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Encouragement For Us All :)

“Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.” – Isaiah 60:20

One day, it will never become dark again! The sun won’t set and the moon won’t need to rise. For God’s light will be with us always.

But there are also other kinds of darkness such as sin, worry, pain, fatigue… One day, these will never happen to us again either 🙂

So hang in there, Jesus is coming 🙂

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready 🙂

This Memorial Day!

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷the Spirit of truth. ” – John 16-17

On Memorial Day, we take time out to remember all those who gave their lives fighting so that we might be free. That much of that freedom has been taken away, lessons not the selfless and courageous sacrifice that they made.

There are also many soldiers that managed to come home, but suffer terribly from PTSD. And if they suffer, their families suffer as well. Their hearts are troubled, by all that they saw and all that they were forced to do.

In the Bible, Jesus says that He will ask the Father to give us another “advocate”, a friend. A Comforter and a Helper.

This Memorial Day, let’s spend time in prayer asking the Holy Spirit to especially help those who have so bravely fought and served to keep our country safe. Let’s pray for the families of those who suffer and those who are separated, may they soon heal and be reunited. Please Help them Holy Spirit. Amen!

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

What Is Pentecost Sunday?

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

” When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. ²And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. ⁴And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”- Acts 2:1-4

Honestly, I don’t think I ever understood the full story of Pentecost Sunday until today when a Preacher and Sunday School Teacher did a great job of explaining it! 🙂

I knew that the Holy Spirit was sent to the Apostles and they were given the Gift of Speaking in Tongues. But what I didn’t know, or what I had forgotten, is that they then preached to 3,000 people. And each person heard them in their own language.

Can you imagine their amazement? What a miracle :). And what a miracle that so many listened!

Because that is also the key. God can talk, but we need to listen 🙂

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

“I Am Coming Back Soon”

“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” – Matthew 24:12

Iniquity is sin. And I think that we can all agree that sin has run rampant these last years! And the “love of many” has waxed cold. Think of the parents that chose to have their minor children have transgender surgery! So much pain, emotional and physical! No one who truly loves their child could make that choice!

And that is just one example. Those who walk by a hungry man without feeding him. Those who are mistreat someone, without cause, who is in prison. Churches that have split, rather than follow God’s Word. Loving not God’s Word, but only themselves!

Not loving each other, as God loves us!

Clearly there is much sin going on in our world, but the Good News is that Jesus is coming back-soon 🙂

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

God’s Got Us :)

“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” – Romans 8:28

As we look around our world. we can see just how many people are hurting. Some of us hurt ourselves!

But take heart, for God sees our pain too! And we know that He will work all of our pain for the “good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” -Joshua 1:9

God Will Remember Us :)

” Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” ²And the word of the Lord came to him: ³“Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. ⁴You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” – 1 Kings 17:1-4

Evil may appear to be winning in the short-run, but God wins in the long-run! We know this from reading God’s Word!

The verse above reminds us that when God’s Justice comes, He will not forget about us! He loves us-always. And He will remember our human needs! That doesn’t mean that no one will suffer, but it does mean we will never suffer more than we can bear with the help of Jesus :).

Justice will come!

Pray, Prayer and Be Ready!

Keep Praying!

For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.” – Isaiah 60:2

While praying the Rosary, I heard Mary say “Keep Praying! Even if prayers seem to go unanswered and God seems far away!”

And it’s so True. Sometimes we don’t “feel” like praying, but that is often when we need to pray the most. And sometimes that is when prayers such as the Our Father or the Hail Mary are so helpful. Because when we can’t think of what to say, these prayers say it for us :).

We live in a world that has become filled with evil. We have only to look at our own national headlines: Target customers shocked after company features pride items by Satanist partner: Devil is ‘hope’ and ‘love‘, NPR defends sex-change surgeries for children, features 13-year-old on ‘puberty blockers’, Senate passes same-sex marriage bill with bipartisan support.

Churches are splitting into those churches which believe in and preach the Bible, and those who don’t. How sad it is for those who stay in a church that does not truly believe in or preach the God’s Word! Regretfully, how far they have fallen.

But we don’t have to fall! And that is one reason that prayer is so very important and we need to pray especially when we don’t feel like it. Because if we Keep Praying in Jesus’ Name, we will come out the other side. God’s side.

In Joshua 24:15, it says “Choose this day whom you will serve”.

Pray and choose wisely!

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

Jesus Warns The People!

Jesus Predicts the Destruction of the Temple

24 “Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. ²And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

The Signs of the Times and the End of the Age

^3″Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?

⁴And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. ⁵For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. ⁶And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. ⁷For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. ⁸All these are the beginning of sorrows.

⁹“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. ¹⁰And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. ¹¹Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. ¹²And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³But he who endures to the end shall be saved. ¹⁴And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come”.

The Great Tribulation

¹⁵“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), ¹⁶“then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. ¹⁸And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. ¹⁹But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. ²¹For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. ²²And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.

²³“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. ²⁴For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵See, I have told you beforehand.

²⁶“Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. ²⁷For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ²⁸For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”

The Coming of the Son of Man

²⁹“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

The Parable of the Fig Tree

³²“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! ³⁴Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. ³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away”.

No One Knows the Day or Hour

³⁶“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. ³⁷But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ³⁸For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, ³⁹and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ⁴⁰Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. ⁴²Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. ⁴³But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

The Faithful Servant and the Evil Servant

⁴⁵“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? ⁴⁶Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. ⁴⁷Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. ⁴⁸But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ ⁴⁹and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, ⁵⁰the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, ⁵¹and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth”.

Pray, Prepare & Be Ready!

Ask God For Greater Faith :)

“And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down that the rain stop thee not.” – 1 Kings 18:44

In this verse, Elijah is talking to Ahab. Prior to that God spoke to Elijah. And Elijah heard God because He was Listening. They saw the “little cloud” because they believed that God would show it to them. It was their faith that allowed them to hear God and see what God wanted to show them.

In the same way, our own faith can bring us closer to God if we let it 🙂

Some might say, we don’t have that kind of faith. But the Good News is: God is Happy to give us that kind of Faith if we just ask Him for it :).

So Ask God today 🙂

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

Someday, Life Will Be Easy :)

“Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.” -Isaiah 60:20

Sometimes life is just hard! For example, we just had a terrible storm, our roof leaked. The toilet leaked as well causing an awful smell. I have a number of very difficult illnesses. My future son-in-law has stage four cancer and he is just 24 years old. Life can be very difficult. And everyone gets their share of hard times…

Some might ask, why does God let these difficulties happen? But the truth is, God doesn’t make these difficulties happen. We live on earth, and at times life is just hard. God is just here to help us through the difficult times. As Jesus once said, “In this world we will have troubles”. Sometimes Jesus solves our problems and sometimes he helps us through our problems. But He is always with us 🙂 And so is our Father and the Holy Spirit.

And hope does live. Earth is not our Home; Heaven is! Our lives won’t always be difficult. Remember this verse:

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” – Revelation 2:14

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!