Finding God in all things

"Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work."  (John 4: 34)

"All that happens to me therefore will be food for my nourishment, water for my cleansing, fire for my purification, and a channel of grace for all my needs.  That which I might endeavor to find in other ways seeks me incessantly and gives itself to me through all creatures."  (John Pierre de Caussade, SJ)

Bearing abundant fruit

"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5)

Remain in Jesus through His word and prayer.

"We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can - namely, surrender our will and fulfill God's will in us."  (Saint Teresa of Avila)

Seek ye first the kingdom and then ask

"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."  (Matthew 6: 33)

According to an apocryphal saying of our Lord, repeated by Origen, "Jesus said to his disciples, Ask great things, and the small shall be added to you; ask heavenly things, and the earthly shall be added to you."

"Father, make our faith strong and our hope sure.  May we never doubt that you shall fulfill the promises You have made." (Tuesday, 5th Sunday of Easter)

"Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe."  (St. Augustine)

Come and dwell in us O Holy Spirit!

"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)

O Promise of the Father, grant us the grace to faithfully and eagerly respond to the awesome gift of Your personal, passionate presence.  Amen!

The Truth Will Set You Free

"Jesus then said to those Jews who believed in him, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

God cannot lie.  (Numbers 23: 19)

The truth that sets us free is the word of Jesus; the teaching of Jesus that we hear or read and believe.  Day in and day out, we practice this word.  We abide, remain in the word, not abandoning the word come what may.  This is the truth that  sets  free from fear, worry and doubts.

Application of the above point:

'Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail)."  (Psalm 55: 22 Amplified Bible)

What are your burdens?  Family, finances, job, health, tools and property, food, worries about the future?

Ancient traders in the Middle East cast their burden (heavy load) upon the camel.  The camel carried the burden and the trader on the desert route to their home.  Jesus invites us in Psalm 55: 22 to do the same everyday.  Jesus becomes our Camel.   At the beginning of a new day, we cast all our burden on Him.

The truth that sets us free is not the truth we know as  fact or  piece of information.  It is the truth that we practice consistently everyday.  This is the truth that slips into the mind and settles in our subconsciousness.  This truth sets us free from worry, fear and doubts.  It is written.  It is true.

Complete Redemption

 "By your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation."  (Revelation 5: 9)

Note the scope of the redemptive work of Christ:  Universal.  Note too the extent of the power of Jesus to save us from every distress:  Absolute.  Because of the following, "Let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help."  (Hebrews 4: 16)

Our God is Emmanuel

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

Jesus Christ Always, Everywhere in All Things is with us.

"I know indeed how to live in humble circumstances; I know also how to live with abundance. In every circumstance and in all things I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need.
I have the strength for everything through Christ who empowers me"  (Philippians 4: 12 - 13)

Who is with us and in us always?
"It is Christ in you, the hope for glory."  (Colossians 1: 27)

We did not choose Jesus

John 15:16

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you."

The Choice, the Call and the Anointing.

Remain faithful to Jesus

"When Barnabas arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart,
for he was a good man, filled with the holy Spirit and faith. And a large number of people was added to the Lord."  (Acts 11: 23 - 24)

Encourage the brethren to remain faithful to Jesus.

Jesus Always, Everywhere in All Things!

Romans 8:38-39

"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,  nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

"The life of faith is nothing less than the continued pursuit of God through all that disguises, disfigures, destroys and, so to say, annihilates Him." (John Pierre de Caussade, SJ)
      

Jesus overcame death

"We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him."  (Romans 6: 9)

What do you fear most?  Death?  Jesus overcame death to free us of the fear of death.
No fear, No worry, No doubt.

Good Shepherd and Good Mother's Sunday

"I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me,"  (John 10: 14)

My mother was a good shepherd to me.

Happy Mothers Day to all my friends who are mothers!

Your words are Spirit and life

"It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life."  (John 6: 63)

The Holy Spirit is Lord and Giver of life.

A Prayer to the Holy Spirit:

Lord of life, O Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, Who art everywhere present and fills all thing, O Bringer of every good gift:  Come and dwell in us and make us whole.

Holy and life-giving breath of God, fill our hearts and minds with your love, assist us to be faithful disciples of Jesus, always open to hear His call.  O promise of God, grant us the grace to faithfully and eagerly respond to the awesome gift of Your personal, passionate Presence.  Amen.

Jesus died for all

"He indeed died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised."  (2 Corinthians 5: 15)

Although Jesus died for every human being.  Not every human being who is alive today is benefiting from the death of Jesus.  It is by His death and resurrection that we are saved.   We that have appropriated the fruit of salvation have the responsibility of living in such a way that would make the unsaved desire what we have.

Jesus has freed us from the darkness of error and sin. Help us Jesus to cling to your truths with fidelity.

Jesus is the Bread of life

" Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst."  (John 6:  35)

When we eat the Bread of life with faith, we shall be freed of dependency on family, money, job, health, tools, property, food, etc.  Dependency on these creatures is what enslaves us.

Psalm 16: 1 - 2 puts it this way:

"Keep me safe, O God;
in you I take refuge.
I say to the LORD,
you are my Lord,
you are my only good."

The psalmist asks God to keep him safe and acknowledges that God is his only good.  Psalm 16: 4 hammers away at dependencies that may enslave us:

"They multiply their sorrows
who court other gods.
Blood libations to them I will not pour out,
nor will I take their names upon my lips."

Every kind of dependency (other god) is an addiction which brings its particular sorrows.  Each  of them urges us to pour libations to it.  This is  why addiction of any kind is idolatry.

What is the cure?

"Jesus replied, 'I am the Bread of Life.  He who comes to me will never be hungry, and he who believes in and cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me will never thirst any more (at any time)  (John 6: 35 AMP)

Do not work for food that perishes

"‘One does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God."  (Matthew 4: 4)

God's powerful and generous Providence fulfills all our needs in a timely manner."
"Fear is useless; what is needed is trust."  (Luke 8: 50; Mark 5: 36)

Jesus Christ is the Top Prize

"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)

You want abundant life?  Jesus is abundant life.

If God is with us, it is accomplished

"For if this endeavor or this activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself.
But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.” They were persuaded by him."  (Acts 5: 38 - 39)

No fear, No worry, No doubt.  God is in control.

Is Jesus not the son of the carpenter?

"Unless the LORD build the house,
they labor in vain who build.
Unless the LORD guard the city,
in vain does the guard keep watch.
It is vain for you to rise early
and put off your rest at night,
To eat bread earned by hard toil—
all this God gives to his beloved in sleep."  (Psalm 127: 1 - 2)

Lord, prosper the work of our hands.

Believers were of one heart and mind

"The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common."  (Acts 4: 32)

Our time, talent and treasure come from God.