Meanderings Along the Way

Welcome to the official blog of GEM's Spiritual Life Team.

Blog posts on everything related to the spiritual life, updated weekly.

Relentless Joy and a Love Supreme

By | July 20, 2020 |
black turntable on brown wooden table

by Leslie Hall “Remain in Me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.” (John 15:4, NIV) These words from Pete Grieg have stuck with me throughout this season of lockdown, disruption, and loss…

God’s-Kind-of-Love

By | July 13, 2020 |
time lapse photography of fire

by Doug Mitts I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them. (John 17:26, NAS95) You could say that I operate at a very slow speed. Or maybe my interior held too much chaos…

Listening to Love

By | July 6, 2020 |
man in gray long sleeve shirt sitting on chair

by Karen Kurth The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the…

An Interceding Spirit

By | May 25, 2020 |
selective focus of pink petaled flower

by Karen Huber “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance…

Hush, Be Still

By | May 19, 2020 |
seashore with sea during golden hour

by Doug Mitts And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. (Mark 4:39, NAS95) It surprised me. Almost ten days ago, I simply sat, listening to the Spirit through the Word of God. What sort of conversation…

Everyday Obedience

By | May 11, 2020 |
person holding white plastic pump bottle

by Fred Swartz “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25, ESV) Once when I was on a bus the Holy Spirit gave me a message for a guy that I watched get on the bus, then He said not to pursue any conversation with him…

The Lord’s Ways

By | May 4, 2020 |
silhouette of person standing on grass field under cloudy sky during daytime

by Lena Larsen Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” (Psalm 25:4-5, NIV) One of my most frequent prayers is for God’s direction or guidance in some matter. But the…

When the Exiled (or Quarantined) Lived

By | March 30, 2020 |
bird's-eye view of village in between mountain

by Karen Huber This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so…

Faith Lived

By | March 23, 2020 |
person holding small beans

by Jazz Becker “You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected.” (James 2:22, NASB) At one point while living in Hawaii, I felt that God had more for me than just the temp jobs I’d been doing for many years since graduating from college.…

Familiarity with God

By | March 16, 2020 |
flock of birds flying over the sea

by Doug Mitts “…for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord.” (Acts 11:24, NAS95) Barnabas had a lead role in both the start and expansion of the church. I think the secret of Barnabas’s lived faith has to do with…