A prayer by Newman quoted by Mother Teresa:
Dear Jesus, help me to spread your fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of yours. Shine through me, and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel your presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me, but only Jesus.
I got this e-mail from a faithful servant in our church and thought to share it as I benefited from it:
As I am running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to do 10,000 things for the church this morning, someone bought me a tear away calendar that has a verse for every day and today’s verse was from 1 Chronicles 29:16.
“O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have prepared to build You a house for Your holy name is from Your hand, and is all Your own.” (1 Chron 29:16)
It was a nice reminder of Who is in charge. It goes along also with yesterday’s bible study lest I think that I am doing anything of my own efforts while serving God. “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven” (John 3:27). Truly, God is the one blessing our church and all its ministries and services and it is a blessing to serve Him.
Don’t forget to stop, drop and pray!
Because of travel there was no chance to post but thought to share this beautiful quotation:
“If two angels were to receive at the same moment a commission from God, one to go down and rule earth’s grandest empire, the other to go and sweep the streets of its meanest village, it would be a matter of entire indifference to each which service fell to his lot, the post of ruler or the post of scavenger; for the joy of the angels lies only in obedience to God’s will, and with equal joy they would lift a Lazarus in his rags to Abraham’s bosom, or be a chariot of fire to carry an Elijah home.”—John Newton
A young monk asked a wise monk for a word of advice. He told him “go to the cemetery and praise the dead and say all good things about them.” The young monk did so, even though it was very weird, and came back. The old monk asked him “what was their response to praise?” he said “nothing!” “Go back and curse them then” the old monk ordered. The monk obeyed and when he came back the old monk asked him “and what was their response to insult?” He replied: “Their response was the same NOTHING!” The wise monk advised him to imitate the dead in their response to praise and insult. Not to be proud when people praise you and not to be angry and hateful when they curse you.
I have read this story many times ever since I was a young deacon but I never learned the lesson except after many years of priesthood and many experiences of: you are the best …you are the worst! The people who praised me criticized me later on. The people who didn’t like me became friends later on. In the beginning I thought the people who liked me are the smart ones and the people who didn’t like me are not as smart! Well, neither was true. They are neither good nor bad, they are NORMAL people. Just like myself. I liked someone one day and I didn’t like him the next day, then I liked him again the day after…. People like me when I tell them what they want to hear and they don’t like me when I tell them otherwise. People like me when I do things their way and they don’t like me when I don’t do things their way. C’est la vie!
I used to take these things personal. It used to bring me up and down but not any more thank God. When I hear good words I thank people especially when it’s genuine. But I don’t favorite the people who praise me and I don’t have high expectations from them because they are NORMAL human beings. At the same time I don’t take it personal when people criticize me because they are also NORMAL human beings. Both of them will change anyways one day. Or even if they don’t change I might change!
Jesus heard “Hosanna” and “crucify him” in the same week. The great thing is that He loved the people regardless of what they said. They are humans and humans change. God wants us to genuinely love all as He did, and not seek to please them but only Him.
Does that mean that I shouldn’t listen to what people say and totally ignore it? NO. But rather I should listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit in what people say. St. Anthony heard God’s voice through a comment from a sinful woman. I have to decide first whom I’m trying to please. I can choose to please people but good luck with this! And I can try to please God but people may not be pleased.
If you try to please people you may need to change the truth. You may not live with one standard. You may have to be always guessing, always careful, always sensitive, always anxious and finally always frustrated! You may have one hour of good self esteem but 10 days of depression.
When you try to please God you will find ONE standard. God is NOT moody and does NOT change. What He liked 5000 years ago is the same today, tomorrow and forever. He will always put you up and NEVER down; even when He rebukes.
On the same day that an employee received his salary, a thief took advantage of the crowded situation on his bus ride home and stole it all from his pocket. When the poor employee arrived home, he searched through his pockets for the money to give his family to take care of their monthly expenses and then realized that he had been robbed.
In the midst of the grief that came over the poor family, the man was thinking deeply, “How am I going to provide for my family this month? And what about our debt from last month??” The whole family, which has nothing to live on except the father’s salary, was crushed by this incident.
In the middle of all this thinking, the man shouted loudly, “Thanks God!” His wife thought he must have found a solution for their dilemma. But then he picked a paper and a pencil and wrote down his thoughts: “Thanks God. Thanks God that I was the one who was robbed and that I was not the thief. Thanks because what was stolen is only some of what I have but not all that I have. He stole my salary, but not my job. He stole some of my money, but not all my money. He stole the food of the month, but not the furniture of my house. He stole the money from my clothes, but not my clothes. Thanks God because I can compensate for what I lost. Because if he stole my son, how would I compensate for him?? And if he steals my soul, what am I going to benefit if I gain the whole world instead??”
This father found something to thank God for in the middle of this tough test.
Do you ever thank God that you’re the victim and not the oppressor? And the one who was knocked down, not the one who knocks others down? You might thank Him for a gift or a raise in your salary, but will you thank Him when He allows you to be robbed or deceived? Will you thank Him for sickness as you would thank Him for your health? For death as for life? Will you thank Him when He takes as you thank Him when He gives? So thank God. Would you believe that a thief thanks God because He covered up His crime and did not dishonor him before his victim?
Is it possible for us to have this kind of relationship with God? That we thank God that He didn’t let us become burglars, thieves, and killers? God, who allows the hands of such people to reach us, is certainly able to compensate us for the evil inflicted by man with a great godly compensation. So let’s thank God for everything.
Every body hates ups and downs! God even hates it although He knows that it’s part of our nature. Ups and downs are like this: Today things are good I love God, I love people and I love life; tomorrow things are a little tough I hate life, I hate people and I’m not sure of God’s love!
On the contrary God speaks a lot about faith and about faithful people (righteous) as: steadfast, single minded, single hearted …etc.
In today’s Q.T. it says: “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Psalms 92:12
The palm tree and cedar are STRAIGHT! They don’t bend even with a huge storm (temptation); you can knock it down but you can not bend it. God’s way does not change …God is always the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. God is the truth and the truth can not be bent.
Our heart needs to be straight first before our actions. Our conscience needs to be straight first and doesn’t bend. This will only happen if we hold unto the Lord ALWAYS …hold unto His word day and night …hold unto Him in the midst of temptation …ask Him before asking myself or the devil … go to Him before going to any human being.
Get the seed of doubt of the mind before it grows …get the seed of sin out of the heart before it grows to action.
Palm tree and cedar are always green, very tall, very strong, live long …basically they are a land mark! So as the faithful who always witnesses to the Lord …he is a tower that every one sees and praises God.
Are you a palm tree, cedar or grass?!
My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness And Your salvation all the day, For I do not know their limits…O God, You have taught me from my youth; And to this day I declare Your wondrous works. Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come. Psalms 71:15-18
Today’s QT reiterated the purpose of this blog: to declare the Lord’s strength to this generation. I feel guilty keeping so many miracles and wonders I get to see every day. I feel guilty for not recording them and telling every one how awesome is our God. I also feel guilty for not praising the Lord as I should. I will say this prayer and go do the midnight praises.
“Lord, forgive me for opening my mouth with complaints more than praises. I tell people how great I’m not how great you are. Lord, open my mouth that I can tell all people your wonders. I know your wonders but I don’t speak about them; open my mouth that I can tell every one about your greatness. Give me humility so I can open my mouth and sing your praises ALL day like a little child singing. I do listen to hymns and songs but you want to sing to you. Same way I like to hear my child singing …even if it’s imperfect or out of tune! Open my mouth that I can do that for the rest of my life! Amen.”
God has been teaching me a very important lesson lately: how to use the bible to make decisions. Not only to make big decisions but even to make very little moves. If I ask God how to use my afternoon or evening He can show me through His word. He wants me to be dependant on Him; like a little child He wants me to ask before doing any thing.
Not only He guides me He also encourages, supports, and teaches me constantly. He wants me to hold His word as I’m holding unto His hands ALL the time.
The message was clear but I thought this is not practical. Should I hold the bible all day and keep looking at it as I look in a map?!
The following day I got this forward in an e-mail:
Cell Phone vs. Bible
I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phones.
What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
What if we flipped through it several times a day?
What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it?
What if we gave it to kids as gifts?
What if we used it as we traveled?
What if we used it in case of an emergency?
What if we upgraded it to get the latest version?
Interesting “Mesh Kedah”!
July 15th is the feast of St. Bishoy (AKA, the star of the desert). Because he used to spend all night in prayer, we celebrate his feast with all-night prayer. It’s amazing how we struggle to make it once or twice a year and such people used to do it all the time. It’s definitely their love for the Lord that was behind it. If we just discover His love for us we would definitely reciprocate it. God’s love must be the root of our prayers, sacrifices … I mean every thing we do.
It doesn’t matter how much we can do but what it matters how much love we put in what we do - Mother Theresa
Today’s Q.T. is still insisting on waiting on God till He comes. “To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” Heb 9:28
Bishop Paul was talking to us, group of people, last night also about waiting on God. apparently it’s a big topic! how long can you wait on Him in prayer? Till you get tired … till you have to leave … or tell you hear Him. How eager are we?
suggested book: Waiting on God by Andrew Murray
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