Christian Reflection and Prayer

Dear Lord Jesus Christ, You wanted all who
are weary to come to You for support. Lord,
I am worn out by my inability to find
wage-earning work. Day after day, my worry
and fear grows as the rejections of my
applications mount. I am able and willing
to work---but I cannot find a worthwhile job.
Please help me to obtain one soon so that
I can support myself and my family
in a decent way.

However, if it is your will that I wait longer,
enable me to worry less and to be able
to take advantage of the time available
to get closer to You. Let me realize that
there are other ways to bring about your
kingdom on earth besides salaried work.
Help me to make use of them for the time
being so that I may continue to grow
as a person for your greater glory. Amen.
(From New Saint Joseph People's Prayer
Book, Catholic Book Publishing.)

Scripture:

(Read Ruth 2:14-20)

"Blessed be he of the Lord, who has not
forsaken His kindness to the living and the
dead!" Ruth 2:20

Reflection:
,
This reflection is not a story found in the
Holy Scriptures, or even a "Christian"
story. But yet is really defines the meaning
of Christianity.

The Story:

"At one end of the truck terminal where H. H. Lee
worked years ago was a coal company.
Nearby was a railroad, and each day several
freight trains passed by. Lee often noticed that
the owner of the company, who was a Christian,
threw chunks of coal over the fence at various places
along the track. One day Lee asked the man why
he did this.
The man replied, An elderly woman lives across the
street, and I know that her pension is inadequate to
buy enough coal. After the trains go by, she walks
along and picks up the pieces she thinks have fallen
from the coal car behind the engine. She doesn't
realize that diesels have replaced steam locomotives.
I don't want to disappoint her so I just throw some
pieces over the fence."

Now that's Christianity Defined: GIVING TOTAL
UNCONDITIONAL GIVING, its Christianity in action.
In the book of Ruth we saw Ruth giving to her mother
in law, and Boaz giving to Ruth. In the Gospels, Jesus
Christ gave everything, even His life, all unconditionally.
In the same way, the people whose lives we touch need to
experience God's love through our compassion and
generosity. Remember, CHRISTIANITY MEANS GIVING!

Prayer:

Thank You oh Jesus for giving me Your life.

Quote:

Albert Schweitzer
Physician, Missionary, Author, Activist, Ethical Vegetarian
(1875-1965)

"The power of ideals is incalculable. We see no power in a
drop of water. But let it get into a crack in the rock and
be turned into ice ... it splits the rock."

Scripture:

"And how from infancy your have know the Holy
Scriptures, which are able to make you wise
for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus."
(2 Timothy 3:15)

Walk With C. S. Lewis

"The terrible thing, the almost impossible thing, is
to hand over your whole self--all your wishes and
precautions-- in Christ.
"But it is far easier than what ware all trying to do
instead. For what we are trying to do is to remain
what we call 'ourselves.' to keep personal happiness
as our great aim in life, and yet at the same time be
'good'. We are all trying to let our mind and our heart
go there own way----centered on money or pleasure or
ambition--- and hoping, in spite of this, to behave honestly
and humbly."And that is exactly what Christ warned that
we could not do. As He said, a thistle cannot produce figs.
If I am a field that contains nothing but grass seed, I
cannot produce wheat. Cutting the grass may keep it
short, but I shall still produce grass and no wheat. If I
want produce wheat, the change must go deeper that
the surface. I must be plowed up and resown.

Walk Closer to God

"Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears
bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree
cannot produce good fruit." (Matthew 7: 17,18). All good
works in the world cannot make a Christian, any more than
wishful thinking and hard work can make carrots in cabbages.
But onece Christ is planted in the heart, you need never wonder
again what harvest will spring up.
(Walk Through The Bible)

I guess the question here is: Are you a good tree bearing good
fruit? or A bad tree bearing bad fruit?