John 21:15 (loving others)‏

* Welcome God every morning before 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).

Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. John 21:15

Living Faith snippets: "Jesus shows Peter and us what love is by directing our gaze toward those in need--the Lord's lambs and sheep. If you love me, he says, then express that love to others." by David Nantais

Sr. Francelle snippets: "Dearest Ones, why doesn't everyone get healed when they pray? It is so hard to see a loved one suffer. The only way I can make sense of someone not being healed when I pray is to look at our Savior, Jesus. God didn't answer the prayer of His own dear Son, when He begged in the garden: "Father, if it be possible, take this chalice from me, but not my will but Thine be done." Why didn't God spare His sinless Son the terrible cross? Although He knew He could call on ten thousand angels to rescue Him, Jesus willingly took hold of the cross and began to carry it because through the cross Jesus knew He would save us and He must do the will of the Father. Most people are not healed. After all, all people die, so they can't all be healed! The good life does not mean we will be free from suffering. There will still be money problems, sickness, loss of jobs, misunderstanding and much more. Suffering is not the greatest of evils, but a normal part of life. If the Lord should call me to a period of illness, I know well that his power can be made perfect in weakness, that He suffers in and with me - we never suffer alone. Suffering is redemptive. Our suffering, if offered to God, can be the means of others finding their way to heaven. Suffering is a great teacher. We learn to rely more on God, to pray and trust more - I pray more when faced with a hopeless situation. We learn patience and most of all, we learn who is really in charge of our life. If suffering brings us closer to God, then it is a gift. Job kept right on praising God, even when he was covered with sores and his life was full of trials. I believe the secret of accepting suffering lies in the fact that we can keep on trusting and praying, even when all seems lost. Above all else, when I pray for someone who is suffering, I pray they will accept it. The saints welcomed suffering [they recognized that it brought them closer to God]. If you want to help someone who is suffering, pray that they will surrender and unite their sufferings to those of Christ. All my love and prayers, Sister Francelle." See her entire devotion at sisterfrancelle.blogspot.com/.

Pat nuggets:
* Evangelization: Secularization (remove God), New Age spirituality (no God), and Moral Relativism (no God standard) are pulling people away from God. I overheard someone saying yesterday, "can you believe that a man in the airport wanted to talk about religion with me...I just walked away from him." This caused me to reflect on my last airport visit where I sat waiting for my plane like a paralyzed monkey...instead of loving my "neighbors" sitting next to me. I could have asked them how they were doing and uncovered hurts that only Jesus can heal. Once they realized that I genuinely cared about them (out of love for neighbor, Matt 22:39), they may even have accepted an invite to join our LIFE devotions group. Lord, forgive me for the things I have failed to do" (sins of omission).

Our Prayers: All (thanksgiving prayers), Pat Castle (abortion, soldiers, enemies), Kay Castle (crimes against children), Vicki Miller (cancer treatment), Pam McGushin (mom's depression, Cindy's cancer treatment), Tom Tenpenny (Anna's cancer treatment), Dale Sundermann (his Mom), Jenny Senour (ProLife job interview), Liz Curry (Christian's back surgery), Cyclone in Myanmar (suffering)

Through Christ for ProLife,
Pat
Phil 4:13

* Today's Bible readings at www.usccb.org/nab/today.shtml.
* Prayer: If you have a prayer request, simply send it to our distribution list at life-group-distro@googlegroups.com. Prayer connects us with God's will & His miracles, thereby changing us & helping others (so let's pray daily!). 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."
* Defend the unborn: ProLife websites at life-devotions.blogspot.com. '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 live as you wish' Blessed Mother Teresa. Click for Prayer to End Abortion.
* Share the Good News: Let's joyfully live out the Good News and gladly tell others about it (Mark 16:15)! Let's make room to share with non-believers (be a friend, make a friend, lead your friend to Christ)...and work on perpetual re-evangelization of ourselves and those close to us (Western culture), drawing closer to God's will by way of daily prayer (real relationship) and following Christ's example of selfless love, mercy, and service...

* Let's invite family, friends, and our "neighbors" to join the LIFE Devotions group, providing routine spiritual connection and strength for our faith communities.