Lake Minnewanka Banff Alberta Picture by Nicole B.
Our blog is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Brothers and sisters:
You are God’s building.
According to the grace of God given to me,
like a wise master builder I laid a foundation,
and another is building upon it.
But each one must be careful how he builds upon it,
for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there,
namely, Jesus Christ.
Do you not know that you are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
If anyone destroys God’s temple,
God will destroy that person;
for the temple of God, which you are, is Holy Spirit. (Emphasis mine) 1 Corinthians 3:9c-11, 16-17
In prior blogs, we discussed your relationship with God and that YOU are a living Temple. Being a living Temple frankly separates the Christian from all other religions.
Let the words a living Temple roll around in your mind.
That’s powerful!
I was in my fifties when I first learned that I was a living Temple. I had a hard time initially believing I was a living Temple, but I have come to accept this fact over the years.
The next question should be;
Being a living Temple involves what on my part?
Being a shining example of my Catholic Faith would be a great step.
How do I do this? Some of you are asking.
A great start would be to be a reflection of Jesus, walking in the Love, Joy, and Peace of the Holy Spirit. You can do this by praying for and practicing Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control toward your neighbor; your neighbor is next to you right now.
See, that’s the great part of being a living Temple. You don’t have to wait to interact with people. God will provide the people that They want you to interact with.
A friend thanked me for asking him if he needed a lift. He was walking, and I noticed, Holy Spirit, something was wrong. Do you need a ride? Our comment spurred him to go to his doctor. He was told he had Parkinson’s disease.
I, of course, had no idea that my, our, question would prompt him to go to his doctor.
In a way, I was filled with Joy. I think he was in denial; this was God’s way of snapping him out of it.
I also know God will take care of him!
Being positive is also a great way to reflect being a Temple. We have discussed being positive in previous blogs, but let me share one idea we mentioned earlier.
We tell everyone, “I’m fantastic,” when asked how we are, and because of this positive greeting, I am remembered by people I have only met a few times.
Why is this true?
Think about it.
We are living in VERY Negative times.
In the last eighty-one years, I can’t recall ever encountering the anger we face daily from many of the people I come in contact with.
It’s sad!
We know we are justified by a loving God who wants us to be in a personal relationship, and become a LIVING temple, to show those who don’t believe that there is a different and better life, Life in the “Spirit World,” totally different from living in the “World.”
Yet, we balk at trying to live this new lifestyle.
I can’t throw stones at anyone, I was there, satan, but I realized my mistake and started to change and polish up my Temple.
Because I now fully realize I am a Temple of God, and because I am trying to do the will of God MY Father, I am a Brother of Jesus, and I am filled with Joy that in some small way, I can be a part of this fantastic Family.
“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:
In the jail last week, Sam, who we talked about last week, and I had a vigorous discussion about prayer.
Sam lived in the “world” selling drugs, everything fell apart, and Sam decided to find Jesus.
Sam is on fire!
We talked about prayer and made the statement that God answers every prayer.
Sam jumped down my throat, and sadly because I was tired from playing nine holes of golf just before our meeting, my mind wasn’t working as it had over the past twenty-five years. I was tired because the Holy Spirit wanted me to listen to Sam and use what I gained from his question to write in this blog.
Sam said he didn’t believe me and said he had prayed for his dad and mom to get together again in (Peace), my word.
And frankly, Sam was furious God hadn’t answered his prayer; after all, it wasn’t for any personal gain for him; it was all for his parents, who had a strained relationship.
Sam is in his thirties; I’m in my eighty’s.
I reflected on prayers I said for periods almost equal to half of Sam’s lifespan, and my prayer was finally answered.
Two things I’ve noticed:
One, God answers all prayers; what else can God do?
Answering all prayers is the statement that riled, Sam.
But!
God may not answer the prayer in the manner and time you specify. I found early in my prayer life that I told God what I wanted and how He could answer my prayer.
Sam wanted his parents to unite NOW!
Like God needed my or Sam’s help.
God is God, and God will answer the prayer in many cases I have found and in an unexpected way and provide far more benefits than you or Sam dare ask for.
One last thought, we are all here for a period of time to do a specific function, and when that function is completed, we will climb aboard the Hallelujah Train home to be with Jesus.
Death is not the enemy, as sadly, so many people today think it is.
I read yesterday, Holy Spirit, working in my life, and noticed the timing of receiving the story, a very touching short story that I considered copying and pasting, but after further thought decided to summarize the essential parts.
A small boy died of Cancer.
His mother, wiped out by the loss of her son and all she has gone through in the prior months, asks,
“Why do little children get cancer and have to die?”
Her prayer for his healing hadn’t been answered.
“Where’s God,” I am sure she asked.
She went home.
And
Laying on his bed, soaked in tears, wakes up that night to find a letter on the bed written by her son, which only she can read because everyone else will only see a blank piece of paper.
In the letter, her son said.
Mom, don’t think I will ever stop loving you just because I am not around to say, “I love you.” I will always love you, mom, each and every day.
Some day we will see each other again.
Don’t be sad thinking about me because Heaven is a really cool place.
Grandma and Granddad met me and started to show me around,
I met Jesus, and He is not like the pictures I saw, but I knew Him the moment I saw Him.
God said He was in the same place with me as when His Son was on the Cross. He was right there as He is with all of His children.”
Now the lines that started my tears.
“Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you, the cancer doesn’t hurt anymore; the cancer is gone… I’m glad because I couldn’t stand the pain anymore, and God couldn’t stand to see me hurt so much, either.
That’s when He sent His Angel of Mercy to come and get me. The Angel said I was a special delivery.
How about that?
Signed with Love from God, Jesus & me.
It seems to me, at this time of year, many more get on the Hallelujah Train to go home to Jesus than earlier in the year. I am sure that statement is not valid, but this is what it seems to me anyway.
We wrote this story because we are all children of God.
No one has received a letter like the one above,
But,
I can testify that the Love I had for my Mom, Dad, Brother, Inlaws, and everyone else in my life is a force that can’t be denied. There is a linkage, Love, between this life and life hereafter.
Celebrate how fortunate we are to know a God of Outrageous Love that wants us in Their Family.
We are BLESSED!
Never forget God didn’t cause cancer. God ALLOWS the difficulty, and if you pray, God WILL take care of you!
And to Sam, I would say the mother’s prayers are answered.
- Her son is pain-free.
- She will see her son again in a far better place for eternity.
Not the answer she wanted, but a far better answer after you get your emotions out of your thinking.
Picture:
Hi Fred, I am sharing this picture I took in Lake Minnewanka Banff at the end of September. So much peace in this view! Nicole B. 10/26/22
Thank you, Nicole; Gail and I have been to Banff and loved it.
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.
