"Go home to your people and tell them all the Lord in his mercy has done for you.' So the man went off and proceeded to proclaim in the Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed." (Mark 11: 19 – 20)
"I will be a witness to you in the world, O Lord. I will spread the knowledge of your name among my brothers." (Psalm 18:50; 21:23)
Lord, will you help me do this? I know the answer. Thank you Jesus.
"The Lord came down to see the city and tower that they had built. Then the Lord said: "If now, while they are one people, all speaking the same language, they have started to do this, nothing will later stop them from doing whatever they presume to do. Let us then go down and there confuse their language, so that one will not understand what another says." Thus the Lord scattered them from there all over the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the speech of all the world. It was from this place that he scattered them all over the earth." (Genesis 11: 5 – 9)
God shows in this story that he is in control of events and not man. He is the Lord of history who brings low the pride of man whenever he wishes. God's loving providence governs everything.
"The Lord brings to nought the plans of nations;
he foils the designs of peoples.
But the plan of the Lord stands forever,;
the design of his heart, through all generations."
(Psalm 33: 10-11)
"These were men who through faith conquered kingdoms, did what was upright and earned the promises. They could keep a lion's mouth shut, put out blazing fires and emerged unscathed from battle. They were weak people who were given strength to be brave in war and drive back foreign invaders." (Hebrews 11: 33)
I too can overcome through faith.
Through faith, we overcome the world. (1 John 5: 4-5)
"And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. Who can overcome the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God."
The Lord will guide me always (Isaiah 58:11)
You will guide me (Psalm 31:3)
Let your good Spirit lead me (Psalm 143:10)
Lead me in the everlasting way (Psalm 139:24)
Lead me in your truth (Psalm 25:5)
The Lord will guide me continually (Isaiah 58:11)
With your counsel you will guide me (Psalm 73: 24)
I will lead the blind by a way they do not know (Isaiah 42: 16)
He will lead them to springs of water (Isaiah 49:10)
I lead them with cords of love (Hosea 11:4)
I lead you in the way you should go (Isaiah 48: 17)
The Lord directs his steps (Proverbs 16:9)
The Lord has guided me (Genesis 24: 27, 48)
However far away I go, your hand leads me (Psalm 139: 10)
You lead them to your holy habitation (Exodus 15: 13)
(Roget's Thesaurus of the Bible)
(Roget's Thesaurus of the Bible)
"God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power and of love, and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1: 7)
Very often in his ministry, Jesus Christ tells us: "Do not be afraid." The truth is that when we look around us, we see so many things to cause us fear. We live our human condition in an environment of insecurity and fear inducing events. Let us consider some of these for a moment:
These are things that cause us worry and fear. Why did Jesus tell us so often not to be afraid? First, God's loving providence provides and protects us in every situation. And the naked truth is that there is nothing we can do to change the situation that causes us fear. Then consider the Holy Spirit that God has given us – "the spirit of power and of love, and of a sound mind."
"Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit." (Galatians 6: 7-8)
Or this translation:
"Make no mistake about this: God is not to be fooled; everyone reaps whatever he sows. If he sows in the field of his unspiritual nature, he will reap from it a harvest of corruption; but if he sows in the field of the Spirit, he will reap from it the harvest of eternal life." (Galatians 6: 7-8)
It is impossible for men to break the established divine order in nature. There is a sowing time. There is a reaping time. The reaping will be exactly the same nature as the sowing. He who sows rice will reap rice and he who sows grass will reap grass. Nobody expects a harvest of rice after sowing grass.
Lent is coming. Lent provides us a window of opportunity to sow "in the field of the spirit." God himself describes lent as a favorable time for sowing. When we seize the opportunity provided by lent to sow good spiritual seeds for forty days, God rewards us by providing us abundant spiritual harvest that lasts all through life. Twenty years ago, I decided to fast from smoking on Ash Wednesday. After Ash Wednesday, I continued the fast from smoking. After lent, the desire to smoke dried up completely in me. Ten years ago, I decided to fast from television during lent. All through lent, my television gathered dust. After lent, I resolved to fast from television every Wednesday and Friday. Today, days could go by without my switching on the television. God blessed me with the desire to sow good seeds "in the field of the spirit" at a time of favor and rewarded me with rich spiritual harvest.
I did not know why I suddenly felt like working in the St. Justin Martyr and St. Cyril of Alexandria area. But that was where I worked today. On my way, I stopped at St. Thomas Aquinas and took a nap. I made a few sales calls on my way to St. Justin Martyr. There, I visited briefly before going to the nearby Bishop Fiorenza park where I ate my lunch. I took Elridge to Westheimer. On Dairy Ashford, I saw Tomas of Bonanza Photos and chatted with him for some time. Tomas told me that he had not received a single call from the ad he placed with me in SCA. We talked about auto insurance costs. I advised him to try AARP.
Why does advertising work for one customer and not for another. Christ said that the Kingdom of God is like a farmer who sows a seed and then goes to bed. While he sleeps, the seed sprouts and grows. How? The farmer does not know. The seed grows to be one day a huge shrub that provides lodging and food to numerous birds. I also think of the young lion who goes to hunt. He does not know what game he would catch or even if he would catch any at all. How our efforts yield result is a mystery. What is required of us is faith and to be at our post and do our duty. Isaiah complained that his life is wasted because he could not see any result. God told him: Not so. The Prophet Habakkuk says:
"For though the fig tree blossom not
nor fruit be on the vines,
and the terraces produce not nourishment,
Though the flocks disappear from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
Yet will I rejoice in the Lord
and exult in my saving God.
God, my Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet swift as those of hinds.
and enables me to go upon the heights."
(Habakkuk 3: 17 - 19)
The Prophet Habakkuk is a deep man of faith. About faith, he wrote: "The just man, because of his faith, shall live."
What is required of us is trust in God, who provides the young lion his food and does the same for the sick and old lion.
"Since Christ was himself tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are tempted." (Hebrews 2: 18)
I am tested through delays, obstacles, disappointments and temptations. Through these tests, Jesus refines and purifies me as gold and silver are purified and refined. (Malachi 3: 2) God wants me to pass the test, become stronger and help other people who are tested. Christ knows my situation. He is aware of what I am going through. I look to him for help.
"For he will be like a refiner's fire, like fullers' alkali. He will take his seat as refiner; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they can make the offering to Yahweh with uprightness." (Malachi 3: 2 – 3)
Lord Jesus, please refine me. Purify me. Make me whole.
The Lord uses my daily life and circumstances to refine and purify me. Because I am aware of this, I make an offering of all my actions, disappointments, delays and obstacles to the Lord every day.
"The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed which, at the time of its sowing, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth. Yet once it is sown it grows into the biggest shrub of them all and puts out big branches so that the birds of the air can shelter in its shade." (Mark 4: 31)
The mustard seed of God's word is alive, potent and sharper than a two-edged sword even if it comes in a tiny form. The origin of Christianity bears witness to this truth. What started very small with a handful of men grew into the biggest shrub. Many "birds of the air" today shelter in its shade. Many women and men make a decent living from this huge shrub. The beginning of a project may be small but if that enterprise is God's will, it will grow.
When Peter and the Apostles were arraigned before the Sanhedrin, Gamaliel, a leading member of the Sanhedrin prophesied: "If this enterprise, this movement of theirs, is of human origin it will break up of its own accord; but if it does in fact come from God you will be unable to destroy them. " (Acts 5: 38). The history of Christianity proved that the enterprise is from God.
"This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the land. Night and day, while he sleeps, when he is awake, the seed is sprouting and growing; how, he does not know. Of its own accord the land produces first the shoot, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear." (Mark 4: 26)
St. Paul taught that he who scatters much seed harvests more. We scatter seed in the Church through our ministry work. But the key idea in the above scripture is not how much we do but rather trust in God who makes "the land produce first the shoot, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear." (Mark 4: 26)
What is required of me oh man?
And remembering what St. Paul said that the harvest is in direct proportion to the sowing, I ask God for the grace of generosity so that I can give more to his work and not less.
"Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of realities that are unseen." (Hebrews 11:1)
What are the blessings I hope for today?
Only faith can guarantee these blessings. But how? Do I believe that I can have these blessings? Yes, I do. I am therefore blessed by my faith. What I now do is to wait patiently for the realization of my hope. I wait in joyful hope.
"It was by faith that Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac." (Hebrews 11: 17)
"Abraham was confident that God had the power even to raise the dead." (Hebrews 11: 19)
"But he was in the stern, his head on the cushion, asleep." (Mark 4: 38)
Can God be asleep?
"God will not allow your foot to slip; your guardian does not sleep. Truly, the guardian of Israel never slumbers nor sleeps." (Psalm 121: 3-4)
"So we shall not be afraid though the earth be in turmoil, though mountains tumble into the depths of the sea, and its waters roar and seethe, and the mountains totter as it heaves." (Psalm 46: 2 -3)
Why must we not be afraid? Because …
"Yahweh Sabaoth is with us, our citadel, the God of Jacob." (Psalm 46: 3)
"Why are you so frightened? Have you still no faith?" (Mark 11: 40). If you know who is with you, you should not fear. My grace is always with you, no matter what.
"Only a little while now, a very little while, for come he certainly will before too long." (Hebrews 10: 37)
Marana tha! Come Lord Jesus! Please come quickly. This was the constant prayer of the early Church. They desired intensely to see the kingdom of heaven realized as soon as possible. What they heard about being pilgrims in this world with a superior homeland in heaven, they believed with all their heart. To drive the lesson home were the constant persecutions, tribulations and sufferings they face on daily base. No wonder they hungered for a release from their current situation. While material prosperity is desirable, it may not be good for everybody. Who can doubt the fact that material prosperity deadens the senses to the spiritual? There is a tight correlation between the desire for heaven and detachment from this world. The more attached we are to this world, the more we feel that heaven is desirable but only in the far distant future.
"Only a little while now, a very little while, for come he certainly will before too long." (Hebrews 10: 37)
Come Lord Jesus. Please come quickly!
"Do not lose your fearlessness now, then, since the reward is so great. You will need perseverance if you are to do God's will and gain what he has promised." (Hebrews 10: 35 – 36)
It is the Holy Spirit who makes us bold and fearlessness. Biblical characters chosen by God for specific mission were all bold and fearless. David and the prophets in the Old Testament were bold and fearless. After the Pentecost, all the apostles became bold and fearless. Paul who had a natural boldness to his character acquired a supernatural boldness after he received the Holy Spirit. The above scripture from Hebrews indicate that it is possible to lose our fearlessness. We lose it if we succumb to sin and remain in sin. We lose it if we fellowship too much with the world. The world has boldness in worldly matters but very timid when it comes to the things of God.
We are encouraged by the above scripture to be constant and steadfast because the reward is very great. Dear Holy Spirit, give us the grace of boldness and perseverance so that we can serve Jesus Christ as he deserves to be served.
