John 15:7 (bowing to God's will)

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

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. John 15:7 (full readings)

Living Faith snippets: "Maybe the true meaning is something like this: If we perfectly remain in the Risen Christ, and his words remain perfectly in us, then we will ask only for what God in his wisdom will give. But we never do these things perfectly, do we? We can't use these words of Jesus as if they are a magic formula. All prayers should end with a bow of obedience to the ultimately mysterious will of God." by Mitch Finley

Rich's comments: I would like to share with you an excerpt from Matthew Kelley's book, Rediscovering Catholicism, that speaks about the will of God. "The saints perfectly aligned themselves with the will of God. That is what makes them saints - this synthesis of their own individual will and the will of God. In this modern era, people have been seduced by the dark lie that it is impossible to know the will of God. This is a diabolical lie of unfathomable proportions, because it separates us from our essential purpose and leads us down a road to misery and despair. The will of God is that you become the-best-version-of-yourself. God doesn't want to control you, or manipulate you, or stifle you, or force you to do things you don't want to do. If that were God's desire, then he would not have given you free will in the first place. God wants you to become all you can be, and in the process he wants you to experience the greatest mystery of them all - love."

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

* NEW: When you make decisions, think about what choices will help you to become the-best version-of-yourself; the version that God intended you to be.

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, Jason Peters (son JP), Kathy Castle (Michael Moon hand infection), Carla Neal (Harold Heard, Jamie, Joyce & all of you)

* NEW: Pat, Angi, & 4 cadets (safe trip to China and back)

Feast Day: Our Lady of Fátima is the title given to the vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary that was said to have appeared before three shepherd children at Fátima, Portugal on the 13th day of six consecutive months in 1917, starting on 13 May, the Fátima holiday.

Faith Quote: "True holiness consists in doing God's will with a smile." by Mother Teresa

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)!