Category Archives: SPIRITUAL INTEREST

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A Nostalgic Moment

I had a nostalgic moment on my way home today from seeing my folks. I decided to drive home a different route and swing by the walnut farm. One stretch of road, down Meridian Road, past Bell Road, heading north toward Wilson Landing Road, was one we as a family traveled when we went to church when my husband and I were raising our children. I passed the old farm house to the west by the railroad tracks and saw that someone had fixed it up. It wasn’t looking too good the last time I noticed it.

1997

Then the thought crowded in.

As I drove past the very familiar land and orchards, I remembered the many times my family traveled this stretch to church every Sunday morning. Before leaving at 9:00, I would have the kids peel potatoes and carrots for a pot roast that I would put on a low setting to bake while we were gone. It cooked at a higher heat for 30 minutes, so I had to start early enough to make that happen. I always cooked the roast the way my mother cooked it, where it’s so delicious and that the roast shreds and is perfectly made. That one stretch of road made me miss what used to be, when the children were young and we worshiped in church as a family.

It was what we did.

For a while we had an Oldsmobile station wagon with a third seat in back. It was a good car for church. My oldest daughter invited friends to church, mainly for the Awana club program. We’d pack them in. She and her friends would sing as I drove. They really liked “Hakuna Matata” from The Lion King and then they’d burst out in giggles. Awana was a work night for me. I’d always teach the story time in Sparkys, the little guys, and sometimes for both groups. That meant studying and preparing, which I would start on Sunday nights.

I loved making the story real for the kids.

Then the drive home in the dark. The kids were more quiet but talking. On occasion they would ask me questions. Then we’d drop the friends off at their homes and then arrive home and it would take a good thirty minutes before the kids settled down and the house became quiet. Only one year did I take a break, and that was after my youngest was born, (shortly after the photo was taken in this post). I was a very busy mother that sometimes it seemed like too much.

But I miss those days.

There was something special about being with family, having the kids with us, loving what we had together. We had a rough time financially and at times I felt guilty that we couldn’t provide more in material stability and security. One thing we did provide was consistency in things of the Lord and we modeled how to treat your fellow man with courtesy and kindness.

I was lonely for family today. That happens.

Those days are long gone now, never again will I experience the joy of having my family with me in the car on the way to church. Life goes on. We miss what once was and we embrace what is ahead. I find that there is a different set of people I interact with now, we find new ways to celebrate life. Once in awhile, I get to do the same with my own children and grandchildren when they come for a visit. We are making new memories.

To my children, thanks for the memories.

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Spiritual Fidelity: Belief and Behavior Should Match

Belief and behavior should match.

When we desire God in fullness in our lives, there is an accompanying behavior piece. Expect this. The need to follow where God leads as He reveals the layers of who you are and the why and what in your life is significant. One must be graciously willing to move forward as God leads.

Purity of mind and purity of action go hand in hand.

Common today is a separation between belief and behavior. Many people do as they wish without regard for God’s ways. In your spiritual life it will not fly. Belief needs to lead behavior. Belief and behavior are synonymous as much as possible. They are not two compartments like I act one way at work and at play, and I act another way at church or during my devotional time. We either approach our spiritual life as a Christian Spiritual world view, or we approach our spiritual life with a secular world view, which adds on Christianity when it is convenient and feasible.

A heart that belongs to God will need to claim the whole person.

One cannot have feet in both camps or the spiritual will become isolated and blocked off from a person’s center reality, what motivates them to do what they do and live the way they live. A good question to ask is this. What motivates me? That is one that all of us should ask ourselves.

What motivates me?

That will tell you where your belief falls off and separates out from your purpose and actions. Material possessions, secular prestige, loving others, spiritual purposes and so forth will tell you where you heart is at and what matters the most to you. Picture God on the throne of your life and you will fan a flame to a spiritual motivation that makes a tremendous difference in how you choose to live your life.

I often find repentance as critical to the success of the spiritual outcome.

Repentance means there will be a change of view toward the misdeed or separation in the spiritual condition of the soul. The concept of walking in close relationship with God is founded on the principle that we are pursuing a spiritual relationship with God. Because of this aspect of the relationship, it is imperative that more is said about some negative factors that can impinge on or destroy the ability to have open communication with God.

It is not fun to talk about these parts of spiritual life.

As long as we are human they will encumber and complicate our spiritual progress. Becoming aware of them and then applying truth as much as you know how to do, is right, healing, and freeing and makes us soft, kind, wise and other-centered rather than self-centered and self-protective.

There are parts in my life where I am blind.

It takes the skill of God to reveal these to me. This is true for everyone. We all have parts in our lives that are not the best. They may not seem like a problem until we become aware that they are keeping us from being all that we should be in our relationship with God. A person can’t ignore this. What should we do? What steps should we take?

Here’s the truth. We cannot avoid. Period.

Every time we have a new realization about an attitude, action, way of thinking, or conflict with another person that is not right in some way, it then becomes our responsibility to look at the issue from a spiritual perspective. What does God have to say about that sort of attitude? Instead of ignoring it and giving it the deep six, we are given a choice.

Will we do it God’s way, or will we choose to not do it God’s way?

Will we let God help us address the trouble, or will we try to fix it in the way we want to? What you do with every little bit that you are aware of as a thread with a spiritual component to it, must be considered and then approached in a godly way. Harbored bitterness and resentment clog a person’s ability to access the spiritual flow of that which is spiritual in nature. God can help us figure out how to overcome these areas in our lives.

God will use scripture and godly friends to help us in this.

Dealing with it is always worth it, even when it takes you days or months of forgiving and letting go. Forgiveness, letting it go, and moving forward are all interrelated and crucial for a healthy soul. The truth is, it is difficult or maybe impossible to participate in meaningful relationship with God when there is a block between you and God, which means the things of the Spirit will not be honest or true and you may get a false or unclear understanding of them.

That is when your time of meditation and contemplation could unravel and become dangerous.

Spiritually speaking, there will be a false reading in that you will believe your own thoughts, or the enemy’s thoughts, but not God’s thoughts. It may take one or more sessions to sort through the back trail to where the problem originated, the time when you chose to do it your way or something along that vein.

Allow God to work in your life, be open and honest, and then you will do well.

Love the Lord.

Modified excerpt from Silent Sacred Space.