In all of Pope Francis encounters with our kabayans in Manila and Tacloban young and old alike, he emphasized the importance of prayer and in all humility, He even asked his audience to pray for him, too, as he, the pope, also needs to have the gift of prayer intercession with St. Joseph as his favorite saint, whenever he has a problem requiring him to make a decision for yes or no, he would write it on a piece of paper and put it under the head of the sleeping statue of St Joseph that he has in the Vatican, as we know God communicates to St. Joseph via dreams. - The Night Stalker POPE FRANCIS’ VISIT HANGOVER: ALL DAY WITH GOD “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). All human beings were designed to worship God; in reality Christians should have been more prayerful than any one else or other beings in Creation because we are told to pray without ceasing, (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and praise him from sunrise to sunset, an all day affair with God. The Bible says, So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. This is the secret of the lifestyle of worship - doing everything as if we are doing it for Jesus. The Message paraphrase says, Take your everyday, ordinary life - your sleeping, your eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life- and place it before God as an offering. The Bible further says, Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. In all of Pope Francis encounters with the Filipinos, he emphasized the importance of prayer - to him rest with the Lord, be quiet before the Lord, be silent before the Lord, be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him. In his humility, he always ask his audience to pray for him, too, after saying he will pray for his audience. God smiles when we praise and thank Him continually. Brother Lawrence in his classic devotional book Practicing the Presence of God said It is a great delusion to think our times of prayer ought to differ from other times. We are as strictly obliged to cleave to God by action in the time of action as by prayer in the season of prayer. In short, he advocated that we pray without ceasing. True prayer is a way of life. Worship is not a part of our life, it is our life. I n the relationship I am your God and you are my people, however, it is us, incidentally who renege on that relationship which God treasures and is passionate so about. All human beings are unique from each other, hence creations do not worship God in the same way. This topic did not appear here by accident. We are blessed as God used us to reveal a truth for a misconception. To a local priest, the Sunday worshipers who are AWOL on Monday and all the rest of the week are called nominal Christians. Worship is not for our benefit. We worship for Gods benefit. We dont worship to please ourselves We praise God for who He is and thank Him for what He has done for us. We tend to compartmentalize our lives. We pray only during church worship, small group Bible study, family devotions, and personal quiet times, but what about during our workdays? To pray on the job does not mean we have to fall to our knees with clasped hands and pray aloud. But it does mean that work decisions and relationships can be brought to God throughout the day. Wherever we are and whatever we are doing, God wants to be part of it. When prayers enters every aspect of our lives, who knows what God might do for His glory? In the Bible, people praised God at work, at home, in battle, in jail, and even in bed! Praise should be the first activity when we open our eyes in the morning and the last activity when we close our eyes at night. David said, I will thank the Lord at all times. My mouth will always praise him. Every activity can be transformed into an act of worship when we do it for the praise, glory, and pleasure of God. NATURE ABHORS VACUUM: “Be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19). BIBLIARASAL –“BETHEL” (20 January 2015 Tuesday) ”WITHOUT JESUS IN OUR LIVES, THERE WILL ALWAYS BE SOMETHING LACKING IN IT” According to the ancient Philosopher Aristotle, “Nature abhors a vacuum.”Aristotle based his conclusion on the observation that nature requires every space to be filled with something, even if that something is colorless, odorless air. The same principle applies at our spiritual lives. When the Holy Spirit begins to convict us of sin, the idea of starting a self-improvement plan immediately comes to mind. We put forth our best effort to defeat our worst habits. But every attempt to get rid of unclean thoughts, attitudes, and desires is destined to fail because getting rid of one requires a vacuum in our souls. As soon as we empty ourselves of one vice, others move in to take its place, and we end up just as bad or worse than we started. Thinking about vacuum helps us understand the importance of what Paul was saying to the Ephesians when he prayed that Christ would dwell in their hearts through faith and that they would “know the love of Christ. . .that [they] may be fill with all the fullness of God” (3:19). The only permanent solution to the problem of sin in our lives is to replace is to replace it with the love of Jesus which fills the vacuum. The more we are filled with His love, the less room there is for any evil thing. E. Stanley Jones said, “If we don’t surrender to Christ, we surrender to chaos. Surrender to Christ is not the best way to live; it is the only way to live. Nothing else works. WE DO NOT NEED TO PUT OUR HOUSE IN ORDER BEFORE JESUS COMES IN; HE PUTS IT IN ORDER AFTER WE LET HIM IN. – Julie Ackerman Link, odb.org./The Night Stalker BIBLIARASAL –“BETHEL” (20 January 2015 Tuesday) ”WITHOUT JESUS IN OUR LIVES, THERE WILL ALWAYS BE SOMETHING LACKING IN IT” PRAY for guidance from the Holy Spirit. Prayer: Father, speak to me. I wish to receive your Word into my heart. Send forth your spirit to me. Reveal your face to me today. Amen. Alleluia, alleluia! The Word of God is living and effective; discerning reflections and thoughts of the heart. Alleluia, alleluia! BIBLIARASAL –“BETHEL” (20 January 2015 Tuesday) UNDERSTANDING THE MEANING OF LIFE.”. . .God is not unjust to overlook your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name by having served and continuing to serve the holy ones. We earnestly desire each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for fulfillment of the hope until the end, so that you may not become sluggish, but imitators of those who, through faith and patience, are inheriting the promise. . .” 1ST READING: HEBREWS 6:10-20 “Brothers and sisters: God is not unjust to overlook your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name by having served and continuing to serve the holy ones. We earnestly desire each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of hope until the end, so that you may not become sluggish, but imitators of those who, through faith and patience, are inheriting the promises. When God made the promise to Abraham since he has no one greater to swear, “ he swore by himself” and said, “I will indeed bless you and multiply” you. And so, after patient waiting, he obtained the promise. Human beings swear by someone greater than themselves; for them an oath serves a guarantee and put an end to all argument. So God wanted to give the heirs of the promise an even clearer demonstration of immutability of his purpose, he intervened with an oath, so that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to hold fast to the hope that lies before us. This we have as anchor for the soul, sure and firm, which reaches into the interior behind the veil, where Jesus entered on our behalf as forerunner, becoming high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” REFLECTIONS- “Jesus is the fulfillment of all that had been promised to the people of God in the Old Testament. It is the life of Jesus that is the interpretive tool by which we can understand the meaning of life. Without Jesus in our lives, there will always be something lacking in it . This is not an arrogant position to take. It is merely a statement of truth according to the revelation God has made through His Word. The challenge we now face is to live it.” BIBLIARASAL –“BETHEL” (20 January 2015 Tuesday) WORKS OF THE LORD:”. . .He has given food to those who fear him; he will be forever mindful of his covenant. He has sent deliverance to his people. . .” PSALM 111:1-10 The Lord will remember his covenant forever. “I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart in the company and assembly of the just. Great are the works of the LORD, exquisite in all their delights. He has won renown for his wondrous deeds; gracious and merciful is the LORD. He has given food to those who fear him; he will be forever mindful of his covenant. He has sent deliverance to all his people; he has ratified his covenant forever; holy and awesome is his name. His praise endures forever.” BIBLIARASAL –“BETHEL” (20 January 2015 Tuesday) GRAIN ON THE SABBATH:”. . .The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. This is why the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath. . .” GOSPEL: MARK 2:23-28 “As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the Sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. At this the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and he and his companions were hungry? How he went to the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread offering that only the priests could lawfully eat, and shared it with his companions?” Then he said to them, “ The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. This is why the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” REFLECTIONS- “Again, Jesus calls us to look into the heart of the matter and not the external incidentals. The Law is there to serve the people of God and not the other way around. It is easy to absolutize the Law, but that would mean we will have a wrong view of it and thus our interpretations will err. That is the problem of focusing with something that is not the focal point of the issue. The focus ought to be God and His eternal love for His people, not one of the means that we express our love for Him.” READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: God’s special verse/thought for me today- JOHN 4-6 REFLECTIONS- THINK: “Without Jesus in our lives, there will always be something lacking in it.” PRAY AGAIN-Thank the Lord for His message to you and pray that you may be able to live it out in your daily life. PRAYER: Father, I thank you. Your word is manna to my spirit. May your Word that I received today transform my soul. Make me more like you. Amen. COMPANION – A Catholic Scripture Diary/Bro. Bo Sanchez/ Fr. Steve Tynan/BIBRIARASAL PINOY (“BETHEL”)“ “It is in Christ that we found out who we are and what we are living foe. Long before we first heard of Christ. . .he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out for everything and everyone” (Ephesians 1:11). BIBLIARASAL –“BETHEL” (20 January 2015 Tuesday) ”BECOMING BEST FRIEND OF GOD THROUGH CONTINUAL MEDITATION: REVIEW GOD’S WORD OVER AND OVER AGAIN” When we read our Bible, or hear a sermon or listen to a tape, don’t just forget it and walk away. Develop the practice of reviewing the truth in our minds, thinking about it over and over. The more time we spent reviewing what God has said, the more we will understand the secrets of this life that most people miss. The Bible says, “Friendship with God is reserved for those who reverence him. With them alone he reveals the secrets of his promises.” Prayer lets us speak to God, meditation lets God speak to us. Both are essential to becoming a friend of God. Point to Ponder: God wants to be our best friend. Verse to Remember: ““Friendship with God is reserved for those who reverence him. With them alone he reveals the secrets of his promises. (Psalm 25:14a) Question to Consider: What can we do to remind ourselves about God and talk to Him more often throughout the day? ”ALL FOR THE GREATER GLORY OF GOD! FOR EVERYTHING COMES FROM HIM, HAS BEEN MADE BY HIM, AND HAS TO RETURN TO HIM.”(Romans 12:36)” – RBC Miinistries/odb.org/BIBLIARASAL PINOY (“BETHEL”) – Mission: To worship and accept the invitation to us of friendship and fellowship with the Holy Trinity. “I want us to help each other with the faith we have. Your faith will help me, and my faith will help you. – St. Paul) Motto: Less than the least of God’s mercies.” (Gen. 32:10); Slogan:Deus Meus et Omnia (My God My All Deus Meus et Omnia (My God My All – St. Francis of Assisi); BIBLIARASAL PINOY (“BETHEL”), THE NIGHT STALKER: In servitude and worship of and thanksgiving to God , friendship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and fellowship with the Holy Spirit. A WORD OF PRAYER FROM THE HEART OF GODS SERVANT. COME LORD JESUS CHRIST, TAKE YOUR RIGHTFUL PLACE ON THE THRONE OF MY LIFE, I GIVE IT TO YOU, FOR ETERNITY. BIBLIARASAL PINOY (“BETHEL”), THE NIGHT STALKER
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 04:27:58 +0000
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