Tag Archives: Christian living

Two Kinds of Fire

In our hyper divided nation where people get so angry at their opponents or even people on the street or grocery line, the below daily reflection, really struck a chord with me. The human reaction to our enemies or opponents is to get even, or to destroy them in some way, but God’s way is to heal, and forgive, to bring our enemies into the fold. The apostles were not so different from us. When they wanted to pass through a Samaritan town, and the Samaritans refused to give the disciples entrance to pass through, one of Jesus’ disciples wanted to call down fire from heaven to smite the Samaritans. Jesus told them to hold off. Jesus had a different plan in mind for them.

The story made me thing of today’s culture. How often do we react this same way? I could easily see myself reacting the same way as the disciples did. How quickly we react with our human instincts to rebel, fight back, or try to “get even” with those who oppose us. Rather God calls us to pray for our enemies and treat them as we would a fellow Christian or family member. No one is lost in God’s eyes, even though from our perspective our enemies seem like a lost cause.

The scripture below comes to mind.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD. [9] For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55: 8-9)

The below story CLEARLY demonstrates this and it gives me pause to consider how quickly we can all be to act with our human instincts rather than to operate by God’s grace and in the power of the Holy Spirit to be God’s hands and feet in this divided world.

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REST IN THE LORD

“Your souls will find rest.” —Matthew 11:29

Are you too busy? Are you overwhelmed with life’s demands? If so, God has a better way for you. In talking with a priest one day who had completely burned out at one point in his ministry told me something I will never forget regarding his ministry workload, he said, “The Lord is not a slave driver, the devil is.” He went on to explain, that the Lord called him to minister to his flock, but it was the devil who was whispering lies in his ear, and mentally using a whip to get him to work faster, and faster, to take on more and more than he could handle. One day the priest realized the Lord was not pushing him like this, it was the devil. And he stopped operating like that. He needed REST. And the Lord was calling him to Rest in Him. The below reflection from Presentation Ministry’s One Bread, One Body struck me as many of us try to serve the Lord, and meet all the demands of work and family, but it was a good reminder that we need to know the Lord is not a slave driver, the devil is.

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“THE BEGINNING AND THE END” (RV 22:13)

“The Lord God said: ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him.’ ” —Genesis 2:18

The first spoken words in the Holy Bible from man are about the topic of marriage. Adam rejoices that he has been given his beloved wife Eve: “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (Gn 2:23). The last time a human speaks in the Bible is likewise a word of rejoicing about a marriage: the Bride, that is, the Church, together with the Holy Spirit say, “Come!” (Rv 22:17) The bride rejoices that she and her spouse are united in marriage. The Scriptures between the beginning marriage and the ending marriage are all interconnected in the ardent love of God for mankind and the human longing for union with the Lord. The entire Bible is sandwiched between two shouts of married joy (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1602).

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Unique Places to Find God

In those days John the Baptist appeared preaching in the desert of Judea (and) saying, “Repent, for the kingdom if heaven is at hand!” –Matthew 3:1-2

John the Baptist first appeared in a unique place; the desert wilderness. There were few people in the desert, but he began preaching there anyway. There is a great symbolism in this. It shows that the preaching in the Temple and synagogues was ineffective. God had to send someone outside of the religious establishment to prepare the way for his Son.

The austere place of the wilderness stood as a sign of John’s radical service to God. He lived without any comforts. Throughout the scriptures, the wilderness is a place that God accomplishes his greatest work in people and prepares them to make a great impact.

In the desert, John the Baptist had a very specific message to help point people toward the light: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Repent means a change of thinking that leads to a change of heart that results in a change of action or direction. John challenges people to change their direction and turn back to God because he is near.

God has placed you in a specific location to bring his message to a certain group of people. Your life can be the light that helps someone change direction back toward God. Pray for God to give you the names of people he wants you to be a light for and move in his direction.

(Excerpt from Messages of Light for Advent and Christmas – Three-minute Devotions By: Father Michael White and Tom Corcoran)

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Holy Boldness

Monday, May 16, 2022

Acts 14:5-18 Psalm 115:1-4, 15-16 John 14:21-26

“On one occasion he was listening to Paul preaching, and Paul looked directly at him and saw that he had the faith to be saved.” —Acts 14:9

Would you have the courage and the assurance to yell at a person in a wheelchair: “Stand up! On your feet!”? (Acts 14:10) By that bold command, St. Paul healed a crippled man who had never walked a step in his life (Acts 14:8).

Paul didn’t always have such boldness. For example, for several days, he put up with the disruptive behavior of a girl with a clairvoyant spirit (Acts 16:16). “Finally Paul became annoyed, turned around, and said to the spirit, ‘In the name of Jesus Christ I command you, come out of her!’ Then and there the spirit left her” (Acts 16:18). Sometimes it took Paul days to give the command that would heal and deliver.

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