Spirituality Guide

The ability to connect with God is directly proportional to our relationship with others. If we find that we cannot get along with people, if we find that we are always at odds with people or that our relationship with those close to us is “uncomfortable”, then I suggest checking our relationship….with God.

It is crazy to think that loving God and not loving others is alright. He wants us to, of course, love another, but He also wants us to be at peace with another. This is important when we consider that our good deeds are not tied into our heart-strings.

To connect with God daily, take small steps, small bites. Do this one step at a time. Notice how you treat the person in front of you at the post office. Take note on how you interact with the cashier at the grocery store. See how you behave with family at home and then with friends later.

Take note. How do you love?

A few posts back, I talked about how we can connect to God by helping others. I want to make mention of it again because it’s so important to me. Helping others is a way that allows God to further the blessings in our lives. We shouldn’t be worried about losing, but happy about gaining. Gaining blessings that is.

When we put ourselves out for others, we allow God to bless us and smile at us. I certainly want Him to smile at me. What about you?

I want to be able to be an example for God no matter where I am, what I am doing and when that is. I want to let my light shine no matter what.

Unfortunatley, I don’t always get to do that. I’m not always a “shining star”. Neither am I always a very good example. And sometimes, when no one is looking, I have been known to do the wrong thing. Or even think wrong thoughts.

I am glad that God loves me no matter what I do. If it weren’t for His grace, His mercy, as the old song goes, “I don’t know where I would be”.

Do you?

Being grateful for the small things; that’s more than missing the near-accident, or being on time for work or even dodging a bad storm. Being grateful for the small things means thanking God for what you have, while you have it and for whom you have it with. Gratefulness encompasses more than just saying, “thank you”. It is being in a state of graciousness at all times, in all situations. Gratefulness is being thankful before there is even a reason to say so.

What are you grateful for today? What do you have in your life that makes you say “thank you”, even when there’s not a reason.

Be grateful.

Being a spiritual person does not mean that you are a pushover. When you are spiritual, it simply means that you have a deep relationship with God and with all that is right. A lot of times, people mistake spirituality for weakness, and that’s just not so.

Do you ever get that feeling? That pushover feeling? Fight against it. Stay spiritual, stay connected, but fight the feeling or implied need to be all, to all, all of the time.

You’re spiritual. Not stupid.

Sometimes helping others is being a good person. Helping is something that the other person undoubtedly welcomes excitedly. Imagine being in need and having no one to help you. If you are an independent person, then you know the feeling of having to ask; you hate to do it. What if you had no one to ask for help?

Remember the story of baby Jesus and how His family had to ask for room at the inn? No one nowhere had room for Him, and yet when they found out (later) it was Jesus, so many were willing to help. Should our help be contingent on who it is we’re helping?

As children of God and laborers in the ministry of Jesus, we should be willing to help no matter what the situation or what the cost is. Our help should be based upon our willingness and availability and not on the benefit we’ll receive if we do. There is an immediate gratification if we help others. Often, we don’t realize the magnitude of our help. We’re implore throughout scripture to be helpers “one to another�.

Look around you. Is there someone in need of your help? Is there someone who is waiting and wanting for that blessing that they have been praying for to come?

Can YOU be that person that will lend a helping hand?

When you really, REALLY need God, He is always there. I needed Him today, and yes, He was right there for me.

My children were outside playing today with my neighbor’s kids. We were chatting and watching them play, ride their bikes and just be kids. All of sudden, in a literal second, my son’s bike got away from him and he was headed down the hill…..towards a tree! My neighbor reached for him as he passed her, but she couldn’t grab him. He rode down the hill, the bike was shimmy-ing, and he was visibly nervous. I stood there, watching, completely frozen. There was nothing I could do. I prayed silently and quickly, calling Jesus’ name. That’s all you can do sometimes in a crisis.

He got to the bottom of the hill and wiped out, barely missing the tree. As he fell, he stretched out his arm and fell the long way. My son’s head was about 6 inches away from the stump of that tree. He messed his arm up pretty bad, requiring about 7 stitches. Now this is what I praise God for:

No matter where we are, what we’re doing and how we’re doing, God always takes care of us. When we’re not looking, when we’re not aware, when we don’t have a clue! My son’s injuries could have been worse, much worse. But because God is so wonderful and protective, they were what they were. I’m SO thankful they weren’t worse.

Let’s just stop for a moment and think about all of the near-misses we’ve had. Think about all of the things that we barely made it out of. We have a God who sees all, hears all, and knows all. He’s got the whole world in His hands, taking care of every little detail of our life. The God who hung the sun and moon in space is gracious enough to care about our every concern. He is everything and all things, all at one time.

And, he’s even protecting little boys who wipe out on their bikes.

What, do you think, is true ministry? Is it speaking eloquently to people, making the ooooh and aaaaah at your every word? Is it being able to command thousands upon thousands of people to react at every word you speak? Is it programs, events, networking and conferences. What do you think is true ministry?

I have an idea, of course. But I want to know what you think. If we minister to folks, do we expect results? Are we satisfied if we don’t see any? What if we cannot gauge the numbers for the conference to see how many accepted Christ? What if the now-saved brother decides he wants to be no-longer-saved; is our ministering in vain? Is having the weekly teen summit really enough? How about the weekly Lunch For the Lord’s Leading Ladies program?

What, is your idea of true ministry?

Tell me yours.

I’ll tell you mine.

Remember that peace we’ve been talking about for the past couple of days? Is it still elusive to you? Have you found it yet? Have you been able to carve out that quality time and spend time in the presence of God? Or, does He have to still wait?

When we go into the presence of God, there is so, so much peace and quietness. He told us to cast all of our cares upon Him, so that we are able to come into His presence ready to receive all that He has in store for us.

Do you need an answer? It’s in His presence. What about direction? In His presence. Confused? Angry? Discontent? All will dissipate in the presence of the Almighty God.

Is it magic, or, or, or a miracle? No! It’s simple. Being in His presence stills and calms your spirit. You are then able to hear Him and receive clear instructions.

Try it. Go into he presence of God ready to receive and watch Him fulfill your requests.

I hope today when you woke this morning you practiced finding peace. I mean, did you wake up and have enough “quiet time” to yourself? Or, did you have to dive into a closet or find peace on the way to work in your car? Trust, I know. Been there, done that!

But, finding peace doesn’t HAVE to be so elusive. It takes quite a bit of practice to skillfully find places and times where you can find a few moments of undisturbed peace, and talk and communion with God. Haven’t you ever wanted to talk with someone and have their undivided attention? Did you think it rude that they were distracted, or worse, talking to someone else as they were supposed to be talking to you. Usually, you just say, I’ll talk to you later. I see you’re busy right now.

We often have to share our quiet time with God. There are the kids screaming and shouting, or the phone ringing, or the boss beeping in, or our PDA’s, cellphones, palm pilots, or our……..you get the idea.

Stealing away a few, few moments of total quiet time can be a challenge, but is do-able. Try to be creative, but do be diligent. It’s not very much. Just a few minutes of quiet time to let God know that we love Him, we’re thinking about Him, we want Him around today, etc. Just a few minutes.

Can you spare…..a few?

Sometimes, the only way to find peace is to find that still, small voice of God speaking to you in a chaotic, noisy world. I often find my peace early in the mornings before my kids wake up. Like now. Right now, there is only me, the birds outside singing and that still small voice speaking softly to my spirit. When we’re still, God is able to speak to us, uninterrupted and without competition. When we are still, we discover things that we perhaps did not know about ourselves before. When we are still.

When we pray and ask God for direction in our lives, we’re asking Him to give us His mind, His thoughts, His actions. We’re essentially asking for quite a bit. In order to receive what His best is for us, we have to learn to listen, to be still. He wants to flood our lives with a joy and peace, that’s unimaginable. He wants us to overflow with His abundant gifts.

Take the time today to listen to His still small voice. If you weren’t able to catch that down time this morning, don’t worry. The day has just begun. Maybe later this afternoon, maybe even this evening. Just do it. Listen. Be still and hear His peace.

Have you ever hear the phrase, “eat, drink and be merry; for tomorrow we die�? I’m sure most of you have. It simply refers to making the most out of the available time and resources that you have. Don’t wait until everything is “just right� to enjoy yourself.
Actually, things will never be “just right�, which is why the emphasis is on doing things today.

Just think….

What if you waited until you lost 15 pounds before you go to the beach?

Why wait until after you finish graduate school before you can get involved in your child’s PTO?

Should you wait before selling your car? Why? Just to get more from it?

If we wait, that’s good. Depending on what it is. However, sometimes waiting has no value, and we ending up wasting. If there is no reason for you to forgo happiness and satisfaction, now, why not do it?

Scriptures tell us that no man knows the day or the hour when Jesus will return. We don’t how long we have to prepare ourselves for His arrival. Getting ready and being ready are two totally different things. Daily, we should be ready. Everyday, we should get ready.

Seize any and all opportunities that are available to you now to bring you joy and happiness. Allow all things good to come into your life. You will see that waiting has no purpose, especially if it’s ready and available to you…now.

Go ahead. It’s o.k. Enjoy yourself.

No one knows what it will be like tomorrow.

Did you wake up balanced this morning? Or, were you too much on this side or too much on this side? What am I talking about? I’m talking about having a life full of balance. Meaning, you don’t do too much of this thing or too much of that thing, but you do a nice job of a little of everything.

I found out this weekend just how far out of balance I really am. My life balance ends where I don’t get enough recreation. No, no, not just leisure time or down time but not enough recreation time. We just do not take the time out to rejuvenate ourselves. God wants us to be totally in balance so that we are able to fully function and be successful in everything.

Being out of balance will cause you to become irritable, moody and even angry. Since this is the Memorial Day weekend, take some time out today and just rest. I know it may be a foreign idea to some (like me), but just try it.

All you have to lose is imbalance, right?

There is so much war, so much crime, hungry children, abundant pain, disease and death. All of this from a God who said that He would never leave us nor forsake us. A God who is an all-loving, all-merciful God who has the whole world in His hands. Why and how could He allow there to be so much suffering to those that says He loves.

God has given us many things, material and immaterial. He has given us the ability to reason, think, manipulate and deny. He has given us the skills to negotiate, argue, seek and comply. We have the characteristics to attract, repel, uplift and forgo. However, of all the things that God has given us, one remains constant. God has given each of us the ability to make choices, to make decisions. He has given us the ability to choose.

The ability to choose is one of the most profound freedoms that God has given us. The choices we make reflect how we think and who we are as a people. He doesn’t force Himself or His way of thinking on us. We do this all by ourselves. We’re not robots and God has not created us as such. We have unlimited freedom to make any choice that we want. However, this freedom does not come without consequence. Whenever this freedom is exercised, be prepared to have consequences accompanied with choices that are made. But, let mankind not blame God for the choices that WE make.

He hasn’t failed US. We simply have failed to choose…correctly.

The Need For God

There is a basic need that exists in all mankind. There is a need that transcends even the most basic ones of food, water shelter and security. There is a need that exists where without it, all human faculties would be challenged to test survival in its absence. This is a need that everyone, everywhere has. The need is universal and everlasting.

We all need God.

From the beginning of civilization to modern day, man has always prided himself in being self-sufficient. He thinks that he doesn’t need anything. He is independent, he is intelligent, wise, strong and able to accomplish anything he sets out to do.

Even when Adam found himself in the Garden of Eden without covering, he merely offered God excuses. He didn’t ask for help. He didn’t ask for direction. He didn’t ask for solutions. He didn’t think he needed God. Why? Because he thought he had all of the answers.

Unfortunately, many think they have all of the answers and God is not needed or is necessary in their lives. But, we do need God. We all do. We all need God in our lives to direct us, guide and protect us. We all need God to intervene and show us what to do.

Without God, our lives would be directionless, obscure and chaotic. We wouldn’t know what to do and what choices to make. God is an all-wise, all-knowing entity and so it goes that He knows the beginning to the end. Since I don’t know the beginning or the ending, I need God to show me and guide me.

Since He’s been God for so long, I think I’ll trust what He’s doing and lean not to my own understanding.

Won’t you join me?