Month: January 2025 (Page 3 of 4)

How can we live our own journey well? One thing we are told is to travel light. We don’t need to be weighed down with worldly things but seek the Lord first and let Him add to our lives as He sees best. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 633) We also need to live in the present moment and be aware of His grace to us and presence in our lives. It is good to go for walks in nature and commune with the Lord and to live in openness to hear His voice and listen to Him. We also need to remove things from our lives that take our attention and time so we can focus on Him and become more like Him. Changes may come quietly and unnoticed at first, but He is all the while working in us, so we don’t need to get impatient. We must always remember to read His Word and let it work on us and transform us. We can listen to it, sing it, read it, share it, but all the while letting it sink in and let our hearts be changed by it.

We are to be open to God’s grace and how He may be working in our lives, not necessarily like someone else’s life. We are to keep our eyes and ears and hearts and minds open to new things the Lord has for us. Ours is a journey of faith and we are to trust and walk with Him in faith.

Thomas Merton wrote in his notebook shortly before he died,

                                     “Our real journey in life is interior

                                      It is a matter of growth,

                                      deepening,

                                     and of an even greater surrender to the creative action

                                      of love and grace in our hearts.”

Let us journey well and surrender ourselves daily to the Lord as we travel light and seek His will in all things.

Paul says in Gal. 5:1, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”  Eugene Peterson writes how in Christ we are free to respond to God and grow and take a stand against the tides of our culture. We must be vigilant also that we don’t lose our freedom or let anyone bring us into slavery again. But what do we do with our freedom after we come to know the Lord and He sets us free? After the Israelites were set free from slavery to Pharoah, they had a slave mentality, and it took 40 years in the wilderness for them to learn to depend on God and to live free by faith. In some ways it would have been easier for them to return to Egypt where they had a daily work routine and a slave mentality rather than the new life of freedom as they walked in the wilderness with all its dangers, as well as excitement.

Paul also cautions us not to use our freedom as an opportunity to feed our selfish flesh nature and getting our own way all the time. He said, instead we are to love, and as an expression of love be servants of one another. When we don’t see others through the eyes of God’s love, we look at them as hindrances to getting our own way.  Instead, as we walk in the Spirit, we will go the way of love, that flows out towards others and in the process, we come to know our true self.

I want to share a small recent blessing that Al was so grateful for and expressed thanks over a dozen times. Each New Year’s Day, Al likes to take the day off and watch football most of the day, which is quite unusual from much of his day being spent in his study. Now I know that food is an important part of the games, and one of the things I made Al was a Hot Pizza Dip with lots of pepperoni and cheese; all he had to do is hold a big dip platter on his lap with lots of chips and a drink on a small side table. He smiled from ear to ear. Later I was making frosting for Oh Henry bars that I had baked and there was lots of thick chocolate/butterscotch frosting left in the dish. I thought about the Butter Pecan ice cream I had bought for company and had plenty left so just put several big scoops in the chocolatey dish. Al’s eyes expressed surprise and so much gratitude. These things were so little and yet Al was so appreciative and happy, and the next day was still thanking me.

Oh, that we would be like that before the Lord, and pay attention to His goodness to us, even the smallest of blessings. We are told in Eph. 5:20, “Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Being thankful in the little things will help us have a positive attitude towards the big things and leaves us feeling joyful. We will not only have a positive attitude, but we will find we are drawn closer to the Lord. Our thanksgiving is really an act of worship as we acknowledge His provision and faithfulness and love. May our actions and words and attitude reflect a grateful heart.

All of us can fall for the enemy’s lies that may open us to self-medicating or falling into addictions, substance abuse, gambling etc. to try to dull the inner pain we have that somehow, we don’t measure up. There are so many today that are addicted but it is important not to see the addiction as the problem but the underlying wounds that caused the problem in the first place. We read of the many young people today that are lonely and empty and given up on life. What is their larger story of the cause of the pain? It could be feeling unwanted and uncared for, not fitting in or feeling accepted, abuse, traumas, etc. and they often try to dull the pain and before long find themselves addicted. Chuck DeGroat, a seminary professor, shares in his book, Healing What’s Within, about how important it is to find the reason that the person disconnected from their true self in the first place to dull their pain. He said, “The opposite of addiction is not sobriety but connection.”

Maybe someone reading this today is addicted to pornography, video games, alcohol or a host of other things as an attempt to medicate feelings of disconnection and deficiency. But the secret to feeling secure and connected is to turn to the Lord and let Him treat our wounds with compassion. It may include Christian counseling to find the ways we have used to self-medicate, and then to let the Lord meet our deepest needs. Jesus invites us to go to Him, “Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matt. 11:28-29)

Hope you had a good New Year’s Day! Al started out the New Year with a smile as he got his favorite snacks and treats as he watched football. Today gets back to normal and I am going for my treatment, and Al will be going to Men’s group and doing the Bible study this afternoon. Also, Donut Day!

Many people suffer from anxiety and have feelings of worthlessness as they zero in on all the areas that are needing attention. But we also need to be gentle with ourselves and know that God has His timing and we don’t have to figure it all out, if we can give it to the Lord with an open heart. Sometimes the more obvious things we think need fixing in us, is not at all where the Lord goes to work first. Our wounds often make us feel disconnected from our true selves and sometimes from the Lord. But instead of going to the Lord, we may hide from him and from others and reveal someone other than our real self.

To be sure we all suffer in life and for some the healing takes longer. Most likely we will have to do lots of forgiving. But when we get to the place that we can forgive whatever was done to us or what we did to ourselves we may wonderfully experience that All is Well. But in the meantime, let us be patient and open and vulnerable and let the Lord guide the healing process on His timetable.