Quotes and Phrases from Brother Lawrence

Quotes to be remember from Brother Lawrence (1611 -1691):

• To that end I know the heart must be empty of all else, for God wishes to be its only processor without emptying it of all that is not Himself.
• It is not needful always to be in church to be with God. We can make a chapel of our heart, to which we can from time to time withdraw to have gentle, humble, loving communion with Him.
• I work before God simply in faith, with humility and with love, and I apply myself to do nothing, say nothing and think nothing, which can displease Him.
• Our sole business in this life is to please God.
• God seems to choose those who had been the greatest sinners to bestow upon them His greatest favours.
• I looked on Him in my heart as my Father and my God. I worshipped Him there as often as I could, holding my spirit in His holy presence, and recalling Him to mind as often as I found myself turned aside from Him.
• God very well knows what is our need, and all He does is for our benefit. If we knew how much He loves us, we should be every ready to receive equally at His hand the sweet and the bitter. Even the most painful things and the most hard would be sweet and pleasing to us.

Spiritual Principles:

To look always to God and His glory in all that we do, say and undertake; that the end we seek should be to become faultless worshippers of God in this life as we hope to be throughout eternity.

Practices Essential to Acquire the Spiritual Life

The most holy practice, the nearest to daily life, and the most essential for the spiritual life, is the practice of the presence of God.

To worship Him in Spirit And in Truth:

God is spirit and he must indeed be worshipped in truth – that is to say by a humble and genuine worship of the spirit in the depth and centre of our soul.

It is God alone who can see this worship, a worship we can so often repeat that the end it becomes as it were natural, as if God were one with our soul and our soul one with God. Practice makes this clear.

To worship God in truth is to recognise Him for what He is and to recognise ourselves for what we are.

Concerning the Presence of God

The presence of God is a directing of our spirit to God or a present remembrance of God which can come about either through the imagination or the understanding.

Means of Attaining the Presence of God: a great purity of life & a great faithfulness in the practice of this presence.

Bibliography:

"The Practice of the Presence of God", Brother Lawrence, translated by E.M. Blaiklock, foreword by Jennifer Rees Larcombe, Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, London 1981.

Sharing from Workplace

My current occupation as a customer service coordinator..

I have been working for almost 9 months. Do I like it ? not really. But i live with it, without a choice.
I got this job: by grace. (Dec 2010)
I never ever even thought about applying for customer service job.(In fact, I didn't apply. A kind hearted manager approached me in church and I was given this job).

Some background, Before and After:

Honestly I admitted that I did and maybe do, or do, have problems with people and temper.
I prefered a quiet environment of work, where I did not have to speak to strangers everyday, with no disruption when I am doing work. Another thing is, I am so used to solitary and I love it. Being alone doing work, had been my life for years.

My academic life requires me to spend a lot of time alone. I could shut myself in a library reading and practicing for whole day, without talking to a single soul. I was a student, who preferred to eat alone so that I could spend time studying. I was friendless even in few uni subjects, without an inkling of the need of a company.

These moulded my characters to be a perfectionist, a loner and an independent individual. Followed by this, ended up working in a hectic place where I committed, I strived, climbed to the top, became on of the best. Yet, my temper was built up lot there, being impatient, being easily angered or "manipulation" of stuff were a daily norm of behaviour that did not only acceptted as tolerable, but sometimes are required.

Then after I quit the company, I was jobless for 8 months, depressed due to personal problem, and desperate for a job in 2010..

22th December 2010, I was accepted in the current place.

Initially, it was a really hard place to work due to the huge differences in the environment in comparison to my uni and previous work situation. Like it or not, I need to talk, forced to accept complaints and learned to be patient.

I sort of asking for mercy.. begging and telling myself that : One day, you have to get out from this place.
And the more I cried out, the more I struggled...and the more depressed I become at work. Sanctification and denying the true you is extremely hard.

mid April 2011...
Finally, I started to realise that, I have to pray for the work place. Then I took a day in a week to start praying for the place. May the Lord bless this place, that's the main point, bless the souls, save the souls. And change myself, for I realise that my being here ... have to be the light of the place..
It doesn't have to be a long prayer.. but I believe that, when we do it, faithfully, God works.

As for me, I was undergoing a hard changes. I realise that God put me here for a training. To learn to talk. To learn to rejoice, to learn to smile and care and BE HUMBLE. Scolded and being complained sometimes, but what else I could do, then just keep my mouth zipped..It is hard, but whenever I started to let my nature to have the stage, " No " and " SHut Up" are the frequent terms, bombarding my heart.

Gradually

The more we obey, the more we realise, it is He taking over us.
To be honest, the job is still very boring and dry (honestly), but I live with it. Believing that one day I still could go out for the place.But not now.

Sometimes, I received gifts from customers ( clothes, books, foods that I never expect and I did not deserve these. And I wonder, why did these people buy me stuff ? They do touch my heart..and will be remembered.

I myself still have struggles with my flesh, with all the weaknesses I have and yes, I do need His strength to be patient daily, to care, to at least be nice to customer, and to remember HIm. Daily prayer before work is important. I humbly encourage you all to give 5 mins prayer before you work or class or exam or etc.

Epilogue

Remember Joseph ? Who was sent to Potiphar's house and the place was bless ? I believe that when His presence is in us, He controls the place. No one could harm you unless He permits. And the place would have a different atmosphere.

Sometimes, God led us to a place or a situation, where we complainted a lot. Yet, in the end, we never know that, He is planning of something and His plan would never be as what we thought.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)