Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Click here to go to the Bottom Line Meditations for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Godly Abiding Spiritually in Jesus Changes the Meaning of What we See Worldly When Not Abiding in Jesus.

Spirituality is our innate ability to feel the difference worldly or godly thinking makes to the way scripture translates to our daily life and relationships.

All Scripture is a testimony to Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God. He is the complete revelation of God’s will of grace for salvation. Grace is the only unfailing rule of faith and practice for the Christian life.

The Gospel of grace is: rather than trying to be more faithful to become faithful, we become faithful by feeling the Faith God already has for and in us.

The Strength of Christianity is Grace

John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Another name for Jesus is "Grace". Another name for God is "Grace". We are saved by GRACE. "Love" is not Love if it is not grace. This is true for "Faith", "Hope", "Joy" and all other theological words of significance in the scripture.

Until someone experiences the grace gift in their lives, all other theological words have no real meaning. Why not begin to use the word "grace" in place of "Jesus", "God", "the Spirit", "Love" and so on? It might seem inappropriate to do so. However, until it is actually experienced it will make no sense at all.

That is what this year is all about. Grace, did you get it?

The heart is the place for the helpful Spirit of grace.  We have a “That does IT” button caused by stress. We also have the chance to push our Peace button that resets our stress button.

Pray this prayer from the Collect for this Sunday:

”O God, Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another.”

Now quietly move into God's Presence and pray the prayer again:

“O God, Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another.”

Did you feel the difference?

Matthew 11:25-30 “Hidden from the wise and revealed to little children.”

Check Your Reset Button

We all have a valuable piece of equipment that is guaranteed to last a lifetime and it happens to be in us. It is our spiritual Reset Button. This is our spiritual immune system. It is self-correcting. It corrects negative thoughts and feelings. We will all see things differently when we are at Peace, Joy and In His love, patience and kindness than when we are filled with negative feelings of stress, anger and worry about something.

The catch to the reset button is we cannot do it rationally. The rationally wise and learned have the most difficulty with the button. We want to know how it works before we push it. It is a spiritual button resides in our heart. It is not difficult to push consciously as little children can do it so easily. Once we push it, the Wisdom comes. 

What is rationally difficult is for us to give up blaming others, through unforgiveness and judgment, for our pain. People regularly blame others for pushing their panic button. Our choice is who gets to push one of our buttons. Do we let others push our panic button or do we take charge of our life and push our reset button? 

To push the reset button we need to understand that our thoughts create our feelings. As long as we believe the other person pushed our panic button to create our feelings, we will continue to let them push us around.

Our reset button frames the big picture of a kinder, gentler feeling that changes negative thoughts into a deeper Wisdom. This feeling of Peace, Love and Joy boosts our spiritual immune system. By resetting our thoughts, Wisdom comes that we could never have without the resetting of our soul.

The reset button acts like a springboard into wellness. We use it to experience a cleansing of our mind by releasing toxins of guilt, anger and shame from the past along with fear and worry about the future. We open our heart to the possibilities of being at Peace in any place, at any time and under any conditions. In this Presence we gracefully reconnect with our real self.

The understanding of why we need the reset comes when we know that our thoughts create our feelings about the person or the event when we are out of the Presence. We cannot understand the difference the reset button can make until we use it. We can then understand that when we reset our lives back into the Presence, the feeling of Peace and Love will determine how we think in the event.

The reason pushing the reset button is not difficult is because we do it all the time. We do not know we are doing it. When we consciously know we are resetting our button and name it, we can understand how it works. 

An example of how it works is the 911 operator. A call comes in about an accident. The person calling in is upset, confused and panicky. The first thing the operator says is, “be calm” or, “Now, calm down.” The person takes a deep breath and their voice is all of a sudden more calm and clear in relating the event.

We do this all of the time when we take a deep breath and pause for a moment. We can find we are able to calm our anger and get a truer perspective of what is happening.

We push the reset button and come to Jesus to find rest when we are weary and burdened. His yoke of Love is easy and His burden of Peace is light. We learn He is gentle and humble in heart and there we find rest for our souls.

Think of the issue that disturbs you the most. Feel the pain, stress or anger associated with it. Put your hand on your heart. Take a deep breath and say to your heart, “Be Calm” then, “Calm Down.” Feel the Peace that is with you as you think of the event. You just pushed your reset button.

“O God, Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another.”

THE DISCIPLE-SHIFT: The Virtual Small Group: Members share once a week with their group through the internet when a shift from being out to being in the Presence made a difference.

The heart is the place for the helpful Spirit of grace