Hello my friends! Many blessings to share today! As I said on the responses of the last thread, Linus had his doctor's appointment this morning - he's completely free of that anti-depressant he's had for the last 14 years since his Dad died. That is a great blessing. The holistic one is working, and if need be if he's still gets edgey, he cant talk another capsule. Today he had a great day at work, feeling normal! God is good! Those prayers are answered!! I love it when he calls on his way home from work saying he had a fun day and learned alot! He was selling appliances again, which he loves and learning more and more about them. This job for him is a God-Send and he's almost 75 years old and drug free now!
Everything we need to deal with life's problems lies within us. Our trials
are tests to see if we can discover the solution. Lord, I call out Your name
when I face my difficulties and together we will overcome them.
Scripture for the day:
"If God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow
is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you--you of little
faith! And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to
drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that
strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them.
Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as
well." ~Luke 12:28-31
Meditation for the day:
I know that God cannot teach anyone who is trusting in a "crutch." I can
throw away the worldly things I have come to depend upon and walk in God's
power and spirit. God's power can so invigorate me that I can indeed walk
on to victory. There is never any limit to God's power. I can go step by
step, one day at a time. God's will can be revealed to me as I go forward.
Prayer for the day:
I pray that I may have more and more dependence on God. I pray that I may
throw away the "crutches" I sometimes rely upon and let God's power take
their place.
All Roads Lead Home
Whatever you are going through,
Of pain or circumstance,
It is not there because of luck,
It is not there by chance!
God has a special plan for you
That's known to Him alone,
So trust that He is leading right,
For all His roads lead home!
He's promised He will never give
A thing too much for us,
But make escape in every trial,
So in His mercy trust.
Sometimes the way is smooth and fine,
Sometimes all rock and stone-
But whatever way He gives,
All His roads lead home!
He uses pain, He uses others,
To bring deep-needed change.
No circumstance He gives to us
Is in our life in vain.
Oh, child of His, don't be concerned,
The path ahead's unknown,
For with the Savior as your Guide,
All His roads lead home!
Lynn Fenimore Nuzzi
Trust Him
Trust Him
when dark doubts assail you,
Trust Him
when your faith is small,
Trust Him,
when to trust Him . . .
is the hardest thing of all.
Trust Him,
He is ever faithful,
Trust Him
for His will is best,
Trust Him
for the Heart of Jesus,
is the only place of rest.
Author Unknown
Patrick's Scripture Reflection by Patrick Carnevale
Today's readings 3/12/14
Jon.3:1-10; Ps.51:3-4, 12-13, 18-19; Lk.11:29-32
If you think about it the prophet Jonah really wasn't much different than
most of us in that God had to speak to him "a second time" to get him to do
what He wanted him to do, and even when Jonah did he did so begrudgingly.
Yes, it took being "tossed into the sea" in order for Jonah to reach that
"broken and humbled" place where we find David in today's psalm, something
I'm sure many of us can relate to in our personal dealings with life's
storms. Sadly we have to be broken down and humbled before the vast majority
of us realize just how much we need God, but when we finally come to that
realization we begin to discover and experience that "something greater"
that Jesus refers to in today's Gospel. I have a good friend who is always
saying if we want to hear God laugh all we have to do is tell Him about our
plans, and I honestly believe I keep God laughing a lot more than I should.
But I have learned how to be a little more open and adaptive lately,
probably because like Jonah I've been tossed into the sea and been given
more than my share of "second chances". The truth is we all have simply
because God wants us to discover and experience that "something greater" He
has to offer us through faith in the mercy His Son won for us on the Cross.
God bless you,
In Jesus - Pat
THE "OUR FATHER" PRAYER
Author Unknown
Do I Really Mean What I Pray?
Examine how well you live what you pray as you meditate on the
following:
I cannot say OUR if I keep my faith only to myself and never share it
with others.
I cannot say FATHER if I do not trust in His loving and complete
concern for me, forgetting that He always answers prayers how and when
He knows is best.
I cannot say WHO ART IN HEAVEN if I am so attached to the ways of this
world that I neglect to seek God first in everything.
I cannot say HALLOWED BE THY NAME if I am unwilling to let His
holiness penetrate my life and help me grow in my own holiness.
I cannot say THY KINGDOM COME if I am not using my life to bring His
love into the world.
I cannot say THY WILL BE DONE if I live by my own ideas of morality or
choose to follow the world's standards.
I cannot say ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN if I am not devoting my life
to serving Him here on earth.
I cannot say GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD if I am not willing to
be generous with whatever God gives me.
I cannot say FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES if I don't want to put forth
enough effort to change.
I cannot say AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US if I still
hold a grudge, if I'm still angry, or if I still insist that other
people change.
I cannot say LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION if I deliberately or
knowingly place myself in a position to be tempted.
I cannot say DELIVER US FROM EVIL if I'm not actively fighting against
evil through deeds of love and service for everyone in my life,
especially those who cause problems.
Psalm 79:1–9
Remember not our past sins; let your compassion be swift to meet us; for we
have been brought very low (v. 8).
“Everyone complains of a lack of memory,” the American humorist Ken Hubbard
wrote, “but nobody of a want of judgment.” Indeed a photographic memory is
an envied ability—unless it enables you to remember something you want to be
forgotten. You might wish for some things to be left in the past. Or feel
haunted by the memory that “we have left undone those things which we ought
to have done, and done those things which we ought not to have done,” as the
traditional Prayer Book confession puts it. As you journey through Lent,
reflect on what you carry with you, particularly the memory of sin. Ask for
healing strength to carry on. You’ll be asked to repent and then to accept
that God not only forgives us but forgets your sins, even if others do not.
Then use God’s compassion for you as a blueprint for the way to forgive
others.
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