Blog Archives
God’s Creativity…
Devotional Thought of the Day:
9 How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word. 10 I have tried hard to find you— don’t let me wander from your commands. 11 I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:9-11 (NLT2)
“God resists the proud, but gives his grace to the humble,”11 the Apostle Saint Peter teaches. In any age, in any human setting, there is no other way to live a godly life than that of humility. Does this mean that God takes pleasure in our humiliation? Not at all. What would he, who created all things and governs them and maintains them in existence, gain from our prostration? God only wants us to be humble and to empty ourselves, so that he can fill us. He wants us not to put obstacles in his way so that—humanly speaking—there will be more room for his grace in our poor hearts.
In our devotions this morning, we came to the verse in psalm 119, Drvien by some need, I looked up the word pure, and was a little surprsed by the definition. One of my Hebrew dictionaries talked about that form of the verb being translucent or transparent. About having nothing in you that people couldn’t see, therefore being innocent.
We talk about leaders needing to be that way, about being transparent, about their agendas being clearly seen. We need to be as well. So that people see what they get. So that we don’t try to hide anything from them, from ourselves, or believing that somehow we can hide things from God.
That brings a different view on God and his insistence on simplicity and on humility. Humiliation is a way of stripping ourselves of all that obscures the transparency and translucency. It affects our pride, because often what we are proud about is not an accurate portrayal of who we are in Christ. Simplifying it and clearly seeing who we are.
Sometimes revealing that reveals the cracks in our personality, and how we are broken. To see that revealed is not easy. It can only be handled by depending on God toll fill in those cracks, to make us whole again, even as He has promised. He will do this, and the final creation of our lives, fully transparent, will reveal what God has made in us, what God has made of us.
A masterpiece, a work of art, something that God himself treasures.
Lord, help us to trust in You, as You remove layer after layer of that which we created to obscure who we are…and help others see the new creation You have made of us, so that it can happen to them as well!
Escrivá, Josemaría. Friends of God . Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Speak out! (about what truly matters!)
Whenever you see that the glory of God and the good of the Church demand that you should speak out, don’t remain silent. Think about it. Who would lack courage before God and in the face of eternity? There is nothing to be lost and instead so much to be gained. Why do you hold back then? (1)
One of the blessings and curses of what they call “social media” is the lowering of inhibitions when it comes to stating exactly what is on our minds. We would never whine or complain or criticize people in person the way we do on Facebook or Twitter or in our texts. Although I am starting to wonder if we are getting braver in person, because we vent and tell what we really feel in cyber-reality.
The blessing is that slowly and surely, our facades our crumbling, we are letting each other in on our humanity, on what causes our doubts, our fears, our anxieties, our pains. We are being transparent, and often what we would bottle up, we instead vent. We may not always do it well – but we do it. The way we do it, can often be a concern, and even the curse. Because social media doesn’t include body language, and it isn’t truly dialogue – communication that flows two ways, unhindered, what is said doesn’t always come through the way it was meant – and we don’t get the feedback of body language, the shock in the eyes, the fallen glance, the frown, the raised eyebrow, the collapse of the body.
As I read St. Josemaria’s words this morning, it came to mind that what we don’t see often is our words (not just the shares of the soundbytes and pictures) that are the messages we are compelled to share. The word of encouragement the word calling someone to re-focus, the things that need to be said, that bring repentance and healing and reconciliation. That lift up the downtrodden, that allow us to share in the joys and the sorrows, that encourage our dependence on God, and the peace that can only come, when we remember He is present.
Such words are necessary, even as each has its own difficulty. Such words call for confidence, not in ourselves, but in God. Such words call for the kind of focus that enabled Jesus to endure the cross, for the joy set before Him. Such words bring incredible blessing..
Such words are given to you… so speak out!
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 1757-1760). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
