June 22

I am attaching my last two instalments of reflections that I prepared for Resurrection Lutheran Church.  The first one certainly applies to any time in human history, but especially now when people are living in fear.  You can always fear and worry, but the the worrying will do no good.  Choose love over fear.  The second reflection also applies to what we have been going through lately.  If you read my blog, I hope you are not spending too much time on Fox, NBC, or CNN.  I hope you are taking care of your mind and lowering your stress levels.  I hope you are staying informed, but not obsessing over all the bad news that you are bombarded with in the media and from other sources.  I hope you are learning and growing and feeding your mind with nourishing ideas.

Verse:  I Timothy 1:7

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Reflection:

I read a quote recently that the term peace of mind is an oxymoron because when we are in our mind, we are seldom at peace.  You may argue with this statistic, but over 90 percent of our thoughts are repetitive, negative, and useless.  Being deep in thought is not always useless especially when we are trying to solve a problem or derive inspiration, but the mind has a way of becoming dysfunctional.  We will lay awake at night ruminating on past regrets and worrying about the future.  When we give energy to negative thoughts, our minds can cause us to fear, worry, pity ourselves, and seek revenge.  There are times when we have bad thoughts and we believe they are the truth and we believe we are bad people because we have bad thoughts.  The good news is: we are not our thoughts.  The Spirit of God who is planted in us is always there and always accessible.  The Spirit gives us the power to observe our thoughts and determine whether the thoughts are God’s thoughts.  Everyday and all day, we should hold our thoughts up to the light of God.  If the thoughts cause  undue fear, uncontrollable hate, and depression, they are probably not God’s thoughts.

Verse: Romans 12:2

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Reflection:  There was a time when I viewed my relationship with God as a transaction.  I do this for God.  God does this for me.  In this transactional relationship, I followed laws, recited creeds, and concerned myself with being right and believing the right things.   I have seen people that view christianity as a transaction, but who haven’t been transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.  They perform rituals and enforce laws while ignoring the plight of the poor, the sick, the lame, the homeless, the oppressed, and all those who Jesus helped during his earthly ministry.  They exclude and deny love to others thinking all the while they are doing the will of God.  In today’s bible passage, Paul exhorted followers of Christ to be transformed by the renewing of their minds.  A transformed person will prove by the way they live their life what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.  What is the will of God?  “To be just, and to love [and to diligently practice] kindness (compassion), And to walk humbly with your God [setting aside any overblown sense of importance or self-righteousness].”(Micah 6:8 AMP).