Reading about the merciful in the Sermon on the Mount connects me to Jesus’ later teachings about forgiveness. In the Lord’s prayer he taught his disciples to pray, ‘forgive us …. as we forgive others.” In forgiveness there is great mercy, but in order to receive something it must be given to you. A hard-hearted person struggles with forgiveness. You…..
Perhaps you’ve heard someone say: “He/She’s so meek.” More than likely you were thinking that in terms of emotional or social weakness of some sort – maybe being shy. But the biblical meaning of the word meek is different than what this generation of English speaking people understand it to be. When Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount the word meek meant humble and…..
I’m asking this question because I believe it’s a very important part in balancing our lives and in the healing process.
I believe that spiritual trauma is very real and I’m going to pull out a few examples from Scripture in the Old (Hebrew) Testament, the New (Christian) Testament and the Psalms.
The first verse that I think begs us to consider the effects of spiritual trauma is this one:
“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,…..
In my last post I told you the thought behind writing “A Litany of Prayer for a Loving Attitude.” And I admitted that I, like many others, have struggled with loving myself.
Having struggled and won that battle I’m going to touch on the topic of Love and Perfection.
I think there are two ways of looking at Perfection. One is in the way of thinking everything and everyone have to be perfect. The other is in thinking about…..
In my book, “Praying Our Way Through Stress” in writing about The Lord’s Prayer and the phrase; Save us from the time of trial I quote Luke 22:31, which reads:
“Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
I go on to write:
Perhaps this relates to Peter (aka Simon) having his faith shaken by the arrest,…..
On my wall above my desk hangs a framed print statement about faith. There is no indication who made the statement so I am unable to credit anyone for it. This is what the framed print states:
“Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation.”
It’s an intriguing statement. Especially when you pair it with some of the statements about faith that are recorded in…..
It’s a question I asked my Sunday School teacher when I was a young girl. I think I was in either 5th or 6th grade when I asked her this question. I had friends of different denominations and maybe even different religions – I’m not sure. But I remember we were having a conversation about Jesus…..
When Jesus opens the scroll in the temple and begins reading, he reads about why the Holy Spirit is upon him. It’s upon him for specific work. Christians are familiar with reading this in the Gospel of Luke 4:17-19
There is a list of work, works of love, that Jesus reads about and then goes about doing, and he does it all. Good…..