How Many Are “Burning Within”?

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Annunciata

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I was discussing this suject on another Thread and decided to start a one.
  • How many in the last few years or just recently have experienced a new “hunger” for God and The Holy Scriptures?
  • How many can’t seem to get enough of Church Teachings, History, Lives of the Saints, etc.
  • How many have been drawn closer to “Our Lady”?
  • How many want to know more about The Holy Spirit?
Please share your story. I can say yes to ALL of the above. Let’s hear your story!
 
ME! I thought at one time that I was on the way out; convinced I had a terminal disease of some sort. I took that opportunity to go to confession, stop my constant sinning, and pray every day, say the rosary, etc…well, I do not have a terminal disease…my disease was falling away from God!

Now I try and read scripture every day, and immerse myself in the Lord as much as possible. I really think He was calling me home! I was even able to get my wife off of contraceptives and got her to go to confession, etc…

God Rules!
 
i’m glad to hear of His work in your lives. He is ever faithful, and some of us are experiencing His ‘burning’ in our hearts, while others are fanning the flames of the embers, still burning quietly at the bottom of the hearth.

either way, let us praise and thank Him for His mercies, which are new every morning.

let us pray for one another.
 
Thank You! I thought I was having spiritual hot flashes. For a while I went overboard with spiritual reading and trying to gobble up the whole bible. Learning lectio divina, how to pace myself, read, ruminate, meditate and contemplate short selections of scripture has helped me digest. Until I learned to be extremely selective in my spiritual reading and limit myself to reading one book at a time, slowly, thoughtfully and prayerfully, I was becoming a “spiritual bulemic” regurgitating everything I read without digesting anything good from it. But, oh, the pleasure of finding a good writer and of making a connection with someone who seems to be speaking right to you. I learned Spanish, I told everyone, because of my job, but really I will tell you my secret, it is so I could read the poetry of St. John of the Cross in the original language.
 
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asquared:
Thank You! I thought I was having spiritual hot flashes. For a while I went overboard with spiritual reading and trying to gobble up the whole bible. Learning lectio divina, how to pace myself, read, ruminate, meditate and contemplate short selections of scripture has helped me digest. Until I learned to be extremely selective in my spiritual reading and limit myself to reading one book at a time, slowly, thoughtfully and prayerfully, I was becoming a “spiritual bulemic” regurgitating everything I read without digesting anything good from it. But, oh, the pleasure of finding a good writer and of making a connection with someone who seems to be speaking right to you. I learned Spanish, I told everyone, because of my job, but really I will tell you my secret, it is so I could read the poetry of St. John of the Cross in the original language.
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But isn’t it exciting! BTW, I had a hard enough time trying to digest John of The Cross’ Dark Night let alone learning it in Spanish! Then there was Teresa of Avila’s *Interior Castle…*I cheated because I had a set of cassettes explaining what each stage meant. I usually have at least 3 or 4 books going at once…
It can get out of hand though…everything in moderation!
In Christ, Annunciata:)
 
I have a renewed burning. It is exciting. I find my kids are starting to get fired up as well. I miss Adoration when I do not go.

And the amazing part is that the more time I give, the more God seems to arrainge time in my day, like he multiplies my time. That alone is a miracle! If I take time in the morning to pray, God seems to keep me on time for work. Before this, I was perpetually late.
 
Yes to all.

I have a deep longing for unity with God, it is growing all-consuming. God first and God always.

Ever since I let the Lord brand his cross on my heart, I have felt this hunger grow immensely.

We are all called to be the best we can be and this best is definitely when we are united with God, in God, and for God in all that we think, all that we do, and all that we are.

When I am truly loving, my hunger is reduced, for in Love, there is God.
 
OK - I have to share! The Holy Spirit has lit a fire under me as a result of a difficult trial I am enduring.

I can see the changes in me as He speaks to my heart more and I do His will more. My love for God grows in return - it’s a cool cycle like T.A. Stobie described.

But last week, the Holy Spirit had a request of me to stop praying for myself and focus on others. He made me realize that out of my trial and my desire to get through this trial, I was being too selfish with my prayers.

So I gave up all my prayers for self and focused on others.

God just rewarded me with my first significant breakthrough in 10 months.
Wow - it makes me burn all the more! God is awesome!
 
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jrabs:
OK - I have to share! The Holy Spirit has lit a fire under me as a result of a difficult trial I am enduring.

So I gave up all my prayers for self and focused on others.

God just rewarded me with my first significant breakthrough in 10 months.
Wow - it makes me burn all the more! God is awesome!
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Thanks for sharing that! We are supposed to share what God does in our lives!
I found that when I pray for others instead of myself that I receive many blessings, not so much earthly things, but spiritual things: sometimes joy, peace that is hard to describe, confirmation of prayers answered, etc.
Remember, if we aren’t on fire ourselves, how do we expect to ignite others! ?
Praise His Holy Name, Annunciata:bowdown2:
 
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Annunciata:
Thanks for sharing that! We are supposed to share what God does in our lives!
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Thanks Annunciata, for your encouragement. Someone recently suggested to me that I keep quiet on my breakthroughs and things that God speaks to me about. People were not really interested, not happy to hear them and made me appear as a religious nutjob.

But then how do we become testimonials to God’s great goodness if we do not share? Mind you, it has been a loooong, harrrrrrd road just to get this breakthrough. That is where the faith comes in and our testimonial comes to play for those others out there awaiting breakthrough in their personal trials…which is a number of people on this board alone!
Thanks again! I so appreaciate it!
 
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jrabs:
And the amazing part is that the more time I give, the more God seems to arrainge time in my day, like he multiplies my time. That alone is a miracle! If I take time in the morning to pray, God seems to keep me on time for work.
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Boy isn’t that the truth! The joy I find in this realization is one of the many things that keeps me burning within.
 
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DBT:
Boy isn’t that the truth! The joy I find in this realization is one of the many things that keeps me burning within.
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Good for you!!!
Hard to convince people of this, however. I try to explain this awesone miracle to people, but they don’t believe.

“I have no time to pray in the morning because I am already pressed for time.” Well, so was I but God worked it out!
 
couple things really quick -

you recently said that someone told you to keep these things to yourself. i think that’s the last thing you should do. now, you do, of course, want to be careful when and where and with whom you share these things. don’t ‘cast your pearl before swine’, sharing deeply personal and heartfelt breakthroughs with people who don’t believe you, and will A) discourage your growing enthusiasm and faith, and B) find another reason to write off the whole thing as ‘irrational and emotional’. but neither should we keep them to ourselves. share with people who believe, like you do, and with those who are open to hearing about it, even if they don’t necessarily share your views. i’d say THE most effective way to help others come into the kingdom is to share with them the joy and excitement you feel in your growing faith.

two - sigh… i almost don’t want to say this, because your enthusiasm is so palpable. but i feel like it’s best for you guys to be warned before it comes. if you already know all this, forgive my presumption in telling you. but when you start growing and impacting lives (your own and others’), then the enemy begins to be …annoyed, we’ll say. he’ll find all kinds of ways to try to stop you. so - expect it. he’s going to come (and probably already has) and try to steal your joy, get you offtrack, bring up some old sin, do whatever it takes to mess up what’s going on in your life. be prepared, don’t be discouraged, and when he trips you up, get back up and keep going. God will work all of the enemy’s manoevres for your good, just allow HIm time to do so.

i hope your time of excitement continues, and i pray that the adversary’s advances leave you alone altogether. may it be so.

God bless you. 🙂
 
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jeffreedy789:
two - sigh… i almost don’t want to say this, because your enthusiasm is so palpable. but i feel like it’s best for you guys to be warned before it comes. if you already know all this, forgive my presumption in telling you. but when you start growing and impacting lives (your own and others’), then the enemy begins to be …annoyed, we’ll say. he’ll find all kinds of ways to try to stop you. so - expect it. he’s going to come (and probably already has) and try to steal your joy, get you offtrack, bring up some old sin, do whatever it takes to mess up what’s going on in your life.
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Jeff,
you are correct to warn us… I’m well aware of the ‘spiritual warfare’ that goes on…and am fighting if it very hard this week…:eek: The only consolation in this, is that I must be doing something good for God… You just have to be careful not to give"scratch" too much credit… can’t dwell on these ‘jabs’. Praise The Holy Name of Jesus. Annunciata:)
 
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Annunciata:
I was discussing this suject on another Thread and decided to start a one.
  • How many in the last few years or just recently have experienced a new “hunger” for God and The Holy Scriptures?
  • How many can’t seem to get enough of Church Teachings, History, Lives of the Saints, etc.
  • How many have been drawn closer to “Our Lady”?
  • How many want to know more about The Holy Spirit?
Please share your story. I can say yes to ALL of the above. Let’s hear your story!
Click to expand...
Let’s see…
  1. Yes!
  2. Yes!
  3. Yes!
  4. Yes!
    And then some! I want to be a soldier for Christ (we are the Church militant after all!)
 
well, i’m sorry to hear that you’re in the midst of it, but i’m glad in a way, because it’s good for us to fight it out, and you seem well prepared. you have my prayers.
 
I cheat with John of the Cross. The Collected Works trans Kieran Kavanaugh has the Spanish on one page and English on facing page for the poetry. I had already read the Dark Night in English before I came upon the rest of the poetry at a retreat. I can’t take it all in. The Dark Night I have meditated with only through the 3rd stanza (I am not ready to move forward yet)

“ON that glad night in secret, for no one saw me, nor did I look at anything with no other light or guide than the one that burned in my heart” - does that sound like Annunciata’s question?

I can’t attempt the Spiritual Canticle. I have been praying wtih “Song of the soul that rejoices in knowing God through faith” for over 3 years, and this is the one that I needed to learn Spanish for

“This living spring that I long for, I see in this bread of life, although it is night . . . aunque es de noche”
 
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jrabs:
Thanks Annunciata, for your encouragement. Someone recently suggested to me that I keep quiet on my breakthroughs and things that God speaks to me about. People were not really interested, not happy to hear them and made me appear as a religious nutjob.

But then how do we become testimonials to God’s great goodness if we do not share? Mind you, it has been a loooong, harrrrrrd road just to get this breakthrough. That is where the faith comes in and our testimonial comes to play for those others out there awaiting breakthrough in their personal trials…which is a number of people on this board alone!
Thanks again! I so appreaciate it!
Click to expand...
I can relate to what you’re saying. I’m pretty private about my spiritual life because fear of pride. It seems like talking about it can so easily turn into an ego trip. Also, there are some experiences too deep to express in words. But falling in love with God is very powerful, that is undeniable. Much stronger than worldly ‘love’. 🙂
 
Burning within?
Are you talking about a bonfire or just some slow burning embers?
My fire started up again 3 years ago this month, but since then, it is just a slow burning ember. However I know that Satan has tried to slow me down by having some depression moments, distractions from other people, trying to start hobbies that go nowhere, and gluttony for food. Our Lord said to cut ourselves off from things that derail ourselves from being close to Him. Satan will throw those roadblocks up. We just need to know how to go around them and keep from being detoured.

A smile comes across my face whenever I witness about my conversion (revertation) as being a Catholic. You can say that smile is the joy of the glow for Christ.

go with God!
Edwin
 
It hit me like a tidal wave. I had to come pretty near hitting rock bottom before I listened. Now, I wonder how I was so blind before.

NOTHING temporal is of any significance. I think I always knew this but wouldn’t allow it to penetrate my rock hard selfishness. Now it all seems so clear.
 
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