“Sunset at Moosehead” Greenville, Maine Picture by Richard Sawyer
Our blog is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
But Jesus summoned them and said,
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,
and the great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.
Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Matthew 20: 25-28
One theme we have carried out since the start of our blogs is Jesus came to establish a new kingdom here on earth.
If you look at the history of man, you can conclude that many others have and still do have this ambition.
Their kingdom is basically the same as the kingdom we live in now.
That kingdom being established to be served, and that service, in many cases, is to enrich those in power.
Now comes along Jesus, whose primary mission is to establish a new kingdom where the winners are the apparent losers.
People in most societies who serve are looked down upon because of their service, and Jesus’ greatest service was being crucified and, in that process, delivering a knock-out blow to satan.
The knock-out blow is forgiving all those (You and I) for crucifying Him with our sins.
No one in the history of man before or after Jesus had ever done this; forgive those who sinned against them.
Many find it hard today to forgive those who sinned against them.
In the Jail, a man told me he couldn’t forgive himself for what he did.
We asked, “Who’s your God?”
He said, “Jesus.”
We said, “Jesus forgave you.”
We repeated this question a few times and finally said, “If Jesus forgave you, and you can’t forgive yourself, then it only makes sense that you are your god, and frankly, your god is not a god I would want anything to do with because your god is unforgiving.”
I pray you live in the “Spirit World” of forgiveness, where we have had the chance to know and love a God who serves us even today.
But,
There is a catch: we are asked to emulate Jesus through our service to others.
Now the exciting part about service to others is I have never come back from serving others without feeling high.
As we type this, I realize that feeling of a high, Joy, is my notification that I have entered into the “Spirit World” and will live there as long as I put others first in my, now our, life.
If you want to join Team Jesus, throw satan out of your life by praying, “Get behind me, satan,” or “Come Holy Spirit.” And fight your way back into the Love, Joy, and Peace of the Holy Spirit.
Sidebar:
Years ago, I started reading Fr. Richard Rohr’s daily blog at cac.org. I enjoy Fr. Rohr because he has explained our beautiful religion in words and concepts I haven’t read before.
Recently Fr. Rohr stated that Jesus kept lowering Himself by first becoming human, and encountering everything we humans do, next and this was Fr. Rohr’s word, They, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, employed “a zinger” by allowing Jesus to be Crucified.
I love the word “Zinger” because it clearly shows in non-religious terms precisely what happened by allowing Jesus to be Crucified and defeating satan.
No one in their right mind would even contemplate a god, and in our case, God the Father, allowing His Son to come down and be treated as He was while he was living and, more importantly, at His death.
Our God is very different!
God doesn’t fit into our mold as to who god is, or for that matter, who we should be, and this is how I know The Triune God is the only true GOD.
Treat this Lent as a time for a renewal within yourself.
Consider going out and performing a service to others, and feel the Joy you get by performing that service.
Last thought for today:
I was reading the book of Proverbs and was challenged by the following statement:
“All of one’s ways are pure in one’s own eyes,
but the measure of motives is the Lords.
Entrust your works to the Lord,
and your plans will succeed.”
Proverbs 16:2-3
Picture:
“Sunset at Moosehead” This photo was taken when Betty and I were in Greenville celebrating our 50th anniversary. Watching a sunrise or sunset is always a moment of God’s wonder. To me, sunrises and sunsets are spiritual moments!
Picture by Richard Sawyer
Richard has a website with many more beautiful pictures of Maine and other places he and Betty have visited. I hope you will take a moment and enjoy God’s beautiful creation.
www.richardsawyerphotography.com
Please keep 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.
By sending your picture, you consent to allow us to reprint that picture in our next book, God Thoughts 2023, with your name and any comments as stated in the Blog.
I have the feeling that last week’s blog didn’t go out on time and many of you may have missed it, so I am going to post last week’s blog below.
March 1, When God saw by their actions
A Rose Picture by Kathy Sheehan
Our blog is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:
“”Set out for the great city of Nineveh,
and announce to it the message that I will tell you.””
So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh,
according to the LORD’s bidding.
Now Nineveh was an enormously large city;
it took three days to go through it.
Jonah began his journey through the city,
and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing,
“”Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,””
when the people of Nineveh believed God;
they proclaimed a fast
and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.
When the news reached the king of Nineveh,
he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe,
covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes.
Then he had this proclaimed throughout Nineveh,
by decree of the king and his nobles:
“”Neither man nor beast, neither cattle nor sheep,
shall taste anything;
they shall not eat, nor shall they drink water.
Man and beast shall be covered with sackcloth and call loudly to God;
every man shall turn from his evil way
and from the violence he has in hand.
Who knows, God may relent and forgive, and withhold his blazing wrath,
so that we shall not perish.””
When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way,
he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them;
he did not carry it out.
Jonah 3: 1-10
Jonah was a man asked by God to go to Nineveh and proclaim their doom. Jonah was reluctant because of the brutal way the Assyrians had treated the Jews in prior years.
Consider for a moment you are told by God to go to the Taliban and proclaim,“”Forty days more and Nineveh (You, the Taliban) shall be destroyed.””
You just might think, let them be destroyed, they deserve it. Earlier in the book of Jonah, we see Jonah fleeing from God and ultimately being swallowed by a large fish, deposited on shore, and reluctantly starting on his mission.
Well, as today’s reading shows, the Ninevehites fully believed Jonah and repented of their sins, not by words but by their actions, from the highest to the lowest person, and this is what is so important.
God relented from the punishment God was going to carry out.
The book of Jonah ends with Jonah being despondent that God did not wipe them out. They had believed Jonah and turned from their evil ways.
We are in the first week of lent, and earlier in my life, I was a man of words, not actions. I would say I would do something and then not do it, or even worse, I would treat Lent as just another season and do nothing.
By doing this, I am not recognizing that I am a sinner and am in need of change, just the opposite of the people of Nineveh.
What’s the harm?
Well, the harm was not growing in a relationship with God.
and
Not using this wonderful season to strengthen yourself against the attacks of satan.
Since we started our blogs, we have discussed a prayer where we “Thank God for the difficulties God has ALLOWED in our life.” We have also stated the difficulties are ALLOWED to bring you closer to God, not as a punishment.
We are no different from the people of Nineveh.
When faced with doom, they repented by their actions.
They could have ignored Jonah, as happened at the time of Noah, but they didn’t.
Look at our world today; we don’t need more laws; WE NEED MORE GOD!
If you want to join Team Jesus, throw satan out of your life by praying, “Get behind me, satan,” or “Come Holy Spirit.” And fight your way back into the Love, Joy, and Peace of the Holy Spirit.
Sidebar:
Father Dickenson, our Paster at Mass on Saturday night, mentioned a revival at Asbury University.
I was intrigued because I have been praying for a revival for some time since I read the book What’s So Amazing About Grace by Philip Yancy. Philip Yancy said this country and the world need a revival, and I felt this was true.
Soooooooooo, we pray for a revival.
After Fr. Dickenson mentioned this revival, I had to get online right after Mass to find out what was happening.
Briefly, the revival was started by students, who remained after a regular service, and that service has been nonstop for the past two weeks. People are coming from all over the world to participate.
The college decided not to interfere but let it take its own course, and because of all of the social media available, it took off.
The revival at Asdbury College is grassroots; this is God in action; just in case you believed that these things only happened in the Old or New Testament, no, they are happening today.
In a Fox News article, the writer quotes The Chosen character of Jesus continually saying, “Get used to different.”
The Asbury Revival is different and is expanding to other campuses.
Remember, JESUS WON!
Two links to help you learn more;
Tucker’s report was the best of the three I saw. When Tucker asked if he could come and film what was happening, the college responded NO. The Asbury college revival is God-driven by the students.
Wow!!
Asbury Revival 2023- Tucker Carlson Coverage (Asbury asks him not to come)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNtRd89BuNc
Right after Tucker Carlson, there is a story about how the revival is spreading to Lee College and why some think this will only grow.
Picture:
The picture of the Rose was taken in Hummelstown, PA. Picture by Kathy Sheehan
Please keep 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. By sending your picture, you consent to allow us to reprint that picture in our next book, God Thoughts 2023, with your name and any comments as stated in the Blog.
