The Wonders of Nature in Alaska Picture by Auntie Tessie sent by Dianna
The Holy Spirit inspired our blog.
Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent
The LORD spoke to Ahaz:
Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God;
let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!
But Ahaz answered,
“I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!”
Then Isaiah said:
Listen, O house of David!
Is it not enough for you to weary men,
must you also weary my God?
Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign:
the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and shall name him Emmanuel.
Emphasis mine Is 7: 10-14
I know we have written about healing and God working in our lives. Today’s reading brings this up a step.
Do you ask for a sign?
I have met people who don’t want to ask for healing for fear there may be only so many healings God will do. And if God does give a healing or something else, God may not grant a healing when it is most needed.
This is dumb!
Why?
Did you limit what you would give to your children as a parent?
No!
If the request was legitimate, you did everything possible to make it happen.
But how about asking for a sign to determine if a course of action was right?
In my, yes, my younger years, I never asked for a sign; asking for a sign never crossed my mind.
I now ask for signs all of the time. As we have explained in earlier blogs, the condo we bought was because of a sign from God to get out of the house and buy a condo, and the condo we purchased was exactly what Gail and I needed.
Cars were sold, and new cars were purchased because of a sign from God.
Most importantly, God told me to write Wednesday’s blog. As I pray you know, I couldn’t be happier than I am now.
To receive signs, I have turned off a lot of the noise in my life, car radios, I never had earbuds, and when I walk, it’s the four of us, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and myself, walking so that we have a quiet time together.
I love it!
Yes, I ask for signs and Patiently wait for a sign to show me where God wants me to go.
Life for me is easier and filled with Joy.
If you would like to protect your family, dumb question, pray Psalm 91 verbally.
My life changed after reading Peggy Joyce Ruth’s book, Psalm 91, God’s Shield of Protection, Military Version. Every day, I say this powerful prayer for everyone in my life, including the writers and readers of A Catholic Moment.
How else can I explain, at the age of 81, falling three steps, landing flat on my back on the cement garage floor, and having NO injuries or pain? This last fall was just one of many times God protected me. “For God will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways” Psalm 91:11
Sidebar:
In five days, we will be celebrating Christmas. After two thousand years, the story has lost its most important meaning: the birth of Jesus pointing to His Death on the Cross.
I read The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi by Kathie Lee Gifford with Rabbi Sobel, which showed me that Christmas was about the birth of Jesus, but it also pointed directly to the Cross.
It all started when I wondered why Mary and Joseph could not find a room in the Inn. My thought was, do you mean to tell me that The God who created the universe couldn’t get a reservation in time for the birth of His Son?
No, much more was happening, and Rabbi Sobel’s explanation blew me away and made me want to read more of his written work.
We will summarize what Rabbi Soble wrote:
- Bethlehem was the palace where the sheep used for sacrifice in the Temple were born and raised.
- The shepherds were believed to be lower Levitical shepherds tasked with raising and guarding the sheep.
- The shepherds birthed the sheep in caves—the reason there was no room in the inn; now, the story has a much deeper meaning.
- The caves were kept in ritual purity.
- Many of the male lambs were used for sacrifices in the Temple.
- Mary and Joseph used one of these caves for Mary to give birth to Jesus, who would become the ultimate Sacrificial Lamb.
- The lambs were clumsy, and the shepherds swaddled them and laid them in a manager to prevent them from becoming blemished; only unblemished lambs could be sacrificed.
- The Levitical Priests’ tunics were cut up to provide the wicks for the menorah that burned in the temple and for swaddling, a sign that Jesus is light.
- Rabbi Sobel believed Jesus was swaddled and laid in a manger as the newly born lambs were.
- After Jesus was born, Joseph would have washed Jesus in Saltwater to kill germs, and the salt represents the eternal covenant of eternal friendship and kingship that God made with David (2 Chronicles 13: 5). Salt was also part of every sacrifice made in the temple.
Now that we have related what was happening, the story of the birth of Jesus takes on a much deeper and richer meaning, and we have still left a lot out.
St. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3: 2,
I fed you milk, not solid food, because you were unable to take it.
I, for one, want to grow on solid food, and the above explanation of what happened at Christmas helps in my growth, and I pray yours.
Thought for the day from NRSV The C.S. Lewis Bible:
He has paid us the intolerable compliment of loving us, in the deepest, most tragic, most inexorable sense.
Gail and I wish you a Merry Christmas filled with Love, Joy, and Peace for God and family.
EnJOY the day!
Picture:
I am a follower of the daily devotion in Catholic.org and would like to share
a photo taken by Auntie Tessie in Alaska. The wonders of nature with its amazing mixture of colors. Balance of darkness and light with soothing, calming water. It is like our life’s journey. GOD will help us through it all. Picture by Auntie Tessie sent by Dianna
Please keep Snapping!
If you want a copy of the prayers we discussed, email me.
fprince101@gmail.com
Remember, if you want to submit a picture, no people, please, because we have to get permission from that person to use their photograph.
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.
