None of us is perfect. We all make mistakes. God knows that we cannot be perfect. He doesn’t expect it. He forgives our mistakes. Mistakes are fine as long as we learn from them. Hopefully we won’t make the same mistakes more than once.
Category: understand
Answers
Be careful what you ask of God. There will be answers. It’s just that the answer may change everything.
Prove God?
Reason is the greatest enemy that faith has: it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but—-more frequently than not—-struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God. Martin Luther
It is so easy to believe in things that can be proved. Grass is green….the sky is blue. We can see those things for ourselves. Faith in God is a leap into the unknown. A step into something that is not physical and according to reason cannot be proved. What we don’t realize is there a many things that we can’t prove. Can I prove that I love someone? Only by actions and words. There is no science that can test it.
When science want to mock belief in God because God cannot be proved remember there are other things we have faith in that have no scientific proof.
Children of God
(Julian of Norwich)She says that Christ is the one who connects us to the “great root” of our being. . . . [1] “God is our mother as truly as God is our father,” she says. [2] We come from the Womb of the Eternal. We are not simply made by God; we are made “of God.” [3] So we encounter the energy of God in our true depths. And we will know the One from whom we have come only to the extent that we know ourselves. God is the “ground” of life. [4] So it is to the very essence of our being that we look for God. . . . (from Richard Rohr )
I had to read this several times to see it’s power. Being “of God” is a revelation. We are born out of God and so contain God within us as much as we contain the parts of our human parents. We have to search our deepest depths and find the roots of God in us. Not an easy task. It requires deep reflection in silence.
See the heart
We do often judge by appearance. It is such as easy thing to do. We choose those who seem like us and we don’t look beneath the surface. God looks at the heart. If we can learn to do the same we will find the most amazing people.
Know that God always sees you heart and loves you.
Stories
Have you noticed that Jesus rarely answered questions. Most of the time he told stories. We call them parables. He was one of the best storytellers of all time. His stories always had a moral and always left us thinking about the meaning. Stories stick with people better than anything else. It is hard to forget about the Prodigal Son or the Good Samaritan. If we grew up Christian just the mention of these stories brings up images. Go to the New Testament. Pick out and read the stories.
Watch out for idols
Happiness resides not in possessions, and not in gold, happiness dwells in the soul. Democritus
The Bible talks about making idols. Do we realize what those are? They are not statues made of gold but the things we love more than God. Idols can be money, possessions, power….anything that gets in the way of putting God first. Our happiness comes from loving God and knowing that we are loved.
Starving amid abundance
Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death! From Auntie Mame
This is so true. I wonder how often we stop to savor just being alive. Are we thankful for what we have instead of longing for what we don’t have.? Most of us in this county are so blessed compared to those living in third world countries. My husband and I lived in Panama for a while ( Many years ago) and it made me decide that everyone in this country should have to live in a place of horrible poverty and need for a least a year.
Take time to be aware of your blessings. Thank God always.
Loving God, forgive us for our lack of vision. We do not see the good around us as often as we should. Help us to see our blessings and give thanks. AMEN
Could you?
I decided it is better to scream. . . . Silence is the real crime against humanity.
-Nadezhda Mandelstam, author
Most of us are aware that when something evil is going on silence allows it to continue. God calls us to step up. One who did and forfeited his life was Dietrich Bonhoeffer. During Hitler’s reign he left a place of safety in Britain and the US to return to Germany and work against Hitler. He was executed only a short while before the end of the war.
How many of us would be willing to go to prison or give our life to stop evil? I hope I would. Would you?
Gracious God, give us the strength and courage to face and fight evil. AMEN
Compassion is learned
Suffering is a journey deeper into the heart of life. From the movie The Human Experience
How shallow we can be if we have had very little problems in our lives. We just float through each day wondering why other people seem to struggle so. Compassion for those suffering is hard to grasp since we have nothing to measure it against. Travail in life is not what we would choose. But the fire of its pain brings the beauty of understanding and love for those who suffer.
Compassionate God, you sent you son to suffer and in so doing chose to experience our pain, sorrow, and grief. Help us to use what we have learned in our own trials to ease the path of others.
Hear God in Other Voices 