Our Thoughts Are Not His Thoughts

I still believe that life is a series of Gifts and Lessons. If I'm honest, I’ve gotten the best learning from the Lessons. But more times then not, I pray for and enjoy the Gifts better.

At one point in my life I was in the midst of a real Lesson. I'd love to say that I was trusting of His Will during the process, but I'd be lying. In fact, not only was I not focused on God's hand in this, I was focused on and experiencing mostly evil from people who had set themselves out as the local religious elite.

In the process, I turned to a very good priest. I shared what was going on and in response I heard compassion. Compassion instead of legalistic jargon. Honesty instead of excuses. Forgiveness instead of judgement.

During the conversation with this priest, I mentally felt immediate relief. I thought the take away was the way the priest dealt with me. This was how I wanted to treat others in the same situation from now on. Great . . . but I had realized only part of the Lesson.

It wasn't until later when I was sharing the story with a lay apostle that I got the rest of the Lesson. After hearing what transpired and how it affected me, the lay apostle simply shared that I was hearing the voice of God. God was speaking through this priest. Here I was in the middle of all of these religious people, experiencing opposing ways of resolving issues.  If our Lord was to manifest in a human body today . . . I definitely believe He would resemble the priest who was compassionate, humble, honest, and forgiving.

Todays Gospel (Luke 9:28B-36) shows our minds aren’t able to see and comprehend everything that God is able to:

Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray. While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus,  “Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents,one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

But he did not know what he was saying. While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said,  “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.” After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.

They fell silent and did not at that time tell anyone what they had seen.

In Anne a lay apostle’s book Climbing the Mountain, we see that the ultimate goal is to blend our will with His Will:

“Consider a mountain. On that mountain is a path that has been marked out carefully for each of us by Jesus. Jesus is at the top. The world is at the bottom. If we get on that path and begin to climb, we will reach Jesus. We climb the mountain through our daily “yes” to Jesus. People say that they do not know the will of God, but God will not hide His will. We must spend time in silence and ask Jesus and He will tell us where our path lies on this mountain of holiness. Most of us need look no further than to our vocations. Our path is usually marked out with the daily duties of these vocations and it is always best to begin at that point. In this time of transition, Jesus needs souls to find their path and start climbing. The higher we climb, the more grace and light Jesus flows through us into this world and the greater the number of souls saved. We praise God for the way He allows us to participate in this renewal. Some speak of darkness and sin  and the disobedience of many of our brothers and sisters. This darkness exists and we cannot ignore it. To do so would be to rest in denial. However, when souls talk more about these things than about the glory of Jesus Christ, it is clear that they are facing the wrong way on the mountain. Face up, dear friends! Face Christ! Face heaven! If you do, you will be filled with heaven’s joy and confidence. If you face down toward the world you will become afraid. Also, when a soul faces the darkness he can risk becoming mesmerized by that darkness and drawn down into it. This is bad. Some souls are so busy studying the darkness that they ignore the light. Counsel souls to face Christ always and they will talk about joy and trust and heaven. An important point to remember is that Jesus is far bigger than the Empire State Building, in terms of His power, His love, and His glory. The enemy is comparatively the size of an ant, a very small ant. The devil is like a little fire ant, it is true, and he stings, but ultimately he cannot topple the Empire State Building.” 

Lay apostles, it’s through prayer and grace that we are able to climb the mountain. Some parts of the journey are easy, and others extremely difficult. In the end, we find that we need to have both in order to experience life to its fullest with God. 

Thank you, Lord, for being there in the times where Your Will was extremely clear as well as in the times where I just need to trust.

In humility and gratitude,

Jay

Chinese Bamboo

Guest blogger today is the love of my life, Jay!

There is a certain type of bamboo the Chinese plant and continue to water. In year one, two, three and four, not one sprout appears. However, in year five, the bamboo can ascend to 90 feet. Did all the growth occur in year five? Isn't it difficult for those planting to witness no apparent growth for four solid years? It doesn't appear to be easy, but with a little faith, the rewards are great with sustained efforts.

In todays Gospel (John 6:60-69), the disciples ask Jesus how to accept the challenge:

Many of the disciples of Jesus who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, “Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.”

As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer walked with him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

In Volume One, Jesus instructs us His ways are not the ways of the world:

"I want My chosen souls to reflect on the value of obedience. Only through obedience can I bring about the movement toward perfection within you. Your current world scoffs at obedience. Even children do not obey their parents and are not punished for their transgressions. I want My souls to be obedient and they will see their faith bloom like a flower. Truly, I will reward them in an unparalleled manner during these times. I want to point out that souls, while being disobedient in matters of faith, are obedient to the impulses and cravings of their bodies. Your bodies are making slaves of you, dear chosen souls. It must not continue. You must bring your bodies under submission so that your soul will be freed to contemplate matters of faith. Do you want to be with Me? I am here for you. But you must clear the path for Me. You must listen for Me. To do that, dear chosen souls, you must free yourselves from these attachments that hold you under submission. I am with you and will fight these battles for you, if only you will let Me. This is what it means to be My follower. You need worry over nothing."

Lay apostles, are you patient in allowing God's will to develop in His timing? Do you trust His plan for your life? These are questions I ask myself every day. I often share my business plan with Him, but at the same time ask for His will to be done. Many times it looks as though He hasn't read or heard my business plan. His outcomes are always so much better and for that I thank God.

Thank you, Lord, for illuminating my path when sometimes I can't see where one exists.

In humility and gratitude,

Jay