The battle between good & evil

So, why do you have demonically inspired leaders in various countries of the world today? Why do you have a culture which is clearly antichrist, which actually glorifies evil? Because Satan is working through his people on the earth. And if you try and explain it any other way, you have a problem. You have to ask, well, where does evil come from? Why do we choose evil rather than good?

#goodandevil #jesus #Messiah #salvation

https://lightforthelastdays.co.uk/articles/bible-teachings/the-battle-between-good-evil/

Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

Today’s readings

Have you accepted Jesus as your personal Savior? I’m sure you’ve heard this question, perhaps someone even asked you that question. They teach that all you have to do is make that one-time decision and you’re saved. Well, not so fast.

If salvation were something magical that came about as the result of just saying a simple prayer, once and for all and then living the rest of your life however you want, then why wouldn’t everyone do that? The fact is, salvation is hard work. It was purchased at an incredible price by Jesus on the cross. And for us to make it real in our lives, to live it in our lives, we have work to do too. Not the kind of work that earns salvation, because salvation can never be earned, but the kind of work that appropriates it into our lives and makes it meaningful and apparent to those who encounter us.

Salvation looks like something. People who are saved behave in a specific way. They are people who take the Gospel seriously and live it every day. They are people of integrity that stand up for what’s right in every situation, no matter what it personally costs. They are people of justice who will not tolerate the sexist or racist joke, let alone tolerate a lack of concern for the poor, the marginalized, and the oppressed. They are people of deep prayer, whose lives are wrapped up in the Eucharist and the sacraments, people who confront their own sinfulness by examination of conscience and sacramental Penance. They are people who live lightly in this world, not getting caught up in its excess and distraction, knowing they are citizens of a heaven where such things have no permanence. Saved people live in a way that is often hard, but always joyful.

Not everyone who claims Jesus as a personal Savior, not everyone who cries out “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven. That’s what Jesus tells us today. Salvation isn’t magic. We have to build our spiritual houses on the solid rock of Jesus Christ, living as he lived, following his commandments, and clinging to him in prayer and sacrament as if our very life depended on it. Because it does. It does.

Let not your heart be troubled

So, we started off this talk thinking about being afraid of the world situation and being afraid of all the troubles coming in the world. It's natural to feel fear when you see these things happening. Jesus gives you the one answer. He says that you can find peace in Him. And I guess you have received peace because most of you believe in Jesus. If you don't, now's the day of salvation.

#faith #jesus #Messiah #salvation #TimeOfTrouble

https://lightforthelastdays.co.uk/articles/moral-matters/let-not-your-heart-be-troubled/

Israel and the Islamic cult of death

And because they believe this, this is not just a sort of political idea, it’s a religious idea. And they really believe this, then they’re going to carry on until till they die.

#DeathCult #islam #Israel #jesus #Messiah #salvation

https://lightforthelastdays.co.uk/articles/israel-and-the-middle-east/israel-and-the-islamic-cult-of-death/

😔 Humanity loves darkness rather than the Light.
✝️ Jesus exposes every deed.
💡 Come to Him and practice truth.

♥️ ‭‭~ John‬ ‭3‬:‭19‬-‭21‬ ‭LSB‬‬

📖 Meet Jesus in the Gospels. 👇
🌟Matthew ➡️ https://read.lsbible.org/?q=matthew
🌟Mark ➡️ https://read.lsbible.org/?q=mark
🌟Luke ➡️ https://read.lsbible.org/?q=luke
🌟John ➡️ https://read.lsbible.org/?q=john

#JesusChrist #Grace #RepentAndBelieveInJesus #Salvation #Gospel

I daresay that overall, as a Bill Murray-starring spiritual awakening narrative in which we're supposed to believe that Murray's character is completely transformed over the course of two hours (however much diagetic time elapses) I prefer Scrooged to Groundhog Day. Ironically it's because Groundhog Day is the more polished film, and therefore its #salvation narrative is less convincing than that of Scrooged, whose production was infamously fractious and resulted in an edgy, at times alarming movie with extreme mood shifts and an ending which Roger Ebert (and others) said looked as if Bill Murray was breaking down on-camera instead of just "improvising".

But that just makes it feel more visceral, a bit more real, even if the ending is basically about as facile as that of Groundhog Day. Murray doesn't just get his girl back, but it looks like he might go on being President of his TV network rather than suffering the usual consequences for laying waste to a $40,000,000 live Christmas broadcast.

(cont'd)

Quote of the day, 21 June: St. Teresa

O my Lord and true God! Whoever does not know You does not love You. What a great truth this is! But, alas, Lord, there are those who don’t want to know You! A dreadful thing is the hour of death. But, alas, my Creator, how frightful will be the day when Your justice will have to be exercised! I often consider, my Christ, how pleasing and delightful Your eyes are to one who loves You; and You, my God, want to look with love. It seems to me that only one such gentle glance toward souls that You possess as Yours is enough reward for many years of service. Oh, God help me, how hard it is to explain this unless to those who have already understood how gentle the Lord is [Ps 34:9].

Christians, Christians! Behold the communion you have with this great God; recognize it and don’t despise it, for just as this glance is agreeable to His lovers, it is frightful with a terrifying wrath for His persecutors. Oh, how we fail to understand that sin is a battle pitched against God with all our soul’s senses and faculties. He who can commit more sins, invents more treachery against his King. You already know, my Lord, that recalling that I might see Your divine face angered with me on this frightful day of the final judgment caused me greater fear than all the pains and furies of hell shown to me. I beg You that Your mercy may protect me from a thing that would be so sad for me, and thus I beg it of You now, Lord. What can happen to me on earth that would resemble this? I want to possess all, my God. May I not fail to enjoy peacefully so much beauty. Your Father gave You to us, may I not lose, my Lord, so precious a jewel. I confess, eternal Father, I have kept it poorly. But there is still a remedy, Lord, there is still a remedy while we live in this exile.

O brothers, O brothers and sons of this God! Let us try hard, let us trust hard, for you know that His Majesty says that if we are sorry for having offended Him our faults and evils will not be remembered [Ezek 18:21–22]. Oh, compassion so measureless! What more do we desire? Is there by chance anyone who is not ashamed to ask for so much? Now is the time to take what this compassionate Lord and God of ours gives us. Since He desires our friendship, who will deny it to one who did not refuse to shed all His blood and lose His life for us? Behold that what He asks for is nothing, since giving it is for our own benefit.

O Lord, God, help me! Oh, what hardness! Oh, what foolishness and blindness! If when something is lost (a needle or a sparrow hawk that isn’t worth anything other than to give a little pleasure upon seeing it fly through the air) we feel sad, why don’t we feel sad upon losing this royal eagle of God’s majesty and a kingdom of endless enjoyment? What is this? I don’t understand it. My God, cure such a great foolishness and blindness.

Saint Teresa of Avila

Soliloquies, 14

Teresa of Avila, St 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Detail of the statue of Saint Teresa in the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel “Extramuros” in Valladolid, Spain | Image credit: Ángel Cantero, Iglesia en Valladolid / Flickr (Some rights reserved)

Choose Jesus Today (Joshua 24:15)

Every day, we make choices.

We choose what to believe.
We choose who to follow.
We choose what influences our lives.

Joshua challenged God's people with a powerful decision:

“Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.”

The same challenge remains today.

The world offers many voices competing for your attention.

#ChooseJesus #Faith #JesusSaves #ChristianYouth #Salvation #JMSM #KNKA

A plot, if there is to be one, must be a secret. A secret that, if we only knew it, would dispel our frustration, lead us to salvation; or else the knowing of it in itself would be salvation. Does such a luminous secret exist? Yes, provided it is never known. Known, it will only disappoint us.
-- Umberto Eco

⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #UmbertoEco #Salvation #Writing

⬇ #Photography #Panorama #Panopainting #Seashells #Everglades #Florida