Faith, Author at FollowingJesusUS.com

Faith & Acceptance :)

It’s funny how faith grows from acceptance, but it does.

By accepting God’s Will, by asking God to make our will, His Will, our Faith will flourish and grow. But it’s not until we accept God’s Will as our own – that faith grows.

There are any number of things that we want, but figuring out if we truly need them is the key. God does give us what we need-always, but He does not always give us what we want!

Think of how we parent our children. We always want to give them what they want, but we know that it is not always good for them! For example, what child would not rather go out and play versus doing homework, but then they do not learn. So they may be happy in the short term, but definitely not in the long term! Memorizing Bible verses may not be as fun as playing, but a deep seated knowledge of the Bible will be needed to survive in this world. When a child is sick, they learn strength. And when a child struggles, they learn perseverance. All of these – they will need as adults…

It’s the same with God, He loves us and wants us to be happy ?. But always giving us what we want does not help us to grow, or necessarily give us what we will need in the future.

It is, no doubt, harder when the issue is more difficult as when someone dies or we lose our job. We can’t always understand why God allows bad things to happen to good people, but there are reasons. Good ones!

One is that God has to answer everyone’s prayers, not just our own. Another is that what we think is a need, is actually a want. We may not understand until we get to Heaven, but we will understand.

Until then, we need to Trust in God’s Love for us. Whatever His Answer-Yes, No or Not Yet, IS based on His Great Love for us and is ultimately for our Good 🙂

Masks or No Masks?

Seems to be a common debate these days. Those for masks say that they are for them because they help prevent others from becoming ill with Covid. Those against masks say they do not help protect anyone.

It’s a complicated issue, an issue on which many good people disagree, and an issue upon which Christians disagree. But masks in and of themselves are not yet proven to be a Christian issue. What is a Christian issue is loving thy neighbor!

We can’t always help what we “feel” and sometimes we have to ask God to help with our “feelings”. But we can always help how we act! Jesus didn’t say “love thy neighbors” with whom we agree. He told us to love ALL of our neighbors.

So the next time we meet someone with whom we clearly disagree with-let’s make it our personal project to reach out to them and to be kind to them.

God always keeps His Promises. We promised to “love our neighbor”, so let’s keep our promise and let’s make being kind to everyone we meet our special project this week and see what a difference that makes ?

When God Says “No”!

It’s been my experience that when God says no, it’s because He has something even better in store :).

It’s easy to see why that is a difficult concept to understand. How can God have something “even better in store” when someone dies. But when someone dies, and they go to Heaven-that is “even better”. We may not see it that way, because we miss them, but for them – Heaven is as good as it gets!

I had a really close friend die not that long ago. She was so sick and suffered greatly! I miss her so much, but for her-it’s great! She isn’t sick or suffering anymore-she is free! And happy! To wish her back here would be selfish on my part, no matter how much I miss her.

God is good and He loves us so! We need to practice Trusting His love for us. If we do not get that new job, if someone we love goes to Heaven, even when we suffer from illness, we need to Trust that God has a good reason for it all.

God wants only what is good for us, because He loves us! And because He knows our current days and our past ones, and our tomorrows, God can make the best choice for our ultimate good 🙂

No matter what His answers to our prayers may be, We can Trust His Love for us 🙂

This IS How I Fight My Battles

These days, it seems a if we are losing most “battles”. But as Michael Smith sings, “It may look like I am surrounded, buy I am surrounded by You” ?

Exactly! We fight our battles on our knees and God walks before us 🙂

Did you know that God has never lost? Never!

These may difficult times, indeed for those in Afghanistan they are horrific times!

But, in the end, God Wins and so do we ?

Stay Close To God :)

“For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them; ¹³In transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing away from our God”-Isaiah 59:12-13

Sin creates a distance between us and God; that’s why it is so dangerous. Can God hear the pleas of a sinner? Jesus came for the sinners! But when we allow a distance to grow between us and God, we lose the “benefits” of being close to our Lord.

Being close to God brings daily peace and happiness, daily faith and hope, the deep knowledge that God is with us every second and He loves us! The complete faith that we are going to Heaven and the knowledge that not only will we be overjoyed to see Him, God will be overjoyed to see us too!

God is also the one we can bring All of our worries and fears too! Whenever I am afraid or worried, I pray this prayer:

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise—in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”-Psalm 56:3-4

But it is impossible to Trust someone that we never spend time with! Or that we are not close too! Do NOT let anything separate you from God!!!

There are many reasons to “abhor sin”, as they say. But perhaps one of the most important ones is that it separates us from God!

Thankfully we can seek His forgiveness and repent through His Son Jesus Christ and start new ?

God’s Forgiveness :)

“They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”-Jesus, Mark 2:17

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”-Psalm 139:23-24

“Create in me a pure heart, oh, God, and renew your right Spirit within me.”-Psalm 51:10

“It is good to recognize our sins, because if we don’t, than we can’t even begin to repent for them, and so we can not be forgiven for them. And let’s face it, we all sin. And we all need forgiveness.

Thankfully, God forgives us all through Jesus. But we do need to ask Him for that forgiveness and to do that we need to recognize the sins in our lives. Something we don’t like to do!

Sometimes sin can be a simple as being unkind to someone else and sometimes sins are more grave. They are all a departure from God’s Will for us. When we think of sin, we usually think of our sins of “commission (they sins we actually commit), but sometimes the sins of omission (the actions we do not take) are far more grave! Think of the times we fail to be kind to another or walk by a homeless person without a word.

Think of the times we fail to encourage another, especially when we so easily could have. The police officer we could have thanked for his/her service, the person at the grocery store line we could have talked with, the elderly or sick neighbor we could have visited. The list is endless.

And it’s amazing how much happiness we will obtain for ourselves by giving to another. It almost seems selfish, but God is pleased ?

When we pray these Bible verses, it’s astonishing how much easier it is to forgive others. For when we take the time to recognize our own sins, it’s so much easier to forgive others theirs.

Repentance through Jesus Christ brings us forgiveness for our sins and the freedom to begin again with a “clean heart” and a “right” spirit. Let’s not waste either ?

God Forgives!

“But when the wicked turns from his wickednes sand practices Justice and Righteousness, he will live by them.”-Ezekiel 33:19

Today is the Jewish “Day of Atonement”. Between tonight and tomorrow, there will be much prayer, fasting and repentance.

For us as Christians, the Day of Atonement serves as a good reminder. Repenting is not just about being sorry, it’s about changing 🙂

Jesus came to pay the price for our sins so we would not have to, but that doesn’t mean we can just sin whenever we feel like it either. Nor does it mean we don’t even have to try to lead a righteous life-we do.

As Christians, every day should be a “Day of Atonement” for us. For every day we can tell Jesus how truly sorry we are for any ways in which we have failed Him, and we can seek to lead a more righteous life. For “With God All Things Are Possible” 🙂

God forgives us through Jesus because He loves us. Do not fear the sins of the past, or even the present, for God loves us beyond all measure 🙂

The Stations of the Cross

The Stations of the Cross is celebrated by many churches at Easter. But Mary, our Blessed Mother, did not create the Holy Way of the Cross (Stations of the Cross) to only be celebrated at Easter. She created the Holy Way of the Cross to be celebrated outside, each morning and each evening. If Catholic Tradition holds then Mary, our Blessed Mother, was the one to first create the Stations of the Cross and it seems only wise to do it as Mary did and build them outside so they are available for daily worship and meditation.

Covid, and possibly other diseases, may be problematic for a long time to come, but we need to stay connected to our churches, our community and to Jesus. Creating an outdoor “Holy Way of the Cross” , as the Blessed Mother did, would help us to do all three!

Mary created the Holy Way of the Cross to give people the great gift of meditating on Christ’s Life. Our Father created us to worship as a community. And with so many not attending church because of Covid, this would give us all a safer way to worship and stay connected to our church.

As the world darkens and the persecution of Christians increases, we will need to feel connected to Christ, to our Church and to our Community. What better way than this?

Building outdoor Stations of the Cross can help the faithful stay faithful. And creating outdoor spaces where we can gather together to worship and meditate of Christ Life-as well as Honor Mary at the same time can only help us in the coming days.

Keep The Faith-Jesus IS coming back ?

The Prophecies of our Lady of Good Success

During the 16^th and 17^th centuries, our Blessed Mother Mary appeared in Ecuador to a little known Spanish nun. She gave her both a warning for the future and hope. Mary predicted a “spiritual catastrophe” would occur in the Catholic church, beginning sometime after the mid 1900s.

One thing that Mary shared was that many would be unable to receive the Sacraments (Holy Communion, Confession, Baptism….). And has this not occurred due to Covid? While Walmart was deemed essential, church was not!

Mary also warned that the Sacrament of Marriage would be attacked. And has it not been? Less and less young people are getting married. Gay Marriage seems to be the law of the land, despite it being clearly displeasing to God! And in spite of the fact that during the Sacrament of Marriage we pledge before God to love another person until death due us part, divorce has grown by leaps and bounds. Does God forgive, of course. God forgives all those who truly repent through His Son Jesus Christ. But the increase of men and women breaking the vow that they made before God is concerning.

There will be, for a variety of reasons, a decrease in Priestly and Religious Vocations. And that’s important, for who will teach and continue the faith?

Many of the sick will not receive the Sacrament of Extreme Unction. In other Christian churches, this is simply called a Prayer for the Sick. And it’s important. For those prayers can sometimes bring healing and always bring comfort.

Mary also told us that priests who truly serve the Lord will be attacked. Both priests and ministers who truly serve the Lord are being attacked daily. And their message, found in God’s Word is under attack as well.

Mary also said that many of the Faithful will be blinded. Truly unable to see what is happening around them and truly unable to see what God requires of them! Will they be lost?

Even more people will fall into sin! Too many will pick and choose among God’s Word, seeking to justify their sinful choices, but there will be no justification before God!

“Widespread moral corruption, Profanation of the Sacrament of Matrimony, Depraved Priests, Unbridled lust, Loss of Innocence and Lack of Priestly and Religious vocations” are just a few of the evils which will happen.

“But when evil finally seems to triumph over all, when all seems lost, Complete Restoration of the Church will begin and the Church will finally reawaken”. Because God Loves us

Welcome Home :)

Heaven is not just an end to all struggle and suffering, it’s the beginning of real joy and peace! The kind of Joy and Peace that only God can give ?

We will be able to see so much better. Rainbows and flowers will be more vivid. We will be surrounded by a beauty we can only imagine.

There will be grand adventures and people we love.

There will be hugs that are even deeper and hugs that warm us all the way through.

There will be a light brighter than any light on earth, God’s Light.

And best of all, we will be with God!

And we will never again worry or be tired, we will never again struggle with the temptation to sin, and we will never again be sick. There will be no Covid, no disagreements. Only Peace and Joy-forever.

And to get there, all we have to do is follow Jesus Home ?