirit, pour out your life
Grace upon grace
Strength upon strength
Life upon life

Acts 2:17-18
In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.

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Holy Spirit, Holy One
Holy Spirit, Descending Dove
Alight on me that I may know your presence
Anoint me that I may know your call
Fill me that I may know your power
Guide me that I may know your path
Name me that I may know, that I know, that I know who I am
Amen

Matthew 3:16-17
And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

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Holy Spirit, come again as Guiding Fire,
Lighting the way though our wilderness
Come, Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit, come again as Cleansing Fire,
Burning away all that is false and fruitless
Come, Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit, come again as Refining Fire,
Making our words, our ways, and our hearts pure
Come, Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit, come again as Prophetic Fire,
Releasing the Gospel shut up in our bones
Come, Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit, come again as Empowering Fire,
Granting gifts to heal and transform the world
Come, Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit, come again as Unifying Fire,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Amen

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Three Holy Spirit Prayers © 2019 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
Leave a comment for information and permission to publish this work in any form.

Growing in Resilience: Lead On, based on Isaiah 42.16

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walk-shoes-walking-feet-grey-gravel-1-1024x534Growing in Resilience
Day 3, Read Isaiah 42
Reflection: Lead On, based on Isaiah 42:16

I will lead the blind by a road they do not know, by paths they have not known. I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I will do, and I will not forsake them. 

Darkness looms before us
Isolation, Prejudice, Falsehood,
Division, Fear, Hardheartedness,
Evil, Injustice, and Oppression in all the forms they present themselves

We are blind
Unable to see the answers
and the other

We are blind
Groping for a path through this valley of shadows
A way forward

We are blind, but we are not forsaken
You see what we cannot
And you are near
With us and for us

Even the darkness is not dark to you
The night is as bright as the day

The way is unknown to us, but not to you
It is new to us, but not to you
You go before us
Leading
Guiding
Leveling the ground
Turning the darkness into light

Hallelujah!
Lead on, Savior
Lead on
We surrender and follow
Lead on!

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Click Here for more on the Growing in Resilience Reading Plan sponsored by Bishop Ken Carter and the Cabinet of the Florida Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. 

Lead On © 2018 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
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