Psalm 34:7 (eternal perspective)

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

When the afflicted man called out, the Lord heard, and from all his distress saved him. Psalm 34:7

Living Faith snippets: "I am grateful for God's consolation in times of sorrow and for his supportive grace in times of weakness. As I grow older, it becomes clearer that I could not have gotten through these difficulties without God's generous, compassionate help." by Fr. Kenneth Grabner, C.S.C.

Rich's comments: My grandmother died late Sunday night in Oregon on December 14th. Although I was not with her during her final moments, I am happy that my family was there to surround her with God's love and compassion. The natural response for humans this side of eternity is to be sorrowful and scared with the passing of a loved one. We don't understand death, and we fear what we don't understand. To overcome this fear of death we need to change our point of view to an eternal perspective. Many more people have died and now live than those who are presently on earth. Due to the victory of our Lord over death, we can say, “Where there’s death, there’s hope." Although it may seem difficult and contradictory to our emotions, as Christians we should rejoice when our loved ones die, because they are reunited and living with Jesus for eternity.

God our Father,

Your power brings us to birth,

Your providence guides our lives,

and by Your command we return to dust.

Lord, those who die still live in Your presence,

their lives change but do not end.

I pray in hope for my family,

relatives and friends,

and for all the dead known to You alone.

In company with Christ,

Who died and now lives,

may they rejoice in Your kingdom,

where all our tears are wiped away.

Unite us together again in one family,

to sing Your praise forever and ever.

Amen.

Jesus' Christmas 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?

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, John Peak (parent's health & his deployment), Pat Castle (Kathy Ayers recovering from brain surgery, Mike Castle eye infection), Liz Curry (friend Bill recovering from heart surgery), Jason Peters (health of son JP, http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jppeters), Carolyn McKissack (granddaughter Bailee with Crohn's), Rob Ouellette (Sally, Jim, Kevin, Joe, Carla & two Mary's)

Faith Quote: "We are told that Christ was killed for us, that His death has washed out our sins, and that by dying He has disabled death itself. That is the formula. That is Christianity. That is what has to be believed." by C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

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)!