Spiritual Tips

September- Helping Others?

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Acts 20:35 "It is more blessed to give then to receive."

   Are we helping or are we hindering?   How many times have people share things with us?  Perhaps hundreds of times.  Many of these times we tried to help them.  Then we go away thinking that we have when in fact we blew it!  How do we know we did damage?  How do we know what we should of said?  

   The answers to these questions are simple.  It is based on on old premise.  It is this.  If someone asks us for feed back, it is called advise.  If people don't ask us and we tell them anyway it is call criticism.  The trick is to get them to ask for our advice.  (This is assuming that what they are sharing fits into this type of situation.)

   What would you have done in the following true story.  A friend called up Lucy to drop off some work at 8pm.  Lucy was concerned about trying to get some copies of a St. Jude Novena made for church.  The friend offered to photocopy them for her.  Lucy sounded anxious and apprehensive about trying to get them distributed.  Further questioning revealed she was trying to get 91 copies distributed in different churches. It turns out to be a chain novena that once you read it you have to act on it or a tragedy or your novena won't be answered. 

   What series of responses would you make to Lucy?  There are many ways to respond to this.  Take a few moments and think about it and them write down what you would do.  Writing really aids the learning and reinforcement process.  

   One approach that works really well is this.

 First, consol the person  This lets them know that you feel what they feel.  Say, my heart goes out to you.  You must be under some stress thinking about it and how and when you are going to go to all those churches.  

Are you looking for feed back?  Yes?  No?

Zaro-  Who asked you

No interupt them.  May not ask again or share.

How may times you did ask, and afterwards, you were sorry you did.  Why?  You asked for help, it became a platform to talk about them self. .  They were not really interested in helping you. 

Giving- patience, a field of time to express them self, compasion, receiver,  grow in humility

March - The Cross

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Luke 9:23  "If you want to follow me, deneigh youself, pick up your cross and follow me."

   How many times have we come to a fork in the road?  Wouldn't be great if was a spoon and we did not have to make those choices?  

   But in life we have to make them.  But, what is a good way of doing it?  

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  July- Blessings

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   There was a lady who bought a card shop in a large city.  The previous couple of owners failed miserably and went out of business.  This lady was doing a very successful business.  Why? 

   What made the difference?  For the most part everything was the same.  The location was the same.  The neighborhood was the same.  The rent was the same as well as the store hours, what she was selling, the pricing and the amount of help.  

   The difference was her!  When she first started very few people came into the store.  But, those that did, she in her mind, would ask God to Bless them.  When no body was in the store she would look out the window and see all the people passing by.  Everyone that passed by she would ask God to Bless them.  

   Well, after a while she had a very successful business by asking God to Bless others from whom all Blessings flow.  

   In what situations in your life can you ask God to Bless?  What relationships do you know that can be aided by God's Grace?  How about weddings, marriages, family relationships, job situations, unemployment, and teachers for examples.  What people do you know that need His Blessings?  What family members, friends, acquaintances, leaders, politicians, tradesmen, etc. do you know?  Ask God to Bless them.

   In Church one day a man in communion line in his mind ask God to Bless the lady who was in front of him.  He no sooner finished making his request when a wave the the Holy Ghost came upon him so strong he could hardly stand feeling God's loving grace upon him.  

   Most of us, however, do not realize the Blessings we receive in asking God to Bless others.  

   The more we ask God to Bless others the more Blessings we receive.  That is one reason why Jesus said, "It is more Blessed to give rather than to receive."

March - Thanking God

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Jesus desires all of us to grow in holiness.  

When we do so the graces, joys and ecstatic happiness are beyond description.

Are you experiencing this? If not, why not?   

Jesus has given us many ways to accomplish this. 

One Awesome way to do this is to do what Jesus tells us to do in 1st Thessalonians 5:18 "In all things give thanks for this is God's will for us through Christ Jesus."

This means we thank God for the apparent good and the apparent bad things that occur in our life.  

We graduate out of school, thank God.

We get a job, thank God.

We fall in love, thank God,

We get married, thank God

We have a child, thank God.

We lose our job, thank God.

We get divorced, thank God

We lose our child, thank God.

It is often in tragedy that we can receive the greatest graces in life.  Both in the good and the bad God should be equally praised.

This should be an automatic response for all things that happen in our life.  The more we do this the more united to Jesus we become. We identify how He went through similar trials and rose above all of them.

In turn He helps us overcome our trials that lead us to perfection in holiness. 

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