The Rain and the Snow

"For, as the rain and the snow come down from the sky and do not return before having watered the earth, fertilizing it and making it germinate to provide seed for the sower and food to eat, so it is with the word that goes from my mouth: it will not return to me unfulfilled or before having carried out my good pleasure and having achieved what it was sent to do." (Isaiah 55: 10 – 11)

As I write this, I look out of the window and gazed at the rain and thunder blasts. I thought to myself: "It is true that God himself sends the rain and snow." This something that no government or human can claim to do. God sends the rain and the snow to water the earth, fertilize it and make it provide the food we need. Human beings claim to produce the food. But they cannot claim to produce the land on which the food grows or the water that fertilizes the land.

God says to me in the above scripture: The rain and snow carry out the divine order faithfully. So does every word of God.

O God, grant me the grace never to doubt your word. May all your word to me come be fulfilled. Amen!

Corporate Works of Mercy

"Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take as your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you made me welcome, lacking clothes and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me." (Matthew 25: 34 – 35)

Corporate works of mercy:

• Feed the hungry
  
• Give water to the thirsty
  
• Welcome the stranger
  
• Clothe the naked
  
• Visit the sick
  
• Visit the prisoner
  

Lord, help me to see you in the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the prisoner. And when I have seen you in them, inspire me on what to do. Amen!

Enticing Promises

"Yahweh will always guide you, will satisfy your needs in the scorched land, he will give strength to your bones and you will be like a watered garden, like a flowing spring whose waters never run dry." (Isaiah 58: 11)

• Continual guidance (Joshua 1:9; Proverbs 3:5)
  
• Total and sufficient support (Hebrews 13:5, Matthew 6:34)
  
• Healing (Matthew 8: 17; Psalm 103: 2)
  
• Fresh and renewed (Psalm 3: 5)
  

God promises continual guidance, total and sufficient provision even when resources are generally scarce. Good health and renewal of mind and body are also promised. My God, these are very generous and very enticing promises. Who am I not to fall for them? Bless me lavishly with all of them. Amen!

Time for Temptation

"The Spirit sent Jesus out toward the desert. He stayed in the wasteland 40 days, put to the test there by Satan. He was with wild beasts, and angels waited on him." (Mark 1: 12 – 15)

What does the temptation of Jesus teach me?

For forty days, Jesus was tempted by Satan. He overcame the temptation and angels ministered to him. There is a time for everything says the Book of Ecclesiastes:

• A time to be born and a time to die
  
• A time to kill and a time to heal
  
• A time to cry and a time to laugh
  

There is also a time for spiritual consolation and a time for temptation.

Lord, help me to realize the period of temptation and enable me to put on the full armor you gave me in Ephesians 6: 10 – 20.

The Blood of Christ

"See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you ….. " (Genesis 9: 8 – 15)

The blood of Jesus Christ is the sign of the new covenant.

The Eucharist recalls this deed. The Eucharist is the supreme promise of our salvation.

Awesome Promises for Lent

"Then you will cry for help and Yahweh will answer; you will call and he will say, 'I am here.'"(Isaiah 58:9)

I call the whole of Isaiah 58, the covenant statement for Lent.

God promises: If you truly turn to me with all your heart during this Lent, ask and I will give you anything. But first of all, listen to what I am asking of you:

• Do away with the yoke
  
• Do away with clenched fist
  
• Do away with malicious words
  
• Deprive yourself for the hungry
  
• Satisfy the needs of the afflicted
  

Now listen to my promises to you:

1. Your light will shine in the darkness
   
2. I will always guide you
   
3. I will satisfy your needs in the scorched land
   
4. I will give strength to your bones
   
5. You will be like a watered garden:
   
6. Like flowing spring whose waters never run dry
   
7. Your ruins will be rebuilt
   
8. You will build on age-old foundations
   
9. You will be called 'Breach-mender'
   
10. Restorer of streets to be lived in
    

Wow! Very powerful message for Lent.

Lord God, your promises are awesome and they delight my heart. I believe every one of them. Help me to live according to your word so that I can enjoy these promises.

 

Health for service

"And going into Peter's house Jesus found Peter's mother-in-law in bed and feverish. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him." (Matthew 9: 14 – 15)

Good health is one of God's great blessings in life. One blessing that I thank God for with regard to health is the healing of the fear of ill-health. There was a time in my life when I look at the future and wonder what sort of health misfortune might befall me. Then little by little, I came to understand that my good health today was not an accident but a purposeful gift of God. Whatever God gives, he can maintain. So I started praying for the grace to overcome fear of ill-health. It took a longtime for me to notice that I am free of self-imprisonment of unruly imagination with regard to health. God will always provide as much health as I need to do his work. This is enough for me.