Posted by Paul Edwards (Fr. Paul) on May 30, 2013 | Comments (0)


Third Sunday After Pentecost

Bottom Line Spirituality: Worldly and Godly Thinking

Click here to go to the Bottom Line Meditations for Third 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.

 

Remember: The DISCIPLE-SHIFT

(see Pentecost Sunday Meditation by Clicking Here)

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.

Jesus took common words and gave them the spiritual meaning of being in the Presence of the Spirit.  Here the words “get up” mean experiencing the Presence rather than a physical movement.

The Gospel of grace is: rather than us trying to build a life of faith for God, we become a life of faith by God when consciously feeling the Faith He has in us.

PROPER 5 Luke 7:11-17  Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son

When the Lord saw the grieving widow, His Heart went out to her. He said, “Don’t cry.” Then He went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on.

Jesus touched the coffin. He could not have touched the coffin unless the grieving mother had given Him the permission to do so. We talk a lot about giving things to God. We must be willing to give to God all that we own.

I have been praying for a family team of brother and sister. One has been critically ill and near death. They have even been close to death on several occasions. There is a lot of pain, tears, grief, sorrow and deep prayers on all sides.

The question one comes up with is “what can you say and what, if anything, can you do?”

One of the things people want to say to the critically ill person is to “give it to God”. That is best any one can do. But how do you do it? Sometimes one of the dynamics goes deeper than giving their condition up to God. Sometimes when there are two close and loving people, the critically ill person will want to hang on just for the sake of the family. They do not want to give them the pain and grief that comes when they lose their loved one.  The patient hangs on to their life for the family’s sake. 

Sometimes the family cannot let go of the critical patient. They cannot give them to God because they do not want to disappoint them by giving up and feeling the guilt of letting them down.

The loved ones and the ill patient must be willing to put both parties into the Hands of God. The person in critical condition needs to stop worrying about how the family will deal with their death. They first need to give the loved ones to God. The Love and Peace of God will come into the family’s life with a Wisdom that never could be known when alone spiritually. Then, in Peace, the patient can put their life into the Hands of Jesus.

Those who are with the critically ill loved one need to put their grief first into the Hands of God. You cannot put someone else into His hands and grieve with guilt because you did. Only in the Peace of God are we able to truly put the loved one into His Hands. 

When there is grief over a death, many times there is no closure because the person in grief has not been willing to let go even if they put their loved one into God’s Hand. They are still trying to fix, control and change an unchangeable situation: the death of a loved one. They must feel the Peace of God in, and not about, the death.  Feel the touch of Him and the difference being in or out of His Hands can make.

Jesus put His Hand out to touch the bier carrying the widow’s son. The heartbroken widow was willing to let Jesus do so. She put her grief over the death of her son into His Hands. We never know what God will do. It may not be what we want, but it will always be the unexpected and we will always be in awe and surprised.


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.


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