Acts 1:6 The Ascension of the Lord

Let's 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. All whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Col. 3:17

When they had gathered together they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" Acts 1:6 (full readings)

Living Faith snippets: "The disciples could not let go of a dream that was so deep in their hearts: Surely the Christ would restore the kingdom of Israel! Like the disciples, we all have our dreams for what God must surely want to accomplish in the world: an end to poverty, to abortion, to violence and to the long list of plagues and injustices that we can so easily catalogue. And maybe someday God will take care of every last one of those things we wish he would do right now." by Mark Neilsen

Rich's comments: We must trust in the rightness of God's plan and its timing, but I do not believe that we are suppose to take an inactive stance and peacefully watch the injustices in our World take place like legalized abortion. Knowing the Truth of Christ's teachings, the Holy Spirit moves my heart and makes me want to take action. Just like when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles during Pentecost. Maybe God's plan is dependent on our ears opening to the call of the Holy Spirit within our hearts. I believe that God has chosen all of us to take an active role in His plan to serve His purposes. Let's not dissapoint Him.

Faith Challenge: Let's challenge each other to joyfully live out the Good News.

* NEW: Take on the responsibility of educating and aligning your conscience with God's will so that you will be more receptive to the calling of the Holy Spirit within your heart.

Counter-Culture News: LifeSiteNews, American Family Association, Priests for Life
* 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, Rich (Jim Russell who is battling cancer)

* NEW: Rich (doctors found 5 cm tumor in Jack Myers' esophagus and he will begin Chemo treatment next week)

Feast Day: The Ascension of the Lord

Faith Quote: "I gave in, and admitted that God was God." by C.S. Lewis

Through Christ our Lord,

Rich

Romans 12:12

* 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)!