Cleanse Me of Guilt

"In your great compassion, blot out my sin. Wash me thoroughly of my guilt; cleanse me of evil. For I acknowledge my wrongdoings and have my sins ever in mind." - Psalm 51:3-5

Have you ever caused someone pain and the fault is entirely yours? It's one of the worst feelings ever. It really eats away at you and you wonder how you could ever make it better. This is a tough situation and if you're lucky, the person will forgive you, but how can you forgive yourself? King David sinned greatly against God when he committed adultery and had the woman's husband killed. When his eyes were open to what he had done, in his remorse, he wrote this psalm. This is what we need sometimes, right? For God to help us forgive ourselves, for God to just come in and completely cleanse us of the pain, the shame, and the self-hate. No matter what you've done, God wants to help you forgive yourself. With a truly repented heart, David went to God, bowed down before Him because he knew God was the only one who could help. Trust in God like David trusted in God. Ask God to cleanse you… ask God to create a new heart in you like He did for David. We are called to repentance, but God doesn't want us to punish ourselves by holding on to guilt.

Today's Prayer:
My Jesus, search my heart and see that I am repented. I know I have sinned and the weight of that sin is pressing down too heavily upon my heart. Please help me release it. As You did for David, create in me a new heart and I will be white as snow. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Over Already

"Make us know the shortness of our life, that we may gain wisdom of heart." - Psalm 90:12

Today, my 17 year old twin brothers learned what death is. Two of their friends were killed in a car accident in front of their High School on the way back from lunch. Their white mazda was pretty much wrapped around a telephone pole.

No one can ever explain why some lives are taken so soon. Jordan and Jonathan lost two of their friends. One of them was Jonathan's lab and gym partner. How is he going to understand the emptiness he'll feel when there's no one sitting next to him tomorrow? There are families grieving over their sons right now with no comfort. These are the reasons why we have to ask God to help us number our days. We will all face death one day, but are we ready, or are we counting on getting older to make the changes we need to make in our lives? If you were to meet with death tonight, are there people you should be apologizing to? Are there people who should know how much you love them? Are there mistakes you need to correct? Are there things you need to set right with God? I'm sure Quinntin and Saul would have used their last hours in very different ways if they had known.

I'd like for the Lord to help me get over the shock of their early death, and allow for this to show us the reality and fragility of our lives. It can be over in a second and we never know when that will be. Let's make sure we're right with God for when our turn comes.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I ask You for the souls of Quinntin and Saul, two kids who know find themselves in Your presence today. I ask You to provide extraordinary comfort to the parents and families of these kids as they deal with this tragedy, and I ask You for all of the students and friends mourning their loss, especially Jordan and Jonathan. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Go To Confession!

"If we confess our sins, He who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all wickedness." - 1st John 1:9

At the start of Lent, I urged you all to go to confession and wash away sin and the guilt and remorse it causes. Now, just a few days before the start of Holy Week, I want to urge you again if you haven't already. During this week 2,000 years ago, Jesus gave up His life so that you and I could be cleansed of the wrong we do. More importantly, His death wasn't about making us do something to make up for our sins, but to heal us from the pain of sin. God is loving and knows the regret and the heaviness that we inflict upon ourselves when we fall into things we shouldn't have. It leads to conflicts within ourselves, with others, and with God. Through confession, you are bringing to the light those things that need to be washed away, so that in the Name of Jesus Christ you can be forgiven, healed, and brought back into full communion with the Lord… no matter what you've done or how long it's been since your last confession. God is longing to forgive you and heal you.

Since it's the weekend and the start of Holy Week, churches have confession on Saturdays and during most of this week. Please call your church, go online, or look at the bulletin to find out when the sacrament of reconciliation (confession) is being held. Spend time meditating on the areas in your life where you have fallen short and bring those things to the Lord.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, You died for our sins on the cross and it is only right that we take full advantage of Your sacrifice by confessing our sins. Search me Lord and show me what I need to bring before You for cleansing and healing. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Held Accountable

"If any of you should cause one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble and fall, it would be better for you to be thrown into the depths of the sea with a great millstone around your neck." - Matthew 18:6

In January I held a prayer group because I felt God telling me to organize it. I put it off for a bit but He kept insisting. It took a lot out of me to put together because I'm a shy person and didn't want to harass people into attending, although I knew God had a purpose for everyone there. Tonight, my mom told me she bumped into someone whose daughter had attended that night. I don't know the girl. Someone else had invited her. Her mother told my mom that she was transformed that night. She received such a special call from God that all she wants to do is pray, go to church, and read the bible now. Although this is really great news, it scared me. God kept insisting that I put this together and it took so much out of me to silence myself and let Him work. It took so much out of me to even stand before people to talk about my faith. What if I hadn't listened and this young girl, a stranger, would have never received the love of God that night? But more importantly, on the night, God was able to act because I prayed and let myself be guided by Him, but how about who I am 95% of the time? How about who I am when I'm not praying as much? How about the Audrey that gets cranky with my brothers and is quick to snap when things don't go my way? What kind of example do I set then? The girl is just one person who I won over for God because I was praying so much, and I wouldn't have even known about her if my mom hadn't seen her mom. But I wonder how many people I have led into sin when I'm far from God and don't listen to Him. One offense, one bad word, one bad example could have led so many to sin and I would never know, but God knows and I'm sure He's keeping count. Ninety-five percent of the time I'm not who God wants me to be and I'm ashamed of that. Ninety-five percent of the time I could be causing others to sin and that is not acceptable to me.

If there are any of you that are hurt or offended by anything I've done, I am deeply sorry. Sometimes our own ignorance and insecurities lead us to harm people and we never even know it. Please know that if I've ever done anything to any of you, it's been because of my own faults, and I apologize from the bottom of my heart. I'm ashamed of a lot of things I've said, done, and thought, and hope you pray for me as God continues to mold me.

My prayer for tonight is that each of you meditate on your own actions and see if you think you've led people towards God or away from God by the examples you've set. Sometimes it's not the people we live with who we influence the most, but those whose lives we affect when casually walking by. We never realize how the smallest action or gesture on our part can significantly affect the soul of another person. I've heard that in the final judgment, God will show each of us all the souls that were lost and all the souls that were won because of us. Please pray so that we can correct the mistakes and offenses we've made and can work to bring the love of God to those who need His mercy. I ask this in Jesus' Name, amen.

Hypocrisy

"Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye and not see the plank in your own eye? Hypocrite, take first the plank out of your own eye, then you will see clear enough to take the speck out of your brother's eye." - Matthew 7:3,5

What makes the scandal surrounding Eliot Spitzer so shocking is that he was a man that made it his career to go after people for illegal activity, yet he was involved in criminal acts himself. It's not shocking that a man would sin, after all, we are all sinners, but in his case, would the public outrage have been as severe if he hadn't made it his job to prosecute so many people? Jesus says do not judge and you will not be judged and I think that what He means is that we all need to recognize our own human weaknesses and faults so that we never condemn others for theirs. We are too quick to condemn someone for certain acts, yet we are sometimes guilty of the same things. This makes us guilty before God because He sees our sins on a daily basis, yet we put others down without mercy. Is it that we think we are beyond reproach? Is it that we think we are better than others? Lately, when I catch myself judging someone, I remind myself that I have probably committed the same act I'm judging, or that I'll probably do the same if I were in the position. God is merciful and I know that in recognizing my hypocrisy at the moment, He will forgive me. It's hard to stop judging from one day to another, but know that in realizing it's something you need to work on, God will help you through. It is much better to humble yourself and recognize you're a sinner, then to walk around with your head held high only to be found out as a hypocrite.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, search me and make known to me all the sins I have committed against You and others. Put them before my eyes always so that I become aware of what I really am and not who I think I am. Help me not to judge others for their sins, but to instead help them in returning to You. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Forgive Others

"If you forgive others their wrongs, your Father in Heaven will also forgive yours. If you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive you either." - Matthew 6:14-15

A good thing to do throughout the day and especially before you go to sleep is to examine your conscience. I like to think about everything I did, everyone I spoke to and think if I offended anyone. A sin is any action that lacks love, so if I said anything mean about someone, if I judged someone, or even if I chose not to help someone when I could have, it's all sin. Thinking about all the bad I do during the day really weighs heavily on my heart. It hurts to think of the times I offend God. I especially feel horrible when I find myself judging someone right off the bad. It's scary and sad to think that's the initial reaction that comes from my heart. But as evil as I am, I really know that God is loving and forgiving. And this is why we all need to really pray for help in forgiving others. I, like many of you, carry around wounds for things people have done to me, things that get me upset just to think about! Some people have hurt us so bad that there's no way we could ever think of even seeing them again, but who are we to hold things against others when we do worse to God and He is always, always forgiving? Forgiveness doesn't mean you have to condone what that person did to you. It only means that you have decided not to hold the grudge and live free of the weight on your shoulders. When you do this, God forgives you for all of your offenses. Then you would be free to have a more open relationship with God and get to know Him better, instead of carrying around pain for the grudges you are harboring. We all want to be better people and this is one of the most important steps in achieving that. We can't be in peace with God unless we're in peace with those around us.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I think of people who have hurt me and I get angry, but then I am humbled when I think of how You have forgiven me time after time. You call me to be perfect, like our Father is perfect… although that is so hard for me to attain, help me to get one step closer each day. In Your Name we pray, amen.

The Prodigal Son

"He was still a long way off when his father caught sight of him. His father was so deeply moved with compassion that he ran out to meet him, threw his arms around his neck and kissed him." - Luke 15:20

This is a story we all know really well, the story of the prodigal son. I wanted to focus on this verse in the story because it's what stands out the most to me. After squandering all of his money on filth, the son recognized that his father always treated his servants well, and if he was going to be a servant, he should go back and work for his father. I love how this verse describes the reaction of the father upon seeing his son return. The father didn't need an apology, he didn't have the need to lecture the son and say 'I told you so,' or hold any grudge against him. From the moment he saw his boy from afar, he was prepared to give him the best he had to welcome him, no matter how selfish the son was in the past. This is the love of our Father in Heaven.

During the season of Lent, we focus a lot on sacrifices and repentance, but God is so good that after a few weeks, the teachings in the daily readings start reflecting the goodness, forgiveness, and mercy of God! God wants to forgive us. He doesn't even need to hear the apology to welcome us back to Him with open arms! Like the son in the story, you could have wasted all of your life with horrible sins but the moment you turn your eyes to Heaven, God wants to be there for you! Seek His forgiveness today! Let yourself be welcomed into His loving arms.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, thank You for Your love and mercy. Thank You for being better than my evil. Please cleanse me of all my sins so that I can be worthy of You. In Your Name we pray, amen.

No More Guilt

"Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt and pardons sin?" - Micah 7:18

Guilt is a horrible thing to live with. When we cause harm to others, no matter if that person has forgiven us, we find it hard to forgive ourselves for the offense. We repeat the offense in our minds and it eats away at us until we feel we don't deserve forgiveness or any sort of kindness. The most dangerous guilt is the one we feel before God because it prevents us from seeking Him whole-heartedly. Because we feel we've let Him down we feel ashamed and hide our faces. Therefore, some people never receive the forgiveness God intends to give them. This is why I love this verse so much… so many times I've felt this kind of guilt and hide my face in shame from God. Thinking I don't deserve anything from Him I've tried to go about my life without Him since I figured He doesn't want to help. But I was so wrong. God wants to shower each and every one of us with blessings, no matter what we've done. Forgetting our offenses, He welcomes us back. He is the God who removes the guilt and pardons the sin.

Do you carry around guilt you want to get rid of today? Wouldn't it feel so good to finally let it go and feel like you deserve God's goodness to shower you? If you feel like this, just ask Him to remove your guilt and pardon your sins and in time you will see the goodness of the Lord.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You for Your mercy. My sin and my guilt are always before me and today I ask that You cleanse me and restore me. I want to be worthy of you Jesus. Help me to be more like You. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Time for Confession!

"Again Jesus said to them, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.' After saying this He breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit; for those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.'" - John 20:21-23

Ash Wednesday is this Wednesday, that means that there are a few things you need to be doing in the next 40 days. The first is to go get your ashes, the second is choose something to give up for Lent, and the third is to go to confession. I know that's a really hard one. Before, I had gone years without confessing and I know some of you have too. It's hard to go tell a priest all the bad things we've done, things we don't even want to remember, or things we might brag to our friends about but never ever tell a priest. But you need to go. Little by little, as the days pass by, you've become dirty. All those little sins add up until your soul becomes sick, making you a target for the enemy and falling into something deeper and something much worse. Attached to our soul are all those things you've done to hurt others, things you're ashamed of… things that you can clean yourself of. It's really intimidating to walk into a church and tell a priest all of your sins because he gets to hear the worst of you, but in His mercy, Jesus, through the priest, plans to bring out the best in you and free you from all the filth you've picked up along the way. There isn't a better feeling than hearing that in Jesus' Name all of your sins have been forgiven. Can you imagine how good it will feel to walk out of there knowing that you are now clean and pure before God?

Most churches offer the sacrament of reconciliation every Saturday afternoon. You should look on your parish bulletin for details, or call the rectory and ask to make an appointment with a priest. Please know that they will not judge you. They're human just like you and I'm sure they've heard it all. You can also ask them anything you want and they will direct you on what to do after confession. If you have sins that are weighing on your heart and you're repented of them, then it's time to go and receive Jesus' forgiveness. Don't let shame or embarrassment rob you of feeling forgiven and pure. And if you feel a nudging at your heart as you read this, it's a sign you better make it to confession asap!

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You because You have left us the sacrament of reconciliation so that we can cleanse our souls of all the sins we have committed along the way. Take away from us any trace of embarrassment so that we can go and receive Your forgiveness. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Be Holy

"God has called us to live, not in impurity but in holiness." - 1st Thessalonians 4:7

Up until a couple of months ago, I thought that to be holy I had to be pretty much a nun. I thought holy people were those that lived in monasteries praying all day or those like Mother Theresa that dedicated their lives to helping the poor. They were the saints and the rest of us were poor sinners. I was so wrong. Holiness is a call to try to integrate God into all we do in our every day lives. It doesn't necessarily mean praying 24/7, but acknowledging God in all we do. We can be holy and chaste in a marriage if we honestly give of ourselves in complete love to our partner. We can be holy in our friendships if we serve our friends out of respect and dignity. And we can be holy with ourselves if we take care of our souls, keeping them pure and protected from the things we know can only bring us harm. The bottom line is that we can all be holy if we imitate Jesus who all through His life set an example by the service He gave to others. Holiness is in trying to follow this example. And please know that it's ok if you can't forgive today, as long as you're trying to in Jesus' Name. It's ok if you haven't given up on that addiction today, as long as you keep on asking God for help. It's all about the journey - knowing God is calling us for holiness and trying in all the big and small things to get there one day at a time.

Today's Prayer:
Lord, in Your love for me You have called me to be pure and holy like You. I'm so far from it now, but please look at the desire in my heart and bring me a few steps forward each day. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Love

"Love is patient, kind, without envy. It is not boastful or arrogant. It is not ill-mannered nor does it seek its own interest. Love overcomes anger and forgets offenses. It does not take delight in wrong, but rejoices in truth. Love excuses everything, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." - 1st Corinthians 13:4-6

I think that this is one of the most beautiful passages in the bible. I know a lot of couples use this for their readings on their wedding day at mass, but the theme that Paul touches upon here is much broader than just romantic love. All values, beliefs, commandments, everything is based on love and the kindness we show to others. And the most important part of this love is that it be sincere, not showing love because we feel it's appropriate at certain situations, but to really, genuinely express love to others in the form of service. Love isn't love when we wait for others to do something for us first. Love isn't love when we keep a checklist of what others have done to us. No, love forgives, love first seeks the others' comfort before we seek our own. Love never ever rejoices at the downfall of another. Love expects the best out of people and love can withstand anything, even the biggest offenses. True love that comes from God can do this.

Not possible you're thinking? Guess again. I've heard of people that have forgiven the murderer of their own child. People that have put their own lives at risk to help strangers, like the man that jumped in front of a subway train to help someone who had fallen on the tracks. And then we have Jesus Christ, who gave up His own life for us while His enemies laughed at Him, eventhough He was able to save Himself. None of this happens over night, but if you don't at least take baby steps every day to try to achieve more love each day, more service to a stranger, more patience to someone who gets on your nerves, you will have no love inside of you. No love is really having no life because all that is inside you is dead. No one could ever love you in the right way because you could never show them true love. But to achieve this we have our Lord to help us, who gives us much more than we could ever ask for or imagine, if we do truly seek to love as He loves.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, show me to love as You love. Right now, I can only really love those who love me and even then I don't serve them as I should. Open my heart, strengthen it so I can have the courage to forget all offenses in Your Name. Show me how to love perfectly and serve all of Your children, from the least to the greatest. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Forgiveness Through Love

"This is why, I tell you, her sins, her many sins, are forgiven, because of her great love." - Luke 7:47

One of the best feelings in the world is to be guilty of something and have the person you offended forgive you. I can think of so many times when my father forgave me for things after I have apologized. In recognizing my faults and asking for forgiveness, he saw I was repented and removed the burden from my shoulders. This made me appreciate him so much more. So it is with God; those that have had big sins forgiven, have more love because they are well aware of the sins they have been purified from. They show their appreciation for the Lord through their love for Him and for others. This love alone is worthy of forgiveness of many sins as in the case of the women in this bible passage. On the contrary, there are many that don't show love to anyone, only caring about themselves because they feel themselves lacking from sin and therefore not needing forgiveness. The sins of these people who believe themselves to be above forgiveness are often times much more offensive to God than the sins of murderers and prostitutes that have decided to lead their lives in love and compassion.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, show us how to love perfectly. Love for You and for others forgives a multitude of sins, of which You know I have many. Be with me as I choose to show that love in this world. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Releasing The Grudge

"As they were stoning him, Stephen prayed saying: 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' Then he knelt down and said in a loud voice: 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them.' And when he had said this, he died." - Acts 7:59-60

In my bible, right next to this verse, I have written down, "how can we have such love?" And while many of you might not agree with this, but I admire Stephen, Christianity's first martyr, for having had the love and faith to ask for his murderers' forgiveness as he was dying. I wish I were like him. I wish I had his faith and his love because this is someone who is truly free. I believe that when someone hurts us, we hold on to that pain and that resentment, recalling it in our minds with hurt and anger, but it eats away at us while the other person is fine. Holding a grudge against another person is a burden we set ourselves up to carry. Letting it go is much easier said than done, but at the end of the day, is the toll it takes on us worth holding on to? Stephen knew it wasn't worth it. He was about to lose his life and understood that it is better to lose it, then hold on to any hate, especially when he was dying to show an example of faith in Christ. And most of the time, the people that hurt us, don't even know they're doing it, or understand why they're doing it. In Stephen's case, many of those who cast the stones just didn't understand his faith and feared a change in their culture and society. No one teaches anyone a lesson by staying angry, showing hate, or holding a grudge. We only hurt ourselves because we allow ourselves to get angry all over again and never heal. We encage ourselves and take away our own freedom.

Today's Prayer:
Jesus, show us how to be truly free. It is inevitable that we get hurt by people but holding on to those grudges causes us more harm than the initial wound. I know You want us to live in love, but open our minds and hearts to follow Your example, then teach us to be an example for others. In Your Name we pray, amen.

No Record of Wrongs

"Love overcomes anger and forgets offenses." - 1st Corinthians 13:5

I know a girl who committed a sin she is very ashamed of. Immediately, the walls went up between her and God, but God wasn't the one who raised them, she did. I look at myself and think of the times I've offended someone and needed to apologize. I find that I keep my distance and not talk to the person, hoping they'll get over it because it makes me feel bad that they're so angry with me. It takes a lot to apologize so it's easier for me to stay away. A lot of us tend to take this route with the Lord. We do something we know God wouldn't like and/ or continue to do it, and we distance ourselves from God because of the guilt we feel, or because we think we're just not compatible with Him.

In this verse, Paul tells us that even though that's how we are, God is not like this. In his gospel, the apostle John said that God is love, and this God, who is perfect love, does not hold on to grudges from the times we have offended Him. Another translation says that love does not keep a record of wrongs. That's what we do! We keep a checklist of what others have done to us and we also keep a checklist of sins we've committed, reasons we've made up to justify why we stay away from God and why we're not worthy. We all need to take a step back and realize that God is love and God understands all that we go through. All we do in life is part of a journey we need to take to discover ourselves, so no sin should keep us away from trying to get back to God. He waits for each and every one of us with open arms. Forgetting our offenses, He always waits in love for our return.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, You are so good. You forget the sins I've commited and cast them out of Your site when I seek You. No matter what I've done, You still love me and wait for my return. Lord, don't ever let me forget Your great mercy, love and compassion for me. I love You. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Accepting Ourselves

"But because you are almighty, you are merciful to all; you overlook sins and give your children time to repent. You love everything that exists and hate nothing that you have made; had you hated anything, you would not have formed it. How could anything endure if you did not will it? And how could anything last that you had not willed? You have compassion on all because all is yours, O Lord, lover of life." - Wisdom 11:23-26

I was of the mind that God is so holy and we are always lacking in faithfulness, therefore are always sinning. I wondered to myself who would ever be pure enough to really walk with Jesus. I wondered what God thought of me and all the sins I commit time after time, and I would feel bad, so guilty before the Lord. Not at all worthy to even keep following Him. This verse was part of today's reading in mass and I felt God speak to me through it. It's one of the most beautiful things I have ever read in the bible. It tells us that beyond everything, even our wickedness, the Lord is good, kind, merciful, loving, and He waits for us to return to Him, with patience and understanding. For all the times I would feel such guilt before Him, like I am not worthy of Him, this verse tells us that He created us and sees us for what we are. The good and the bad, and He still loves us regardless. And if He didn't see good and love in who we are right now, as evil as we can be, He wouldn't allow us to keep existing because He loves what He creates and destroys that which He hates. We tend to be harder on ourselves and judge ourselves more severely than God Himself. I guess it's His will for me to be the sinner that I am now and that it's all part of His plan. But regardless, even if we're saints or sinners, His love is bigger than anything we've done or can do.

Today's Prayer:
Lord God, thank You for loving me and accepting me as I am. I am Your beloved child, and as I am, You have called me and love me. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Peter and Judas

Peter:
"And Peter remembered the words of Jesus, 'Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.' And he went away weeping bitterly." - Matthew 26:76

Judas:
'"When Judas, the traitor, realized that Jesus had been condemned, he was filled with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, 'I have sinned by betraying an innocent man to death.' So, throwing the money into the Temple, he went away and hanged himself." - Matthew 27:3-4, 5

Judas has gone down in history as the man who betrayed Jesus, when in reality, he went back to the temple and gave the money back while Peter went on to deny he even knew Jesus three times, so who is the bigger traitor? Looking at the passage and comparing these two people, I would say that the crime was not the betrayal, but the sin was not asking for forgiveness. Both of these figures denied the man they followed, both of them regretted it whole heartedly, but only one went off to repent while the other took the easy way out by taking their own life. Since we are all sinners, we need to ask ourselves if we are Peter or if we are Judas. When you sin, do you hold it inside of you until you start to feel dirty and even grow to hate yourself like Judas did, or do you practice repentance, do penance and emerge stronger as Peter did? Make no mistake about it, the ultimate sin was not the betrayal, so if Judas would have repented, turned back to Jesus and asked for forgiveness, he would have been one of the original leaders of the church, just as Saint Peter is today. Peter spent his life struggling to calm his anger, fight grudges and his own imperfections, but his redeeming quality was that he took his sin and purged it, always seeking God even when he fell time after time. He went away to strengthen himself, get himself on his feet and he came back to lead the church into Pentecost. Judas let the sin and the self-hate fester within him so that no forgiveness was possible and his life was lost forever.

You, like all the sons of Adam and Eve, are a sinner, but are redeemable. You can be made clean, but you have two paths in front of you, two solutions for your sin. Do you take the path of Peter, or do you take the path of Judas?

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You for the gift of Your body and blood. Through it, You grant forgiveness of all of our sins, no matter how evil. Please Lord, let me take full advantage of your redemption so that I may never let my sins eat away at me, but that I may find peace in You to be healed and restored. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Spiritual Illness

"While Jesus was preaching the Word to them, some people brought a paralyzed man to Him. When Jesus saw the faith of these people, He said to the paralytic, 'My Son, your sins are forgiven.'" - Mark 2:2&5

Needless to say, the paralytic got up and started walking, but did you know that without a real relationship with Jesus, you are also sick? One of the major effects of the first sin of Adam and Eve was mortal death; we weren't supposed to die until that fall from grace. The well-being of our souls is intricately attached to the very health of our bodies. In the case of the paralytic, the sin took a physical hold of him, but in many cases, it's a mental hold. Many people live with grudges, anger, depression, hate - all of these are mental and emotional diseases that do have a proven connection to stress which leads to heart problems or major anxiety. Jealousy, envy, pride leads us to argue with a loved one and we refuse to apologize, spending years not talking to that person. Or many times the shame and consequences that come with committing a certain sin causes us to isolate ourselves from others. Is this what you really want your life to be? You need to go to the foot of the cross and realize that it is there that Jesus Christ has defeated sin; leave your own sins there at His feet. You no longer have to carry that dead weight around, release it for the Lord has already paid the price for you. If the weight of a sin, the guilt, the anxiety, the shame, the hurt, the pain, causes you to grieve, stay up at night, remember the paralytic and approach Jesus. He will forgive you of your sins and release the hold it has on your soul and your body. Imagine how liberating it is to no longer hold on to something that has brought you so much grief! Seek healing for your soul and for your body.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You for being the healer of our souls and our bodies. Help us to recognize the sins that are making us ill so that we can make amends and be reconciled to You. In Your Name we pray, Amen.

Make Peace Before Forgiveness

"So, if you are about to offer your gift at the altar and you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar, go at once and make peace with your brother, and then come back and offer your gift to God." - Matthew 5:23-24

Before Jesus' death, the Jews would sacrifice a lamb or a calf at the temple for the forgiveness of sins. Now, when Jesus came, He radically changed the way the law was practiced because He wanted us to have the law in our heart, instead of just as commandments to follow so that we learn what it really means to follow and love God each day. In His famous Sermon on the Mount, in which He tells us how He wants us to live, He talks about forgiveness and how we need to truly give ourselves up to being open to loving one another. More than just forgiving those that have hurt us, He goes a step further in saying that if you are going to ask God for forgiveness of a sin and you remember that someone has something against you, whether justified or not, whether they forgive you or not, you need to put your sacrifice down and go make peace with that person. Your sacrifice, or your act of asking God forgiveness for your own sins, means nothing to God if at first you do not make amends with those who you have hurt or have hurt you. For us this is a very difficult thing to do, but not impossible. Our God is a just God and justice demands that we forgive and be forgiven if we are to ask mercy of God for our own sins against Him. So if you really want to be in good standing with the Lord in terms of your own faults, then make peace with your neighbors first.

Today's Prayer:
God, it's not easy for me to admit guilt, ask forgiveness, and especially forgive someone who has hurt me, betrayed me and let me down continually. But I trust in You, my Lord, and I know that Your ways are the right ways, so please guide me and help me to do Your will because You know that I can't find it in me at times. In Your Name we pray, Amen.

Is There Someone You Can't Stand?

"Our battle is not against human forces but against the rulers and authorities and their dark powers that govern this world. We are struggling against the spirits and supernatural forces of evil." - Ephesians 6:12

There's this girl at my job that I really can't stand. I could be in a great mood and she walks in, opens her mouth and just gets me in a bad mood. Seriously, I could go on and on about her, but I shouldn't be telling you bad things about her because when I pray to God about how much I can't stand her, I realize I'm the one with the problem. You see, the book of Genesis tells us we were all created in the image of God, so He exists in all of us. How then could I not stand someone who is made in God's image? I can't stand this girl because just as God wants us to love one another, the devil works to put hate in our hearts for others. I see her as annoying but in reality, she hasn't done anything to me. The devil is the one that makes me feel animosity towards her. I'm constantly praying for love and patience to deal with her and do God's will, although every day is a struggle.

This is also the reason we cannot forgive people sometimes. We know we are supposed to forgive because even on the cross Jesus asked God to forgive those that crucified Him, so we must do the same. You see, those that hurt and betray us were tempted by the enemy to take those actions. We already know that person was created in the image of God so without the devil's influence, that person would not have hurt us. And when they hurt us, we cannot forgive and receive healing because the devil makes us hold on to the grudge, blocking God's will to relieve us and free us from the offense. We must open our eyes and realize that our true enemy is one, Satan and his demons, and they're so slick and subtle that they'll make us hate when we shouldn't while justifying that hate in our hearts. Jesus wants us to love as He did, even though He too was betrayed and offended. Forgiving does NOT mean what the person did to us was right, it only means that for God's sake, you are letting go of the hate that won't let you be free and receive love in your heart. So please think about the people in your life that you can't forgive, people that you can't stand and therefore don't treat well, and all others you don't hold in high esteem and remember that it is the will of God for you to love them, and if you refuse, you must know that it is the devil at work in you. As hard as this is to accept, there is no gray area here - you are either being influenced by God or the devil. Choose whose will you want to follow. Trust me, I know this is super hard, but Jesus did say His path was narrow and few will be able to follow it.

I'm taking my journey down that path day by day with my eyes focused on Him, constantly asking for strength and guidance.

Today's Prayer:
Lord, I want to ask You to bless all those that I don't get along with and those that I have grudges against in my heart. I know it is Your will for me to forgive and I know that the devil wants to keep me away from being free of these negative feelings, so please, help me move past this and reject the temptations of the enemy so that I can be perfect and righteous as You are. In Your Name we pray, Amen.

Stealing Heaven

"Turning to Jesus, he said, 'Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.' Jesus replied, 'Truly, you will be with me today in paradise.'" - Luke 23:42-43

At the time of His crucifixion, Jesus was put between two criminals. One mocked Jesus telling Him to bring Himself down if He was really a prophet, while the other asked Jesus to remember him. I love this verse because it shows how loving and merciful God is. This criminal had to have done something really bad to deserve a death on the cross and he even told the other thief to leave Jesus alone because they did deserve their punishments, unlike Jesus. But this just goes to show that to God, it doesn't matter what you've done. You could be the worst person ever, but the second you repent from the heart, you become pure and win God's complete forgiveness. This thief was just about to die and if he hadn't repented, he would have gone to hell, but instead he recognized his own faults before Jesus and asked Him for help. Not only did he receive forgiveness because of this, but he also won an immediate entry into Heaven

In our lives we definitely do feel that our sins are without forgiveness at times. We think that we've done something so bad that we don't deserve to seek God or go to church, but the example of the thief proves us wrong. It does not matter what you've done. If you are truly sorry and repented from the heart, you win God's forgiveness and acceptance. Be thankful that the only One who can truly judge us is a much fairer judge than we are.

Today's Prayer:
Thank You Lord for being so loving and forgiving. Help me to see how easy it is to be Your friend and help me to never forget Your kindness. In Your Name we pray, Amen.