Month: December 2011

Special Reflection: New Year's Message 2012

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” ~ Jeremiah 29:11

I have said this many times before in past writings, but I think it is always good to repeat some things, especially if the message is an important one. So by giving your life over to God there is nothing you cannot do, for God has promised to always be there for you. In addition and more to the point I think sometimes we get so wrapped up into making the “Grand Plan” for our own life’s that we fail to see the plan God has for us. He brings people into your life not by accident but for a reason. He gives us challenges through some of those people which I will address later, while others we learn a great deal from. I have always told my students to always be watchful of those people who are in your life and of those who you meet and who become a part of your life whether their role is large or small, because God allowed them to be there exactly at the appointed time and hour they arrived.

The greatest example I have is my closest circle of friends, which numbers all of three people. One I meet many years ago and found to be extremely interesting, very talented, though they did not think themselves talented. This friend made lots of money and became my greatest of alley, a person who I would never betray as I know they would not betray me either. However, this friend has a few pet peeves which is extremely irritating and we have had our fare share of ups and downs within our friendship, but despite this we remain strong in our friendship which has yielded so many blessings I can not begin to write them here in this blog post.  In addition I must confess that God brought this person into my life at a time I desperately needed someone to count on, someone I could trust, someone who would help me fight the good fight when my marriage went south for the long cold and dark winter. This friend showed me that life isn’t as hard as it seems, and that I can accomplish great things, this person showed me that I can have happiness in my life and that I deserve happiness in all parts of my life. I have learned and am still learning so much from this first friend and I feel so blessed every day for God’s good grace to have shined on me as it did when He ordained our friendship. At this moment I feel it necessary to state for the record that this friend has chosen a life of solitude, one absent of having a family which is our greatest difference coupled with the idea they are extremely private, which from time to time strains our friendship exceedingly so because I do not believe in keep secrets, and this friend lives a very secret life, so much so I will never fully know them any deeper than that of being friends.  My second friend I knew for only six years and he was there for me to toughen me up, to mold me and to make me stronger, he showed me that not all women are like my ex-wife, and because of his friendship my pain and shame of being a divorced man was more bearable, as he knew what to say and how to say it because he too was divorced. We would spend time talking about our past as children for here too we had lots in common, and I looked up to him as like the big brother I never had. He is a man whom is driven by much of the same wants and desires as myself, and when his girlfriend kicked him out of the house I was there to pick him up and give him a bed to sleep on, just as he would have done for me. My third friend I have not known for very long. In fact one could say I have never meet her, in person, but the stories we share and the time we spend has so deeply impacted me I often times find myself reflecting on our wonderful conversations which always brings a smile to my face. When I am sad I can tell her all about it and know she is not judging me as I would never judge her. In our conversations she always comes up with things that I would not expect from her, because her words that she carefully chooses always makes me think very hard about my situation or whatever I was sad about. I have come to see how wise she is, and in that knowledge she holds I feel safe and secure. Our correspondence has made me a better father, as she gives me very good advice in all things relating to raising a teenage daughter, which again is extremely surprising because her child is still very young. Her life’s story, though I will not go into detail, is very inspiring and I treasure every second we spend chatting, and I hope one day soon I will be able to meet her face-to-face so I can look into her eyes and say thank you for being such a wonderful person and for being so kind to me.

I offer these three examples in the hopes you can reflect this year on those people God has placed into your own life, the awesome roles they play, and see exactly how great God is and how many miracles He works daily through the people who are there to enrich your life. Ask yourself, “What would my life be like if I never meet these people and became such close friends?”

I also wanted to comment on what comes from true friendship, for when true friendship is established there is also born the sense of loyalty, and from that loyalty is born love. When we care about those we call our close friends it is not shameful to recognizing these deep emotions as for what they truly are. However, before there can be any kind of love there first must be friendship.

“No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.” ~ Philippians 3:13-14

There is exceptional correlation to the second part this posting which is driven home most notably by the Apostle Paul who wrote 13 letters, which accounts for one-fourth of the entire New Testament. These writings are known as “Epistles”, Philippians being one of four prison epistles as he wrote it while being imprisoned by the Romans. I chose this one as we reflect on our good friends we must also reflect on those people who have placed great challenge and sometimes great pain in our life’s as we must learn to do what Paul did and what he wrote most about, that of forgiveness. For forgiveness shines like a beacon throughout the entire Bible, it was the message our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ spoke most about. It is the topic we hear most often and is the hardest of things to do.

As I told you about my greatest of friends, which I admitted to placing within an inner circle of only three friends, I have many friends of varying degrees. I also have those people who I cannot call friends but rather I look at as people who have hurt, and or have betrayed my trust, loyalties, and who have destroyed a one time friendship.  We all have people in our lives who fit this description to some degree. I would be lying if I did not say my ex-wife is chief among this group, but I also in admitting to that truth will also say that the challenge they pose is not the loss of a friendship or the pain they afflicted that caused the friendship to end, but rather in the act of finding a way to truly forgive them for the pain they have caused. So in light of this stark reality Paul calls all of us to forget the past, and to look forward to what lyes ahead. This is the greatest of desires and hopes I hold for all of you this New Year 2012. I will pray to God to give us all the strength and courage to forgive those who have hurt us the most in the past and who may have gone out of their way to continue a brutal punishment upon us for whatever their reasons. May God grant us the love it takes to forgive them anyway. In so doing may God give them peace and show them a better way through his absolute forgiveness.

Amen,

Happy New Year 2012

 

Special Posting: Jesus the Miracle Baby

“18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.) ~ Matthew 1:18

The birth of Jesus is a miracle because of the many events which led to his birth and all the preceding miracles which followed. The greatest of these miracles was that of love which allowed Mary to say yes to the Arc-Angel Gabriel when she accepted God’s will. It was love which allowed Joseph to finally look past the laws of man and comply with God.

 “19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.” ~Matthew 1:19

The story however really begins with the prophet Jeremiah who states;

“5 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. 6 “In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The Lord our righteousness.” ~ Jeremiah 23: 5-6. 

Jeremiah lived some six centuries before Jesus.  In fact there are more than 300 prophecies which talk about the messiah.

“6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” ~ Isaiah 9:6-7

Isaiah consequently was even further removed on the timeline living some  700 years before Jesus.

According to the prophet Daniel who provided a chronology of events that included the revelation that the Messiah would be rejected before the destruction of the second Temple in Jerusalem. His prophetic prophecy was extremely clear  as it relates to the Romans who destroyed the Temple in 70 AD, some 40 years after Jesus was crucified, all of which is found in the Book of Daniel,

“25 Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.” ~ Daniel  9: 25-26.  

Daniel lived some 500 years before Jesus.

This list goes on and on, as it relates to those who talked about the future and for those prophetic prophecies which came true with the birth of Jesus, all leading to the idea that they indeed came come from God. But despite this basic evidence we also have the events of why Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem in the first place. In fact one could argue the taking of a sinus was inspired by God so that the prophecy would be fulfilled. Never the less on the night Jesus was born Angels from God came down to announce his birth to the shepherds in near by fields as found in Luke,

“8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.” ~ Luke 2:8-20. 

As all these events where taking place the star shined high in the sky and reportedly grew in intensity as the night wore on. It was this star that led the Three Wise Men to Jesus as found in Luke who writes,

” 9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.” ~ Luke 2:9-12. 

In researching all these events everything as it is written is inspired from start to finish by God. Each person who was involved was affected in a deep and personal why most of them being touched by Angels in dreams. In the fabric of the birth of Jesus is miracles guiding the way. Miracles are the only way to explain  Jesus from the start of his life to the end, but He at birth fulfilled every major prophecy and it cannot be denied that Jesus is the son of God. It is for these reasons and hundreds of which I did not mention that we celebrate His birth, and celebrate this miracle babe.

Amen,

Merry Christmas 2011

Reflections 2: The Source of Happiness pt.2

” 1 As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on”(Luke 21:1-4, NIV). 

It is the attitude of most people who when told to give money they ask, “Why?” or they ask, “What is it going to be used for?”  Some ask blantelty, “What do I get out of it?” Then again others may say, “But I only have a dollar… sorry.” If this sounds familiar then odds are you too have said or felt like saying these words. It is so tempting to ignore our real responsibilities to God. But Jesus found the perfect way of making this same point without making it adversarial in how he chose to reveal the differences between giving freely of yourself, which is indicative of giving over everything you have without any motives guiding your actions, and that of giving because you are comfortable, having more than you could ever need. In truth, this kind of giving is done not because you need to give back to God because God gives to you, but out of a matter of statues and for the ability to brag among the movers and shakers the powerful and elite. This story harkins back to last weeks posting in-which I laid out the fine line of what makes a person truly happy verse what does not. How to begin that journey and some of the pitfalls one needs to look out for. Truly I say to you money is not the instrument that makes people happy, nor can it buy Gods loyalties, love, and forgiveness. So to continue with this great lesson of happiness I want to make this point perfectly clear, what makes a person happy as it relates to money should be found in the vast amounts of giving to those who do not have any, helping those who can not help themselves, and to give back to God because he has so blessed you. Putting God first in your life is where it  begins and where it will end, everything in between is on you, whether or not you listen faithfully to God or not.

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, Never will I leave you; Never will I forsake you”(Hebrews 13:5, NIV). 

True contentment is found in the knowledge that God has so blessed us by choosing to giving us life. His most important of miracles is that of the miracle of man.  Life is what needs to be prized above all things and is what we do not have the authority to take from anyone. Again, money can not buy life, as created by God, for only God can make it, grant it, and thus take it away. Only God can destroy your immortal soul. Again, no amount of money or material wealth will save you, and all the efforts by man to do so will be cast down and be in-vain. God does not want money or material things, he wants a real relationship with you. Perhaps the most important relationship we will ever have will be that personal relationship with God Our Father.

So am I advocating that money is evil? That rich people are evil? Or the rich are inherently damned because they are wealthy? Absolutely not, for there have been many rich people who have been the most holy of persons. In doing research on this topic I was surprised to find out that a number of the Catholic Church’s Saints where wealthy, some coming from noble families. They however knew that their money or statues was not the thing which really mattered rather they used their resources to spread the word and blessing of God, money or statues just made it happen faster. What really mattered was the contentment in their heart by the act of their charitable giving and the intrinsic rewards given back to them by God. Through these means where they enabled to share with the disadvantaged, with people who needed their most basic of needs to be met, and the most noble of acts the construction of churches and cathedrals which became the instruments in bring millions of lost souls closer to God.

I have personally known people who where very wealthy, well connected, popular, and or people who on the outside would have been perceived to be snobbish or prudish. But for as much as they seemed this way their heart was made of pure gold, and the blessing of God where all about them. The power of God’s love, mercy, and grace was within everything they did and in one case  in particular a true friend of mine had gone through much of the same ordeals as I have and she overcame it all by showing her love, mercy, and understanding. She used the love of God to give her strength in the hardest of days, and her beautiful smile and most enigmatic support she freely gave to others was both unselfish but also refreshing to say the least. She once was rich and now she is poor, (monetarily speaking), she is still rich with the love of God. What I find to be truly inspiring is in the way she over came a grave illness and not once but three times within this past year and a half almost died. When others counted her out she over came it. When her voice was robbed from her because of her illness she found other, very creative ways,  to communicate always very loving and nurturing. The power of God is so strong in her nature she shines with happiness and love every-time I would look upon her, it was so strong in her it was infectious. Her poor health robbed her of her job, her savings, and still she shined with the blessings of God. She lost her apartment and her hair, but it seemed not to matter at all. She once was a star, a true talent in her time, but because God is centered in her life nothing but the fruits of Our Lord is what really matters. My mother always says, “Life can take almost anything away from you, but you can not loose sight of who you are as a person and within that you must hold onto your faith because without this you have nothing and are in real trouble.” (This message I truly want to dedicate to Johnie who true is a real source of inspiration. May God continue to bless you all the days of your life.)

“Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God”(Ecclesiastes 5:19, NIV). 

Therefore, the need to see your blessing from God is where you find your happiness, each time you see the gifts set before you, there you will find your riches, and each time you wonder what to do with it all, he is there urging you to share your wealth with those people you know and love, and also those you don’t. Because in reality everything belongs to God, your money, your home, your wife and children, even your family belong to God, but most of all your soul was created and given freely to you by God. Thus there is no real reason on this Earth that we should be depressed and blind to our blessings, there is no reason why we should abandon our faith and live in darkness absent of God, for Our Father has promised to always be with you, to helping you, to love you, and to guiding you every step of the way. So run the race, never stop, never give in, run the race straight to Him who is in heaven waiting for you and for me and all people under the sun with his arms loving outstretched. Living your life this way will bring you absolute, miraculous, fabulous, outlandish  happiness….

Amen

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A HEALING CHANT

Sing this softly / hardly making a sound exhaling with each individual breath emptying your lungs of air, letting it penetrate your heart.

“To you my Lord in heaven this I pray… I want to learn how to love you to the end of my days…I want to embrace you fu-l-ly. I need to learn how to be m-or-e like you. I need your un-de-nia-ble peace. I want to know you so that my sins are washed clean… I want to walk with you in your king-dom.”

Close your eyes singing… for the Lord relies

“Take my hand that I offer to you…Take the fruit of my sp-i-r-it too. Ask for forgiveness so shall it be done. Healing your heart…renewing your soul. For I accept you just you are. Take my hand that I extend now to you…take now my blood of sal-va-tion too. I will love you to the end of all time…I will embrace you because now you are mine. I will love you un-con-di-tion-al-l-y…My peace is in you and shall never de-part. I will walk with you giving you a-l-l of my str-en-gth. I will love you to the end of all days…I will embrace you because you sing my praise. Your body now is clean…for I have also washed your face…all because you have a-s-k me. For I am with you now and always.”

Reflections 1: The Source of Happiness

“You are like salt for the whole human race. But if salt loses its saltiness there is no way to make it salty again. It has become worthless, so it is thrown out and people trample on it.” ~ Matthew 5:13

Jesus Christ stated that we are like the salt of the earth, for in us we preserve His glory, His love, His mercy, and His forgiveness, much like salt is used to preserve foods for our consumption and nourishment. I find it hard to talk about happiness without first making the correlation between Gods glory, love, mercy, and that of His forgiveness to that of the source of our own personally happiness. For when I read the Bible it becomes perfectly clear that we find happiness not in others, not in our own deeds;  it cannot be found in the pursuit of money, lust, or in any other type of greed. But rather true happiness is found and sustained in our spiritual growth, in our belief in God, it is found within our heart as we should first center our lives on Gods teachings and his Words and less on ourselves, our wants, or our ambitions.

In this reflection I want to illustrate how we often times look to other people to make us happy, we look to things, or accomplishments, and sometimes some of us look to the approval of a good deed waiting for the assurance that comes with the serenade of a job well done. The Happiness series I hope will guide you on a different kind of path which redirects your source for happiness from that of self, to that of living a life directed by God. It has been through my own personal experiences that which I testify through this series of posts that has lead me on a trek where I seek not to please others, myself, or to satisfy some inner craving based solely on the desires of this world, which will pass away, but rather on acting on behalf of God, doing his work, impacting others in a positive manner daily and the inner happiness I have found no matter the situation because I have based my life on Our Father in heaven. This path in which I speak is the source and the starting point to finding your true self, but I must warn you, it is a hard road, it is devoid of any kind of easy attainment and it is not for the weary but for the people of God who are ready to put away the world and pick up their own cross.

The first sin we must deal with on this road to personal happiness is the bad habit of judging others for it is written;

“1 Do not judge others, so that God will not judge you, 2 for God will judge you in the same way you judge others, and he will apply to you the same rules you apply to others.” ~ Matthew 7:1-2

Because of this, I tell you to put away your judgmental heart. For how can you be truly happy when like children you see what your neighbor has done, or not done in following a rule or not following a rule and then behind their back you complain saying to others, “If it was me I would have done…”  For I ask, “How do you know you would or would not have done something unless you ware that persons shoes and lived and experienced life as they have, unless you assumed their place,  who are you to judge the actions of another person?” Be happy for those who faced the test and that passed it. Let nothing of ill words come forth from your mouth. For in putting this into practice you will guard your tongue against any kind of false witness, from lying, cheating, or steeling another person’s glory that has been assigned and or blessed by God. In the observance of this you will show respect, receive respect in kind, you will show yourself honorable, and receive grace in return. In this you will find happiness.

Secondly,  the sin that must be dealt with swiftly is the compulsion to want to punish others for what you have perceived they have done to you. For this is revenge and goes hand in hand with a judgmental heart. For the Apostle Paul wrote very clearly;

“17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay’, says the Lord. 20 Therefore, ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him: If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coats of fire on his head.’ 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” ~ Romans 12:17-21

For in observance of this you shall find hardship within the judgments of man, but will find great favor with God. For where there is great favor there is great happiness and even more love.

Thirdly, cast away with all sincerity the trapping of this world. Throw away the beast inside you which clutches to things which you cannot take with you when you die. Stop measuring others worth to you in terms of usefulness or of money. People are not valued by God in this manner, and to be like God you must resist the temptation to measure others, both in their personage and their deeds. Again it is not up you to judge, to take revenge, to punish, nor is it your place to measure with an inadequate scale for it is written;

“1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” ~ Romans 12:17-21

Therefore, it is just that you turn around and leave this place of the judgments of others, and look into yourself and ask, “Am I not a sinner too?” If one has the compulsion to measure, then measure one’s self. I often times find this exercise helpful when I feel the need to spout a judgment onto someone who has made me upset or mad. Walk into a room at work or at home, looking around at everyone who is present before you and then ask yourself, “If this room was on fire and I had the key to unlocking the door that leads outside and away from the heat of the blaze, who amongst these people would I save if given a choice?” If the answer is anything less than everyone then you failed the test. Because God wants to save every last person on this earth who has ever lived, or will live. Happiness is found in the pursuit to being as much like God as we can be. You cannot be happy if you are judgmental because within that action you have thus become angry and rebellious. Angry and rebellious people by design are not happy people.

Fourthly, find it within yourself to let go of those things people have done against you, give it to God, be merciful to those who are without mercy, be forgiving to those who refuse to forgive you of your transgressions for it is written;

“Judge not, and you shall not be judged: condemn not, and you shall not be condemned: forgive, and you shall be forgiven.” ~ Luke 6:37

I am constantly reminded how often Jesus forgave others, how fast he was to forgive. He was quick on his feet in pardoning the women who committed adultery found in John 8:3-11, or the women who bathed his feet with her tears found in Luke 7:47-50, and let us not forget the murderer who was being crucified with Christ found in Luke 23:41-43. These three references are but a small sampling of Jesus and the acts of absolute forgiveness that he had demonstrated openly. I testify that forgiving is the key to happiness, because within it; do you then find absolution. When you pray ask God to forgive others who have hurt you first before yourself as it is written;

“Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that you’re Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.” ~ Mark 11:25

In the observance of this you find humility, and in humility do you find your humanity.

May God bless you all and keep you safe this holiday season.

Amen

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