#how can I show God I love Him? (John 14:21)

[poppitron360]

Wait. I wanna hear you Will Solace headcanons

Okay so be prepared for these to be wildly inaccurate because all I know about this guy is from fannon. Most of this is also me projecting.

1. Bass player. Yes that is 100% biased, as I am also a bass player (and I hc myself as a legacy of Apollo). No I have no basis on this claim other than Basses Are Just Cooler Than Guitars.

2. OR he’s the guitarist, Nico is the Bassist.

3. If there is a piano in the house, he WILL play it. For hours. Gods forbid you take him anywhere with a public piano.

4. Hates learning Music Theory, learns by ear and by feel. As an Apollo kid, he can instantly read both tab and sheet music, but uses neither.

5. Also has perfect pitch (can name any chord just by hearing it).

6. He’s a Star Wars fan, right? Can talk for hours about John William’s use of Lydian Mode in the score to convey a sense of majesty, and don’t get him started on the expert use of Vagnarian methods of leitmotif-

7. Okay, so maybe he knows a little music theory.

8. Writes terrible poetry that’s low-key kinda good.

9. Founder of the chb LGBTQ+ club.

10. Bisexual flags everywhere. He always at least one pink, purple, and blue pen on hand, doodles exclusively in those colours. His doctors notes are colour-coded pink, purple, blue.

11. BIG supporter of Trans rights- is qualified to help with Gender Affirming Healthcare for anyone at Camp.

12. Apollo is also god of prophecies. Will has the power of foresight ONLY for TV show/Film/Book endings. He is able to predict how a character would die with incredible accuracy after one episode. Morbid as fuck, so naturally Nico thinks it’s the hottest thing ever.

13. SWIFTIE!!!!!

14. Friendship bracelets. VERY swiftie-coded, he has a million of them on both arms, cutting off his circulation.

15. Paints Nico’s nails. Nico insists on all black, but gave in and let Will paint ONE nail fun colours, bedazzled with charms and shit. As long as it’s the middle finger.

Now, specifically my Will x Leo (Platonic) headcannons:

16. Will and Leo become very close at camp simply because Leo has absolutely zero sense of self-preservation. Like that kid does not value his life in any way at all, and so always ends up doing the most reckless shit ever, and, naturally, ends up spending a lot of time in the infirmary, usually only after being dragged there by Jason (“What’s the big deal? It’s just a broken arm. I’m ambidextrous! Besides, I’ve survived worse.”)

17. Will loves him because he’s never there longer than he has to be.

18. Except sometimes he does have to force Leo back into bed while Leo’s yelling loudly about how he needs to get back to his work, the Argo II won’t build itself, and to let go of him or he’ll burn you.

19. Will makes him wear enchanted plasters (band aids) that he can’t take off without doctor’s permission, to stop him absent-mindedly picking at old scabs and bits of skin. He also keeps fidget toys and stress balls to give to his patients. Leo has stolen ALL of them.

20. Like seriously, it is a problem. Leo has had to make them a whole bunch more fidgets because he’s taken and then overworked them until they all broke.

21. Both their southern accents come out more when they talk to each other. If a conversation goes on too long, they evolve into using so much fast-paced Texan slang that no-one else can understand them- it’s practically its own language.

22. BOTH SWIFTIES!!!!!

23. Leo helps out in the infirmary a lot- he’s useful if you need to sterilise equipment or cauterise any wounds.

24. It works sort of like an exchange of favours, where Leo also calls on Will anytime he needs a human flashlight to work on a project.

25. Leo has a lot of scars from his rough childhood. Will is one of the few people (aside from Jason) who’s actually seen them all. They never talk about it, and, as his doctor, he’s sworn to secrecy, but some of them are really disturbing. It will never not shock him that demigods can get hurt by things in the mortal world.

26. Leo makes sure Will uses accurate engineering jargon when writing Star Wars fanfiction.

27. Aside from Leo, Nico is the only one who reads his fanfiction

[ramrage]

How about another Fortune?

Chapter 1: Part 1

work rating: M

chapter rating: M

relationship: John “Soap” MacTavish x Simon “Ghost” Riley (endgame); John "Soap" MacTavish x Original Female Character (temporary)

characters: John “Soap” MacTavish, Simon “Ghost” Riley”, Original Female Character

tags: Freeform, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Straight? John “Soap” MacTavish, Cheating, Non-Chronological, this is a (gay) lovestory, Self-Discovery

summary: Soap is a heterosexual man in love, and everything is great. Really, it is. Factually speaking, no less.

Enjoy what you have, hope for what you lack. How about another Fortune? SecondFortune.com Lucky Numbers 19, 54, 37, 40, 47, 21

A/N: multimedia, nonchronological weirdness. pardon that. also, it doesn't start that way, but it's a ghostsoap (soapghost?) endgame. fret not.

ao3 link

part 2

part 3

John MacTavish with Ella Mitchell

💙

In a relationship with Ella Mitchell

February 14, 2014

67 Likes | 14 comments

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Ella Mitchell Congrats, Johnno. Really lucked out with that one :P <3 Like | Reply

PARADISE

Life is good. Can be, rather. So good that you’re drawn out of the moment for a split-second of awe, some shattering clarity of how fucking right things can be sometimes. And then you’re back in it, and somehow it’s even better.

“God, I fucking love you,” John breathes, not a post-nut bout of romanticism, short-lived. There she is: Ella. Sweaty, beautiful, and smiling. Sex on perfect fucking legs, and sweet. So damn sweet. “Fuck, I love you.”

He think it again when she looks away, shy, and looks back again with that wry smile, the one that has him love drunk and stupid every fucking time. “I love you, too, Johnny.”

And then the fucking minx rolls her hips, “but I’ve only cum twice. And you, my dear,” she muses, leaning forward to press a kiss to his cheek “promised me three.”

“Bleeding hell,” John thinks. “I’m gonna marry her. Mother of my future children.”

He makes good on his promise, of course. Lets her take his iPod and play the music she likes as he settles between her thighs afterwards, and throws in another for good measure, because of course. For her, it’s fucking nothing. Anything. Forever, and always, and all that other bullshit.

Time is a pesky bitch, is the thing.

And proximity is one hell of a drug.

HEALTH STATISTICS (UNOFFICIAL)

ORGASMS PER CALENDAR YEAR: 2021

SUBJECT: JOHN MACTAVISH SEX OF SUBJECT: MALE (REPORTED) SEXUAL ORIENTATION OF SUBJECT: HETEROSEXUAL, STRAIGHT

ORGASMS FROM PARTNERED SEXUAL INTERCOURSE

VAGINAL, receiving: N/A VAGINAL, giving: 8 ANAL, receiving: 0 ANAL, giving: 0 ORAL, receiving: 3 MANUAL, non-penetrative: 4 MANUAL, penetrative: 0 TOTAL PARTNERED SEXUAL INTERCOURSE: 15

ORGASMS FROM SELF-STIMULATION

ANAL, manual, non-penetrative: 0 ANAL, manual, penetrative: 0 PHALLIC, manual: 172 PHALLIC, oral: 0 VAGINAL, manual, non-penetrative: N/A VAGINAL, manual, penetrative: N/A NON-GENITAL STIMULATION, manual or oral: 0 TOTAL SELF-STIMULATION: 172

YEAR TOTAL ORGASMS: 187

COMMS TRANSCRIPT

VERDANSK, KASTOVIA 02 11 2022 21:07:33–21:07:38

21:07:33 G: Soap, you’ve got three enemies moving in East. 21:07:36 S: Copy. Permission to engage? 21:07:38 G: Give ‘em hell.

TROUBLE IN PARADISE, PT 1

They aim to call every week, even though they both know more often than not, it’s more of a monthly occasion. But it’s a low key Thursday, and for a change, John actually has time.

“So, how’d it go?” Ella sounds flat and tinny and terribly familiar over the phone. It feels like half the time they speak, her voice is like this. Compressed, still rising and falling with the gesticulations he can’t see, and wrong.

“Good, good…”

He can’t exactly say, “Nah, but don’t worry. The other guy got off much worse. Blew his head clean off his shoulders, actually,” so he tells her everything went well instead. It doesn’t exactly suck, and it isn’t exactly lying. “Yeah,” he continues, “can’t say much, but it was a tight operation. Clean.”

“And that’s why they call you Soap, eh?”

“Pretty and smart. I’ve won the lottery, haven’t I?”

“Mhm. Just gotta come and cash in your winnings is all,” and John’s stomach sinks because the anticipation he should feel is definitely anxiety. Any talk of coming home had slowly and consistently fallen from grace in his mind, and what used to be a respite feels more like faffing about in fairy land. For better or for worse (and in sickness and in health), he is married to his job. Thats how it goes with shit like this: too high-stakes to be anything other than wholly committed to.

Morality aside, two-timing is exhausting business and as John sees it, it just gives you two cakes that you can’t have, and can’t eat either.

PURGATORY

“Happy birthday, Johnny.”

Pulling away from Ghost’s lighter, Soap exhales that first draw, acrid as always, before chuckling. “Aye, cheers. Not how I expected it to go, but…”

“What did you have in mind then, eh? A little pub crawl out here in the middle of nowhere?”

Ghost manages to look nonchalant as he scans the blackdrop forest, leaning into the safe house’s dilapidated siding where he and Soap had posted up not too long ago. There’s bare little to see, bare little to do, so they smoke and shoot the shit.

Happy Birthday, indeed.

“Ha, fair. No point in making plans in this line of work.” He leaves out the part about Ella at home somewhere, filling the bin with pound shop birthday decorations. No use in reusing them. You only turn 30 once, after all. Ghost’s quiet, so he amends, “at least, not personal plans.”

“Had me worried there.”

“C’mon now, the planning is your’s and Price’s domain.”

“Watch it, sergeant. Arsekissing will only get you so far.”

“And how far it’s gotten me.”

“Ungrateful bastard. I got you the candles and everything.”

Soap snorts. “Aye, and you’re always hauling cake, so I reckon I’ve got that, too.”

“Fuckin’ hell.”

Thank god there’s no HR department in Arsefuck, Russia. Soap’d be toast by now. Or maybe not. This isn’t the first time he’s pulled this shit, and the reaction’s just about the same.

“I‘m just sayin’, ‘s not my fault you’re addicted to deadlifts.”

“Fuck—I wanna let you see another birthday, MacTavish, but you’re pushing your luck.”

“So you do like me.”

TROUBLE IN PARADISE, PT 2

“Hey, good-lookin’. How does this sound? You, me, a little takeaway, maybe a movie?”

John glances up from his phone. “What?”

“I was wondering how you felt about a night in.” Ella groans, noticing John’s eyes are still glued to his phone. A couple of snaps in his face, and John finally looks up. “I’m sorry,” she begins before he has a chance to apologize. “Am I interrupting something?”

John shakes his head. “Baby, no. Fuck, I’m sorry. It’s fucking work shite, shouldn’t take me too much longer.”

Ella doesn’t look appeased. Not remotely. Eyes burning mad above the dark circles, fingers tapping testily where they rest on the waistband of her joggers.

“How many times are ya gonna be sorry, John, eh?” Exasperated, she runs a hand through her brown hair, messing it up even more than it already is. “You’re gone for months on end, and that’s fine. I knew that was what I was getting into. But then when you’re actually fucking here, you couldn’t give a damn.”

“Elle, c’mon, don’t say that. I promise I want to deal with this shit even less than you do. You know I care, ba—”

“I don’t know that I fucking do, John. I don’t know that, and honestly, I don’t know if you really do care.”

John’s since put down the phone, but stands to wrap Ella in a gentle, rocking hug. She only fights him for a second before slumping against his chest. He likes it here, likes resting his chin on her shoulder where he can smell the lavender of her shampoo and her unwashed sleep shirt.

“Ellie, my darling. Give me five more minutes and I’m all yours. Put the order in on my card, and we can crack open the nice wine in the coat closet.”

“Dinner and drinks won’t just make it better, John,” she protests, muffled and half-hearted.

He leans back just enough to catch Ella’s eye, “No, it doesn’t.”

He jerks his head to the side, indicating she ought to let his hands guide her, turning until she’s facing away. She sighs and curses “that fucking MacTavish charm” when he starts kneading at her small shoulders. “That’s why I’m also planning on giving you a massage,” he begins to her answering hum, “a long one, and when you finally feel nice and relaxed and pampered, we can play that game you’re so fond of.”

“Which game?” she quips back despite knowing already what he means.

“Well, all you have to do is sit back and look pretty and let me see how many times I can get you off.”

“Mm, right, that one.”

“So, how does that sound for a night in?”

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HELL, UPPER CIRCLES

“Alright, fuck, get the fuck off me.”

Ghost relents and rocks back on his haunches, offering a hand to help Johnny roll to sit cross-legged. “You’re getting better.”

“Fuck off,” Johnny pants.

“Stronger, yeah. But smarter.”

“I’m plenty smart as is.”

“Weren’t always. Ya used to run in headlong, make stupid mistakes. You still do, granted, but not as often.”

“If that’s so, how’d I end up flat on my arse?”

Ghost shrugs, scratches the back of his neck through his damp mask. “I’m better.”

“Cocky bastard.”

“Takes one to know one.”

Soap rolls his eyes, wincing as he pushes himself up to stand. He squeezes a long stream of water into his mouth, missing near half of it before chucking Ghost’s water bottle across the gym.

He feels neither pleased nor surprised when Ghost turns the other way to lift his mask and drink. It’s what Ghost does.

“Five minutes and we go again,” Soap says, because it’s just enough time to catch his breath, “and this time, I’m fucking pinning you.”

“Fat fucking chance, sergeant.”

Enjoy what you have, hope for what you lack.

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(link to part 2)

[christ-and-love]

One of the first things I realized when I really sat down and **read** the scripture was the meaning of “life” and “death” in the Bible. Often times it’s not physical. But it’s a spiritual disconnect with God. We aren’t meant to live without him and while we can there’s a certain level of longing we will always have in our hearts. That’s not to say non-spiritual people can’t be happy, they can and millions are. But there’s an innate human need for spiritual health, and without it there is always a disconnect if we don’t have it.

The New Testament as well as the Old Testament talks about this a lot.

Some of the first versus that come to my mind are;

So that just as sin reigned in death,so also will grace will reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.(Roman’s 5:21)

Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21)

There’s so many more. But the main point of this to me is that, life is through Christ and death ins through…Adam or sin as a whole. That doesn’t mean we have to be perfect. We aren’t and he doesn’t expect us to be. “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. Hi and learn what this means: I DESIRE MERCY NOT SACRIFICE. For I did not come to call the righteous but the sinners. (Matthew 9:12-13). We are the sinners. He’s not a “sin and I will cast you out” God. He is a God who chases us and waits patiently for us to come home, he’s a God who..leaves the 99 on the hill to find the 1. You are not forgotten no matter what you’re going through he’s there. If you are in him you are alive. And there will be suffering, and spiritual strife, and physical pain. But He’s still *there* he’s still with you. Sometimes Gods plan is for us to suffer, not that he likes to see us suffer, but he uses us as instruments for others. Your suffering could lead someone else to salvation, your pain could be the model needed for someone else to see that light, even more so if you remain faithful through those hard times. Just remember, this life isn’t the end goal, our end goal is Him our end goal is to be home at rest with Him. No matter what happens around in the world, no matter how much pain, and persecution, and no matter how many other “Christian’s” and people try to twist his words or purpose. Stay strong, be the salt, and be the light. Don’t force God on people, he will open their hearts to him on his own, pray and lead by example. Be gracious and forgiving and love him, love everyone no matter what they do. And when people see your happiness and they see God in you that is enough. Don’t hide his light in you, show it, share it, love it.

Sorry if this all over the place, I have so many thoughts it’s hard to organize. I have so much more to say 😭

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

10th March >> Fr. Martin's Homilies / Reflections on Today's Mass Readings (Inc. John 3:14-21) for the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year B: ‘The light has come into the world’.

Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year B

Gospel (Except USA) John 3:14-21 God sent his Son so that through him the world might be saved.

Jesus said to Nicodemus:

‘The Son of Man must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life. For God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved. No one who believes in him will be condemned; but whoever refuses to believe is condemned already, because he has refused to believe in the name of God’s only Son. On these grounds is sentence pronounced: that though the light has come into the world men have shown they prefer darkness to the light because their deeds were evil. And indeed, everybody who does wrong hates the light and avoids it, for fear his actions should be exposed; but the man who lives by the truth comes out into the light, so that it may be plainly seen that what he does is done in God.’

Gospel (USA) John 3:14–21 God sent his Son so that the world might be saved through him.

Jesus said to Nicodemus: “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

Homilies (6)

(i) Fourth Sunday of Lent

All of the great religions have a symbol that identifies it. The symbol of Judaism is the six pointed Star of David. The symbol of Islam is the crescent moon and star. The symbol of Hinduism is made up of three letters A, U and M. The symbol of Christianity is the cross. The cross speaks of crucifixion, a terrible form of death that the Roman Empire reserved for slaves and those considered a threat to public order. It is how Jesus was put to death.

When we look upon Jesus crucified, we can see what human beings are capable of doing to one another; we confront the sin that put Jesus on the cross. Jesus lifted up on the cross exposes the evil tendencies that resides in all of our hearts. Yet, when we as Christians look upon the cross, we see more than just the darkness of human nature. We also see the brightness of God’s nature. We see the love of God shining through the crucified Jesus. In the gospel reading, Jesus speaks of himself as the Son of Man who must be lifted up. Jesus had to be lifted up on the cross; it was the price he had to pay for remaining faithful to his mission of revealing God’s love for the world. As Jesus says elsewhere in this gospel of John, ‘No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends’. Jesus’ death on the cross revealed his greater love for us, a love that was faithful to us, even when it meant his death. The love that shone through Jesus as he hung from the cross was the love of God. On the cross Jesus was showing the world that God is love. In the words of today’s gospel reading, ‘God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son’. Jesus’ whole life, and especially his death, was a powerful expression of God’s love for the world and for each one of us personally. Saint Paul could say, and we can all say, ‘I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me’. Jesus was God’s greatest gift of love to the world and to each one of us personally.

Today’s gospel reading goes on to say that ‘God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world’. There was and is much to condemn in the world. The crucifixion of Jesus, the continued slaughter of the innocents, is a witness to the power of sin in the world. Yet, Jesus did not come among us just to condemn what was wrong in us. God sent his Son into the world to reveal a love that was more powerful than sin or evil, so that we could all be raised up by this love. God sent his Son into the world to release a power of love that would enable us to become the people God desires us to be, what the second reading refers to as ‘God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life’. If we allow ourselves to be touched by God’s love given to us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, we will begin to live fully human lives and we will enter into eternal life.

Saint Paul in the second reading stresses that God’s love present in Jesus is freely given to us. It does not have to be earned; it is not a reward for what we have done. As Paul says, ‘it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith… not by anything you have done’. No matter who we are or what has happened to us in life, God is for us, God’s love is over us to recreate us, to lift us up from our sin, so that we can live loving lives that reflect God’s love for the world. God’s love poured out through his Son is a gift to be received rather than a reward to be earned. Receiving this gift can be a gradual process in our lives. When Jesus went to wash Peter’s feet, Peter said, ‘You shall never wash my feet’. Peter struggled to receive Jesus’ gift of his self-emptying love. There is something of Peter in all of us. Yet, Jesus would not take no for an answer, saying to Peter, ‘Unless I wash you, you have no share with me’. Peter had many flaws; he would soon deny Jesus publicly. Yet, Jesus insisted on washing Peter’s feet.

God’s love for us present in Jesus is unconditional, because God is love. One of the greatest challenges of faith is to allow God to be God, to allow God present in Jesus, our risen Lord, to bring me to experience his love for me in a very personal way. The light of God’s love never ceases to shine, but sometimes, in the words of the gospel reading, we can avoid this light. Our calling is to keep coming into God’s loving light. That will sometimes mean turning from whatever pockets of darkness are to be found in our lives. They need not come between us and the love of God because as Paul says in one of his letters, ‘nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord’.

And/Or

(ii) Fourth Sunday of Lent

A painting hung for many years on the wall of a dinning room in the Jesuit house on Lesson Street. No one paid much attention to it until one day someone with a keen eye spotted it and realized that this could be something of great value. He had it further investigated by art experts, and it turned out that this painting was the work of no less a person than the great Italian artist Caravaggio. The painting of the arrest of Jesus in the garden now hangs in the National Art Gallery, and it is one of the Gallery’s great treasures. All those years it hung in the dining room of Lesson Street it was no less a treasure, but its worth, its value, went unrecognized. It hung there waiting to be discovered, waiting for someone to recognize its true worth, its true value as a work of art.

In the second reading this morning, Paul states that ‘we are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life’. Like the painting in Lesson Street, we can go unnoticed as a work of art, especially to ourselves. We don’t tend to think of ourselves as a work of art. Yet, as Paul reminds us in our second reading, God sees us as works of art. Like the person who spotted the painting in Lesson Street, God knows our true worth, our true value. As God said through the prophet Isaiah, ‘You are precious in my sight, and I love you’. We are as works of art to him, of great worth and value, precious in his sight.

We can probably think of people in our own lives that are as works of art to us. These are people we value greatly, people we treasure, whose worth to us is beyond price. Today is Mother’s day, and most of us think of our mothers in that way, whether they are still living or are with the Lord. When someone is a treasure to us, we don’t count the cost in their regard. We will do anything we can for them. We will travel long distances to see them; we will stay up half the night to be with them if they are ill; we will defend and protect them with all our passion when necessary. We keep faith in them; we are faithful to them, even when that makes great demands on us. How we relate to those we value and treasure is not determined so much by how they relate to us. Even if they do something that annoys us, we tend to make all kinds of allowances for them. We say something like, ‘that’s just the way he is, she is’. Their worth in our eyes, their value to us, is rooted in something deeper than what they do or fail to do. We value them, simply, for who they are.

Our experience of how we relate to those we value, and of how people who value us relate to us, gives us a glimpse of how the Lord relates to us. God loves us in a way that does not count the cost. The gospel reading today expresses that truth very simply: ‘God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son’. God sent us his Son out of love for us and that sending became a giving when his Son was put to death on a cross. Here was a love that did not count the cost, a sending that became a giving when that was called for. As Paul says in the second reading, ‘God loved us so much that he was generous with his mercy’. We are of such value in God’s eyes that God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up to benefit us all. It is not surprising that the cross has become the dominant symbol of Christianity. This is not because we glorify suffering in any way, but because we recognise that the cross is a powerful sign of how much God values us, how precious we are in God’s sight, the extent to which God is prepared to go to express love for us.

Our love for those we value is bestowed on them for who they are more than for what they do. The same is true of God’s love for us in Christ. It is pure gift. As Paul says in the second reading, ‘it is not based on anything you have done’. Some of us find it difficult to really believe that. We find ourselves asking, ‘how I done enough?’ Yet, when it comes to someone in our lives whom we know truly loves us, we would rarely ask that question of them. Why should we ask it of God, when even the greatest of human love is only gives us a glimpse of God’s love? God loves us for who we are, people made in his image, and, therefore, works of art.

What is asked of us in relation to God is that we receive God’s love, or in the words of the gospel reading today, that we come into the light. The light of God’s love falls upon us, but we can hide from it. Children fear the darkness very often. But as adults we often fear the light, because we suspect that the light will expose us in some way. Yet, the light of God is not a harsh light, the kind of light that is trained on a suspect in an interrogation room. It is a strong, yet warm, light that brings healing and generates new life. It is an empowering light that enables us to ‘live the good life’, as Paul says in the second reading. We pray that, as the hours of day light increase in these days, the life-giving light of God’s love would renew us and fill us with a desire to serve him.

And/Or

(iii) Fourth Sunday of Lent

Children are often afraid of the dark, as the parents here in the church will know. A dim light is sometimes left on while children sleep, so that if they wake up it is not in pitch darkness. Many of us as adults find total darkness disconcerting too. Those of us who live in cities never really experience total darkness. It is different out in the country away from villages, towns and cities. I remember going on a holiday as a young person to the Arran Islands and being struck by just how dark it was at night. There was very little in the way of artificial light to dispel the darkness. The experience of near total darkness after night fell was disconcerting.

Although most of us would claim to prefer light to darkness, in today’s gospel reading Jesus declares that some people ‘have shown they prefer darkness to the light because their deeds were evil’. Most crime is committed during the hours of darkness. Those who are intent on doing wrong are drawn to darkness because it provides them with cover. As today’s gospel states: ‘Everyone who does wrong hates the light and avoids it, for fear his actions should be exposed’. One of the many security measures that have become popular in recent years is an array of bright lights that come on at night whenever anyone steps into an area that is out of bounds. Light is considered, with good reason, to be a deterrent to the person who is intent on committing crime. Indeed, there is a sense in which we all fear too much light just as we do too much darkness. Many of us prefer to stay in the background, in the shadows; we don’t like the spotlight being shone on us. We all have secrets that we would wish to remain in darkness, away from the bright lights that human curiosity and inquiry might like to shine on them. There are aspects of our lives that we would prefer to remain in darkness because we are not sure how people might respond to us if a bright light were to be shone on them. We only bring our deepest selves out into the light in the presence of those we really trust.

The gospel of John frequently refers to Jesus as light. On one occasion, Jesus says of himself: ‘I am the light of the world’. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus says with reference to himself: ‘Light has come into the world’. The gospel reading also declares that the light that has come into the world in the person of Jesus is the light of God’s love. In one of the most memorable statements of the New Testament, the gospel reading declares, ‘God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him… may have eternal life’. The light of Jesus is not the probing light of the grand inquisitor that seeks out failure and transgression with a view to condemnation. Indeed, the gospel reading states that God ‘sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world’. The light of Jesus, rather, is the inviting light of God’s love, calling out to us to come and to allow ourselves to be bathed in this light, and promising those who do so that they will share in God’s own life, both here and now and also beyond death.

At the beginning of today’s gospel reading, Jesus speaks of himself as the Son of Man who must be lifted up. It was on the cross that Jesus was lifted up, and it was above all at that moment that the light of God’s love shone most brightly. It is a paradox that those who attempted to extinguish God’s light shining in Jesus only succeeded in making that light of love shine all the more brightly. God’s gift of his Son to us was not in any way thwarted by the rejection of his Son. God’s giving continued as Jesus was lifted up to die, and God’s giving found further expression when God raised his Son from the dead and gave him to us as risen Lord. Here indeed is a light that darkness cannot overcome, a love that human sin cannot extinguish. This is the core of the gospel. This is why the fourth Sunday of Lent is known as Guadete Sunday, Rejoice Sunday.

When we are going through a difficult experience and darkness seems to envelope us, it can be tempting to think that we will never see the light again. This is the mood that is captured in today’s responsorial psalm: ‘By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept’. Today’s readings assure us that there is a light that shines in the darkness and that the darkness will not overcome, a light that heals and restores, in the words of today’s second reading, a light that brings us to life with Christ and raises us up with him. It shines in a special way whenever we celebrate the Eucharist. As we gather around the table of the word and the table of the Eucharist, the light of God’s love revealed in the death and resurrection of Jesus shines upon whatever darkness we may be struggling with in our lives.

And/Or

(iv) Fourth Sunday of Lent

We have become very aware in recent weeks of how much longer the days are getting. We are half way through the month of March and already it is bright up until after six o’clock. We have even brighter days to look forward to, especially as the clock goes forward next weekend. The brighter evenings brings everybody out. With the increase in light, there is also an increase in growth. The first blossoms of spring have already come out. Nature is coming to life after a time of hibernation.

The gospel reading this morning is in keeping with what is happening in nature. It declares that ‘light has come into the world’. The light there is a reference to the light of God that has come into the world through Jesus. Both the second reading and the gospel reading make clear that the light of God is the light of love. The second reading declares that God loved us with so much love that he was generous with his mercy; it speaks of God’s goodness towards us in Christ, the infiniteness richness of God’s grace in Christ. The gospel reading declares that God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son. In the light that Jesus brings from God we find mercy, compassion, great love, kindness, infinite grace. Sometimes we don’t like too much light. There is a certain kind of light that can expose us mercilessly, like the light of the interrogator’s lamp. However, Jesus brings a light that need hold no fear for us; it is a divine light that lifts us up, just as the Son of Man was lifted up, in the words of the gospel reading. Here is a light that assures us of our worth and that helps us to see the goodness that is within us and the good that we are capable of doing. It is a light that, in the words of the second reading, allows us to recognize that ‘we are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live a good life’. It is the light of a love that shines upon us regardless of what we have done or failed to do. As the first reading reminds us, God’s grace, God’s love, comes to us not on the basis of anything we have done. It is not something we earn by our efforts; it comes to us as a pure gift. When God gave his Son to the world, did not ask whether the world was worthy of his Son or whether the world was ready for his Son. Even when the world crucified God’s Son, God did not take back his Son from the world. Rather, God continued to give his Son to the world, raising him from the dead and sending him back into the world through the Holy Spirit, through the church. Here is a light that shines in the darkness and that the darkness cannot overcome, in the words of the gospel of John.

We all long for that kind of light, a light that is strong and enduring, a light that can be found at the heart of darkness and that is more resilient than darkness. We have all experienced darkness in one shape or form. It may be the darkness of sickness, or of the death of a loved one or the darkness of failure; we may struggle from time to time with the darkness of depression, with those dark demons that tell us that we are worthless and that life is not worth living. Something of that darkness of spirit finds expression in today’s responsorial psalm. It was composed from the darkness of exile in Babylon. ‘By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept, remembering Zion’. We may have known our own experiences of exile in its various forms, times when we felt cut off from what gives meaning and purpose to our lives. The readings this morning assure us that in all those forms of darkness, a light shines - the light of God’s enduring love that is constantly at work in our lives so that we may have life and have it to the full. In the words of the gospel reading again, ‘God gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him... may have eternal life’.

Even though this wonderful light has come into the world and wants to shine upon us all, we can be reluctant to step into that light, and allow it to shine upon us. In the words of the gospel reading, ‘though the light has come into the world, people have shown that they prefer darkness to the light’. This is the mysterious capacity of human freedom to reject the light, to turn away from a faultless love and a boundless mercy. Yet, our coming to the light is often a gradual process; it can happen slowly, at our own pace. The Lord is always prepared to wait on us; he waits for our free response. We are not used to a love that is as generous, as merciful, as rich in grace and goodness as God’s love; it takes us time to receive it, to believe in it, to embrace it. Receiving God’s love and then living out of that gift is the calling and task of a life time.

And/Or

(v) Fourth Sunday of Lent

My father loved fresh air. The bull wall was one of his favourite places. Like many men of his generation, he was a smoker and, sometimes, his breathing became a struggle. He loved to get out in the open where there was a good wind blowing that could fill his lungs. My mother was much less keen on fresh air, especially of the windy variety. It tended to leave her hair in what she considered a mess. After having experienced an abundance of fresh air at my father’s prompting, she was often heard to say, ‘I’m like the wreck of the Hesperus’. As children we were mystified as to what the ‘wreck of the Hesperus’ was. It was only many years later I discovered it was the name of a rather tragic poem about a shipwreck in a storm by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, published in 1842. However, as children, we knew that when our mother came out with this expression it meant that she didn’t like the look of herself. In those moments, Saint Paul’s statement at the end of today’s second reading wouldn’t have cut much ice with her, ‘We are God’s work of art’.

Perhaps, we all find it difficult to really believe that we are God’s work of art. We admire the workmanship of great artists, like Michelangelo, Raphael, Caravaggio, and we recognize their creations as works of art. Many of these great artists were people of faith who were very aware that their ability to create works of art was a gift from God. They understood that God was the supreme artist, and they sensed that they were sharing in God’s creative power. Every new born child is God’s work of art, because they are an image and reflection of God, the supreme artist. In that sense, we are each God’s work of art. Just as a work of art can deteriorate over time and need cleaning and restoration, so, as we go through life, we do not always give full expression to our inner identity as God’s work of art. In that second reading, Saint Paul says that ‘we are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life’. We don’t always live the good life that does justice to God’s work of art that we are.

Yet, what we do or fail to do does not fundamentally undermine who we are as people made in the image and likeness of the great Artist. Indeed, not only have we been created as human beings in the image of God, but that identity has been enhanced through God’s sending of his Son into the world and our communion with God’s Son through baptism and faith. Jesus was the perfect image and likeness of God. He was God’s greatest work of art. The closer we come to Jesus, the more he lives in and through us, the more we will grow into our true identity as God’s image and likeness, God’s work of art. We could imagine Jesus as the great restorer of God’s work of art, humanity. As Saint Paul says in that second reading, ‘when we were dead through our sins, he (God) brought us to life with Christ’. Through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, God recreates us in his image and likeness, restores our identity as his work of art. Having created us out of love, God recreated us, restored us, out of love. That is the core message of today’s readings. The gospel reading declares that ‘God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son’. God’s renewing love embraces the world, all of humanity who have been made in his image and likeness, and, indeed, all of creation. Paul in the second reading states that God’s ‘goodness towards us in Christ Jesus’ shows ‘how infinitely rich he is in grace’. Paul goes on to remind us that God’s loving initiative towards us through his Son is pure gift; it is not a response to anything we have done, as if we had to build up credit with God first.

We are all aware of the good we have failed to do and the wrong we have done. As a result, we can be prone to condemning ourselves, and others can look in judgement upon us. Yet, God is not primarily in the business of condemning. In the words of the gospel reading, ‘God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but so that through him, the world might be saved’, might have life and have it to the full. The eyes of love always see goodness and beauty in the beloved even though he or she may leave a lot to be desired. Those we love deeply remain works of art to us, even though our shared journey may have had many ups and downs. God’s love for us, revealed in his Son, is infinitely greater than any human love. God continues to see us as his works of art, even though our lives may be tainted by sin. He continually gives us the gift of his Son and of the Holy Spirit so that can grow into that work of art more fully. All God of asks of us is that we keep opening our hearts to that gift of his Son, that we keep coming out into the light, in the words of today’s gospel reading.

And/Or

(vi) Fourth Sunday of Lent

A painting hung for many years on a dinning room wall in the Jesuit house on Lesson Street. No one paid much attention to it until one day someone with a keen eye realized that this could be something of great value. It was further investigated by art experts, and it turned out that this painting was the work of the great Italian artist Caravaggio. The painting of the arrest of Jesus is now hangs one of the National Gallery’s great treasures. All those years it hung in the dining room of Lesson Street it was no less a treasure, but its value went unrecognized. It hung there waiting to be discovered, waiting for someone to recognize its true value as a work of art.

According to the particular translation of the letter to the Ephesians we read from this evening, we are all ‘God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life’. We don’t tend to think of ourselves as works of art. Yet, like the person who spotted the painting in Lesson Street, God knows our true worth, our true value. We are works of art to God; we are of great worth and value in God’s sight.

We can all think of people in our own lives whom we value greatly, whose worth to us is beyond price, because to us they are works of art. Today is Mother’s day, and most of us think of our mothers in that way, whether they are still living or are with the Lord. When someone is a treasure to us, we don’t count the cost in their regard. We will do anything we can for them. We will travel long distances to see them; we will stay up half the night to be with them if they are ill; we will protect them with all our passion when necessary. How we relate to those we value and treasure is not determined so much by how they relate to us. Even if they do something that annoys us, we tend to make all kinds of allowances for them. We say something like, ‘that’s just the way he/she is’. Their worth in our eyes is rooted in something deeper than what they do or fail to do. We value them, simply, for who they are.

Our experience of how we relate to those we value, and of how people who value us relate to us, gives us a glimpse of how God relates to us. God loves us in a way that does not count the cost. The gospel reading today expresses that truth very simply: ‘God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son’. God sent his Son out of love for us and that sending became a giving when his Son was put to death on a cross. Here was a love that did not count the cost, a sending that became a costly giving when that was called for. As Paul says in the second reading, ‘God loved us so much that he was generous with his mercy’. We are of such value in God’s eyes that God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up to benefit us all. It is not surprising that the cross has become the dominant symbol of Christianity. This is not because we glorify suffering in any way, but because we recognise that the cross is a powerful sign of how much God values us, how precious we are in God’s sight; it shows the extent to which God is prepared to go to express love for us.

Our love for those we value is bestowed on them for who they are more than for what they do. The same is true of God’s love for us in Christ. As Paul says in the second reading, ‘it is not based on anything you have done’. Some of us find it difficult to really believe that. We find ourselves asking, ‘how I done enough?’ Yet, when it comes to someone in our lives whom we know truly loves us, we would never think of asking them, ‘Have I done enough?’ Why should we ask such a question of God, when even the greatest of human love is only gives us a glimpse of God’s love? God loves us for who we are, people made in the image of God’s Son, and, to that extent, works of art.

What God asks of us is that we receive God’s love revealed and made present in Christ, or, in the words of the gospel reading today, that we come into the light. The light of God’s love falls upon us, but we can hide from it. Children fear the darkness very often. But as adults we often fear the light, because we suspect that the light will expose us in some way. Yet, the light of God is not a harsh light, the kind of light that is trained on a suspect in an interrogation room. It is a strong, yet warm, light that brings healing and generates new life. It is an empowering light that enables us to ‘live the good life’, as Paul says in the second reading, ‘to do good works’. As the hours of day light are increasing in these days, we pray that the life-giving light of God’s love would renew us and fill us with a new desire to serve him.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

[theprayerfulword]

June 21

Psalm 93:4 Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea — the Lord on high is mighty.

Hebrews 12:9 We have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live!

Psalm 103:2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all His benefits.

1 John 5:14-15 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him.

Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Ephesians 3:20-21 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

May you seek the Giver of life, that you may live. 2 Kings 1

May you humbly approach God in reverence and fear, realizing your personal inadequacies and fully aware that you represent no authority or power that can stand in the presence of the Creator of the universe, acknowledging His majesty in praise and worship before making your requests known. 2 Kings 1

May you follow the path of righteousness as the Spirit leads, never stopping when tired or turning back when struggling, but remaining focused amidst the distractions, knowing that you will receive the promise of God if you endure to the end. 2 Kings 2

May you bring the presence of God into every situation you are in, seeking His face and speaking His praise, changing the atmosphere as the light and the fragrance of God is imparted to those around you through the power of the Spirit and the love of the Son, sweetening bitterness in relationships and make barren hearts productive. 2 Kings 2

May you teach the young by example to respect all and honor those who are occupied with showing compassion to those God loves, so that the ones who will listen may preserve their lives. 2 Kings 2

My child, know that My abundance is available for the asking, My wisdom is provided freely when requested, My gifts are given without repentance, and My strength is within reach of all. My disciples preached salvation through My name first to the Jews at Jerusalem, the chosen, the ones who bore My name, before ever going to the Gentiles. Many Jews received Me in faith and rejoiced, but those who rejected Me were often the ones whose earthly needs were so well-supplied through entrenched tradition that they could not see the spiritual needs they shared in common with all people. I was then received gladly by the Gentiles who knew they were in bondage and rejoiced to see My light in their darkness. Even so today, My hard worker, you find many who are called by My name rejoicing to find that a deeper walk with Me is available, but so many who profit from the form and tradition that has been established around My truth refuse to see their own need, not realizing they are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked in their spiritual walk. Those appointed to salvation have often been mistreated and rejected by the world system, pushed to the fringes, hungering and seeking for more than they could find in tradition. Do not be blinded by your natural sight, My dear one, but learn to see as I see, understand with My understanding, and recognize the seeker for My truth within the battered frame before you. Learn to trust My Spirit when you hear the whisper and feel the nudge to speak to someone who has followed a different path than you and bears the marks of their journey. They have stepped through doors you have eschewed, and can reach others who will not listen to you. Do not call common or reject as impure those who are heeding My call and seeking My path. I have accepted them, and who can gainsay My choice?

May your words be sweet and your heart toward God, so that when God moves in a new way, you will not be found resisting the Lord or following the flesh. Acts 13

May you try the spirits in any dissension, not looking to the personalities, but seeking the purposes of God, to know the way you should follow. Acts 13

May you be filled with the strength of His joy and the power of the Spirit when following Christ in the discipline He leads you through. Acts 13

May you speak boldly in favor of the Lord when you minister in the face of opposition, for He will confirm the message He gives you with signs and wonders, polarizing the people who hear. Acts 14

May the Lord search you and know you, from your sitting down to your rising up, when you are traveling and when you are at home, perceiving your thoughts from afar, and understanding all your ways intimately, knowing your intentions completely before you say a word or take an action, for you are the apple of His eye, and He desires to be known by you even as He knows you. Psalm 139

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Children of God

1 Consider the incredible love that the Father has shown us in allowing us to be called “children of God”—and that is not just what we are called, but what we are. Our heredity on the Godward side is no mere figure of speech—which explains why the world will no more recognise us than it recognised Christ.

2 Oh, dear children of mine (forgive the affection of an old man!), have you realised it? Here and now we are God’s children. We don’t know what we shall become in the future. We only know that, if reality were to break through, we should reflect his likeness, for we should see him as he really is!

3 Everyone who has at heart a hope like that keeps himself pure, for he knows how pure Christ is.

Conduct will show who is a man’s spiritual Father

4-6 Everyone who commits sin breaks God’s law, for that is what sin is, by definition—a breaking of God’s law. You know, moreover, that Christ became man for the purpose of removing sin, and he himself was quite free from sin. The man who lives “in Christ” does not habitually sin. The regular sinner has never seen or known him.

7-9 You, my children, are younger than I am, and I don’t want you to be taken in by any clever talk just here. The man who lives a consistently good life is a good man, as surely as God is good. But the man whose life is habitually sinful is spiritually a son of the devil, for the devil is behind all sin, as he always has been. Now the Son of God came to earth with the express purpose of liquidating the devil’s activities. The man who is really God’s son does not practise sin, for God’s nature is in him, for good, and such a heredity is incapable of sin.

10 Here we have a clear indication as to who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. The man who does not lead a good life is no son of God, nor is the man who fails to love his brother.

11-13 For the original command, as you know, is that we should love one another. We are none of us to have the spirit of Cain, who was a son of the devil and murdered his brother. Have you realised his motive? It was just because he realised the goodness of his brother’s life and the rottenness of his own. Don’t be surprised, therefore, if the world hates you.

Love and life are inter-connected

14-15 We know that we have crossed the frontier from death to life because we do love our brothers. The man without love for his brothers is living in death already. The man who actively hates his brother is a potential murderer, and you will readily see that the eternal life of God cannot live in the heart of a murderer.

16-18 We know and, to some extent realise, the love of God for us because Christ expressed it in laying down his life for us. We must in turn express our love by laying down our lives for those who are our brothers. But as for the well-to-do man who sees his brothers in want but shuts his eyes—and his heart—how could anyone believe that the love of God lives in him? My children, let us not love merely in theory or in words—let us love in sincerity and in practice!

Living in love means confidence in God

19-20 If we live like this, we shall know that we are children of the truth and can reassure ourselves in the sight of God, even if our own hearts make us feel guilty. For God is infinitely greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

21-23 And if, dear friends of mine, when we realise this our hearts no longer accuse us, we may have the utmost confidence in God’s presence. We receive whatever we ask for, because we are obeying his orders and following his plans. His orders are that we should put our trust in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another—as we used to hear him say in person.

24 The man who does obey God’s commands lives in God and God lives in him, and the guarantee of his presence within us is the Spirit he has given us. — 1 John 3 | J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS) The New Testament in Modern English by J.B Phillips copyright © 1960, 1972 J. B. Phillips. Cross References: Genesis 4:8; Leviticus 19:17; Deuteronomy 14:1; Deuteronomy 15:7; Deuteronomy 19:11; 2 Samuel 13:22; 2 Samuel 22:27; Job 19:26; Job 22:26; Psalm 17:15; Psalm 38:22; Psalm 119:3; Proverbs 14:31; Proverbs 29:27; Ezekiel 33:31; Matthew 4:3; Matthew 5:19; Matthew 7:7; Matthew 12:28; Matthew 13:38; Luke 20:36; John 1:12-13; John 1:29; John 2:23; John 5:24; John 10:11; John 13:4; John 13:34-35; John 15:13; John 15:18; John 17:19; Acts 23:3; Romans 8:9; Romans 8:14; Romans 8:34; Romans 14:22; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 3:12; 1 John 2:1; 1 John 2:3-4; 1 John 2:21; 1 John 2:26; 1 John 4:4; 2 John 1:1; 3 John 1:11

[ongolecharles]

DAILY SCRIPTURE READINGS (DSR) 📚 Group, Sat July 20th, 2024 ... Saturday of The Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year B

Reading 1

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Mi 2:1-5

Woe to those who plan iniquity,

and work out evil on their couches;

In the morning light they accomplish it

when it lies within their power.

They covet fields, and seize them;

houses, and they take them;

They cheat an owner of his house,

a man of his inheritance.

Therefore thus says the LORD:

Behold, I am planning against this race an evil

from which you shall not withdraw your necks;

Nor shall you walk with head high,

for it will be a time of evil.

On that day a satire shall be sung over you,

and there shall be a plaintive chant:

"Our ruin is complete,

our fields are portioned out among our captors,

The fields of my people are measured out,

and no one can get them back!"

Thus you shall have no one

to mark out boundaries by lot

in the assembly of the LORD.

Responsorial Psalm

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Ps 10:1-2, 3-4, 7-8, 14

R. (12b) Do not forget the poor, O Lord!

Why, O LORD, do you stand aloof?

Why hide in times of distress?

Proudly the wicked harass the afflicted,

who are caught in the devices the wicked have contrived.

R. Do not forget the poor, O Lord!

For the wicked man glories in his greed,

and the covetous blasphemes, sets the LORD at nought.

The wicked man boasts, "He will not avenge it";

"There is no God," sums up his thoughts.

R. Do not forget the poor, O Lord!

His mouth is full of cursing, guile and deceit;

under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.

He lurks in ambush near the villages;

in hiding he murders the innocent;

his eyes spy upon the unfortunate.

R. Do not forget the poor, O Lord!

You do see, for you behold misery and sorrow,

taking them in your hands.

On you the unfortunate man depends;

of the fatherless you are the helper.

R. Do not forget the poor, O Lord!

Alleluia

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2 Cor 5:19

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,

and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

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Mt 12:14-21

The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus

to put him to death.

When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place.

Many people followed him, and he cured them all,

but he warned them not to make him known.

This was to fulfill what had been spoken through Isaiah the prophet:

Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,

my beloved in whom I delight;

I shall place my Spirit upon him,

and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

He will not contend or cry out,

nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.

A bruised reed he will not break,

a smoldering wick he will not quench,

until he brings justice to victory.

And in his name the Gentiles will hope.

***

FOCUS AND LITURGY OF THE WORD

As I sit here on my couch writing this reflection, my mind keeps coming back to a couple of questions:  Which one am I?  Am I a wicked one who sits on his couch, scheming how to get ahead at someone else’s expense (as in Micah); and then boasts proudly as he “glories in” accumulated riches (as in today’s Psalm)?   Or am I a gentle, Spirit-following soul who seeks to bring justice to all?  The reality lies somewhere in the middle of those two extremes, even though I hope like it is more to the justice-seeking side. 

If the choice is between (a) cheating, stealing, murder and blasphemy (evil traits described in Micah and the Psalm) or (b) caring, loving, and bringing justice, most of us would emphatically declare “B”!  However, we rarely find ourselves called to decide between such extreme options.  Instead, we find ourselves confronted with a series of smaller choices each day, and we may not recognize how our choices direct our paths.  Too often time is spent on the couch, binge-watching a show, considering potential vacation destinations, or thinking about home enhancements or a new car, when it should be spent off the couch actively seeking to do God’s will.

Christians are called, as I John 2:6 reminds us, to live as Christ lived.   I marvel at those individuals who emulate Christ as they interact lovingly and compassionately with co-workers, grocery store clerks, restaurant workers, crotchety neighbors, difficult family members – in short, with everyone in just about every situation.  Their actions appear effortless and natural, and perhaps it seems so because I know how effortful and unnatural those actions seem when I try them.  A useful parallel can be found in music.  When a great pianist plays a beautiful piece, the music almost flows from their fingers.  My musician friends tell me how much they dislike it when someone attempts to compliment them by saying “I wish I could play like you” because they are tempted to respond: “No, you don’t, or you would work really hard to do so.”  The less informed may think that the beautiful music is just because of talent, a gift from God; but the musicians know that, in addition to talent, many, many, many hours were spent practicing scales, eliminating wrong notes, and developing intimacy with their instrument so that playing becomes second nature.  Even then, they keep practicing so that their artistry continues to seem effortless.

If I really mean it when I claim that “I wish I could live a Christlike life” like the people at whom I marvel, then I need to put in the necessary work so that it becomes second nature.  I must practice showing love, extending forgiveness, and seeking justice on a regular basis.  Fortunately, God provides ample opportunities to practice each day with multiple small situations that allow me to work on the basics (practice the scales, if you will) and to eliminate the mistakes (and there will be mistakes).  My planning time on the couch (to revisit the Micah metaphor) should be focused on developing intimacy with the Holy Spirit who will work with me and through me to bring justice.  As I demonstrate trustworthiness in a few small things, Matthew 25:21 indicates that I will be trusted with more and bigger chances.  Even more exciting, many of the small things – that is to say, things that seemed small to you – will turn out to be really big things for someone else.  

***

SAINT OF THE DAY

Saint Apollinaris

(d. c. 79)

Saint Apollinaris’ Story

According to tradition, Saint Peter sent Apollinaris to Ravenna, Italy, as its first bishop. His preaching of the Good News was so successful that the pagans there beat him and drove him from the city. He returned, however, and was exiled a second time. After preaching in the area surrounding Ravenna, he entered the city again. After being cruelly tortured, he was put on a ship heading to Greece. Pagans there caused him to be expelled to Italy, where he went to Ravenna for a fourth time. He died from wounds received during a savage beating at Classis, a suburb of Ravenna. A beautiful basilica honoring him was built there in the sixth century.

Reflection

---------

Following Jesus involves risks—sometimes the supreme risk of life itself. Martyrs are people who would rather accept the risk of death than deny the cornerstone of their whole life: faith in Jesus Christ. Everyone will die eventually—the persecutors and those persecuted. The question is what kind of a conscience people will bring before the Lord for judgment. Remembering the witness of past and present martyrs can help us make the often small sacrifices that following Jesus today may require.

***

【Build your Faith in Christ Jesus on #dailyscripturereadingsgroup 📚: +256 751 540 524 .. Whatsapp】

[women-of-malevolent]

All references to women in Part 42 - The Prince

We get our first Witch description. She's sooooOoOoOoOooOOo old and ugly. Crooked, hunched, large features, sagging flesh, gross clothes, greasy clumpy hair. The horror. She strokes her captive man lovingly, then leaves.

Arthur asks the captive, what is she, what happened to you? She's a witch.

He's a prince, he's dead, but he's also alive somehow, but when John touches him he sees his death. John is team "use Kayne's dagger to kill everyone and everything". For once I am with Arthur. Don't kill

Stop fighting, you're going to draw her back here...

While regrouping, Arthur and John wonder, why was she feeding and stroking her prisoner undead prince?

If we encounter the witch during our escape, we'll hide, maybe dagger, hopefully we can just slip past.

Tooth mention! Kayne said we should give the tooth a voice so let's do it. John's like, "don't trust the Vanguard!" Arthur's very "I don't like it but what can we do!" I'm very, "stop listening to fucking Kayne!"

"I am whatever you wish me to be, Master. Samantha. The Vanguard. The Prince. Yorick."

I find this character sad. I think it's a bummer that John and Arthur kept a dead girl's tooth in their pocket for 4 years, neither of them ever considered that she might be somehow still in there (when they've both seen weirder shit), they've been calling it The Tooth and using its magics; Arthur has nightmares it's Samantha calling him Master. Now it's in a man's head and going by Yorick. Maybe it's intentional!

Reference to Marie's house (and the barn) (it's the Lillith aura! Fucking! The skull is a vanguard for LILLITH! I'M SO EXCITED)

Also,, could the vanguard always hear John, or is that new? (I could check Samantha's page and find out) (I will do that later)

Name me! Yorick! No! Yes! Done!

Talking to the vanguard... I know many things... Arthur says, like the whereabouts of Anna Stanczyk and 🎉 pronounces it way better! It can be done! There's zero story reason for him to be doing that now (wait. Oh my god. Is it because Kayne roasted him? Arthur lets Racist!Nyarlathotep correct his Polish pronunciation? I don't know where to start

In the event that they were ever edited to just be right the whole time, every other instance of the name Stanczyk is also mispronounced, for Anna and her entire family; and it's John, Yellow, Arthur, Kellin's!Ghost, and the vanguard saying it. Part 3, Part 14, Part 15, Part 19, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 28, Part 30, Part 31, Intermezzo, and Part 41).

The vanguard is like "Yes yes of course of course!"

Yorick says that the walls are not rock but flesh; this is a womb, of course, for Her children.

Yorick loves the maggot queen's children, he thinks they're beautiful, it's kind of cute. He really could be the ambassador for Lillith...

Ugh Arthur doesn't have enough hands to carry the dagger and torch and hold the wall, so they chain Yorick up. It's a ghastly spectacle and I'm not sure to what end. Chained again, but now it's chained by John and Arthur and likes it.

Yorick says, I'll show you the way out... unless you want the witch's doodad... John and Arthur can't say no to a doodad. It might help them find the Blackstone. Also, it'll make the witch weaker if they take her talisman away.

Yorick makes another hag's womb comment. John asks if he was this bad, Arthur says no and Yorick says yes

Yorick says he has the prince's memories, because he has the prince's brain. He can't see through dead eyes, but the mind still holds the memory, murkily. Good thing all we have left from Samantha is a tooth and it can't remember a dang thing about being a woman 😉 (I think it can and it's lying because it doesn't trust Arthur to be normal about girls after hearing how he still thinks about what he did to Bella)

Also, Yorick says, be quiet because the witch is smarter than you.

Yonic hole

They make it to the witch's living room or something. Multiple floors, staircases. Carved stone wall. A door. Stone slab. Bloody table. Witch accoutrements. A pool of stagnant green liquid. No sign of the witch or the talisman.

They don't see the talisman. She's probably in one of her inner sanctums in the back. There are multiple rooms, and one leads to more pregnant meat (thank you Yorick). My understanding is that the witch's maze has three exits, and two go into her inner sanctum. It's very mazey, hard to escape.

Yorick casually calls her a hag. John says, I thought you said she was a witch; Yorick says yes!

We're in her home. This is the fourth old woman that John + Arthur have home-invaded.

We're in her room now. There's a nice lil chandelier made of candles, and a root wall, a vanity with bottles and powders, some big polished silver for a mirror, a bark wardrobe, and a tapestry depicting soldiers in a wood and a woman before them. The tapestry is burned. A root bed with hay. Stinky bed. Old ladies have stinky beds in Malevolent it's part of the lore. It's the fourth home-invaded woman and the third to get a stinky bed comment (Marie only escapes because they inspect her spare room mattress instead of her mattress; they do comment that the spare mattress stinks, so we're kind of four for four).

Anyways, they find the talisman, and take it, but then they can't find their way out of the maze

Aaaah they're trapped

Yorick is not helping. Keeps being like "here she comes!"

We're not going to get out in time, so hide the talisman

She's coming, she's here, ,she's stabbing

[roman-catholic-mass-readings]

10th March >> Mass Readings (Except USA)

Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday) - Proper Readings and also The Man Born Blind.

Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday) - Proper Readings

(Liturgical Colour: Rose or Violet: B (2))

First Reading 2 Chronicles 36:14-16,19-23 God's wrath and mercy are revealed in the exile and release of his people.

All the heads of the priesthood, and the people too, added infidelity to infidelity, copying all the shameful practices of the nations and defiling the Temple that the Lord had consecrated for himself in Jerusalem. The Lord, the God of their ancestors, tirelessly sent them messenger after messenger, since he wished to spare his people and his house. But they ridiculed the messengers of God, they despised his words, they laughed at his prophets, until at last the wrath of the Lord rose so high against his people that there was no further remedy.

Their enemies burned down the Temple of God, demolished the walls of Jerusalem, set fire to all its palaces, and destroyed everything of value in it. The survivors were deported by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon; they were to serve him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power. This is how the word of the Lord was fulfilled that he spoke through Jeremiah, ‘Until this land has enjoyed its sabbath rest, until seventy years have gone by, it will keep sabbath throughout the days of its desolation.’

And in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfil the word of the Lord that was spoken through Jeremiah, the Lord roused the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to issue a proclamation and to have it publicly displayed throughout his kingdom: ‘Thus speaks Cyrus king of Persia, “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth; he has ordered me to build him a Temple in Jerusalem, in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, may his God be with him! Let him go up.”’

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 136(137):1-6

R/ O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not!

By the rivers of Babylon there we sat and wept, remembering Zion; on the poplars that grew there we hung up our harps.

R/ O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not!

For it was there that they asked us, our captors, for songs, our oppressors, for joy. ‘Sing to us,’ they said, ‘one of Zion’s songs.’

R/ O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not!

O how could we sing the song of the Lord on alien soil? If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand wither!

R/ O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not!

O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not, if I prize not Jerusalem above all my joys!

R/ O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not!

Second Reading Ephesians 2:4-10 You have been saved through grace.

God loved us with so much love that he was generous with his mercy: when we were dead through our sins, he brought us to life with Christ – it is through grace that you have been saved – and raised us up with him and gave us a place with him in heaven, in Christ Jesus. This was to show for all ages to come, through his goodness towards us in Christ Jesus, how infinitely rich he is in grace. Because it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith; not by anything of your own, but by a gift from God; not by anything that you have done, so that nobody can claim the credit. We are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life as from the beginning he had meant us to live it.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Gospel Acclamation John 3:16

Glory and praise to you, O Christ! God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son: everyone who believes in him has eternal life. Glory and praise to you, O Christ!

Gospel John 3:14-21 God sent his Son so that through him the world might be saved.

Jesus said to Nicodemus:

‘The Son of Man must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life. For God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved. No one who believes in him will be condemned; but whoever refuses to believe is condemned already, because he has refused to believe in the name of God’s only Son. On these grounds is sentence pronounced: that though the light has come into the world men have shown they prefer darkness to the light because their deeds were evil. And indeed, everybody who does wrong hates the light and avoids it, for fear his actions should be exposed; but the man who lives by the truth comes out into the light, so that it may be plainly seen that what he does is done in God.’

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

--------------------------

Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday) - The Man Born Blind 

Liturgical Colour: Rose or Violet.

First Reading 1 Samuel 16:1,6-7,10-13 David is anointed by Samuel.

The Lord said to Samuel, ‘Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have chosen myself a king among his sons.’ When Samuel arrived, he caught sight of Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed stands there before him,’ but the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Take no notice of his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him: God does not see as man sees: man looks at appearances but the Lord looks at the heart.’ Jesse presented his seven sons to Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, ‘The Lord has not chosen these.’ He then asked Jesse, ‘Are these all the sons you have?’ He answered, ‘There is still one left, the youngest; he is out looking after the sheep.’ Then Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Send for him; we will not sit down to eat until he comes.’ Jesse had him sent for, a boy of fresh complexion, with fine eyes and pleasant bearing. The Lord said, ‘Come, anoint him, for this is the one.’ At this, Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him where he stood with his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord seized on David and stayed with him from that day on.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 22(23)

R/ The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. Fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me repose. Near restful waters he leads me, to revive my drooping spirit.

R/ The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.

He guides me along the right path; he is true to his name. If I should walk in the valley of darkness no evil would I fear. You are there with your crook and your staff; with these you give me comfort.

R/ The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.

You have prepared a banquet for me in the sight of my foes. My head you have anointed with oil; my cup is overflowing.

R/ The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.

Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me all the days of my life. In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell for ever and ever.

R/ The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.

Second Reading Ephesians 5:8-14 Anything exposed by the light will turn into light.

You were darkness once, but now you are light in the Lord; be like children of light, for the effects of the light are seen in complete goodness and right living and truth. Try to discover what the Lord wants of you, having nothing to do with the futile works of darkness but exposing them by contrast. The things which are done in secret are things that people are ashamed even to speak of; but anything exposed by the light will be illuminated and anything illuminated turns into light. That is why it is said:

Wake up from your sleep, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Gospel Acclamation John 8:12

Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God! I am the light of the world, says the Lord; whoever follows me will have the light of life. Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!

Either:

Gospel John 9:1-41 The blind man went off and washed himself, and came away with his sight restored.

As Jesus went along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, for him to have been born blind?’ ‘Neither he nor his parents sinned,’ Jesus answered ‘he was born blind so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

‘As long as the day lasts I must carry out the work of the one who sent me; the night will soon be here when no one can work. As long as I am in the world I am the light of the world.’

Having said this, he spat on the ground, made a paste with the spittle, put this over the eyes of the blind man, and said to him, ‘Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam’ (a name that means ‘sent’). So the blind man went off and washed himself, and came away with his sight restored.

His neighbours and people who earlier had seen him begging said, ‘Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?’ Some said, ‘Yes, it is the same one.’ Others said, ‘No, he only looks like him.’ The man himself said, ‘I am the man.’ So they said to him, ‘Then how do your eyes come to be open?’ ‘The man called Jesus’ he answered ‘made a paste, daubed my eyes with it and said to me, “Go and wash at Siloam”; so I went, and when I washed I could see.’ They asked, ‘Where is he?’ ‘I don’t know’ he answered.

They brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. It had been a sabbath day when Jesus made the paste and opened the man’s eyes, so when the Pharisees asked him how he had come to see, he said, ‘He put a paste on my eyes, and I washed, and I can see.’ Then some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man cannot be from God: he does not keep the sabbath.’ Others said, ‘How could a sinner produce signs like this?’ And there was disagreement among them. So they spoke to the blind man again, ‘What have you to say about him yourself, now that he has opened your eyes?’ ‘He is a prophet’ replied the man. However, the Jews would not believe that the man had been blind and had gained his sight, without first sending for his parents and asking them, ‘Is this man really your son who you say was born blind? If so, how is it that he is now able to see?’ His parents answered, ‘We know he is our son and we know he was born blind, but we do not know how it is that he can see now, or who opened his eyes. He is old enough: let him speak for himself.’ His parents spoke like this out of fear of the Jews, who had already agreed to expel from the synagogue anyone who should acknowledge Jesus as the Christ. This was why his parents said, ‘He is old enough; ask him.’

So the Jews again sent for the man and said to him, ‘Give glory to God! For our part, we know that this man is a sinner.’ The man answered, ‘I don’t know if he is a sinner; I only know that I was blind and now I can see.’ They said to him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’ He replied, ‘I have told you once and you wouldn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it all again? Do you want to become his disciples too?’ At this they hurled abuse at him: ‘You can be his disciple,’ they said ‘we are disciples of Moses: we know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.’ The man replied, ‘Now here is an astonishing thing! He has opened my eyes, and you don’t know where he comes from! We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but God does listen to men who are devout and do his will. Ever since the world began it is unheard of for anyone to open the eyes of a man who was born blind; if this man were not from God, he couldn’t do a thing.’ ‘Are you trying to teach us,’ they replied ‘and you a sinner through and through, since you were born!’ And they drove him away.

Jesus heard they had driven him away, and when he found him he said to him, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ ‘Sir,’ the man replied ‘tell me who he is so that I may believe in him.’ Jesus said, ‘You are looking at him; he is speaking to you.’ The man said, ‘Lord, I believe’, and worshipped him. Jesus said:

‘It is for judgement that I have come into this world, so that those without sight may see and those with sight turn blind.’

Hearing this, some Pharisees who were present said to him, ‘We are not blind, surely?’ Jesus replied:

‘Blind? If you were, you would not be guilty, but since you say, “We see,” your guilt remains.’

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Or:

Gospel John 9:1,6-9,13-17,34-38 The blind man went off and washed himself, and came away with his sight restored.

As Jesus went along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. He spat on the ground, made a paste with the spittle, put this over the eyes of the blind man, and said to him, ‘Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam’ (a name that means ‘sent’). So the blind man went off and washed himself, and came away with his sight restored.

His neighbours and people who earlier had seen him begging said, ‘Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?’ Some said, ‘Yes, it is the same one.’ Others said, ‘No, he only looks like him.’ The man himself said, ‘I am the man.’

They brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. It had been a sabbath day when Jesus made the paste and opened the man’s eyes, so when the Pharisees asked him how he had come to see, he said, ‘He put a paste on my eyes, and I washed, and I can see.’ Then some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man cannot be from God: he does not keep the sabbath.’ Others said, ‘How could a sinner produce signs like this?’ And there was disagreement among them. So they spoke to the blind man again, ‘What have you to say about him yourself, now that he has opened your eyes?’ ‘He is a prophet’ replied the man.

‘Are you trying to teach us,’ they replied ‘and you a sinner through and through, since you were born!’ And they drove him away. Jesus heard they had driven him away, and when he found him he said to him, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ ‘Sir,’ the man replied ‘tell me who he is so that I may believe in him.’ Jesus said, ‘You are looking at him; he is speaking to you.’ The man said, ‘Lord, I believe’, and worshipped him.

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

[phatburd]

(Fic Writer Asks) Multiples of 7~

7. What character(s) captured your heart?

If by “captured your heart” you actually mean, “I want to stick you under a glass slide, so I can run an electron microscope over every part of you in high resolution detail,” that would be Michel Ney and Jean-Baptiste Bessières. Oh, boy, these guys.

(The rest of Napoleon’s Marshals will get their turn.)

14. What were your shortest and longest fics this year?

If you count the stories in my ficlet collection, Dying comes in at 68 words. Once Was All There Was is the longest at 22k+ words and it’s still not complete.

21. Share your favorite piece of dialogue

"What's this? Didn't they teach you to make proper incendiaries in the Marine Corps?" Booker groused at Nile, when he noticed her look of shock mingled with horror at what he was mixing in the kitchen.

Her voice rose to an outraged squeak. "Book, I know that rioting is like a national sport in France, but is this napalm you're making? In your new apartment?" She craned her neck to look around him. "Oh my God, are you making Molotov cocktails?"

"Abso-fucking-lutely," he answered with a smug smirk. "Come here and I'll show you how to make one properly, not like how Hollywood does it."

"Wait, there's a proper way to make Molotov cocktails? Fuck, nevermind that, you're not doing this inside! What if you fuck it up and burn the entire apartment block down!"

"We're immortal, Nile, we don't die. That's kind of a bonus here. And I opened the windows as a safety precaution.”

"That's not the point!"

28. If you had to choose one, what was THE most satisfying writing moment of your year?

This is going to sound kind of pretentious, but it’s built into the question, no?

I go for the Scalzi Burrito approach to writing.

The Scalzi Burrito is named after science fiction author John Scalzi, and his notorious way of making burritos. Which is to use whatever he has in his fridge, put it all together in a tortilla, and eat it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes the result is delicious. Other times it's, “What the fuck were you thinking?” Either way, you learn something from it.

That’s kind of how I feel about An Awfully Big Adventure right now.

I like the premise, I love the idea. I’m stalled out because there’s some ugly bits I’m not sure how to approach. And I still learned a lot from it, mainly what my limits and tolerance level as a writer are. I still want to complete it, maybe skipping over some bits to do it. It might be cheating, but it would get things flowing again.

Thanks for asking! 😄 ILU

[scribeforchrist-blog]

Digesting the Word of God

Verse of the day

========================

+ Psalm 119:27 Help me understand the meaning of your commandments, and I will meditate on your wonderful deeds.

=========================

** SAY THIS BEFORE YOU READ; HERE’S SOME CHRISTIAN AFFIRMATION **

I AM READY TO LEARN

I AM OPEN TO RECEIVING

I AM NEEDING TO BE FILLED

I AM CORRECTING MY WAYS

********************************

Thoughts

=======================

As we read the word of God, the Holy Spirit will always teach us; that’s why it is very wise to start off with prayer before we read the word of God; when we do this, we are doing two things, we are surrendering to the Holy Spirit our ears and eyes, we are also welcome teaching and change to our life, we are also accepting what he wants us to learn. People of God, it’s hard to do this if we are going to read quickly through the word; this is hard to do if we are going to deny the change that the Holy Spirit wants to do.

Change is hard, and letting go of the way we do things is even harder but, BUT If we want to be knowledgeable of the word and grow, we must surrender everything we think we know for the knowledge of the Holy Spirit. In today's verse, we see that David is asking God to help him; he’s asking God to give him understanding, he’s placing pride to the side, and he’s asking God to teach me your laws and commandments so that I might meditate on them.

Have you done that today? Have you meditated on the word of God? Have you taken the time to eat the word of God? Have you taken the wisdom of knowledge of God and applied it to your life? When we meditate, we open our spirit man to the lord so he may pour into us! He will only pour into them that are pure and are willing to take what they know and feed or show others.

“John 14:21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

I want us to take the first part of this verse and read it; it says whoever has my commandments and keep them, they love me when we take what we learn and apply it, and we keep it in our hearts in mind at all time we truly develop a love for God because then we start to understand what he wants from us we start to understand his will, but we must learn his commandments through picking up our word.

The most treasured thing we can ever have in our life is God's word, and to indeed devour his word, we can spend a lifetime in college getting degrees and certificates, but all of those things mean nothing when we are studying the word of God with the Holy Spirit.

“Colossians 2:8 Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.”

At the end of the day, it tells us that people will teach empty philosophies; the reason why it’s empty is because it’s not coming from God because anything that’s coming from God is meant to fill us, but empty notions and philosophies will never help us understand the word of God, it will help us understand the ways of the world but not the WORD. This type of teaching comes from humans, and their thinking it doesn’t come straight from God because they have never allowed God to teach them; the only THING they can ever tell us is how to become further from God; they can never tell us what to do in order for us to seek Christ!

David didn’t run to the prophets; he didn’t run to the priest for wisdom and knowledge; he went to the source! He went straight to God; when we go to God, he’s going to tell us how to study so we can know when we have a false teacher or prophet amongst us, he’s going to show us the large words they use to confuse us, so that we can think they know the way, the truth, and they don’t! We must be like David and seek God first.

“Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; all these things shall be added unto you.”

Jesus tells us here, seek me first, seek my word first, and everything else will be added to you, but if we never seek, if we never read, how will we know what to do and how to obtain wisdom, the great prophets and man of God studied to show themselves approve, they didn’t just study sometimes, but they studied all the time to gain the wisdom of the living word, the word of God can change anyone that wants to be changed, that are willing to accept what it says in the word!

How do we learn the word of God

1. Pray

2. We must open it up

3. Be ready to apply everything we learn to our life

4. Have an ear to hear the Holy Spirit

5. Don’t deny what we read and correct our ways.

If you’re ready to do that? If you're ready to seek more of God and to go higher in the spirit realm, you must be ready to be corrected right where you are and not run from corrections; David was ready to hear what God had to say. Are you? ©Seer~ Prophetess Lee

========================

Prayer

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Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to hear from you; thank you for your mercy and strength. Father, as we read our devotional today, help us to apply the wisdom you have given us to our lives; Father, help us not to listen to empty notions but to the word of God; Father, lead our lives, and we will follow. Thank you for being a guide, and thank you for loving us more than we ever thought; lord, help us as we digest your word that we ultimately yield to whatever you're trying to show us, lord we want to be correct start now; in our life; remove anything. In it, that’s not of you! In Jesus' Name Amen

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Reference

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+Psalm 119:130 The unfolding of Your words gives light;It gives understanding to the simple.

+Job 23:12 “I have not departed from the command of His lips;

I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.

+Luke 24:45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,

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Further reading

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Zachariah 14:1-21

Revelation 20:1-15

Psalm 148:1-14

Proverbs 31:8-9

[sapphymayeyeplease]

Have you ever had a relationship with GOD/YHWH? Have you asked HIM things, for help/understanding?

What is stopping you from pursuing a life w/ someone WHO will never leave you and has your best at heart?

𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱: 'If you do not know where you want to go, then it doesn't matter which path you take.'

I'm always saying I don't know what is happening or why I'm feeling despondent

— so I agree we don't know how to live.

We're all unique snowflakes, but I think divorce & drugs and alcohol exists so we can try to calm down from all the anger and rage we feel when 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 — or the way we want to be treated or remembered.

1.]  If 𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿,       Hell is basic entry level for everyone, &

2.]  If GOD sent HIS SON to die on the cross in our       place to avoid this Hell and lead us thru life by       HIS HOLY SPIRIT; &

3.]  HE says there is only 1-way forward & JESUS       is the way/truth/life, that no one comes to       the FATHER except thru JESUS. [John 14:6]

Why would we ever avoid HIS easy yoke? Why wouldn't we ask HIM in to show us the way?

We clearly don't have life/truth/way to GOD, unless we accept JESUS, & life/death begins forever after we're ejected from earth.

I wonder if you were to die in your sleep suddenly: Are you ready to be drop-kicked into eternity?

Case in point...

Rose you say you think about your mentor Albert a lot that he passed away suddenly [5:37] maybe that's the take away lesson here:

In the Bible it says there was a rich man who had so much money/wealth that he was thinking to himself he had more than enough to retire & live at ease for the rest of his life.

The problem was,

Luke 12:20 | ²⁰ But GOD said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’

This Easter maybe try going to Church & learning about how you can store up millions in Heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. [Matthew 6:19-21]

sorry anon i love divorce a whole lot :(

[beyond-the-northern-lights]

Unwilling to Research Who You Follow?

I so-called triggered the snowflakes, any time I write something about the Abrahamic religions the posts with it become so hard to save 🔥

.. afraid to learn who you are truly following? that fEAr - Rev 21:8

It is said that if you follow his dark side, he especially does not care about what happens to you - following this unloving light side is still bad though 🧬 Satan, of darkness yet disguised as a being of light!

It is supposedly said by an alien, that his fellow elites are his pawns and that a number of these elites help him control mankind. I heard they get possessed, their boss brags that they’re horrified of him 🐍

In the Nag Hammadi texts, OldTestamentGod said to steal light!

  tNHt says Yaldabaoth is a thief: steals light and given light 🔥

In the Japanese version, Malik leads those called the Ghouls.

said that Enlil and Enki lead Dracos - they get possessed by genies?

It is said that when An, Ki split that the dragon of the earth was born!

In the bible, Satan is called the dragon while the Devil is as well 🔥

In tNT, Jesus says only God is good and Yah admits to doing evil 🤔

   supposedly his words Isa 45:7, call him a liar? vs Exo 32:11-14

I read how Satan (*a dark side of Lucifer*) is a jinn, smokeless fire!

angels said to be made of light, angel of darkness vs angel of light

I see how fiery serpents aka the Seraphim push Rev 22:13 Jesus 🔥

I note how John 15 Jesus seems to imply Lucifer is Rev 22:3 Jesus!

the dragon is said to rule the first beast aka Yah!

It is said he can be in multiple places at once 🧬

said An(u) went to rule in heaven, Enlil and Enki rules on earth 🐍

   I see how Lucifer is said to describe An as light, Enki as light

In tNHammadi texts, Yaldabaoth (*aka Enlil*) called darkness itself!

   It is said that Yaldabaoth, with stolen light, is called Yaldabaoth

       * light side, dark side of all of us going by our same names

I see 1 John 5:7, when the Word in the flesh talks of “the father” 🤔

In John 1, it says that God became flesh so then Mark 10:17,18 🦅

If so merciful, why make any unbelievers then punish them for that?

It is a trick via him - he lacks the power he claims, uses fear 🔥

If any claims to have not created sin, cannot be the creator of all?

  nothing exists outside of that energy, good vs evil and fanfiction

In a post one below this post.. sections eight-nine then a, b, c, d 🚩

It is crazy how an alien arrived, and many still worship him now 😅

   bible shows how this flesh eater, magic user is Satan in disguise

so he performs lying signs, wonders - many’ll literally bow down 🐍

and he wants to be God - uses tech, fEAr as a way to fool many 🔥

.. and yet, he “the LORD” does these six things in the bible 🤔

-----------

I feel a need to add it:

.. just because the antichrist is bad, it does not mean Christ is good!

the being, Lucifer, warps definitions and if any read all of tGAtJohn?

In certain cases, he will mix good with bad energy as “Enki” 🤔

ashtarcommandcrew.net/profiles/bl

ogs/message-from-lord-enki-december-2013

so Thoth (*aka Ningishzida*) is the god of

the narrative - I mean, the god of writing 📜

so much positive about him, suspicious 🪄

bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/sociopol_whitebrotherhood02.htm

I know Bob Sanders says they say they rule our incarnation system!

so-called ascended masters support ‘em! sounds as if shining ones?

It’s said there’s a reason this word HARM is in the word pHARMa 🧬

many love the world in such a way they’ll follow the tricky Lucifer 📜

[creativewaygrace]

The Identifying Marks of Cultural Christianity

1. Denying the inspiration of scripture or parts of scripture.

2 Timothy 3:16-All scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness. 

2 Peter 1:21- Because no prophecy ever came by the will of man, instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 

2. Ignoring or downplaying true repentance as the first step toward knowing God. 

Matthew 4:17- From then on Jesus began to preach “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near.

Acts 2:38- Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

3. Focusing on Jesus love and acceptance to the exclusion of His teaching on hell, obedience, and self-sacrifice. 

Matthew 4:17- From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near. 

Matthew 23:33- Snakes! Broad of vipers! How can you escape being condemned to hell?

Mark 9:43- And if your hand causes you to fall away, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed then to have two hands and go to hell, the unquenchable fire. 

Luke 12:5- But I will show you the one to fear: Fear him who has authority to throw people into hell after death. Yes, I say to you, this is the one to fear. 

4. Tolerating or even celebrating ongoing sin claiming to know God. 

Romans 1:32- Although they know God’s just sentence, that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them.

1 Corinthians 5:1-2- It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and the kind of sexual immorality that is not even tolerated among the Gentiles, a man is sleeping with his father’s wife. And you are arrogant! Shouldn’t you be filled with grief and remove from the congregation the one who did this?

1 John 3:9-10- Everyone who has been born of God, does not sin, because his seed remains in him, he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God. This is how God’s children and the devil’s children become obvious. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother or sister. 

5. Redefining truths to accommodate culture.

Numbers 23:19- God is not a man, that he might lie, or a son of man, that he might change his mind. Does he speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill?

Malachi 3:6- Because I, the Lord, have not changed your descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.

6. Understanding Jesus to be a social reformer, rather than God in the flesh who is the sacrifice for our sins. 

Matthew 10:34- Do not assume that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

Mark 14:7- You always have the poor with you, and you can do what is good for them whenever you want, but you do not always have me.

7. Claiming God’s promises while ignoring the requirements included with them. 

Psalm 50:16- But God says to the wicked: What right do you have to recite my statutes and to take my covenant on your lips. 

Jeremiah 18:10- However, if it does what is evil in my sight by not listening to me, I will relent concerning the good I had said I would do it. 

8. Denying or minimizing Jesus claim that He is the only way to God. 

John 3:15-18- So that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God loved the world in this way. He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world, but save the world through him. Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. 

John 14:6- Jesus told him, I am the way the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 

9. Performing enough religious activity to gain a sense of well-being without a true divination to Jesus. 

Galatians 5:16-17- I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh, these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want. 

Romans 8:9- You, however are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ he does not belong to him. 

10. Talking much about “God” in general sense, but very little about Jesus Christ as Lord.

John 13:13- You call me teacher and Lord, and you are speaking rightly, since that is what I am. 

John 14:6- Jesus told him “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 

11. Seeing protection and blessing as goals to be achieved, rather than by products of a loving relationship with God.

Mark 12:30- Love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. 

Deuteronomy 11:13-17- If you carefully obey my commands I am giving you today, to love the Lord your God and worship him with all your heart and all your soul, I will provide rain for your land in the proper time, the autumn and spring rains, and you will harvest your grain, new wine, and fresh oil. I will provide grass in your fields for your livestock. You will eat and be satisfied. Be careful that you are not enticed to turn aside, serve and bow in worship to other god’s. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you. He will shut the sky, and there will be no rain, the land will not yield it’s produce and you will perish quickly form the good land the Lord is giving you. 

12. Choosing a church based upon any or all the above. 

Revelation 3:15-17- I know your works, so that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth. For you say, I’m rich, I have become wealthy and need nothing, and you don’t realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.       

[theprayerfulword]

September 15

1 John 4:16 NIV We know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

Song of Solomon 8:7 NLT Many waters cannot quench love, nor can rivers drown it. If a man tried to buy love with all his wealth, his offer would be utterly scorned.

1 John 1:7 NKJV But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Romans 13:11 NKJV And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

John 14:26 NKJV But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this; that one lay down his life for his friends.

May you seek for the sound and stable wisdom of God which comes from above and is given generously from the Father without reproach, not depending upon, but turning from and renouncing, the wisdom of man and the counsel of the world which the Lord will turn to foolishness, causing the leaders to be deceived and making the land to stagger as the cornerstones of culture go astray. Isaiah 19, James 1

May you always walk in trust toward the Lord and exercise faith in God, for that which you see as impossible to have happen is already accomplished in the eyes of the Lord. Isaiah 19

May you walk humbly before those God is drawing, as He makes Himself known to them, so they may know how to turn to the Lord and be healed, for in that day the Lord Almighty will bless them saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.” Isaiah 19

May you follow the guidance of the Lord in obedient reverence, though you do not understand all that He is doing or how He is working, for He will support you and sustain you in your vulnerability and suffering, Isaiah 20

May you ever recall that on the threshing floor, the harvest is trodden underfoot and dealt blow after blow, after the stalk that gave life and nourishment is cut off and dried up, to separate the chaff and straw, without harm to the grain, and even so, the afflictions and persecutions, the tribulations and troubles which come in your life will cause separation and removal of that which is useless, but cannot harm that which the Lord has grown and developed in your life and finds so very valuable and worthwhile. Isaiah 21

My child, sin shall not be a master over you, for in Me you have died, and through Me, you have a new life. Live in the freedom you have been given by grace through the law of the Spirit of life that you have received from Me. Keep standing firm in My Name and on My Word, and do not allow the lies of the enemy to trigger conditioned reflexes in you to repeat old habits, lest you put on again the yoke of slavery that you were once subject to. Be renewed in your mind through the study of My Word, allowing My Spirit of revelation to make the truth of the scripture real to you. He will show you how to apply it to yourself, giving you the means to put on the mind of Christ; you will then be able to discern between that which brings life, and that which brings death. Let the peace that passes understanding dwell richly within you and around you in all ways and at all times, even as I am with you. As you grow in understanding that you are justified before the Father through Me, and are no longer subject to the judgment of wrath, there will be no more fearful expectation of evil befalling you. Daily growing in grace and wisdom in the Father, you will be able to walk in peace within and without, at home and outside of home, with fellow workers, with fellow Christians, and with those in the marketplace. My peace withstands the attacks of the enemy when you stand up and when you lie down, when your thoughts are preoccupied and when you wait for sleep to arrive. It is the confident assurance of victory in My name and through My power rather than yours. You have no need to dread bad news, for your faith is in Me, and you know that I will never leave you nor forsake you. Though terror fills the hearts of those who do not yet know Me, you are not of them and you are not subject to their master any longer. I place you in their midst, and let you live through the same experiences so that I can make a distinction in their eyes between you and them, that I may provoke some, by jealousy, to seek Me as well. Though some will hate you for My sake, others will come to Me through the witness you give as you remain confidently faithful and humbly secure in your assurance in Me without wavering. Be strong and of good courage, My love, for I will bring all things to pass as they need to. Simply draw close to Me and let Me love others through you.

May you always be ready to give to others a full account of your ministry and service in the gospel, depending on God for success even as you exercise all proper caution to remove mistakes and avoid misunderstanding, never giving place to conduct by any which would reflect poorly on, or distort the truth and beauty of, the gospel of God. Galatians 2

May you know that a man is not justified by observing the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. Galatians 2

May you continue to remember the poor as you live the Gospel you preach. Galatians 2

May you turn to God for deliverance from your enemies and protection from those who rise up against you as you seek to walk in God's will. Psalm 59

May you depend on the Lord God Almighty to rouse Himself and punish all the spiritual principalities who lie in wait for you and conspire against you without cause or offense, ready to attack you, for He will look upon your plight and show no mercy to wicked traitors. Psalm 59

May you watch for God, your Strength, your Fortress, Who lovingly goes before you, scoffing and laughing at the powers of the air who snarl like dogs and spew swords from their lips, rejecting the will and the love of God. Psalm 59

May you sing of His strength in the evening, and sing of His love in the morning, for because the wicked sin in their heart and curse with their mouth, they will be caught in their pride and consumed by His wrath until it is known to the ends of the earth that God rules over Jacob, and He is your strong refuge in times of trouble. Psalm 59

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

False Teaching in the Last Days

1 The Holy Spirit tells us in plain words that in the last days some people will turn away from the faith. They will listen to what is said about spirits and follow the teaching about demons. 2 Those who teach this tell it as the truth when they know it is a lie. They do it so much that their own hearts no longer say it is wrong. 3 They will say, “Do not get married. Do not eat some kinds of food.” But God gave these things to Christians who know the truth. We are to thank God for them. 4 Everything God made is good. We should not put anything aside if we can take it and thank God for it. 5 It is made holy by the Word of God and prayer.

Christians Are to Grow

6 If you keep telling these things to the Christians, you will be a good worker for Jesus Christ. You will feed your own soul on these words of faith and on this good teaching which you have followed. 7 Have nothing to do with foolish stories old women tell. Keep yourself growing in God-like living. 8 Growing strong in body is all right but growing in God-like living is more important. It will not only help you in this life now but in the next life also. 9 These words are true and they can be trusted. 10 Because of this, we work hard and do our best because our hope is in the living God, the One Who would save all men. He saves those who believe in Him.

Paul’s Helpful Words to Young Timothy

11 Tell people that this is what they must do. 12 Let no one show little respect for you because you are young. Show other Christians how to live by your life. They should be able to follow you in the way you talk and in what you do. Show them how to live in faith and in love and in holy living. 13 Until I come, read and preach and teach the Word of God to the church. 14 Be sure to use the gift God gave you. The leaders saw this in you when they laid their hands on you and said what you should do. 15 Think about all this. Work at it so everyone may see you are growing as a Christian. 16 Watch yourself how you act and what you teach. Stay true to what is right. If you do, you and those who hear you will be saved from the punishment of sin. — 1 Timothy 4 | New Life Version (NLV) New Life Version Holy Bible Copyright © 1969, 2003 by Barbour Publishing, Inc. Cross References: Genesis 1:9; Genesis 1:25; Genesis 1:31; Genesis 9:3; Exodus 23:13; 1 Kings 13:18; Job 36:11; Psalm 37:9; Jeremiah 23:26; Zechariah 2:4; Matthew 16:16; Matthew 25:21; Luke 1:3; John 4:42; Acts 1:15; Acts 6:6; Acts 10:15; Acts 11:30; Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 16:11; Ephesians 4:19; 1 Timothy 1:4; 1 Timothy 1:9; 1 Timothy 1:15; 1 Timothy 3:14-15; 1 Timothy 5:7; 1 Timothy 6:2; Titus 2:15; Hebrews 11:3