Category: Sister Judy (Page 1 of 272)

How can we make Christmas less stressful and glean the real meaning? I still give family photo cards and a Christmas letter with personal comments, as I love getting them from others and catching up with their families. We have been doing this for about sixty years, and many we send are to those we pray for daily. But the day may come when we say that is enough, and we put our family card on Facebook and hope our friends and family see it. What about gift giving? This is something that can be evaluated each year, whether we want to do that with family members or maybe we choose to give to special needs in our community or world. Some families may opt to go on a family trip, or experience some special event or activity together as a family rather than individual gifts. It saves a lot of time shopping and can bring family closer together with precious memories.

One discipline that I try to practice at different times is solitude. It means slowing down and quieting myself and being alone with the Lord. Since Al has his study to do that in, it makes it easier for me to have time alone and to sit in our bedroom rocker quietly waiting on the Lord. This discipline is somewhat difficult for me, as I usually wake up energized and ready to start baking or working around the apartment. I am learning not to feel guilty when I just sit with the Lord and be myself before Him. It also helps me be present to others.

Silence is easier for me since I am an introvert and love a quiet house, especially early in the morning. This discipline is not just about outward silence, but inward quietness as well. It is easy to jump from one thought to another, thinking of what we need to do, processing, reflecting, etc. Most of us don’t need more thinking and doing, but silence to quiet down, know ourselves and be known by God. It is a time we may see into our own hearts and get in touch with our limits and weaknesses, but also to experience the love of our Father.

Another discipline that is mentioned in the book, The Relational Soul, is contemplative reading of Scripture. This reading is not to master the text, find answers to our questions, or gain more knowledge, but to let the scripture read us. We try to put ourselves in the story and gain greater trust in the Lord. We sense and enjoy His presence and listen to His voice. We first read a scripture slowly and listen with our hearts. Next time we read, we place ourselves in the scripture and ask ourselves, “What would God be saying to me?” And then we respond, pray for clarity and rest in His love.

Some may want to go on to the discipline of contemplative prayer, which is being still and listening as it says in Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God!” We simply enjoy His presence, live in His love and be present with Him without words, for they are no longer necessary.

The apostle Paul invited the people in Corinth to see how personally inadequate they were. He says not many are wise by human standards, not many were influential or of noble birth. (I Cor. 1:26) That didn’t bother Paul for he goes on to say, “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” I just love this scripture, and I remember how it ministered to my heart many years ago when I was preparing to speak for two workshops at a large conference. I felt so inadequate and fearful. When a team came that was assigned to come to pray for me before speaking, it was the very scripture what was given me…exactly what I needed, for I knew it had to be all the Lord, that “my faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

Yes, all of us are inadequate and not in control, but like Ortberg said, “God is bigger than your but…whatever that but is. We might say we are weak and not qualified to do what God is asking of us, but when He calls us His grace is totally sufficient.”

God wants to heal us from whatever evil has happened in our lives, but we need to give it to Him. We might feel like a caterpillar that is all bound up in a cocoon and can’t move. When we are willing to give everything to the Lord, it is like we open up, shake our wrinkles away as beautiful changes take place, and we can fly freely as that butterfly.

We are loved so much by our Heavenly Father, and He desires to restore us so we don’t have to continue to live in the pain of the past. Then we can come to Him as our true selves and worship Him with hearts set free. I was reading from John 4:23-24 of Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well who had had five husbands and was now living with another man. Jesus’ words, “It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for who are simply and honestly themselves before Him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship Him must do it out of their very being, their spirits their true selves, in adoration.”

We can become the true persons God created us to be as we give everything to the Lord, including our past, and let Him heal us. Then we can be free and worship and love Him from our true selves.

Paul could have started his letter with saying, “You have no idea what I have been through sitting on the floor in this cold prison; and although you sent me Epaphroditus to meet my needs he was sick and I had to care for him. Not only that, but I worry about you that you will be taken in by false teachers, or that the Euodia and Syntyche’s disagreement will affect the rest of the church, etc.” No, Paul is full of encouragement and thankfulness and tells how even his trials are bearing fruit with the imperial guard, etc.

The first thing that spoke to me was in chapter 2 where Paul says, “In humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look out not only for his own interest, but also for the interests of others.” Another version says to put yourself aside and not think of your own advantage but “forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.” I thought of someone I had a concern for, and rather than mull over what the person was possibly experiencing, I prayed as Paul said in the 4^th chapter, “Don’t worry about anything but in everything through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” So that’s what I stopped to do and what followed was, “The peace of God which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

We can do that with every concern that arises in our lives each day. Rather than keep focused on the situation, simply pray and give it to the Lord who sees the whole picture!

All of us need to learn better how to detach from clinging to things and wanting more. When we went to Mexico and visited their little makeshift homes, they wanted to always give something to us. It was hard to accept from them as it came from such sacrificial giving. Others who have much often fear losing what they have find it hard to let it go. But the process of detachment for Christians is not to stop loving things and people of this world, but to love them more truly in God.  We let go in order to love more and gain more freedom and joy in the Lord who satisfies our heart’s desires!

It helps if we remember that things in life are only lent to us and we don’t own them. Then as we let them go it is without pain for they never belonged to us in the first place. We will find we experience interior freedom in our hearts as we no longer trust in things or long for them, but trust ourselves into our Father’s care. Some people have great riches but are not possessed by them. Others may have a lot or even a little but long for more and are never satisfied. When we give more of our time and attention to getting more things of the world than giving attention to God, it becomes idolatry.  The writer to the Hebrews said, “Keep your life free from love of money and be content with what you have for He has said, ‘I will never fail you nor forsake you.’”