Monthly Archives: January 2013
For Their Sake, We Cannot Keep Quiet! Isaiah 62:1-5
† In Jesus Name †
May you realize that because of the mercy of God the Father, and His love for you demonstrated in Christ Jesus, that you will never be forsaken, for the Lord delights in you!
If you were to ask me which book in the Old Testament, and perhaps even the entire Bible, which is my favorite book – it is the one from which our Old Testament passage tonight was read from.
In Isaiah, we see, completely revealed, the heart that God has for His people. The love, the plan by which He would restore them from their brokenness, the joy that he would have, in bringing them back together, from every place, from every ethnic group on the face of the planet.
Such is the passage we have before us tonight, the incredible promise that Isaiah cannot be quiet about – that He must proclaim. He cannot rest or stay still – he must tell someone!
Not because He has to – not because He was called and commanded to by God – that just gives him the responsibility to share God’s love, to proclaim His word. No the reason He cannot keep still, the reason He cannot keep quiet is found there in verse 1.
For their sake, I will not keep silent! For their sake I will not be quiet!
For the sake of the people whom God would save, for the sake of the people upon whom God, the creator of all, would call by a new name – by His name… for their sake, Isaiah, and all the prophets, the apostles and evangelists and pastors and teachers – for their sake – even you and I, we cannot keep silent.
What we have to say makes that much of a difference in their lives.
THE DEACONS
I would like to explain this, with a quick illustration of some incredible guys that I get to serve, as I train them in ministry. They are in training to become deacons, normal guys from a variety of backgrounds. A teacher, a small town businessman, an engineer, a pool cleaner, a homeless, another guy with an MBA who troubleshoots peoples computer systems, a collection agent, a clothing manufacturing supervisor, an artist, and a printer. They study so they can work aside pastors
Most of them have been in church all their lives – from 30-74 years. They entered the program to be trained because they love God. As they study, as we work together, they all keep saying that they love God, but they never full realized how much that God adored them. The more they learn, the more they want to learn, and the more they find themselves not being able to shut up about God’s love.
Drive’s their wives a little crazy at times – but they too – learn and fall deeper and deeper in love with God.
I could talk about where they’ve come from for hours – each has had a life full of challenges, times where they’ve wanted to give up, times where they didn’t know hope, times where their lives were on the line….Ted and Rocky, Terry and Bob, Bill, Mike, Don, Eddie, Mark, and Chuck and so many more.
It is for their sake – and yes yours, that I cannot keep silent about God’s grace. I pray, that because you will come to know His love more clearly, more fully, that you too will be able to name those for whom you cannot keep silent, because you know God’s love for them, because you know His love for you!
What we see: Forsaken and Desolate
One of the guys, presently a student in the program, is such an example. He and his wife have hung in their – being faithful in attending church and in doing things. They knew the basic of the faith, the basics that we confess in the creed.
But their lives have been full of challenges. They’ve endured the death of one daughter, their other daughter’s life has been a major challenge as well. They have taken care of a mother who lived 70 miles away while she was dying painfully. The church at that time didn’t give them the support they needed. He has suffered with diabetes for 50 years, and the doctor’s cant seem to make up their mind if he has parkinsons, alzheimers, dementia or some other disease/disorder that no one has got a name for yet.
With all these challenges, and more besides, one would understand if they felt forsaken by God, if they thought their lives were desolate. If they thought that God has decided not to answer their prayers, that for some reason they weren’t good enough. They simply plow through, and faithfully take care of their responsibilities – so where is God’s power in their lives?
I sometimes wonder why they don’t have the same doubt, the same feelings I would – and my situation is not near what they’ve endured…
I don’t know about you – but when I hear Isaiah’s description of the people of God, saying that no longer will we be termed forsaken, no longer will our lives be desolate, I can think of certain times in my life, where I have felt that way – exactly. Where it would seem that even in a place like Los Angeles, surrounded by 20 million people – I am completely alone, and while there is hope and joy for others, there isn’t any for me.
I am broken.
Broken by my sin, the times where I’ve failed to love God enough to recognize His wisdom and love that underwrites the way He has designed and encouraged us to live.
Broken by my own sin, when I place my desires ahead of the needs of people around me. Where my own entertainment and enjoyment I look towards, rather than seeing my brother’s and sister’s needs.
Broken by others sins, as the entire world it seems, is full of people who put their own lives, and desires and goals ahead of any relationship with me, and step on me to achieve them.
Forsaken? Desolate? Yeah – I know those feelings.
What is Real
Knowing those feelings – and knowing that the men I serve have them – that hey – even you may have them- that is why we cannot be silent about God’s reality – and how it shatters those feelings of forsakenness and desolation.
Isaiah talks of how people will see our righteousness, that we have been cleansed in baptism from all sin and brokenness, that we are being healed of all that life has done to us. Isaiah talks of how it will shine like the most powerful of lights – our salvation will appear like a burning torch/lighting.
That is what is real – that our lives will be the crown – the proof of God being God, of Jesus being Lord of all – for only such could take us, and make us whole and alive and joyful.
For God has given us a new name, He has called us by His name – marked us as His.
My friend – the student who at 74 – with a memory that fails him – except when he is talking about God – realizes this. He had an epiphany, the lights came on, when he stood and held my Bible and bulletin open – as I baptized Rachel and Kay, two students of the school. It continues – each time he goes to church and to class to become a deacon. He soaks up the material like a sponge – and then shares it with people he knows.
He understands what it means to live as one that has been united to Christ in baptism – that has been joined to Christ’s death and resurrection, who because of the promises that are applied with the water – that life has been transformed.
This man understands, perhaps better than any I know – including all the pastors verse four and five of Isaiah – and the love of God for His people – which includes Chuck.
The Marriage of God!
Isaiah describes the love of God in a very incredible way. He describes it, as the New Testament does, in terms of a wedding, in terms of a marriage. In terms that shatter the illusion that we are alone and desolate – for we have been united with Christ.
That God’s love for us is that which a man should have for his wife, as he marries her. That God is willing to honor and cherish and protect us for all the days of His eternal life.
Isaiah describes God finding delight in us, He finds joy – incredible joy in making us His people, in calling us by His name. In uniting us to Jesus in baptism – that we would be His – His clean and spotless Bride.
Some 800 years after Isaiah, Paul would take up this idea in Ephesians 5:
Ephesians 5:25 (Phillips NT) 2. Christ gave himself to make (his people) her holy, having cleansed her through the baptism of his Word – to make her an altogether glorious Church in his eyes. She is to be free from spots, wrinkles or any other disfigurement – a Church holy and perfect.
28 Men ought to give their wives the love they naturally have for their own bodies. The love a man gives his wife is the extending of his love for himself to enfold her. Nobody ever hates or neglects his own body; he feeds and looks after it. And that is what Christ does for his body, the Church. And we are all members of that body, we are his flesh and blood! ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’. The marriage relationship is doubtless a great mystery, but I am speaking of something deeper still – the marriage of Christ and his Church.
That is what my friend gets – it’s burrowed so deep to his core – through the pains and sorrows, through the medical challenges, through the grief. Seeing the joy as he comes into the room – whether the church sanctuary, or my office, or into class – ready to learn more of God’s love for him, and for those around him. Hearing him tell how he told the doctor of Christ’s love, or the “old guy” across the street who fell and couldn’t get up…
How can I not want to teach him more about God’s love – knowing that he will cherish it and it will transform him and those he knows. That it will give him hope and peace as he basks un Christ’s love, like a bride and bridegroom completely unaware of anyone else’s presence as they are married, as they become one.
Not just about the deacons – its about you
I used my student, my church member’s my friends story for a reason.
He can’t keep silent about God, and having him in my life has helped me not keep silent – watching God work in his life, assured me that God is working in mine. Seeing the peace- that peace of God which he dwells in so comfortably….
I know I can let God deal with my fears, my anxieties, my sin and brokenness. That God delights in me….
And if God can do that in my life….. if God desires to do that – as scripture teaches…
The same is what He desires for you – to delight in you – to call you by His name – to make you His people….
I cannot keep silent about that… for the joy is beyond anything you can imagine, as is the peace…
You need to know that the peace of God, which goes beyond all understanding – will guard your hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus. AMEN!
Missions Devotion
Can we begin to realize…
9 After this I looked, and there was an enormous crowd—no one could count all the people! They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood in front of the throne and of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. 10 They called out in a loud voice: “Salvation comes from our God, who sits on the throne, and from the Lamb!” Revelation 7:9-10 (TEV)
It is coming up on the end of my first week in China. Tomorrow I move on, and will get on a subway train that seems to be ½ mile long. Then onto a bus and the next city. But as I have travelled on these buses… the crowds seem endless – most of them tied into their smart phones, unaware of those who are around them – shocked perhaps by the big white person standing near them.
I have to wonder, how many of them will be in heaven with us? For that matter, how many of those I see in Cerritos? How many of people we know will be there, amongst the rejoicing growd?
At the end of my devotions… which are all crazy because of time… I came across this:
Saint Ambrose has some words that fit the children of God marvellously well! He is speaking of the ass’s colt, tethered to its dam, which Jesus needed for his triumph: “Only an order of the Lord could untie it”, he says. “It was set loose by the hands of the Apostles. To do such a deed, one needs a special way of living and a special grace. You too must be an apostle, to set free those who are captive.”
Let me comment on this text for you once more. How often, upon a word from Jesus, will we have to loosen souls from their bonds, because he needs them for his triumph! May our hands be apostles’ hands, and our actions, and our lives also. Then God will give us an apostle’s grace, too, to break the fetters of those who are enchained. (1)
Who is God sending you to this day? Who will He bring you together with, just so you can tell them of the hope they have in Christ? He is sending you out – to bring them home…
Such is ministry….
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 2468-2474). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Sharing God’s Love
Devotional/Discussion thought of the day:
27 God’s plan is to make known his secret to his people, this rich and glorious secret which he has for all peoples. And the secret is that Christ is in you, which means that you will share in the glory of God. 28 So we preach Christ to everyone. With all possible wisdom we warn and teach them in order to bring each one into God’s presence as a mature individual in union with Christ. 29 To get this done I toil and struggle, using the mighty strength which Christ supplies and which is at work in me. Colossians 1:27-29 (TEV)
671 Jesus says: “He who hears you hears me.” Do you still think it is your words that convince people?… Don’t forget either that the Holy Spirit can carry out his plans with the most useless instrument. (1) (referencing Luke 10:16)
It is amazing to me, as I sit in an apartment overlooking a city of 12 million people in China, that God uses people like me to tell of His love for you. If you saw us, those who are called to be pastors, as we are, simple fallen human beings, then you would be amazed as well.
We toil and struggle, sure, but so does every other believer. We are trained, but it is not the training that makes a man a pastor, or an evangelist. In my case, I have known since I was a child, yet, I still wonder about that.
Not because I doubt God, or the call, but because I look in the mirror. It is at those times I have to remember the incredible grace of God, which flows through me – like water through a pipe. The pipe doesn’t add anything to the water, to the conversation, and if it does – well – you don’t want to drink. that water! It is about the source, the message of God’s love – and that He will do whatever is required to communicate it. As St Josemaria says, the Holy Spirit can use the most useless instrument. You see that recognition in both Paul and Peter, in their epistles, in their actions – the source of their words is run home.
This idea – that people are hearing God, hearing Jesus when a pastor speaks, isn’t just about pastors though. Each of us has been called to share – to be a light in the world, salt – bringing flavor and preserving those with whom we interact. Remember though – the words are to be His – the words that reveal Him. The words that bring people the comfort of the Holy Spirit (and reveal their need for that comfort and peace.)
So today, talk of God’s love – to those around you. For they need to hear it as much as those that hear Pr. Bernie preaching for me in Cerritos… or my sermon here in Mei Lin…
Let His mercy reign in us! AMEN
Being sent…. to watch God work.. Incredible
Devotional thoughts that seem so appropriate for the day:
From my devotions this morning:
9 But his answer was: “My grace is all you need, for my power is greatest when you are weak.” I am most happy, then, to be proud of my weaknesses, in order to feel the protection of Christ’s power over me. 10 I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (TEV)
” The apostle has no aim other than letting God work, making himself available”
” The first Twelve, too, were foreigners in the lands where they taught the Gospel. They came up against people who were building the world on foundations diametrically opposed to Christ’s doctrine. Look: despite these adverse circumstances, they knew that they had been entrusted with the divine message of the Redemption. And so the Apostle cries, “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!” (1)
Isn’t it amazing when God provides what we need, when we need it….. AND we realize it is there?
We often, perhaps far to often, reduce the word apostle to the original 12, pretty important guys in our lives – they first received the message and then were sent to pass it on. Apostles with a capital “A”. But each of us as well are sent – for instance, this mission trip I am on – I am sent by Concordia Lutheran Church of Cerritos, Ca. ANd I am being asked to come – much as Paul was onced asked to come help.
It can’t be because I am a great preacher, or that, as the cliche says, “God equips the called” for that leaves the emphasis on me. And whether y’all believe it or not – I am neither that strong, nor that well equipped. I know this – and yet… I also know that such weakness will cause me to depend on God’s grace. on the work of the Holy Spirit – for it is not my reason or strength that points people to Christ – it is His drawing them to Himself.
That is why I like the words of St. Josemaria Escriva – a writer/priest/that I have been going through for the last 8 months or so. Just so happens those were the two little statements in th Forge that I read this morning. I know that any opposition to the gospel, like back in the USA – is purely individual – it is the nature of sin that would cause us to believe we do not need God, that we do not have to depend on Him, that we are strong enough, on our own. We fight God too far often – wanting to change places with Him, to be in charge – to have our will be done.
How much different the day is…when instead we simply look for His work, to let His will – His desire for a relationship with us be made none, and His work in making it possible – cleansing and healing us, and causing us to trust in Him… for such is His will.
Today, may we all see such, may we all realize that in our weakness – we see His glory, His work, His love… and may that touch people’s lives who presently struggle with it…
Lord Have mercy…
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 2454-2460). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.(
Get’Erdone and Gotterdienst – the Church and the Work of God
devotional thought of the day (or technically tomorrow for some of you- since I am already there!)
If you are familiar with redneck comedy, or Vicar Mark, those words should sound familiar.
Maybe it is because of lieing awake at 3 am that this comes to mind – after 24 plus hours in planes, airport terminals – losing a day and finding myself feeling somewhat alone in a city of 12 million.
But I can’t hear get’erdone without thinking of it’s German relative Gotterdienst. Which translates (or so I’ve been told) as God’s work or God’s service. (similar to the Latin Opus Dei)
WE talk about Gotterdienst as a name for the gathering when God’s people come together – and His work is done in their midst. He brings mercy and peace to them as He gives them the ability to trust and repentance. We are transformed in His presence, and begin to serve Him – with our praises, with our words, with our lives.
It is all His work, really – even as He works through us – preparing us for the day when we are all before His throne – as we celebrate the wedding feast of the lamb.
I love how St Paul describes this work in Ephesians
Ephesians 5:25ff (Phillips NT) 25 But, remember, this means that the husband must give his wife the same sort of love that Christ gave to the Church, when he sacrificed himself for her. Christ gave himself to make her holy, having cleansed her through the baptism of his Word – to make her an altogether glorious Church in his eyes. She is to be free from spots, wrinkles or any other disfigurement – a Church holy and perfect. 28 Men ought to give their wives the love they naturally have for their own bodies. The love a man gives his wife is the extending of his love for himself to enfold her. Nobody ever hates or neglects his own body; he feeds and looks after it. And that is what Christ does for his body, the Church. And we are all members of that body, we are his flesh and blood! ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’. The marriage relationship is doubtless a great mystery, but I am speaking of something deeper still – the marriage of Christ and his Church.
Such is truly a beautiful thing – this work of Christ which makes us, His church, His people – glorious in His eyes. Perhaps that is why St Paul also wrote
Ephesians 2:8-10 (NJB) 8 Because it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith; not by anything of your own, but by a gift from God; 9 not by anything that you have done, so that nobody can claim the credit. 10 We are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus for the good works which God has already designated to make up our way of life.
In other words – God is at work – truly – He is ministering to us – and if the church the the “er” in the get’erdone – then Gottesdienst means pretty much the same thing.
Rejoice my friends, for God is at work, in you…… and with Paul, I can confidently say:
Philippians 1:6 (NJB) 6 I am quite confident that the One who began a good work in you will go on completing it until the Day of Jesus Christ comes.
Godspeed – from tomorrow!
Praying for Miracles…
Devotional thought of the day.
It is Thursday morning for me, just about 6. I am sitting in a terminal of an airport in Tokyo, waiting for the next connection and a five hour flight to my first destination for this trip. Very tired.. yet…
About the time I crossed the international date line, I read…
The power of working miracles! How many dead—and even rotting—souls you will raise, if you let Christ act in you. In those days, the Gospel tells us, the Lord was passing by; and they, the sick, called to him and sought him out. Now, too, Christ is passing by, in your Christian life. If you second him, many will come to know him, will call to him, will ask him for help: and their eyes will be opened to the marvellous light of grace. (1)
That is my hope on this trip – that I will be able to see, or hear about later, the work that God does, as we interact with people, as we share with them the gospel, as we teach them that God desires to walk with them….as Isaiah points out – with the same desire that a bridegroom desires to see his bride. It is a message hard enough to communicate to people in the USA – there seems to be some kind of block to realizing God’s love and desire for them to be in His presence. May they – as well as those I will minister to – and minister alongside – know your love!
May the people you pass by today – realize that they have been visited by the Holy Spirit, for God dwells with you.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 2445-2449). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Today is the Day…. (gulp) please pray!
Devotional/Discussion thought of the day:
Fifteen hours from now, I will board a airplane and head west…into tomorrow.
When I get to my destination, I will get to meet with Christians, to preach and teach and hear how God is with these people in a land foreign to me.
Have to admit – while I am looking forward to the experience, I also have a bit of trepidation, and more a sense of “why me”. Some of you know that feeling, when God brings you to a place that you aren’t quite comfortable with, that you do not feel perfectly equipped for, that you think – “can’t God find someone…. better, someone wiser, someone more trained and equipped, someone more charismatic, or.. just someone else!”
I have heard all the cliche’s, (and unfortunately, ashamedly, used them once or twice…) You know the “God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called” type of nonsense. God knows what He is doing, of that I have no doubt, but we are trained, our lives have come to these moments, and the Spirit is working in us. Yet…. the trepidation still remains.
In such times – it is good to look at those that went forth with the gospel in scripture. (Ignoring the obvious fact that in the Old Testament most of them were killed…. and in the New Testament… yeah…same problem) Paul writes often of the partnership he had with those who prayed for him.
Ephesians 6:19 (ESV) 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, (don’t look at the next verse… okay – at least I won’t.)
Colossians 4:3-4 (ESV) 3 At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.
2 Thessalonians 3:1 (ESV) 1 Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, (again, the next verse… well uhm…yeah – don’t look!)
And of course, as I did my usual light reading this morning at the end of devotions, I came across:
664 During a war, the courage of the soldiers facing the enemy would be of little use if there were not others who seem to take no part in the struggle but who supply the fighting men with armaments and food and medicines… Without the prayer and sacrifice of many souls there would be no genuine apostolate of action. (1)
In a real way, you are that supply line for me, you are those whose prayers are as much part of my mission trip, as anything I do, anything I bring. Knowing that some of you are praying will remind me of Christ’s work in us, and prayerfully, in the people I minister to. So, obviously, I am asking for your prayers, to still my soul, to help me reflect God’s love, to be able to do what Paul and Isaiah described so well:
27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. Colossians 1:27-29 (ESV)
4 The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. Isaiah 50:4 (ESV)
May these things, be true of my ministry overseas during the next 2 weeks… and may God’s grace be evident – with you, as well as with them.
Thanks for the prayers!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 2442-2445). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Making Ready for the mission.. today’s
Devotional Discussion Thought of the Day…
34 Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil. Matthew 6:34 (NAB)
Tomorrow evening I head to the airport – I am travelling to a foreign land, where i will be sharing God’s love with others. Will proclaim God’s word to some, will worship and pray alongside others, will teach and share as I am able.
I am looking forward to it, as I try to work on what the messages will be each day, and wonder how best to reveal to them the height and breadth, depth and width of God’s love for them in Christ. It is my first oversees mission experience, and I am looking forward to it.
It is no odd thing, that among my devotional readings this morning, this came up:
When you are preparing for a work of apostolate (this is his and an ancient term for a mission endeaevor), make your own these words of a man who was seeking God: “Today I start to preach a retreat for priests. God grant we may draw profit from it—and, first of all, myself!” And later: “I have been on this retreat for several days now. There are a hundred and twenty on it. I hope that Our Lord will do good work in our souls.” (1)
We know that God will do these things – yet we pray that we are realizing it is done around us, that God is doing this here!
But even as I planned to plan, I had to encounter that quote from Matthew, and realized, my mission, my apostolate doesn’t start when I land in Asia, today there is a mission. Today’s mission has begun…. Today I will encounter people that need, desperately need to know God’s love.
Are you ready for your mission? Are you ready to be sent – to be God’s apostle to your workplace today? It is not as much “work”, as it is simply realizing that you dwell in God’s presence, realizing that He brought you into His presence. That everything you need, He provides, the cleansing of sin, the removal of guilt and shame, the love and peace that makes life truly abundant….
Living the mission, living the apostolate, is simply living in and depending on God’s grace.. and that occurs whether you are in Cerritos, or Hong Kong…
Godspeed
(1)Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 2435-2438). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Give me this victory – over any other…
Devotional/Discussion of the day…
I am, without hesitation… an avid sports fan. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the highlights of my favorite Patriots this day, and I even enjoyed watching other teams – as they do their best, seeing the games which speak of the training they endured, the pain, the sweat, the preparation….
Yet, those are but games…. the victory not comparable to another victory, another one where pain was endured, Here is how one pastor/priest
The Lord’s triumph, on the day of the Resurrection, is final. Where are the soldiers the rulers posted there? Where are the seals that were fixed to the stone of the tomb? Where are those who condemned the Master? Where are those who crucified Jesus?… He is victorious, and faced with his victory those poor wretches have all taken flight. Be filled with hope: Jesus Christ is always victorious. (1)
As we worked through Romans 6:1-11 this morning in Bible Study,we see why this victory is more important than any other….why it means more to me than every Boston team winning every championship for decades….
Because while a Pats/Bruins/Celtic/Red Sox domination of pro sports would bring a smile to my face… the victory of Christ, for me and every believer, is personal.
What then shall we say? Shall we persist in sin that grace may abound? Of course not! 2 How can we who died to sin yet live in it? 3 Or are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life. 5 For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him, so that our sinful body might be done away with, that we might no longer be in slavery to sin. 7 For a dead person has been absolved from sin. 8 If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him. 10 As to his death, he died to sin once and for all; as to his life, he lives for God. 11 Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as (being) dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:1-11 (NAB)
That’s why this is the best victory – dead to sin, and alive to Christ. Nothing – nothing – in all creation… tops this victory… perio
That is why St. Paul will say…“ When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. 2 For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:1-2 (NLT)
Remember that victory, when you can remember no other….
(1)Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 2428-2432). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
An Opportunity for Prayer!
Dear faithful readers,
After years of working with missionaries, I finally am taking the plunge and am heading oversees to do some preaching and teaching while visiting Hong Kong, China and Macao.
I’ll be gone for two weeks – so not sure about how often I will be blogging. I will be updating a special prayer group on FB – if you are interested in following my journey, and have FB – you would be welcome to pray for me each day.
Here is the link:
