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“Life’s knocked me down a hundred times
My heart gave out, it lost its fight
It gets tiring
To get up again
Had one too many sleepless nights
Kept up by fears that haunt my mind
And it’s hard to see
But I still believe

That one day tears are gonna be no more
One day I’ll know what all the struggle was for
But here while I wait

On this side of heaven
I’m gonna praise through the pain
On this side of heaven
I’m holding on to my faith”

These lyrics are from This Side Of Heaven by Seph Schlueter. And I feel it is so true for so many of us. Life is not always easy, but if we hold on to our faith in Jesus, if we hold onto God’s Hand and let the Holy Spirit comfort us, we will walk with Jesus into Heaven, where there are no more tears 🙂

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!

Our Blessed Mother Mary’s birth is celebrated every September 8th. It is called the “Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary” by many Christians. Her birth has been celebrated since the sixth century.

Jesus’s Birth is thought by many to be the “dawn of our salvation”. And so it is. But Jesus was and is God and Man, Mary’s love made a huge difference in His life. Just as Her love is making a huge difference in our lives.

Mary has given us so many gifts. Her great love for us. Her Rosary…

One Gift we don’t talk about much is Mary’s Signal Graces. These are thought of by many as Mary’s way of letting us know that we are on the “right path” in following our Lord and doing His Will.

A writer wrote, ” What I commonly call ‘signal graces” others might call “God-incidents’, a more spiritual way of looking at what some might brush off as mere coincidence.”

That’s a great definition of a Signal Grace. Another was written by the Rosary Chapel, “Signal graces are divine guidance, trail markers in your spiritual journey, indicating you’re on the right path or should follow a particular course of action.”

Another explanation of a Signal Grace is from St. Ignatius of Loyola Church : “An answered prayer that often can be dismissed as a coincidence”.  They happen all the time, as God’s way of telling us we are on the right path as He continues to guide us and point us in the direction in which He wants us to go.”

They all give us great definitions of Signal Graces.

When we pray the Rosary regularly, we receive Signal Graces. And considering the confusion of our times; we can all use some clarification and encouragement.

And if we want to receive Signal Graces, we have only to pray the Rosary and ask Mary, Our Blessed Mother, for them 🙂

Thank you Blessed Mother Mary, for ALL of your Gifts and for Loving us so much!

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!

“Lord I am feeling a little overwhelmed today, the Battles seem to big for me”

This line is part of the song “My Stronghold. The song then goes on to say “You are my stronghold”…”I run to You (God) in this desperate hour”

Sometimes this is so true. For whatever reason, we fear we may not be able to do what we need to do in a situation. What we know that God wants us to do.

So what do we do? We ask God for His Help.

Help me God. Thank You.

Sometimes that is the only prayer we can muster, and that’s okay. For God DOES hear our cry and He will answer our cry!

And we need to Trust that He will 🙂

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”- Matthew 6:34

Jesus said today’s worries are enough for today. When life is difficult, we need to focus on that. And sometimes, because we are human, we have to do it for an hour, sometimes a moment.

But when worry does rear its’ ugly head, we need to force our minds away from those thoughts and back to Jesus.

For it is Jesus who will walk through all of our troubles with us for every step of the way and He will also carry us through them if we need.

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!

We all walk through desperate times-at one time or another. But during those times, Jesus walks with us. Every single step of the way! The key in living through really difficult times is to never ever to take a step without Jesus.

For it is Jesus who knows the way!

Do Not Fear!

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16

On earth, so often, love is conditional. For example, if we cheat on our spouse, he or she may soon leave. Mistreat our children, and we will eventually find that they pull away. Betray our friends, and they will be gone.

And sometimes, it’s even less than that. Sometimes we just don’t put enough time into the friendship, we don’t work as hard as we ought. Or perhaps our employer is the difficult one and expects to much. Either way, whether it is a friend relationship or a work relationship, it ends up gone.

But God NEVER Leaves or Loves us less :).

There is nothing we can do, no way that we can fail, that will make God leave us. And God will never Love us less, no matter what!

God’s Love is a different kind of Love and one we can count on-forever!

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!

We live in a world where so many of us struggle to know the truth. Journalism, which so helped us in the past to know the world we faced, often refuses to tell the truth. And many, who call themselves journalists, create podcasts that are less than honest.

But there is one place that we can always turn to, to know the truth. The Truth that matters above all else. God’s Truth. For there is only one one Truth-God’s.

And to know God’s Truth, we have only to read God’s Word written in the Holy Bible.

But if we with to know the Truth, it is really, really important to ask the Holy Spirit to read it with us!

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!

“Truly, God’s Inspired Word IS captured in the Bible. We are SO privileged to have Him share it with us. We should always ask His Holy Spirit Stirring our hearts to Help and Guide us through it.”

“With it being written in a different languages, we sometimes miss the meanings of translations when converted into English. An example is recorded in John 19:30 when Jesus Christ says, ‘It is finished’ just before He died on the Cross. The actual Greek Work was ‘tetelestai”, which was used for indicating a literal debt was paid in full. Also was used in a military context meaning a battle had been won. IT IS FINISHED! Amen”

A friend sent me the above. It was so good I just had to share…

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!

“Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.” – Matthew 14:34

Through the ages, many have been confused by this verse. There is a really good way to explain it:

“but the Lord God gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting love. By that promise along, Daughter, we know this generaton of believers will never pass away” – Francine Rivers

“This Generation of Believers will never pass away”, for they will all always be alive in Christ in Heaven 🙂

Our Hope lies in Jesus Christ 🙂

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!

Sometimes we fear to mention or share Jesus. And whether it is peer pressure or persecution, we don’t want to deal with the consequences. And so whether it is at the grocery or at work, we remain silent. And because we do, people are forever lost. They enter Hell for all eternity, because we were afraid to mention Jesus’s Name.

We tell our children that they need to stand up to peer pressure. If our children have to, don’t we?

It’s only human to fear. But when we serve our Lord, our fear will be replaced by peace.

For God will give us the Peace that only God can give!

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!