Arrowhead Marina & RV Park in Schenectady, NY. Picture by Patsy Kreider
Our blog is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Beloved:
This is the message that we have heard from Jesus Christ
and proclaim to you:
God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.
If we say, “We have fellowship with him,”
while we continue to walk in darkness,
we lie and do not act in truth.
But if we walk in the light as he is in the light,
then we have fellowship with one another,
and the Blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
If we say, “We are without sin,”
we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just
and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.
If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar,
and his word is not in us.
My children, I am writing this to you
so that you may not commit sin.
But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous one.
He is expiation for our sins,
and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world. Emphasis mine 1 John 1: 5-2.2
I enjoy reading the Bible, especially St. John’s Gospel and letters. St. John’s writings make me feel I’m saved, my sins are forgiven, and the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are a God of Outrageous Love, not a God looking for retribution.
As I age, I am starting to more fully realize how much of a sinner I am and how much I need Salvation through Jesus.
A few days ago, I watched a series on T.V., and they were talking about the sinfulness of the world today.
Yes, I could fill these pages writing about all that is wrong with our society and world today.
But,
In my humble mind, I think that writing about society’s ills panders to satan.
Why?
If the world is all that bad, what happened to all that Jesus accomplished through His Life, Death, and Resurrection?
By focusing on the negative, we ignore the positive, and the reading from John brings out the positive.
God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.
If we say, “We have fellowship with him,”
while we continue to walk in darkness,
we lie and do not act in truth.
But if we walk in the light as he is in the light,
then we have fellowship with one another,
and the Blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
Many sadly do walk in darkness,
But,
Many also are, and many are trying to walk in the light.
The difference is those who walk in the light are reported less than those who walk in the darkness.
Here are a few examples:
On T.V., there is an ad stating, “Jesus loves us.” In eight-one years, I have never seen an ad on T.V. paid by a non-church group, at least a church that is identified, talking about Jesus.
We have mentioned The Chosen, the largest crowd-funded film in the history of Film; over four hundred and forty million people have watched this series.
Secret Santa’s are helping people who are down and out, and because they are secret, the idea of giving without the left hand knowing what the right hand is doing is practiced.
We reported earlier this year on the book, Centered by Jason Brown, who left a thirty-six million dollar contract with the NFL to grow food for the hungry.
In that book, we met others with the same concern for the hungry.
In our church, as in many churches around the country, parishioners bring Communion to those who can’t attend Mass. Many are holding communion services at Nursing Homes and spending time with those confined in these homes.
We are not scratching the surface of all the good that goes on every day, especially at this time of year.
Remember Jesus Won!
Our job is to walk in the light of Love, Joy, and Peace and continue to have His Light shine through us as we live out each day.
And,
As you live in the Light of love, Joy, and Peace, you’re light will shine brighter, and the choice of where and how you will live tomorrow will become very easy.
But if we walk in the light as he is in the light,
then we have fellowship with one another,
and the Blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
The above three lines are a great example of why I love John. They are straightforward, offer a solution, walk in the light, and give us the final answer we are all looking for, and the Blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
We pray you will learn the nine and start walking in the light of Jesus.
“The nine” We pray you will grow in the Love, Joy, and Peace of the Holy Spirit by growing in Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control.
Sidebar:
Last week we wished you and your families a Merry Christmas. This week we pray You and your families will enjoy 2023 filled with the Love, Joy, and Peace of the Holy Spirit.
It has been a Joy for me to write this blog every week.
We thought it might be fun to share the winning blog we sent to A Catholic Moment, leading to our being picked to write Wednesday’s blog.
We are sharing this blog for one reason.
If God suggests you try something out of your comfort zone,
DO IT!
Have Faith that God will take care of you, and have the Joy of building your relationship with God.
One interesting aspect about A Catholic Moment’s selection process. I believed they would notify me five or six days after our entry. It turned into two weeks, and at one point, I looked to Heaven and said, “I can’t believe that we couldn’t write a winning blog.”
I not, we, wasn’t happy.
I love and enjoy our growing relationship with God and our wonderful readers.
The blog we sent to A Catholic Moment was a sample of our writing.
Suppose a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays; will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go in search of the stray? I tell you solemnly, if he finds it, it gives him more joy than do the ninety-nine that did not stray at all. Matthew 18
Twenty-five years ago, I finally gave in to the constant harassment by Bill Cook about going into the Cumberland County Jail and participating with Bill in the jail’s Bible study program. I also told Bill that this was the only time I would go to the jail, “Never ask me again.”
Bill agreed.
I went into the jail with the attitude that the men I would meet were the scum of the earth. I have to admit that this is not a very Christian attitude, but sadly that was my attitude.
Halfway through the meeting, Erick, who had been silent, looked at me and said, “When I was fourteen, my mother died, and my dad threw me out into the street. Where were you?”
I looked at Erick and realized at that moment what a hypocrite I was, and I asked God to forgive me.
The reading above states Jesus went out looking for the lost sheep. Consider if the sheep remains quiet; it is much harder to find. I asked God to forgive me, and in doing this, I also asked to be found. Side note: I only just now thought about this. We, the Holy Spirit, and I wrote this.
I further realized I knew nothing about the men in the jail, and I had a lot of growing up to do.
Erick changed everything!
Notice God’s timing; Bill hounded me for three years, I agreed, and the day we went into the jail was the only day I would have a chance to meet Erick. In the limited space left, I can’t explain why this is true, but it is, and God’s timing throughout my life still blows me away.
It’s now twenty-five years later, and I am filled with Joy by being involved with these wonderful men.
I believe God put Erick into my life, so I could learn about the Joy of giving my life over to God by doing the will of God, my Father.
Before I met Erick, I went to daily Mass, taught CCD, sang in the choir, was a Cantor, lector, and parish council president,
But,
Because of my lack of love for my neighbor, the prisoners, in this case, I was the lost sheep and needed Jesus to carry me back into His family.
I also told God I would do the prison ministry, but The Holy Spirit would give me the words God wanted me to say to the men. I wasn’t going to put together any programs.
God leads, and I follow.
For a type “A” personality to say, “Give me the words you want me to say,” is scary because I am giving up control. I always arrive at the meeting without a clue as to what we’re going to say, and we, Holy Spirit and I, talk for an hour about finding a life filled with Love, Joy, and Peace.
The Holy Spirit has never failed me. We, Holy Spirit and I, put on a very interesting and lively program, to the point where I had two men tell me just before Covid shut us down that they found Joy in the jail.
Go figure.
If they can find Joy while in jail, surely those of us who are not in jail can find Joy in our everyday lives.
Yet, we live in a world filled with stress, hatred, and envy.
Our weekly posts will concentrate on helping you find the Love, Joy, and Peace that is available to every Christian.
We don’t have to live in the world; we can choose to live in the “Spirit World” and let God take over our lives.
Imagine a life filled with Love, Joy, and Peace.
I can; I live it.
Happy New Year! Fred & Gail
Picture:
Arrowhead Marina & RV Park in Schenectady, NY. Picture by Patsy Kreider
We said the barrel was empty last week, and Patsey responded with two pictures the next day.
She didn’t give us any commentary, but the pictures are beautiful.
Now it’s your turn. Let’s get snapping!
Remember, if you want to submit a picture, no people, please, because we have to get permission from that person to use their photograph; in the comments section at the bottom of our blog, tell me you want to submit a picture, and I will send you my email address in our reply on Thursday.
