God Does Not Tempt

"Let no one say when he is tempted, 'This temptation comes from God.' God is never tempted and He can never tempt anyone. Instead, each of us is lured and enticed by his own evil desire. Once this desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when fully grown, gives birth to death." - James 1:13-15

I know people who get angry at God for their own sins. They think that it's God's fault that they're an alcoholic, for example, or that God put them in a sinful situation to test them. As Saint James wrote in this epistle, God does not tempt anyone. On the contrary, it is our own desires that lead us to sin. You are fully aware of what is right and wrong, and when you have the option to sin and you take it, it is nobody's fault but your own.

Don't blame God for your weakness. We are all susceptible to certain evil desires and it is our job to rely on God and ask for help in combating them. God doesn't get you into sin, but He's the only way out of it.

Today's Prayer:
My Lord, help me identify those areas in my life in which I am weak and sin. Help me to realize that it is nobody's fault but my own. I ask for the strength and conviction to do Your will everyday of my life. In Jesus' Name we pray, amen.

Willingness

"My grace is enough for you; my great strength is revealed in weakness." - 2nd Corinthians 12:9

I was just reading about the life of St. Thérése of Lisieux. When she was a teenager, she wanted God to make her a saint, but she struggled in trying to contain her emotions, such as stubbornness, anger, and the desire to seek attention. She made a mistake that we all make - she tried to work on her own feelings instead of giving them up to God to handle.

Tomorrow, we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. After meditating on His passion, some of us are moved to explore a closer relationship with God, but there are always doubts that pop up into our head: Can I really live a life following the Lord? Am I ready to give up certain things I know aren't good for me? Will God really listen to me? Is He really there? All of us struggle with doubts and questions, but all that God needs from us is our willingness to let Him guide us, instead of trying to do the work ourselves, as Thérése first did. Don't try to control anything or change anything yourself. As He told Paul, His grace is enough for you and in the areas you feel weak, He'll show you His strength. Where you feel you don't believe or can't continue, He'll help you through. All you need to do is tell Him with a sincere heart that you are willing to have Him work in you. That's the beauty of following the Lord - sometimes we think there is too much work involved, but then you see how He gently moves you in love to better, more peaceful places. All He looks for is a simple prayer from the heart saying that you are willing.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, today, I give up to You my fears, my weaknesses, and my doubts. I bring before You my desire to follow You, and with all of my heart, I would like You to work in me. Carry me when I am weak and when I doubt. In Your Name we pray. Amen.

Stumble and Get Back Up

"For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, but the wicked stumble in time of calamity." - Proverbs 24:16

I know what it feels like to let God down. To one day feel like you're so close and you're on the right path… and then the next you've stumbled and it hurts. You fell down and committed the sin you swore you weren't going to. Maybe it's an addiction you're fighting. Maybe it's the way you're treating someone. Whatever it is… it's separating you from God and that guilt, that shame is tearing you up inside. One day you feel worthy of the Lord and the next you convince yourself you shouldn't even go to church on Sunday.

There's good news here and it's that you're human. Jesus fully understands those painful weaknesses and that's why He came to save us. This verse in Proverbs is amazing… the just man falls seven times… if you saw someone make a mistake seven times, you would brush them off, wouldn't you? God doesn't. To God, the only thing that matters is that we get back up. You can sin one hundred times in a day and if by the end of the day, you turn back and try again for God, in His eyes you are just. The only thing that separates the wicked from the just is that the wicked stay down and give up.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You for Your unconditional love and mercy. I thank You that You don't judge us as harshly as we judge ourselves sometimes. Whenever I stumble, and You know I do often, please be there to lift me back up. In Your Name we pray, amen.

The Evil That I Hate

"Stay awake and pray, so that you may not slip into temptation. The spirit indeed is eager, but human nature is weak." - Matthew 26:41

The verse that I relate to the most is from Romans where Paul says that he cannot explain what happens to him - he does the evil that he hates and not the good that he wants to do. I can't tell you how many times I don't want to do something, refuse to even think about it, and then, in a very surreal way, watch myself doing the very thing I didn't want to do. It really is my soul saying, "don't do it!" as my flesh falls into temptation. I caught myself today saying something I shouldn't have, but out it came anyway. But then, if I'm falling into sin, I feel bad asking for forgiveness right away because I feel that I'm not strong enough to not fall again. This is why if you ever feel like this, you need to listen to Jesus' words here. The spirit is willing to be good. I do want to be good. I don't want to sin, but my flesh is weak. Our human nature is weak. So, what do we do then? We keep watch and we pray. We must be observant of all of our sins and be aware of the occasions in which we sin so we could avoid them. And if we don't remain strong in prayer, it's so easy to just slip into temptation, as I see myself do so many times. I'm sure you see this in yourself, too.

The bottom line is that yes, we are all sinners, but we need to grow spiritually as well, right? Therefore, keep watch over what you do, and most importantly, pray constantly so that you are able to move past certain temptations.

Today's Prayer:
Jesus, again and again, I do what I don't want to do. Help me pick myself up and be a stronger person, a person of stronger faith and conviction. Thank You for Your saving grace and mercy. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Am I Worthy?

"Place your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you, for He never allows the upright to fall." - Psalm 55:22

The journey towards God is a painful one because God's role in our lives is to make us complete. This means that when you place your heart on God, for a second you might be feeling like you're doing really well, but God brings out in you those fears and insecurities you didn't even know you had. We are all broken in many more ways that we can imagine and God seeks to heal us, put us together. In my case, as I have been sharing with you, I have worry/ anxiety issues. I know I should trust in God completely, but when I'm in a bind, I get overly anxious, nervous, and usually start crying in despair. As a matter of fact, what motivated me to be a straight A student in school had always been the fear of getting yelled at by a teacher, or the fear of failing and being seen as stupid. I never even realized the degree to which I felt this until God brought it up to the forefront for healing. I'm praying about it and I know He's working on it.

In the same way, I know you have deep seeded fears, insecurities, anxieties. Maybe they're similar to mine or maybe they're totally different. The point is that when we realize these issues we have within ourselves, we might not think we're worthy of God. I felt like this this week - in my despair I felt that I didn't trust God enough with my problems just because He took longer than usual to answer me. Then I thought to myself, "why would God help me if I failed Him?" And I'm sure you, at one point or another, feel the same way. We all have problems and drama that we deal with every day and when the Word of God tells us to put our trust in Him because He will sustain us, we really want to do that. We really want to just rest in His arms where things are safe and nothing bad or hurtful ever happens. But then we read the next part about God doing this for the upright…is that me? I'm not holy. I carry so many sins and let God down constantly with my poor faith…is God's promise then not for me? Our own low self-esteem might say that it doesn't apply to us, but if you're reading this right now, it does apply to you. No matter how broken you are and how many sins you commit, if your heart is placed on trying to follow the Lord, then you are upright. Jesus' best friends betrayed Him at His death, but He still gave them His church to run for Him. The Lord knows our sins better than we do so when our hearts and our minds are trying to please Him, that alone make us upright and righteous in His eyes…then He will heal us, He will sustain us and never let us fall.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, thank You for being so merciful. You overlook my many faults because of Your love for me and then try to heal me of all my wounds. See me as Your clay so that You can mold me and fix me as You please. In Your Name we pray, amen.

When You Are Weak

"My grace is enough for you; My great strength is revealed in weakness." - 2nd Corinthians 12:9

Oprah had a young girl on her show named Kristen Anderson. When she was about 15/16 yrs old, Kristen lost 4 of her closest friends in suicides and accidents. A year after that, her grandma died and shortly after that, she was raped. Needless to say, she was full of despair. She felt alone, helpless and with nothing to live for or look forward to. One evening, she decided to go out to her back yard which was next to some rail road tracks. After seriously considering ending her life, she decided to lie down on the tracks as a train approached. The train came and rail road cars drove right over Kristen. Amazingly enough, she didn't die. Fully conscious, she looked behind her and saw her legs with her brand new sneakers lying a couple of feet away. The train engineer stopped the train and called the cops. The Kristen Anderson that made it to the Oprah show, however, was a completely different person. She was radiant and all smiles as she pushed her legless body off her wheel chair and onto Oprah's coach. Oprah also had another young adult on the show who also tried commiting suicide after his parents divorced. He took a gun and blew off his face, but somehow survived. After about 18 reconstructive surgeries and 6 months in a drug induced coma, doctors have some what rebuilt his face. David also sat on Oprah's couch radiant. The show was about people who had tried commiting suicide but failed. Oprah wanted to show her audience the warning signs and how to help people in despair who see no way out, but I saw another message in the people's stories. These kids had awful things happen to them and they saw no hope, no help. Somehow after their accidents, they both found God and instead of going on Oprah with sob stories, they both told Oprah that they have found the love of Jesus Christ and despite having severe disabilities, they said they were happier than ever. David is now blind and hardly even has a nose or a mouth and Kristen's legs were cut off right above the knees, but in God, they are more full of life than most of us are! We let financial problems and relationship problems keep us down and gloomy but these kids have seen worse, tried killing themselves, and now, when the world would see them at their weakest, they are strongest. Happiness and strength doesn't lie in physical strength and beauty, but it ONLY lies in having God in our hearts. For these disabled kids, His grace is enough because when they are weak, they are really the strongest since their faith is firmly and indivisibly placed on God. We need to learn that God's grace is our only strength, and when things are at their lowest in our hearts, in our souls, prepare yourselves because that is when God really shows His strength!

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, forgive me for not allowing You to be God and for You to be my strength when I feel down and defeated. I can't do it on my own. Favor me with Your grace and give me the supernatural strength I need to get through. 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.

We Are Strongest When We Are Weak

"'My grace is enough for you; my great strength is revealed in weakness.'" - 2nd Corinthians 12:9

Paul was a man of God, a champion of faith, but he suffered from a weakness, something he called a thorn in his flesh, which he asked God to remove until God answered him with this verse.

When we think about our own heroes and the people we look up to, for most of us, it's the rich and powerful, or the attractive people with the right clothing and accesories, but God chooses those we often overlook. Many times, those with power only depend on themselves and what they can make happen on their own, not trusting in God. They have too much stuff in the way so that God can never make His way through the clutter. On the other hand, the poor and those we don't find interesting or attractive, don't hold on to the things of this world and know how to empty themselves before God. It is in these people, those who recognize that before the Almighty they are nothing, that God reveals Himself. Out of their weakness, He is able to manifest Himself in all of His glory for others to see and believe. Here we see that God does what He wants with whom He wants because His strength does not depend on our own power. Therefore, never brush aside those that with the eyes of the flesh you see as nothing for those who on the outside look better, for your human mind will never even be able to fathom the miracles God creates out of what you deem insignificant. And in the same way, when you are weak and have no strength left, don't scorn God or try to rely on your own strength, but pray and wait to experience God's power in you.

Today's Prayer:
Lord, I am nothing before You. Help to wash away my pride and my false sense of strength so that You can truly work in me for the glory of Your Kingdom In Your Name we pray, Amen.