No fear No worry No doubt

" Let nothing trouble you,
let nothing frighten you.
All things are passing;
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
He who possesses God lacks nothing:
God alone suffices."  (St Teresa of Avila)

Whatever you ask the Father

"On that day you will not question me about anything. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.
Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete."  (John 16: 23 - 24)

Lord for the past two weeks or so, I have heard you say through the daily Mass readings, "whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you."  I believe your promise.  One week before Pentecost, I am moved to ask you for a really very big gift.  I ask you to fill me with your Holy Spirit and His gifts.  I ask that you make me surrender completely to Him so that He will transform me into your image.  I want you to be from today the Lord of my life governing every aspect of it, viz: health, family, finances, job, property and tools, food and future.

Thank you Jesus!!

The Persistent Missionary

" One night in a vision the Lord said to Paul, “Do not be afraid. Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you. No one will attack and harm you, for I have many people in this city.”  (Acts 18: 9 - 10)

"Proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching."  (2 Timothy 4: 2)

"Every soul with Christ is a missionary; every soul without Christ is a mission field."  (Our Daily Bread)

Every missionary of Christ should possess the same skills and  intense motivation as an insurance sales man.  In business, persistence and ability to accept No often clinches the sale. Why should it be different with the missionary salesman?  

I am with you always

"And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”  (Matthew 28: 20)

Jesus promises to be with us always, everywhere in all circumstances.  What a great promise, O Lord my God.  Help me to believe it.  Teach me to mix this word with faith.  As I go about my affairs this day, I will try to remember and rejoice in this great word.  In challenging circumstances, I will use your precious name, JESUS to call this promise of your constant presence to  mind.  Thank you Jesus.  Amen!

Believe in the Lord Jesus

"Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved.”  (Acts 16: 30 - 31)

What must I do to be saved from fears, worries and doubts?
“Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved.”   (Acts 16: 31)

What does it mean for me to believe in the Lord Jesus?  It means that just as Jesus is Lord of times and seasons, He is also Lord over my health, family, finances, job, property and tools, food and future.  It means that I believe too this oracle:  "For I know well the plans I have in mind for you—oracle of the LORD—plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope."   The plans that Jesus has for me with regard to my health, family, finances, job, property and tools, food and future are good.

I walk by faith and not by sight or circumstances.  Thank you Jesus.  I will trust you today always and everywhere.

You too will bear witness

"And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning."  (John 15: 27)

Let us witness for you about your:
Person, doctrines, works, all you did and all you suffered.  May we never miss any opportunity to testify to you.

Christ is our Peace

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid."  (John 14: 27)

Lord Jesus, you are the Prince of Peace.  You are our peace.  I cannot grab  peace.  I cannot work for it.  Your peace comes to me from you as a gift.  Lord, flood my life with your peace.  Let me experience your deep peace in my health, family, finances, job, property and tools, food and future.

My soul, rejoice for Christ is your peace.
No fear, No worry, No doubt.

Blocked by the Holy Spirit

"And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia."  (Acts 16:6)

Where is the Holy Spirit blocking me? 

Jobs and finances.

"Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them." (John 13: 17)

Change happens not because of what you know but because of what you do daily.

O Holy Spirit, what will you have me do? 

Submit job and finances daily to the Holy Spirit.

What does a verbal act of submission do for me?  It does exactly the same as a verbal renunciation of the devil with all his works and promises does to a soul in the rite of Baptism.  

"But what does it say?

“The word is near you,

in your mouth and in your heart

(that is, the word of faith that we preach),

for, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved."  (Romans 10: 8 - 10)

Knowing and Doing

"Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."  (John 14: 6)

Jesus is the Way.  His life is the Example, the best Practice to get to the Father.  He is the truth that reveals who we are, our true purpose in life.  He is the life, the abundant life that we yearn for.  He is the top prize.

Knowing the above, what difference does it make to my daily life full of fears, worries and doubts?

"Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them."  (John 13: 17)
Change happens not because of what you know but because of what you do daily.

Kicking against the goad

"And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’  (Acts 26:14)

"Here are just a few examples of ox-goads God uses in the lives of His people: sermons, suffering, doctrine, difficulty, adversity, affliction, godly counsel, holy confrontation, conviction of the Holy Spirit, financial reversal, business failure and academic probation.
You might like to take some time to identify other ox-goads you have kicked against in the past. What was the result of your rebellion? Did you find that your pain actually increased as you resisted? What would you do differently today? Remember, all Scripture, rightly understood, is an oxgoad – both to the sinner and the saint."
( http://goodnewsfl.org/kicking_against_the_goadsthe_meaning_and_message/)

Prosper the work of our hands

"Blessed are all who fear the LORD,
and who walk in his ways.
What your hands provide you will enjoy;
you will be blessed and prosper:"  (Psalm 128: 1 - 2)

"God our Father, creator and ruler of the universe,
in every age you call man
to develop and use his gifts for the good of others.
With St. Joseph as our example and guide,
help us to do the work you have asked
and come to the rewards you have promised.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, you Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit
one God forever and ever. Amen."
(Opening Prayer on the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, May 1st)

Divine Providence

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church :

321 Divine providence consists of the dispositions by which God guides all his creatures with wisdom and love to their ultimate end.

322 Christ invites us to filial trust in the providence of our heavenly Father (cf.Mt 6:26-34), and St. Peter the apostle repeats: "Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you" (I Pt 5:7; cf. Ps55:23).

323 Divine providence works also through the actions of creatures. To human beings God grants the ability to cooperate freely with his plans.

324 The fact that God permits physical and even moral evil is a mystery that God illuminates by his Son Jesus Christ who died and rose to vanquish evil. Faith gives us the certainty that God would not permit an evil if he did not cause a good to come from that very evil, by ways that we shall fully know only in eternal life.

Certainty of Hope

They strengthened the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
(Acts 14:22)

"Father, you restored your people to eternal life by raising Christ your Son from death.  Make our faith strong and our hope sure.  May we never doubt that you will fulfill the promises you have made.  Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen!! "
(Tuesday 5th Week of Easter)

The Certainty of Answered Prayer

"The Advocate, the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you."  (John 14: 26)

Thank you Jesus for this promise.  I love your Holy Spirit very much. I cannot imagine life without His presence and activities in me.  I like the fact that He is my Teacher.  I am profoundly grateful that He is inspiration and power that I need in everything.  He never fails me.  But the gift that keeps me ever joyful is His continual reminding me of the good things that God is doing for me.  This makes me a thankful person.

Lord, we are 20 days to Pentecost and the Church is praying for a new outpouring of your Holy Spirit.  I have surveyed my life up and down.   There is nothing I desire more at this moment than a big filling of your Holy Spirit and the gift to surrender ALL to Him.  Remember your great promise that prayer for the Holy Spirit is a sure prayer to be answered.  I rejoice in this certainty of answer and I wait with confident hope.  Thank you Jesus!!!!!

Too good to be true

"And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it."  (John 14: 13 - 14)

Lord Jesus, grant me deep faith in this sweeping promise.  I know it is true but it sounds too good to be true

Adoration and Worship

Adoration Chapel's Blessed Sacrament Altar
Psalm 27:8

8 You have said, “Seek my face.”My heart says to you,“Your face, Lord, do I seek.”

Share the Gospel

"And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation."  (Mark 16:15)

"Every soul with Christ is a missionary ; every soul without Christ is a mission field."  -  (Our Daily Bread)

"I have chosen you from the world to go and bear fruit that will last."  (John 15: 16, 19)

"I will bear witness to you in the world, O Lord.  I will spread the knowledge of your name among my brothers."  (Psalm 17: 50; 21: 23)

Do not conform

Romans 12:2
Do not conform yourself to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.

The antidote or medicine for not being conformed to the world is the word of God. Daily and constant intake of the precious word renews our minds. As our mind is renewed, it is transformed and made strong to withstand the lies of the Father of lies.

The Enterprise Word

Acts 5:38-39
"For if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!”

My sheep follow me

"My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me."  (John 10: 27)

I am one of the sheep of Jesus.  He says in John 10: 27 that He knows me.  I hear His voice and I follow Him.  Where do I hear the voice of Jesus?

I hear Jesus speaking to me in His word.  I hear Him at Mass and at the Blessed Sacrament.  I hear His voice when I pray.  I am surprised how often I hear Him when I blog.

Yes Jesus, I am beginning to recognize your voice.  I like what I hear all the time because I have come to trust you to lead and guide me to green pastures and protect me even when I stray into the valley of death.