Prayer

My thoughts about Sabbath – Podcast 131 (9:27)

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The idea of Sabbath and rest seem to be a major theme in my life and God often brings my focus back onto rest and the heart of Mary. Maybe this is a good time for me to chat about this topic…

Transcript

You’re listening to Sabbath Cafe Podcast. This is Episode 131, What Sabbaths Means to Me.

Hi, everyone! Thank you for listening to the Sabbath Cafe Podcast. This is Michele. This week, we’re celebrating Thanksgiving here in the States. And I just want to take this time to say a quick thank you for listening to us. You are a great encouragement to me, and I’m so grateful. Thank you.

So recently, I met up with a friend who found my podcast. Since he has a break right now, he jokingly mentioned that he just may take a Sabbath break. And I realized I never did an episode on the Sabbath. Maybe this is a good time to start this conversation. And so here are my thoughts.

And I’ve been thinking about this idea for a long time also because it’s such a counter-cultural idea. Because the Sabbath rest quintessentially is to stop doing.

If you ever are curious about the idea of Sabbath and what it is, it’s just about stop doing work and becoming who you are and stop striving. I think that makes a lot of people very uncomfortable. Because they assume that what it means is that we are not doing anything at all. That being passive or that having a Sabbath time is being passive.

But what I realize is that when I’m doing something or when I’m moving because of people’s expectation, it pushes me to a place where I’m reacting. And more often than not, I’m reacting. And when I’m reacting, I’m not getting God’s guidance. I’m not able to sense the Holy Spirit’s recommendations or insights. And that just brings us back to the story of Mary and Martha.

In the New Testament, there are two sisters. These are Jesus’ contemporaries. So they’re actually real people in biblical times. And there’s one section where Jesus went to Mary and Martha’s house.

I think both Mary and Martha really loved and just think it’s such a great honor that Jesus stopped at their house. But both of them responded very differently.

So when you look in scripture, it says that Mary sat at Jesus’ feet listening to everything he’s saying. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.

And Martha was, of course, kind of overwhelmed. So she said,

“Jesus? Why are you not telling Mary to help me? Don’t you care that I’m left to do all the work by myself? Tell her to help me.”

And Jesus said,

“Martha, you’re worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is necessary. And Mary has chosen what is better and will not be taken away from her.”

I think I am so much like a Martha. Oftentimes, I find myself in a situation. My first reaction is, what is the situation? What can I do to manage it? I would jump on it and do all this stuff.

But I think what God is saying is to remind me that I’m no longer alone, right? God is not expecting me to do the work by myself anymore. And God is wanting me to learn Mary’s heart, to remember that to sit with Jesus is better.

And that in itself, I think, is the essence of Sabbath.

The other day, I decided to have a day where I’m not worrying about all the situations in my life. I decided that if anything came up, I was going to just give it to God. I’m going to remember to not be anxious about anything but in everything, present my request to God.

Just some of these things where I’m not fixated on things that I currently have no control over and that I just have to wait. And so instead of being fixated about these things, God’s just been reminding me to give thanks and to think about the things that are true and really just to bring my thoughts back to Him.

And that really, I think, has just been such a great breakthrough. Because the rhythm of what I’ve been doing is, like I said, it’s been a really busy season. And so a lot of what I’ve been doing is planning, hosting some families, I had to plan a lot of events.

I just really felt like my whole being, I’ve been just going from one task to another to another. And I felt like I was so busy that I couldn’t stop. That when I stopped doing-when I decided I’m going to put the tasks away- instead of feeling peace, I felt even more anxious.

And I realized that doing these tasks, finishing these tasks, had become a runaway train in that sense. I’m trying to keep myself busy to distract myself from a deeper sense of frustration.

Sure, I can continue to keep this lifestyle going, this rhythm going with all of these excuses. Oh, you know, these are really important. I need to take care of my parents. I need to be praying and I need to help do whatever.

These are all just excuses to keep me going for that next high. And I know that if I’m honest with myself, I know that’s what I’m doing.

And so that’s when God sort of gently tapped me on the shoulder and just kind of go, let’s take a break and get focused on him.

And even as I’m recording this right now, I think that tendency to strive is still there.

And I have to remind myself to just in my heart to kind of go back to that place… of just being with God and just resting in Him and not worrying about how this podcast is going to turn out.

And it’s not, I think maybe it’s not that we don’t do things, but it’s really our attitude.

In our heart and minds, are we turned towards God or are we distracted and overwhelmed by the busyness and the needs that surround us?

Something amazing happens when I turn away from the works of my hands and start to turn my focus back onto Jesus. Usually, there is a reset and a realignment.

My thoughts and perspectives can realign with God’s perspective. Instead of focusing on the situations, my thoughts can now be shifted back onto Jesus.

Instead of replaying the negative outcomes in my mind, I start to remember how God has been faithful through the journey and His promises start to come back to me.

And over the years, I have learned that God really knows best. As my heart starts to let go of the burdens and the worries that I’ve been carrying, the peace of Jesus now starts to flood my soul.

And I can sense God’s kindness and peace in that stillness again. And then I remember what Sabbath is all about. That Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.

God is spirit, but we are still made of flesh. And through the practice of Sabbath, it helps me to reconnect with God in my spirit even as I go through my day-to-day routines in this very real material world.

So no matter what kind of season you are in, I’d like to invite you to take a Sabbath break with me. It can be a quiet morning or a few hours in an afternoon. Set your to-do list aside and just spend some time focusing on Jesus. It may just be the recharging break that you are looking for.

And that’s the podcast for this week.

Thank you so much for listening to the Sabbath Cafe podcast.

For transcripts and more, please visit sabbathcafe.substack.com or sabbathcafeblog.com.

Thank you for listening and we will see you next time.

Understanding Addiction-Thoughts on “Dopamine Nation” by Dr. Anna Lembke Podcast 129 (10:00)

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We all love to enjoy life, but what if our pursuit of fun and enjoyment actually had the opposite effect?! Check out my latest podcast episode.

Transcript

Welcome to the Sabbath Cafe Podcast. This is episode 129 Understanding Addiction: Thoughts on the book Dopamine Nation. Please be aware that this episode will include topics on addiction and compulsive behavior.

Hi everyone! This is Michele. Thank you for joining me on the Sabbath Café Podcast.  This week I want to talk about this book that I read that has had a profound influence on me. The book is called The Dopamine Nation by Dr. Anna Lembke. Dr. Lembke is actually a psychiatrist at Stanford University.  

I first picked up this book just at a bookstore. And I was really curious about it because I know that it was a book dealing with addiction. I’ve known people, whether it’s family or friends, who deal with nicotine addiction. They are chain smokers. And I know people that are recovery alcoholics. And so when I picked up this book, when I saw the title about “Dopamine Nation”, it just really hit me.  

If you don’t know what dopamine is… dopamine is the pleasure hormone. And so what it is is that when we get that fix… whether it’s just binge watching your favorite show, and you just click on that next episode, we get a pleasure.  We get a sense of high from it. And that high, biochemically, is a result of a shot of this dopamine hormone that’s released into your brain to give you that sense.  And also, the subtitle of the book is called “finding balance in the age of indulgence.”  Now who would not want to find balance? 

And so the first thing I did was I went and listened to a two hour podcast by Dr. Anna Lembke. Just because that was the fastest thing.  Actually, she has done many podcasts on Youtube. So I’m going to put the name of the book, Dr. Lembke’s name, and one or two Youtube videos that I really liked in the show notes and the transcripts.  Please go to www.sabbathcafeblog.com.  And this episode is episode 129.  So go to the website and look up the show notes. I really highly recommend anyone who’s interested in this area, this topic, to just spend some time to listen to the podcast. 

And so the amazing thing is after I listened to the podcast, I was just so encouraged that I actually finished reading.  And the book was even better. Because in the book, she actually includes a lot of the patient cases. Like I mentioned before, she is a practicing psychiatrist. Her official title is that she is the medical director of Stanford Addiction Medicine. Wow.  

And she’s not just one of those people that has a lot of theories when she writes the book. In the book, you can read many of her patient’s case stories. And Dr. Anna shares these stories to show us the steps on how to break the cycles of addiction and start new habits for recovery.  And that just really gave me hope. 

In my experience being in the Christian community, I think addiction is one of those areas that really honestly people don’t like to talk about. Because there is a stigma of shame. Everyone who I know that wrestles with that almost always feels like they’re suffering because… or that they’re stuck in it because they don’t have enough self-discipline…or if they just tried hard enough… or have accountability that this will go away, that this will be fixed. And that’s a very simplistic way of looking at it.  And I think what I’ve come to learn is that addiction is a very complex issue. And even though choice and discipline do play part of the recovery, but there are so much more elements involved with that.   

And one key thing that I learned from this book is to understand how our brains are wired to handle pleasure and pain.   Because one of the main motivations for people that wrestle with addiction and compulsive behavior is that most of the time, we’re trying to run away from pain by pursuing pleasurable experiences. There’s a sense of escape. But what I’ve learned from this book is that this idea of chasing after pleasure to avoid pain is actually counterproductive. The result is that we will end up experiencing more pain and less pleasure.  And why is that?  It’s because our brain is actually wired to have pain – or to experience pain and pleasure in a balanced way.  So Dr. Anna was illustrating it.  It’s like having a teeter-totter in our brain.  So with pain on one side, and pleasure on the other side.  And our brains are wired that when one side have more experience… So let’s say that you have more pleasurable, more fun, more satisfying experiences, the brain would actually secrete chemicals to push down on the pain side, and lessen the experience of the pleasure.  So the brain is actually fighting against our trend.  

And this is totally counter-intuitive because I think for all my life, I’ve always been trying to avoid painful experiences. I deal with them. I process through them because that seems to be what God always recommends for me: don’t brush these experiences… don’t brush these feelings under the carpet. But face it, process through it, and then you will be free from it.  You will be healed from it. That is the right process that God seem to always be teaching me.   

After I read Dr. Anna’s book, I feel like wow, I now understand why God seems to be recommending that. And what I learned from the book, and Dr. Anna includes a lot of… goes into these into a lot more detail.  And I don’t want to try and teach that here because I’m still processing through it myself. But one thing I have learned is that when I face difficult things in life, to not try and run away… and try to go to my coping mechanism. But to actually deal with the challenges and negativities, and to learn to process through them.  

And I just want to thank Dr. Anna for writing this book, and just for her work in helping so many of her patients to come to recovery.  And I just want to encourage anyone out there listening that if you also feel like you’re stuck in a compulsive behavior, if you’re stuck in some kind of addiction, and I don’t care how long it has been.  If it’s been decades.. If you just want to change, but you don’t know how, and you feel like you’ve given up.  Just go and get this book right away. Again, her name is Dr. Anna Lembke, and the book is called Dopamine Nation. It’s a wonderful place to get started to have some understanding and to take the first step towards having more information to understand why we do the things we do.  And to understand how our brain is made and created to function so that we are working with our bodies and not against it. 

And that if anything you get out of this [podcast] today, I just want to say that there is hope for anyone stuck in addiction.  And Dr. Anna also shared a lot of examples on patients that have success with prescription medication to deal with chemical dependency. So there are a lot, a lot of paths out there to recovery. And I just want you to know you are not alone. There is hope for anyone dealing with addiction.  So if you get a chance, search for her name on Youtube, check out her book.  Just do the next thing. Take the next step to your recovery.  You can be free. You can be free from addiction.  

So that’s what I wanted to share with everyone this week. I’ve just been so excited about this book. Thank you for listening to Sabbath Café Podcast.  This is episode 129.  If you like more information on this episode or on the transcript, please visit www.sabbathcafeblog.com.  And we will see you next time.  Have a blessed week. 

Would You Like A Gift? (Podcast #128 & Transcript 5:09)

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I always ask God for a gift during this season. This year, why don’t you ask Him for a gift too? He just might surprise you.

Transcript

Would you like a free gift?!  I love a freebie!  Especially during Christmas season.  I’m learning to be generous this year.  At first, I felt like Golem from LOTR… holding my gold [ring] very tightly.  But I’m getting better at sharing now.  Whenever I give, it opens my heart in a way I didn’t expect.  Giving is interesting… the more you give, the easier it becomes, and giving has truly brought joy to my heart. 

Ah, but that’s not the key thing…Looking back, partly of why I was learning to be generous is because God has a generous heart and also loves to give.  And as I learned to give, I began to understand more about God’s heart as a Giver. 

There’s something about giving that brings joy to my heart.  It’s not really about the size of the gift or how expensive these gifts are. I find more satisfaction in giving someone the right gift at the right time.  Often, I’d pick up something at the store – because it was on sale –  just to give it to someone who needed it later that week!  It’s as if God prepared a gift for them at just the right time. As these “coincidence” happens more often, I began to see how God is so good at gift-giving!  He is like the best Santa!  

As I reflect on my journey with God this year, I am so grateful for what God has given our family.  But even more so, I’m amazed at how God has just been generous with everyone around me!   He’s been generous with my neighbors, friends I met online, and even at my favorite boba shop.  I’ve just seen God’s heart to want to bless people in so many ways. 

God truly has a generous heart.  He has always been so confident and encouraging whenever I ask or pray.  It didn’t matter how big the problems were or how little faith I had, He was always kind and ready to show me a path forward.  

In this special season, if you feel burdened about anything in your life, why not talk to God about it?  If anyone you know is sick, ask God to heal them.  If you have a financial need, go ahead and ask God to pay that bill.  If you need a job, tell Him about that too.   

This year has taught me how generous and creative God can be.  So don’t be afraid to pray or ask God about what you want. I used to wonder why we have to “ask” God or pray about things.  Doesn’t He know our needs already?  And if He knows about it, and hasn’t done anything, why would it matter if I prayed about it? 

Then God kind of showed me that there are a few things missing in my logic.  The first thing was that God actually takes our words very seriously.  He respects our decisions and boundaries. And when we pray, we’re actually inviting God to come into our situations.    

Also, God is very relational, and He loves to partner with us even when He can do everything Himself.  So the praying process is like our dialog with God.  We share our concerns with Him, and He can show us what He sees, and more importantly, how He plans to answer our prayers. 

Often, God wants to take me on a journey when I pray.  I’ve brought many problems to God this year, and I’ve been amazed every time at how He resolved things.   So this Christmas season, why not ask God for a gift?  No matter what you wish for, I know He can and will do something awesome for you. 

And that’s it for this episode.  I want to wish you a very merry Christmas and a very happy holiday!  Thank you so much for listening to us in 2023, and we will be back in 2024! 

For transcripts and more, please visit www.sabbathcafeblog.com 

Podcast #120- Receiving prayer and love for yourself (4:21)

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God reminded me lately that I also need to drink in the love of God as I pray for others. And this is the perfect season to take a pause and just remember His deep love for us. Happy Easter!

I happened to finish this episode on Easter week.  This is the perfect season to open our hearts to receive the deep love of God. Here’s a quick update on what God showed me this week. Enjoy and have a blessed Easter. 

Recently, I’ve been praying for my parents. I have this crafted prayer written out for them, and I was praying for them pretty regularly.  And today when I was praying for them, God sort of reminded me that I can pray for myself in the same way.  And I thought that’s a pretty good idea.  Because I was praying for God to release peace and joy in my parents lives. And I certain can use a lot of peace and joy in my day too.  

And so I started to pray over myself “Michele, I just pray that the Lord will pour out joy and peace into your life today.”  And as soon as I said those words, I just totally choked up. I was so surprised.  That’s not the reaction I expected.  I had no idea how tired I’ve been, and how much I really needed that prayer for myself.  

I think for the last 2 years or so, I’ve been in this mode where I’m so focused on taking care of everybody else around me… that I forgot that I needed to take time out and take care of my own needs too. I’ve been in this task oriented mode. It’s funny because when I prayed over myself, suddenly, I stopped focusing on what I have to do.  I stopped being a “Martha” – if you know what I mean.  I opened up my heart to receive the prayers and all of these pent up frustrations just came pouring out.  

I think for many of us who are care takers by nature, we tend to focus a lot on other people.  So often times, we will ignore our own needs. And I’m grateful that today, God reminded me to just take a pause and pray over me. And that I deserve the kind of attention and care that I usually give to others. And that God also wants to give me His love and peace and joy. And that it’s important for me to stop doing, and just receive His loving kindness. 

And that reminds me of that great verse that we should love others as we love ourselves.  It’s not one or the other.  But that even as we love on other people, we should remember to also love ourselves too… To pour out and receive the love of God for ourselves.  

So I just wanted to share that quick note.  To share with all my listeners. To share with everybody out there today, in this season, please take some time for yourself.  Please do something nice for yourself. And if you’re used to caring for others or praying for others, please say a prayer for yourself, and embrace and enjoy and soak up that loving kindness of God. 

So I just wanted to say that and share it with everyone.  Just something that I learned and received from the Lord today.  And that’s just a quick update from me! 

As I mentioned before, I’ve been feeling a little worn out, so I took a little personal retreat earlier this year.  I am working the next series which hopefully will be coming out soon.  Thank you so much for listening.  Have a wonderful week, and we’ll chat with you next time. 

Podcast #119 – The Power of Our History With God (5:04)

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Newer isn’t always better. Our spiritual history may actually help us get the breakthrough we’re looking for.

Welcome to the Sabbath Café Podcast.  You’re listening to episode #119 – the power of our history with God. 
 
I was sorting through some old notebooks the other day, and a note card fell out.  It was a crafted prayer I wrote about 5 years ago for my family.  I had tucked it away, and totally forgot it.   
 
 It was a small card, and filled up front and back with a prayer I wrote about a broken relationship.  At that time, it felt like the situation was never going to change. These relationships have been broken for years. Honestly, I didn’t know if my prayers were going to make any difference at that point.  Still, I remembered that no request is too small or insignificant to God. And sure enough, after praying this crafted prayer for about a year, a breakthrough happened!  God answered my prayers and reunited a family!  It was nothing short of a miracle.   
 
As I read it, I was amazed that most of my requests have been answered.  Changes didn’t happen overnight, but they did happen.  As I remembered how God made possible what I thought was impossible, my faith rose up.  Suddenly, all of the negativity I felt that week vanished. 
 
In our social media world, we’re always looking for the latest news and trends.  We rarely take the time to reflect on our past.  To be honest, I feel that my generation, me included, don’t really understand the value and purpose of history. I think that’s why I didn’t recognize the value and power of my own history with God. Our history with God is made up of all of the interactions and experiences between us and God. Every prayer He answers adds to that history.  When it comes to building up our faith and spiritual maturity, our history with God can be a powerful tool. 
 
History gives us perspective.  It shows us the big picture and reminds us that real change takes time.  It helps us to be patient and wait for God’s timing.  When we can’t see the hand of God at work, our history reminds us that God is indeed still working.  When we feel discouraged in the middle of the storm, it reminds us that our journey is not finished yet.  Every experience we have with God, whether big or small, adds to our faith. And every interaction we have with God brings our faith to the next step.  
 
When I feel anxious and fearful, these negative emotions can be so overwhelming that I feel paralyzed.  My mind jumps to the worst case scenario and I sink into a pit of negativity.  And that’s exactly what happened to me recently.  I felt the challenges I had were so big… so beyond me that I couldn’t muster up any faith to pray.  But when I found that prayer card, and remembered how God answered the prayers that I thought were impossible, my faith rose up.  I remembered that God is bigger than my challenges.  I remembered that despite my limitations, and my lack of faith, God really can do above and beyond what I can ask, think or imagine.  
 
Are you also facing a difficult situation lately?  Do you feel like you’re dealing with a giant in your life?  Maybe it’s time for you to take a break and remember how God has showed up for you in the past.   Push the pause button on your worries, and think about your own history with God.   If you keep a journal, this is the perfect time to take it out and read a few pages.  Not only will you remember God’s faithfulness to you, you’ll also be encouraged by how far you’ve come and how much you’ve grown in your own journey.  And you may even see that your current challenge is not as big as you thought.  God can and He will help you walk through it, just like He did before.  And you will come out of the storm amazed and transformed. 
 
And that’s our podcast for this week.  I’d like to wish everyone a very happy holiday season.  Thank you so much for listening.  Merry Christmas and we’ll see you in the new year! 

Podcast #117 Quick Update! (5:04)

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Hi everyone! Thanks for being patient. Life threw us a curve ball this last 6 months, so I’ve not been able to post here. Thankfully, things are settling down a bit, and I’ll be posting more podcasts and blogs here shortly. Here’s a mini-podcast to share a quick update with everyone.

Podcast #113 Learning to hear from God (6:36) (Connecting with God #3)

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Folks often ask me how do I hear from God. It’s actually pretty simple, but it’s a very personal experience. I’ll share a great exercise to help you get started.

Here’s the podcast transcript:

Welcome to the Sabbath Cafe Podcast. This is episode 113 – learning how to hear from God.

One of the questions people often ask me is how do you hear from the Lord.  I always have a hard time explaining because I think this is a very personal experience. But there are practices that can help.  So that’s what we’ll talk about today.

Let me just clarify first… that hearing from God isn’t anything weird or strange. It’s not like you hear this “deep voice” from the sky.  It’s really just learning how God communicates with us in a personal way.  Hearing from God is also a major part of the Christian tradition. From Catholic to Protestant groups, You’ll find many classical Christian literatures that talk about it. I learned a lot from reading classics like “Practicing the Presence of God” by Brother Lawrence and “Celebration of Discipline” by Richard Foster. Hearing God is an essential part of our spiritual heritage.

For many of us today, when we think about this topic, we tend to imagine God speaking from heaven in a booming voice. There may even be thunder and lightning in the background.  Kind of like what happens in a Disney movie, right? But in reality, it’s the complete opposite.  When God wants to communicate with us personally, He actually speaks in a gentle and quiet voice.

It’s like that Bible passage when Elijah hid in the mountains after his big showdown with Jezebel. And God came to meet him. There first came this great and powerful wind that tore the mountains apart, but God was not in the wind. After the wind, there was a powerful earthquake that shook things up, but God was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake, there came a fire. But God was not in the fire. And after the fire, God showed up in a whisper. And that’s when Elijah went to meet God.

And that’s how God speaks in my life too, with a still and quiet whisper. That’s why when I’m seeking God’s insight and wisdom, I need to first calm down my heart. I notice that when I’m relaxed, I can sense God’s thoughts more clearly. However, if I’m feeling stressed or worried about something,  it’s hard for me to sort out what God is trying to tell me.  And it’s not until I journal and process through some things to calm those emotions down, and then, I can sense more clearly what God is trying to say.

So in today’s session, let’s look at some easy steps to help you practice how to tune into God’s still small voice.

I really think the most important part in learning to hear God’s voice is learning to pay attention to God. The truth is if you’re used to multi-tasking or doing many things at the same time, it’s very hard to hear God when you’re in that mode.  Because all of the things you’re doing will distract you and drown out God’s quiet whispers.  So I recommend that in the beginning, you set aside time when you can be alone. And if you can’t be alone, find some time when you can give God your full attention.

Now relax, and take a deep breath.  In the beginning, pray this prayer, “Lord, I’m here to meet with you.  You have my full attention, come and meet with me.” We declare to God and to ourselves that this is our focus.  And then focus on a short prayer like “Thank you Lord, Thank you Jesus.”  “I love You, Jesus.”  And if any thought or worry suddenly rise up, acknowledge them, and simply pray, “Lord, I just give this concern to you.”  Return to your simple prayer – “Thank you Jesus. I love you Jesus.” and continue to focus on God.

After a couple of minutes, your heart will relax and you’ll begin to calm down. As you start to feel more at peace, the thoughts that usually clutter your mind will clear up.  And that’s when God’s thoughts will quietly appear.  Sometimes, God chose to be silent, and that’s fine. Allow your heart to rest and just enjoy the Peace and Stillness for as long as you can.

The first few times you try this, maybe you won’t sense anything yet. And you may still get distracted. And that’s okay.  Just like everything else, it gets better with practice. 

And as you continue these short sessions where you learn to focus your heart and your mind solely on God, then it will become easier, and you’ll know how to tune into God’s voice in your own way. 

Just remember this.  God wants us to succeed. And as we make our hearts available to Him. The Holy Spirit will come and help us learn how to dwell in Peace.

Eventually, as you become familiar with hearing God’s voice, you’ll start to recognize His voice throughout your day even when you’re busy.   For me, God often talks to me when I’m driving, or when I’m on a walk. And lately, He’s been especially chatty when I’m doing dishes. 🙂 

So as you can see, there’s no secret handshake when it comes to hearing from God.  All you need is a willingness to hang out with Jesus. And it’s just like making a new friend. The more time you spend together, the better you’ll get to know each other.  

I hope what I’ve shared has been helpful, and I’m excited to see what God will show you this week. Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time.

Podcast #112 Finding a theme for your spiritual walk (4:19) (Connecting with God #2)

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Starting a new journey often feels intimidating. I share some prompts and questions in this episode to help you find a personal focus for your spiritual path.

Here’s the podcast transcript:

Welcome to Sabbath Cafe Podcast. You’re listening to Episode 112 – Finding a personal theme for your spiritual life.

So last time we talked about writing a letter to God. And it’s a chance to get reacquainted. I hope you at least gave it a try. I’m hoping writing a letter gave you some momentum so you can continue that dialogue with God. Today, I’ll share about how to find a theme for your spiritual life.

When you’re starting your own spiritual journey, one of the more challenging things is that now it’s more free form. It’s not as structured.  So I get questions from people asking about that because they’re used to going to church and having a sermon or Sunday school program already planned for them.  There’s a theme that’s already picked out.  And suddenly, when you start your own walk with God, and you’re like what do I focus on? What do I do?

So today, let’s look at 2 simple ways to start your own program.

The first question I often ask people is what are some verses that you’ve been thinking about lately? If there are scriptures that come to mind a lot, start writing them down.  And look it up.  Read up the whole chapter… or the whole story, if it’s about a Bible character.  The other day, I was praying, and something reminded me about Queen Esther, so I read parts of the Book of Esther.  It was very insightful and helped answer my questions.   Is your name Joseph?  Maybe you can read up on the story of Joseph.  The key is to keep your heart open and see what truths or insights jump out at you while you’re in this process.  

Another helpful question is… what’s a topic you’ve been curious about or you think about often? Is there a question you’ve been wanting to ask God about?  For a season, I was curious about prayer.  The idea that a normal person like me can influence the divine is simply fascinating.  So I went to a Bible website, and searched for all the scriptures about prayer in the New Testament.  Surprisingly, there weren’t too many in the New Testament. So I just started reading through them.  And I learned a lot about prayer from that.  

So as you can see, there are many ways you can start your own spiritual journey.

The important thing is to find something that you’re interested about so you can start a dialog with God. I’ve found that God is so ready to share His thoughts with us in a personal way… It almost doesn’t matter how or why we come to Him… As long as we do, He will take that opportunity to connect with us. So feel free to jump in wherever you’re at in your journey. 

I hope the ideas I’ve shared in this podcast have been helpful, and I hope you try it.  Have fun, and I’ll see you in the next podcast.

Reconnecting with God – (Podcast #111 script)

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Lately, I’ve been focusing more on making podcasts. Here is the transcript of Podcast #111 for those that prefer to read it in blog format.
(Click here for podcast #111)

During Covid lock down, I reconnected with many friends online.  We talked a lot about how they’re doing with the changes. And as time went on, I noticed a common theme.  Because they couldn’t go to church, and couldn’t meet up with friends, they felt pretty spiritually isolated. 

I can understand that.   Especially when you’ve been in a spiritual community for a long time.  You have a worship team or a choir that brought beautiful music, and pastors and teachers who gave great messages.   Everyone brings their talents, and the whole experience is just wonderful.  But when you’re suddenly cut off from that, it throws you off balance.

And this happens at a time when we feel like we need spiritual guidance and encouragements the most. Suddenly, we feel like we’re cut off from our spiritual support.

So someone asked me how I was dealing with changes now that church has gone virtual. And I realized that God has been transitioning me and my husband for a while.  In the last few years, I’ve been mainly working on my own personal connection with God, and I’ve moved away from a community based spirituality.  

It’s not that having a spiritual community is bad, but I think for most of us, we have been so blessed with our friends and christian community that we kind of forgot how to connect with God on our own. 

Actually, our Christian faith is immensely personal.  The essence of the Christian faith is that we don’t need any more rituals. We don’t need a middle person either like a pastor or priest. We don’t need any more sacrifices or intermediaries…The real good news as Christians is that we can connect with God directly… simply as who we are.  Any time.  Any place.  We don’t need to wait for Sundays.  We don’t even need to go to a building or a temple. Jesus has done all of the work so we have the privilege to get access to God 24/7, anywhere, any time.  Not only that, He even gives us the Holy Spirit as our personal spiritual assistant. 

And this is awesome! We now have an all-access pass to God. The veil is torn, the gate is opened. There’s nothing blocking us from God anymore.  

But even though we know this in our mind, often, we can still feel intimidated approaching God by ourselves.  And that’s what many of my friends were feeling. 

So if you also feel like you don’t quite know how to talk to God on your own right now, I have a few tips and activities to help you and God get reacquainted. And I’ll be sharing that in the next few podcasts.

And the first tip I want to share with you today is to write a letter to God.  Sometimes, when you haven’t talked with a friend for a while, it can be very intimidating to call them up out of the blue.  And you feel like… it’s going to be awkward… What do I say? I feel bad I haven’t been in touch…  All of these things run through your mind. But when you write a letter, you take that pressure off. Take time to write out your thoughts.  You can also go back and delete sections you don’t like.  In a sense, you have a safe space, and you can still communicate sincerely. 

So I want to invite you to write a letter to God and share what’s been on your heart lately. The key of this exercise is to help you get comfortable in opening your heart and sharing with God again. 

In the beginning, you may feel like you don’t know what to say.  And that’s fine.  You don’t have to put pressure on yourself.  If you don’t know what to say, just write that down. You can write something like “I don’t really know what to say, but I’m taking this first step…” Just start with that and write what’s on your heart. You’ll be surprised.

So the first step I have is to write God a letter.  You can write about your frustrations or fears… Do you have any questions for God?  And even who do you want God to be for you in this season.

You can use any piece of paper to do this… but I would recommend that you start writing in a spare notebook.  Any notebook will do; just something designated as your letters to God. And that can be your private space… a private dialog between you and God.  Any time you feel spiritually disconnected, just start writing in that notebook. And see how things go.

That’s all I have for this session. Thanks for listening and enjoy your letter writing!

Podcast #111 Reconnecting with God (5:41)

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Many of us feel spiritually isolated lately. In this new podcast series, I’ll be sharing some ideas to help you jumpstart your personal dialog with God. I share my first quick tip in this short episode. Here’s the transcript if you prefer.