Psalm 150:6 (Christian identity)

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

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Alleluia. Psalm 150:6

Living Faith snippets: "After all, who more than God, the Creator of the universe and our Creator, is deserving of praise? Praise be Jesus Christ! Now and forever." by Rebecca Sande

Pat nuggets:

* Christian identity: Chad Livingston shared this about Monday's devotion: "There is a biblical mandate to rebuke our brother if he sins...having someone in your life (perhaps a priest) whom you allow to honestly rebuke you is a step of faith that I believe God wants us to take. Outsiders already see her [the Church] as hypocritical because they do not see Christians acting in a Christ like manner. If we have a real relationship with Jesus, lets act in a Christ like manner and be considered lunatics if we need to. I prefer the label of freak to Hypocrite." Joel Cain and Chad Livingston both recently posed this question..."How would unbelievers recognize a Christian in the world?" We know the overarching answer...they will know we are Christians by our love! Let's build a list of everyday things we can do to help others recognize that we choose to live in Christ. Joel and I came up with these to get us started: 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, others?

* Snippets from Thanksgiving, Freedom and Life by Fr. Frank Pavone: "Our Founding Fathers were influenced in their philosophy of government by Scripture and the Judeo-Christian tradition, according to which everyone was a sinner and equally subject to the laws of God. Moreover, each person is a child of God. This awareness shaped our Founding Fathers’ concept of government, because it introduced something unheard of among the ancient pagans, namely, that now, each individual has a direct and personal link to the Creator. This awareness of the dignity of the human person then formed the basis for letting each individual have a say in a representative form of government, and for insisting that our rights, starting with Life, come from the Creator, and that “to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men” (Declaration of Independence). This is what we celebrate at Thanksgiving – not just that we have food, but that we have freedom, rooted in God and the recognition that government cannot tamper with our human rights." www.priestsforlife.org/columns/columns2008/08-11-17-turkey-day.htm

ProLife news: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ and http://www.priestsforlife.org/

* Fr. Frank Pavone wrote: "The Freedom of Choice Act would vastly increase the number of [abortions]. When people realize how extreme the bill is – for example, saying to states that they cannot require abortionists to inform the parents of a minor before doing an abortion on her – they will reject the bill. The key is that we make sure people know this before Congress votes on it." more at www.priestsforlife.org/legislation."

* David Meece shared this from Americans United for Life (AUL): "The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) would establish the right to abortion as a fundamental right and wipe away every restriction on abortion nationwide...and prevent states from enacting similar protective measures in the future. Please take a minute to sign this petition and then forward to your friends and family. As we petition heaven for the unborn let's put action to our prayers and sign this petition as an act of faith. Please read the expert analysis by AUL and sign the Fight FOCA petition at: http://www.fightfoca.com/."

* The Freedom of Choice Act does not include the choice/voice of the unborn. We are their voice crying out in the culture of death..."Life"!

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, Joe Castle (medical concern), Joe Hourigan (special intention), Pam McGushin (family of six yr old William Hopkins), Lynn Bishara (aunt Mary with ovarian cancer), Stephanie Spader (for babies with twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome), Joe Hourigan (Silbi and Sabu to resist abortion pressure)

* 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.

* Gina Prevett (her friend Renee with brain tumor surgery today)

Faith quote: "You and I can be in it and not of it [the world]." Jesus in the fictional book The Shack by William P. Young

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)!