I am currently in a bible study that is really good, so I plan to start posting on all of the great things I am learning and getting from it. It is all about your "thought closet". I hope to post soon on some of the things, just not right now.
GOD BLESS

prayers answered

Well I didn't exactly finish blogging on John, although I did read through it during the time of Lent. I didn't take the time to record my thoughts and things I learned........... so from here on out I will just be speaking from the heart and of course adding scripture as I go along.

I just wanted to say that over the last week there were some major prayers answered in my life. I know that some things in this life will not change. One being that my niece Daryn can't rejoin us here on Earth. It is so painful still. It always will be. I am comforted knowing that where she is she can no longer hurt. I still pray for my brother and his family............ they obviously still hurt and feel loss greater than I can imagine. As I go on in this journey, I am realizing that each day is such a gift. As I see other families experience tragedy and loss and the thought of losing life through sickness.............. I am reminded that tomorrow is not guaranteed for any one of us. One thing doesn't change though, and that is the deep pain that goes along with the loss and although in some ways it is a part of this life, I wouldn't wish it upon anyone or any family.

"There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, no more fears............" this song just came on the radio, I thought I would share it. A long and trying journey, but compared to our eternity it is not very long at all! I love my life and that is why it is so hard to lose a loved one, we feel like they are missing out on something here. We are the ones missing out on the greatest celebration.

Thank you God for answering my prayers this week! For the first time in my life I feel like GOD was listening to me! Probably because I believed in him. I put it in God's hands and my faith is strengthened!

One last thing, at church this morning I am reminded that our faith in God can take a lifetime to develop. As a child with a parent, sometimes we take Him for granted, sometimes we question His intent, and other times we completely turn away from Him. I know that through all of these trials, HE is always there! It is I that turn from him, but in one instant I can turn around and He is still there, He was always there.

John 9 and 10

John 9
A few things that struck me after reading this chapter were:

The first thing is:

"Was it his sin or that of his parents that caused him to be born blind?
"Neither", answered Jesus.......... "rather it was to let God's works show forth in him".

I have Always had a special place in my heart for people with special needs and that is the reason I decided to become a special education teacher. when I read what Jesus says about the blind man it tells me that people that are born with special needs may have been born this way so that GOD's works can show forth in them.

Jesus showed God's works by making the blind man see. I think today we see a true sense of compassion and love that can be brought forth when we care for people with special needs. Think of the lessons we can learn from people that are born with disabilities, I know I have learned to be compassionate, patient, and to show unconditional love.

It is interesting also that I just watched Scott M. get booted off of American Idol, a blind man ( I know visually impaired is more Politically correct, just trying to connect it to the Bible). Anyway you could definitely tell that he struck a cord with many people because he was an excellent singer, but also because he didn't let his challenge slow him down. It is truly inspiring and amazing and shows me what God is capable of.

The second thing that struck me in this chapter is:

that Jesus healed this man on the Sabbath which made some Pharisees say,
"this man can't be of God", if he doesn't keep the sabbath. It is interesting to me that Jesus makes a point that keeping the sabbath is really not the most important thing, I think most important is that people know to take a break. Does it really matter what day or time though?? Some churches may get a bit too specific in rules and regulations, I feel, mine being one of them.

Chapter 10
There were a few things my Grandma highlighted that I will share from this chapter:

10:10
The thief comes
only to steal and slaughter and destroy.
I came that they might have life
and have it to the full.

Thank you Jesus for coming to save us all!! We needed you then and We need you now!! I have only recently put myself among this story of Jesus, as a character in his life. If we start to realize that our God is a Living God and reading his word applies to us today , just as it did over the past thousands of years, then it comes alive and relates to our everyday happenings (wow that was a run-on!)

Also 10:14
I am the good shepherd
I know my sheep
and my sheep know me
in the same way that the Father knows me.
for these sheep I will give my life.
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
I must lead them, too.
and they shall hear my voice.
There shall be one flock then one shepherd.

I am always feeling like it is all so overwhelming! As a follower of Jesus we should of course encourage others to follow him as well, but sometimes it seems like a overwhelming task. Partly because how can I tell others, when I am not perfect. But this passage in John tells me that Jesus know there are others that currently don't follow him, but that they "shall hear his voice" and to me that says there is still a chance for all of these lost people! They will hear his voice and to hear it is to know it, and from there each person needs to make a choice. I just hope they ALL make the choice to follow him............. BE IN THE LIGHT as HE IS THE LIGHT!!

Lastly I am going to try to add a photo of one of my much needed miracles soon after the death of my dear niece, Daryn. I had walked Kaila to her bus and it was only the week after Daryn had passed away. There were many days of crying in my bed those first few weeks. I cried more than I ever thought I would. Letting my child go off on a bus after the terrible accident the week before left me feeling uneasy to say the least....... so as I was walking back to my house I looked up to see a big cross in the sky. I am telling you it was just what I needed in that moment for God to send me this message of Hope. By the time I had returned to my home and found my camera is wasn't quite as perfect as when I first glanced up, but you get the idea! Sometimes all we need is a little hope to get us through the day. God will give us what we need, but we need to look "up" to Him to get what we need. We won't find it in earthly ways, I do know that!

One more thing, this Satuday, April 11 is my niece Daryn's birthday. She would have been 12 years old. If you could please say a prayer for her family this weekend!
Thank you.

TobyMac - In the Light Song

Here is the link to the TobyMac song on youtube, check it out, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_MpGRQRrP0

John 6-8

It has obviously been a bit since I blogged, so here I am! It's funny how although I gave up facebook for Lent, I definitely didn't fill that time with only reading and studying the Bible. It is difficult in this day and age to set time aside each day to do so, I am a bit disappointed in myself for not doing better..........on that note I will try to get through chapters 6,7,and 8 today.

I have been gone on vacation for about the last 5 spring breaks, we are home this year though. I am a bit sad about not being able to take off on our annual vacation. I love going on vacation and just being away from the daily grind! I REALLY LOVE IT! and we all love hanging out at the beach, unfortunately it is looking like snow at home this year. OH WELL, I have a healthy happy family and really nothing at all to complain about!! So on that note I would like to Thank God for all I do have this year and thank you also for your son my Savior, J.C.!

John 6:16
Walking on the Sea: To me, the important part of this chapter, is when Jesus says, "It is I, Do Not Be Afraid". The disciples were frightened at first as anyone who would see someone walking on water would be! As I have talked about before though, we must surrender to Him and Not be afraid, as a matter of fact we should be courageous and brave because we have Jesus leading our way.
6:29
At this they said to him, "What must
we do to perform the works of God?"
Jesus replied:
"This is the work of God:
Have faith in the One whom he sent."

This tells me that if we truly BELIEVE in the gift of Jesus Christ, that we will live our lives for God. I have said it before and I will say it again, it is a difficult thing to do! In this day and age we are told through media etc. how we should act, what is politically correct, etc.etc., and it's takes some work to know what God wants us to do, because it is not the NORM in this world. It is quite easy to be led astray!

Jesus goes on to tell the disciples.....
..... He who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has life eternal, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood real drink.............

It makes me wonder how I would have felt about all of this if I was there listening to Jesus talk. I can somewhat understand why they may have questioned Him. He goes on to say that He chose the 12 of them, even though he knew that Judas was going to hand him over. I suppose he had to know that for everything to happen the way it was supposed to.

John 7
Jesus states,
Moses has given you the law, has he not?
Yet not one of you keeps it.

and then in response to Moses circumcising on the Sabbath and Jesus curing a man on the Sabbath....

Jesus says,
"Stop judging by appearances
and make an honest judgment."

I think he was basically saying that you won't be able to SEE with your eyes that He is the ONE, but you must feel it inside of yourself, that is how I believe God communicates with us......... right inside of ourselves. Within our hearts and our minds........

John 8
The Adulteress
This is by far one of my favorite chapters. For one it teaches us not to judge one another ,which sometimes is hard to do!! The problem that lies here for me is that sometimes I feel like we need to tell someone what they are doing wrong, but we who have sin in us should not be telling someone else what we think they are doing wrong. God is the one that will make that determination. So beyond that He also shows how forgiving HE is.

So maybe when reminding someone, saying, "What I have learned from God's written word is......... that ......... is considered sin."
Instead of, "What you did was sinful, and awful and you shouldn't do that".

I guess I am reminded to always rely on God's word when talking to others...... or even bringing it up as a question,
"I am not sure how the Bible is written in response to that kind of a thing? ......... but I would want to do some reading to find out"

I think some people are too quick to have all of the answers, when we are only human and only GOD knows the Truth, we have some insight through the Bible and through our feelings in our heart and soul, but we just don't know it all, not one of us!

"Nor do I condemn you. You may go. But from now on, avoid this sin." John 8:11

It also reminds me that when we are reminded of our sin, we should seek forgiveness (from God and from the person we may have hurt) and no longer sin in this way.

John 8:12
"I am the light of the world.
No follower of mine shall ever walk in darkness;
no, he shall possess the light of life."

There is a Toby Mac song based on this last verse;
"I want to be in the light, as you are in the light, I want to shine like the stars in Heaven. Oh Lord be my light and be my salvation, because all I want is to be in the light"
If you haven't heard it yet, you have got to crank it up!! It is sooooo good. The first time I heard it was at the Unity Festival last summer in Muskegon, Live....... It was a moment for me. I DO want to be in the Light!! Don't you?

I really love TOBY MAC music!! Great beats, gets me motivated and helps lift my spirits. For those that need the good upbeat music this is some good stuff! There is some great Christian music! I listen to lots of music, but if I am feeling defeated in any way , I always go back to 99.3 or some of my CDs.

John 8-23
"You belong to what is below;
I belong to what is above.
You belong to this world
a world which cannot hold me.
That is why I said you would die in
your sins.
You will surely die in your sins unless you come to believe that I AM."

This makes me question why so many seem to think there are many ways to Heaven. When HE was so clear in his way to Heaven, we must believe in Jesus Christ.

It still makes me question people that are raised in other religions and live good lives and are good people............. this is where I have to rely on the fact that I believe God is Just and will make everything happen as it is supposed to and I pray for all of those people that have not yet met Jesus, that they will listen to their hearts and follow his way.............. who am I to judge???? It is not my job.

Jesus is really making a point of the fact that HE comes from God and that the ONLY way to God the Father is through his SON. I guess to me it makes sense in that we need to accept the sacrifice of God's only son in order for our sins to be forgiven........... because Jesus died for our sins. And to have Jesus die for our sins, IT IS DONE.

Until next time
GOD BLESS!!!

The Napkin

I had heard about the folded napkin and thought I would look it up on-line, the story is below. Whether or not this was a Hebrew tradition, I do not know, but I love the story anyway! It gives me Hope!

I also wanted to say that I watched Mel Gibson's , THE PASSION, last night, and wow!! It is unbelievable to think this is what we did to Jesus. My feelings while watching it was GEEZ, I need to stand up for and defend Jesus MUCH more than I do. This man, God's only son and what he did for ME (and you!), it is unbelievable and we should all be stepping up to the plate to defend him and keeping his ways our priority every day!! LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AND YOUR ENEMY!! I actually tell Kaila quite often on her way out the door, Be kind to your friends and your enemies. Hopefully it will sink in at some point what that really and truly means!! \

Read on..............



Why Did Jesus Fold The Napkin?

Why did Jesus fold the napkin?
Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection?

The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was
placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave
clothes. The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was
neatly folded, and was placed at the head of that stony coffin.

1. Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the
entrance.
2. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, "They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!" 3. Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see.
4. The other disciple outran Peter and got there first.
5. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in.
6. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there,
7. while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying to the side.

Is that important? Absolutely! Is it really significant? Yes!

In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The
folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this tradition. When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it. The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would
not dare touch that table, until the master was finished. Now if the master was done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers,
his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table. The servant would then know to clear the table. For in
those days, the wadded napkin meant, "I'm done". But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table, because..........

The folded napkin meant, "I'm coming back!"

He Is Coming Back!!!!

John 6

Jesus fed the 5000 men at Passover with 5 loaves of bread and a couple dried fish.
"This is undoubtedly the Prophet who is to come into the world."
Jesus realized that they would come and carry him off to make him king so he fled back to the mountain alone.

How difficult it must have been for Jesus to get people to understand who he was without causing a ruckus!

He had to be very careful about all of his moves!

John 5

To the man sick for 38 years,
Jesus says "Do you want to be healed?"
It seems like we can all relate to this, we are all sick in some way, maybe not physical but we all suffer from something that God would like to cure us of.

But do we really want God to heal us?

If we do, I believe we need to be sure God knows we would like to be healed of whatever may be slowing us down. In other words I believe in our prayers we need to remember to pray for ourselves and ask God for the things we need (and no, I don't mean a new car).
I am talking about the things we really need, help with being more patient would be something I need at times.

Jesus tells the man, "Stand up, pick up your mat and walk!"
and Jesus quietly slipped away, leaving others wondering who he was.

(He didn't stick around to boast!)

I should do nice things for others, but not so that I can brag about what I have done. Because I know God loves (LOVES not LOVED) me so much that he sent his only Son. That is how much he loves ME (and you too!).

A true loving relationship should be reciprocated. How do we do that with GOD?

By living our lives in a way that would make God proud. Jesus teaches us to forgives mercilessly and so I will forgive to no end! It is the least I can do, as God has forgiven me!

Jesus was starting to get some slack for telling this man to
"pick up your mat and walk!"
because it was on the Sabbath. For the man to do as Jesus said, he would not be RESTING on the Sabbath. From what I gather, Jesus is trying to make a point that all of the specific rules about work on the Sabbath were man-made rules and Jesus is making the point that these "rules" the Jews followed were not God given.

The point, I believe, is we do need to TAKE A BREAK from our labor, but as for the detailed rules, that is not specifically from GOD.

SO why do I pray , fast, and alms give during Lent??
Not to gain points with GOD (that is NOT how it works!)
I do it to help me draw closer to GOD.

I was reading something on lent and it described the season of Lent as sort of the SPRING CLEANING. I try to live my life for God all year, as we clean all year, but Lent is the time for the down and dirty spring cleaning, get rid of the sin that creeps up in us throughout the year.

.......... move the couch and vacuum under it, remove the screens and wash the windows inside and out.

That is the real point of LENT!

5:28 An hour is coming...........

5:29 who have done right shall rise to live; judgment is honest......

5:46 If you believed in Moses you would then believe me, for it was about me that he wrote.
But if you do not believe what he wrote,
how can you believe what I say?

**This gives me some reassurance that the OLD and NEW testament are all tied together!

John 4

I am falling behind a bit and will have to do some catching up eventually.
I am sooooo thankful for the beautiful sun shining today. It seems like God answered my prayers. I was just saying yesterday how the cold weather was literally about to drive me over the edge! It just seems like this winter has been a lot longer in terms of COLD weather than years in the past. So the sun today has picked me up and got me to clean my house, clean out my car, etc., with me a clean house and car is enough to put me in a happy mood for a while!

John 4

In regard to the Samaritan woman denying Jesus a drink of water , he says.
"Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again.
But whoever drinks the water I give him
will never be thirsty;
no, the water I give
shall become a fountain within him,
leaping up to provide eternal life." John 4:14

(my grandma underlined "eternal life")

The disciples try to get Jesus to eat , but he says,
"I have food to eat of which you do not know." John 4:32

(It seems in this day and age we are all constantly trying to fill our selves with earthy things, food, shopping, other stuff too........... all we really need is God with us,He is the only thing that can fill ME. And to be honest I know that because I have tried to fill myself with other things and they are only temporary the only real way we can "fill" ourselves is through Jesus. I believe that with all my heart. It doesn't mean I never fall down and screw up , because I do, but I try to pull myself up by my bootstraps and keep moving on the RIGHT path)

and later

"I sent you to reap what you had not worked for.
Others have done the labor,
and you have come into their gain." John 4:38

To me this says the work has been done for our gift of eternal life, we just need to accept it. Through accepting this we will live our lives according to God's will. Not always as easy as it seems.

John 3 and other thoughts............

It amazes me how some days I feel completely overwhelmed with life and things, and other days I am completely at Peace with everything. Maybe some of it is the fact that I need to more fully and completely surrender my "stuff" to God. The first time I ever really understood that was when I was reading The Purpose Driven Life a few years back and let me tell you, I learned a lot from that! I think I actually will be re-reading that one soon!

Anyway to completely surrender everything to God leaves you with, NO worries! It is kind of amazing that God wants us to rely on Him that much, but he does.

John 3
We always hear John 3:16, it's probably the most famous verse from the New Testament. What I get out of this chapter is quite plain and simple, to believe in the Son of God is to accept the gift of Eternal Life.

It goes on to say that those in darkness, stay there so that their wicked ways are not exposed. But if we are honest and truthful, you can stand in the light, as your deeds are done in God. I suppose that is true, to be completely honest with yourself and those around you forces you to be the person God wants you to be. (when I say "you" I really just mean "me").

There is a song that Toby Mac sings, so awesome, it touches me big time. It goes:

"I wanna be in the light, like you are in the light, I wanna shine like the stars in the Heaven. Oh Lord be my light and be my salvation, because all I want is to be in the Light............. there is no other place that I'd rather be than in the light, in the light"

Once we can live our lives openly and honestly then we can be open to stepping in the light of God. He wants us to leave our sinful ways and stand with him. When I think about it, I would rather be standing next to him in His Light than any other place. I think it would feel like the most unbelievable/unconditional Love that we could ever know. Amazing.

John 3 also mentions that Jesus says :
"No one can enter into God's kingdom without being begotten of water and Spirit."

(reminds me of one of the sacraments we practice, baptism, just makes me question infant baptism v. adult baptism again. Not that I think there is a wrong way but when I read John 3:5, I think to know what Jesus makes baptism an important thing at any age!)

I also kind of feel bad for the people that didn't believe Jesus (I mean 2000 years ago). I wonder if I would have believed a human being telling me he was the Son of God. Hopefully I would have felt the Truth and followed him, but I still do wonder.

John 2 and other thought s I have been having.

I haven't been on facebook once yet since I gave it up for Lent ............ Really I am realizing it was more of just a habit to hop on there, and really I don't miss it much.

Although when I found out there were pics of my friend Jason's new baby boy twins, I was a bit sad!! But that is what it is all about. Suffering for a time with things that we usually fill ourselves with and instead really gaining a closer relationship to Jesus and realizing what he really did for us.

I'm trying, I have been reading quite a bit, but the Bible is hard to read sometimes. There is just so much packed in that it takes time to get through.

I think lately I have been feeling overwhelmed with information. It is great to learn, but you begin to think, geez louise, how am I ever going to read it all?? and how am I going to ever understand it all.

I feel sometimes I just need to sit and reflect on what I do know.

For me, that is knowing that I am doing a pretty good job in my day to day life. I am honest, I treat others with respect, I love my family, I teach my kids about GOD, I pray for my family as well as many others, I try to make those that enter my home feel welcome. Those that have taken the time to get to know me, have realized that I am basically an open book, I have really nothing to hide, I am very honest about my feelings and where I am in life. I just think that is the way to go......... just be honest with who you are and where you are and you will be more open to growth in life.

John Ch. 2
Wedding at Cana:
This always reminds me that there are times for celebration in our lives, a wedding being one of those times!! Jesus knows that though we all suffer at times in our lives amidst tragedy and sadness there are times for true happiness and celebrating. Jesus turned the water into the "fine" wine, not the cheap wine that was often offered after the "good stuff" ran out..........
To look at in a less literal sense I believe that Jesus wanted the people (ALL of the people) to know that they are worthy of the fine wine through the entire celebration AS we are worthy of his gift of salvation.... ALL of us! I think I have trouble believing it at times, but I AM worthy and so are YOU!!

I was just talking with my sister and we were saying that we wish Jesus would give us a miracle like those that were written about in the Bible so we could have something concrete to believe.......... but then we went on in our conversation and realized that we have experienced miracles in our lives. But, sometimes we just forget these things, because we get caught up in our day to day lives. Yes, I have experienced miracles!

John 2:13 Cleansing of the Temple
It states that Jesus went to Jerusalem and drove sheep and oxen etc. out of the temple
Was he doing this because it was near the time of the "final sacrifice" and the people that would normally buy these animals that were necessary for sacrifice, would no longer have a need to do so after Jesus' final Sacrifice??
I guess that is how I see it.
Jesus says , "Destroy the temple and in three days I will raise it up?"
and they do just that destroy Jesus who in 3 days raises up!

Moving along

I have been attending a Bible study and reading a Lent devotional, and there is so much good stuff that I will have to share some of that too!

"I solemnly assure you, you shall see the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the son of man" John 1:51

Soon after Philip and Nathanael meet Jesus, He is already giving reference to Heaven and God's angels. Sometimes I wish God would give the people of today a true glimpse of heaven. Sometimes it is so difficult to convince others that God is REAL.

I know IT and believe it in my heart. But how do we convey what is in our hearts to help other people gain faith? I guess I just need to pray some more for God to help me to bring others to God.

Now some things from my devotional:
In the letter to the Romans (12:2), Paul says, "Do not model yourselves on the behavior of the world around you, but let your behavior change, modeled by your new mind."

AND

In the second letter to the Corinthians, Paul says,
"And we, with our unveiled faces reflecting like mirrors the brightness of the Lord, all grew brighter and brighter as we are changed into the image that we reflect; this is the work of the Lord who is Spirit." (II COR. 3:18)

We are to change as Jesus changed, to allow his spirit to burn within us with the brightness that was in him, a brightness that shines through in our LOVE, in our SMILE, in our FORGIVENESS, in our UNDERSTANDING. (that was directly from my Lenten booklet)

A tough thing to do, is CHANGE ourselves. I have had a difficult time changing things that I have grown accustomed to in my life. Each day I want to try to please God. I know of a few things I need to work on ............... and will continue to do so.

John 1:19-34

This is proving to be difficult to keep up with.
I am planning on a chapter every other day and that should get me through John in time for Easter.

This morning we went to St. Patrick's in Grand Haven, gotta love Fr. Bill.

The message was all about sin, and how to turn away from it. He said that we should treat the temptation of sin like a rattlesnake. Turn and run as fast as you can. I really never thought of it that way before...... but makes complete sense. Jesus never sinned. He was human in form just like us, and he was able to always deny the temptation put before him. My job is to try and do the same. When I fault, I pick up and start trying again, never give up trying.

So it seems John was causing some questions and had some people asking, who he was, and if he was the "Messiah". I love how he answers the people, he said I am,

"a voice in the desert, crying out:
Make straight the way of the Lord!"

It really amazes me the way you can take a book written nearly two thousand years ago and how it can be, still, so relevant. Isn't this what we should all be doing as well, Make straight the way of the Lord. We should be making path from the Lord to our hearts straight as an arrow. There is no room for losing sight of Him. We need to always keep him and what he did for us in the forefront of our minds. Some people really struggle even with believing in the Lord. Thankfully for me I have never had that problem. My faith in the Lord is there now, but always has been there. I never questioned the fact that Jesus died for me and to "take away" my sins. Sometimes I wonder if the problem some people have with it is that they just don't feel worthy of such a gift. We are ALL worthy of this gift, we are all God's children. I try to remember that in all walks of my life. It actually helps my self-esteem and puts me in my place at times too. It is not only the people that do go to church on Sundays or just the ones that live "good" lives.......... no, we ALL were given this gift from God. Isn't it our job to make sure everyone we encounter knows it? I am not so sure how to go about this one........... from experience I would say gently, starting slow and if I want people to listen to me, I had better be living a life that is reflective of my love for God above.

Alright so I have gone off on a tangent again!

John 1:24-28
So they question John further asking him why is he baptizing people if he is Not the Messiah? John responds, that there is one among You whom you do not recognize and that he is not worthy to unfasten his sandal.

John is clearly distinguishing the difference of importance between himself and Jesus........... and the sandal thing............ later when Jesus washes the feet of the 12 disciples, sorry it kind of gives me the chills.

Where John says he is only baptizing with water........ brings me back to the sacrament of baptism. John could only do it with water, just an outward sign of something that is happening inside. Now why do Catholics do infant baptism as opposed to adult baptism. I am not certain, but I guess as parent I am happy to have them baptized as babies........ an outward sign of the gift Jesus gave to each of his children. I say take advantage of this gift as soon as possible. But I understand that there are other beliefs of this as well. I think baby and adult baptisms are beautiful.

John 1:29-34
John 1:29
Look! There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Well I really like the translations that read "Behold!" instead of "Look"., but that is what my G-ma's Bible says.

John says he didn't recognize him, but that,
"I saw the Spirit descend like a dove from the sky, and it came to rest on him."

"When you see the Spirit descend and rest on someone, it is he who is to baptize with the Holy Spirit". Now I have seen for myself and have testified , "
This is God's chosen One."

Baptism: Water the outward sign and The Holy Spirit pouring into us, the inner happening.
Baby or Adult.......... to me they are ALL God's children.

This week I will challenge myself to turn from sin as fast as I would turn and run from a snake. Also to remember that all people are God's children and should be treated as such.

God Bless You all this week!!!!!!!

John

I decided on John and the reason is because of John 1:29.
(Look it up if you would like, but I will get to that at a later date.)

The Bible I have is actually one of my Grandma's, The New American Bible. She was quite the lady. My Grandma read the Bible (as noted from all of the highlights and notes in this book) and she prayed more than anyone I know.

A few weeks ago in church Fr. Tony had mentioned in his sermon that Jesus did not ask us to sit in our rooms and pray, no, he asked us to go forth and be his hands and feet and do the work that he had not yet finished. We are to take our talents and do the work of God with it.

Well my grandma's talent WAS praying, and contrary to what Fr. Tony said I do believe that for some their talent may be just that, PRAY. I believe she did her job serving the Lord, by keeping vigil over the prayers and scripture reading and praying the rosary. She did this all with hopes of keeping her family safe and SAVED.

I love my Grandma. She died January 2008 and I know that she made her Heavenly Father proud in her life, even though the last 10 years or so she had suffered with dimentia/depression and really what I believe was grieving the loss of my Grandpa. She was ready to go "home", as she told us on many occasions. She wanted to be with my grandpa and her infant child Marie who had preceded her, but the one she loved the most was Jesus! She had a love for Jesus like no other I have seen.

Back to John
What my G-ma has highlighted is

John 1:12
Any who did accept him
he empowered to become children of
God.

So this can be a confusing concept as many people say they accept him, but still live sinful lives and don't make attempts to improve. I guess the way I understand it is that any person that really and truly accepts Him will automatically live their lives for him......... because to truly accept Him and his gift of Grace, then it seems that we would do all we could to live perfect lives that would reflect the love we have for Jesus and God. The hard part is that we still are humans and living in a world that is going in the wrong direction. I guess I need to work on going against the grain and doing what I know is right, instead of what feels right for the moment. The important thing I get out of this is that if we accept GOD, we are empowered. To me it means the potential is there we have to choose to use it or not. Remember we all have free-will. We are not programmed to love God , we have to choose to and I am thankful for the choice. It makes the love that much more powerful.

John 1:17-18
For while the law was given through Moses, this enduring love came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, ever at the Father's side, who has revealed him.

All I have to say is just the words "enduring love" make me smile. Only Jesus could provide such a gift to us. Thank you God for this gift.

Until next time!
PS , sorry about all the run-ons:)

Church

Well I got my buns to church last night! Sometimes that is a pretty big deal for a mom with one kid taking a late nap (would have been ugly if I woke him up!) and another that didn't want to go.......... so I went all by myself. Sometimes I get frustrated that my husband isn't more excited to round the troops and go to church (but that is a whole different story). We go together on most Sundays at least.

Although, when I do get to go to church on my own I get to REALLY LISTEN. Listening can be hard with the family surrounding you. So I enjoyed my Ash Wed. Mass all by myself. The message I got was that in the catholic religion we have sacraments (7 of them to be exact) and in simple terms, sacraments are outward signs of something deeper that is happening inside of us. Ash Wed. Mass is not a sacrament but another outward sign of something much deeper.

Ash Wed. is the day that we receive an outward sign of a very important thing that is happening inside of us. We receive a cross of ashes on our forehead to basically show that we are sinners we are dirty with sin (aren't we all?).
Actually all churches did this until the Reformation in the 16th century(I didn't actually learn that in church but in a little book I am reading).

I like the practice because it puts us all in the same boat, we ARE all sinners! Sad but true. I looked around church a little embarrassed because I probably looked funny......... but I realized I wasn't the only one. We all had the cross of ashes on our forehead. I realized that from this point until Easter I need to really focus and become closer to God. I plan to do that.

The ashes actually come from the burned palm leaves from Palm Sunday , last year............... kind of cool, I think.

Then I come home to my family kind of feeling ready to start this journey and Kaila says,
"What is that on your forehead?"
So I tell her the what and why..........

Caden says "Mom you have something on your forehead, what is that?" So I tell him....... in the best way I can tell a 3 year old. He says he doesn't want that on him (he has always been a little bit of a clean freak).

So my kids learn something from me and maybe next year they will decide to come along with me and realize that we are sinners together and what we all really want is to work on becoming closer to Jesus our Savior.

I think we all want to become closer to God, but we have to tune out some of the chaos and noise in order to do that.

Stay tuned for my Bible studies, more to come this weekend!
Peace and Love!

Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday.

I am Catholic although I feel more comfortable saying I am Christian.
I guess because Christ is who I follow......... and the word Christian better describes that in my mind.

I am going to be giving up my little Facebook addiction for 40 days, so that I can spend the time getting to know Christ better. Hey what better way to make sure I am following through than starting a blog to keep track of my studies. I will be choosing a few chapters from the Bible over the next day or 2 and will read some each day. I hope to gain a closer relationship with God.

I never really felt like I had much to offer in terms of insightful information until this last year. If others can read and interpret the Bible, then I can do the same. So that is what I plan to do, hopefully others can follow along add comments, and gain some knowledge, gain some Faith, and gain some Hope.
Because, right now in these times, don't we all just need some HOPE??