WWJD: Living in the NOW ... God at it again ...

It's very strange when one sets one's mind or heart to do a thing and then God continues to bring it to one's attention. I'm talking about living in the NOW ... something on which Ann Voskamp, Lilias Trotter, and Farrell Mason have focused lately. Today, I was sifting through a stack of papers and found a book a friend gave me. The Devotional Paintings of Ron DiCianni. Here is what he said in the Introduction:

"At this juncture of life and work, I have begun to ask myself some very hard, deep questions, not the least of which is, 'Where do I go from here?' ... Frankly, I don't know, nor do I care. I have come to treat every day as a gift from God and to try to do my best to obey and serve Him as my King, one day at a time. ... It just doesn't matter to me anymore what God has in store. As long as His presence is with me, I'm okay. Whatever He allows, as long as His hand holds mine, I'm okay. Wherever He sends me, as long as He comes with me, I'm okay. ... I'm not saying I'm there yet; I'm saying my heart is.
Theresa of Avila noted:
'Here is a secret: God's love and His humility can never exist in you unless you grow in this state of detachment from everything that is of this world. As long as any created thing has power over you, you cannot 'rule' over it in the love and humility of our King.'"

At church yesterday a number of people asked me how I was doing, how was the search going, where was I living, how was I living ... etc., etc.? I responded with something like, "I am doing well. Really and truly well because a little while ago I decided to do my best to live in the NOW and see each day as a gift from God, a gift of His Presence with me. He will take care of the future. Oh, I still search for what is next, but my eyes are wide open for the possibilities He is bringing me today. It has made a wonderful difference in living life." Strangely enough, they didn't exactly know how to respond. I can't blame them for that. We have a tendency to put upon another how we think he/she should respond vs. allowing his/her own response. These kinds of interchanges encourage me that this "living in the NOW, in today, in the present" ... this is what we need to encourage one another to do! It is the only way the troubles and cares and difficulties and challenges of this life will not rule us. Will we still have them? Yes! But, living in the NOW gives the mind of the heart the ability to rule over them "in the love and humility of our King" who is always present with us!

I hope the following DiCianni meditations will encourage you to living in the NOW ... perhaps, God is speaking to you too?