1 John 2:12 (New Year's resolutions...)

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

I am writing to you, children, because your sins have been forgiven for his name's sake. 1 John 2:12

Living Faith snippets: "We aren't very good at forgiveness, either offering or accepting. It's nearly New Year's Day. Instead of a bunch of resolutions you will find hard to keep, call or write a loved one, mend a fence, seek forgiveness, offer your love." by Paul Pennick

Rich's comments: "Love means never having to say you're sorry," is a line from the 1970 film Love Story starring Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal. This quote may seem romantic by Hollywood standards, but it misses the mark of what real love is by a mile. Love is saying you are sorry whether you are wrong or right. Love is more important than winning an argument, or holding a grudge. At church, when we offer peace to one another, I always find it most important to offer peace to my wife. During this time, I like to focus on the events of the past week and where I have fallen short of maintaining peace in our relationship. I take this opportunity to re-establish a commitment to her to be forgiving and patient in our marriage as a sign of my love for her.

ProLife news: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ & http://www.priestsforlife.org/
* Let's pray for courage to communicate the ProLife message through Christ to those around us (John 14:6)...rebuilding a Culture of Life (Matt 5:16).

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, Kathy Ayers (brain surgery recovery), Mike Castle (eye infection), Jason Peters (health of son JP), Carolyn McKissack (granddaughter Bailee with Crohn's), Joe Levisky (medical issues), Rob Ouellette (St. Patrick's prayer list), Rich Reich (Granny's health problems), Liz Curry (friend Bill), Dan Castle (for alcoholics to accept intervention)

Faith Quote: "Forgiveness is an act of faith. By forgiving another, I am trusting that God is a better justice-maker than I am. By forgiving, I release my own right to get even and leave all issues of fairness of God to work out. I leave in God's hands the scales that must balance justice and mercy." by Philip Yancey

The next devotion is Mon, 5 Jan...Happy New Year!

Through Christ Our Lord,

Rich

Romans 12:12

* 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)!