FollowingJesusUS.com

The Jewish people are God’s Chosen people and God Loves them very much and God Loves them in a special way.  God always will.  And God wanted a path on which to bring them home.  God wanted a bridge that they could cross to be reconciled with Him  That bridge is Jesus! ?.

The Torah and the Old Testament are very close.  They both detail the rich history of God and our world.  They both teach us much.  But just as science has continued, so to does God’s Word to the world continue.  All of God’s Word, both the Old Testament and New,  is important and “is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” – 2 Timothy 3:16

The New Testament does not replace the Old Testament, it enriches it, and as Paul Harvey would say , teaches us the “rest of the story”. ?

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

We live in difficult times, and they may get even more so. But no matter how difficult the days or how many hardships come, God has a way of using them to our good 🙂

“And 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

We need to memorize this verse and keep in in our hearts! So that when difficult challenges come-we are ready 🙂

While Praying The Rosary, I saw bombs exploding by the Western Wall in Israel.  I saw soldiers in America.  I saw an exhausted soldier laying down on a stone wall near the Western Wall.

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect”-Romans 12:1-2

The safest place for all of us, today and tomorrow, is God’s Will. We need to always end our prayers “thy will be done”.

And remember, God never sends us where His Grace will not sustain us 🙂

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

““Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.”-Matthew 23:23

In Matthew 23:23, Jesus is explaining to us that while tithing at church is important, so to is sharing and living a life of “justice and mercy and faithfulness” In fact, Jesus says it’s more important to live a life of “justice, mercy and faithfulness”.

How many times do we go to church and see people cut each other off in the parking lot to get out just a bit faster. Or go to the grocery after church and see someone who was at church with their nose up in the air? These are not acts of “justice and mercy and faithfulness”.

Instead, letting someone out in the parking lot before you or chatting and smiling with others in line at the grocery; these are the acts of a person who truly is living a faithful life. Why? Because they are loving others!

We are on this earth to serve God. In serving God we serve others. And the service that we give will give us more joy than we can imagine 🙂

So today, pause and look around. Is there anyone you see that could use a kind word?

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready 🙂

” Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just,’ when it is their own way that is not just.   When the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it.   And when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by this.  Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways.’ “-Ezekiel 33: 17-20

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

Sometimes, it almost seems as if evil is winning, but nothing could be further from the truth.  It may appear so for a time, but in the end God WILL Triumph! And because God IS Just and Fair – Those who need to face consequences-Will:

^“I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.  Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.”  Isaiah 66:4-5

“For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many.”-Isaiah 66:15-16

But while God speaks of the consequences that many will face, God also speaks of comforting us:

“As one whom his mother comforts, So I will comfort you;
And you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.” When you see this, your heart shall rejoice, And your bones shall flourish like grass; The hand of the Lord shall be known to His servants, And His indignation to His enemies.”-Isaiah 66: 13-14

In other words, God’s Got Us, for God is that Merciful 🙂

God ends Isaiah 66, with Hope for us 🙂 For even though this is the Old Testament, God talks of the New Heaven and the New Earth that He will make. Our Father goes on to say, “And it shall come to pass That from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the Lord.”-Isaiah 66:23

Even in the Old Testament, God gives us Hope 🙂

Prepare, Pray, & Be Ready!

Prayer is so many things. But perhaps one of the most important things we need to realize is that we don’t have to “feel like” praying, to pray. God is good. God is worthy, whether we feel like it or not. We are saved not because of how we feel every single day, but because of who we choose to follow every single day 🙂

We can pray so many ways. In the morning when we have out quiet time with God before the day starts. While we are enjoying our first cup of coffee of the day. When we say Thank You for a beautiful sunrise or sunset or a beautiful landscape. When we see a Rainbow and are reminded that God Keeps His Promises! There is “Popcorn Prayer” and serious prayer.

There are the prayers we pray before we sleep. We pray for Help; We pray for Hope; We pray for Forgiveness and to Forgive others as God Forgives us; And we Pray to give Thanks. But there are even more prayers, such as when we tell God about our day or share our dreams and worries or when we simply listen to God. Sometimes we have so much on our plate, all we can manage is “Help and Thank You” (Max Lucado). And that is okay, God understands. And God has love and compassion for us 🙂

Another point about prayer is to end our prayers with, “God’s Will Be Done”. This is so very important. We only know what we need, or think we need, today. But God knows all of our tomorrows and exactly what we truly need. And God loves us so much. We need to learn to Trust that God will provide for us not always with what we want, but always with what we need! And sometimes He just knows better that we do what that is…

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight”-Proverbs 3:5-6

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

What is often? Often is more than once a week or even once a day. Some people pray as often as they breathe. In other words, all the time. Some people pray several times a day.

When do they find the time? You might ask, lol. After all, life can seem so busy!

But prayer doesn’t only have to be in the early morning hours or when we are in bed. Although those are both good times :). Prayer can also be during our drive to work or school-or back home at night. It can be during a break in the day, during our household chores, during family times, during a walk outside…In other words, it can be any time we choose 🙂

The truth is Prayer can be almost any time because God is ALWAYS listening and waiting for you to talk with Him 🙂

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!