Isaiah 49:8-9
This is what the LORD says: “In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances, to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’.
Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. I believe I have found favor with God and He is restoring my body back to wholeness. I had my lung function test yesterday and my capacity has gone up to 50%. I am still believing God for 100% capacity. My joints and muscles are much stronger, less inflamed and they ache less. The Lord, in His mercy, is doing His restoration work on me!
2 Corinthians 13:11
Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
The Mercy of God
Did you know that mercy is an attribute of God?
2 Chronicles 6:19
Yet, LORD my God, give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence.
Psalm 4:1
Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
Psalm 57:1
Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.
Psalm 123:2
As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy.
Micah 7:18
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.
Hebrews 4:16
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
1 Peter 1:3
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
1 Peter 2:10
Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
2 John 1:3
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.
Jude 1:21
keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
I pray that the mercy of God will continue to be with us and give us peace, Amen.
2 Chronicles 6:19
Yet, LORD my God, give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence.
Psalm 4:1
Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
Psalm 57:1
Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.
Psalm 123:2
As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy.
Micah 7:18
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.
Hebrews 4:16
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
1 Peter 1:3
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
1 Peter 2:10
Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
2 John 1:3
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.
Jude 1:21
keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
I pray that the mercy of God will continue to be with us and give us peace, Amen.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!
Thinking more about the potter and the clay, it struck me that we need God's mercy. The two examples below are prayers for mercy.
Matthew 20:29-34
As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.” Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.
Matthew 15:22-28
A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
Lord Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us. Show us your compassion. Heal us. Amen.
Matthew 20:29-34
As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.” Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.
Matthew 15:22-28
A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
Lord Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us. Show us your compassion. Heal us. Amen.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Dear Lord, why me?
But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? (Romans 9:20-21).
I had to ask "Dear Lord, why me?" This, of course, is a very human thing to do! The answer came as clear as day. The Lord is the potter, we are the clay.
Jeremiah 18:1-6
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the LORD came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.
Lord do unto us according to Your will. Amen
I had to ask "Dear Lord, why me?" This, of course, is a very human thing to do! The answer came as clear as day. The Lord is the potter, we are the clay.
Jeremiah 18:1-6
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the LORD came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.
Lord do unto us according to Your will. Amen
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Biofeedback and a new diet
"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it." 1 Thessalonians 5: 23 - 24
My biofeedback adventure reminds me of the story of Naaman with leprosy. The lady at my Dentist office suggested I should go for a biofeedback session just like the maid in Naaman's story suggested he should go and see the prophet in Samaria.
Without giving too much information away to the Biofeedback consultant, she diagnosed scleroderma and came up with a long list of things my body is now sensitive to. This long list include animal protein and all processed foods. The long and short of this is I was to go on a vegan diet! She also re-aligned my magnetic fields and brought them back close to equilibrium. I don't fully understand what that is - help anyone!
Going back to my diet. I decided to check it out biblically. The closest I could come up with is Daniel. After 10 days of trying the vegan diet, I lost a lot of body fluid, my joints were less inflamed, and I was and still am physically stronger. I will stick to this diet for as long as I need to.
Daniel 1: 3 - 20
Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility— young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service. Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”
Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead. To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.
At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.
My biofeedback adventure reminds me of the story of Naaman with leprosy. The lady at my Dentist office suggested I should go for a biofeedback session just like the maid in Naaman's story suggested he should go and see the prophet in Samaria.
Without giving too much information away to the Biofeedback consultant, she diagnosed scleroderma and came up with a long list of things my body is now sensitive to. This long list include animal protein and all processed foods. The long and short of this is I was to go on a vegan diet! She also re-aligned my magnetic fields and brought them back close to equilibrium. I don't fully understand what that is - help anyone!
Going back to my diet. I decided to check it out biblically. The closest I could come up with is Daniel. After 10 days of trying the vegan diet, I lost a lot of body fluid, my joints were less inflamed, and I was and still am physically stronger. I will stick to this diet for as long as I need to.
Daniel 1: 3 - 20
Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility— young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service. Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”
Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead. To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.
At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.
Mother Teresa's United Nations Prayer
Mother Teresa composed this prayer for the United Nations International Year of the Family
"Heavenly Father, you have given us a model of life in the Holy Family of Nazareth. Help us, O loving Father to make our family another Nazareth where love, peace and joy reign. May it be deeply contemplative, intensely Eucharistic and vibrant with joy. Help us to stay together in joy and sorrow through family prayer.
Teach us to see Jesus in the members of our family especially in their distressing disguise. May the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus make our hearts meek and humble like His and help us to carry out our family duties in a holy way. May we love one another as God loves each one of us more and more each day, and forgive each other's faults as You forgive our sins.
Help us, O loving Father to take whatever You give and to give whatever You take with a big smile. Immaculate Heart of Mary, cause of our joy, pray for us. St. Joseph, pray for us. Holy Guardian Angels be always with us, guide and protect us. Amen."
Thank you Marianne for sharing this prayer.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
A prayer for you
Prayer from a very dear friend of mine:
May God remember you like Noah.
Favour you like Moses.
Honour you like Mary.
Fight for you like the Israelites.
Prosper you like Isaac.
Promote you like Joseph.
Intervene for you like Esther.
Protect you like Daniel.
Use you like Paul.
Heal you like Naaman.
Answer you like Elijah.
Anoint you like David and keep you safe like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
In Jesus' Name
I pray this for all of you as well.
May God remember you like Noah.
Favour you like Moses.
Honour you like Mary.
Fight for you like the Israelites.
Prosper you like Isaac.
Promote you like Joseph.
Intervene for you like Esther.
Protect you like Daniel.
Use you like Paul.
Heal you like Naaman.
Answer you like Elijah.
Anoint you like David and keep you safe like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
In Jesus' Name
I pray this for all of you as well.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Spirit, Soul, and Body
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).
Understanding that one's illness is in the body not one's spirit or soul is very important. Making that distinction gives me strength from day to day. I remind myself that I am a spirit, I live in a body, and I have a soul. With my spirit, I can draw from God, with my soul I can find knowledge and apply wisdom to my situation. This has been very helpful for me in keeping depression out and staying focused! I draw daily strength by reminding myself that my spirit and soul are healthy and my body will become healthy again. My spirit and soul are working together to help my body come back to health.
Matthew 10:28-31
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Understanding that one's illness is in the body not one's spirit or soul is very important. Making that distinction gives me strength from day to day. I remind myself that I am a spirit, I live in a body, and I have a soul. With my spirit, I can draw from God, with my soul I can find knowledge and apply wisdom to my situation. This has been very helpful for me in keeping depression out and staying focused! I draw daily strength by reminding myself that my spirit and soul are healthy and my body will become healthy again. My spirit and soul are working together to help my body come back to health.
Matthew 10:28-31
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
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