Christian Reflection and Prayer

Scripture:

Matthew 25:34-40 (New International Version)

34"Then the King will say to those on his right,
'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take
your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you
since the creation of the world. 35For I was
hungry and you gave me something to eat,
I was thirsty and you gave me something to
drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was
sick and you looked after me, I was in prison
and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him,
'Lord, when did we see you hungry and
feed you, or thirsty and give you something
to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger
and invite you in, or needing clothes and
clothe you? 39When did we see you sick
or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth,
whatever you did for one of the least of
these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Reflection:

I have a question for you today.  Do you
want to be close to God? 
In many of my Reflections, there has been a
central theme, a central thought.  That is
"God is there for you"  Now I'm asking you,
Do you want to be close to God?  If you do,
and if its ok with you, I would like to tell you
one of the ways you can be close to God. 
Jesus tells us. As a believer, when you do
something, in God's name, for some one else,
you are doing it for God, "you are close to God".
When you feed the hungry (physically/spiritually),
give a drink to the thirsty (physically/spiritually),
invite a stranger in your home, give clothing to
the poor, care for the sick (physically/spiritually),
visit someone in prison (physically/spiritually),
YOU ARE CLOSE TO GOD.
"Whatever you did for one of the least of
these brothers of mine, you did for me."


Prayer:

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred . . . let me sow love
Where there is injury . . . pardon
Where there is doubt . . . faith
Where there is despair . . . hope
Where there is darkness . . . light
Where there is sadness . . . joy
O, Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled . . . as to console
To be understood . . . as to understand,
To be loved . . . as to love
For it is in giving . . . that we receive,
It is in pardoning, that we are pardoned,
It is in dying . . . that we are born to eternal life.

Scripture:

Hebrews 13:6 promises, "So that we may boldly say,
the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man
shall do unto me."

Reflection:

I recently had a friend who was in deep
need of comfort. His life was not going well
and he was extremely depressed. I talked
with him for awhile and prayed with him and
assured him that I would keep him in my
prayers.
After I finished talking with him, I began to
think and pray about his many problems.
Through my prayers God made me realize
that i was a having the same problem that
my friend was having. That is, that we both
suffer from an extreme case of anxiety.
We are both anxious about our future.
We don't know what we are going to face
this coming year.
The interesting thing is, I know one very
important reason that why neither one of
us should be anxious about the coming
year. "GOD WILL NEVER, I REPEAT,
NEVER LEAVE US!" If we are children of
God, as our Father, He will never leave us.

I believe my friend and I are worried that we
are going to face something we don't
understand, and we are going have to
face it alone.
The Bible teaches us that GOD WILL
NEVER FORSAKE US. It literally means
that He will never abandon us. He will
not give up on us.
You see what my friend, you and I need
to remember is WHEN THE DEVIL
COMES AND KNOCKS AT YOUR
HEART'S DOOR, YOU CAN SIMPLY
SAY "JESUS, PLEASE GO
ANSWER THE DOOR!"


Prayer:

Oh Lord You teach me, " Do not
be anxious about anything but
through prayer, and supplication in
thanksgiving make your requests
known to You. I DO SO NOW MY
LORD.

The quote of the month is by Jay Leno:

'With hurricanes, tornadoes, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding,
severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and
with the threat of bird flu, swine flu and terrorist attacks, 'Are we
‎ sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'