Gone but never forgotten Picture by Richard Sawyer
Our Blog is Inspired by The Holy Spirit
Feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle
Jesus said to his disciples:
“As the Father loves me, so I also love you.
Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father’s commandments
and remain in his love.
“I have told you this so that my joy might be in you
and your joy might be complete.
This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know what his master is doing.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
This I command you: love one another.”
Emphasis mine John 15: 9-17
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
I thought we were going to write about the appointment of Mattias to take the place of Judas, but no, I read the Gospel and knew instantly (The Holy Spirit) where we are going, as I am now sure so do you.
The problem I think we all have is we read the Bible, and our minds go back two thousand years, and say to ourselves, “That’s interesting,” but how does it apply to me? That has been my thought many times for many years, and this is where watching The Chosen has really helped me in my, now our journey to listen to the whisper of The Holy Spirit and do the will of my Father instead of my will.
I, yes, I, also believe we are all called to be a Disciple, but we have allowed satan to convince us that that was only true when Jesus first walked on this earth.
In reading about Discipleship it does call for us to Glorify The Triune God above everything and every person, it does call for studying the Bible, and it does call for us to reach out and love our neighbor.
I read the following quote and could only add Amen!
Being a disciple of Christ brings about transformation. A true disciple will exhibit the fruits of the Spirit, such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). The internal change is exhibited outwardly through service, compassion, and a desire to extend grace to others. Moreover, discipleship results in a deeper relationship with God, characterized by prayer and worship, and a growing understanding of His will for one’s life. www.bibleanalysis.org
What was interesting for me was today’s Gospel reading fit in beautifully with what we have been writing about for the past two or three weeks. It is interesting to me to see how God works in my, and we pray in your life.
Celebrate, you have been Chosen.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, that’s as true today as it was two thousand years ago.
Prayer:
If you want to grow in Love, Joy, and Peace this is a result of growth in Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control.
Sidebar:
Well, this is a first, that being we just deleted our first draft of the Sidebar, and we are writing a whole new Sidebar with a Title:
The Power of Prayer
Hello Fred,
The Nines, the Thank you prayer, A Catholic Moment, my own prayers and prayers of wonderful people I’ve never met, all the results, the cumulative healing I am the so very fortunate recipient of.
I am a week out of a 7 hour surgery; longer than expected, but all good. I have 2 sizable incisions, one in my lower abdomen and one in my lower back. But, I can stand up straight for the first time in years. The pain is good pain. Meaning pain I will heal from.
I am so very grateful to you and everyone who said a prayer on my behalf. I was nervous and scared leading up to the moment they wheeled me into the OR.
I am so ever grateful. My recovery road is longer than I have patience for; 3 months for incisions and 9 months for the fusion to fully complete the process. I will learn to pace myself because God is glorious. He will teach me, lead me, and provide for me all that I need on this journey, I have no doubt God will share with me where I belong doing His work, helping others.
I will continue to follow A Catholic Moment, to pray, to pursue and know God more intimately.
Thank you so very much, Fred.
All the very best to you, Laurie Emphasis mine
I received this email today from Laurie and pole-vaulted around the house. What great news.
Why?
The past few weeks or months I felt I was in prayer no-mans-land. I prayed, but just saying the words, no real enthusiasm, and I wasn’t sure God was even listening.
Have you ever had that happen to you?
Laurie said her operation had been long but successful.
Notice as I did she first gave credit to God by recognizing the “Nine” and thanking God” That would have been enough,
BUT,
I am reading a book, the title of which we will not give because some of the stories didn’t feel right about Near Death Experiences. One chapter though, stood out.
A Quick summary:
Ian, a New Zealander, was middle age, an atheist, went scuba diving, even though he realized afterwards that God had warned him not to go, and was stung twice by a Box Jellyfish, the second deadliest creature on the earth.
Ian was an Atheist.
Ian’s Mother had prayed for Ian every day. Sadly it had been ten years since Ian had even spoken to his mother.
In the ambulance going to the hospital God who Ian didn’t know said, “Say a prayer.” Ian prayed, The Our Father, Ian saw Hell, and later God told Ian if he hadn’t prayed The Our Father he would have stayed in Hell.
That was quite a statement. Life is NOT a game.
Later in Ian’s, Near Death Journey, Jesus asked Ian if he wanted to stay in Heaven or return to Earth. Easy answer until Ian had a vision of his mother going to her death bed thinking Ian was in hell.
Ian was also shown a vision of thousands of people who would never know about Jesus if he didn’t return.
Two things impressed me about this story.
Ian returned to earth, and became a preacher, traveling the world and founded and was the Paster of The Kingsgate Church in London. A complete one-hundred and eighty-degree change.
Atheist to Paster.
And if being an Atheist was a better life why didn’t Ian return to his former life?
Two, I think all of us have family members who do not know Jesus. This chapter told me that constant daily prayer does work, we may not see the end result until we are all joined together in Heaven, and then we will all celebrate.
Wow!!! What a week, I was blasted out of my lethargy and am pumped once again.
I Love it!!!
One thing this book consistently talked about was prayers are answered. Don’t ever let satan talk you out of praying
Picture:
Gone But Never Forgotten” Front door to the former St John’s Church on Main Street, South Portland. Picture by Richard Sawyer.
Please keep Snapping!
Email me if you want a copy of the prayers we discussed.
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.
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.
