Our blog is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Optional Memorial of Saint Clement I, pope and martyr
When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi
he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter said in reply,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
And so I say to you, you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my Church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Emphasis mine Matthew 16:13-19
Who do YOU say that I am has been asked since the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
The question is as important today as it was when Jesus first asked His Disciples.
My first thought, Holy Spirit, was they didn’t know.
Why?
They hadn’t received Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Peter knew the correct response that was given to him by God the Father, but when you think of Peter in the last hours of Jesus’s life here on earth, he certainly didn’t act as one who knew that “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
How can you say this? I can believe some of you are thinking.
Peter denied Jesus three times, John 18:24
After Jesus rose from the dead, has appeared to the eleven, with Thomas saying that he wouldn’t believe until he, Thomas, put his hand in Jesus’ side and hands, John 20: 25, after all of this, Peter said, “I am going fishing.” Seven Disciples joined him. John 21:3
If you think I am piling it on Peter, I’m not!
We are trying to show that believing Jesus is the Son of God the Father, even today, is not as easy as one would think it would be.
Are we willing to change our life and imitate Jesus on His Cross by doing the will of Our Father for His Glory?
Or,
Do we want to go back fishing, living a life we had become comfortable with?
If we say Jesus is the Son of God the Father, are we now willing to take the next step by living out our lives in the “Spirit World?”
My life started to change when I realized that Joy and Peace opened my eyes to a new way of life, Life in the “Spirit World.”
I grew in Joy and Peace by THANKING God the Father for all He has, is, and I am sure will do in my, now our life.
Thanking God the Father always reminds me of who’s on top.
God the Father!
My job is to do His will, and I learn of His will through the whisper of the Holy Spirit.
As I continue to turn more of my life over to the Father, I am becoming more childlike.
Being Childlike is growing in the knowledge that I am even more dependent on God than I was last year.
We have a relationship where I talk to God all the time, which I didn’t do a few years ago.
“But who do you say that I am?”
Is the first question that has to be answered,
and
after you answer this question, how are you living out that Answer?
“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:
I am writing this Blog a week and a half early because Mike and Cindy are arriving on Sunday before Thanksgiving, and I want to clean the decks so we can enjoy each other.
I am saying this because today is also Veterans Day.
As you may know, I am a Veteran and am filled with Joy for the time I spent in the Navy.
The men and women I met in the service were a Joy to be with. I am still in awe at how much responsibility we pile on our service people.
But I also thought that as Christians, we are veterans, and the war we are fighting is an active war against satan.
First and foremost is your personal battle with satan. This is not an easy battle as it can be twenty-four-seven, and I have found satan doesn’t give up.
In the jail yesterday, we met with three men who were repeat offenders. Just in case you thought they were weak, I learned yesterday, and a few years earlier, that the parole system can be stacked against them.
I’m thinking of a man convicted in Portland, Maine, who moved to a town in Northern Maine to get out of the big city and all of its enticements.
He met a woman, moved on a farm, and volunteered in the community, but he had to report to his parole officer in Portland.
Maine is a state that is as large as Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Connecticut combined.
Because of the distance, he missed his parole meeting and was returning to jail. When I met him, he was turning himself in, will serve his time, get out and resume his life up north.
He told me that if he served his time, he wouldn’t have to go back on parole and would avoid the same problem in the future.
I pray the judge looked at his current record, the fact that he turned himself in, and gave him a reduced sentence.
Nick, not his real name, told us yesterday that he was thanking God for the difficulty of violating his parole. Nick was looking at eight years in prison. The first step is getting a lawyer, which in Maine can be challenging because of a shortage of public defenders. Nick said he prayed, thanking God for the difficulty of getting a lawyer, was appointed a lawyer, and his case would be moving forward.
Prayer answered.
God, taking care of the man we first mentioned and Nick.
How about You?
Sam had some tough news; he reacted poorly, blaming God, listening to satan by stopping his prayers for two days, realizing his mistake, asking to be forgiven, and is back saying his prayers, reading the Bible, and trusting in God.
Well, Sam received good news and has a better offer.
God is GOOD!
We are sharing these stories because many of you have experienced something like these wonderful men are going through.
We all are in a jail of some sort by our lifestyle, and it’s not until we find Jesus and put our trust in God our Father that the key to living in the “Spirit World” will be given to us.
Picture:
This is a picture of the Trinity Evangelical Church in Milwaukee. We took the picture as we walked to a hockey game on a full moon night. Picture by J.E.
Thanks, J.E. our prayer for more pictures is being answered.
We are starting to run out of pictures. 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.
