Remember

"Remember what happened to your ancestors. Who has ever trusted in the Lord and been confounded? Who has persevered in fear of the Lord and been abandoned? Who has called upon Him and not been heard?" - Sirach 2:10

As I was telling you on Sunday, I was very upset about something and felt a lot of pain because I realized that my faith wasn't as strong as I thought it was if I was letting my anxiety get the best of me instead of trusting in God. I should have been more calm but while going through it, I decided to give thanks to God for what He had done for me in the past. I had to keep reminding myself that God has gotten me out of binds before and has come to my rescue time after time. As a matter of fact, there hasn't been anything I've asked Him for that He hasn't given me. Some of those things have come in the way I expected, while a lot of my prayers were answered in different ways which He used to show me how He knows best. Ultimately, what is getting me through is to remember this verse above. Who can ever say that they trusted in God and been let down? Who, when really trying to follow God's ways, can say that God didn't hear them, abandoned them? The only people who I have ever heard say this, are people who have never really realized that the will of God should be their will because His ways are higher than our ways. I heard a preacher say that it is our faith that activates the power of God and although you might see yourself suffering unjustly and stuck in a situation you can't stand, memorize this verse and hold it in your heart. If you hold it in your heart and repeat it to yourself, then you will have hope, and when you have hope, your faith increases, and it is your faith that will let you see the power of God!

Today's Prayer:
Lord, You gave Abraham a child in his old age, You parted the Red Sea and brought Your children out of Egypt, You sent us Your son to die for our sins, and all my life You have been there to show me Your love. Help me to remember You now and Your works when I am weak. Let this memory fill me with the hope and faith I need to wait for Your deliverance. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Grounded In The Lord

"Remember what happened to your ancestors. Who has ever trusted in the Lord and been confounded? Who has persevered in fear of the Lord and been abandoned? Who has called upon Him and not been heard?" - Sirach 3:10

I like to talk to people about my faith and they always have questions. I know so many of you struggle with your faith from time to time and the questions I get asked are usually tough to answer, so I spend a lot of time thinking about answers to possible questions. One thing I usually hear is, "well, I'm not sure I can really believe in or follow God because I asked Him for something and I never saw it," or "if God loves me so much, why is this happening to me?" I could never answer why something happens to someone because only God knows why He acts in certain ways, but I can tell you one thing - when you seek God with all your heart, He will let Himself be found by you and be by your side always. This is what this verse means. Think in your life of people who have deep faith in God, no matter what they go through, God has protected them, hasn't He? And if you're thinking of yourself or someone who was let down by God, upon close examination, you will find that you or that person never really gave your heart up to God. It is not enough to go to church one day, read the bible one day or pray only once a day. You need to be grounded in the Lord daily in order to truly count on His blessings. It's not that He won't help you if you don't, but it's that by walking in His light constantly, you will be more in tune with His will and what He wants from you, so that you will always be protected.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, please search my heart and show me what I can do to grow closer to You. Please direct me in grounding myself in You so I can constantly be in your guidance and protection. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Lest You Fall

"You who fear the Lord, wait for His mercy and do not turn away lest you fall." - Sirach 2:7

A priest told me today to never rely on my own strength for anything because without the hand of God, I will be weak and will fall. I thought about it and now I am telling you this because it is very true. Sometimes we face some things in life that are hard to deal with and when God doesn't seem to answer them, we think we can handle it on our own and we can't. We really are weak and most of the time can't control the smallest things around us. That's why we just have to keep on hoping and keep our eyes placed on Him.…the very second we take our eyes off, stop praying, going to church, we allow our weakness to cloud our eyes. Not only do we lose sight of God, but we lose sight of ourselves and everything becomes out of place. It is only with our eyes placed continually on God that we will see His loving kindness, a love that not only comes to our aid, but renews our soul.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, thank You for being there for those that seek You with all their hearts. You are good, You are faithful and You lovingly receive all that search for You. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Our Mothers and Fathers

"Whoever honors his father atones for his sins; he who gives glory to his mother prepares a treasure for himself." - Sirach 3:3-4

I've been thinking about my parents a lot lately. They're very old school and sometimes treat me like I'm 10 years old instead of in my 20's. Sometimes they frustrate me and I want to explode, but I never really do. What stops me from ever being disrespectful is the fact that they are the parents that God gave me. Our God is a god that honors authority and honors obedience and the best way for me to obey God is to obey my mother and father.

Our relationship with our parents can be very similiar to how we interact with God. God intended for us to be fully obedient children to our parents and to Him. If you want to be a good servant of God, you must be a good son/ daughter. There are of course, parents that don't take care of their children as they should, and when this happens, you still have a parent in Heaven - the Lord Almighty whom you should love, honor, and obey.

Today's Prayer:
Father in Heaven, help me to honor and obey my mother and father just as I should honor and obey you. Please give me the patience and strength to fulfill your commandments as you desire. In Your Name we pray, Amen.