Wonderful Counsellor

 

Article by Barbara Mims - Link HERE

Wonderful Counselor

At Christmastime we hear descriptions of the coming Jesus with words like “Wonderful Counsellor,” “ Mighty God,” “Everlasting Father,” and “Prince of Peace.”  

When I suddenly became a widow, a lot of questions bombarded my thoughts, things I could no longer expect my husband to address. 

How to operate the sprinkler control box?
How to change smoke alarm batteries?
What is the password for …..?
What to do when the car’s tire pressure is low?
Where have I placed such-and-such?

Where did he file that document?

 

For 50 years I was blessed with this man who took care of so many things without my intervention, but suddenly these matters were now my responsibility.

 

One of the first lessons I learned was to be discerning about who to ask for help.  One person usually cannot accurately respond to all of the problems and questions. 

I also had to force myself to be more brave in hunting down what is lost, misplaced, or just a mystery to me. (I learned I am smarter than I thought!!)

But of the most comfort to me has been to realize the absolute practicality of Jesus being the “wonderful counsellor” (Isaiah 9:6).

That thought is re-stated in Colossians 2:3 which says: “[Christ] in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

Yes, of course, all of our spiritual questions are resolved in Jesus Christ, but He, being God, has all the wisdom and knowledge about everything! 

To my thinking, He can get me the answers I need about the most practical of matters!

For virtually all of my life as a Christ-follower, I have sought the Lord for wisdom, but as a widow that seeking took on a more practical and at times a more urgent, dimension. 

I’ve learned that not all questions need an immediate answer. As a matter of fact, it seems the Lord sees the need for me to WAIT for solutions as being more important than to immediately get the answer itself.

Trust has become magnified to me. Ask for help and then wait, fully convinced that He will respond at the right time with the right solution.

Widowhood has been (and continues to be) God’s instrument to teach me to seek Him, to trust Him, and to wait on His timing. 

He has come through for me on so many things (and never too late). For those matters yet unresolved, my reliance on Him has grown exponentially. 

He is, indeed, the Wonderful Counsellor in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Be of good cheer

 

The Holy Trinity

 

Article by Victor S E Moubarak - Link HERE

One of the great mysteries of our Faith is the Holy Trinity. No matter how much we may scratch our heads, I doubt we’ll be able to understand it. Not that we are meant to, I suppose. This is because over the years we have treated the Holy Trinity as some sort of puzzle which we are meant to resolve, and once we do so, we gain a prize of some kind.

Let’s see if I can shed some light on this mystery.

For years on end in the Old Testament times people believed in one God. Leaders like Abraham, Moses and David believed in one living God; only one Person.

In those days, and thereafter, there were people who believed in many gods of course. The ancient Egyptians, the Romans, the Greeks, all had many gods.

So if God had revealed Himself to the Jews as three Persons in one, and assuming they understood this, (we don’t understand it ourselves now), then the pagans would have thought that the Jews believed in three gods.

Later on, at the times of the New Testament, the Apostles, who were Jews, believed from childhood that there was only one Person in God. That’s what they had learnt from the writings of the Old Testament prophets and that’s what they experienced in their lives. They saw God’s hand in everything that happened. He was the God of Abraham, Moses and David. The God written about in history. The God up there in Heaven who gave them the moral law, (Commandments), and who created everything.

Then one day they met a Man named Jesus. For three years they lived with Him.

They saw that He spoke with authority and conviction, and all that He said made sense. They watched how He lived and the way He related to people.

He showed compassion for the sick, the destitute and those forgotten by society. He cared for the hungry and the poor and showed kindness for everybody.

When anyone was rude or insulting to Him, He did not answer back in anger.

He lived His life on a high moral plain but showed sympathy and understanding for those who were stained and scarred by sin.

He taught them about His Father who was God and that He was the Son of God. 

 

One day, when He asked them who they thought He was, Simon Peter was quick to answer, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." (Matthew 16: 13-20)

 

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in Heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven.” Then He ordered His disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Messiah. (Matthew 16:13-20)

Note specifically what Christ said, "this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in Heaven."

This was not Peter, a human, just talking. It was the Holy Spirit, through Peter, Who proclaimed who Jesus was.

At that point, God spoke, through Peter, to declare that Jesus is His Son.

The Disciples saw Jesus perform many miracles when He walked this earth. They saw Him die and then alive again, raised by God His Father. They knew for certain that He had conquered death and the grave. Time and again they saw Him after the Resurrection, they spoke with Him and ate with Him.

It was impossible for them to think or talk about God without thinking and talking about Jesus. They had come to know God their Father through His Son.

When Jesus was taken up to Heaven after the Resurrection the Disciples were distraught. What are they to do now? Their Leader whom they saw and trusted all these years had gone. They were afraid, so they hid in houses secretly, wondering what to do next.

As promised, Jesus sent His Holy Spirit, the Comforter, upon them nine days later.

Their eyes were opened and they believed, and understood, that He was the Third Person of God.

To the early Disciples, the Holy Spirit was real indeed. They had experienced the power of the Holy Spirit. They received Him at Pentecost in tongues of fire and they were able to speak to the crowds that gathered in different languages. Peter explained to the crowd that the Disciples had received God's Holy Spirit.

The Disciples, and early Christians, now knew for certain that the one and only living God they believed in, whom Abraham, Moses, and the prophets had spoken of, had sent His only Son Jesus to earth. Because they had met Jesus. They also knew that Jesus had sent His Holy Spirit upon them, because they had experienced the Holy Spirit.

To them this was all a reality. Something they had seen, experienced and understood. Not some sort of puzzle of three in one yet each one separate from the three. 

Because the Disciples had experienced the Holy Spirit, He became such a force in their lives, giving them strength to spread the Good News that Jesus had taught them, enabling them to live as Jesus had lived.

It was they who handed on to us this mystery that in one God there are three Persons.

Today, many people don’t understand the Holy Spirit. Somehow, over the years the message has been diluted. Miss-understood. Or perhaps deliberately confused to obfuscate the message of Christianity.
 

But the Holy Spirit still can and does descend on people today. And He does transform their lives. If people believe, and if they ask and invite Him earnestly into their soul.

‘And a little child shall lead them’ (Isaiah 11:6)

 

 Sanctuary of Our Lady of Knock

 

Article by Fr Seán Coyle - The author is a member of the Missionary Society of St Columban who spent most of his life as a priest in the Philippines. He blogs at https://bangortobobbio.blogspot.com/

While making a Holy Hour before the noon Mass in Knock parish church last November, I experienced the truth of Isaiah 11:6 unexpectedly from a girl of Indian ancestry dressed in pink, aged between two and three.

Two young women, whom I presumed to be her mother and aunt and from Kerala, were with the child. One of them went to write a petition at a side altar where there were pens and paper. The girl took one of the pens and prodded an older Irish woman with it, with the playful exuberance of a child going through the ‘Terrible Twos’. However, the mother or aunt took the pen off her and the ‘victim’ saw the humour in the situation. Then a young man arrived, clearly the father of the girl, who was still running around, though never out of control.

Instead of distracting me this incident filled me with a deep sense of joyful gratitude for the gift that so many immigrants are to Ireland, especially those with a deep Catholic faith from Kerala, the Philippines, sub-Saharan Africa and eastern Europe. I saw the young adults from India passing on the Catholic faith to their Irish-born daughter and strengthening and renewing the faith of the Irish. I prayed for the many immigrants, especially Syro-Malabar Catholics from Kerala, who practise their Catholic faith with fervour.

The girl reminded me of when I was her age. We lived in Drimnagh, Dublin, at the time. One weekday morning after Christmas 1945 my mother, pregnant with my brother Paddy, took me to Mass. I shouted ‘bah’ at the Infant in the crib and the priest ordered us out of the church. I know of the incident from my mother’s recounting of it. From my own experience I can understand the priest’s ‘getting out of bed on the wrong side’ that morning. Sadly, he didn’t apologise when my father, who hated confrontation of any kind, went to see him.

We left the parish after my brother’s birth six months later and the priest moved to the parish where my mother grew up. When telling the story she always added that the same priest couldn’t have been kinder to her youngest sister, my Auntie Madge, in her last illness early in 1950.

Fast forward to Lent 1991 when I was on a sabbatical in Ireland. Drimnagh parish had asked for a Columban to preach at all the Massed on a weekend in Lent when senior secondary school students were making a 24-hour fast for Trócaiire, the overseas development agency of the Irish bishops. The superior who invited me to do this knew nothing of my connection with Drimnagh. I jumped at the invitation.

I had the best opening line ever for a homily: ‘I was thrown out of this church with my pregnant mother when I was two-and-a-half!’ By the time I’d preached for the fourth or fifth time I felt a vicarious healing on behalf of my mother who died in 1970.

‘And a little child shall lead them’, says Isaiah. A little Catholic girl who can trace the gift of her faith back to St Thomas the Apostle led me on a graced journey that morning in Knock without any awareness whatever that just by being a ‘Terrible Two’ she was proclaiming the Gospel to me as were her parents and aunt by their quiet piety.

+++

The Comfort of Scripture

 

Article by Barbara Mims - Link HERE

Having been raised in a strong Christian home where we prayed before every meal, attended church  services and various meetings as a family throughout the week, and then continued those practices as an adult, I have been strongly influenced by the Bible all of my life.

Just like everyone else, my life had its ups and downs. My beliefs, commitments and determination were tested. Also, like most people, I occasionally stumbled along the way, but I remained devoted to the Lord. Clearly, He was devoted to me.

Then at age 70 I was put to the most severe test of my faith. My husband of 50 years died from a brief illness. None of us in the family saw that coming. 

Suddenly I felt as though I was positioned on the handlebars of a fast-moving bicycle of which I had no control but was careening fast toward an unknown future. 

I am thankful to be able to say the foundation of  Scripture held firm. The reliability of God’s Word was a benevolence to me. In my grief I sought Scripture intensely. 

Since there was no one in my house to please except myself, I used a heavy pen to write out many Bible verses on large sheets of paper. Then I hung them in nearly every room with tape or clothes pins, not caring what it looked like. I just wanted to be able to see God’s Words to me in all the places where my eyes  tended to focus throughout the day:

the window above the kitchen sink

the bathroom mirrors

outside of the shower stall

inside closets

inside and outside of cabinet doors

the laundry room

at the end of a hall

It has been a little over five years since my husband passed into Heaven. I have since remarried and moved into another house. While I no longer have Scripture clipped and taped all over our home, I do have decorative art pieces scattered throughout  the rooms with verses that bless me daily. 

The first thing I read every morning and the last thing I read at night is Scripture. I’ve learned to pray those words, making God’s Words my own as I begin and end every day. 

I have set the Lord

continually before me;

because He is at my right hand,

I will not be shaken.

Psalm 16:8

Have I told you lately?

 

Article by Myra Guca - Link HERE

Have I Told You Lately?

Yes, I'm often inclined to look for prayer sources apart from the traditional. 
 

While I realize (gulp!) that not everyone shares my passion for Rod Stewart .... when I heard his rendition of Van Morrison's ballad, I was struck --  this isn't a love song to a woman; the writer is expressing his love for God!

Have I told you lately that I love you;

Have I told you there's no one above you;

You fill my heart with gladness,

Take away my sadness,

Ease my troubles, that's what you do!

Oh, the morning sun in all its glory

Greets the day with hope and comfort too.

And you fill my life with laughter,

You can make it better

Ease my troubles that's what you do. 

 

 

There's a love that's divine
and it's yours and it's mine -- like the sun.
And at the end of the day, we should give thanks and pray........

Worry

 

Article by Victor S E Moubarak - Link HERE

Did you know that about 90% of the things you worry about do not happen anyway? Which statistically speaking, it means that worry is good for you. You can worry about many things and they won't happen. Isn't that great?

I often worry that with all the windmills, (wind turbines), we have in the world one of these days the whole planet will take off and fly in any direction it wants. But a scientist I know tells me I'm worrying unduly. What do you think?

My medic friend tells me that worrying does a lot of bad things to you both physically internally and mentally. People can become paranoid about it apparently. I asked the librarian if she had a book about paranoia and she said, "It's behind you!" That gave me quite a fright, I tell you.

But let's get back to worrying. What does it mean spiritually?

Simply put, it means you do not trust in God.

Jesus said, "Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me." John 14:1

Worrying means that to you, Jesus is a liar. 

I'll go as far as saying that worrying is a sin.

Never mind what worry does to you medically speaking. Consider for a moment what it does to your eternity!

Did you know that the words "Fear not" or other variations like "Do not be afraid" appear over 300 times in the Bible - at least once for every day of the year.

Makes you think, doesn't it? 

.

DO NOT BE AFRAID

 

Father Francis Maple

website link HERE

Carried Into the Unknown

 

Article and photo by Debby - Link HERE 

Stepping into seasons I’ve never known

The start of a new year always excites me and has me looking forward to a fresh start. Who doesn’t enjoy a new beginning or the next chapter in a good book? This year feels a bit different, though. In March, I’ll turn 72, and honestly, that number surprises me more than any before. I’m not sad or afraid, just telling the truth. Getting older reminds me that while today feels familiar, tomorrow is still uncertain. That is the same for all of us. No matter how healthy or fortunate we are, we can never be sure what a new year will bring.

Sharing these thoughts as we age can help us connect and understand each other and offer support to one another by just being there and acknowledging what we all will go through.  I believe when we keep these thoughts bottled up, and don’t share, that is when anxiety visits us.

I recently shared these thoughts with the women in my Bible study. I told them that this stage of life feels new and unfamiliar. I’ve never been 72 before, nor have I traveled this far into my journey. Naturally, questions come to mind about the health of both my husband and me, and what lies ahead. They aren’t anxious questions, I’m just curious. As I shared, I could tell that many of the ladies share these same feelings and questions, whether we voice them aloud or ponder them quietly.

The next day, during another Bible study, I read aloud from Isaiah 46.4  and it caught my attention:

“Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”

Wow! It felt like God was answering that quiet question in my heart. I hadn’t asked Him yet for reassurance but there it was. God was reminding me that getting older doesn’t mean being left alone. The same God who made me still promises to carry me. What stood out to me most was how gentle God’s words are. He didn’t say, “Be strong,” or “Figure it out.” He said, I will sustain you. I will carry you. Growing older might feel new to us, but it isn’t new to Him. Every part of our lives happens under His care.

Stepping into the unknown can feel uneasy, but it’s never unsafe when God is leading us. Even if we can’t see what’s ahead, His promises stay the same. We aren’t expected to carry ourselves into the future. Instead, we’re invited to trust the One who carries us. Maybe that’s the real gift of getting older. It’s not about losing our certainty, but about growing in trust. There’s a quiet confidence that our lives are still held by our Creator from start to finish.

Oh what a Faithful and Reassuring God we have. I know I can rest in the truth that He will sustain me and carry me through these upcoming years of uncertainty. I know I can trust Him with each passing year.

Be Blessed!

“Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”  Isaiah 46;4

Heaven

 

Article by Father Francis Maple OFM Cap - Link HERE

HEAVEN

         Who is there?

First of all: God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — not as an idea, not through symbols or sacraments, but face to face. That is the heart of Heaven: seeing God as He is, and being completely at home in His love.

With Him are: Our Blessed Lady, radiant with the beauty of a soul totally surrendered to God — now also glorified in body and soul. 

The angels, each one blazing with intelligence, joy, and purpose. 

All the saints, known and unknown — apostles, martyrs, quiet faithful souls, children, grandparents, sinners who repented late, priests worn thin by love, people no one ever noticed.

And yes — those we have loved and lost, if they died in God’s friendship. 

Relationships are not erased; they are perfected.  No jealousy. No misunderstandings. No unfinished conversations. Love is finally free to be what it always longed to be.

Its duration?

Heaven is not “a very long time.”  It is eternity — which means outside time.

Nothing good runs out: Joy doesn’t fade.  Love doesn’t cool.  You never think, “Is this all there is?”

Every moment is full, complete -  and yet always fresh. 

What will we do there?

This is where people imagine clouds and harps and worry they’ll be bored stiff in five minutes.  But boredom is a sign of emptiness.  Heaven is fullness.  You will keep learning more about God.

In Heaven we will: See God - and that vision itself is bliss. 

Love perfectly - without fear, pride, or exhaustion. 

Know — not everything, but everything we need, without confusion. 

Praise and worship - not as a duty, but as something that overflows naturally, like singing when you’re happy. 

Rest - not inactivity, but deep peace: nothing to prove, nothing to fix.

Think of the best moments you’ve ever had: Being completely understood.  Loving someone without reserve.  Praying and feeling utterly at peace.  Listening to music that lifts you out of yourself.

Heaven is all of that, without interruption and without loss.

And you - you will still be you.  Your personality will be perfect.  You will be more yourself than you have ever been - healed of every wound, freed from every limitation, with every good desire finally satisfied.

There will be no regrets.  No sin.  No fear of dying again.  No loneliness.  Just life - real life - as God always intended it.

For many of us — especially those who have loved deeply, lost painfully, prayed faithfully, and grown tired in the service of God - Heaven will reveal what we have been slowly learning all along: we are meant for more.

Heaven is not an escape from life.  It is the fulfilment of it.

In Heaven you will walk with God free from carrying crosses, from learning what truly matters, and from discovering that nothing on earth - however beautiful - is ever quite enough.  The heart slowly learns what it was made for.

Heaven is the fulfilment of the promise God has planted deep within us – a promise sealed by the Resurrection of Christ.

In Heaven we believe in the resurrection of the body.  Just as Christ rose, so shall we.  In Heaven we shall have our risen bodies - real, personal, and glorified.  They will no longer be subject to sickness, weakness, ageing, pain, or death.  What was sown in frailty will be raised in glory.  Nothing that truly made us human is lost; it is transformed.  The body, once a place of struggle, becomes a place of praise.

Heaven is home.

W.W.J.D.

 

Article by Myra Guca - Link HERE 

So, there are many people who have a fascination with professional wrestling. Personally, I don't get it -- but on the other hand, it's so great to have that clear display of black and white: 

Here's the Good Guy who must be loved at all costs, cheered for at all costs.  (Never mind that 3 months ago he was the Bad Guy. Now he's shaved.)   There are no compromises, no exceptions, no wondering, "What's the truth behind that?"  There's no "behind that."  There's just the Good Guy.

And by the same token, it is nice to have such a clear-cut Bad Guy.  We can "boo" him no matter what, any time he comes out and salivates and points his finger and makes amazing threats.  We can "boo" him without any sense of fear that we're doing the right thing.  Because he is the Bad Guy.

I'm reminded of a story our pastor shared years ago: 

He had been talking about how silly wrestling is, so many federations and acronyms ..... and how that's a symbol of everything that is wrong with everything.    One gentleman -- one you might call a "bull-dog believer" -- was right there on the front row.   And there, on his wrist he wore a bracelet from one of those wrestling federations -- the W.W.J.D.

Pastor was infuriated .....he didn't know what it really stood for!  (It's important to know the whole story before we act, isn't it?) 

What Would Jesus Do?  It's a wonderful thing to have heroes like that!  It is a powerful thing.  When we get into a spot and don't know what to do ..... when we have a lot of paths but we're sure that only one of them is going to lead us where we want to go ... it's a good thing to ask, "What would Jesus do right now?"

But there is a challenge.   When we think about a hero that is so big, doing things that are so awesome,  it becomes difficult to imagine, what would Jesus do in my situation? 

In Scripture, there's a story about Jesus and the money changers, there is a story about Jesus and the woman at the well.  

There's no story about Jesus and the emergency room, Jesus and the bad stock tip, Jesus and the office.

So, if those kinds of things are in my life, how do I apply what I find in Scripture to my situation?  I have to think about it... pray about it:  What is my adversary?  What is the "bad guy" in the wresting match I'm experiencing?

And I remember how many presences and powers there are in the Universe -- there is but one God.  Knowing that, if I have this Bad Guy out there who is stopping me from whatever it is, then I begin to realize something important about that Bad Guy - it's not real.   There is no more room for whatever that Bad Guy is. 

God gives his children life...  It is time to live.   God gives his children strength...  It's time to get past it.  God gives his children love...  It is time to get done with fear.

Black-eyed Peas

  

Article by Barbara Mims - Link HERE

Black-eyed Peas

Cold weather calls for warm comfort foods. While I was growing up, the New Year’s habit in my family was to include the Southern tradition of black-eyed peas. Presumably this legume would ensure good luck in the coming months. Although we did not claim to be superstitious, it was a fun excuse to have black-eyed peas, “just in case.”

While I enjoy black-eyed peas, a few years ago I decided to give up on them. Superstition or not, the previous year had ended terribly for me, so discarding them seemed a good option, again, “just in case.”

This year we enjoyed yellow cornbread baked in a cast iron pan, accompanied with sliced ham and green beans. That’s about as traditional of a Southern New Year’s menu I was willing to serve.

In the Old Testament, Job 23:10 says, “The Lord knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.”

In the New Testament, Romans 8:28 gives this promise to those who are committed to the Lord through Jesus Christ: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

I am learning to rely on the Lord with both my good and bad experiences because He is in charge, and He knows how best to refine me for His purposes. With that in mind, regarding the black-eyed peas, I’ll probably add them to my menu next January 1^st!

What are you waiting for?

Article by Martha Jane Orlando - Link HERE 

Wait on the Lord.  Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart.  Wait, I say, on the Lord! ~Psalm 27:14

In today's fast paced society, it seems, "wait" has joined the dubious family of four-letter words.  I love to wait in line at the grocery store, at the doctor's office, on the phone, at a traffic light, said no one ever.  And unfortunately, our cravings for instant gratification, wanting our wants immediately, is incessantly fueled by our internet connections and smart phones.

I'm old enough to remember the days of land lines and television networks that went off the air at midnight.  You didn't have the option of seeing a show you missed because of other obligations you had to meet.

I learn that lesson early in my childhood years.  There is a favorite kids' show on a local station that airs every weekday at 5:00 p.m.  I never want to miss it, especially since my mom and dad are strict about how much television my brother and I are allowed to watch.  Imagine my dismay, not to mention disappointment, when we return home from a late afternoon dental appointment, only to discover I've missed it!

What do I do?  I grab our old analog clock off a side table and promptly turn the hands backward to before 5:00.  When my mother sees me in action, she snatches it back from me, saying, "Turning back the clock can't change what time it actually is.  You'll just have to wait (there's that word) until tomorrow when it comes on again."

Yes, whether or not I like it, I have to wait.

That is then, but this is now.  Today, I can record favorite shows to stream at my leisure, and pause a program in progress if I need to something else at the moment.  The best part about this is, when I do get back to it, I can race through all the mindless commercials to get to the meat of the broadcast.

Is this just another first world convenience?  You bet!  And I'll venture to say I'm not the only one reading this who doesn't enjoy 21st century perks.

But in other ways, not having to wait has its downside.  How can we learn patience unless conditions impose the need for us to wait?  And how can we wait productively when a desired time or place seems woefully out of reach?  My answer?  Prayer!

I confess, it's taken me many years to arrive at that revelation, but God . . .  Talking with and listening to Him is something for which we never have to wait.  He will strengthen our hearts and give us courage to face the challenges and wait-times we encounter each and every day.

And with the grace of patience seemingly in short supply these days, we can pray that we will once again come to realize its dignity, virtue and worth.  

So what are you waiting for?  Go to God in prayer today.  He will never put you on hold.

Amen!

Touched by an Angel

 

Article by Myra Guca - Link HERE 

I love the idea of angels! Yet, I used to resist the concept of angels just a little bit -- wanting to make sure I wasn’t worshipping something separate from God….rather, a clear expression of God. I love the image that angels are a protecting presence enfolding us, and the fact that when I think about angels my thoughts sort of lift up.

Now some people say. “Aren’t angels just good people who have died?” I don’t know! I think perhaps, they are divine ideas put in human form. It’s not too unusual that we would behold the presence of angels this way. We tend to see what we understand, and I think it is sort of natural for us to put good ideas with skin on them …so that we can feel a kind of connection, even humanness to it. It seems more benevolent, somehow to imagine God’s grace in flowing robes and lovely smiles, than to think of it just as a blinding light --though that, too, can be interpreted as an angel by some people.

In the Bible stories, angels keep cropping up, bringing messages that upset people and challenge people and change people and comfort people – sometimes all at once! But the one message they always share is, “Don’t be afraid.” Then, when we read the description, Heavenly hosts -- we’re given to understand this isn’t just a bunch of guys in white robes with harps. This was a massive display of soldiers in full and shining gear with armor and weapons ….all that would be required to fight some divine battle! Remember when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane? He said, my Father can summon 12 legions of angels. Now, if He was going to summon legions of angels they must be pretty tough. They weren’t exactly the lovely diaphanous creatures that we like to think of. Instead, they are a little like say, the great NFL linebacker, Lawrence Taylor. If you want an angel to go before you, don’t you want somebody like that?!

I think it’s sad, in this post-modern culture where we’re so attuned to getting all the facts, that some people just dismiss what they can’t see, or touch or hear. Maybe children see angels better than we do, because they expect them. In the middle of play they might suddenly look off, just to the side where there was seemingly nothing… and smile. Did you ever see a baby do that? Of course, there’s that old saying, "They’re smiling at angels." I’m not so sure it’s just a saying.

Do you see the angels? They re all around us!

Does God look human?

 

Article by Victor S E Moubarak - Link HERE 

The Old Testament records that Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Job encountered or "saw" God. We don't know whether they "saw" Him physically or as a vision. When Moses encountered the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-22) he heard God speak but did not actually see Him.

God is a Spirit.

As humans, we cannot understand or fathom what a spirit is. Is it a bright light? A transparent shape? A soft breeze or a presence?

How would you describe a spirit?

When the Disciples asked Jesus to "show them" God, He said:

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.”

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?

The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing His work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 

And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:1-14

*******

After comforting the Disciples Jesus asks them to trust (believe) in God and to trust in Him and re-iterates that to see Jesus is to see the Father. He, (Jesus) is in the Father and the Father is in Him.

And that's presumably how, over the generations, we have grown to imagine God in human form. The Disciples saw Jesus as a human, (Whom He was, as well as being God), so they assumed that God the Father is also a human form. As no doubt have we, in our minds, envisaged God in human form.

The Bible says that God created us in His image. This means that we possess the same qualities of love, compassion, mercy and forgiveness as God has. It does not mean He created us in His physical image. 

God offered Himself on the Cross for us by sending us His Son Jesus. The Creator became part of His Creation.

Our Christian faith does not teach that we should climb up to God for our redemption. God has come down to us, and offered Himself as sacrifice on the Cross. 

The Father is God. And Jesus is God. And the Holy Spirit is God. The Holy Trinity - three in one. 

Thy Will Be Done

 

Article by Martha Jane Orlando - Link HERE 

In this manner, therefore, pray:  Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. ~Matthew 6:9-10

There are only two kinds of people in the end:  those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done."  All that are in Hell, choose it.  Without that self-choice there could be no Hell.  No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it.  Those who seek find.  To those who knock it is opened. ~C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce.

The Lord's Prayer.  We recite it every Sunday in church.  It's probably one of the first prayers we memorize as children.  The words, said repeatedly, are comforting and familiar to each of us.

But the problem arises when these words become nothing more than rote when saying them out loud.  We speak corporately out of habit, not taking time to reflect upon what we are actually espousing with each uttered phrase.  It is, indeed, a slippery slope for Christians, young and old.

When we pray that God's will be done, do we mean it?  Do we really believe it, or do we secretly think His will should be done only if it aligns with our hopes, our dreams, our expectations?  If that's the case, we are confining ourselves to our own lonely, isolated perspective where we deem our needs and desires to be more important than what God wills for our lives and for the lives of those we love.

Tragically, this whole misconception leaves God and His sovereignty out of the equation altogether.  That idea alone should shake us to our very core.  Because the evil one craves nothing more than to work to separate us from the God we profess to love and worship.  The devil sees that narcissistic chink in our armor as an opportunity to worm his way into our hearts and minds.

St. Paul proclaims in Romans 8:39 that nothing can separate us from God's love.  I agree.  But God created us with free will; we can choose His way or the highway at any given juncture.  As C. S. Lewis states above, all that are in Hell choose it.

As we prepare here in the States to celebrate Thanksgiving this week, I challenge all of you to take time to rediscover the Lord's Prayer.  Examine each turn of phrase.  Ask yourself if you wish for God's kingdom to reign on earth as it does in heaven, or do you prefer your own little kingdom of one to prevail?

I have no doubt you will come to the right conclusion.

Amen!