Matthew 5:19 (righteousness...)

Let's welcome God every morning before work by giving a few minutes to read this Living In Faith Exchange (LIFE) Group devotion (life-devotions.blogspot.com), which is based on Living Faith. All whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Col. 3:17

Whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:19 (full readings)

Living Faith snippets: "No sooner does Jesus say this than He warns us not to consider ourselves great because of our righteousness. Righteousness is a good thing. It means that we think and act according to what is right, proper, true, just and fitting. But Jesus makes it clear that there are degrees of righteousness. The kind of righteousness He demands of His followers is more than a set of moral practices. It is the consistent expression of who we are. Righteousness is more than skin deep. It is the substance of our being. It is more than a notion. It is a way of life. When we become a follower of Jesus, we do not simply believe. We become believers. It's as if our faith takes up permanent residence not only in our head and heart, but in every inch of our body. In the end, it is Jesus Himself who permeates all we are and do." by Sr. Melannie Svoboda

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

* NEW: Has our faith taken up "permanent residence not only in our head and heart, but in every inch of our body"?

LIFE Group nuggets: Lorena Myers shared: A reminder of how I am to live my life in order to find true joy and happiness (from the OBOB reflection)..."Therefore, when Jesus was talking about eight ways to be happy, that is, the Beatitudes, the disciples may have expected a kind of motivational talk worthy of Dale Carnegie. However, Jesus absolutely shocked the disciples. Happiness was not riches, but poverty; not feeling good, but sorrowing for sin; not prestige, but lowliness; not desiring pleasures, but holiness; not winning, but showing mercy; not doing your own thing, but being single-hearted in doing God's thing; not manipulating others, but making peace; and not popularity, but persecution (Mt 5:3-10)."

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 in footnote 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 (his son JP in hospital), Rich Reich (his Dad's has blocked brain artery)

* NEW: Carla Neal (Jean, Brenda, Donna, Joe & family, Roy, Joan, Mary Ann, Christina, Kenneth, Angela, Sue, Tammy, Tim & Family), Sue Peters (Wendi Kotlinsky cancer treatment was successful!), Rich Reich (Anne Vieira's sister-in-law died suddenly.)

Faith Quote: "All are searching, though not all are looking in the right place." John Paul II

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)!