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And Loving God With Our Whole Heart And Soul 🙂

“But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved.”-Ezekiel 33:9

A friend asked me why I am willing to share so much about our faith in such a dangerous time? And believe me, I have received some push back…

Part of it is simply the Bible verse above.

And part of it is that if we don’t comfort and reassure each other, who will?

But perhaps the most important part is sharing my love for our Lord and why I love God so much!

I love God because He loved me first. He is always with me. He will never leave me and He never let’s me down. In times of difficulty, He gives me rest. He created Heaven and then died on the cross so I could go there-forever! I love God because He knows me completely and loves me anyway.

And God loves you that way too 🙂

“Take heed to yourselves:  if your brother trespass against you, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.  And if he trespass against you seven times in a day turn again to you, saying I repent, you shall forgive him” – Luke 17:3-4

“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors”-Our Father

Forgiveness can be a difficult subject.  In Luke 17:3-4, Jesus tells us to forgive a person who “trespass” against us “if he repent”.  Which begs the question, do we only need to forgive someone if they are sorry?

In addition, Jesus taught us to pray the Our Father.  “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors”.  I have to admit that this prayer makes me feel that I need to forgive others because God has forgiven me.  And I have to share that when I pray this prayer, I feel the need to forgive everyone, whether they are sorry or not, because I want God to forgive me.

But a friend recently shared something with me that I found so very helpful.  If I lay the burden of my sins at the feet of the Lord, perhaps I also need to lay the burden of the pain from those who “trespass” against me.

If I am honest, forgiveness usually comes fairly easily to me.  But every once in a while, someone does truly cause me pain.  And I struggle with forgiving them.  Not because I am not willing to forgive them, but because I feel unable.  For example, I think about that particular hurt.  And the minute I think about it, I realize I take my forgiveness back, lol.

But my friend was right, it’s a burden I carry unnecessarily.  I need to give it to Jesus and let Him carry it for me.  He loves me so, and doesn’t want me to carry anything to heavy ?

In the past, we’ve talked about Faith being a matter of Remembering and Forgetting, and Remembering again. One of the best lessons I ever learned.

Another of the best lessons I ever learned was about Practice. Remember that old saying, “Practice makes Perfect”? Faith is the same.

Trust in God comes from Practice. We step out when we are afraid, praying that God will catch us if we fall-and God does. The more that we do that, (the more we “Practice”), the stronger our trust becomes 🙂

It’s the same with being in the Presence of God. Being in the Presence of God fills us with indescribable joy. A joy so pure it moves one-literally. And fills us completely. But the question we all seek the answer to, is how do we get there.

It’s about focus, and it takes, you guessed it :), Practice. Being in the Presence of God takes focusing only on God, and nothing else. Not the world, not those we love and not those we fear. Only God. It takes Practice to learn how and to achieve it. But with God’s Help, we can get there!

And God wants us to get there, because He loves us so. In the Bible, God says “For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you” – Isaiah 41:13 . And God will.

Difficult days are ahead, so practice Now! For the more that we learn to live in God’s Presence, the less we will fear the world 🙂

How often do we confuse the churches we attend with what Jesus meant by the “Church”?  When Jesus referred to the church, He was simply referring to all of those who Follow Him.  He was not actually referring to the Catholic Church, or the Lutheran Church or the Baptist Church…

He simply meant all of us!  All those who believe are included in Christ’s Church. And no matter what church we attend, the Bible is the ultimate source of authority in all things.

In Revelations, there are a number of letters written to the churches.  Each letter refers to the good done by that particular “church”, and it also refers to the failures of that particular “church”.

No man-made church does everything correctly.  Each earthly church is filled with people and each person that fills that church is less than perfect. Just as the Pastors and Priests who devote their lives to serving God, are also less than perfect.  We all are! Only Jesus is perfect 🙂

And so we must be patient, forgive and love one another. And understand that we are all trying.

So if you have been hurt by a “church”, let it go or find a new church, forgive them.  Whoever hurt you was as human as you are. And remember, if you can’t see past your hurt or anger, pray, read the Bible and Follow Christ.  No hurt is worth our Salvation.  We can’t let any one, nor anything keep us from our Lord.

If you disagree with something being taught in the church you attend, forgive.  If there are many things with which you feel the Bible disagrees, perhaps you need a different church 🙂

And remember, we are there to give as well as get.  We all enjoy the time which we spend fellowshipping with our friends as we grow in our faith.  But sometimes, attending church feels less than “fun”.  In which case, we need to ask ourselves, is God providing us with an opportunity to give- perhaps we need to focus on giving smiles and hugs, giving of our time and love, giving financially.  It all matters. ?

No matter where we are, we are a part of Christ’s Church simply because we believe.  And really, isn’t that what it is all about? ?

All light belongs to God, for He created it.  And His Light makes “all things beautiful” ?

Ever see sunlight dancing on the water?  A sun rise?  Sun shining on the trees?  A Rainbow?  They are all God’s Gifts to us.  And when we look at them, appreciate their beauty and thank Him, we are reminded once again of His Great Love for us.

Remember, Faith is a process of remembering and forgetting.  The beauty that we see is His Gift & Reminder ?

The picture above is from the church Chiesa della Santissima Trinita in Rome.

The Mysteries of the Trinity.  Do we understand it?  Does it overwhelm us? Does it matter? 

Or perhaps, we understand more than we realize 🙂

First, the Trinity is a man-made word and it came about as early Christians tried to understand and share the relationship between God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  So closely did they work together for our good, they seemed as One. The Trinity was a simple way of describing that and was never meant to confuse us.

In the comment section of the KJV Bible I read it has some great examples of “the Trinity at work in Redemption”:

“Incarnation.  The Father incarnated the Son, in the womb of Mary by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35)

Baptism in the Jordan River.  The (Holy) Spirit descended on the Son, and the Father spoke His approval from Heaven.  (Matthew 3 14-17)

Public Ministry. The Father anointed the Son with the Spirit (Acts 10:38)

The Crucifixion.  Jesus offered Himself to the Father through the Spirit (Hebrews 9:14)

The Resurrection.  The Father resurrected the Son by the (Holy) Spirt (Acts 2:32 & Romans 1:4)

Pentecost.  From the Father the Son received the Spirit, who He then poured out on His disciples (Acts 2:33)”

The Trinity is simply a way of naming something all Christians already understand.  Our Father, His Son & The Holy Spirit were there and are still here;  They all participated in our Salvation and still do; and They love us, then, now and always. How Blessed are we ?

Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

There is one thing that the children, both at our Lady of Lourdes and at Our Lady of Fatima, shared in common:  They prayed the Rosary ?

Many have heard of the appearance of Mary, Mother of Jesus, at Lourdes.  And many have visited Lourdes and have been healed.  In 1858, Mary appeared to Saint Bernadette 18 times and thousands came alongside Saint Bernadette.  People from all over the world still visit Lourdes and pray for healing, and many are miraculously healed ?

Written about less, is the shepherds nearby who saw a ray of light that led them to a statue of Mary.  And also written about less is Mary’s appearance in the 16^th century to Angleze de Sagazan.  A child, she was very, very poor and uneducated.  But she was also very devout and loved the Lord.  Miraculously, “abundant” food was provided.  A chapel was built and people were healed.  One message that Mary gave her was, “Do not forget To Thank God For His Blessings!”

There is something else we learn, if God does not want something moved, it will not be moved.

And what can we learn today from Mary’s visit to Lourdes?  There are so many lessons to be learned from Mary’s appearance in Lourdes.  A few are: we learn that our Father is still in the business of granting Miracles. Our Father provides for us and answers our prayers.   God still heals the sick.  ?.  And we also learn that although many of those who truly follow Christ often face opposition and disbelief, they continue on their journey with God.

We learn that Mary is kind, gracious and loving.  She is constant in her requests for prayers to God for sinners.  And in her reminder of the need for Penance.

And perhaps most important, we are reminded once again that Mary loves us with a Mother’s Love and will pray for us if we ask her too ?

Mary: Christ’s Mother & Our Mother Too 🙂

“When Mary first appeared to Juan Diego, she called herself his Mother, and her reasoning for wanting a church built in that spot was because she wanted all to know that she was their mother, “Know and understand well, you the most humble of my son, that I am the ever virgin Holy Mary, Mother of the True God for whom we live, of the Creator of all things, Lord of heaven and the earth. I wish that a temple be erected here quickly, so I may therein exhibit and give all my love, compassion, help, and protection, because I am your merciful mother, to you, and to all the inhabitants on this land and all the rest who love me, invoke and confide in me; listen there to their lamentations, and remedy all their miseries, afflictions and sorrows. “Am I not here, who is your Mother.”

There is a second time that Mary referred to herself as “our Mother”.  When Juan’s Uncle became ill, Juan missed his appointed time to see Mary.  He felt very ashamed.  And yet, Mary understood and reassured him that his Uncle was better.  The only thing that she “chided” him on -was not asking her to help! And in fact, she said to him, Am I not here, who is your Mother.“

I know that there are many people who attend different churches (Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, Evangelical, AME…). Some pray to Mary and some do not. But when we forget or refuse to ask Mary to pray for us, we miss a great opportunity.  For she is not just Christ’s mother, she is ours’ and she loves us.

The days ahead will be difficult ones.  We will need all the help we can get in order to keep our faith strong.  Persecution is not coming; it is already here. 

We shouldn’t hesitate to ask Mary to pray for us.  God loves her very much and so does Jesus.  And so should we.  Thank You Mary, we are Blessed to have you! ?