John 21:17 (asking the right question)

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

He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything: you know that I love you." [Jesus] said to him, "Feed my sheep." John 21:17 (full readings)

Living Faith snippets: "You can take all kinds of tests and inventories that will help you decide how to spend your time, resources and money. All of that might be helpful at one time or another. But if we're not careful, we might be looking for the answer to the wrong question. 'Do you love me?' Lord, I love you. What do you want me to do?" by Amy Welborn

Rich's comments: It seems that the one question that society is always asking itself is "What's going to make me happy?" We as Christians can easily get caught up in this self-centered thinking. We find ourselves imprisoned by our whims, cravings, and addictions. Society has dooped us into believing that freedom is the ability to do whatever we want without interference from any authority. This is not freedom. The following is an excerpt from Matthew Kelly's book (Rediscovering Catholicism) regarding freedom: "Love is the core of Jesus' philosophy. But, in order to love you must be free. For to love is to give your self freely and without reservation. Yet, to give your self - to another person, to an endeavor, or to God - you must first possess your self. This possession of self is freedom. It is a prerequisite for love, and is attained only through discipline."

Faith Challenge: Let's challenge each other to joyfully live out the Good News.
* NEW: Periodically abstain from the whims, cravings, and addictions in your life to test if you are truly free or a prisoner of your own selfish desires.

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: "Christ proposes a life of discipline not for its own sake, and certainly not to stifle or control us; rather, he proposes discipline as the key to freedom." by Matthew Kelly

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)!