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“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28″

Because we now belong to Jesus, no one can ever destroy our soul. It’s just not possible. So do not fear!

“Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,  And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.” – Psalm 52:12.“

This is one of my favorite prayers! With the hardness and busyness of life, it’s easy to forget just how wonderful it is that we are “Saved”.

It’s almost like we need a moment to dwell on just how wonderful it is! We are going to Heaven! We have a Savior that will always walk with us and never leaves us. The Holy Spirit lives within us. And last, but definitely not least, God our Father is with us! Once again, we have been restored to our Lord.

And because we have, nothing can ever really hurt us! And nothing ever will 🙂

And because we have, we will never be lonely 🙂

And because we have, we will always know just how loved we are 🙂

And because we belong to God, we will always have Hope!

“The Eternal Faithfulness of the Lord”

“Oh, give thanks to the Lord!  Call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples!
Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works!
Glory in His holy name;  Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!
Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face evermore!
Remember His marvelous works which He has done,
His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth”- Psalm 105:1-5″

What an encouragement!  And what great advice ?.  Many Christians keep what is known as a Prayer Journal.  And this is the reason they keep it – so they can remember.  Being humans, it’s easy to forget all of the times God has answered our prayer!  Keeping a journal simply makes “remembering” easier.  And when the chips are down or our faith is feeling weak, “remembering” really helps!

In Psalm 105, it also says “Make known His deeds among the peoples!”.  Sharing the wonderful things our Lord has done for us gives others hope!  And we all need hope.  Perhaps their prayer has not been answered yet; perhaps they are just beginning…Whatever the reason, we may be their hope.  And in some cases, we may be their only hope!

Remembering and sharing with others can only help us-and others 🙂  Amen.

“ As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,  rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding ^[]in it with thanksgiving.” – Colossians 2: 6-7 Remember that old song, “I need you like the flower needs the rain”.  Think about that phrase for a minute.  The flower can not grow without the rain and we can not grow without Jesus.  There are many who say we grow forward or fall backward, but we do not ever stand still.  There is much truth in this saying.  And the same is true of our relationship with Jesus, we are either growing closer to Jesus, falling away from Jesus, it’s our choice.  We need to choose wisely ?

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” – Lamentations 3:22-23. God’s Blessings are New every morning.  They always will be!  His faithfulness is more than we can comprehend as human beings.  But one thing we can understand is that God will never leave us.  People leave our lives.  Sometimes they die, sometimes they move, sometimes they just make that choice.  But God will not!  He will always be with us and for us ?

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”- Romans 15:13 The Holy Spirit, is and always will be, our Comforter and Friend.  In one of her songs, Kari Jobe refers to the Holy Spirit as our “Living Hope”.   That is a good description.  The Holy Spirit can fill us with hope again and again.  And Hope is something we can not live without.  These may seem like difficult times, but they are nothing compared to the days that are coming.  We will need the Holy Spirit (Living Hope) more than we realize.  We need to strengthen that relationship now, while there is still time ?

There are so many reasons to Love God and Trust Him-no matter the season.  He will walk through them with us-ALL of them. And we will need Him!

God already knows our sins and Jesus has already paid the price for them.  So why is Penance so important?  In her poem “I Am A Christian”, Maya Angelou said, “When I say I am a Christian, I am not bragging of success, I’m admitting I have failed.”  It’s important that we admit to ourselves and to God when we fail.  That is one reason confession is so important!

Mary, Our Blessed Mother, also felt deeply that Confession and Penance were very important. When she appeared in Fatima, Mary said, “… People must amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins. They must not offend Our Lord anymore, for He is already too much offended!”

Does Confession need to be made to a Priest or simply to God?  Many Christians believe that Confession and Penance need to be made to God.  However, may also believe that Confession and Penance need to be made with a Priest. Since Jesus is our High Priest :), I don’t think it matters how Confession and Penance is made, as long as we make them and remember that forgiveness comes through our faith in Jesus ?

“¹⁴ Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God”-Hebrews 4:14

And it’s important that we remember, we all fail, every day!  An easy way to identify our sins is simply to measure our day by Jesus’ two commands:  Love God with our whole heart and soul and love our neighbor as ourselves.  We can simply ask ourselves if there is any way we fell short in these two areas.  Another thought we may want to remember is that there are sins of omission and sins of commission.  They both matter!

Jesus Saved us from our sins, but Confession and Penance are required! They tell God just how sorry we are and how much we want to change, and that we do want to be closer to Him. Sin separates us from God; Confession & Penance brings us closer to God.  It really is that simple. 

A word on Penance. Sometimes Penance involves actually going to confession and doing the Penance we are given.  Sometimes Penance includes a saying a number of Prayers such as the Hail Mary.  Sometimes Penance is making a wrong – right.  And sometimes Penance simply involves doing a good deed to make up for a sin we have committed and offering that good deed to God as Penance.

In Psalm 106:1, it says “Praise the Lord, O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good: for His mercies endure forever.”

 While we are alive, there is no sin that God will not forgive in Jesus’ Name.  We need to seek His forgiveness now, while we still can ?

“People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.  Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.  Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.  Succeed anyway

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.  Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.  Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.  Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten.  Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.  Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway.”

This prayer was written on the wall of Mother Teresa’s home for children in Calcutta, India.  If we pray it, if we live it, our lives will be so much richer and we will walk even closer with God ?

There have been many articles in the media lately about July 4th. Many of which write about the lack of pride some Americans have in our country. But the way the question is asked has much influence on the answer.

The timing of the question has a huge effect on the answer. For example, if one had done a similar pole during the Civil War, many Americans would probably have said that they weren’t proud of our nation-at that time. However, if one had done the same pole after WWII, many Americans would have been extremely proud of our country!

What enters one’s mind when the question is asked has a huge impact on the answer. For example, if one asks, “are you proud of Washington” versus are you proud of the Americans you know well” are going to have two very different answers!

The specifics of the question have a huge impact on the answer. For example, what issues come to mind when making the answer: the economy, the border, abortion, gay marriage, the transgender issues in schools, Ukraine, Covid, National Security, Healthcare…

Who is one thinking about when giving the answer? For example, are we thinking about those who so bravely and selflessly fought to found this country and defend it? Are we thinking about the courage of those who wrote our constitution? Or are we thinking about those who are physically attacking others simply because they disagree? Or the vandals. Or the protestors screaming swear words outside of the homes of young children?

Are we thinking about the Great Gift God gave us, when He gave us this country! And how He has Blessed us so richly 🙂

Personally I am incredibly proud of the American People. And isn’t it the American People who matter?

We have had to weather many storms in the past few years. And we have. Millions of us, faith intact, have turned to our Lord to help us through these times. And that is something to be incredibly proud of 🙂

For the job I currently have, one needs to pass a yearly certification exam.  Being sick, this is really difficult for me.  I prayed, my friends prayed…  And I kept failing it.  On the very last day, I passed.  In the middle of the exam, a friend who had been praying  for me sent me a cheering video.  I wasn’t even done with the exam yet!  I was going to loose my job and my insurance, but I didn’t-at the very last moment.

For me, there are two great lessons I can learn from this.  It’s God’s Timing-not our own. And maybe that is good for us :).  And Prayer Changes Things.

I won’t bore you with the details of some of the illnesses I have, but suffice to say it did take a MIRACLE for me to pass that test.  I can see it as such and be grateful to our Lord or I can take the credit myself.  But I know it was the Lord ?

A Pastor I know well used to say, “Prayer Changes Things”.  And it does.  Never forget that-it’s one of God’s Greatest Gifts ?

It would be so much easier if God would answer our prayers promptly, but that would only answer – that prayer. God’s Timing for answering our prayers also often builds our faith as well.

Passing the test of faith is far more important than any other prayer for our own needs. And if you need any help hanging on, just ask God to help. He will be happy you asked – God’s Got You 🙂

“ Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have ^[a]delivered your soul.”-Ezekiel 33:9

 “Therefore you, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: ‘Thus you say, “If our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and we pine^[b] away in them, how can we then live?” ’ ¹¹ Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’’-Ezekiel 33: 10-11

There are three points here that are so important. The first comes from Ezekiel 33:9. We are supposed to warn the wicked. So when we are called “judgmental”, it’s simply not true. We “warn the wicked” because God tells us too. So those who would argue, need to argue with God Himself.

The second point that is so very important is that God “has no pleasure in the death of the wicked”. God wants everyone to go to Heaven, but it is our choice. No one is sadder than God when we do not choose Heaven.

The third is that God is Just. Always.