Joy in Suffering. Thursday, August 28. 2014.

“For to you has been granted, for the sake of Christ,

not only to believe in Him but also to suffer for Him.”

Philippians 1:29

Paul is so great.

I find myself giddy when reading something he wrote.

He doesn’t quite understand the whole concept of

run-on sentences,

but I love him nonetheless.

The word grant has two meanings.

As a noun it is generally ‘a sum of money given’.

As a verb it means to ‘agree to give’ or ‘to allow’.

Both are concepts of giving to some extent.

Both seem to fit well in this verse.

‘For to you has been granted…’

Paul is reminding us that whatever follows that first part of the sentence,

is a gift.

It has been given to us.

Granted to us.

And should be appreciated by us.

We are given the opportunity to believe in Him.

We were graced with free will.

It is upon us to decide if we believe in Him or not.

This is a gift taken for granted so much.

We are blessed with so many freedoms

that we forget they are freedoms in the first place.

We just expect them.

The freedom to choose Christ,

to choose to believe in Him,

is one of the greatest gifts we could ever ask for.

A gift granted.

One that should never be taken for granted.

It’s easy to understand that free will is a gift.

It’s not nearly as easy to understand that suffering is a gift.

Along with free will,

we are also granted the joy of suffering for Him.

Yes, the JOY.

We reciprocate without a second thought.

I’ll get the tab this time,

you grab it next time.

But when it comes to reciprocating at our own expense?

All bets are off.

Jesus did more than just pick up the tab.

He paid more than any monetary tab.

He sacrificed His own life.

Not for the purpose of a decent meal

but that we might not face eternal death.

It should be a downright joy for all Christians to suffer for Christ.

He laid down His life.

Where is the rule of reciprocation here?

If we live because of His sacrifice,

then whose are our lives but His?

Next time it feel like you’re going through hell,

or you’re stuck in traffic,

or your heart seems to be shattered on the floor,

or you have too much cleaning to do…

offer it up.

Unite your suffering to His.

Suffer for Christ.

Reciprocate.

Not because you have to,

not because it is a rule,

but because you have been granted the joyous opportunity to suffer for the Savior of the World. 

Courage Dear Heart. Wednesday, August 20. 2014.

“I would a thousand times rather have a persecuted Church 
than a compromised Church.”

Fr. Elijah

Too often I tend to lean on the side of compromise.

Who wants to be persecuted?

Too often we shy away from what is right

because of what others might think or say.

It’s easier to bend or tilt the popular way.

It’s easier to be ‘meh’ about something.

It’s easier to be lukewarm.

But what merit is there in a compromised Church?

Can there be glory found in a compromised Church?

Isn’t the glory found in a Church persecuted for standing Her ground?

Isn’t there merit in Christians choosing the less traveled road despite the fear of persecution?

Persecution might mean a strange look.

It might mean losing friends.

It might mean losing one’s life.

Whatever your persecution might look like,

there is glory to be found there.

Compromise is popular.

Persecution is not.

Are you willing to suffer?

To be persecuted?

To give up compromise?

To be put on the unpopular list?

“Moral principles do not depend on a majority vote. Wrong is wrong, even if everybody is wrong. Right is right, even if nobody is right.”

Fulton Sheen

The Question is Irrelevant. Wednesday, August 13. 2014.

It seems as though there has been a constant stream of breaking news.

Breaking news is almost never good.

It’s the bad that has people reading articles or watching TV.

The constant shootings,

the suicides,

the homelessness,

the drownings,

the unrest,

and the war.

We are constantly reminded of all this evil in the world.

It’s depressing.

It begs the questions:

Where is the hope?

Where are we to find joy?

What can we do?

What went wrong?

What went wrong was sin.

Adam and Eve were created as sinless beings.

When God created man,

He intended for us to be good,

free from sin,

and in full communion with Him.

We ruined that plan via free will.

We brought sin into the world.

We can blame it all on Adam and Eve

and say we would have done differently,

but we don’t.

We still bring sin into the world.

We still hate.

We still judge.

We still sin.

We still turn away from God.

Eve may have eaten the original apple

but we are still farmers planting those seeds of sin,

whether we want to admit it or not.

Unfortunately,

we are going to continue messing up.

We are sinners.

But we still have free will.

We can still choose.

This world needs love.

In two forms.

All the hurt and pain and sin in the world

might be put at ease if we let Love in.

And if we could learn to love others,

simply for the love of God.

We have become so good at pushing Love Himself away.

It is very clear that whatever we say,

whatever we do,

whatever we think,

is either for Christ or against Christ.

There is no grey.

There is no in between.

No maybe, kinda, sorta.

We have become very good at

pushing Love away,

subtly and not so subtly.

We have also become good at not loving as we should.

We are more concerned with ourselves than our neighbor.

We spend time caring for ourselves when others around us are literally dying due to pain.

Until we step up to the plate

and bring Love Himself back into our lives

and love like the Christ-like Christians we claim to be

nothing is going to change.  

Love is the answer.

It always has been.

It always will be.

No point in putting the square in the circle hole.

No point in filling our lives with anything other than love when love answer.  

So where is the hope?

Where is the joy?

Our hope lies in Christ.

In Love Himself.

The joy comes from serving Him.

The joy comes from learning to love

and letting ourselves be loved.

Know you are loved.

Know you have the ability to love.

Know that love can change this world.

Going for the Goal. Thursday, August 7. 2014.

I like ice cream.

When I get ice cream,

I’m satisfied.

When someone else gets ice cream and I don’t,

I might be a bit jealous,

but I still want ice cream.

I don’t shy away from that desire because someone else obtained it first.

I also really want to go to Heaven,

far more than I like ice cream.

I know well that this place is not my home.

I know that there is something better.

I know that we were made for more.

One of the members of the young adult group at my church passed away recently.

Suddenly and unexpectedly.

Part of me is so sad to not be able to see him.

Part of me is so excited for him that, God-willing, he’s in Heaven.

But part of me begins to shy away and fear the concept of death.

If Heaven is the ultimate goal,

we should never shy away from it.

If we were created to ultimately end up in Heaven,

why would we fear getting there?

Most of the things we want in life,

we want no matter who gets it before us.

Most of us want Heaven,

but once we see the way people get there,

we look the other direction.

We shouldn’t seek out death

but we should always be open to Eternal Life.

As we continue to pray for those who have gone before us,

let us also pray for the grace for ourselves to desire Heaven

and be at peace with the Lord’s timing.

“I hope you stare just long enough to see
The heart that's beating here inside of me
Beyond all the things you may think you know
I'm just a kid trying to make it home, that's it
No more, no less
Lord, I want to go home
Nothing more, nothing less”

No More No Less

Mercy Me

Don't Break People Down. Thursday, July 17. 2014.

A girl made fun of me today.

She didn’t just make fun of me in passing

but rather,

she made sure to make eye contact with me

and then proceeded to mock me

as I was doing one of my favorite things ever.

It brought up a lot of emotions,

thoughts,

and feelings.

There were a lot of things I wanted to say.

And even more things that I wanted to do.

But Fr. Dan’s homily inspired me this morning,

so I said none of what came to mind

nor did I do any of the things I wanted to do.

This morning,

Fr. Dan said,

“I love God.

I pray that my

thoughts,

words,

actions,

desires,

deeds

and life

reflect that.”

Despite what I was thinking and feeling at the moment,

and despite all of the things that I wanted to say and do,

I was more interested (at that moment) in my actions reflecting my love for God.

At that moment,

the most loving thing I could do was simply to ignore her and continue on.

I wasn’t in a position to sit and talk with her and share the Gospel.

But maybe my actions, or lack of, were enough.

Maybe ignoring her made her think twice

or maybe she continued and made fun of the next person she saw.

I don’t know nor will I.

But I do know how much she must be hurting.

It’s pretty bad to find enjoyment in making fun of people.

A happy person does not do that.

A person who knows their identity is in Christ does not do that.

There was hurt there.

There was pain.

It’s the only reason for her finding enjoyment in others’ pain.

Despite what people may say or do,

regardless of how much it might hurt,

it is a moment to show the world how much you love God

and it is a moment to show them that they are worth more.

There’s no formula for showing others that you love God.

It might look different for each person in each situation.

But it’s no doubt the most important thing in each situation.

It is more important to walk away knowing you reflected your love for God

rather than reflecting your emotions and thoughts at the time.

And to the girl who made fun of me,

I’m sorry. I’m sorry that you feel the need to hurt people. I hope that the hurt in your life can be healed. I hope that you can find healing in the Healer. And I hope that you can love God ever more each day. I hope you learn how to build people up and not break them down. And I hope that you find people in your life who build you up.

Truly Seeking Christ. Thursday, July 10. 2014.

When I was little,

there was this ‘cool’ family that I wanted to be friends with.

They had things that I did not have

and they lived a life that I was interested in at the time.

I kind of weaseled my way into their family

by making friends with one of the kids around my age.

It didn’t last for very long though.

I had ulterior motives when befriending that girl.

It wasn’t my true intention to be her friend,

but rather,

to be able to spend time with her family

and hang out at her house.

Truth be told,

we were very different people

and we had a forced friendship,

one that did not last long at all.

I had obtained what I wanted

but the thrill of it all was over.

It was nothing as I expected.

I was disappointed

and embarrassed by the way I acted.

But I still do the same thing today.

‘Ask and you shall receive.’

Okay then,

I want this,

Jesus I will be Your best friend now.

I go to Him in times of need or want,

far more than I go to Him to have a relationship with Him.

And then maybe I get the thing I’m praying for,

I might say a quick thank you

and move on.

But then disappointment sets in.

This search for Christ is limited to what I can get.

Once I have clarity,

or peace,

or someone,

or something,

my ‘search’ for Christ is over.

If my ‘search’ for Christ has a goal of gaining something

and then it ends,

that’s a pretty lousy life.

If all my life amounts to is getting what I want

and that’s it,

I’m in trouble.

That is not a life worth living or pursuing.

There is so much more than my wants and desires.

Life goes beyond that.

Our search for Christ should be driven by who He is,

not by what He has to offer.

As with my previously mentioned friend,

we did not have a real relationship,

we did not truly know each other.

The same is true in our relationship with Christ.

We cannot truly know Him

or have a real relationship with Him

if we are concerned with what He has to offer.

Be focused on who He is.

And who you are in Him.

Let what He has to offer just be an added bonus.

What work I have to do in truly seeking Christ and 

learning who He is!

Speak Less. Thursday, July 3. 2014.

Being in the Verizon store for hours gives way to lots of people watching.

There was an older couple there learning how to use their brand new iPhone.

The wife was the caretaker.

The husband was a Navy Veteran.

In a wheelchair.

Who had undergone a tracheotomy.

Anything that this man wished to say took work.

He couldn’t simply just speak like the rest of us.

He would need to close the opening in his neck

in order to create something that barely qualified as words.

Multiple times while I was there,

I noticed that he would lift his hand as if to begin the process of saying something,

but then he would just drop his hand,

almost as if he were thinking,

‘Forget it, it’s not important anyways’.

With that being said,

he did not appear to be sad or depressed.

He and his wife seemed very happy.

Their love for each other was abounding,

despite the fact that they did not communicate much verbally.

Their example proved something.

Sometimes we don’t always have to have the last word.

Sometimes more words is not the route to go.

Sometimes less is actually more.

Maybe there is something to the saying,

actions speak louder than words.

Maybe there is a reason we hear more about Jesus doing rather than

Jesus saying.

The world tells us to never shut up.

We must be constantly logged into social media.

Letting someone else have the last word means you’re a wimp.

And we are seen as rude or shy or depressed if we aren’t the life of the party.

Though it may seem insignificant,

it is just another area where the world clashes with the Savior of the world.

What if we just shut up and listen?

What is God saying to us?

What if we just shut up and did?

Does the social media world really need to know you volunteered at the homeless shelter or that you cracked open your Bible this morning?

Guilty.

Guilty of it all.

Not accusatory.

Guilty.

St. Francis of Assisi made this point,

‘Preach the Gospel and if necessary, use words’.

If I had sum up the Gospel in one word, it would be

Love.

How can we speak love through our actions?

How can we humble ourselves to love another?

How can we preach the Gospel without words?

‘If I speak in human and angelic tongues but I do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.’

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

‘But if all that we do is absent of Jesus then this so called love is completely in vain.’

Mercy Me

Can we choose what is important to say?

And leave out the not so important?

And focus on loving through action?

Preaching through action?

What if we shut up and did today?