When I am afraid, I put my trust in you

"When I am afraid,
in you I place my trust.
I praise the word of God;
I trust in God, I do not fear.
What can mere flesh do to me?"  (Psalm 56: 4 - 5)

Trust in God when you are afraid is the silver bullet that kills fear.  Try it. How?  You bring your fear to God in prayer.  Then you see what happens.

"Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.  Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."  (Philippians 4: 6 - 7)

Trust and Prayer destroy fear, worry and doubts.  Thank you Jesus!

I desire mercy, not sacrifice

"Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the righteous but sinners."  (Matthew 9: 13)

Lord, you desire mercy and not sacrifice.  You show me so much mercy.  Give me a merciful heart.  Help me this day to show mercy to everybody I meet in thought, word and deed.  Thank you Jesus.

By the grace of God I am what I am

"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective."  (I Corinthians 15: 10)

By the grace of God I am what I am.  I am my heritage, my inheritance, my gifts, my liabilities, my opportunities and my threats.  Thank you Lord.

By the grace of God I am where I am:  STM, Casa, SFJ.  Thank you Lord.

O Lord, help me to trust completely in your providence.  Open my eyes to see how your loving and powerful providence is turning everything for good for me.

It is the Spirit that gives life, the flesh has nothing to offer

"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.  All that you need is the Holy Spirit.  This is true because the Holy Spirit is the source of all inspiration and power.

O Lord, strengthen me in this Spirit, that I may never lose Him, never sadden Him, and never allow Him to become weaker in me.  Amen!

Be our strength every morning

"LORD, be gracious to us; for you we wait.
Be our strength every morning,
our salvation in time of trouble!"  (Isaiah 33: 2)

And the Lord's response:

"When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her and said to her, “Do not weep."  (Luke 7: 13)

Lord you are full of mercy and compassion.  Help us today to be aware that you know where  we are and will help us.

Jesus Christ has absolute power to save us

"For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it."  (Luke 7:8)

The centurion indicates from the above scripture that he understands the principle of authority and power.  Just as the centurion has learned to obey his superiors, he expects those under him to obey him.  From this premise, he applies the principle from what he knows intuitively about the person of Jesus.  Jesus embodies in His person the ultimate authority and power over creation.  His name is Jesus.  It says what it is and it does what it says.

Jesus Christ has the absolute power to save us from any situation.
"Therefore, he is always able to save those who approach God through him, since he lives forever to make intercession for them."  (Hebrews 7: 25)

Whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it

"He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said* to them, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it."  (Mark 8: 34 - 35)

Dear Jesus,  again I pray:  reveal to me the mystery of the cross and help me to embrace and live it.  I want to share this gift with your people if this is your wish.  Thank you Jesus for I know you will hear this pray.  Amen.

Rejoice in your crosses

"But rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice exultantly."  (1 Peter 4: 13)

Lord help me to understand the mystery of the cross.
Help me to embrace the crosses you permit in my life.
Teach me how to rejoice in them.
Help me to share the knowledge of the cross with courage and power.

Rejection of the cross is rejection of Jesus Christ.

The people's patience was worn out by the journey

"From Mount Hor they set out by way of the Red Sea, to bypass the land of Edom, but the people’s patience was worn out by the journey;
so the people complained against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!" (Numbers 21: 4 - 5)

Scripture narratives are written to instruct us through the experiences of other people.  We learn what to imitate and what to avoid.  In Numbers 21: 4 - 5, we are reminded that the Christian life is a journey.  As the Israelites journeyed from Egypt to the Promised Land, so are we on a journey to the Promised Land of Heaven.  The journey could be long, tortuous and often on dangerous terrain.  There  is never an excuse for criticism, complaint or condemnation.  On the contrary, the word of God says:

"Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to god.  Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."  (Philippians 4: 6 - 7)

We shall never forget that:

"These things happened to them as an example, and they have been written down as a warning to us, upon whom the end of the ages has come." (1 Corinthians 10: 11)

"For whatever was written previously was written for our instruction, that by endurance and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope." (Romans 15: 4)

Knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up

"We realize that “all of us have knowledge”; knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up."  (1 Corinthians 1: 8)

I find the Amplified Bible's rendition of the above passage interesting:

"Of course we know that all of us possess knowledge [concerning these matters.  Yet mere] knowledge causes people to be puffed up (to bear themselves loftily and be proud), but love (affection and goodwill and benevolence) edifies and builds up and encourages one to grow [to his full stature].

Lord, grant me simplicity and humility in sharing what I know of you and your Church.

"“Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours." (Luke 6 : 20)

“Blessed are you who are poor,
for the kingdom of God is yours." (Luke 6 : 20)

The Bible is full of many pronouncements of blessedness.  For example: Blessed are those who trust in the Lord; Blessed are those who are invited to the supper of the Lamb.  Among those pronounced blessed in the Sermon on the Mount are those who are materially poor and depend solely on God for everything.  They are happy here and now and will be so forever because they possess God.

I see two choices here:  To be rich in the world or to be rich in faith.  I have tasted the former.   Lord, make me rich in faith.  I want to taste your kingdom here and now.  I want to possess it forever.

Blessed John Henry Newman has an interesting thing to say about wealth:

"All bow down before wealth. Wealth is that to which the multitude of men pay an instinctive homage. They measure happiness by wealth; and by wealth they measure respectability. . . . It is a homage resulting from a profound faith . . . that with wealth he may do all things. Wealth is one idol of the day and notoriety is a second. . . . Notoriety, or the making of a noise in the world - it may be called "newspaper fame" - has come to be considered a great good in itself, and a ground of veneration."

Why not let yourself be cheated?

"Now indeed [then] it is, in any case, a failure on your part that you have lawsuits against one another. Why not rather put up with injustice? Why not rather let yourselves be cheated?"  (1 Corinthians 6: 7)

Dear Jesus, this is a tough teaching.  I feel injustice keenly.  I am very resentful when I am cheated.  When I work for somebody and I am not paid, I feel angry.  But your word above is clear.  You ask me to be willing to suffer persecution for the sake of righteousness.  Well, you practiced what you teach, didn't you.  When you were insulted, spit upon and cursed, you did not answer back.

You ask us to learn from you because you are meek and humble of heart and that your yoke is easy.  I am willing to try.  Help me Lord.

Yet I will rejoice in the LORD and exult in my saving God." (Habakkuk 3: 17 - 18)

"For though the fig tree does not blossom,
and no fruit appears on the vine,
Though the yield of the olive fails
and the terraces produce no nourishment,
Though the flocks disappear from the fold
and there is no herd in the stalls,
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD
and exult in my saving God."  (Habakkuk 3: 17 - 18)

What are the creature comforts that you cannot absolutely do without?  Are they health, family, money, job, property, food?  What will you do it you are deprived of these idols?  Are you going to curse God and die?

The Prophet Habakkuk answers that even if he is deprived of all creature comforts, "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord and exult in my saving God."

"Find your delight in the LORD who will give you your heart's desire. "  Psalm 37:4)

God chooses those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith

"Did not God choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?"  (James 2: 5)

We see here a clear and stark choice before us:
Poor in the world versus rich in faith.
I choose rich in faith.  To those that love God, He has another great promise:

"We know that all things work for good for those who love God,* who are called according to his purpose.
For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
And those he predestined he also called; and those he called he also justified; and those he justified he also glorified."  Romans 8: 28 - 30)

Lord, grant me rich faith and help me to love you with all my heart.  Grant that all things will work for good for me.  Amen!

They shall call him Emmanuel

"Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,
which means “God is with us."  (Matthew 1: 23)

Jesus is Emmanuel.  Emmanuel means God is with us here and now.  God is always with us.  Lord, I want to be soaked completely in this truth.  Oh, if I can wake up with this idea!  If I can always remember this truth, I will be completely free from fear, worry or doubt.  If Jesus is with me, then all is well; all is accomplished.

Find your delight in the Lord

"Find your delight in the LORD
who will give you your heart’s desire"  Psalm 37: 4)

Yes my Lord and my God, I delight in you.  I delight in all your attributes.  I delight in your great mercy, kindness, longsuffering.  I delight so much in your faithfulness.

I delight in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  I find a great deal of consolation in the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Son.

I delight in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.  I delight in the Sacraments of the Church.  I delight especially in the Eucharist and Reconciliation.  I delight in all the teachings of the Church.

I delight in the beauty of nature.

Thank you Father for giving me a great delight in you and in what you love.  I thank you too for giving me my heart's desire.  I want nothing more.

We have toiled all night and caught nothing

"After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”
Simon said in reply, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.
When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing."  (Luke 5: 4 - 6)

Every self- employed businessman should read the above scripture often in order to draw the lessons and consolations from the incident.  I was able to get the following from it this morning:
Jesus Christ understands our business.
He knows exactly where we are.
As Savior, He has the absolute power to save us from any situation.
Nothing is too difficult for Him.
His reward is superabundant.
Just as Jesus sat with Peter and Andrew in the boat during this fishing expedition, so He is willing to be with us in our business if we invite Him.

What should be our attitude when the Lord gives us a "bizarre command?"

"His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you."  (John 2: 5)
Just do it!

"For we are God’s co-workers; you are God’s field, God’s building" (1 Corinthians 3: 9)

"For we are God’s co-workers; you are God’s field, God’s building"  (1 Corinthians 3: 9)

Am I truly a co-worker with God?

"God created mankind in his image;
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
God blessed them and God said to them: Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.  Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that crawl on the earth."  (Genesis 1: 27 - 28)

Yes, I am a co-worker with God not just to subdue the world and have dominion over the physical universe but empowered with the Holy Spirit to build up the Kingdom of God which will last forever.

O God, fill us with your Holy Spirit so that we can fulfill this mission.

We have received the Spirit of God

"We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the things freely given us by God."  (1 Corinthians 2: 12)

The spirit of the world is marked by:
" Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness,
idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. " (Galatians 5: 19 - 21)

But these are the signs of the Spirit of God:
"In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."  (Galatians 5: 22 - 23)

Lord Jesus thank you for the precious gifts of your Holy Spirit.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,"  (Luke 4: 18)

Lord Jesus, may your Holy Spirit lead me, guide me and use me.  Amen!