Our Inner GPS

Photo credit: Free-images.com

Taking a road trip has become almost worry-free now that we have GPS to guide us. We’ve learned to trust the GPS’ directions. We’ve also had to decide on which routes to take: some routes are faster, others slower and more scenic; some have paved roads, others include bumpy dirt roads; some take us through construction zones, others avoid them. If there’s trouble up ahead, the GPS will give us the option to take a detour to avoid that area. Also, if we take a wrong turn or miss an exit, it gives us directions on how to get back on course. 

God’s guidance is kind of like our GPS for life. Living in His love is our constant goal; we learn to trust that He’ll guide us toward that goal if we ask Him to. He gives us free will to choose different paths. And when we make choices that aren’t loving, He’ll forgive us and lead us back toward Him and His love. 

To stay on this road of Love, we’ve learned to ask, “What does God want me to do?” We consider this when we’re deciding on significant issues like employment, housing, schools, what to say or do in our relationships, or voting. It also applies to smaller decisions like how we spend our free time. We can look for His guidance even when shopping by examining how our buying habits affect the environment, our community, and the people across the globe who make the items we purchase. 

We pray for clarity in our decision-making. While prayerfully weighing different options, we do our part by learning all we can from credible sources and asking questions from people we respect who don’t automatically tell us what we want to hear. In some cases, there’s more than one acceptable option. God can see the ‘road conditions’ or ‘detours’ ahead in each choice; He’ll steer us toward the better option for us if we listen to His direction. 

How do we know when we’re on the route God wants us to take? God uses our thoughts and feelings to guide us. When we pay attention to the promptings of His Spirit and follow His guidance, we’ll feel at peace with our decision – peace that is long-lasting. If our decision goes against His guidance, we may feel happy briefly but that joy will soon be replaced by more stress and more confusion.

God loves us; He has given us His Spirit to lead us toward everything that will bring us closer to Him. When we follow His lead, His peace and joy will accompany us – no matter where we travel.

“To do your will, O my God, is my delight, and your law is within my heart!” – Psalm 40:8

“Lord, help me to trust Your promptings in my heart.”

Thank you for reading my reflection. © 2023 Gina Bedell     Comments are always welcome! 

Please share this with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below. Blogspot doesn’t have a ‘subscribe’ feature and so I appreciate your help in sharing my reflections. Thanks!

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P.S.

Pray for peace around the world. Donate toward a cause that tugs at your heart. Take care of those around you; take care of our planet. Pray for the families around the globe whose lives have been torn apart by war and natural disasters.

See the People

Photo credit: Free-images.com

Growing up in the Cleveland area, where many of my friends’ parents were immigrants, I learned that a friendly question to ask people was, “What nationality are you?” When I was in my 20s I met a guy of Irish descent; I’ll call him Patrick. When I answered this question with “Slovenian” he said, “Slovenian?!? In our neighborhood we used to beat up the Slovenians!!” I didn’t run into him much after that so I don’t know if his attitude toward Slovenians ever changed. I like to think that it did, now that he saw ‘the enemy’ as a real person – me.

As we learn of the horrific events happening in the Middle East, Ukraine, and elsewhere around the world, it’s easy to condemn those who engage in war, especially when they target civilians. Our hearts break for those caught in the middle. We can’t understand how those who want war can see only an ‘enemy’ and not people. And somehow we think we’re innocent of treating those around us any differently.

Are we innocent? Think of Patrick and, truth be told, most of us who hold onto stereotypes and judgments of particular nationalities, races, religions, or any other groups that we attach labels to. 

On the outside we may not let our attitudes show: We don’t bother our neighbors and we’re civil with our coworkers. Yet inside and deep down, we may be suspicious of that foreign neighbor. We may hold unfair and unfavorable opinions of our coworkers based on stereotypes.

So before we condemn all those ‘over there’ engaged in war, let’s take a look at our own hearts and see where our own wars are raging. Let’s dig deep and clean out those fears and judgments. Let’s make an effort to give a little extra of ourselves to those who are unfamiliar to us. Let’s give alms to those people – not money, but our hearts. Offer to those ‘others’ our time and sincere expressions of good will. Offer a friendly greeting to our neighbors and learn about their culture. Make a sincere effort to engage our coworkers in conversation. Let’s be the ones to initiate connections, amity, and peace with those who seem different from us. Let’s see them for who they are: people who are loved by God, just like we are. You’ll probably find, like I hope Patrick did, that the ‘Slovenians’ in your world are pretty nice people after all – just like you.

“Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.” – Luke 11:39-41

“Lord, rid me of my judgments of others. Help me see everyone as You see them.”

Thank you for reading my reflection. © 2023 Gina Bedell     Comments are always welcome! 

Please share this with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below. Blogspot doesn’t have a ‘subscribe’ feature and so I appreciate your help in sharing my reflections. Thanks!

If you or someone you know would like to receive these writings directly to your inbox, please email me at ginabedell1@gmail.com and I will add you to my ‘BCC’ email list.

You can also find my posts on Facebook!

P.S.

Pray for peace around the world. Pray for the families around the globe whose lives have been torn apart by war and natural disasters. Donate toward a cause that tugs at your heart. Take care of those around you; take care of our planet. 

Who's My Neighbor?

We see them day after day on the same street corners, holding their cardboard signs asking for help. How do you respond? 

Would you respond differently if you saw Jesus Himself standing there?

Maybe we can’t give to all of them every time we see them. Is that our excuse for not giving to them at all?

Maybe the problem lies in our use of the word ‘them’: We distance ourselves from them.

Consider the Good Samaritan, who cared for his neighbor when others wouldn’t (see Luke 10:30-37). The story reminds us that God shows love, mercy, and compassion to everyone without exception. 

Who’s our neighbor? Everyone, because Christ lives in everyone. We are all children of God. Do you accept that fact? Everyone – including those who don’t live, look, dress, speak, act, pray, believe, learn, or love like you do. 

If we claim to follow Him, we’ll love and show compassion to all people, in concrete ways – in both our words and actions. 

Maybe you justify not giving by thinking, “I worked hard to get to where I am. Why didn’t they?”

Maybe you had opportunities, and they didn’t.

Maybe you had loving parents, and they didn’t.

Maybe you had plenty of food in your home, and they didn’t.

Maybe you attended a safe school that enabled you to thrive, and they didn’t.

Maybe they had a catastrophic and expensive illness or injury, and you didn’t.

Maybe their poor choices landed them in prison, and yours didn’t. Or you got bailed out, and they didn’t.

Christ is merciful to you. Be merciful to your neighbor.

We can’t know everything about a person’s life, the challenges they’ve faced, the hurdles they’ve overcome. When we see a person asking for help, we have to see first and foremost a person – not a label, and not only the sign they’re holding. See a beloved son, daughter, or friend. See a person with hopes and dreams. See a person whose military experiences left them with nightmares we can’t begin to imagine, someone who’s doing their best to get through another day. 

Love is an action verb. Start with one person. Here are examples of what some people give to those on the corners:

Some give cash.

Some give gift cards to nearby eateries.

Some give prepackaged items like nuts, granola bars, or fruit.

Some give meals purchased at nearby fast-food places.

Some give winter hats, gloves, or socks.

If you’ve thought of giving to a food bank, shelter, or soup kitchen instead of to the people on the street, have you followed through with your good intentions?

When you give, you give hope.

Give without judging. Give with a smile.

Give to your neighbor.

“‘Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?’ He answered, ‘The one who treated him with mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’” – Luke 10:36-37

“Lord, help me see You and love You in everyone.”

Thank you for reading my reflection. © 2023 Gina Bedell     Comments are always welcome! 

Please share this with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below. Blogspot doesn’t have a ‘subscribe’ feature and so I appreciate your help in sharing my reflections. Thanks!

If you or someone you know would like to receive these writings directly to your inbox, please email me at ginabedell1@gmail.com and I will add you to my ‘BCC’ email list.

You can also find my posts on Facebook!

P.S.

We continue to pray for an end to the war. If you’d like to help the people of Ukraine through the Cleveland Maidan Association, you may use either PayPal or a credit/debit card here:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/...

Also, if you’re able to help the people of Maui, here are a few organizations that are accepting donations:

The Hawaii Community Foundation 

The American Red Cross

The Maui Food Bank

Don't Look Back

They say you can’t change where you came from, but you can change where you’re headed.

Now is all you have. It doesn’t matter where you’ve been, or what you’ve done. The paths you walked when you were younger are worn down, trampled by the footprints of the generations after you. You’ve lived, you’ve learned, and you’re still learning on the path you’re traveling now.

Don’t look back. Don’t look back on your accomplishments or mistakes, on the choices you made a day or a decade or a lifetime ago. Don’t waste today dwelling on the victories that are now history. Abandon your regrets; let go of your resentment over how you were brought up. Leave behind others’ offenses against you, as if that gives you an excuse to treat them poorly (it doesn’t). Don’t waste your time revisiting those old hurts. 

Instead, look ahead to where Christ is leading you today, to what He’s calling you to be and do at this stage of your life right now.

“And another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.’ Jesus answered him, ‘No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.’” – Luke 9:61-62

If a farmer looks back while plowing his field, the row he’s plowing won’t be straight. Once one row goes a little crooked, each subsequent row will be crooked, and the field won’t look or produce the way the farmer had intended it to. In a similar way, if you keep looking back at your past instead of focusing on your blessings of today, you’ll miss what Christ has in store for you and what He wants to accomplish through you in the days and years ahead.

Keep your eyes on Christ and His promises: His constant presence, His love, strength, forgiveness, peace, friendship, and eternal joy. He’s not keeping track of what happened in your past. Give Him your whole heart today. Don’t wait until you have everything in your life set in neat little rows; that might never happen. Be all-in with Him. Be His enthusiastic follower. Let His love burn in your heart for your neighbors. Follow Christ’s way – loving all people; repaying evil with good; opening your hearts, hands, and wallets to the needy; and trusting that He is always with you and always loving you. 

Leave your past behind you and let Him lead you ahead to experience His love and everything good He has in store for you, today.

“Lord, keep me focused on You and Your promises for me!”

Thank you for reading my reflection. © 2023 Gina Bedell     Comments are always welcome! 

Please share this with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below. Blogspot doesn’t have a ‘subscribe’ feature and so I appreciate your help in sharing my reflections. Thanks!

If you or someone you know would like to receive these writings directly to your inbox, please email me at ginabedell1@gmail.com and I will add you to my ‘BCC’ email list.

You can also find my posts on Facebook!

P.S.

We continue to pray for an end to the war. If you’d like to help the people of Ukraine through the Cleveland Maidan Association, you may use either PayPal or a credit/debit card here:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/...

Also, if you’re able to help the people of Maui, here are a few organizations that are accepting donations:

The Hawaii Community Foundation 

The American Red Cross

The Maui Food Bank