2 Kings 24:14 (poor in spirit)

* Welcome God every morning before work by taking ~5 min to read this Living In Faith Exchange (LIFE) Group devotion (life-devotions.blogspot.com), which has snippets from Living Faith (livingfaith.com).

None were left among the people of the land except the poor. 2 Kings 24:14

Living Faith snippets: "Jesus always defended the poor. The poor, however, are not equated with the destitute. The poor Jesus speaks of are of a special type he calls, "blessed." "Blessed are the poor in spirit," Jesus says, "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." In other words, blessed are they who know that they are poor, who know that without God they are nothing, who rely totally on God for everything." by Sr. Charleen Hug, S.N.D.

Rich's comments: One commonality between all military services is an initial period of military training in the careers of all service men and women in which their spirits are broken down. Civilians may know of this period as "boot camp." Boot camp is intended to strip the airmen, soldiers, or sailors of all pride, self-worth, and self-esteem. They need to be made to believe that they are nothing without the team. Us Christians must also experience a spiritual boot camp. Sinners must be brought down before they can rise up. It means that we must be aware of our lowliness before God, that everything that we have is from God, and we can do nothing without Him. Lord, we get so caught up in material things, cares and concerns of this World. Help us to realize that we have nothing of value without You in our lives. Amen.

ProLife news: lifesitenews.com

Faith quote: "Don't tell God how big your storm is....tell your storm how big your God is." by unknown author

Our Prayers: Abortion, our enemies, our troops, China earthquake, Myanmar cyclone, Midwest floods, depression/despair, prisoners, Vicki Miller (her cancer treatment), Devantae (11 yr old boy paralyzed)

Through Christ Our Lord,

Rich

Romans 12:12

* Outreach: Let's gladly invite those near us to join our LIFE Devotions group (Mark 16:15), providing routine spiritual connection and strength (simply forward a devotion with an invitation).
* Today's Bible readings at www.usccb.org/nab/today.shtml.
* Prayer: Prayer connects us with God's will & His miracles, thereby changing us & helping others. Wayne Watson lyrics, “When God's people pray, there is hope reborn, there is sin forgiven, and miracles you can't explain await!” "If you pray that God will move a mountain and He doesn’t, assume Christ wants you to climb it instead & see Him."
* Defend the unborn: 'Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; don’t stand back and let them die' (Prov 24:11). 'Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you' (Jer 1:5). 'It is a great poverty that a child must die that you might live as you wish' Blessed Mother Teresa. Click for Prayer to End Abortion.
* Evangelization: Let's make room for non-believers (be a friend, make a friend, lead friend to Christ) and perpetual re-evangelization of self and those near us, by way of daily prayer (relationship) and following Christ's example of selfless love, mercy, and service.
Let's joyfully live out the Good News and gladly tell others about it (Mark 16:15)!