Category: more

Thrilling Guest Thursday: Jeanie Kelley


Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This isn’t a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in.
(Matthew 7:7-8 The Message)

 
Please welcome my journaling and writing friend, Jeanie Kelley. Jeanie has a blog where she shares insights from life and the Bible studies that she enjoys online with Melissa Taylor and her Online Bible Studies.
 
Here’s a recent post from Jeanie, where she shares about her cats and perservering prayer in Cats Alive and Begging:
 
Who does not love an animal especially a cat? In our marriage, we have had a total of four cats and they can do all the craziest things to make a person stop and think. What brings to my mind is how a cat can beg so sympathetically and eat the crumbs off the floor just like a dog. In a way, our cats are like dogs. They have quirks that make them act like a dog. Take for instance, when we have sat down to a meal. We see that the cats have came to call looking for that proverbial morsel on the floor. They lick them up and are waiting enthusiastically for more. It is kind of like Oliver Twist by Dickens where he says to the cook,”Please sir,I want some more.” That is what seems is happening with our fine feline friends. They keep saying I want some more.
Click here to read more . . .
 
 
And now introducing, Jeannie’s current furried friends . . .  read more about them here.




Lupas



Tilq
Posted on by kelrohlf 3

The More and Muchness

 
 
 
 
 
A couple weeks ago, I mentioned my quest to learn more about the Spiritual Exercises developed by St. Ignatius, so today I wanted to share a little more.
 
His mission statement for himself and the Jesuits was “Ad majorem Dei gloriam” (which translated means “To the greater glory of God.”)
 
Another Latin word associated with his vision for followers of Christ was “magis,” which means “the more.”
 
St. Ignatius would ask himself, “What have I done for God? What am I doing for God? and What MORE can I do for Him?”
 
When I discovered the concept of “magis,” my mind turned to words in English that might come from this root, like majesty, magnificent, and magnitude. Anything more that I could do for God, would have to be in response to His majesty, magnificence and magnanimous love.
 
This idea of giving more to God can seem daunting and may even feel like pressure, but I am not thinking of obligation, but rather adoration, like the woman who wept and washed Jesus feet with her tears.
 
The more I comprehend His great love and my great need, the greater my expression of love will be.
 
Jesus said the greatest commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength”(Mark 12:30).
 
In a commentary that compares the various times this command is quoted in both the Old and New Testament, the author explains that the word for strength translates as “muchness,” which made me smile.
 
What does loving God with all my muchness look like? It sounds a lot like what St. Igatius was aiming at with his “Ad majorem Dei gloriam!” Or as a famous hymn writer once wrote: “To God be the glory!” Loving God with all our being brings Him such joy.
 
And Jesus doesn’t ask us to stop there. He asks for more. He wants us to love one another as He loves us. That’s almost too much for me, I scarce can take it in. How about you?
 


Posted on by kelrohlf 0

More: A Greater Quantity, Number or Amount

Monday Musings

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:19-20 NIV


Last week, I was sitting in my chair staring into space. I must admit, I was having a silent pity party. Lamenting over disappointments and discouragements, basically despairing because I didn’t think God was listening or answering or even noticing how things have been going here on earth lately. I was entertaining hopelessness. Just at that moment, I looked up at the wall across the room. On this wall is a plaque with words.

About halfway down the list of exhortations on the wall hanging, one phrase states: “Hope more.”
 
 

 I laughed nervously to myself, and then confessed to God that I really haven’t been hoping much at all. My faith falters, my life languishes and I am plain weary of waiting for something new or good to happen.

After that little tirade, the phone rang and it was my mom with some hopeful ideas for a trying situation. The directive to hope more, bubbled up inside. Maybe God was listening after all. Maybe He does really care. And what He really cares about more than my happiness or the right answer is that I know and believe and trust His love.

May this day bring you a greater awareness of God’s hope and more grace than you can imagine.

 

 
Posted on by kelrohlf 3