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. All whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Col. 3:17
Do not be amazed that I told you, "You must be born from above." The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound that it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. John 3:7-8
Living Faith snippets: "God's activity can never be anything but good and does not need to be reformed or controlled. It began at the creation of the world and up to now has continued with the same energy, which knows no limits. Its fertility is inexhaustible." by Jean-Pierre de Caussade (Abandonment to Divine Providence)
Pat nuggets: The devotion did not go out on Friday because I scrambled to move my Boston Marathon flight up to get out of C. Springs before the snowstorm. The race is 10 AM EST, Mon, 20 Apr...God apparently needed me to leave a day early based on the following experiences.
* On my flight, I had the opportunity to share our faith with a pro-choice Boston runner. I explained how I use running to get closer to God, pray for others, and defend the unborn. She was particularly surprised about the ProLife ministry because a Planned Parenthood volunteer sat next to her on her previous flight that same day. Coincidence?, I think not! After sharing some God Sightings with her and the motives for our ProLife ministry, I think she got a glimpse of the Divine Mercy, and she opened up about her own pains...her Mom was a drug addict and married six times...her oldest sister left home at 16, she left home at 14, and her little sister was supposed to be aborted (free clinic would not do a third abortion for her Mom). She told me that her upbringing was a lot like the book The Glass Castle. I suggested that she offer up some miles of the marathon for her family and told her that I would offer up a mile for her. Please pray for her and her family...
* On Saturday morning, I met another runner in the lobby of the Hanscom AFB lodging office. We carpooled into Boston to get our race packets, so we had several hours to visit. On Sunday morning, he hesitantly accepted my invitation for him to join me for Mass. He had not been to church in 10 years. After Mass he said, "it is amazing how much of that church service pertained to my life." Our lodging rooms were directly across from one another. Coincidence?, I think not!
Faith Challenge: Let's challenge each other to joyfully live out the Good News.
* NEW: Learn about Sr. Faustina and Divine Mercy Sunday (Sunday after Easter) through Sr. Francelle's devotion, Divine Mercy Sunday. Jesus appeared to Sr. Faustina to give her the Divine Mercy message and asked her to have someone paint a picture of his image (attached) with these words inscribed below the picture, JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU! One of the songs at my Divine Mercy Sunday Mass was Here I am. With the recent devotions on images of Christ and recognizing Him, this part of the song stood out..."Here I am, standing right beside you...I am here in the face of every child. I am here in every warm embrace. I am here with tenderness and mercy."
* Let's never forget the horrific reality of abortion (images)...#1 cause of death in America. Let's courageously share ProLife Truth (John 14:6) to create social tension for exposing abortion's unjust peace...rebuilding a Culture of Life (Matt 5:16) and setting the unborn free!
Our Prayers: Those who pray together stay together. Fasting ideas below.
* Prayer to end abortion, abused children, chastity, peace, our enemies, our troops, depression/ despair, prisoners, ProLife politicians, illnesses/injuries, jobs, natural disasters, addictions
Faith Quote: "…show mercy…do it cheerfully." Romans 12:8 (shared by Sue Peters)
Through Christ our Lord,
Pat
Phil 4:13
* Prayer: Prayer connects us with God's will & His miracles, changing us & helping others. 'If you pray that God will move a mountain and He doesn’t, assume Christ wants you to climb it instead.'
* Fasting: Let's fast from things that take our eyes off Jesus (selfishness, bitterness, being so critical, impatience, 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 live 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 invite others to join our LIFE Group...Rich or Pat will gladly add them to the devotions distribution list (Mark 16:15)!
* Fasting: Let's fast from things that take our eyes off Jesus (selfishness, bitterness, being so critical, impatience, 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 live 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 invite others to join our LIFE Group...Rich or Pat will gladly add them to the devotions distribution list (Mark 16:15)!
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