Sunrise at Pleasant Hill Preserve
Picture by Richard Sawyer
The Holy Spirit inspired our blog.
Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter
There broke out a severe persecution of the Church in Jerusalem,and all were scattered
throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria,
except the Apostles.
Devout men buried Stephen and made a loud lament over him.
Saul, meanwhile, was trying to destroy the Church;
entering house after house and dragging out men and women,
he handed them over for imprisonment.
Now those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.
Thus Philip went down to the city of Samaria
and proclaimed the Christ to them.
With one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philip
when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing.
For unclean spirits, crying out in a loud voice,
came out of many possessed people,
and many paralyzed and crippled people were cured.
There was great joy in that city.
Emphasis mine Acts 8:1b-8
In St. Matthew’s Gospel Chapter 28, Jesus has risen, and Jesus said, Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, Mt 28: 18-19
The Angels in Acts 1: 11 said Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”
In St. Matthews Gospel the Disciples are told to go out and Baptize all nations, and in Acts the Angel asks why are they still standing around?
Matthew tells them what they are to do, and Acts for me as a salesman all of my life tells them to get going.
But
They don’t
They form a community, actually a Socialist Community, (They sell all their belongings and place the funds into a common pot, and share) which lasts for a while until some complain they are not getting their fair share.
Soooooooo
Up to chapter 8 of Acts, the Disciples have not done as Jesus has instructed them to do.
Sound familiar?
Soooooo
There broke out a severe persecution of the Church in Jerusalem, and all were scattered
One thing I, yes I, have learned in my, yes my life, If God wants it God will make it happen, and at first it may seem unfair (Severe Persecution) ( remember they went to Heaven), but as time passes and you get to see the full story, you will be amazed at what God and only God could pull off. Paul, a persecutor of Christians becomes their biggest advocate.
We have told the story a number of times, God told me to get rid of Group Health Insurance because of abortion on demand, a forty percent loss of income, and we replaced the lost income over three of four years selling equities, which had the benefit of providing Gail and I with a five year income stream at retirement ( I hadn’t realized this until just now which the group health insurance wouldn’t have).
Thank you Father!
I can’t believe how stupid I am.
God has always taken care of me, and the sad thing is I haven’t appreciated all that My Father has done.
Prayer:
If you want to grow in Love, Joy, and Peace this is a result of growth in Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Kindness and Self-Control.
Sidebar:
After Mass I met with Mike, you may remember we had asked two people if they would do a Communion Service at the Veterans Home in Scarborough Maine. The first two men said yes and after some thought declined, and the reason they declined was legitimate.
Soooo
After the second declination I repeated my powerful prayer, “Help,” and met Mike after Mass that Saturday, and he also said he would. Well Mike and I met after Mass today, and he is excited and a bit nervous, which we feel is a good thing.
We asked Mike to watch The Chosen season 4 episode 3 and watch the disciples after they are sent out two by two and how they had to figure out how they would preach about Jesus, and heal people. It’s funny to watch, but it is also something that is very real.
We all face this when something new is presented for us to do, and I can assure you satan will be telling Mike he can’t, and we pray Mike will stick with The Holy Spirit and find out HE CAN!
And
When he does Mike will be filled with JOY!
Picture:
Sunrise at Pleasant Hill Preserve Picture by Richard Sawyer
Please keep Snapping!
And if you want the ten calling cards shown above, email me and I will send you my address, send me a STAMPED self-addressed envelope and I will send you ten cards.
The offer for the cards is sadly for American readers only. The Post office won’t accept foreign stamps.
If you want a copy of the prayers we discussed.
Send an email to: fprince101@gmail.com
Remember, if you want to submit a picture, please do not include people. We have to get permission from that person to use their photograph.
