HIGHWAY 555
HIGHWAY 555
IN THE FOOTSTEPS of Brother Lawrence
“Lord, give more expanse and more opening to the faculties of my soul, so that I may give more place to Your love, or else sustain me by Your all-powerful strength, for otherwise, I will be consumed by the flames of Your divine love!”
THIRTY-ONE
“For, it no longer matters to me what I may do, or what I may suffer, provided that I remain lovingly united to His will, which is my only concern.”
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“I am doing what I will do throughout eternity. I am blessing God, I am praising God, and I am adoring and loving Him with all my heart. This sums up our entire call and duty, brothers, to adore God and to love Him, without worrying about the rest.”
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“We must give ourselves entirely and in complete abandonment to God, both in temporal and spiritual matters. We must find our contentment in the execution of His will, whether He leads us by sufferings or by consolations, so that everything should seem the same to a person who has truly abandoned himself. We must remain faithful in the dry periods by which God proves our love for Him. In this way we make fruitful acts of surrender and abandonment. A single act of this kind enables us to make much progress along the pathway.”
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“Complete abandonment to God is the safe path and is the way that enables us always to have light with which to guide ourselves.”
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“The goal we ought to set for ourselves is to be, starting in this present life, the most perfect worshippers of God that it is possible for a person to be, which is what we hope to do throughout eternity.”
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“I have left off all devotions and prayers which are not required for me, and I occupy myself solely with keeping myself in God’s holy presence. I do this simply by keeping my attention on God and by being generally and lovingly aware of Him. This could be called practicing the presence of God moment by moment, or to put it better, a silent, secret and nearly unbroken conversation of the soul with God.”
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“We ought to stop for a short moment, as frequently as we can, to adore God deep within our hearts and take pleasure in Him, even though we have to do this momentarily and in secret. Since you are not unmindful of the fact that God is present before you as you carry out your duties, and you know that He is at the depth and center of your soul, why not stop from time to time, whatever you are doing –– even if you are praying aloud –– to adore Him inwardly, to praise Him, to beseech Him, to offer your heart to Him, and to thank Him?”
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“I only want Him and I only want to be entirely His.”
My Bride will have a heart focused on and contained by Me.
THIRTY-TWO
“If you wish to make great progress in the life of the spirit, do not pay any attention at all to the beautiful words or the subtle discourses of the worldly-wise of the earth. Woe to those who look to the wisdom of men to satisfy their curiosity. It is the Creator who teaches the truth, who instructs the heart of the humble, and makes it understand more in a moment about the mystery of our faith and about God Himself than if it had meditated on them for many years.”
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“It is not necessary to have either a keen intellect of great knowledge to go to God, but simply a heart resolved to apply itself to Him and for Him, and to love only Him.”
Tree of knowledge or LIFE in ME? Many seek to gain knowledge to prove themselves wise, and yet, the wisest of men are those who humble themselves before Me and draw ever so near to know My Thoughts, to dream My dreams, to walk My Path.
“Being always with God who is a consuming fire, this fire of sacred love reduces to ashes all that can be opposed to it. The soul, so kindled, can no longer live except in the presence of its God. This divine presence produces in the heart a holy ardor, a sacred zeal and a passionate desire to see God loved, known, served, and worshipped by all creation.”
* All quotes taken from “The Practice of the Presence of God” translated by Robert J. Edmonson