IF I WOULD MISS THE RAPTURE

If I were not a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and the Rapture happened, I would not attend any post-Rapture parties, I would not celebrate that all the followers of Jesus were gone, thereby freeing me to live and do as I please without some holier-than-thou telling me how to live my life and cramming some Bible verse down my throat. I wouldn't go looting the homes of Christians, figuring, “They're gone! They're not going need this stuff anyway!”

What I would do would be to stand trembling, realizing that the Jesus I denied was real, the message of the Gospel that I scoffed at was true and the gift of God's love and forgiveness that I openly rejected, laughed at, mocked, and at times even profaned, has now passed me by.

The pride that kept me from repentance and from surrender to God, I would curse with every fiber of my being. I would not swallow my pride, but with all that is in me I would vomit it out, seeing clearly that my pride was my poison; my arrogance, my curse. I was offered life abundant and life eternal, but, instead, I chose a mere temporal life, a mere earthly existence and ridiculed those who believed in an everlasting bliss in the presence of God.

The trembling would soon buckle my knees and throw me to the ground with great fear and great force. My tear-stained face would be buried into the dirt. With all pride now gone from me, I am broken, I am overwhelmingly afraid, I am empty and humbled beyond words. I would realize that am not as great as I thought I was, and the God I thought was not, I now fully realize... truly is.

With nothing more to lose, I would, with every ounce of energy, from the very depths of my being, cry out to the Christ I repeatedly rejected, “Lord, have mercy on me. If there is any way, if there is any hope, if it is at all possible, Lord, have mercy on me and forgive me. I beg of you, I plead with you, Lord, have mercy on me.” This would be the fervent prayer of my every breath until my final breath.

Many arrogant will continue to embrace their pride and curse the Truth. They may celebrate, they may party, they may loot the homes of their neighbors, they may continue to blaspheme the God they now know to be true.

But I wouldn't. For the life of me, I wouldn't. But then, that's just me.

Maranatha!

Called To Be Contemplatives

We are all called to be contemplatives in the heart of the world — by seeking the face of God in everything, everyone, everywhere, all the time, and [God's] hand in every happening; seeing and adoring the presence of Jesus, especially in the lowly appearance of bread, and in the distressing disguise of the poor.

- Mother Teresa

Ten Reasons to Pray

Following are ten reasons why we should pray:

1. Prayer reminds us that we are not the solution to the challenges that grip our world but we have access to the one who transcends those challenges.

2. A prayerless nation has no hope beyond the headlines.

3. Prayer aligns us with God’s heart, purposes and blessings.

4. Prayer is an act of humility that precedes honor.

5. Prayer enlarges the heart beyond selfish motive.

6. Prayer provokes the heart to consider not only what is but what can be with God’s help.

7. Prayer is best prioritized when one asks God to change one’s own heart first.

8. No matters of eternal value will be accomplished outside of prayer.

9. Prayer is properly prioritized vigilance in a spiritually passive world.

10. Prayer at its best is an offering of one’s self to be used by God as a part of the answer.

- Rev. Bill Shuler, senior pastor at Capital Life Church in Arlington, Virginia.

Another Consideration for Lent

Give up complaining——focus on gratitude.

Give up pessimism——become an optimist.

Give up harsh judgments——think kindly thoughts.

Give up worry——trust Divine Providence.

Give up discouragement——be full of hope.

Give up bitterness——turn to forgiveness.

Give up hatred——return good for evil.

Give up negativism——be positive.

Give up anger——be more patient.

Give up pettiness——become mature.

Give up gloom——enjoy the beauty that is all around you.

Give up jealousy——pray for trust.

Give up gossiping——control your tongue.

Give up sin——turn to virtue.

Give up giving up——hang in there!

--Anonymous

The Monk's Mission

I came across this quote from Thomas Merton and thought readers of this blog would appreciate it.

"The monk is not defined by his task, his usefulness; in a certain sense he is to be useless, because his mission is not to do this or that job but to be a man of God."

In the midst of your doing for God, don't forget to simply be for God.

Epiphany Prayer

On this Epiphany I came across another Mozarabic prayer. It was entitled simply, Epiphany Prayer. As the Christ revealed Himself to the Maji, may He reveal Himself to us in a greater and clearer way this year.

This prayer was taken from the Mozarabic Breviary.

Thou, O Lord, art the Star of truth, that riseth out of Jacob, and the man that springeth from Israel. In the new Star thou showest thyself as God, and lying in the Crib God and Man, we confess thee to be the one Christ. In thy great mercy grant us the grace of seeing thee, and show unto us the radiant sign of thy light, whereby all the darkness of our sins may be put to flight: that so we who now languish with the desire of seeing thee, may be refreshed with the enjoyment of that blissful vision. Amen.

Ancient Mozarabic Prayer

(The term "Mozarabic" refers to Christians living under Arabic rule in medieval Spain.)

Ancient Mozarabic prayer (before 700 AD)
Hear us, O never-failing Light,
Lord our God, our only Light, the Fountain of Light,
the Light of your angels, thrones, dominions,
principalities, powers, and of all the beings of this world;
you have created the light of your saints,
the bright cloud of witnesses around us.
May our souls be your lamps, kindled and illumined by you.
May they shine and burn with your truth,
and never go out in darkness and ashes.
May we be your dwelling, shining from you, shining in you;
may we shine and our light never fail;
may we worship you always.
May we be kindled brightly and never extinguished.
Being filled with Christ’s splendor,
may we shine within, so that the gloom of sin is cleared away,
and the light of everlasting life abides within us. Amen.

Prayer of St. Ephraim of Syria

O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despondency, lust for power and idle talk.

But grant unto me, Thy servant, a spirit of chastity (integrity), humility, patience and love.

Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see mine own faults and not to judge my brother. For blessed art Thou unto the ages. Amen.

Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage

When you think of pilgrimage, you think of traveling to a special place.

It might be a place of great personal interest or of profound historical or religious significance. One who goes on a pilgrimage might be seeking beauty, or blessing or a miracle. It might be the place of an early childhood memory, the homestead of an ancestor, or the grave of a loved one.

Wherever this journey takes you it is a holy place, a place of personal reflection that inspires, shapes and moves you to a place of greater growth as a person and deeper into the heart of God..

For us as Christians, Holy Communion is a pilgrimage back to the foot of the cross. Whether we celebrate the Lord's Supper weekly, monthly, or more or less often, it should be a pilgrimage. As we come to the foot of the Cross in Holy Communion we remember, we ponder, we meditate, not just on the fact of Christ's death, but also on what was accomplished on the Cross, the benefits of His death and what that means to us in everyday life.

Because of the Cross we find...
forgiveness
cleansing
eternal life
true righteousness and holiness
peace with God
liberty
hope and strength
the basis for the fruits and gifts of the Spirit
victory over the devil
victory over sin
victory over death
... the list could go on and on.

It's all because of the Cross! These are the types of things we should remember when we come to the Table of the Lord.

Then, as we have contemplated these things, before receiving the Body and Blood of the Lord, we should examine our hearts and lives and ask ourselves the question: “Am I living out those benefits and does my daily life reflect the accomplishments of the Cross to others?”

Lord,
As we make a pilgrimage to the foot of the Cross in Holy Communion, meet us there. And may the benefits, accomplishments, and victories of the Cross, be lived out through each and everyone who professes Your Name. Amen.

A Life That Worships

All we do and all we are, our whole lives are to be expressions of worship. Bowed at the altar, helping someone in need, or even weeding a garden, can be acts of worship when offered to God with a heart of gratitude. When our hearts and lives are right before God, every breath we take is worship.

Prayer for Cleansing

O God, cleanse me a sinner, for I have done nothing good before Thee. Deliver me from the evil one, and may Thy will be in me, that I might open my unworthy lips without condemnation and praise Thy holy name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and forever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
- Marcarius the Great (Egypt, 300-390 a.d.)

Make of Me a Good Man

"Were I worthy of such favor from God, I would ask that He would grant to me one miracle, that by His grace He would make of me a good man." --- Anskar, Scandanavian saint, 9th century