God Speaks To Us

While reading a Catholic Devotional based on Mass Readings I came across a lesson that shared the need for us to be open to the many ways God speaks to us. It may be a thought that comes to our mind to pray for someone, or do an act of kindness, it can be a hymn or words of praise running through our minds, it can be a dream with a message much like God gave to St. Joseph. It can be the promptings of our conscience, or guidance from Scripture readings, or the advice of trusted spiritual leaders. All these can be the Voice of God.
We need to give God the freedom to speak in whatever way He chooses, we need to be open to the possibility of hearing from Him. We need to believe that He is always speaking. And we need to pray to recognize His Voice.

The Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ~ Matthew 2:13


"I always begin my prayer in silence, for it is in the silence of the heart that God speaks. God is the Friend of silence - we need to listen to God because it's not what we say but what He says to us and through us that matters." ~ Mother Teresa

God's Greatest Gift

God out of His Love for us gave us His Greatest Gift, and Christmas is the celebration of that Great Gift. God wants to be with us, His Love for us is so strong that His Gift on Christmas laid the foundation for us to have a forever relationship with Him.

That fact, that great and wonderful and abiding love God has for us, is overwhelming and humbling.


For God so Loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. ~ John 3:16


"God's Gift puts man's best dreams to shame." ~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning

God's Treasures

One of our parish priests recently spoke to us about God's Treasures and he said that we are among God's treasured possessions, and then he asked, "Should not God then be our Prime Desire? Should not God be our Most Treasured? Indeed He should!"

I have many treasured possessions, and I don't think it's bad to hold material things dear, but it can be a bad thing when those possessions become the main focus of our lives.
A prayer blog I visited recently asked:
What do you possess that keeps you from Heaven?
What are you striving to possess that keeps you from Heaven?

I am trying to get my priorities straight, but it really is a long, hard road for me to travel. So many 'things' and possessions block the way because I let so many things block the way. And just when I think I've made some great strides my 'old self' comes roaring right back. One step forward and then five steps back. So I continue to pray for help with this inner struggle.

But I do find encouragement along the way:
For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago. ~ Ephesians 2:10


"It's easy for an insightful person who understands the things of the spirit to free themselves from material things." ~ Meister Eckhart, Selected Writings


And this next quote is my dearest hope and desire:

"I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I wish to be, I am not what I hope to be; but, by the Grace of God, I am not what I was." ~ John Newton (Author of 'Amazing Grace')

Quiet Presence

I think that God has been a Quiet Presence in my life. And I think I have been a very loud and very aggressive presence in my life.
I think it's time those roles were reversed.
I think there is a lot to be said for quiet. To me quiet means stillness and calm.

I found a nice blog maintained by Irish Jesuits in Dublin called Sacred Space. They have Bible readings each day and a prayer a day.
This was today's prayer:

Dear Jesus, as I call on You today I realize that I often come asking for favors.
Today I'd like to be in Your Presence,
May my heart respond to Your Love. Amen.

And another prayer blog I found had a challenge:

Take five minutes in a quiet place, think only of Jesus, listen to Him to hear the Voice of the Father. What would your life be like if you could do this all the time? How would it change you? Your relationships? Your walk with the Living God of the Bible?


You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. ~ Jeremiah 29:13


"The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy, is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature, and God." ~ Anne Frank

Exciting

Advent is exciting. I've always felt comforted by the fact that God loved us so much that He would send His Son to save us, but it's more than just a comfort, it's exciting to think of God Who Is so Great caring so much about that which is so little. God Cared enough for us to want a relationship with us, He wanted to bring us back to Him. God Created a plan specifically to draw us back to Him. Jesus Is God's Love for us Personified. The purpose of Jesus was to restore our relationship with God. Jesus Is God drawing us to Himself. It's a Gift almost too great to fully grasp.

From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can snatch anyone out of My Hand. No one can undo what I have done. ~ Isaiah 43:13


"We have been in God's thought from all eternity, and in His creative love, His attention never leaves us." ~ Michael Quoist

Quiet, Joyful, Hopeful

I've always thought of Advent as a mixture of a quiet, joyful, and hopeful time. It is at the close of the year, a time for quiet reflection on the past year, and it's also a time of hope for all that the New Year might bring, and it's joyful as it ushers in the celebration of Christ' birth and the knowledge that God's Love is constant. God does not want us to be separated from Him. The damage that was done to our relationship with Him has been repaired by Him. Christmas is His Gift to us, the Gift that is our Salvation, the Gift that Fulfilled His Promise to us.

This is love, not that we loved God, but that He Loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ~ 1 John 4:10


"Grace is love that cares and stoops and rescues." ~ John R. W. Stott