Category: Spiritual Reflections

On my Google Reader, I have different blogs that I follow.  Some I quickly peruse through, some I pass by as they have little interest that day, and some I keep because they strike a cord inside me.

This past week, I ran into a blog post that hit home with me.  It has to do with how we look at sin and our relationship to it before and after we become Christians.

Click on the link below to read it and feel free to comment.  I think it was right on.

Meditation on Sin

On a recent blog (my memory fails me to which one) someone was talking about Eve and her temptation to eat the “apple” in the garden of Eden.

The author suggested that our temptations aren’t really that much different than Eve’s.

The Biblical account in Genesis, Chapter 3, Verses 1-3 goes like this:

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

Anyone who knows me, knows that I could have stood in the Garden of Eden with fruit all around me and not have fallen.  (I eat fruit but it’s not a “temptation.”)

But, put me in a garden filled with chocolate and we have a totally different story. Our temptations vary as individuals but we all have something that can break us down to the core and shake up our resolve.

We are quick to fault others who fail by saying “How could they do such and such a thing?” but we choose (as Joyce Meyer would say) to look at ourselves with rose tinted glasses.

But, we’re not fine.  All of us are prone to angry, envy, deceit, lust, pride …

So, instead of continuing to kick another human being down into the mud, let’s extend our hand to lift him out, assuming we’re not in the same mud hole.

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‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do’ ” Luke 23:34

Pointing the finger at someone who has done something drastically wrong and should have known better, I allow myself to be foolish.

Thinking back on my life, I made a lot of stupid mistakes because I simply was not thinking.  Not thinking of consequences to myself, not thinking of consequences to others, not thinking of how others would view God because of my actions.

Then, there were times when I knew deep inside that my actions were going to hurt me, others and most importantly, God.  But I did them anyway. Sometimes out of anger, despair, frustration, anxiety.

When I think of Jesus hanging on the cross, looking down at those who just nailed Him to it and with compassion and love in His eyes saying “Father, forgive them,” I have to ask myself “What kind of Person really does this?”

In our world of pain, I don’t see this exemplified.  Sometimes I hear it ridiculed. As if we are better than anyone else.

The example we are given challenges us from looking around to each other and instead looking to the cross.  Only then, can I look at my fellow man/woman who has a knife stuck in my back and say “I forgive you.  You just don’t know what you’re doing.”

The strong pull in my heart to do the “easier” thing and judge is something I fight against every day.

Sometimes I feel if someone just gave my heart a shot of anesthesia, perhaps that would work.

But it was through sweat and blood that Jesus forgave.  And so I need to lean on Him so that I too can have the strength through sweat and blood to say:

Father, forgive them.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Romans 12:12

Patient in affliction — I wonder if anyone else besides me has a problem with that.

Winter is almost over and yet I see trees with dead leaves still hanging on the branches. The leaves cling with tenacity, as if crying out “I will not let you go.”

So with patience during affliction. Having grown on the branch, it sometimes appears dead.  Feelings of hopelessness, despair, anxiety try to overwhelm — yet patience still clings to the branch.

And the branch, as long as it is attached to the vine, will soon blossom with patience prevailing.

I must admit though, when patience feels and looks dead, the old adage “if it looks, talks and walks like a duck, it must be a duck” pops up in my head.

It is at these moments that I take my concentration away from the fruit (patience) and look to the vine (Christ). Then, and only then, am I able to “be patient in affliction.”

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

The Sabbath School lesson today is on the importance of prayer.

The illustration used is from the book of Mark, Chapter 1 verses 29-35 where Jesus had spent the day healing people and yet awoke early, found a solitary place and prayed.

So often, I can barely get myself out of bed to get going.  With sleepy eyes, I trudge out of bed to follow the morning routines.

I friend of mine once told me that unless you pray in the morning, you’re really not fit for the day.  It took me a little while to process that.  I don’t believe it’s true though.  There are a lot of people who aren’t “morning” people.

Some people pray throughout the day, some in the evenings, some in the morning.  When I think about prayer and what I believe it’s supposed to do for my relationship with God (bring us closer) I have to pause.

My day gets fast-paced and although I feel I’m “praying without ceasing,” the stopping and paying attention to my relationship with God is sometimes still lacking.

So — Jesus going of to a solitary place, away from His friends, family, other people, is something that I have come to realize is important.

No multi-tasking when it comes to my relationship with God.  No trying to “fit Him in.”

Now — to practice what I preach.

Sabbath – a time to rest.  How does one turn off the brain with everything that’s going on in this world?  I’m glad that God makes it possible as we trust that He is still in control in spite of how things look.

No Eye Hath Seen

It is always (I think at the time) at the most inopportune moment that Scriptures I have memorized pop into my head.

When I get upset with someone, lose my patience, want to give “friendly” advice, want to have credit given to me instead of someone else for something I did, want to prove myself right — a Scripture edges itself to the front of my head:

Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.  1 Corinthians 13:4-8

I always take issue with the Scripture and the conversation with God goes something like this:

Are you kidding me God?  This is not the time to be putting that Scripture in my head.  You know I should have gotten credit for that.  How come I have to be the one to apologize for getting angry?  It’s always me who goes first.  I’m not boasting.  I’m not proud.  I just want the credit due TO ME.

And the response from God this time is:

Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.  Matthew 25:40

Another Scripture.  Another reminder that I am not flawless.  That I am imperfect.  And that in spite of the imperfections, He loves me.

I am reminded that 1 Corinthians 13 is the principle that my Father follows in His relationship with me. He asks that I give to others what He has given to me.

It sounds simple on the surface but in practice is sometimes hard for me.

Yet, He’s right and I thank Him for reminding me.  A reminder that I shouldn’t need every day but somehow I do.  He gently tells me it’s okay.  And I compose myself, remembering who I represent, and repair any damage I may have done in my relationships.

I was about 12, and my father, who had not been around much since my mother had to leave him, decided to come back and visit us.

We lived in an apartment on a boulevard.  It had 6 units — 3 stories high and 2 units on each floor.  It had a beautiful cement balcony and I liked to look at the cars go by or at the people walking past.

My father’s visit lasted about one week.  During this time, he painted our kitchen yellow. My memory of that time stops there.

But something else must have happened because later in the year, around Christmas time, my family (including extended family) decided that we were going to Indiana for the holidays.  I was adamant that I was not going because my father had told me that he was coming back for Christmas.  My Mama tried to tell me that he wouldn’t be coming.  But I believed my father.

Still having the naivete of a child, my father’s word was pure gold.

When the car arrived to take us to our destination, I hid.  They found me and physically had to pick me up, screaming, kicking and biting. I was determined not to miss my father’s visit.  Being overpowered by the strong arms of adults, I was shoved into the car where the rest of my siblings waited.  I was the only one who knew about my father’s promise to return.

At our destination, I stubbornly refused to get out of the car. They pulled me out and took me inside kicking and screaming.  I hit my head on the edge of a table and my Mami Saro (grandmother) yelled dejala quieta (leave her alone, in Spanish).  I pretended to be unconscious.

If nothing else, I gained a little pity having lost the valiant fight to be there for my father.

But he never came.  And from that day forward, I learned that promises are not always kept.  That those you love can and will disappoint you sometimes.  I learned mistrust.  I learned betrayal.

Then I read these words:

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me, that you also may be where I am.  John 14:3

Jesus speaks of His return for us, for me, in this verse.  Can I believe it?  Yes.  For He has never backed out of a promise.  He has always been there for me.

Sometimes, I can sense His presence so close that I reach my hand up to the sky to try to touch Him.

This time, I won’t be disappointed. This is one person I can believe and trust and He will come back for me.