The Holy Spirit inspired our blog.
Optional Memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker
Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue.
They were astonished and said,
“Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?
Is he not the carpenter’s son?
Is not his mother named Mary
and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?
Are not his sisters all with us?
Where did this man get all this?”
And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them,
“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and in his own house.”
And he did not work many mighty deeds there
because of their lack of faith.
Emphasis mine Mt13: 54-58
Interestingly, we chose the Optional Memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker, and St. Joseph isn’t mentioned once.
We have had an interesting month, and what happened fit into these readings better than the Sixth week of Easter readings.
We have had a person on the prayer line who has asked the prayer line to pray for her to be healed of her Cancer three times.
We have also met others who have major health problems, and all is not going well with them.
NEVER FORGET: The Triune God wants you healed; if that were not true, explain all the healings that took place during Jesus’s time and are taking place even now.
BUT!
The healings are for the GLORY of God the Father.
WE are here to advance the Kingdom of GOD. We are not here to advance our Kingdoms or solve our individual needs and throw God under the bus by not giving Praise and Thanksgiving to God for the healing, as the Nine Lepers did in Lk 17: 11-19.
All were healed, but only one returned to praise God for his healing. The healing of the nine demonstrated how insensitive we can be if given the chance.
Ask yourself a few questions: Did God ever come into your life and save your bacon?
Did you thank God?
OR,
Did you do as I did and say,” That was lucky.”
From time to time, do you replay the tale of this incident to remind yourself of God’s being active in your life?
If you say no to these questions, you have identified your problem.
Welcome to Nazareth!
We underlined: “Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?
We would submit that you know of His mighty deeds and yet fail to believe in the healing power of the Triune God, you would be a Naratherian.
The same person we first talked about, I also think, is afraid of death.
Which is sad. We have had a lifetime to prepare for this event, it’s no surprise, and once you fully appreciate that the Man on the Middle Cross said you could come because you are sorry for your sins, also said. “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Lk 23:43 should make this a moment filled with Joy.
We related in an earlier blog that when I went to the hospital because of Congestive Heart Failure, I remembered the Man in the Middle Cross saying I could come, and it changed everything.
I couldn’t lose.
If I died, I went to Heaven, NOT because I was good, but because Jesus took all of my sins when He climbed up on the Cross and Forgave me. Lk 23: 34
And,
If we hadn’t completed the work God my Father wants me to do, I would return home to Gail and Loving Family and friends.
How could I lose?
I couldn’t, and because I couldn’t, I was filled with Joy, which I also believe added to the healing process.
We pray you will start to believe that you live a life where you can’t lose and are filled with Joy and Peace because of this.
Join Team Jesus:
We suggest starting every day, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.”
Sidebar:
Last week was also interesting because of a comment I received about one of our Presidents. Last week, we stated that God wanted that Person in office, and we should not question God’s choice. We won’t identify the commentator; we are showing this to recognize that I was there twenty years ago to a different President, and all it did was DESTROY my Joy and Peace.
I agree with much of what you wrote and admire your enthusiasm. However, I do question certain statements including implying that one can’t question authority because God is ultimately in charge. We had a president who was and is an ignorant, vicious, narcissistic creep who is NOT interested in the public welfare. He even attempted to overthrow a valid election and ruined many lives in the process. Jesus does not approve just as he did not approve of Hitler. So the call to blind allegiance to a leader because God is ultimately in charge is disingenuous at best and complicity with evil at worst.
My thinking twenty years ago was even worse.
Who lost?
Me!
What did I lose?
Joy and Peace!
I went from dancing with the Triune God to dancing with satan.
And,
Sadly, I didn’t realize I, yes, I, was dancing with satan.
Never forget that God the Father knew every hair on your head from the start of creation Mt 10: 30
YOU were wanted by your Father to be a part of the Salvation Story. You are NOT a random Egg and Sperm meeting.
No!
You were wanted and loved, and I just realized (Holy Spirit) that your being wanted from the beginning of time to me completely explains the Cross. If you were a random egg and sperm, as so many scientists (satan) have tried to tell us, why would God send down His Son to teach us how to live and demonstrate their Outrageous Love for us?
That’s how special YOU are!
So our advice is to ease up.
I turned off talk radio first and, a few years later, completed the process by turning off the news, which was more challenging than stopping smoking.
I now read the headlines on a web page called Real Clear Politics. We don’t read the political section; we read Markets, World, Defense, Energy, Health Science, and Religion. We also read Google News, Sports, and Science, in short articles that are not about Politics. As we type this, I realize Google doesn’t present much politics (Thank you) but presents stories about areas in which we have shown interest.
My, or should we say, our life is so much simpler and is now filled with Joy and Peace.
Picture:
Japanese crabapple in bloom at the Missouri Botanical Gardens.
In St. Louis to visit our son and his family. The flowering trees were spectacular. Picture by Mark Rush
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 submitting a picture, you agree to let us include it in our next God Thoughts 2024 book.
