Tag: Honor

Special Posting: Veterans Day 2012 (Thank You For Protecting Us)

“5 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” ~ Galatians 5:1

Service

On this day I stand before the world and I proclaim that God is our master and He alone set us free, but it is through our will and His love that we remain free and that we never fall back into slavery. As a veteran myself I heard the most power call to serve my nation, to lay down my worries, my wants, and my desires and to stand in the face of evil with my fellow brothers and sisters of this nation and protect our sacred right of liberty and freedom which our founding fathers carved out for all of us. I do not think it a joke or something frivolous in which our elected officials use our collective might for their own political gain, but rather for the honor bound promise God has entrusted with this nation to protect freedom, to give every person no matter from where they come the right to live in peace and be free of the horrible yoke of slavery. It was these sets of principals I joined the United States Navy in 1991 and it was the most rewarding experience and one I held as the highest of honors to serve this great nation. So on this veterans day I solute all of our men and woman who are currently serving our nation, putting their lives in harms way day and night, every day of their enlistment. I solute those members of our armed services who serve here in the states in both the reserves and in the Army NATIONAL GAURD who without your support our troops could not have done what they have accomplished thus far in all the conflicts around the world. In reflection the United States is the most powerful country on Earth, we have the largest force ever assembled in history and it is by the shire service our brothers and sisters who voluntarily serve which makes this nation the greatest of any nation ever in the history of the world. Our nation was founded upon Christian values, God is on our currency, Christ is in our blood, and it is this which makes our armed services unique because we fight for the singular purpose backed by these words from our Constitution;

“We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” ~ Preamble of the United States Constitution, September 15, 1787.

Duty

“17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” ~ 2 Corinthians 3:17

No one can convince me that America is not worth fighting for, no one can turn my convictions from my land, from my love. I know God is with me, I know He is in the land that which I dwell, because there is written the proof of His Almighty love, power, and might. I have His sworn oath of duty in my hands, in my heart, and in my life. Because there is this promise in my country I know God is here in the United States of America and in all other nations which prize freedom above all other things. Freedom is upon my lips, freedom is the word that comes forth like a sword of vengeance against all who wish to oppress others, for I have seen God in our Armed Forces, and in our  military might. Every citizen has the duty to uphold God and this promise, we all share in the burden to defend our liberty. No one be them male or female has the right to take from the land without swearing and oath to protect that same land which he or she took from. I say to you live in this way, with these promises and your life will be blessed with abundance. Serve with this duty in your heart and this becomes your shield when the fight becomes ugly. Our services members serve with such honor and I solute all those who have fallen in the duty of this great nation.

Responsibility

“13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.” ~ Galatians 5:13

On this day remember your brethren who has gone before you who also served, who also was called to freedom and to be free. Remember the oath you

took and serve with responsibility to never take advantage of others who are defenseless and weak.  This is the directive every service member serves, and is also what makes our nation so great. We never fail to leave our brethren’s behind, we never fail to answer the call of our allies in need, and we never fail to remember our loved ones and the reason why we serve with such ammunition and vigor. Though our services members serve far from home, it is their humility which raises them up from the plateau of  greed, sin, violence, and merciless plunder,  and allows our nation to free people from around the world who have called upon our might which is blessed by God.

On this veterans day 2012 I want all veterans to celebrate your service, your sacrifice, your will to lead, and your dedication to our great nation and to all people whom we protect from tyranny. May God bless you, your families, and continue to bless the United States of America.

Amen

 

Special Prayer for a Sibling In Need

The special connection one has for a parent or sibling is certainly one that should be founded upon honor and love. It is these special people in your life which you truly spend your entire life with, through good and bad, richer or poor, and in sickness and good health. Thus it is the will of God that we move mountains for each other when we are asked to or when it is needed. For it was that Jesus treated everyone like this, he loved everyone, and cared about all of us equally. He even went to such lengths as to call us His brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of God. Therefore, when one of our brothers and sisters in Christ is in need we need to come to their call in every manner; with every special talent we have to answer that call.  So with this in mind I want to offer to this world community:  “Sisters and Brothers”,  I have created here with Listening Faithfully an opportunity to come together and send a special prayer for one of my brothers in Christ Jesus who’s sister has Leukemia and is fighting a good fight, running the race to the end. Please pray for my brother Neil McCarthy, and his sister Leslie Frankenheimer who has been at The City Of Hope Hospital since Thursday, September 27, 2012 and all their family during these trying times. I ask that you pray for his sister as she endures the medical treatment to save her life. So I ask everyone to pray twice tonight, and twice tomorrow, this special prayer;

 

Lord God in heaven, we pray to you through your son Jesus Christ, we ask that you hear our cry’s and our words of concern for this remarkably caring and beautiful woman who has served you by being a loving and devoted daughter, sister, wife, mother, and mentor to all that Leslie Frankenheimer has known and loved. Lord God in Heaven we call on you in this hour when dark clouds gather, we call on you to light our darkest day, Lord we as a community of the faithful call upon you to give us hope; to shine your light of love so our path is less dim, thus we call on you. Lord; My God; I know you are with me; I know you are with Leslie and her entire family and friends; and I also know that you hear all of our prayers. Lord; I also know we can count on you when no-one else will answer; Oh’ God of love it is you who is responsible for giving us a reason to go on despite our cup of joy sometimes has become a cup of sorrow; Lord it is you that we call. Lord we humbly ask you  to place a calming hand upon Leslie and her family, let them now proclaim your goodness within this time of trouble and hardship, let everyone see your glory, your blessing, your wisdom, and your forgiveness, and good works as you transform Leslie’s soul and mold her to be more like you as you prepare the table before her. Lord I ask for your voice to be heard in the hearts of all who pray this prayer on behalf of Leslie’s sake, as we all pray these words that had been joyfully shouted out by your servant King David:

1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 4 Yet their voice  goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” ~ Psalm 19:1-4

Lord we ask for your healing hand to be extended upon my brothers sister Leslie Frankenheimer and that you are there with her holding her hand,  reassuring her, building her up, showing her your path as you gently guide her through the rest of her journey. Please Oh’ God take away all her fear and doubt, rescue her completely with a full recovery that which is complete in your most powerful grace. It is to you Oh Lord; God in Heaven; Father Almighty that we turn, that we pray this prayer of healing and of recovery. In Jesus’s name, Amen.

While praying this prayer feel free to say “I” in place of “we” and “my” in the place of “our” where appropriate, but please do pray.

As always if you have been moved by this prayer, I invite you to leave a comment to show your support to my two sisters and their family.

Amen

Reflection 1: Spiritual Accountantcy

” 15 And he said unto them, ‘Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.‘” ~ Luke 16:15

Life is a journey of immense struggles pitted with many victories and defeats. It is a race to the finish line of judgement, once there many will have ran a good race but will have done it without moral conscience and will be damned to hell for all eternity. Many will have ran the same race but prevailed with great love, faith, and ethics, and will be allowed passage into the Kingdom of God. The difference between the two is incalculable if coming from the filter of modern life, celebrating our many luxuries and comforts afforded those with what is termed as the good life. But if viewed from the prism of our Lord and Savior then it becomes more personal, deeply ethical, riveted with countless moral guidelines that help to forge a sinner into a born again child of God. It is not an easy path, in fact it is filled with much sacrifice and with many painful defeats. For to choose to be a child of God is not for the faint of heart and in the end, within the very hour of our death, Jesus promises for the faithful that they shall never taste death.

“47 Verily, verily, I say to you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” ~John 6:47

For many of us it is hard to put into place a moral life while being surrounded with such temptations which we find at our fingertips on a daily basis. It is hard to not give in to the world of excess and comfort with so many voices telling us we don’t have too. The prevailing belief advertisers drown us with daily is, “Life doesn’t have to be so hard” and “Why wait when you can have it now!” We have become a society of capitalistic carnivores devouring everything while ignoring the implications it places upon our life and our immortal soul. We make recluse justifications to explain away why we can, when the Holy Bible has clearly stated we should not. A world that places more value on things, property, and money, over relationships, love, honor, ethics, and that of our christian savior, who is the savior of every man, women, and child on planet Earth as we know it, is an abomination in the sight of God. There are so many sins, so many fruitless attempts at winning Gods favor while pleasing the flesh. People can be so awesomely good, and in the same breath find ways to be just as evil and destructive. When we look hard at who we have become, the choices we have made, the justifications for actions which caused countless others to suffer, it is then that our deeds will be told, despite the lies of our mortal legacies. For you can preach good all the days of your life, but in private do evil, it is in your heart and therefore God see’s the truth of your life. He can discern the proper judgement from the web of misleading, randomness and noise of sin which has permenantly blacked your heart.

“33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”~ Luke 14:33

Jesus warned against collecting wealth and then not sharing it but rather hording it. He warned against ignoring your own sins while calling to the carpet others sins. He warned against hypocrisy for in the eyes of God it is nothing more than “lip service”. Jesus warns against denying the poor food, clothes, shelter, and mercy. He warns against not raising your child up in the ammunition of the Lord thy God. For he also warned against excess of all kinds, depravity of all kinds, blasphemy of all kinds, and evil works of all kinds. Yet we do them daily, we ignore Him daily, and in doing so we mock Him daily!

“32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.” ~ Matthew 10:32-33

Be on guard for those who refuse to speak the truth of God, who refuse to hear you speak the truth of God, be warned they are filled with Satan. There are people who get upset when they are shown their immoral ways and are convicted by the light of God, and by His son’s moral teachings and inwardly repress God, reviling against all righteousness, for they are filled with the spirit of Satan. Stand firm and do not waver from the light of God for instead bask within its glorious rays for it shall purify thy soul. Profess daily the miracles of God in your own life, for each day is a true miracle as it was not promised to you before you went to sleep the night before. Be on guard of those who would manipulate your words, the words of others, and the words of God to suit their lying ways, for such is the arch tool of Satan himself. Walk away from profane, perverse, corrupt, immoral, and impure people as they will as soon suck you down with them than to see you happy and free in the light of God. For to disown God is a rejection of the miracle of ones own birth and life; for Satan does not hold the keys to these things; for only God can create life and can bring about death; for only God can destroy thy very soul. Be on guard of those who wish to systematically take from you all the things in your life which bring you happiness, for they have no conscience, no remorse, no ambivalence to using deceit to accomplish their goals. For these people are expert in their disguise and can make the most illogical thing sound logical, the most profane thing sound holy, and the most hurtful thing look to others as self-defense. For God has no tolerance for them and though in the moment they grasp victory, in reality they have only clutched defeat because what God meant for you and was stolen, he will give to you in abundance in Heaven, a reward they shall not reap for they chose a selfish and self serving path.  

“21 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have I not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?  23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you: depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” ~ Matthew 7:21-23

It is truly important to not just know which side of the tracks you are on, but to also profess it, teach it, embrace it, and above all love God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul; to do all things for God with all your strenght and might. It is simply not enough to say you love God to close family and friends then in private do wicked, but rather love God enough to always do good in public and private, for there should only be one message of your life, because there is only one God. Be sure to never take credit for the things which you have accomplished in your life for each accomplishment was first a gift from God, to do so would be to say you willed it to be so and that is a lie. For remember Moses who took credit for the miracle of the rock which sprang water; for the rod was from God, the power was from God, and the very words which Moses spoke to bring forth the water was from God, for such a sin he was denied entry into the promised land. Remember also King David who committed adultery and who God took from him the first born son in payment of the life he had stole from Bathsheba’s first husband Uriah the Hittite. Rather be like Christ who complied with the will of God even until the point of his own death.

“1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1

Spiritual accountantcy is the means which we review our own place with God, it is the act of asking where are we in our relationship to God. “Have I done things which God disapproves of, am I saved?”, is the question we need to ask daily and then we need to repent daily. Be assured God loves you, wants you, cares for you, and will never leave you if you never disown Him.

Amen.

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May God bless you and keep you all the days of your life. Amen

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Reflections 1: Peace Be With You

“Whenever you enter someone’s home let your first words be, ‘Peace to this house!’ If a person who loves peace lives there, they will accept your blessing. If not, your words will come back to you. Stay in this house, taking what food and drink they offer, for the laborer deserves his reward. Do not keep moving from house to house. When you enter a town and the people welcome you, eat the food they provide. Heal the sick who are there. Say to the people of the town, ‘The realm of God is at your door” (Lost Gospel Q, Q30, p.64).

The words, “Peace be with you”, strikes a chord so deep into our hearts, it’s a greeting that wishes nothing but goodness, peace, and love for the person we are addressing. How often do we normally do that? How often do we take the time in our daily lives and wish someone else like our friends, our loved ones, even a complete stranger, and wish them well? The time taken is so small, so minimal that it takes hardly any energy at all, so why don’t we do it? The “Time Spent Series” is my reflections and observations on the biblical teachings that illustrate the amount of time God has spent teaching the human race how to love, how to honor one another, and how to properly spend time. It is my thoughts and feelings on how we need to spend time with those whom we love, our families, and close friends, but also in the smallest of ways why we need to be ready to give that one greeting that changes lives.

Our Lord and Savior took out the time to teach us about God, about Heaven and Hell, he taught the Jews about relationships. Not just our relationship to God, but more importantly our relationship to one another. The crowning glory of his ministry was his simple, but powerful greeting, “Peace be with you.” He says it to his disciples after his death in Luke 24:36 and again in John 20:21. Before that Jesus prepares his disciples for the Holy Spirit before his death and resurrection found in the bible in John 14:27 where he says to them, “Peace I leave with you my peace I give you.” This greeting can be found later in John 20:26 when Jesus greets Thomas after the other disciples saw the risen Christ. He said this to calm their souls, to build them up, to show his love for them.

“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house’, If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not it will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages” (Luke 10:5-7, p.1591, NIV).

In fact Jesus was so specific to include what you say when entering a person’s house and as illustrated above how to greet a town. He was preparing them how to greet people one-on-one, on their own terms. His anointment on the chosen seventy two happened after he was rebuked in the village of Samaritan, as found in Luke 9:51-62, still he taught his anointed to greet people with peace in your heart.

Time spent traveling from village to village as told in the bible, was Gods method of spreading the words of peace, love, and joy, because that is all we, his disciples, his children can do. Knowing this Jesus taught us all how to greet each other, brothers and sisters in Christ, and despite ones beliefs his example even extents to those who are not Christian, but from other faiths. Jesus embraced the idea that we are all one in the same, one family in God, and our respect is shown to God by greeting people in the proper manner, using his perfect example.

The time Jesus spent was used so strategically that we hardly take notice of the smallest of his examples because all our time is spent looking at his biggest accomplishments. His efforts in his eye-to-eye contact, to his smile, his gestures, and in his greetings, all took no energy on his behalf and changed the hearts and minds of his hardest of critics. His examples in soothing the soul, calming the mind, while spending quality time with all whom he meet and talked with revealed his perfect intent. Jesus’ overriding message throughout the bible has been proclaimed by many, but none so eloquently spoken than by the Apostle John who wrote, “21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God, 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us” (1 John 4:21-23, p.1951, NIV).

The words that most often change lives are not ones of malice and hatred, rather they come from the heart, and as Jesus illustrates, they are a blessings. If we obey his words, then there is no viable reason we cannot find ways to find common ground with strangers who do not hold to our same principals. If indeed our first words which role smoothly of our lips to our fellow man was a blessing, how long would it take to achieve peace in our own hearts.

“10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me” (Psalm 51:10-12, p.843, NIV).

Challenge question: If Jesus could chose to come down from Heaven, be born in a dirty, sticky manger, and know he was going to die a brutal death just to spend time with us; shouldn’t we make the effort to bless our fellow sisters and brothers with the words he taught us?

Amen

If you have been moved by this blog I humbly invite you to leave a message telling me your thoughts and how this reflection has touched you. May peace and love be with you all the days of your life.  May God keep you and bless you. Amen.