The energy God so generously gives me! Part 1
That's what I'm working so hard at day after day, year after year,
doing my best with the energy God so generously give me.
(St Paul to the Colossians 1:29 The Message)
doing my best with the energy God so generously give me.
(St Paul to the Colossians 1:29 The Message)
Recently we received a question from Walt. In his comments on the October 18th blog, he shared: "... I’d really enjoy seeing some posts on how y’all stay motivated, how you keep that fire of the Spirit stoked in your daily personal lives (because, from what I've seen on this blog, you must have found some ways to do that!)..."
Great question, Walt! Over time I will try to to add points to the blog on elements that keep us motivated in personal life and service, but let me begin with the foundation of it all!
Most essentially the zeal we have for the Christian life, service and for evangelizing is personal knowledge of the love of Christ (see 2 Cor. 5:14,15; Gal. 2:20b). St Paul tells us, "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Rom.5:5). Here St. Paul is speaking of God's love for us that transforms and energizes us.
There are many of us who have never encountered Jesus as Lord in personal relationship. Practically speaking, many of us have never personally ratified the covenant made for us at baptism by our sponsors. Renewing our Baptismal commitment today can introduce us to personal relationship with God and encounter with his love for me! How do I do it? By asking Jesus to be Lord of my entire life, and asking to be renewed, immersed, baptized in the Holy Spirit at this stage in my life. It is essential to knowing the love of God that is the motivator of all motivators.
When I was twenty years old, this truth of asking Jesus to be Lord of my life and asking for the power of the Holy Spirit transformed and brought clarity of purpose to my life. The Gospel became good news to me because I came to know Jesus personally and knew that I was loved by God!
You too can pray and ask Jesus to be Lord of your life. Turn to him and talk to him personally asking him to come and lead you. Ask the Holy Spirit to renew you in his love. NO one is excluded from the offer! If you feel you have sinned so bad and there is no way for you to come to him. Turn to him and ask forgiveness. He wants you to know him and have the power to live as a child of God! Follow through and go to confession soon and receive even more graces!
God promises us that if we seek him we a sincere heart he will be found. Jesus tells us that if you ask, you will receive. The Father wants you to have the Holy Spirit, to be renewed and empowered to live the Christian life and to be a witness for Jesus !
This is the foundation, no other foundation will do it. Our energy, our ardor, comes from the Love of God made real to us in the person of Jesus and relationship with him through the Holy Spirit!
We cannot bring to the world the Good News which is Christ himself in person if we ourselves are not deeply united with Christ, if we do not know him profoundly, personally, if we do not live on his Words.
Pope Benedict XVI, Vatican City, March 11, 2006
posted by Dave Nodar @ 1:13 PM
4 Comments
4 Comments:
Thanks, Dave. It’s really good to hear others share their experience. Even if we’ve had a similar experience, we may hear an emphasis on something that perhaps we’ve begun to overlook or take for granted. Or we may hear an idea or a practice that is completely new to us.
When you mentioned “Renewing our Baptismal commitment” I thought about how infrequently I do this. I speak to others about the importance of Baptism, and we renew our baptismal promises communally during the liturgy several times each year. But I should more frequently recall my responsibilities (and the graces I’ve received) as a baptized member of the Body of Christ.
You also referred to “the zeal we have for the Christian life” and said “God promises us that if we seek him we a sincere heart he will be found.” How true! As my faith and love of Jesus has deepened, I’ve realized that the Lord does indeed want me to seek him, and he wants me to seek him zealously, with great heartfelt desire. B16 referred to this in his GA on 2/21/07:
“St Augustine once said that our life is a unique exercise of the desire to draw close to God, of becoming able to let God into our being. "The entire life of the fervent Christian", he says, "is holy desire".
In my daily prayer I remind myself of how much I should desire to have God in my life, and I ask him to help me deepen that desire. I’m trying to discipline myself to allow this desire to surface consciously at times during the hectic work day or during busy family times, when my focus on productivity tends to monopolize my thoughts and actions.
Again, thanks for a terrific post, Dave. I’ll keep an eye on the blog....it’s been a source of inspiration for me.
~Walt
Walt, you are welcome!
Let's continue to draw near to the Lord Jesus! It is by remaining in him that we are grow and are fruitful!
Dave
I know Dave's blog was part 1 and that in part 2 - he will probably get into specific practices, etc. - but I wanted to throw one out there - that has to do with renewing our baptismal promises.
Almost every time I cross myself with holy water - I speak in faith "I am dead to sin and alive in Christ Jesus" - I basically claim the power of my baptism - and I believe the grace of the sacramental meets my faith (grace must meet faith for a sacrament to be effective) - and I see it produce great results in my life!
Think of that the next time you dip your hand in holy water.
That’s very insightful, Pete. I usually ‘remember’ my baptism when I hit the holy water, and sometimes even take time to thank God for it. But I’ve never thought to “claim the power of my baptism”. I’ll work on that. And thanks to you & Dave, I’m going to review the Catechism for a quick refresher course on all the different aspects of the Sacrament of Baptism.
~Walt
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