Category: Sister Judy (Page 224 of 271)

Devotions based on Trevor Hudson’s book, Discovering our Spiritual Identity

The kingdom of God has come near and we are urged to repent and believe ( Mark 1:15). Repentance involves a complete turnabout of our mind and outlook that turns us in a new direction, changes our distorted attitudes, and gives our lives a new center.  It is a turning toward Jesus and accepting the gifts of the kingdom that He offers us. As He changes our distorted attitudes which block us from living free and joy-filled lives, He gives us new vision. We begin to think differently about ourselves, about material things, about what is sacred etc. God wants to transform our whole lives! Repentance gives us a new center where God is at the hub of our lives. From early childhood we think that we are the center of the universe and it’s all about our desires and needs. But as our lives become part of His kingdom. He becomes the center of our lives. Belief also opens us to receive God’s gift of the kingdom. It means committing ourselves  to Him in surrender.  It means learning from Him how to live and entrusting ourselves to Him as Lord. This is not done as a one time thing but is a life time experience of shifting from self-centeredness to God-centeredness. We cannot rely on our own strength but we need His constant presence in our every day lives to live out the Kingdom.

Devotions based on Trevor Hudson’s book Discovering our Spiritual Identity

 Growing deeper in our Christian lives requires community. When we say Yes to Christ we are also saying yes to His family, for we cannot be His followers alone. Within this community we gradually become the people God wants us to be. We are interdependent in our growth into wholeness as we accept one another, serve one another, bear one another’s burdens etc. ( Rom. 15:7) We can also learn from the lives of those who have gone before us who leave us their example and treasures. One of  God’s gifts to us is to be grounded in our local congregations  to experience Koinonia…the Greek word for fellowship. This refers to life- sharing with God and one another at the deepest levels. Such times give us mutual encouragement, care, and celebration. These groups should create a safe, spacious, and sacred space for us to share ourselves in honest disclosure. We all need support and the gift of real friendship from those who accept us as we are, listen to us attentively, and are committed to mutual interaction. Of all the gifts He provides for us, what is better than the presence of faithful friends?  Without them we block the road to wholeness, and fail to become all that He intends for us. “Faithful friendship is God’s disguised way of befriending us with His encouraging, life-enriching presence”.

Devotions based on Trevor Hudson’s book, Discovering our Spiritual Identity

Jesus said, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32) The kingdom is wherever the loving will of the Father reigns.  We don’t have to wait until we die for the kingdom, but it’s all about learning to live as beloved daughters and sons of the King. We can begin learning what it means to live within its presence.  We can experience its gradual transformation in our everyday lives.  His kingdom is a gift that we must receive.  We live either with clenched fists or open hands.  Clenched fists distance us from intimacy with God as we try to keep Him outside our lives at arms length. We say no to God and the gift of His kingdom. But if we live with open hands we are saying yes and our desire is to receive all that He desires to give us. We are saying we are willing to let God be God in our lives and to let Him lead and guide us. It also opens us up to those around us. If this is our desire we can express this by opening our hands as we pray today.

Devotions based on Trevor Hudson’s book, Discovering Our Spiritual Identity

Daily reflection is another way we develop a Christian memory and as we practice this it keeps our remembering up to date.  No day is empty of God’s presence! God is always trying to get our attention and give us fresh glimpses of His loving presence. He uses the people we meet, the work we do, the difficulties we face etc.  If we would just pause a few minutes before we go to sleep it would create space for us to reflect on how God has been with us over the past day and how we have responded. The author calls it his daily reflection. It is simply going over our day to see where we need to be thankful for. Then ask the Spirit to show us what He wants us to see and to reveal where He has been present in our day. What is has He been asking of us?  We can reflect on our moods during the day to see if we need to ask the Lord for forgiveness when we didn’t respond to His love. WE can ask God for help and guidance for the next day.

As we do this reflection time, it helps us sense the promptings of the Spirit and to get a better picture of where the Lord is leading us. What better way to spend the last 5 or 10 minutes of our day?

Devotions based on Trevor Hudson’s book, Discovering our Spiritual Identity

Another dimension of Christian memory is the remembering of our own personal stories.  Our lives are never secular. They are sacred journeys in which God is constantly involved, always wanting to show us His word and love.  It is good to reflect on our life journey and remember the people who have touched our lives with kindness and warmth. Through these experiences, God has been working in our lives before we were even aware of Him. God has been present within them!  We may also have painful memories that are hard to bear. If we push them under the carpet it will cripple our capacities to live and love fully. Henri Nouwen said, “Forgetting the past is like turning our most intimate teacher against us.”  We probably all need a human wailing wall- a person who can sit with us alongside our pain and be an embodiment of His compassion and comfort. Christ fully understands and shares our suffering, and His living presence is at work in every painful memory of the past, seeking to bring forth another Easter. The resurrection power of God’s love cancels the power of the hurtful memories.  If we expose our painful past to the light and power of Christ, healing will come to the wounded child within us. Isn’t that good news!!

Devotions based on Trevor Hudson’s book. Discovering our Spiritual Identity

Our faith is grounded in remembrance- we are called to remember God’s presence in the gospel life of Jesus, in our own personal stories and in our daily lives.
The Psalmist says, “I remember you, O Lord.”  And Jesus himself said in connection with the breaking of bread to “Do this in remembrance of me.”

We all carry memories in our hearts, and when we look back on where we have come, we may see more clearly, we may be renewed, and we may have a deeper sense of who we are.
Often we may ask ourselves how we can deepen our friendship with the Lord? The author is saying, “Keep company with Jesus in the gospels”.  As we follow Jesus through the pages of the gospels, we are reminded of what God is like. Jesus becomes a living presence and we begin to sense what He wants for our daily lives. As we read through the gospels we can notice the way Jesus relates to people, hear the message he brings, watch what he does etc. And as we remember God’ loving presence in the past it makes His presence real within the present

Devotions based on Trevor Hudson’s book, Discovering our Spiritual Identity

Within each of us there is a picture of God that has been formed over the years and it influences how we live our daily lives.  When distortions creep into our picture of God, they have negative effects throughout our lives. Ex. If we think we have to earn God’s love and that we don’t measure up, we will wear ourselves out with busy schedules etc, as the author did.  But our picture of God can be redrawn and in any true picture of God there will be mystery. He is transcendent and beyond us, but not vague…. Rather someone personal. John Powell suggests we compare God’s love to the sun that always shines and radiates warmth and light.  We can allow the light to fill our senses and make us warm or we can separate ourselves from its rays. But the sun itself doesn’t change. In the same way God’s love never ceases and He continues to send out it’s warm rays.  He is always with us and shares our pain, and brings light and life where there is darkness and death.  Any time we are surprised with the new possibilities for life and healing in our brokenness, there is a little Easter that gives us hope. He speaks to each of us by name and welcomes us with open arms.

Devotions based on Trevor Hudson’s book, Discovering our Spiritual Identity

From all eternity it has been God’s purpose that we discover that we are cherished and loved.  We often struggle inwardly to believe this because of childhood memories of abuse, conditional love and acceptance, undermining by others etc. But the truth is every one of us is God’s creation, and He is attentive to what we are experiencing, and has an eternal purpose for our lives. We need to see ourselves through His eyes. We must learn to treat ourselves as dearly beloved of Christ and then we will be freer to give ourselves away to others without resentment too. When we love our selves we can then forget ourselves, direct our attention toward others and respond to their needs.  That means being honest about the various aspects of our inner needs, taking time to listen to them, and open our hearts to His grace and forgiveness.  As we experience being His beloved children we can take the inward journey and face our inner shadows.  “Nothing we uncover can ever render us unlovable to God.”  As we really know this we can reach out to others with transparency and honesty, without being dependent on their approval.  Wherever Jesus went, people knew they were valued and He wants us to relate to others that way too. May we “Bear the beams of His love towards those we meet.”

Devotions based on Trevor  Hudson’s book, Discovering our Spiritual Identity

For most of us there is a big gap between knowing in our head we are beloved of God and knowing in our heart. It is far more than an intellectual conviction and the Lord wants us to wake up to the amazing truth of our belovedness. Then we can from that place of inner security seek His will and help others to know how loved they are. When we don’t know our true identity, we feel inferior and see ourselves wrongly. In our pit of worthlessness, we struggle to believe that God has a unique purpose for our lives. We usually search for answers by looking inward, looking toward others, and looking toward achievement.  By looking purely inward we diminish the mystery of who we truly are. It does not reveal the whole story. When we look to others to please, we cannot find our own voice and life is lived in a secondhand existence. When we look toward achievement to give us inner assurance of our significance, what happens when we are unemployed, retired and forced to rest? It can be devastating. Jesus received His identity from beyond himself: He is the Beloved of God and in this inner awareness, He could accomplish the will of his father. NO matter what we have done or how we have failed, He wants us to know that we are loved. We don’t need to prove ourselves to God or do anything at all to be acceptable to Him. “You exist because God loves you already. You are a child of divine love.”

Devotions based on Trevor Hudson’s book, Discovering our Spiritual Identity

“Spirituality is being intentional about the development of those Christ-shaped convictions, attitudes and actions through which our identity as God’s beloved is formed and given personal expression within our everyday lives”. Wherever we are on our journey we can be more intentional as we live out our identity as His beloved and stretch forward in the  transformation of our personal lives.  That means falling in step with Him as He shows us not only how to live and but provides us with the strength to follow. The author suggests not WWJD ( What would Jesus do) but HWJDI ( How would Jesus do it). This question is more than something outward and has to do with what is deep within….the transforming of our seeing and listening, of our attention and our awareness, of our willing and our doing.  St Ireneaus wrote “The glory of God is a human being fully alive. “ As we discover our spiritual identity we will come alive to the wonder of our Belovedness, see the sacredness of our ordinary life, become alert to hidden things in our lives that need attention, become aware of those around us suffering, and wake up to His available presence.  We are invited to be His followers whereever we are on our journeys. What a privilege!