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Farmer of Hearts - Finding God in All Things

Von: 生命恩泉 Fountain of Love and Life
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  • In the past two years, amid the upheaval of wars and social unrest, the world appears unfamiliar and hostile compared to our previous experiences. People are growing more anxious and restless. We may wonder: ✝️ Why is God so elusive? ✝️ Has He turned His gaze away from us? ✝️ Is He indifferent to the widespread suffering in the world? ✝️ Is God’s omnipresence a mere fiction or a thing of the past? This year’s FLL Farmer of Hearts online Lenten retreat, themed “Finding God in All Things,” aims to awaken the awareness of God’s omnipresence and provide a fresh perspective. Beyond offering contemplation for Lent, the retreat seeks to inspire “metanoia” or transformative changes in our lives. We encourage you to approach this retreat with an intention to embrace change, retaining the inspiration the Spirit imparts to alter your thoughts, perceptions, responses, and actions. The desired outcome is increased inner freedom, fostering a more peaceful, resilient, and hopeful life—an essential state in our unpredictable and turbulent world. “Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made.” (Romans 1:20) Join us in dedicating 10 minutes each day for the 40 days of Lent to perceive God’s presence in new ways. As we often express the desire to use Lent for better preparation leading to Easter, what could be more meaningful than offering Jesus the gift of our heightened awareness of His presence in our lives? YouTube playlist: https://bit.ly/FOH2024Eng IG: @fll.cc | Facebook: fb.com/fll.cc
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  • [Finding God in All Things] Day 40 – Choosing God in All Things

    [Finding God in All Things] Day 40 – Choosing God in All Things
    Mar 29 2024
    As we come to the final day of the 40-day retreat, let us once again focus our attention on the theme of this retreat: "Finding God in All Things." At the heart of this theme is a relationship, an ultimate relationship with God. If the ultimate goal of Christians in this world is to "inherit eternal life", and if being with God forever is the meaning behind "inheriting eternal life", we need to prepare ourselves well in this life to be united with God eternally in the Heavenly Kingdom.It is hoped that this retreat experience not only deepens your understanding of God, sensing His presence in your life, but also enables you to feel His profound love for you and His expectations of you. Now, let us learn how to live out the goal of "Finding God in All Things"."Finding God in All Things" carries the meaning of "Choosing God in All Things". We must first look at things from God's perspective, and then make wise choices in life with His vision. The sacredness of the present moment lies in the fact that we can only make choices in the present. Good choices bring us closer to God, while bad choices lead us away from Him. Therefore, being able to make right decisions or choices in the present is crucial for whether we can ultimately "inherit eternal life"!To put it simply, the situations we encounter in life can generally be divided into two categories: those with opportunities for choice, and those without. Let's first explore the second scenario. This refers to things that happen to us, which we did not choose but can only accept. If things go our way, of course we gladly accept them. However, if unfortunate events occur, such as suffering or disasters affecting ourselves or our families, in these circumstances, although it seems like we have no choice, we can still choose how to face them.One thing we need to understand is that God does not actively bring disasters upon us. However, God may allow unfortunate events to happen to us because He knows that He can bring greater good out of these misfortunes. We should see these things that God allows to happen to us as part of God’s will. We must view them with the eyes of faith, helping us to discern the true meaning behind these events, as they are often difficult to understand in the present moment. But we must firmly believe that God, who loves us to the end, always puts our best interests first. When we submit to God's will and guidance, He will provide for all our needs in due time. We just need to patiently wait, knowing that greater good that God will bring will surely come. Moreover, our God desires to accompany us through life's trials, building a closer relationship with us. This explains why Jesus was willing to humbly dwell among humanity and spend thirty-three years with people.The second type of situation we encounter in life is those where we have the opportunity or space to make choices. As mentioned earlier, everything that God allows to happen to us is part of God's will. From this perspective, we should approach all things with a spirit of indifference, whether they are good or bad, because God has ways to bring blessings to us in any situation. St. Ignatius also pointed out that everything in the world is created out of God's love, and these are gifts from God to help us better know Him. Therefore, we should cooperate with God to make good use of these gifts, glorifying Him and benefiting others. Conversely, if we misuse the gifts God created for us, or prioritize them above God in our lives, they will go against God's original intention, becoming stumbling blocks in our relationship with Him. Therefore, anything that does not lead us closer to God must be firmly rejected or let go of.If in our lives, any event that happens and anything that appears can help us know and draw closer to God, or can inspire us to use these things to benefit others so as to return love to God, then we truly achieve the state of "Finding God in All Things". With this mentality, we will not be obsessed with desiring health over sickness, wealth over poverty, success over failure, and so on.The state of the world indeed unsettles us and makes us feel very helpless. In this Lenten retreat, God reminds us that He not only dwells among us but also deeply cares about the suffering and hardships we endure. God hopes that in both good and bad situations, we can recognize Him in all things and draw strength from Him. Only by trusting that God is with us in all circumstances can we find peace amidst the uncertainties and turmoil of this world."Finding God in All Things" is a lifelong learning process that requires continuous practice and application in our lives. Let this Lenten retreat open a new chapter in your relationship with the Lord and prepare you to be forever united with Him in the heavenly home!ReflectionAfter these forty days of retreat, what breakthroughs have you experienced in your relationship with God? Do you feel a greater need for Him? What are your ...
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    15 Min.
  • [Finding God in All Things] Day 39 – A Pain That Is More Bearable in Life

    [Finding God in All Things] Day 39 – A Pain That Is More Bearable in Life
    Mar 28 2024
    Yesterday we learned that through the examination of consciousness, we can heighten our awareness of God’s blessings in our lives and become more grateful so that we can more easily find God in all things. But how can we be grateful if we find no blessings from God in our lives, but only pain and suffering? How can we find God in all things in such a life?First, let's challenge our understanding of the theme of this retreat, "Finding God in All Things". Have we romanticized the idea of "finding God in all things"? This means that in our impression, is God only present in things good and beautiful? So, is God present in pain, suffering, even persecution and sin? We need to understand that if God was only present in truth, goodness and beauty, the Son of God would not choose to be born as a human being, live in a world full of ugliness and evil, and choose to live and walk with people. While God cannot tolerate the sinfulness of human nature, He not only did not abandon or flee from us sinners, but willingly took on human nature and lived amidst sinfulness. We need to understand that it is the most unimaginable thing for God to do, for He is holy and perfect, the source of all truth, goodness, and beauty. But not only did He willingly live among sinful people, He even took on our sins and bore their consequences for us! As St. Paul proclaimed in his Second Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 5, Verse 21: "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21) Since God is willing to become sin for us, to become our sacrificial lamb, does He have any reason not to be present in our pain, suffering, trauma, humiliation, as well as all the ugliness, evil, natural or man-made disasters in the world?On this Good Friday, let us learn what it means to "carry the cross". First of all, we need to know that the so-called "crucifixion" was a capital punishment specifically designed by the Roman Empire to punish rebels, intended to make those criminals experience the most painful, cruel, excruciating, and torturous death possible. In addition to the process of dying on the cross, they also subjected the criminals to the most humiliating and helpless mental torment. The cruel requirement of forcing the criminals to "carry the cross" was to make those convicted of rebellion experience the defeat of being completely conquered, that the very last thing they were made to do before being nailed to the cross was to carry the instrument of their own death along a rugged path of suffering to the place of execution. This was done to demonstrate their complete and absolute obedience to the ruling authority. Jesus knew the torture He was about to endure was a form of punishment that was absolutely horrifying to the people under the rule of the Roman Empire, and it was certainly the most cruel means of governance that anyone had witnessed. Yet it was the will of the Heavenly Father that His only begotten Son should bear this torture innocently to pay for the sins of all of us!Jesus demonstrated complete and absolute submission to the will of the Father with the spirit of obedience demanded by this form of torture. This spirit of surrender is a reflection and hallmark of Jesus' entire life, and it is also through this complete obedience that He reversed the rebellion of our original ancestors against the Father.So when Jesus asks us, His followers, to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily to follow Him (Luke 9:23), He is asking us to learn from Him, to submit to the will of the Father. Therefore, "following Christ" means giving up our own desires, and instead, following the better arrangements made by the Father for us through faithfulness and imitation of Jesus. The greatest difference between us and the criminals sentenced to crucifixion is that they were coerced, while we can make choices and responses through the free will given to us by God.When we make a heartfelt choice to be loyal to Jesus, we allow Him to be the Lord and King in our lives. This requires us to give up being our own masters and allow Jesus to have authority over our lives.If these remarks were presented at the beginning of this Lenten retreat, they might have scared away many participants. But now, as we have a better understanding of the nature of God and the extent of His love for us, I hope this explanation will make it easier for you to accept what Jesus asks of us as Christians! Ultimately, whether we believe that God's demand for us is different from the cruelty of the Roman Empire is something for us to judge for ourselves!Now let’s answer the question we asked at the beginning, that is, if we cannot find God’s blessings in our lives, but only pain and suffering, how can we be grateful and find God in all things?If God is already the one you love most in your life, and while you experience pain and suffering, you have God who loves you most by your side, ...
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    16 Min.
  • [Finding God in All Things] Day 38 – From Examen to Gratitude

    [Finding God in All Things] Day 38 – From Examen to Gratitude
    Mar 27 2024
    We had mentioned before that the "present moment" is the only time when we can truly "find God" and "encounter God". When we are fully present in the "here and now", that is the time when we can best experience God’s presence. However, for us to be able to achieve this state of "living in the present" does not happen overnight. Fortunately, we can establish some spiritual habits to help us build and strengthen the spiritual muscles of "living in the present".St. Ignatius of Loyola developed a prayer practice based on his habit of daily reflection. It helps us recognize God’s presence and footprints in our lives by taking time every day to reflect on our life experiences and the blessings He bestows on us through the people and things we encounter on that day. This prayer method is called the "examination of consciousness", or the Examen, done once or twice a day, usually in the middle of the day and in the evening. St. Ignatius’ intention was to gradually bring the habit of examination of consciousness into our lives through this prayer practice. As we become more aware of and sensitive to God's presence and blessings, we can more easily find God in all things in the present moment.Jesus once reminded us that the first step in following Him is to "deny ourselves". In an earlier stage of the retreat, we mentioned that we are God's true opponents because we put ourselves and our pursuits and desires first in our lives. If we do not know what attracts and binds us, how can we know what we should renounce or let go of? However, if we have the habit of examining our consciousness every day, taking time to reflect on our desires, motives, and sinful tendencies, we can gradually get to know ourselves better and recognize areas where we are prone to stumble. By seeking God's help early on, we can deny ourselves more easily and overcome issues of pride and self-centeredness.Besides helping us review and acknowledge our shortcomings, the most important and primary focus of the Ignatian examination of consciousness is giving thanks to God for the blessings, big and small, in our daily lives. We often find ourselves in a state of ingratitude, even though we are not to the point of repaying good with evil. We rarely realize or acknowledge God's blessings in our lives. Instead, we feel that we deserve them, or even think that they are due rewards because of our abilities. Ultimately, we will regard ourselves as the masters of our lives. In this state, our focus is solely on ourselves, and we fail to find God in all things. Over time, we become numb to the various blessings in our lives and take them for granted. When we fail to recognize that the blessings in our lives are gifts from God, it is the same as denying God and His love for us.According to St. Ignatius, ingratitude is the root of all sins because one definition of sin is misusing the gifts God has given us. If we wish to repay God’s love, learning to express gratitude to Him is an effective way to show our love for Him. It is also a virtue that Christians who desire to "find God in all things" should develop.When we can recognize that our lives have been blessed by God, it will induce in us a desire to give back to God and to imitate His selfless generosity to bless others. This is the best way for us to "repay God’s love" as He desires!Just as Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." (Matthew 25:40)The better we can imitate Christ, the more we can live according to His teachings, the more we will be like Him, and the more we will be able to reveal the face of God to those we encounter.ReflectionDo you take time for self-examination every day? Did today's reflection give you more motivation to develop or improve the habit of daily examination of consciousness?Do you recognize the blessings of God in your life easily, and do you express gratitude for these blessings? How can you make yourself a more grateful Christian?Now, invite the Lord to guide you on how to establish good spiritual habits in your life to help you achieve the goal of denying yourself and becoming more like Christ.Today’s PrayerLord Jesus, thank You for reminding me today to build the habit of daily examen. I realize that I am not sensitive to Your presence and blessings in my life. I often feel that the various gifts You have given me are what I deserve and I take them for granted.Lord, I apologize for my ungrateful attitude towards You. Please forgive me! Please grant me greater determination to take You more seriously and to fulfill my promises to You through action, so that I do not disappoint You again!Lord Jesus, I truly desire to find You in all things. Please do not let my self-centeredness replace Your primary position in my life. Teach me to surrender to You every day...--------------------Fundraising AppealThank you for participating in this 40-day Lenten ...
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    12 Min.
Christentum Spiritualität
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