Tag: Lovingpeople

Reflecting at Christmas

This is by far the busiest times of the year and it’s not because of all the shopping. Actually, according to Shopify, November is the busiest commercial month of the year. I think it’s all the end of year rush, last-minute work targets and personal goals we want to achieve all between now and the 31st 23:59 which gets us all worked up. And on top of all that we want to enjoy the festivities and rest. We will soon discover that we cannot rest if we don’t eliminate the stressors in our way. At this time though I would say that one of the most important and beneficial things you can do for yourself is to spend time in reflection. When I’m reflecting or journaling it is in these moments when I’m most aware of what God has been teaching me through the day or the year. We need to intentionally create moments where we have epiphanies based on what is happening. Significant changes do not happen with the turn of a calendar it happens when we allow our minds to receive and engage with what is happening in our environments. We are praying for God to change our stories in the new year or decade, but we must ask ourselves what God has been engraving on the tables of our hearts over the last year or even decade that we haven’t paid attention to.

Beyond the feelings and the goosebumps, we might get when we encounter God, there are notable changes that take place in less spectacular ways inside of us. Being a lot more reflective, has help me understand that I ought to look for the mundane. Looking for God in the silence and seemingly insignificant is how Elijah got his life back as he stood on the mountain of God at the brink of depression.

I’m thinking about my life and things I want to focus on improving and things that I should keep and be more consistent with. Reflectively, I can say that I have grown over the last year. One of the key areas I have experienced growth and change in is how I think about giving and receiving love. It’s important to regularly reflect on how we relate with people and things.

Earlier in the year I had a conversation with someone that helped bring the thought process to mind and I can say that on reflecting on my understanding of extending love and hearing what the other person had to say, I found myself thinking that maybe I didn’t quite have a full understanding of what love – the God kind of Love – is. Maybe my limited understanding of how vast God’s love is keeping me from receiving all the wonderful gifts of God’s awesome love. I’ve begun thinking of love in a different way which has led to changes in how I practice love. Nothing drastic or dramatic, but significant enough for me to desire and chase after more of God’s kind of love in my heart. It is the kind of love that chases you and woos you regardless of how you are or what you’ve done. That love, loves you just because and nothing you could do could make it grow or diminish. Can I be that way towards myself and the people in my life? Can I be more loving regardless of what if?

At this point, I can say that any work that you catch me doing is related to reflecting and checking that the plans I make for the coming year are in line with the work that He has already begun in me. After all, what good is a perfect gift if I don’t take out the time to enjoy and use it?

Christmas blessings!

Keeping it Personal: How does Jesus do it?

Writing in the morning can really help get your brain juice working. You come up with stuff and you wonder where it comes from. It’s the same with meditation or just sitting down before talking to anyone in the morning and just thinking. Anyway, I was doing my usual morning devotion and after praying I decided to just sit and listen to what God had to say and he spoke to me about a few things in my life and about a few people. Isn’t it amazing when we just sit down that we realize that our answers to our prayers can come immediately? But how often do we get the chance to just patiently wait for His answers?

After listening I decided to write in my personal Journal since I haven’t had a moment to write in it for a few days and I usually write in this particular notebook in the evenings. I thought I’d share an excerpt from my Journal entry this morning and how I discovered another amazing trait about this Wonderful Jesus.    ……I’m still sitting in bed. I love the quiet peacefulness of the morning and how it feels like to be alone. Just me and God. I don’t like breaking it. That’s probably why people sometimes think I’m cranky in the morning. … Once I’ve spent time in the morning or during the day praying or studying the word, I have no desire to get into any long conversations about money or what somebody did or said or didn’t do. It spoils the little slice of perfect heaven I’ve come back with. I guess I can understand how Jesus must have felt when the disciples bombarded him with questions about their needs and their worries and who is greatest in the Kingdom. Jesus is perpetually living in perfect peace despite the worries, suffering and the natural circumstances around Him. He is living in complete tranquility. It’s no wonder that He is the Prince of Peace. Jesus is operating at a higher level to all his friends. When you pray you are uplifted and you rise above the problems and worries of everyday life. But what happens after you say the final ‘Amen’? Are we still above the cares and worries or do we plummet into the abyss of everyday existence? I mean, when my mum comes with her questions or list of instructions it really does feel like it’s all just cutting the flow, but Jesus would not be troubled by that.

WWJD, What would Jesus do? I think most of us could answer that question, but here is the real question: How does Jesus do what he does? How do I balance the supernatural with common humanity? I think it has a little to do with being real with God about what is going on with you. Dealing with those requests, but remembering that after the warfare we need to wait to hear from God. Let God speak to you and I believe that God answers our prayers immediately. We just don’t wait to receive the answer, which most often comes in the form of blessings, strength and an increase of the fruit of the spirit. …If we receive peace and patience we will be able to stand strong and graciously in the midst of the extreme turbulence or the daily hassles without irritation. …

In devotion, quantity is synonymous with quality. I’ve come to understand that there is just no way around it.

After writing this, I thought about how many times I must have missed out on the daily benefits of peace and grace God promises. I also thought that Jesus wants us to come to him with our worries He invites us to cast our cares on Him and to take up his yoke and learn from Him for His yoke is easy and His burden is light. So, rather than feeling irritated with us when we come into his presence with our daily stress, cares and worries He rejoices over us and delights in our communion with Him. Likewise, we are empowered and engraced to express this aspect of our relationship with God with others around us. What keeps us in everyday Supernatural-Mode is knowing that our encounters with God are intended not only for our own personal enjoyment like a moment of catharsis that is only internal and most likely temporary, but instead is meant to cause us to help and save others. Jesus frequently went away to recharge himself spiritually and spent deep intimate moments with Father God and when He came down the multitudes were already waiting for Him with their infirmities, sickness, demon-possessed state, sins, problems, challenges, hypocrisy and plots to kill him. But he always had the right answers, always had the solution, always had the remedy. On one instance, he came down from his favorite praying spot and found a storm, yet he calmly walked over it. Deep moments with God, where you give time to really listen to God and listen to what he has to say will cause you to walk on unstable waters like on the dry ground. In devotion, quantity is synonymous with quality. I’ve come to understand that there is just no way around it.