* 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).
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28
Living Faith snippets: "Scripture scholars tell us that the yoke of Jesus is being his disciple, and that this yoke demands that we learn to be "meek and humble of heart" as he is. We can say that Christ frees us from the burden of any legalistic interpretation of faith and of Christian discipleship. Faith is a word that refers to a life lived in loving intimacy with the Lord, not a life lived according to rules and regulations as ends in themselves." by Mitch Finley
Rich's comments: Whenever I read this passage about the yoke of Christ, I always think about my move to Wright-Patterson AFB in March of 2001. My wife and I just moved to Dayton, Ohio and so attended a particular church for the first time. We were 15 minutes early and the priest approached me while we were sitting in our pew. He asked me to help him for the beginning of Mass. I agreed leaving my wife at the pew. At the beginning of Mass, my wife and the whole congregation were surprised to find me processing first down the main aisle of the church holding a very large yoke across my shoulders (picture shown above). I will never forget the Gospel message presented to me that day. Christ said that He will give rest to all those who are burdened. He did not mean that walking beside Him would not be difficult, but in doing so He would help us carry the burdens (i.e. the yoke is built for two, but those two must be walking closely together as a team). Lord, sometimes I feel that my way is the easier way. Please help me to be humble and recognize that only in You will I have rest. Amen.
ProLife news: http://www.lifenews.com/.
Our Prayers: Abortion, our enemies/our troops, natural disasters, depression/despair, prisoners, Vicki M. (her cancer treatment), Joe C. (11 yr old Devantae paralyzed), Kay C. (friend Nancy Wheeler cancer treatment), Kathy-jo P. (friend Maria has terminal brain cancer and needs a hospice)
Faith quote: "Our hearts are restless until they rest in You." by Saint Augustine
Through Christ Our Lord,
Rich
Romans 12:12
* 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)!
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