Devotional - 24th October

Being Loved

I don’t know of a single person who has never wanted to be loved.  I can’t think of anyone that I know who does not want to be loved.  Everyone wants to be loved by someone else. Everyone wants to feel special to someone.  Children want their parent’s affection; husbands long for their wives to love them deeply; wives long for their husbands to love them deeply…not read their minds.

I recently sat in the Life Today studio and listened to James Robison teach about God’s love for us.  James talked about how God wants to love us like a father loves his children, and he pointed us to a verse that I did not know was in the Bible.  It was one of those that I had possibly read before, but it did not jump out at me like it did at that moment. I read the passage from John 17:20-23.  Take a moment and read this passage.

The Fathers Love

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:20-23 NIV

Do you see the depth of the Father’s love?  Right there in the last sentence: “Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”  In this sentence, Jesus makes the statement that God loves us as much as he loves Jesus.  It’s a declarative statement. Jesus isn’t asking God to love us in this prayer. He’s not begging.  This definitive statement says God has loved all of us “even as you have loved me (Jesus).”  

Take just a moment to let that sink in.  Jesus has just made this statement: God loves us as much as he loves Jesus.  Here it is one more time: God loves us as much as he loves Jesus.

The apostle Paul put it this way in his letter to the Ephesian church:

I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know the Messiah’s love that surpasses knowledge, so you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  (Ephesians 3:17b-19, HCSB)

How Big is God’s Love

How deep is God’s love?  Dive down and try to find the bottom.  You’ll never reach the bottom of God’s love.

How wide is God’s love?  Try going around it. You’ll never find a corner to turn at the end of God’s love.

How high is God’s love? If your rocket-boosted space capsule went straight up after exiting earth’s atmosphere with the proper trajectory, you could never get high enough to get over the top of God’s love.

I have been wrestling with the vastness of God’s love ever since that day.  I have been trying to wrap my brain around what all of this means to me. I have been attempting to reconcile my heart to the magnitude of the love of God for someone like me.  Here is what I’ve been able to come up with:

Even in my brokenness, God loves me.

Even in my pain, God loves me.

Even in my sin, God loves me.

Even in my suffering, God loves me.

Even in my crushed spirit, God loves me.

Even when I don’t follow him, God loves me.

Even when I don’t trust him, God loves me.

Even when I am in deep despair, God loves me.

Even when I wander far away from him, God loves me.

Even though I don’t understand why he would, God loves me.

When I feel that I don’t measure up when I have fallen short when I think that I should be last on the list of people accepted by God I have to come back to this prayer that Jesus gave us.  I have to be reminded that God loves me like he loves his only son.

“I do not call you slaves anymore, because a slave doesn’t know what his master is doing. I have called you friends because I have made known to you everything I have heard from My Father.”  (John 15:15, HCSB)

Spending Time with God

This morning I politely told a neighbour's boy to stop throwing sticks at a defenseless squirrel. His mother came out to begin a fight. While I was in my wheelchair. I told her everything. She told her son to stop and sent him to his room. I believe I did the right thing. I also told her to have him read the bible. I handed her an old bible I got from a pantry and she thanked me and I helped her read a few passages to read with the boy. I hoped it would help them turn to God. I think I did the right thing. If Not it's in God's hands now.

I felt that after some time with the mother of the boy she was understanding that I was a Christian. I told her about the life of mine and becoming a Christian and converting to be Catholic. She told me she wished she had learned about God and found people to teach her like my partner's family and our friends at St Mark's church. I gave her the address and phone number of the church and the web address of my spiritual blog. She told me she would check it out. I sure hope she does and hopes in time she reads the bible she was given by me. This will help her draw closer to God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost. The Trinity is hard to grasp. I even to this day find it difficult to understand. 

Trinity is the foundation of most Christianity churches in the world today. Methodist, Baptists, Catholic, Church of England, and many more. I have even been to several others - Mormon, Jehovah Witness, and Jewish synagogs. I found them very confusing at times. I just didn't like Jehovah Witnesses due to them not having blood transfusions and having certain medications from a doctor you need to stay healthy. Mormons don't smoke, drink alcohol, drink tea or coffee, or any soda with caffeine in either. Which means no Coke, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, Mr. Pibb, or the like. These are a bit extreme to me. I kind of understand the medical stuff for the JW's on the blood thing, but Mormons on the drink stuff are beyond me. This is ridiculous. 

If you need to find out more about the Mormon faith or Jehovah Witness faiths or any other please research them on Google or another Search engine. I have found out my pieces of information by learning amongst them. I was in England when I was going to their communities where I could learn about their faith and learn amongst them. I studied with them the Mormons had a church, the Jehovah Witnesses had a Kindom Hall for their religious services.  They both had plenty of study books to learn from and different Bibles and the Mormon's even added scriptures to the Bible. This was unusual for us. We still have it as a memento for us. 

Reading and studying is the best way to learn about any faith. Researching is also a good way to learn about a faith and it's teaching. I find it very informative too. Good luck in your search for the right religion for you. Keep searching and asking God for the true church of God. There is after all Only on God. 

15 Things You Didn't Know About Your Guardian Angel

If we’re going to go all-in on following Christ, then we have to believe everything that Jesus tells us. One of the things that He tells us about (that we always seem to forget) is that angels are real! Not only are they real, but we each have one guarding us against this and every moment. How well do we actually know these invisible guardians, though?

One of the things in the Bible that seem so commonplace is the presence of angels. I look at my own life and I don’t see angels like they did in the Bible. In fact, I don’t ever think about angels. Every time I stop and think about them, I find myself fascinated by the fact that I have a guardian angel. But then I find myself asking, “What are angels?”

I did some research, and here are some interesting things that I found out:

1. Angels like to get dressed-up (kind of).
If you’re like me, then you may think that angels have halos and wings, or are (creepy) little babies. Both cases are incorrect. Angels are pure spirits, so they don’t actually have bodies at all. However, angels will assume a human body when the need arises (it’s pretty rare). This assumption of a body is sort of like how we dress up for Halloween; except their costume is perfect (I can never get my costumes the way that I imagined them).

2. They are super-geniuses (smarter than Tony Stark).
Angels don’t think like humans do. We use logic to get from one thought to the next, like so:

We are human.

God loves every human unconditionally.

Therefore, God loves all of us.

For angels, they just know that God loves everyone instantaneously. They don’t take any intermediate steps, they just reach the conclusion. They have insights constantly. Because of this, they are constantly contemplating things such as humans, other angels, and God.

3. They’re probably laughing at you right now.
Because angels are so smart, they find things very humorous. The more knowledge you know, the more puns you can make, the more things are ironic, and you are amused by more things. Angels aren’t laughing at us to be mean; they’re just amused by all of the weird things that we do. I assume that my guardian angel can never stop laughing because I’m so weird.

4. Angels are snowflakes.
As in each and every single angel is unique and different from any other angel, so much so that each angel could be considered a different species. This means that every angel has their very own, very different personality.

5. Angels can’t get bored.
Because they are outside of our space-time, angels have no chronological time, which means that they never wait, and they can’t get bored because they are part of the immaterial world. Not only that, but guardian angels are never bored because humans are the subject of their attention, and humans don’t end, they just keep going.

6. They love us.
It naturally follows that love follows knowledge. Because angels have the power to think (they are conscious) and the power to choose (they have free will); angels will the good of us, which is the precise definition of love. They have no other motive except to see us in heaven, where we belong.

7. Angels are telepaths.
Since they don’t have a body to speak with, they just communicate with one another by instantly sending their thoughts.

8. Angels are always in contact with God.
Even when they are paying attention to us, they are glorifying God and receiving whatever God wants them to know. Since they are beings outside of space, they can be present to more than one thing at any moment. This means that they operate on earth without ever leaving heaven.

9. They contain the space in which they operate.
I always imagined that my guardian angel would hover above me and to one side, but since they don’t have a body, it makes sense that they surround us at all times.

10. Angels are more beautiful than we can possibly imagine.
Because they are more like God than we are, they are more beautiful, because God is Beauty. Artists try and capture the beauty of angels, but they will always fall drastically short because there is nothing in this world that can describe or show such beauty.

11. They respect hospitality.
An ancient Jewish tradition to see if an angel visited would be to have some sort of food around and to offer it to the angel. Count the cookies or candies, or bananas (I don’t know what you have handy in your house), and offer one to it. Count again after the angel leaves, and if there is one less than what you started with, the angel assumed a body.

12. Angels don’t have a gender.
Gender is biological; it has nothing to do with the personality or spirit. Masculinity and femininity, on the other hand, transcend biology. This means that some angels may have more feminine personalities or more masculine personalities, but that doesn’t mean that they are male or female (again, that only has to do with biology). All angels that appear in the Bible appear masculine, most likely because, in the culture back then, males were the authoritative figures. The tasks that the angels performed (guarding and delivering messages) were those of the male back then as well.

13. They appear to women more than men.
Women seem to be more intuitive and receptive, which may be the reason behind this. Angels are solely intuitive beings, they might be on the same sort of mental wavelength as the female populace.

14. Angels are fearsome.
All angels are good, and that is all they can do to us. However, good does not mean comfortable. There is a reason that in the Bible, almost all the angels have to tell the people “Do not be afraid.”

15. They inspire us.
Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night and an idea popped into your head that you just had to write down so you wouldn’t forget it in the morning? Have you just been inspired to do something out of the ordinary, and it turned out to be extremely fruitful? Angels are always trying to inspire us with things that will lead us to heaven.

Angels are real and there is one that is protecting, guarding, guiding, enlightening, and loving you at this very moment. Make it a habit to acknowledge and thank your guardian angel more. 

Mormonism - Truth vs False

A long time ago when I lived in England. I was born a Catholic. I just never trusted the religion due to my parents being very abusive and some of the clergy too. My step-father would get the clergy to help abuse my in more ways than one. This as far as I'll go right now. I may post about the abuse I suffered at the hands of my family in the England/Europe when growing up as a child and adult even. It's a very long bitter childhood. I felt alone and very bitter to all my family. I grew up with nine brothers I was the only female. This was a very troubled time for me.

The time when I learned that Faith mattered was when I was four years old and my Nana Lily, my biological father's mother. The only family member who loved me and treated me with love, along with my only brother who treated me the same way. Taught me to read the Holy Bible. Nana Lily believe in God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. She taught me all about the stories in the bible. How the came to be written. WHo wrote the bible and why the bible was written. I found it uplighting.

If I knew then what I know now I would've never turned my back on the Catholic faith. I tried many different faiths in my lifetime. I first tried Jewish faith. I found them very restrictive on what the women could do. This did make me feel like I was less of a human being. I then tried Jehovah Witnesses. I liked what I learned about the faith. I did stop taking blood transfusions, it made it hard for some things like surgeries I had. Especially when I had my brain tumor. Having cancer in the brain was hard. My own family even told me I should die. I mean what mother wants her child to die to claim on a life insurance? WHo would do that to their own flesh and blood?

Then I tried the Chruch of England. It just wasn't me. Then Methodist. That was somewhat boring. It put me to sleep. I still read my bible while I pursued my dream of finding the right religion for me. I then at the ripe age of twenty-nine, I found a Mormon missionary in the town centre. The two missionaries talked with me in the town about the Book of Mormon, I was intrigued. I wanted to know more. They made an arrangement to come to my flat(apartment) to talk more about the Book of Mormon and their religion. I wanted to find out if this religion was for me.

They finally came to my place. They came regularly and we talked for hours. I read I studied the Book of Mormon. I then got the quad book. It contained Book of Mormon, D&C, Pearl of Great Price, Holy Bible. I would carry it everywhere I went. Read it, study it. I found the religion I wanted to be part of. The only thing was their church service was very long one. It was also split into separate rooms and sections. There was one for Sunday School, also one for adult women(Relief Society), main service. I was three hours lone in total. It was worth it.

Mormonism

Rule of the Faith

• No sex before marriage and complete fidelity after marriage.  Mormons believe the family is essential to God’s plan, so we don’t do anything that could jeopardize that.  The 10 commandments in the Bible says, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

• No alcohol or drugs.  Why?  We don’t want the effects of alcohol or drugs to influence us to make poor decisions.

• No dishonesty. Mormons believe it is important to keep Christ’s commandment in the Bible, to be honest with other people.  We aren’t perfect at it, but we strive to do our best.  The 10 commandments say not to “…bear false witness.”

• Donate 10% or more of your income to charity and the building up of the kingdom of God.  We believe that God is the Creator of the world.  We obey the law of the tithe to show our trust in God.  Because of the church’s almost complete lay ministry, the tithes are only spent for good instead of lining the pockets of a professional pastor.

• Do not view pornography.  We believe it’s incredibly belittling to women to treat them as objects, and pornography tempts the viewer to commit sin.  The 10 commandments say “thou shalt not covet.”

• Do not engage in same-sex relationships.  We are taught that marriage is ordained between a man and a woman.  We have great love and respect for ALL people–including gays and lesbians.  They are welcome to come to church and participate in the church, and we love them just as we would anyone else.  

• However, we do believe the Bible’s teachings that romantic relationships are ordained by God to be between man and woman.

• Dedicate Sundays to the Lord.  The 10 commandments from the Bible includes the commandment “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.”  We attend church on Sundays where we study the words of Christ and worship God.

• No foul language.  We keep our language clean and respectful.  As it says in the 10 commandments, “Thou shalt not take the Lord’s name in vain.”

• No cigarettes, coffee, tea, coffee or tobacco.  We believe life is a gift from God and we do our best to keep our bodies healthy and clean.  

• Teenagers shouldn’t date until 16 years-old.  We believe that teens should be careful to develop wholesome relationships in high school and should wait to develop serious boyfriend/girlfriend type relationships until they are of age to start courting and marrying.  This helps them to prevent the temptation of sexual sin.

• No abortion.  Members of the church strongly oppose abortion and do not participate in abortion in any way.  The 10 commandments say, “Thou shalt not kill.”  Church leaders have opened the possibility for abortion in extreme instances of danger to the mother’s life, incest, and rape.

• Gambling.  Mormons don’t bet money on games of chance or play the lottery.

I later was kicked out after like fours years in the faith. I was told I either stop drinking Pepsi and coffee or be removed from the church. I told them I just couldn't do that. I stopped the coffee. It wasn't a problem. The Pepsi was the problem. It was just a soda drink. nothing deadly in that. What was so wrong with a soda? It couldn't hurt me or anyone I was with. I was told I couldn't even talk with the friends I'd made in the church after I was removed from the church. This was so annoying. I was all alone again. I had nobody to talk with, nobody to turn to either. I was lost.

I later found someone coming to my door. they were from a church, a Baptist church. I was turning thirty-two at the time. I went to the church. It was a newly built church and the pastor was a nice friendly man. He approached me and we talked a while. He arranged for me to do a course called the alpha course. It was to teach about Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit. They were so kind, friendly and upbeat. I did the Alpha course and then got baptized in the church. I went almost every week. I stopped reading the Book of Mormon, I did keep the scriptures though.

Then when I was struggling to cope I found out my best friend died. I told my friend Allie. She put me in touch with a person In America. Their name will be nameless. They are now my partner. We have been together for nearly thirteen years. It'll be thirteen this October, thirteen on November 10th this year married. I think becoming a Catholic was the right choice. I have a stronger faith than I have ever had. I pray, study the bible daily.

Poem - I'm a Survivor

That moment when I heard the door closing behind
with all my memories inside,
my heart stopped beating.

I can't remember how I made it to the next corner
my body kept pushing for a safe place to hide.
This road I had to travel taught me how to survive
the people I met along the way were a true blessing.

When you think there is no way out
God will send one of his Angels to make it right.

Celtic Thunder - Amazing Grace

Poem - Teach Me, Lord

Teach me, Lord,
What I don't know
Show me which way
And where to go
Alone I stumble
Alone I fall
But your gentle voice
Leads through it all
Take my hand
Light my way
Be my beacon
Night and day
I am weak
And sometimes so low
But you give me strength
And make me whole
Teach me, Lord and Father,
Your child has become like new
Empty me of myself
So I can live for you