Our blog is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said to his disciples:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.
He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit,
and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.
You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you.
Remain in me, as I remain in you.
Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own
unless it remains on the vine,
so neither can you unless you remain in me.
I am the vine, you are the branches.
Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit,
because without me you can do nothing.
Anyone who does not remain in me
will be thrown out like a branch and wither;
people will gather them and throw them into a fire
and they will be burned.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you,
ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.
By this is my Father glorified,
that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”
Many of you are thinking that today’s reading is similar to last week’s reading.
Yes, it is because last week, we quoted.
whatever you ask in my name, I will do.
Why, then, are we doing the same thing twice?
Asking is an essential part of being a Christian.
Why?
By asking, you’re building a relationship with the Triune God.
Go back to last week’s blog. With all that happened the past two weeks, do you think I am closer to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, or further away?
You might answer, I don’t know,
BUT,
We will answer,
CLOSER, and this all happened because I trusted God and kept asking all the time. I never stop asking and thanking God, and this keeps out satan.
Years ago, when difficulties came up, I stupidly tried to solve the difficulty myself.
I didn’t need God.
These two readings back to back to me is God screaming at all of us that They want to be active in our lives and show us a better life that was won for us at the Battle of Golgotha.
Imagine we win World War II and then turn the country over to the Nazies.
Isn’t this what we do when we throw God under the bus and turn our lives over to satan?
It’s no different.
Jesus won!
You can win, just turn your life over to God and let God lead the way and take care of you.
We all have to trust God; when we do, God will take care of us!
If Jesus can have nails driven through His precious Hands and a nail driven through His Feet and be filled with Joy during the entire Crucfixition Process, maybe imitating His lifestyle of doing His Father’s will is something we should all be doing.
If you want to join Team Jesus, pray. Thank you, Father, for the difficulties (Name the difficulty……………) you have ALLOWED in my life; I know you will take care of me. Pray this until you smile, and that smile tells you, you are back with the Holy Spirit living in the “Spirit World.”
Sidebar:
Last week we wrote about the medical part of our journey. If you think that was all, you’re wrong.
When we wrote last week’s blog, we wrote the blog on Monday, edited it Tuesday through Friday, and uploaded it to A Catholic Moment to be published. We have done this same routine since we started.
But,
We had a problem when we uploaded the blog.
The picture, a vital component of the blog, didn’t upload.
I, satan, was frustrated and worked for almost an hour to get the picture in the blog.
Nothing!
I had never had this happen before.
I finally copied the blog to an email and sent it to Bill Winters, the head of A Catholic Moment, who I later found out was away so he could upload it.
God, working in my life.
The Holy Spirit whispered what I had written wasn’t acceptable and encouraged me to reread.
We did, and we made changes.
I uploaded the blog again on Saturday at noon, and the picture was taken.
Now I know why the picture didn’t go because God didn’t want that first blog, and I am filled with Joy because of the working relationship we are continuing to build. I should have seen this sooner.
Sunday, I didn’t go near the computer; Sunday is a day of rest.
But,
I kept thinking, Holy Spirit, about the blog for ways to make it more straightforward.
Monday, we decided to rewrite last week’s blog and write this week’s afterward.
Well, you read last week’s blog and are now finishing this week’s blog, so what is the message we are trying to relate to you?
I have had people tell me that they don’t want to ask for ……… for fear that when something really needs God’s help, they will have run out of prayers that can be answered.
satan!
God wants to be with you twenty-four-seven, and once you realize this and experience God in your life twenty-four-seven, we promise you will never want to go back.
Why would you?
As C.S. Lewis wrote, why are you content to make mud pies in the slum instead of going on holiday at the ocean?
Picture:
Yosemite National Park. Pictures by Jerry Torres
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 in the Blog.
