Friday, November 21, 2008

Luke 19:48 (hanging on every word, Thanksgiving)


Welcome God every morning before your 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

...All the people were hanging on His words. Luke 19:48

Living Faith snippets: "How easy it would have been, I thought, to hear His words and come to believe. I realized later how wrong I was. I would have been laughed at, spat upon and maybe even thrown in jail or stoned to death. Even today, we can find it hard to hang on to the words of Jesus while living our lives, raising our children and earning a living. We can easily shut out Jesus' words because we don't make the time to hear and obey them. But the words of Jesus remain, as sure as the rising and the setting of the sun. All we have to do is listen for them and hang our lives upon them." by Steve Givens

Pat nuggets:
* Our daughter Grace (5) recently asked our daughter Paige (8), "What is your favorite food?" Paige said, "the Body and Blood of Jesus...and then mac & cheese." Jesus said to them (John 6:54), "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day." Hopefully, the Body and Blood of Christ is our favorite food, based on eternal nourishment (top of the "food guide pyramid"!). Let's consider saying this when asked about our favorite food (hopefully they will ask why...and we will share our faith!). The word Eucharist (Body and Blood of Christ) literally means "give thanks" (to God!). Thanks be to God for Paige's gift of faith...and thanks to Paige for another great "Christian ID" tip (see below).

Christian ID: "How would unbelievers recognize a Christian in the world?" They will know we are Christians by our love! Some things we can do to glorify God and love neighbor (others?).
* When someone sneezes-say "God bless you", when asked for prayers-offer to pray with them on the spot, when asked about your weekend-tell about your faith activities
* (NEW) Pastor Don Bird, Joel Cain, Chad Livingston and Steve Castle helped with this one. When someone takes the Lord's name in vain (2nd commandment), ask them gently to please not say that (hopefully they will ask why...and we will share our faith!).

Sister Francelle's devotion: Read her devotion titled "Thanksgiving" at http://sisterfrancelle.blogspot.com/. A few snippets: "Dearest Ones, many people don't bother saying, "thank-you" anymore. This is sad because thankfulness is good for the soul. When we are thankful, we recognize that food, a home and all other necessities come to us because of the goodness of God. Thankfulness turns our hearts toward heaven. "Give thanks to God at all times and for everything." (1 Thes. Ch 5:18) This morning I made a list of my blessings, one for each letter of the alphabet. Here's what I came up with [see devotion]. You may enjoy doing this as a family on Thanksgiving or while riding in the car. Let's make this Thanksgiving more than just a good turkey dinner. People are more hungry for love and appreciation than for food. Hugs and best wishes for a Happy thanksgiving."

* "Another 'champion of abortion' becomes defender of life: the story of Stojan Adasevic." Some snippets: "Stojan Adasevic, who performed 48,000 abortions, sometimes up to 35 per day, is now the most important pro-life leader in Serbia, after 26 years as the most renowned abortion doctor in the country. “The medical textbooks of the Communist regime said abortion was simply the removal of a blob of tissue,” the newspaper reported. “Ultrasounds allowing the fetus to be seen did not arrive until the 80s, but they did not change his opinion. Nevertheless, he began to have nightmares.” Adasevic has told his story in magazines and newspapers throughout Eastern Europe. He has returned to the Orthodox faith of his childhood and has studied the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. Today the Serbian doctor continues to fight for the lives of the unborn." http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=14322
Our Prayers: Prayer to End Abortion, chastity, our enemies, our troops, natural disasters, depression/ despair, prisoners, ProLife politicians, loss of loved ones, lack of faith, illnesses/injuries, Lynn Bishara (aunt Mary with cancer), Stephanie Spader (for babies with twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome), Joe Hourigan (special intention & Silbi and Sabu), Gina Prevett (Renee with brain tumor), Kay Castle (funding for Welcome Home Warriors), Tom Albrecht (health/faith of parents)
* Let's pray for courage to build relationships and talk about ProLife. Let's pray that We The People of America will shine Christ's Light and build a culture of Life (Matt 5:16).
* Prayer Update: Stephanie Spader ("Thanks for including these babies in the prayer requests. The smaller twin is gaining weight. Obviously something is helping the twin to grow. Keep the prayers coming. God bless.")

Faith quote: "I think any bishop here would consider it a privilege to die tomorrow to bring about the end of abortion. If we're willing to die tomorrow to bring about the end of abortion, then we should be willing to spend the end of our lives dedicated, to take whatever criticism, to bring about the end to this genocide." Bishop Robert Hermann

Through Christ for ProLife,
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.'
* Fasting: Let's fast from things that takes our eyes off Jesus (selfishness, bitterness, being so critical, impatience, judgment, gossip, excessive video games, etc) and take on things that fix our eyes on Jesus (selflessness, kindness, compassion, forgiveness, patience, understanding, caring, helping, listening).
* 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 lie as you wish' Blessed Mother Teresa.
* Evangelization: Let's make room for unbelievers (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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