Author: Faith

“O Lord, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.”-Psalm 92:5

God’s works are indeed great! It is hard to even comprehend the power that God had to create this world! The mountains, the seas, the forests, us! :). Indeed, God’s works are great 🙂

The second part of this verse talks about God’s “thoughts” being “very deep”. Can we even imagine how deep? For God must think of the good of every single human being. Listen to the prayers of all those praying. Plan for the future of all of those living. Consider how each life touches another. I don’t know about you, but I’m just not capable of all of that!

God loves each one of us! How Blessed are we 🙂

“ One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”  But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?  And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”   And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” – Luke 23:32

According to some, this thief lived in the dessert and was a murderer, as well as his thief. Some say he had actually met Jesus when Jesus was but a child. He was often referred to by many as the “repentant thief”.

When we think of him, we remember how repentant he was and how he asked Jesus “to remember me when you came into your kingdom”

These verses are so important for so many reasons. But there are two that are especially important. It didn’t matter how badly the “thief” had behaved, Jesus clearly forgave him. And took him to Heaven. The second is, we have until our last breath to seek Jesus’ forgiveness, repent and ask Him to be our Savior.

For many who have lived their whole lives in service to God, this can seem unfair. But God is always fair :). There has to be a finish line somewhere. Our lives on earth are it. We have our whole lives on earth to accept Jesus as our Savior. But that’s it. If we don’t, the penalty lasts an eternity.

And for those who are thinking right now, “Oh, I have plenty of time”. The truth is we are only guaranteed this one moment! The moment we are living right now, so waiting is not a good option!

We need to ask Jesus to be our Savior today!

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,
And Your faithfulness every night”-Psalm 92:1-2

There is a song called “Split the Sea” by Hannah Kerr which is so encouraging! And she is so right!

“Never thought I’d be where I am now
No way through and no way out
Oh it’s hard, but I’m still holding on
Even here, nothing’s too far gone
I believe
Every promise that You’ve spoken
I believe
You are faithful every moment
It may look impossible
But You’re the God of miracles
You have always made a way for me
You can still split the sea”-Hannah Kerr“

“N0thing is too far gone” for God; He’s got us 🙂

Can we ever thank God enough 🙂

“I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.”-Psalm 40:1-3

Sometimes, “waiting patiently for the Lord” is hard, but it is important. Just because God has not answered a prayer yet, does not mean that He won’t.

Above all else, God loves us! And so He wants the very best for us. Sometimes prayers are answered, but the answer is not yet. And that really is okay. For our Lord sees not just today like we do, but all of our tomorrows. And all of everyone else’s tomorrows. And so, in the long term, God truly knows what is best for each of us. How Blessed are we that God loves us so much that He takes the time to ensure that all things work to the good of those who love Him!

So if you are worried that God is not answering your prayer, don’t be. God hears our prayers and will always do what will bring us the greatest good 🙂

No one likes to suffer, but sometimes, if we let it, it can bring us closer to God 🙂

Sometimes we suffer terribly. Whether it is war, disease, or the loss of a loved one, or something else, suffering is a part of life on earth. The question isn’t, will we have suffering. Jesus warned us we would (“In this world you will have trouble”-John 16:33). The real question is how do we handle it?

Some choose to turn to God with all that they suffer. They lay their suffering at His feet and even offer it up as penance for others (in general). They ask God for help so that they can continue to love God and love others. And no matter their “troubles”, they hold onto their faith-realizing it is a Gift from God 🙂

Sadly, some sink into their suffering. Thinking God should have healed them; they choose to turn away from God. But God never said that life on earth would be easy. In fact Jesus warned us that in “this life we would have troubles”.

Notice the word “choice”. It’s our choice as to how we choose to handle our suffering. We can choose to grow closer to God or turn away from Him.

Choosing wisely can help us bear our suffering well 🙂

“He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty”-Psalm 91:1

So in other words, “the safe space”. What does safe mean? Sometimes it means exactly what we would think: physically, emotionally and spiritually safe.

But sometimes, we do suffer, at least physically and emotionally. We can have great faith in God and still suffer terribly. And yet, we can also still be “safe” spiritually. For the only way the enemy can destroy our soul or stop us from going to Heaven is if we let him!

For no matter what happens in our lives on earth, we always have a choice. We can call upon our Lord and tell Him we are struggling and need His Help, or we can turn away from God.

The choice is always our own, given to us by God Himself!

“Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
 But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,“

“And by His stripes we are healed. ⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray;”

“We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

That last line was the and it is now. So many in our world are doing things “their own way”, instead of God’s way. Clearly from the above verses, Jesus loves us so much! God our Father loves us so much! And yet we don’t listen.

So today, let’s ask the Holy Spirit to read the Bible with us- and start living God’s way 🙂

Read the Bible with the Holy Spirit!

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’”-Matthew 25: 40-43

Sin is sin. As human beings we, of course, like to focus on God’s Mercy and Christ’s forgiveness :). But it is a mistake to focus only on them. For God is also Just.

The above verse lists a few sins, but the Bible lists plenty more. All sins require repentance and change. Repentance for the sins we have committed and for the sins of omission (such as the ones above) and a willingness to change.

God, through His Son Jesus Christ, forgives our sins, but we must not take advantage of His forgiveness.

Saint Michael The Archangel Church In Ukraine

This morning, there was yet another threat of the use of nuclear weapons out of Russia-against Ukraine. This time it was alleged that one of Putin’s supporters, allegedly urged Putin to use them against Ukraine.

Once this evil door is opened it can not be closed! The suffering that would occur is beyond our imagining.

Please pray for the people of Ukraine. Please pray that Putin will come to his senses. And please pray for our world to turn back to God, before it is to late!

And remember, the only safe place is with Jesus!

“¹² No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. ¹³ By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. ¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. ¹⁵ Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God” – 1 John 4:12-15

We know that Jesus is the Son of God and our Lord and Savior. How Blessed are we that He loves us so and walks with us!