Candid Response to One who was Wronged

A good friend of mine recently emailed me.  He had been hurt once again by the actions of others.  He and I know one another well enough for him to expect a frank response, of which the following is a portion:

 Remember that the man who has the character to admit honestly to himself and others that he is Hurt – is vastly stronger than a man who is too weak to be real and who masks that hurt with anger. 

You are a strong man.  You are hurt.  Admit it and deal with it on that level.  Don’t let the devil drag you into the insidious trap of being “offended” and ruin precious relationships with an unhealthy display of anger.

And yep.  We try our best to be helpful and people don’t accept it.  That hurts.  Furthermore, people do things to us which are self-centered, narcissistic and hurtful.  We hear it because it is true -- "Crap happens."  It happens all the time.  You are too wise in the Lord to get caught up in wallowing in the crap of others and adding your own to the mix.  Let God lift your emotions above it.

Loneliness Longing

I reflect almost daily upon a truth which Billy Graham has regularly addressed in his long lifetime of messages and writings.  "Loneliness" is what he has experienced as our most common human state. 

 

I read today these words from another author:  "In human relations one should penetrate to the core of loneliness in each person and speak to that." 

 

Within the depths of our soul, we long for God.  "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God" (Psalm 42:1).

 

As we long for God to fill our inmost needs, we long for godly connections with one another.

 

 

 

 

 

Where Healing Power is to be Found

While preparing for an adult study class I read words with which I agree and find quite meaningful. They are written by Gerald May, a medical doctor who practices psychotherapy in Washington, DC.  He conveys the importance of community in the healing process:

"God's grace through community involves something far greater than other people's support and perspective.  The power of grace is nowhere as brilliant nor as mystical as in communities of faith.  Its power includes not just love than comes from people and through people but love that pours forth among people, as if through the very spaces between one person and next.  Just to be in such an atmosphere is to be bathed in healing power."

Each Day

Portions of Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young:

"Begin this day with open hands of faith, ready to receive all that I am pouring into this brief portion of your life. Be careful not to complain about anything...since I am the Author of your circumstances. The best way to handle unwanted situations is to thank Me for them. This act of faith frees you from resentment and frees Me to work My ways into the situation, so that good emerges from it."

"To find Joy in this day, you must live within its boundaries. I knew what I was doing when I divided time into twenty-four-hour segments. I understand human frailty, and I know that you can bear the weight of only one day at a time. Do not worry about tomorrow or get stuck in the past. There is abundant Life in My Presence today."

Peace.

Speaking Up

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly, defend the rights of the poor and needy" (Prov. 31:8-9.)

We are called to speak up for others when we see them in a position of need, in a situation where speaking up for themselves is difficult, insufficient or impossible.

And we find ourselves, at times, needing help like Moses who needed his brother, Aaron, both to help him speak and to hold up his weary arms.

Whether we are the source of help or the receiver, we need one another.

Christmas Blessing and shared Christmas Prayer

May you be truly blessed this Christmas Season!

May the song of the Christmas angels, the song of love and joy which can permeate whatever we may be experiencing, ring loudly within your heart. And may that song, with its divine power, overflow through you into the lives of all others in your life.

I share with you below the eloquent words of one of my favorite preachers, Dr. Peter Marshall, Chaplain of the United States Senate decades ago.

"We yearn, our Father, for the simple beauty of Christmas –
for all the old famliar melodies and words that remind us of that great miracle
when He who had made all things
was one night to come as a babe,
to lie in the crook of a woman's arm.

Before such mystery we kneel,
as we follow the shepherds and Wise Men to bring You the gift of our love –
a love we confess has not always been as warm or sincere or real as it should have been. But now, on this Christmas,
that love would find its Beloved,
and from You receive the grace to make it pure again, warm and real.

We bring You our gratitude for every token of Your love,
for all the ways You have heaped blessings upon us during the years that have gone.

And we do pray, Lord Jesus,
that as we celebrate Your birthday,
we may do it in a manner well pleasing to You.
May all we do and say, every tribute of our hearts, bring honor to Your name,
that we, Your people,
may remember Your birth
and feel Your presence among us even yet.

May the loving kindness of Christmas
not only creep into our hearts,
but there abide,
so that not even the return to earthly cares and responsibilities,
not all the festivities of our own devising
may cause it to creep away weeping.
May the joy and spirit of Christmas stay with us now and forever.

In the name of Jesus,
who came to save His people from their sins,
even in that lovely name we pray.
Amen."

Lonely?

Our haunting, daunting, pervasive human experience is "loneliness" (or lack of genuine love in our lives.) The antidote is in experiencing the reality “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Heb. 13:5; Deut. 31:6.)

We are never alone. The One who loves us unconditionally and endlessly is always with us. Even when we might feel otherwise, that truth remains constant.

You are never alone. Your greatest Friend is with you.