Spiritual Amnesia

At times we can misunderstand what spiritual warfare entails; especially if we glean that it may cost us in popularity and in one's longing to be liked.

It is at these times that many create comfort zones of appeasing the enemy or that due to fear many instead go with the flow rather than be seen to be different. And it is this capacity of not caring what happens to our neighbour so long as we are kept out of the fray that is the undoing of many Christians. For what harms our brother and sisters in Christ should affect us all and lend strength to fight the good fight.

Many will lose their way if their own 'neediness' to be liked and loved by people overcomes their knowledge that they are loved by God. There is also confusion in thinking that man's love is God's Love, no it is not! We are not here to win hearts and minds as if we were politicians who need to say what people want to hear even if it be a lie.

As Christians we are entrusted to speak the Truth, that is God's Truth and not our version of what we think is true.

Many of the Saints who went before us loved God's Truth so much they were willing to lay down their lives for it. And to this day in different parts of the world many more Christians die daily unknown and unloved by the populace but greatly loved by God.

Yet we who are comparatively safe fail to live and share this Truth and instead comply with the worldly lest they be perceived as 'mean' or politically incorrect. So they stay in the comfort zone they have erected around their hearts and minds so they can appease those who choose to do wrong with little affect on their own conscience.

When Mother Theresa met Presidents, Prime Ministers and other notables and upon receiving the Nobel Peace Prize this great Saint did not appease the current trend of Pro-Choice where abortion is seen as a woman’s right to choose. Mother Theresa instead spoke the Truth, that the murder of innocent unborn babies is an evil, and that the Leaders of various nations and also individual people needed to understand that murder is not acceptable to God and is a Sin that cries out to Heaven. Mother Theresa understood she was not born to 'go along with the flow' but to indict the evil done and stand on Truth alone!

Thoughts of political correctness did not inhibit her nor did she have this 'neediness' to be loved by one and all, Mother Theresa knew she had the love of God and that God suffices. This great woman of the Church also knew that she was obligated to speak God's Truth as it is and not diminish it for her own self promotion.

Yet so many of us when it comes to unacceptable behaviour choose to remain silent, not because we respect another’s opinion but because many live in fear of others, rather than rely on God's Love they instead rely on the fickleness of human love.

This is spiritual amnesia, and leads to a soul becoming lukewarm in that we were created to fight the good fight and not surrender when the cost grows to high. And for many that cost is not their lives, it is their popularity which means more to them than to speak God’s Truth revealed in His Word and the Traditions of our Church.

The one thing that God will not accept is the mediocre love of the lukewarm for as The Word warns us, "I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth."

This should remind us all that we were not placed here in this time and in this place in order to create a 'comfort zone' so that we can live lives of spiritual amnesia.

For to truly love our fellow man we owe them the Truth, to speak anything other than the Truth is to dishonour them and bring discredit to yourself as self love is the usual motivation in accepting sin as a right!

Do we live in the Light or exist in the shadows for it is not sin that kills the soul, for through the Sacraments sin is forgiven, what kills the soul is...apathy!

Peace of Christ to ALL

Copyright © 2005 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.

Pleasing God or People Pleaser?

Sometimes it's difficult for any of us to recognise our own deficiencies, nor can we distinguish our faults and failings in the Light of God. In that we all fall short of the Glory of God, but this is not an excuse to comply with whatever is easiest for us. In order to follow God's Will we need to understand The Way that Jesus showed us, and the path that Jesus Himself trod, what does Jesus say but that we must pick up our cross and follow Him.

When reflecting upon the Book of Job, one can see the human condition so well, in that when things were good Job was thankful to God and with sincere gratitude he thanked God for all he had been given for, `this man was blameless and upright' and that `he feared God(awe) and shunned evil'.

Then came the time when Job was informed by servants that not only had he lost his livestock but also the death of his children, Job in his grief ripped his clothes but still with filial trust he did not blame God. But that was not the end for Job, he then became covered in sores, but still he held fast to God despite the bitterness of his wife. Of course Job then did what many do, he turned to his friends for comfort only to find censure and finger pointing as his `friends' with no insight (from God) informed Job that he and his lack of faith was the cause of all his problems. Can we not feel for poor Job, who then went through the motions, of trusting in Gods goodness, bewilderment of Gods Way, resentment of God, self pity, anger towards God, are we not all a little like Job?

Then comes Peter, the Rock, who was the ultimate `people pleaser', the one who in trust stepped upon the water and walked towards Jesus, only to find himself sinking. Was Peter intent upon trusting God and His Power or impressing his friends for his `bravery'? It was Peter again who promised Jesus that he too would die alongside his Messiah, who was Peter trying to impress, Jesus or his friends? And later his act of true heroism when in confronting the crowd he cried in all Truth with, ' it was you with the help of wicked men put Him to death' but then consoles and instills hope amongst them with this Promise of God, "repent and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins". But once again as time progressed Peter vacillated over the `Law' in place of Love when eating with the Gentiles, it was left to Paul to correct him, so again who was Peter trying to please, God or man? Can we not also see ourselves reflected in this 'if it feels good then it must be ok' society?

When it comes to our own faith journey, and our own spiritual maturity, are we people pleaser's or do we live to please God?

If you find that you are living comfortably, that you get along with all, irrespective of their beliefs or their lifestyles, that no matter what group you are in, you are in agreement with everyone. If you are accommodating to all, whilst correcting none, and if your conscience never bothers you, while you are acquiescent to whatever the majority think even if it be accepting a known wrong, then whom are you pleasing?

For God did not create us to be `comfortable', but to worship Him and to show our love for God by being obedient to Scripture and the Churches Teachings. Do we waltz along our faith journey in a spirit of `coaxing God to go our way' rather than making sure we are `walking with God', and following His Way?

We must all recognise God's goodness even whilst we suffer, not because it's `what He wants to hear' but because God IS good irrespective of where circumstances have placed us. For in all the problems and difficulties we face or are yet to happen, we are not the point. He is! We exist for God and not Him for us!

So is your life comfortable, safe, do you enjoy popularity with everybody? If so, what price did you pay?

For Christ paid His life for yours, the Saints chose death and martyrdom over popular opinion, if anything Jesus and the Saints stood out because they went against popular opinion, and instead stood for Truth the Saints also died for this same Truth and did so fearlessly! When God's Truth is under assault do we stay silent in the hope that we will escape notice and become 'one of the crowd' as our culture becomes more secularised, rather than speak the Truth with conviction! If not then whom are you looking to please God or man?

If a group singles out individuals to intimidate and bully do you try and appease their aggression by practicing false charity, which is the highest form of self love rather than speak the truth, in case you too become a target for their animosity? When a person’s neediness overcomes their principles then whom are they pleasing?

For it would be better to find oneself alone with God than live outside of God!

In your daily life do your words ring with a mighty crescendo speaking with the Sword of Truth to afflict the comfortable, or are you the comfortable who is being afflicted.

Peace of Christ to ALL

Copyright © 2005 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.

Our Greatest Weapon

Many Christians believe that because they have embraced Christ and follow the Commandments of God, that life should be a bed of roses, and no harm will come to them. This then leads to them placing any difficulties they may face at Satan's door, as if Satan were greater than God and they were at the mercy of the evil one.

This kind of thinking may also lead to a spirit of discouragement when after praying for a difficulty to be resolved, many find that it remains. This then starts a counter action of belief that God has not heard their prayers, or they have been abandoned by God. These thought processes are music to Satan's ears, as he feeds the fear and insecurity that he senses within the soul of the troubled individual.

What many fail to grasp is that what we find troubling and difficult may in essence be a blessing to strengthen that which is weakest within our own nature. As when St. Paul experienced a thorn in his side and upon beseeching our Lord in prayer to remove the thorn that was irritating him, St. Paul found that God did not will this for him. Now upon being told that God was sufficient for him, did St. Paul give up and cede defeat to Satan? Then, why is it, when many Christians face any crisis, many attribute all problems to Satan as if he were in control of their lives and they were at the mercy of the merciless foe!

Our Heavenly Father knows that our biggest battle is with pride, which can take many forms. And so He at times will allow problems to beset us in order to keep us totally dependent upon Him and to humble us in realizing that we cannot do anything without the support of our Loving Creator. Sometimes many do not even recognize pride in all its various forms, for many will say, 'I am the biggest sinner', which in a subtle way brings attention to themselves. This is not to say we should live without remorse in the sin's we have committed for a contrite heart is a timely reminder not to offend our Loving Creator with the same sin. Others will say, 'oh I don't have much to offer' in the hope of receiving many compliments which then feeds the Ego!

Therefore our Heavenly Father allows us to be faced with struggles and disappointments, not to chastise us, but to guide is into total reliance on Him and to have all Confidence in God's Power to overcome evil. For through His Death and Resurrection, Christ won for all of us the Victory over Satan, then why do so many still accredit every disappointment to the tempter, which is Satan?

Our Lord has equipped us with certain victory, but it is up to each of us to use the weapons we have been given through Christ our Lord. These weapons are, prayer, which is grounded on our love of God and our obedience to Him. We also have the Sacraments of the Church to restore through Confession that which has been broken through sin, and to partake of the Eucharist, which strengthens the soul for the battles ahead.

For the war we face is not outside of ourselves, but within our own souls. This is why it is integral to see all difficulties as challenges which through Christ's strength we can overcome, and all disappointments as lessons in humility so that we rely solely on God for our support and not become reliant on the fickle feelings of man.

It is when our emotions become embroiled in the minutiae that many can then miss the bigger picture, which is to bring us to the realization that we do not need man to validate us, but we do need to acknowledge our neediness to our Sovereign Lord. For it is God who is in control of our lives, and it is to Him that we should fly in prayer and seek out His Will as we are guided by the Holy Spirit to overcome that which tempts us.

We need to understand that the difficulties, disappointments and discouragements that we all face are not the acts of a 'whimsical' God. But it is the actions of a Loving Father who will give us the strength to overcome our fears and fill us with strength through prayer and the Sacraments to fight the good fight and behave as Victors as we give all praise and Glory to our Savior, Lord Jesus Christ.

Let us then arm ourselves with the weapons of Righteousness and go forth in full knowledge that it is Christ who is King and we His humble servants, whom He will never abandon.

Peace of Christ to ALL

Copyright © 2005 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.