Seek Joy

I opened my Bible today and the first passage I saw was Matthew 6:34… “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

As I was reading it, I heard it a little different than normal…which has a tendency to happen when reading the Bible. I truly believe that the Word of God is alive… and although the words do not change, how you hear them does.

Hearing those words this morning was like God chiming in on a conversation that Kerri and I were having the other day.

The reality is how many of us can honestly say that we do this. Who doesn’t worry about tomorrow or yesterday for that matter. But the truth is it’s not that we should be ignorant to the world around us, or put our heads in the sand like an ostrich, but we can only control what is in front of us…and sometimes not even that. Today I feel like that what it was saying is we need to find joy… real and true joy in our lives, EVERY DAY….just to add an exclamation point to the conversation when I put Pandora on the song Living by Dierks Bentley comes on and in an instant I was back to that same verse from this morning from the book of Matthew.

It’s time to be shepherds

Last night I was having a conversation with my son about events taking place in the Middle East right now. That coupled with the less publicized attacks against Christians in the same region, and truthfully throughout the world, was filling him with a sense of rage. Sitting there listening I can remember when I was in my 20s being just as quick tempered especially when faced with a scenario or topic where I wanted to protect…everyone. Now that I am 20+ years older I see things from a different perspective. Although the 20 something-year-old that still resides inside of me wants to come down like a hammer, I understand now that that is not our way. As in all things, all we have to do is simply look to Christ. When the Romans came for Him and Peter drew his knife to fight them, He said no.

Because that is not our way.

We must never waver in our faith and prayer. Believe me I know it’s really easy to question things when you look at the direction society is going. And maybe doing something as simple as praying seems like not enough.

But that’s when our Faith needs to become the strongest.

It’s at that moment we we need to tell others and physically show them that it’s through prayer and our faith that evil will be defeated.

Something to remember when it comes to prayer is that when we’re praying we are literally having a conversation with God.

We’re having a conversation with God.

And there is absolutely nothing that God can’t accomplish or handle. It’s not just believing in God, it’s trusting Him. And remembering that He believes in you. And He trusts you.

Know that I am always praying for you, and remember to live the Faith. God bless.

If you have it, give it.

Just a real quick story. prior to things falling apart from Covid are used to take the train every day to and from work. Over the course of years of doing this are used to come in contact with a lot of homeless people. There were a couple in particular that I had developed a friendship with. Although it’s started for me give me a dollar or two he developed into more of just people to have conversations with, for them and me. I often wonder, now that I no longer take the train, how they are doing.

How they fared through the pandemic.

Which brings me to today. I was telling a coworker one of my “Penn station stories” when a woman, much older than I, walked up us saying that she was thirsty. So I grabbed a bottle of water out of my truck and a dollar out of my wallet and handed it to her. In a barely coherent voice she said thank you and walked away. Short time later as I was driving back to the yard, I came across a man standing in the intersection. He kept shaking his arms and hands like they were in pain, unfortunately it’s something identify with. Around his neck was a handwritten sign that said “my name is Frank. I could use some help or at least a friendly voice”. Even though the light was green I want to pull up next to him I stopped and said “hey Frank, how’s it going?”. After we spoke for a few moments about the weather and the neighborhood I reached over handed him a bottle of water and another dollar I had in my wallet. As I drove off he said “thank you very much “, “It’s not a problem” was my response. “not just the water and the money, taking a minute to talk to me, most people don’t have that kind of patience”. As the light turned green I said,”if you have it, give it”. We both waved to each other like old, new friends, “take it easy…God bless” was the last thing I said as I drove away . It wasn’t until I was about a block or so away so I thought about what I had said. Honestly it rolled off my tongue without me even thinking about it. And as I got further and further away it became more and more clear, that’s all God wants from us. If any of us has what someone else needs than give it. Maybe it’s as simple as a smile, but that could mean everything to someone who needs it.

Know that I am always praying for you and remember to live the Faith. God bless.

Within us all

Something that we have to remember, and I absolutely forget all the time, is that the same love and power the brought Christ to us and then raised him from the dead is the same love and power the God has for us and is inside of all of us in the form of the Holy Spirit. Knowing that how can any of us believe that anything is impossible? How do we have fear? We need to believe in ourselves the same way that the Lord believes in us. Know that I am always praying for you all, remember to live the Faith. His bless

At the foot of the cross

I was walking down the street the other day headed to grab a cup of coffee with my mind racing in 1000 different directions. “Large cream one sugar” I blurted barely looking over the counter. I got halfway back down the block before my “fog” was broken by the sound of a car horn. After watching the bike bound food delivery guy and the cab driver exchange a few colorful words I started back on my way, only now I was taking in all that was going on around me. It was amazing to me how just a few minutes earlier was “alone” walking down 5th Ave in Manhattan but now I was surrounded by “alone” people, who seemed to barely notice I was in their midst. How often does that happen to all of us. Our problems, our blessings, our lives…can sometimes make us isolate ourselves from the rest of the world. Not always intentionally, sometimes it’s self preservation, sometimes it’s how we’ve trained ourselves.

Personally, it’s either a lack of self worth or a feeling of “drowning” that makes me detach myself from the world. Now by self worth what I mean is that I have a tendency to think my problems, or victories, aren’t as big or important as other people’s so I keep to myself. “Drowning”… well I think that’s a bit more common. When we keep to ourselves it’s like dropping small stones into a creek, it slowly causes a dam and when enough water builds up, like a river that overflows it’s banks, our minds get so overwhelmed concentration is virtually impossible.

It’s a rough time, but it doesn’t have to be the way. What we have to remember is that Christ sacrificed Himself for us on the cross. And by doing so He gives a place to leave all our burdens. To share our pain and our joy.

At the foot of the cross.

It’s here we are all equal in the eyes of God. No one is greater. No one is more worthy. What’s even better is that God already knows what’s going on in your head so all you have to do is give it up to Him. No matter who you are or where are you are, you’re guaranteed a place at the foot of the cross. It’s there for all of us, all we have to do is ask. Truly is that simple. Know that I am always praying, and remember to live the Faith. God bless.

Halfway Attitude

Just for the record the Blessed Sacrament isn’t something that you order à la cart. The 10 Commandments are not on the “pick three menu”, And Jesus didn’t say…

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love…sometimes”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, our faith is the easiest to follow and the most difficult to practice. Now I say practice because none of us are perfect, perfection happened once, and when He was here Christ taught us to love everyone. Forgive everyone. And as difficult as that may be at times it doesn’t mean we don’t strive for it everyday. We have to learn to “unlearn” what society taught us, and focus on what Jesus teaches us.

I was in the car the other morning thinking about a conversation I had been in a few days earlier. There was a few of us talking about acceptance. Let’s be real here, it probably wasn’t more than a week after Adam and Eve were banished from Eden before they started looking at some people sideways! Ok I know I’m being a bit dramatic but you understand my point. We all build up these preconceived notions over the course of our lives about how we view the world and the people in it whether we want to admit it or not. So at one point in the conversation I stopped talking and just sat back and listened. Initially, my silence was to try and really learn how everyone else’s thought process steered their viewpoints, but as the conversation went on I started to have this “conversation” in my head. What struck me was when someone had made the comment about how “we’re all made in God’s image”. Now I absolutely agree with that, but does everyone? I will tell you I didn’t always think like that. But if you truly believe that, then how can you justify not treating everyone with love and forgiveness?

Which brings me to the picture at the top of this letter. As I said earlier I was driving trying to formulate these thoughts into some form of order I looked up and saw the car in front of me. Immediately I laughed and thought to myself this guys got a real “halfway attitude”. And as ridiculous as he looked it was such a great visual to the point I’m making. I mean how many of us have a “halfway attitude” when it comes to practicing our faith? Like the guy who cleared off the bare minimum of his car to travel, don’t we sometimes do the same spiritually? But the reality is halfway is not enough. Not enough when you’re driving and absolutely not enough when you’re living your life for Christ.

As always know that I am praying for you, and remember to live the Faith. God bless.

Trust in Him

It’s crazy to me how people sometimes seem to forget the power of our Faith. We forget that we were made in God’s image and not the other way around. We’re so quick to deny miracles, or even the possibility of a miracle, because we’ve been trained to see the world through our eyes and not His. It’s sad if you really think about it, considering that our entire faith based on the belief in extraordinary things.
The Holy trinity, immaculate conception, all the miracles performed by not only Christ but by the apostles as well, and most obviously the crucifixion of Jesus only to have Him rise back up on the third day.
When you think how we are so quick to believe all those things that happened so long ago but doubt or deny something that could happen for us, today. A popular tag line you see around Christmas time is John 3:16 . When you look at those lines do you see them? I don’t mean read them I mean actually see them.

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

The power of that statement is awe inspiring. The fact that God loves you and I so much that He sent Christ to us knowing full well what He would have to endure. So if you believe in the power of Christ. You believe in all the miracles that he performed and all the acts of the Apostles. You know from scripture the power and love God has for you and I, so how can you not believe That God is willing to step in for you and I and do anything…everything? The fact is it’s easy to doubt. It’s easy to not see the value in ourselves that God sees. But we have to stop. We have to see ourselves and the world through His eyes. If you trust in Him and truly rely on your faith you will start to see that your life, like our faith, is limitless.

Remember to live the Faith, and know that I am praying for you. God bless.

Brace yourself

For a long time I, like many of you, have sat back and watched how certain people and entities have slowly eroded the public opinion of the Church. In an instant gratification society, those who see to undermine the power and influence of the Church have used a slow and steady approach. Using things like mass and social media to desensitize people to sin by flooding our vision with them. This coupled with celebrities making those same sins seem both normal and cool, has created a society where speaking out against such things makes us appear to be intolerant and prejudice. Last week I was reading an opinion piece in the New York Times that was blaming Christians for the rally and subsequent violence that happened in Washington DC a few weeks back. What’s unnerving to me about articles like this is that it’s displayed in a venue that reaches a tremendous number of people, while at the same time it’s written in a way that makes their opinion appear to be fact. Was there fanatical people at that rally?
Obviously.
Does any fanatical group truly represent whatever larger organization they splintered from?
Rarely.
And in this case especially, anyone who knows anything about being a true follower of Christ would know the violence it’s not our way. To truly follow Christ, like the Apostles before us, is to be all loving. All forgiving. It’s not the easiest, but it is the way. And unfortunately in the cynical world we live in living that way is looked down on. Like there’s an ulterior motive behind our beliefs and actions. So as the “world” becomes more anti Christian brace yourselves, and remember why we do it, and who we do it for.

6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

-2 Corinthians 4:6

Remember that we are never truly alone. Not only do we have the Holy Spirit within us and Christ walking beside us, but we have each other. For in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 we are told how should hold each other up. Know that I am always praying for you, and remember to live the Faith. God bless.

“truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” -John 12:24

I love this piece of scripture because it’s both powerful and telling. On one hand, if you look at it from the perspective of Jesus speaking, it’s explaining what He did for us. All that we have is only possible because He came to earth and sacrificed Himself for us….Even now as I sit here and think about that, I can’t help but be blown away by such a display of love. Truly unconditional love.

Now there’s a bigger lesson being taught here, but to see it you have to step back a little. Now I am a strong proponent of reading the Bible by Books not just verse, but at the very least I hope when a piece scripture hits you, take a moment to read a verse or two before and after because that’s where the “telling” part is. In John 12:23 Jesus says it’s time for Him to be glorified meaning he’s leading up to His sacrifice. Like I said before powerful. When you read versus 25 and 26 that’s where the teaching portion comes into play. In verse 25 He literally says if you love your life you’re gonna have to lose it, but if you hate your life you’re gonna keep it forever. He goes on in verse 26 to say that anyone who wants to serve Him must follow Him and that His Father will honor those that do. The reality is this isn’t very shocking. Throughout the Bible Christ teaches us the same thing over and over…Love without judgement and to live as He did. Easy…..well ok it’s only easy on paper, but it is simple. Now go back and read the verse again but this time see it as it’s a teaching lesson about us. I don’t necessarily mean having to die for Christ, but be willing to sacrifice and show others the way. Be the light for others.

As always you know that I’ll be praying for you and remember to live the Faith. God bless.

#faithlikewater #Jesus #love #hope #faith

Faith like Water