Luke 1:28 (obstacles, greed, God's love, silent no more, Mary)

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

Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you. Luke 1:28

Living Faith snippets: "Mary's "yes" is not just about her and God. It's about all of us...the whole, winding, messy journey of humanity. She's giving herself over completely to God for His loving purposes. Only God can clear out the obstacles [see Faith quote below], which He did for Mary from her conception [see Holy Day below]. And which He does within us, too, beginning with the waters of baptism and continuing with each "yes" we offer Him. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you...[pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death]." by Amy Welborn

Pastor Don's devotion: Read his devotion that I titled "Combating Greed" at http://pastordonbird.blogspot.com/. A few snippets: "I hope and pray that this email finds all of you in a place where your hearts are open to receiving Christ today. That is what this Advent season is all about - preparing our hearts for Christ to live and reign in us! As Christians we often times rail against the commercialization of Christmas. We can easily identify the greed in others, but are we ready to identify the greed in our own lives? How much do we spend this time of year on things that, come next Christmas, we don't even use anymore? The dictionary defines greed as "an excessive desire for getting or having". Greed goes beyond the material. Are we greedy with our time? Wanting to use it on the things we enjoy and not offering that time in service to others or God? Are we greedy with our attitudes, believing that our wants are above the needs of others, always expecting something in return? We are reminded this time of the year of a selfless, sacrificial God who comes to us in the form of an innocent, tiny baby. The only thing He is greedy for is His excessive desire for the hearts of each of His children. Let's allow God to search our hearts and prepare us for the coming of our King. Before we look at the greedy world and condemn it, let's look at our own greediness and ask God to heal it. Romans 12:1-2. This Advent season, let God bring the best out of each of us and if we are going to be greedy for anything this season, let's be greedy for Christ and have an excessive desire to do His will."

Jesus' Christmas (birthday) List: This is how we give Jesus a Christmas (birthday) gift..."whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matt 25:40). The true meaning of Christmas is to share our gifts (time, talent, treasure, faith, hope, love) with those lacking in "daily bread" and love. Who is in dire need of our Christmas gifts?

* NEW: Everyone is in dire need of God's love...let's share the gift of God's love.

* NEW: In mid Dec, Patti Kryzanowski (C. Springs) is taking gifts to the Lakota people on the Pine Ridge Reservation in SD. Please let me know if you have anything to donate.

ProLife news: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ & http://www.priestsforlife.org/
* NEW: Beth O'Connor shared..."The Silent No More campaign, designed to promote awareness of the pain abortion causes, has created a series of YouTube videos at http://www.youtube.com/silentnomorecampaign. Please view as many of the videos as possible."

* 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, John Peak (parent's health & his deployment), Liz Curry (friend Bill recovering from heart surgery)

* NEW: Kathy-jo Peterson (friend Dave with brain cancer), Rich Reich (Grandma with health problems), Pat Castle (neighbor Kathy Ayers having brain surgery today)

Holy Day (Immaculate Conception): http://www.catholic.com/library/Immaculate_Conception_and_Assum.asp

Faith Quote: "Doubt sees the obstacles. Faith sees the way. Doubt sees the darkest night. Faith sees the day. Doubt dreads to take a step. Faith soars on high. Doubt questions, 'Who believes?' Faith answers, 'I'." author unknown

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)!