God Thoughts February 28th

God Thoughts February 22

Memorize: I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. Philemon 4,5

Read  Philippians 1:1-6 *

Today's reading reminds us of what a large family we have in 

Christ.  You may be aware yesterday, early afternoon, I 

received  a phone call my 2-month-old Grandson was being life 

flighted to Billings Mt, with an RSV Virus that turned to 

Pneumonia.

Our arrival at St. Vincents in Billings, MT was a group 

Partnership.  Several members of our family, friends, and faith 

family, made it possible to be in Powell Wy before midnight.  

During the drive we had people call from all over to tell us they 

were praying.

It is so sad it takes an emergency to life event to remind us we 

were not meant to do life as a solo flight.  Mankind was created to 

live in partnership with each other and God.  Love well today.

Prayer:  

Heavenly Father, help us today grow into the love we created by.  

Amen

God Thoughts February 27th

God Thoughts February 22

Memorize: I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. Philemon 4,5

Read  Ephesians 3:7-10 *

 God’s plan was not revealed to previous generations, not

because God wanted to keep something from his people, but

because he would reveal it to everyone in his perfect timing. God

planned to have Jews and Gentiles comprise one body, the

church. It was known in the Old Testament that the Gentiles

would receive salvation (Isaiah 49:6); but it was never revealed

in the Old Testament that all Gentile and Jewish believers would

become equal in the body of Christ. Yet this equality was

accomplished when Jesus destroyed the “dividing wall of

hostility” and created “one new humanity” (Ephesians 2:14-15).

Prayer:  

May God bless you with discomfort
at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships
so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger,
at injustice, oppression,  and exploitation of people,
so that you may work for justice, freedom and Peace.

May God bless you with tears,
to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war,
so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness
to believe you can make a difference in the world,
so that you can do what others claim cannot be done,
to bring  justice and kindness to all our children and the poor

A Franciscan Benediction

God Thoughts February 26th

God Thoughts February 22

Memorize: I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. Philemon 4,5

Read Galatians 2:6-10 *

The great Jewish Theologian Martin Buber described the 

healthiest or maturest relationship possible between two human 

beings as an "I-Thou" relationship.  In such a relationship, I 

recognize that I am made in the image of God, and so is every 

other person.  This makes then a "Thou" to me.  They have 

dignity and worth, and are to be treated with respect.  I affirm 

them as being a unique and separate human being apart from 

me.

In most of our human relationships, however, we treat people as 

objects-as an "it." In an "I-It" relationship, I treat you as a means 

to  an end-as I might a toothbrush or a car.  I talk to people in 

order to get something off my chest, not to be with them as 

separate individuals.  I talk about people-authority figures, 

people in the news, and so on as if they were subhumans.  I get 

frustrated when people don't conform to my plans or see things 

the way I do.  (Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day Peter Scazzero week 7 Day 3)

Prayer:  

May God bless you with discomfort

at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships

so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger,

at injustice, oppression,  and exploitation of people,

so that you may work for justice, freedom, and Peace.

May God bless you with tears, 

to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war,

so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness

to believe you can make a difference in the world,

so that you can do what others claim cannot be done,

to bring  justice and kindness to all our children and the poor

A Franciscan Benediction

February 25th

God Thoughts February 22

Memorize: I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. Philemon 4,5

Read Philemon

Last night I watched the movie "Contagion" from 2011.  Soon 

after her return from a business trip to Hong Kong, Beth Emhoff 

dies from what is a flu or some other type of infection. Her young 

son dies later the same day. Her husband Mitch however seems 

immune. Thus begins the spread of a deadly infection. For 

doctors and administrators at the U.S. Centers for Disease 

Control, several days pass before anyone realizes the extent or 

gravity of this new infection. They must first identify the type of 

virus in question and then find a means of combating it, a 

process that will likely take several months. As the contagion 

spreads to millions of people worldwide, societal order begins to 

break down as people panic.

Interestingly, in real life how you fight contagion is Handle & 

Prepare Food Safely, Wash Hands OftenClean & Disinfect 

Commonly Used Surfaces, Cough & Sneeze Into Your Sleeve. ...

Don't Share Personal Items.  Avoid touching wild animals!

Lastly, the big one is to get the vaccine.

Today, as you read the book of Philemon, notice how many have 

been infected with the contagion of bitterness.  Highlight, the names 

we usually fly by like; Apphia and Archippus.  Sin is a contagion 

that spreads rapidly.  Best way to handle a contagion is minute 

by minute sanitation.  This is what I call: "God’s commit sin-

confront sin-confess-forgive plan.

Now, avoid touching the wild animals of sin!  Paul, could have 

made the sour situation worse, by blaming, Isolating, vilifying 

and controlling.  In short, he could have handled the contagion by 

sinning.  Instead, he chose to avoid these wild animals and by 

sharing, caring,  and communicating Christ he facilitated 

forgiveness.

The vaccine against the contagion of bitterness and sin is 

Jesus!  "“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the 

world!"  John 1:29

Prayer:  

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom 

come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this 

day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have 

forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver 

us from evil.'  Amen

God Thoughts February 24th

God Thoughts February 22

Memorize: I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. Philemon 4,5

Read 2 Corinthians 2 Corinthians 13:11-14 * highlight the word fellowship.

Paul was dealing with an ongoing problem in the Corinthian church. He could have refused to communicate until they cleared up their situation, but he loved them and reached out to them again with the love of Christ.

Love, however, means that sometimes we must confront those we care about. Both authority and personal concern are needed in dealing with people who are ruining their lives with sin. But there are several wrong approaches in confronting others, and these can further break relationships rather than heal them. We can be legalistic and blast people away with the laws they should be obeying. We can turn away from them because we don’t want to face the situation.

We can isolate them by gossiping about their problem and turning others against them as well. Or, like Paul, we can seek to build relationships by taking a better approach—sharing, communicating, and caring. This is a difficult approach that can drain us emotionally, but it is the best way for other people, and it is the only Christlike way to deal with others’ sin.

Tyndale. Life Application Study Bible NIV (Kindle Locations 198261-198263). Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Kindle Edition.

Prayer:  

Lord, make me an instrument of your 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, 

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.