Check this out…Job 25:2 “Dominion and awe belong to Him, Who establishes peace in His heights.”
To be in awe of God means to have ‘an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful…”.
I am in awe of God these days, and I’m loving it. Lately I see Him everywhere…in others…in the lives of the Saints…in the readings at Mass and in daily prayers…and most importantly to me, in my wife. God is revealing Himself to us everyday, we just need to list. Isaiah writes in chapter 29 verse 23:
But when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst,
They will sanctify My name;
Indeed, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
And will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
I encourage you to pray that you have the faith to see the work of His hands in your midst. I’ve been praying this for myself for sometime and it has just caught me off guard with wonder and awe. He is an awesome God. He is our King.
Not sure of how to do this? Or what it means to be in awe? Or if this is all just my mind playing tricks on me? All I have to say to you is this, God is more wonderful than we can ever imagine. And in my life I’ve seen things that cannot be explained. Last night I was talking with a friend at the Matt Maher concert about this and I told him that I read a book once that reasoned ‘faith is a belief in what we can reasonably expect to be true.’ I remember reading and liking the book very much until I shared the idea with my Pastor Fr. Ed. He quickly pointed out, correctly, that that premise lacks the “leap” necessary for “faith” in God. How true.
Faith is a belief in something that isn’t reasonable. I need to make the distinction here that I’m not talking about having faith in your wife doing the shopping, or that sun will shine tomorrow. Those are human things, keeping with the books premise. However when you consider the Supernatural, Godly things, faith cannot be a conclusion in what we can reasonable expect to be true, it Has to be a belief in the unexpected…the incomprehensible…
How is it likely that I, a complete degenerate, could be redeemed and form into the man I have become…husband…father…etc. Riddle me this…how is it reasonable…for a man who lived 2000 years ago become so loved by his friends and followers, that they would be willing to die horrible deaths simply to spread his message. That, is not likely. What if I asked you to sell a product, and the consequence for getting caught selling that product was immediate upside down crucifixion. If you are like me, monster.com would be my first stop after that conversation. I’d be out of there!
That my friends, is why I am in awe of God. See, he could choose to stop all of this, he could stop time, fix our brokenness and all the problems, and take us all to heaven….but instead, He loves us sooo much that He..God…The King…chooses to let us have free will so that we can fully love Him if we desire.
Well friends…I desire! Do you?
I hope that today you are in awe of Him. If you aren’t sure, take the leap. Pray for Faith. Faith is a gift of God the Holy Spirit in our hearts. The gift of faith will convict a person more than anything else we have ever encountered. I pray that we all have increased faith today. I pray we are more in awe of Him everyday. And I pray you are filled with His peace and joy.
If you still aren’t sure what to do next. Pray some more. He will guide you when the time is right.
God bless you and all those you meet. I pray you infect them with love, as He infects you.
]]>http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/2007688/highlight/14089
See Sarah giving her witness at the Memphis Cursillo Ultreya!!!!
]]>
In the Old Testament, there is much prophesy and tale of blind men. For example in Isaiah chapter 42:7 we read:
To open blind eyes,
To bring out prisoners from the dungeon
And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.
Here he is implying that those who cannot see are prisoners. This is interesting metaphorically considering what we read in the New Testament. In the bible there are two types of blindness.
The first deals with those that know Christ is the Lord, even without seeing him. For example Matthew 20:30 states, “And two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”” They knew him, though they could not see him.
The second deals with those that are blind to Christ, even though they can see. For example in John 9:41, “Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, `We see,’ your sin remains” Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees who believe they see, and that they get it, though they are arrogant in their faith… Christ advises them however that they are blinded by their arrogance.
We can see both types of blindness in the two thieves on the cross.
Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us.” The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” – Luke 23:39-43
These two display both types of blindness, if we equate human blindness to those that are blind to the humanness of Christ… And likewise those that are blind to the Divinity of Christ, as those that are blind to the spirit.
The good thief is blind to the humanness of Christ, but sees His Spirit, His divinity. He sees him as powerful.
The one who reviles him is blind to the divinity of Christ, but sees his humanness. More so, he sees him as weak.
Now I could make this complicated and expand on the 4 combination’s of these two but I’ll just list them.
1st. Those that can’t see Christ humanly or divinely
2nd. Those that see Christ humanly, but not divinely.
3rd. Those that see Christ divinely, but not humanly.
4th. Those that see Christ humanly and divinely.
In today’s world I believe both of these types of blindness remain. There are those that know Christ, even without seeing Him. These are people of faith, people of humility, and people of Grace. I know many of these people and so do you. They just see through the junk and focus on Christ. Many times I find they can see God working and have a sort of supernatural wisdom. The greatest of these are those that see Christ wholly, as fully human and fully God. I’d like to think I am in this group, though I fall just like we all do.
There are also those who are blind to the Gospel. These are people addicted to the material world, Satan, and all his evil works. These are those that are so focused on junk, they can’t see HIM. Like the Pharisees. We also know many of these people. They see Christ’s humanness as a weakness and his divinity as a lie. They reject the life of Grace by their words and actions.
(NOTE: these are the extremes, there are many in between as well.)
And now for the scary part. There are people of all these types in every Church, in every workplace, and in every city. We can’t continue to think that those we go to church with aren’t blinded. Are you kidding me??? How many Catholics on any given Sunday read the bulletin during the Homily, or every week receive the Body of Christ in a state of sin? Or….how many people are blind to the Truth of the Eucharist?
We are called to SEE the light of Christ. I am a firm believer that miracles happen every minute of every day, many are just blinded and don’t see them. Let me list for you a short list of miracles I’ve seen in the last 6 months.
- a marriage renewed
- the hearts of men transformed by Christ’s grace flowing through them
- prayers for healing answered
- a child in the womb protected
- a man, whose marriage is at it’s end, make a decision to save it by seeking Christ in his life
- That same man’s wife, who was done with him, see Christ in him and decide to give it another try
- a baby born
- a Baptism
- a man turn from addiction to porn and seek purity
- 4 men ordained to the Priesthood by their acceptance of God’s will for their lives
- 2 different men, whose lives have been changed by Christ within the last 6 months, start Fishers of Men groups in their parishes
The list goes on and on because the miracle is not the fruit of what occurred, but that men and women chose to make a decision that they, in their humanness, are not capable of. THAT is God. THAT is missing from those that are blinded! Don’t you see??? (pun intended)
It’s not God who isn’t working, its US! Because we are blinded by our rules, our lack of faith, our pride, our comfort, our materialism, our politics, our self-image, our addictions, etc.
So what do we do?
Well, God writes in Ex 4:11, “The LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?”
It is HE who makes us SEE
Psalm 146:8
The LORD opens the eyes of the blind;
The LORD raises up those who are bowed down;
The LORD loves the righteous;
Mark writes in 10:49, “And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” So they *called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.””
God will open our eyes if we seek HIM. And He is calling each of us, he is saying to us ‘Take courage, stand up!’ Be strong and reach out to the blind.
In my Church there is a couple that comes to Mass each Sunday. The man is blind, yet his wife is ever steadfast. They walk into Church, his hand on her shoulder, as she guides him to their pew. They worship at Mass, and leave the same as entered, one leading the other. I know their faith is strong, I feel it. I know their love is strong, I can see it. And I know their desire to be in Christ is strong, because I can see it, not with my eyes.
We are called to be the blind man placing our hand on the shoulder of Christ to be led. I give my eyes to Him to see what he wills, to go where he leads, and to do what he asks. That is the blind faith I desire. For when I am blind to my desires, only then will I see fully Christ in His Glory. My faith is my eyes, and that is all that I need.
You are in my prayers as I hope I am in yours.
]]>Our true selves are only seen when we recognize God’s call on us. In paragraph 30 the CACC says, “Although man can forget God or reject him, He never ceases to call every man to seek him, so as to find life and happiness.”
When we answer God’s call upon us to seek Him, we find life and happiness. An existence void of God is hell, and so becomes our lives when we reject God. The sorrow a well formed soul experiences after sin is that of a rejection of God, or a mini-hell. I firmly believe that despair is a version of hell in our midst because those that despair reject God wholly and don’t understand their meaning or dignity.
Tonight while at my mens group, I was, and continue to be in awe of how God transforms marriages, if we let him. Of the men present, there are many stages of marital bliss. The common theme in our discussion is what is God calling US to…. The Catechism sums it up in the first paragraph… “He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength. He calls together all men, scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church.”
Tonight I type this to remind us of one particularly important, and glossed over statement in this excerpt from the Catechism. Read it slowly, intently, and let it sink in a second.
“He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength. He calls together all men,… scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church.”
We are all called to unity within our family, the Church. This includes the domestic church and the institutional Church. I know that when my wife and I are divided, our domestic church is faltering and functioning at less than 100%.
Too many times men are willing to point out the failings of our institutional Church leaders, organizations, committees, councils, documents, etc… And all too often those same men, self included, fail to recognize the problems inherent in our domestic church.
Read this.. Heb 13:4 – “Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.”
I wonder if we spent more time helping men be positive and Godly husbands, would we spend less time dealing with domestic issues of divorce, abuse, fatherless children, alcoholism, pornography, etc.
A priest once said to me, our wifes are perfect in the eyes of God. I pray that God help me see my wife as He does. Not that I see problems with my wife, or that we have major issues (everybody has issues, some are major some are not), but I desire to love her as He does and to do that I must see her as He does. It’s not about me, it’s about Him.
The bottom line is this. Marriages fail because Men fail. Call it what you will, hate me, disagree, tell me I’m a sexist….whatever, I don’t care. This is the truth. Marriages fail because men fail.
Don’t believe me, ask yourself this…. Whose fault is it that Eve at the apple? Eve’s for being deceived and eating it? Or Adam’s for not putting the .40 to the snakes head when he tried to come into the house. Because I gotta tell ya, a thief and a liar tried to break into my house and he’s not going home in the same condition he came in. God entrusts the protection of Eve to Adam, and he screws it up.
It’s about time we stand up to the plate as men and take our strikes. Thank you to all of you Eve’s for taking up the slack as the spiritual leaders of the house while we were away…but now MAN is coming back. Men are becoming what we were created to be….Men seeking God so as to find life and happiness. It’s all about God.
It’s mans responsibility to lead his family to heaven, it’s about time to read the map, get on the road, and make it happen. Societal issues such as domestic abuse, abandonment, abortion, and crime are all in danger of extinction….because Man is making a comeback…
]]>Personally this has been hard to wrestle with because I don’t understand how this fits into God’s plan for Salvation. What possible benefit could this act bring to this woman and children? Why would God allow this to happen? What’s the purpose?
This morning I woke up singing this song in my head. The first lines are,
“There’s a peace I’ve come to know,
Though my heart and flesh may fail,
There’s an anchor for my soul,
I can say, “It is well”.”
Isn’t that what it is all about for the rest of us? Peace in knowing that God has it covered. Peace in knowing that Christ will comfort the afflicted. Peace in knowing that this wonderful man is with an ever loving God in heaven. Peace in knowing that we have an anchor for the soul as we read in Hebrews.
Please join me today in praying this song in search of peace. Please pray for the soul of Bob Firehammer, that his family be comforted and find peace. God bless you.
I Will Rise: Chords, by Chris Tomlin
Capo 1
There’s a peace I’ve come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There’s an anchor for my soul
I can say, “It is well”
PreChorus
Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead
Chorus
And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise I will rise
Verse 2
There’s a day that’s drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes
Prechorus
Chorus
Bridge
And I hear the voice of many angels sing
“Worthy is the Lamb!”
And I hear the cry of every longing heart
“Worthy is the Lamb!”
“Worthy is the Lamb!”
PreChorus
Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead
Chorus
And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise I will rise