Posts Tagged: John 16:13
“THE NUDGINGS OF GOD AND HEARING THE HOLY SPIRIT”
“Today, I am ready for positive change. I will be responsive to inner nudges that move me in that direction.”
The above is from a daily reading I receive. I customized it for my daily twelve-step affirmation: Today, with God’s help, I am ready for positive change. I will be responsive to inner nudges that move me in that direction.
I also receive a daily “Three-Minute Retreat” from the Jesuits. It is also very helpful to my recovery and my life. Interestingly, today’s retreat talked about hearing the Holy Spirit, and was based on John 16:13. The crafter of this retreat asked a thought-provoking question: “What gets in the way of my hearing the Spirit?”
I immediately thought of external noise.
But then, nudged by God no doubt, I thought of the really noisy noise in my own mind. That is the real distraction!
So, how do I turn down the volume in my own noisy mind?
Perhaps stilling my body helps still my mind as well. Of course, the converse is also true.
Then too, breathing deeply tends to help the mental noise to subside.
Listening to some soothing instrumental music (I love harps and flutes!) is good for me as well.
Noticing lovely things quiets my mind and spirit as well. Today, before I went for my walk, I noticed our beautiful rose-of-Sharon trees, and the bees which were working on them.
Prayer can help. Obviously, the Serenity Prayer is good. There is a reason why it is called the Serenity Prayer. It is not only a prayer for serenity. It also helps to bring about the serenity for which I pray.
There is also a wonderfully simple (yet profound) prayer that I learned years ago, while I was doing a “Fifty-Day Spiritual Adventure.” It is simply this: “Calm my spirit, Lord.”
But before any of this can help, I need to do one simple thing: I need to notice the noise.
A noisy mind is like a small child who keeps tugging on his mom’s arm until she pays attention to him. After he has been heard, he is (sometimes) ready to settle down.
Perhaps this blog is one way of paying attention to my own noisy mind. It might even help you, my dear and highly valued reader!
When I (and you) desire positive change, we will pay attention to our mental noise. Maybe then we will be more sensitive to the nudging of God and the voice of the Holy Spirit.
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- DTEB, “Getting Christ and Ourselves Back in Focus” November 11, 2024“Col. 3:1 ¶ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Col. 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Col. 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden […]
- “Search Me!” October 27, 2024“Psa. 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24, English Standard Version) I am participating in a Bible study, and this is a prayer […]
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- “God is in the Details” October 11, 2024“The devil is in the details.” (A general saying, often quoted by lawyers, reporters, and negotiators.) “God is in the details.” (Me, almost certainly not original.) “Luke 12:7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Jesus) God does not micromanage, but God […]
- “Grandma’s Pump” October 8, 2024When I was a little critter, I would stay at my grandma’s house for a night or two sometimes. I liked this for a lot for many reasons. One thing I liked about staying with her was that Grandma’s house was much more technologically advanced than ours was. For one thing, she had indoor water—sort […]
- “Wearing the #14 Wrong-Side-Out” October 5, 2024Pete Rose, #14, is dead. Many of the old guys with whom I play softball watched him play and appreciated him greatly. I do as well. He was one of the greatest players who ever played the game. Yes, he admitted (eventually) to betting on baseball. But many of us still regard him as one […]
- “Passing Along the Love (and a Link)” October 4, 2024Several years ago, a friend of mine put me onto a daily meditation by Richard Rohr and friends. I don’t read them all the time, but I probably should. They are good! I thought that today’s writing was especially good, and I also figured that this would be a good way to post something. I […]
- “Witnessing Versus Being Witnesses” September 19, 2024“Acts 1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, Acts 1:2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. Acts 1:3 He presented himself alive to them after […]
- “A Bathroom Prayer for Hurting Hands” September 11, 2024A week ago Sunday, my hands were hurting so badly at church that I went to the bathroom to run hot water over my hands. Arthritis perhaps, or carpal tunnel, or general orneriness—I don’t know why my hands hurt, but they do. They have for years. So, while I was running hot water over my […]
- “Waiting and Seeking” September 10, 2024“Lam. 3:19 ¶ Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! Lam. 3:20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. Lam. 3:21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: Lam. 3:22 ¶ The steadfast love of the LORD […]
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