Spiritual Sunday ~ 'Chosen Generation'

There are just some days when you feel like God is trying to get your attention.

This morning I was awakend by my clock radio to Chris Tomlin's 'Chosen Generation'.

As I cranked my car to head to church, there it was again.  'Chosen Generation'.

Got to church and guess what the first song was that we sang!  'Chosen Generation'.

And then.....

John was preaching on his Three Wishes for the church community for the new year.  He said to me (I take some of John's sermons very personally) that being the chosen generation, we need to

"DREAM BIGGER...

and do something you simply couldn't do without God.

God has unlimited vision and sees unlimited potential in all of us.  There's more to our spiritual life than trying to keep our heads above water.  It's hard to dream big when that's our only goal."

So, once again, as I knelt in prayer at the altar, I asked God, "Even though I feel like I've dreamed big dreams and ventured way out of my comfort zone with my trip to Belize and offering myself up as a lay person, 'Am I where you want me to be, doing what you want me to do?  I hear you trying to get my attention but what next?"

I share 'Chosen Generation' with you.

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Spiritual Sunday ~ Roses and Thorns

ROSES AND THORNS

A certain man planted a rose and watered it faithfully, and before it
blossomed, he examined it. He saw the bud that would soon blossom and also
the thorns. And he thought, "How can any beautiful flower come from a plant
burdened with so many sharp thorns?" Saddened by this thought, he neglected
to water the rose, and before it was ready to bloom, it died.

So it is with many people. Within every soul there is a rose. The God-like qualities planted in us at birth grow amid the thorns of our faults.
Many of us look at ourselves and see only the thorns, the defects. We despair,
thinking that nothing good can possibly come from us. We neglect to water
the good within us, and eventually it dies. We never realize our potential.

Some people do not see the rose within themselves; someone else must show it
to them. One of the greatest gifts a person can possess is to be able to reach past
the thorns and find the rose within others. This is the characteristic of
love, to look at a person, and knowing his faults, recognize the nobility in
his soul, and help him realize that he can overcome his faults. If we show
him the rose, he will conquer the thorns.

Our duty in this world is to help others by showing them their roses and not
their thorns. Only then can we achieve the love we should feel for each
other; only then can we bloom in our own garden.
-- Author Unknown

(from eMail Ministry)
(above rose photo by Weezer)

Thank you, Charlotte and Ginger, for hosting Spiritual Sundays.

My Prayer Box

I have this little box I keep all my prayer requests in.

If I have offered you prayers and/or blessings, you are in my box.

These medallions were a gift to me from a family of one of my patients when I was still working

at the Children's Hospital.  They have a permanent place in my box and I think of that patient every time I open that box.

Keeping my box, holding it in my hands each day, I am certain that I don't forget anyone.

Prayer is important to me.

People count on it and rely on the results.

It is my communication with my God.  I know He hears.

****

I lovingly place my prayers in Your hands, God.  I have declared my intentions with a whole heart, and now I release them so You can fulfill them.  I recognize that manifestation is a glorious co-creative process in which I do my part and You do Yours.  I trust You to take care of what I cannot, and I give up any sense of anxiety, resting secure in the comfort of Your strength.  I offer my visions to the magnificent, invisible power that brings forth healing in miraculous ways.  I let go and let God.

~from "Handle With Prayer" (Alan Cohen)

Spiritual Sunday ~ I pay attention.

I'm discovering that the more I study, read, and learn from my Bible and daily devotions, the easier (and more natural) it becomes to find analogies in everyday life.

This morning I had Grace outside.  From way in the distance I could hear a solitary 'honk! honk!".  It was that throaty sound that Canada geese make in flight.  I could hear them and after several minutes I saw them.  They flew right over my head, over my yard, heading for the pond just three blocks from here.  They were beautiful.  Forming that v-shaped pattern that identifies geese from other winged beauties.

(Photo from Wikipedia)

I stood and watched as they hurried overhead, counting them as they made their way north.  13 of them.  One loudly giving commands with the sounds of authority.  The other 12 following suit, broken into two lines of six each,  maintaining formation, and following....following.  All except one.  The last goose on the left staggered behind.  Hm, I thought.  Just like Jesus and the 12 disciples.  One leading the way, and 12 following, with one breaking off from the group on his own.

What does it mean?  I don't know that it means anything, but when things bring Jesus to mind, I pay attention.  When I can relate what happens in the course of an ordinary day to Jesus, I pay attention. 

"Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about?

 It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world.

It wouldn't be half so interesting if we knew all about everything."

     --Lucy Maud Montgomery

Thanks to Charlotte and Ginger for hosting Spiritual Sundays.

Spiritual Sunday ~ "I Think Myself Happy"

(Photo from Frayed Lotus @belief.com)

  "I Think Myself Happy"

     The first minister of the first church was the apostle James.  He was familiar with living a life of trials. He said when we fall into the midst of difficulties, our faith is tested in order to produce patience.  Trials are a test of our faith.

     In order to avoid letting our reactions and emotions control our lives, we need to take the authority over our feelings and choose joy as our dominant emotion.  As the apostle Paul stood on trial for crimes he hadn't committed, he began his defense with, "I think myself happy."

     Today, so many people are facing hardship of various degrees.  In each of these situations how much different would their lives be if instead of letting the negative control them, they chose to adopt Paul's philosophy of "I think myself happy".  If it's a situation that can be controlled, make the necessary changes and move ahead.  If the situation is not of their doing, out of their control, a more positive perspective (that of thinking themselves happy) could (would?) return control over an important aspect of their life ~ ruling their emotions.

     The Bible tells us to walk by faith.  Not once, but four times.  The quality of life is a reflection of the quality and strength of our faith.

"If you fail under pressure, your faith is not very great."  (Proverbs 24:10)

"Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy.  For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.  So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything."  (James 1:2-4)

(This writing was inspired by chapters from "What to do on the Worst Day of Your Life" by Brian Zahnd)

    

    

Charlotte and Ginger host Spiritual Sundays.

Spiritual Sunday ~ Chasing Away the Darkness

Let me tell you that I take care of the birds that come to my yard. I have a bed that we call the Bird Garden. It's a place where the birds, all sizes, all kinds, can come to eat, drink, bathe, and nest. It's special to me and the birds all seem to appreciate it. Before I ever opened the door to the backyard at 8:30 this morning, I could hear them.  The birds filling the air with calls of distress.  First only a few and then increasing.  Loud calls.  Ugly calls.  Dark calls.  I stood in the yard, looking up at the tree tops and tried to see what it was that was causing them such distress.  I looked for maybe the neighbor's cat in the yard but didn't see her.  The sounds were deafening.  All the birds in unison, obviously trying to rid their space of something threatening.  It seemed to go on forever.

All at once, a large dark hawk flew overhead from one of the tallest pine trees.  The smaller birds, dozens of them of all varieties, followed in pursuit.  All screaming to the hawk to vacate their secure space.  As quickly as the hawk left the airspace over my yard.....silence.  That large hawk had threatened the safety of what the birds considered their space and their haven of safety.  Once by one, the smaller birds....cardinals, mockingbirds, towhees, bluejays....all returned to the safety of the yard.  One by one, they began with their more cheerful, perky songs that are so familiar to me.  Bird calls of happiness and security.  Peace.

That's how we are, isn't it?  When we feel that the dark entity of Satan is threatening our space, our security, our comfort zone, we work in tandem to free it from the ugliness that threatens us.  We pray together.  We study the word of God together.  We band together as a flock of God's children to stay safe and closer to Him.  One alone soul is not as strong as the entire flock, working together to keep Satan at bay.  Oh, yes.  He's still out there, perching on the edge of our security.  Together and non-stop, we pray that that dark self will move further from us and that God's peace will continue to hold us close.  And God's purity and brightness never disappoints.  We will remain one in his word...all together.

The darkness passes and the light shines through.

If we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.

1 John 1:7