Faith, Author at FollowingJesusUS.com

God’s Judgement!

“Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel, for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land;”

“there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.”

“Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish,
and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, and even the fish of the sea are taken away.” – Hosea 4:1-3

We like to think about God’s Love and Mercy for us. It comforts us and gives us Hope. And well it should.

But God is also Just.

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

God’s Warning!

“The Lord has chastened me sore, but he has not given me over unto death”-Psalm 118:18

There is no doubt looking around our world that life is harder than it used to be! And sadly, a lot of this is our own fault. As a nation, we turned our backs on the Lord; we disobeyed God repeatedly. Yes, absolutely, there are many who still Follow Jesus and obey God, but our country is led by those who do not. And there are a number of countries led by those who do not obey God. And sadly, we all pay the price.

But there is also a passage in the Psalm that says:

“The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?

The Lord taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me.

It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.”

-Psalm 118:6-8

For those who Follow Jesus, we need not fear :). For those who do not Follow Jesus, it is not too late-yet.

Prepare, Pray and Be Ready!

The Intercessor

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.-Isaiah 59:1-2

Later in Chapter 59, God does save them, but God asks an important question:

“And he saw that there was no man and wondered that there was no intercessor”-Isaiah 59:16

The Intercessor between God and man is Jesus 🙂

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Those Who Do Not Truly Know Me…

We have been told so many times that Jesus did not condemn anyone, He didn’t even talk about sin. But that is just not true!

Jesus talked quite a bit about sin and about the need for repentance! And about the consequences if we don’t repent! And there are consequences:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ ²³And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”-Mathew :21-23

There are many who claim to know and accept Jesus, but the truth is those who truly know Jesus-Follow Jesus. And isn’t that the least we can do?

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Do Not Fear :)

“The Lord is on our side; I will not fear what; what can man do unto me?” – Psalm 118: 6

We all worry about the future, especially if we have children. We’re human.

Often, we are told, if we truly trusted the Lord, we would not worry.

But this simply is not true. We know that bad things sometimes happen to good people. We know that there are sometimes things that can make us afraid. Which is when many of us pray for help!

But we also know that, if we have put our Trust in Jesus,, the final outcome will be good! And that even if something bad does happen, God will use it to the “good of those called to His purpose“.

God ‘s Word says repeatedly, “Do not fear!”. And we need not 🙂

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

The State of America

“If you pick up a dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between man and dog.”
Mark Twain

Clearly, God has greatly Blessed America. Does the Mark Twain quote not remind you, sadly, of America right now?

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Faith & Flowers

As spring returns, there are flowers that spring new, there are flowers that return and there are flowers that appeared dead, but are once again growing. And there are flowers that are, sadly, dead.

Just like our own faith and the faith of others, we can find ourselves in different places at different times. And that is okay, as long as we all end up in the same place: Home 🙂

It’s a Journey 🙂

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

Ukraine & The American Soldier

While Praying the Rosary for Ukraine, I saw American soldiers.

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready !

Our Hope Is In God :)

“Violence shall no longer be heard in your land, Neither wasting nor destruction within your borders; But you shall call your walls Salvation,
And your gates Praise. The sun shall no longer be your light by day,
Nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you; But the Lord will be to you an everlasting light, And your God your glory.”-Isaiah 60: 18-19

We look around the world, indeed our own country, and we see violence and destruction in it daily. And it all weighs on our hearts. We can’t help but wonder just what kind of world our children will inherit.

But then we turn to the pages of God’s Word and we are reminded that our Hope is in God, not in this world. And one day, we will return home and worry no more. And our children will have that same path way open to them! 🙂

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

Asking Mary To Pray For Us!

There are many who feel we should not ask Mary to pray for us. There are many who feel that we should. My Pastor in Ohio used to say, “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity”. This quote has been attributed to (Saint) Augustine of Hippo.

I ask Mary to pray for me every day. I ask her to pray for me because I know that she loves me and that she is very close to Jesus. After all, she is His mother and Jesus loves her very much :). And so, it only makes sense to me, that Jesus would listen to her even more, because she is His mother :).

Mary always points to her Son and she has taught me so much about Jesus. And I am so grateful. For not only do I feel Mary enriches my faith in Christ; I know just how much she loves me 🙂

The first part of the Hail Mary comes straight from the Bible (see Luke 1:28) (The word Grace appears in the Greek Translation)

“And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.”-Luke 1:28

The next part also comes from the Bible:

“Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”- Luke 1:42

The last part of the Hail Mary reads:

“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us snners, now and at the hour of our death.”

Who wouldn’t want Mary to pray for them at the hour of their death?

But perhaps what we should remember most of all is the beginning of Revelation in the Letters to the Churches. One strikingly clear message comes from the Letters to the Churches: no church does everything right! There will be churches and people who ask Mary to pray for them, and there will be those who do not.

For me, Mary enriches my faith, provides for me a great example and prays for me because she loves me. I am so grateful to Mary and wouldn’t miss her presence in my life for the world!

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!