DEACON TOM ANTHONY

Sunday, August 23, 2015


Jesus tells us that it is the Spirit that gives life while the flesh is to no avail. We must remember these words if we are to approach our relationship with Christ correctly. Too many times we tend to focus on what is directly in front of us, our obstacles and problems, instead of exploring beyond the physical aspects of our existence into the spiritual where we can truly find God. This can be difficult because it is the physical that overwhelms us and causes us to forget about the most important relationship that we have. Our existence is intertwined with the God the Father who is our creator, God the Son who is our redeemer, and the Holy Spirit which brings love to us all. It is impossible to be happy within God’s creation if we fail to recognize and act upon the relationships that define who exactly we are.

Just as our human relationships and our experiences within them influence our development, the same can be said with God. The more we interact with God, the more he can influence us; changing our perspective on things while developing our thoughts to be more in tune with his thoughts and what he wants for us. Every day can be a day of discovery with God. Things are naturally adjusted and corrected as we become closer to him. There is a natural progression here: when we journey towards God things tend to fall into place and things are slowly revealed to us.  As this happens, all things can take on a different meaning because they are seen through the lense of God instead of just with us alone and with God even the smallest piece of Creation and the smallest actions are important. We are encouraged to see God in everything and experience everything with him. That is what he continuously calls us to do. It is only when we do not listen to that call that we find ourselves doubting and hurting.

There is a struggle going on in each of us. There is a subconscious discussion about whether to enjoy our lives with God or to turn away from him once again to pursue what we want to pursue. We need to recognize that this struggle is occurring so that we can make the right decisions; becoming victorious in the end. Victory can only be achieved through Jesus Christ. One of the keys to this surrendering is making a commitment to him. It can be small at first but that one small act can open a floodgate of results. We can be molded, corrected, and comforted by the fact that he will be there for us as he has always been. None of us are ever alone. We never were and never will be if we do not want to be.

Jesus does indeed want us to be happy and to live the Christian experience with him, but because he loves us so much he wants us to make the choice of being with him. He offers us salvation. He calls for us to be with him. We are then asked to make the choice: are we with him or against him?

Deacon Tom

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