Matthew 17:4 (lasting joy)

* 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). All whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Col. 3:17

Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Matthew 17:4

Living Faith snippets: "[Like Peter] I can't have it all right now. Life's joys come and go. They can't be contained. In heaven, all the joys I so briefly glimpse here will be gathered up and be transfigured [see feast day link below] into the eternal, glorious presence of Love that never ends. Lord, I take joy in my journey to eternal life with you." by Amy Welborn

Pat nuggets:

* God sightings: I flew to Steubenville, OH this past Spring to visit the Aborn family. Afterwards, I realized that I did not interact with people sitting next to me on the flights (opportunities to share the joy of Christ which can heal all wounds). While waiting at the airport for my flight home from IN last week (conference, visit my brother Joe), I noticed the person next to me was highlighting her Bible. I said, "looks like a lot of highlights." She said, "it's all really good." I smiled and said, "I agree." I then told her the story of seeing Jim Hourigan's Bible which is essentially highlighted cover to cover. We ended up sitting in the same row on the plane [coincidence, I think not!]...and together gave faith responses to the problems of the person sitting between us (a nanny who was employed by a couple with serious family issues). On my final flight I collaborated with a wonderful 87 yr old woman about sharing the joy of Christ with her atheist son. Good and amazing things happen when we embrace God's command to share the Good News (Mark 16:15). "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few" (Luke 10:2)...let's embrace this song, "Here I am Lord, I will go Lord!"

ProLife news: http://www.lifenews.com/.

* Joe Castle shared: "Think about the Psalm in this days devotion [on Monday] in relation to the unborn." Those outnumber the hairs of my head who hate me without cause. Too many for my strength are they who wrongfully are my enemies. Must I restore what I did not steal? Psalm 69:5

Feast Day (Transfiguration of the Lord): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfiguration_of_Jesus

Our Prayers: Abortion, chastity, our enemies/our troops, natural disasters, depression/ despair, dementia, cancer, prisoners, Liz Curry (Drew, 2 yr old, kidney tumor surgery), Deb Kayser (rotator cuff and hand surgeries)

Faith Quote: Chad Livingston shared this one. "The most important thing you think is what you think about God." - A. W. Toser

Through Christ Our Lord,
Pat
Phil 4:13

* Today's Bible readings at www.usccb.org/nab/today.shtml. Reflection on readings at http://www.daily-meditations.org/index2.html
* 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. Prayer to End Abortion. Ask Blessed Margaret of Castello for her prayers 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)!