Gospel, Sunday, August 21, 2011

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Martha

“But you,’ he said, ‘who do you say I am?”  Matthew 16:15

     There are only two really important parts in today’s Gospel.  The first is the above quote.  Jesus has asked the disciples who the people are saying He is.  After listening to their answers, He then asks, “who do you say I am?”

     There is no more important question we can ask ourselves in our entire lives.  This one question, and our answer to it, holds the keys to our saving grace, the keys to Eternal Life.  No one else can answer this question for us.  We can choose to ignore the question, or we can deny it’s importance.  In doing so, we seal our fate.  Not answering this question is the same as getting the answer wrong!

     The second important part in today’s Gospel is Peter’s answer to Jesus.  In Matthew 16:16 Simon Peter replies, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus lets Peter know the only possible way for him to answer the question in this manner was that God, The Father, had made it known to him.

     God will make His Son known to you also, but you must seek to know Him.  You must ask yourself the very same question.  You must learn all that you can about Jesus until you, like Peter, can reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  In doing so you will have the keys to Eternal Life.

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2011
Posted in Biblical, Faith, Habits, Inspiration | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Rabboni!

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Martha

“Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’  She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means ‘Teacher’).”  John 20:16

     The word Rabboni appears only once in the Bible, and interestingly the meaning, Teacher, is provided for us. 

     The time is just after the Resurrection.  Mary Magdalene has gone to the tomb and found it empty.  Crying because she cannot find Jesus, she sees a man who actually is Jesus, but she does not recognize Him until she hears that familiar voice speak her name.  She instantly recognizes His voice and responds, “Rabboni!”

     While Rabboni means teacher, to Mary Magdalene it was also a term of endearment, a familiar name by which she adressed Him.  Imagine the relief in her voice when she said Rabboni.  Here was Jesus, whom she thought was lost to her forever.  Here was Jesus, her Rabboni, alive and speaking to her!

     Jesus was never truly lost to Mary Magdalene.  He was there beside her even though she didn’t recognize Him.  It is the same with each of us.  Jesus is ever there beside us.  We are often to busy to notice Him, or we don’t even recognize Him.  It is often not until we hear His voice that we do, and that is often when we have sunk to the bottom and are crying out for Him to come to us.  He is already there, and He speaks our name to get our attention.  How do we respond?  Do we hear our name and respond immediately, “Rabboni!”?

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2011
Posted in Biblical, Faith, Habits, Inspiration | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

God’s Perspective

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Martha

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”  Psalm 23:4 

     The July 25th entry in God Calling, by A.J. Russell, reads, “I am your Lord.  Lord of your lives, Controller of your days, your present and your future.  You have entered now, both of you, upon the God-guided life.  Think what that means.  God-taught, God-guided.  Is anything too wonderful for such a life?  Do you begin to see how wonderful life with Me can be?  Do you see that no evil can befall you?”

     My gut reaction to the statement from God Calling is to wonder why.  If no evil can befall me then why do I suffer.  Why do I have troubles, pains, and/or hardships?  Is it because I am not there yet?  Am I not yet in that wonderful God-taught, God-guided life, He speaks of?  However, when my gut settles and I examine things carefully with more introspect than at first, I realize the truth.

     The key word is evil.  No evil has befallen me.  Yes, I have troubles, trials, tribulations, pain and sufferings, disappointments and heartaches.  Yet, these are not evils, they are growth experiences meant to bring me closer to God.

     If we never experienced disappointment, separation, or grief, we would never know how God felt, how He grieved to watch His creations reject Him and turn away from Him to a life of sin and evil.

     If we never experienced heartache we would never know the despair, or the forlorn agony God went through in giving over His only begotten Son so that we might be rescued from ourselves, saved from the evil one, and brought into Eternal Life with Him.

     If we never experienced any kind of pain, illness, or suffering, we would never be able to comprehend the henious, torturous death our Lord suffered on our behalf.

     Such experiences serve to help us understand God and all that He went through because of His love for us.  Remember these things in your heart.  Try to view your life from God’s perspective and maybe it will help you understand why all is not perfect in your life.  You will better understand why the things you go through in your life are not evil that has befallen you, but instead, graces granted by Him in His infinite love for you.

      Some of our more difficult life experiences may be His way of allowing us to share His pain and suffering so that we might also share in His ultimate joy!

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2011
Posted in Faith, Habits, Inspiration | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

His Outcome

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Martha

“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.”  Proverbs 19:21

God Calling, by A.J. Russell, July 20:  “Carry out My Commands and leave the result to Me.  Do this as obediently and faithfully as you would expect a child to follow out a given rule in the working of a sum, with no question by that, if the working out is done according to command, the result will be right.”

     If we follow the plan, the rules, we will have the ‘right’ outcome.  That is, God’s outcome.

     When He gives His command, sends you the idea, He prompts you by His Holy Spirit within you.  Somehow you know what it is He wants you to do.  That is, if you are paying attention.  Once you know what it is you are to do, you must seek His plan for doing so.  If you follow His commands, if you do all according to His plan, the outcome will be right.

     Sounds easy, doesn’t it?  For most of us, maybe not so much.  The true key is in paying attention.  We must open our heart and our mind.  We must be looking.  Paying attention requires both prayer and effort.  Pray for guidance.  Pray for discernment.  Pray for courage to act.  Pray for strength to accomplish.  Pray for increased faith to believe and to trust, not only God, but yourself, to carry out His plan.  Then rest assured, knowing in faith that the outcome will be as it should be … His outcome.

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2011
Posted in Faith, Habits, Inspiration | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Change Is Inevitalble

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Martha

“During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision.  Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said: ‘Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his.  He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others.  He gives wisdom to the wise and knowlege to the discerning.  He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.  I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king.”  Daniel 2:19-23

     Change is inevitable.  One valuable piece of advice given me by a priest when I set out on my Journey Through The Stillness was that I should be prepared for it to change.  He was giving me, in a sense, a heads up.  He did not want me to feel guilty or bewildered when that inevitable change came.  From the beginning I have tried to remain open to the changes, and even more than that, to accept the changes.  Often, accepting change has meant stretching way beyond my comfort zone. 

     Today begins a bit of a change for postings here on Martha’s Orbital Buzz.  Posting will continue as usual Monday through Friday, but no longer on Saturday and Sunday, and Friday’s post will always be a reflection on the Gospel in preparation for the coming Sunday. 

     The change is a result of trying to find the right balance for my life.  I believe God is leading me in these writings, but that He also has other avenues for me.  If writing becomes as work rather than spiritual inspiration, I must evaluate and make needed changes to be ready for what is next.  I have learned this lesson the hard way, many times over. 

     It is imperative that spending time in The Stillness, and writing Journey Through The Stillness, remain my central focus.  Not only is that where I find my inner peace and balance, but I also believe that to be my calling… to share Him in this way.  Writing on Martha’s Orbital Buzz is an important spin off of my spiritual journey, and also one that I have felt led by Him to do.  While each of these are very special areas in my life, I am also blessed with a beautiful family that brings me great joy… and that needs me.

     It is my goal to remain open to God’s leading in all areas of my life.  I hope and pray that I become the person He wants me to be, that I become all that He wants me to be.  I hope this change does not lessen anyone’s enjoyment or inspiration!  God is at work in you, just as He is in me.  Together we will win the world for Him.  God Bless.

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2011
Posted in Faith, Habits, Inspiration, Journaling | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Gospel: Sunday, July 10, 2011

Posted on July 10, 2011 by Martha

“But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.  For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.  Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:  When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path.  The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.  But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.  The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.  But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” 

Matthew 13:16-23

     The above is an excerpt from today’s Gospel:  Matthew 13:1-23.   In this Gospel we learn of the many reasons God’s Word does not take in us, does not live in us. 

     When we do not seek to understand God’s Word, the Devil robs us of our opportunity!  It is like seed thrown along side the path.  It lands, and then it remains dormant. 

     When we hear God’s Word with joy in our heart, but then fail to nurture it by studying it to understand it further, it does not take root in the soil of our heart and it soon withers away.  It is like seed thrown on rocky ground where roots cannot take hold.  Without deep roots we have no stamina against the siege of the world.

     And then there is what I feel is the saddest reason God’s Word does not take root in our heart: guilt.  When we hear God’s Word, but worry about our sinfulness, our deceitfulness, our worthiness blocks out the joy.  Our worries and our guilt choke out our attempts to be fruitful.  Lke seed cast among thorns, we are too weak to fight our way through.

     To be fruitful, we must hear God’s Word in our heart, strive to understand it, nurture it, and then share it with others.  No small task!  To prepare the soil of heart we must be vigilant, be open, ready to understand.  We must be ready to bear fruit.  Then, like the seed cast onto good soil, we will thrive in God’s Word and bear much fruit for Him. 

 

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2011
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Gospel, Sunday, July 3, 2011

Posted on July 3, 2011 by Martha

Gospel, Matthew 11:25-30 

“At that time Jesus exclaimed, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to little children.  Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do.  Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no ones knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.  Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest.  Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.”

     When we are as children in our faith, we are open to all possibilities.  In fact, as children, we are wide-eyed at the possibilities!  This is what Jesus was referring to in today’s gospel.  The learned can know too much, become skeptical.  They are not open to possibilities that seem illogical to them or that they are not able to prove.  They have a hard time accepting on faith alone.  Children believe more easily; they accept.  They believe … in wide-eyed wonder.  We must be like children, believing that our Father cares for us, and that we can cast our burdens at His feet knowing that He will make our yoke light as we go forward anticipating the possibilities.

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2011
Posted in Biblical, Faith, Habits, Inspiration | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Reading for Sunday, June 26, 2011

Posted on June 26, 2011 by Martha

“Remember the long road by which Yahweh your God led you for fory years in the desert, to humble you, to test you and know your inmost heart–whether you would keep his commandments or not.  He humbled you, he made you feel hunger, he fed your with manna which neither you nor your ancestors had ever known, to make you understand that human beings live not on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of Yahweh.”  (Deuteronomy 8:2-3

“do not become proud of heart.  Do not then forget Yahweh your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the place of slave-labor, … who guided you through this vast and dreadful desert, a land of fiery snakes, scorpions, thirst; … who in this waterless place brought you water out of the flinty rock; who in this desert fed you with manna unknown to your ancestors, to humble you and test you and so make your future happier.”  (Deuteronomy 8:14b-16a)

     Today’s reading ties together my Orbital Buzz post from Friday, June 24, 2011 and the prayer posted on Saturday, June 25, 2011.  At the time of writing and posting those two entries I had no idea what today’s reading would be!  If you did not yet read those posts you might want to go back and do so.  I an truly amazed at how He uses my Journey Through The Stillness and Martha’s Orbital Buzz to get His message out!  He has tested me, made me feel hunger, and fed me His manna to teach me that I must live on every word that comes Him.  I am truly humbled by His use of me.

     God bless each of you, and have a Spirit filled Sunday!

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2011
Posted in Biblical, Faith, Meditation | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Affirmation,The Name of Jesus

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Martha

“For what you have done I will always praise you in the presence of your faithful people.  And I will hope in your name, for your name is good.”  Psalm 52:8-9

     In the Name of Jesus, we find every help we need.  There is nothing that cannot be conquered in the Name of Jesus.  I absolutely cringe every time I hear His Name used in vain by someone.  I immediately say it as a Prayer …. Jesus, My Lord and My God.  Use it as an affirmation.  It can be the most simple, yet most powerful affirmation in your arsenal.

Today I am sharing an entry from one of my favorite daily devotionals, God Calling, by A.J. Russell.

June 17 –

     “Jesus.”  Say My Name often.  It was in My Name Peter bade the lame walk.  “In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth arise and walk.” 

     “Jesus.”  The very sounding of My Name, in Love and tenderness, drives away all evil.  It is the word before which all the hosts of evil flee.

     “Jesus.”  My Name is the call for a life line to rescue you from temptation.

     “Jesus.”  The Name banishes loneliness–dispels gloom.

     “Jesus.”  Summons help to conquer your faults.  I will set you on high because you have known My Name.

     Yes!  My Name — “Jesus.”  Use it more.  Use it tenderly.  Use it prayerfuly.  Use it powerfully.

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2011
Posted in Affirmations, Faith, Habits | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Gospel: Sunday, June 19, 2011

Posted on June 19, 2011 by Martha

All father’s are blessed by the One Father through the ultimate sacrifice of His Son…

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.  John 3:16-18

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2011
Posted in Biblical, Faith | Tagged , | Leave a comment