Thoughts to Ponder

We Are One in the Spirit

I read a lot of emails, blogs, website articles and sermons via the Internet. Some are very good, thought out writings and some are just peoples’ opinions. A lot of the writing as to what God wants or instructs us to be/do is being conveyed through this modern mode of communication. Contrary to what some may think, many people from all walks of life, believe in God and that he is active in our lives today.

There are scores of people who lean on God for the hope of a better tomorrow. Recently I have read chats on an Internet AA forum. The people who have been working the steps for a while believe there has to be a greater power than themselves on which to call on for help with their struggle against alcoholism. However, for many people this understanding of a higher power only comes after much trial and error. Some of the newcomers appear to struggle with that aspect of the program.

Daily devotional thoughts also make up part of what I read online. For example a typical devotional will have a quote from scripture and then the author’s thoughts are written so we can contemplate the morals being taught by God. Quite often I find that the devotionals fit in with what are in my own thoughts that day.

Some may think that the daily devotionals and the AA Forum chats would be totally different subject matters. However, I find many similarities in the two. For example both write about getting out of our own head thinking. A quote from a daily devotional I read recently says,

“It (our worship) requires a transformed mind and an obedient lifestyle to test and approve what God’s will is.”

And here is a quote from an AA member:

"AA tells me to think of the 24 hours ahead of me and
ask God to direct my thinking especially asking that
it be divorced of self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking
motives…. AA tells me that my thought-life will be placed on a much higher plane when my thinking is cleared of wrong motives".

Did you catch that? “…when my thinking is cleared of wrong motives,” sounds a lot like a “transformed mind and obedient lifestyle” doesn’t it?

We can learn a lot from so many people and not just the ones at our church. The fact that I find people outside of my church-going family to be believers in God is encouragement to me. Although, I expect the folks I share a pew with on Sunday morning to be believers in God’s mercy and grace. However, it is as much, maybe more meaningful to me, to realize that I have comrades outside of my church family believing about God the way I do. Whether they are members of another church or the AA, our struggles are much the same. Until we succeed in transforming our thinking to be more like God, we must continually seek His help 24/7, 365 days and one day at a time.