Gospel Thoughts Today: Thankful For His Mercy

I am a sinner . . . no ifs, ands or buts. Even though I have read every Volume, every book Anne a lay apostle has written, every Heaven Speaks booklet and write about the Gospel almost every day, I still make mistakes. But the beauty of faith in Jesus Christ is His Great Mercy. He knows who we are . . . who we really are deep down behind the facade we cling to so others think we have it together . . . and He still loves us despite our missteps. The dark recesses of our minds are not hidden from Him. Nothing is. God loves us unconditionally. Isn't that what every human being on this earth craves . . . unconditional love? Begin today by being thankful for His Mercy . . . He will lead you the rest of the way.

There is a song by Michael W. Smith called "Lord Have Mercy." It's a beautiful song which we all can relate to. Below are the lyrics and a YouTube video recording of the song featuring Amy Grant:

Jesus, I’ve forgotten the words that You have spoken

Promises that burned within my heart have now grown dim

With a doubting heart I follow the paths of earthly wisdom

Forgive me for my unbelief

Renew the fire again

Lord have mercy

Christ have mercy

Lord have mercy on me

Lord have mercy

Christ have mercy

Lord have mercy on me

I have built an altar where I worship things of men

I have taken journeys that have drawn me far from You

Now I am returning to Your mercies ever flowing

Pardon my transgressions

Help me love You again

Lord have mercy

Christ have mercy

Lord have mercy on me

Lord have mercy

Christ have mercy

Lord have mercy on me

I have longed to know You and Your tender mercies

Like a river of forgiveness ever flowing without end

I bow my heart before You in the goodness of Your presence

Your grace forever shining

Like a beacon in the night

The Gospel (Matthew 9:27-31) message today is . . . believe and see the mercy of Christ:

As Jesus passed by, two blind men followed him, crying out, “Son of David, have pity on us!” When he entered the house, the blind men approached him and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they said to him. Then he touched their eyes and said, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.” And their eyes were opened. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” But they went out and spread word of him through all that land.

In Volume Four, Jesus reminds us of God's great mercy with the end goal being eternity with Him:

"Believe Me when I say to you that you will never have peace, true peace, while you are separated from Me. And your eternity must be considered. You will spend eternity in one of two places, dear little soul. You must give this serious thought and determine where you would like to reside. You say you do not believe in God or you do not believe that God would send people to hell forever. I tell you today that it is not I, the only God there is, who condemns souls to hell. It is the soul himself who chooses to reside in hell. Do you know why the soul chooses hell? Because there are like-minded souls there. A soul who aligns himself with darkness does not choose heaven because that soul would not be comfortable in heaven. You must understand that you can be angry with God but God is not at fault. You can blame God for all that is wrong with your world and perhaps this will work for you on earth. I assure you though, on this day that this will cease to work for you at the moment of your death. At that time there will be only yourself to blame as the Truth is inescapable. You will be facing the one, the only, and the true God and attempting to tell Him that He does not exist. How do you think this will go for you? It will not go well, dear soul, and that is why I am speaking to you now. I want you to divert from this path that leads to damnation. You are choosing against Me now and I am asking you to stop. I love you."

Lay apostles, think about what the word "mercy" means. Dictionary.com defines it as "compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence." This word has Jesus written all over it! Try to recall all the mercy you have been shown or demonstrated in your lifetime. It's quite amazing when you think about it! Man, I have been given an abundance of mercy when I didn't deserve it. I will strive to prove my thankfulness to Him for the rest of my life and throughout eternity.

Thank you, Lord, for forgiving my transgressions.

God bless,
Bonnie

Gospel Thought Today: Accentuate the Positive

Negativity abounds every time I turn the TV on. It's one of the reasons I rarely watch the news. Now if I were the owner of a television station with news telecasts, here is what I would make mandatory: for every negative piece of news, there was positive to offset it. Think about how that could affect people. Or better yet, MORE positive than negative? There are countless compassionate people making this world a better place, striving to bring hope when hope can be hard to find. There is a song by the beloved Ella Fitzgerald called "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive" which sums up what we as Christians should be showing the world. Here are some of the lyrics, followed by a YouTube video of Ella singing this uplifting song:

You've got to accentuate the positive

Eliminate the negative

Latch on to the affirmative

Don't mess with Mister In-Between

You've got to spread joy up to the maximum

Bring gloom down to the minimum

Have faith or pandemonium

Liable to walk upon the scene

To illustrate his last remark

Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark

What did they do

Just when everything looked so dark

Man, they said we better, accentuate the positive

Eliminate the negative

Latch on to the affirmative

Don't mess with Mister In-Between

No, do not mess with Mister In-Between

Do you hear me?

Oh, listen to me children and-a you will hear

About the elininatin' of the negative

And the accent on the positive

And gather 'round me children if you're willin'

And sit tight while I start reviewing'

Today's Gospel (Luke 10:21-24) reminds us of the graces given to followers of Christ:

Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

Turning to the disciples in private he said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.  For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”

In Anne a lay apostle's book Whispers From the Cross, she directs us to focus on the positive:

"If the world is facing a difficult time, and it seems that we are, then we will need to work very hard to understand God’s power and stop talking about darkness. Is the darkness there? Of course. Only a spiritually blind man would deny this. But we sometimes add to the darkness instead of holding up the light. We can be guilty of doing this by talking incessantly of the darkness with dire threats of impending doom. In most cases, we are speculating. Perhaps we should speculate on how God can rescue us and posit those theories instead of hypothesizing how the enemy will play with us next. Perhaps we will speculate on how the Church will lead us with strength and courage instead of how we will be overcome. Perhaps we could try an exercise and guess how good men will become great men through challenges instead of guessing how men of apparent lesser good will become evil through temptation. May the Lord have mercy on us for being so pessimistic about God’s world and may the Lord enlighten us as to how we bring unity to God’s Church and not division. If we identify that unity is desirable, and indeed necessary for the advancement of the renewal, then we will make a decision to participate in the acquisition of this unity. Jesus loves us so much. He has such tremendous hope placed in each one of us and in each one of the roles we have been assigned."

Lay apostles, what are you focused on today? Life is full of disappointments if you continue to dwell on them. So, let's accentuate the positive . . . stepping away from all the negativity and opening our eyes to the beauty and graces provided by Our Father in heaven. At the least, with every negative thought, quickly think of a positive one to offset it! I'll be working on that right along with you!

Thank you, Lord, for shaking the negative out of my head with Your beautiful words in the Gospel and in Anne's books. Continue to remind me to focus on the positive!

God bless,
Bonnie

Accentuate the Positive

Negativity abounds every time I turn the TV on. It's one of the reasons I rarely watch the news. Now if I were the owner of a television station with news telecasts, here is what I would make mandatory: for every negative piece of news, there was positive to offset it. Think about how that could effect people. Or better yet, MORE positive than negative? There are countless compassionate people making this world a better place, striving to bring hope when hope can be hard to find. There is a song by the beloved Ella Fitzgerald called "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive" which sums up what we as Christians should be showing the world. Here are some of the lyrics, followed by a YouTube video of Ella singing this uplifting song:

You've got to accentuate the positive

Eliminate the negative

Latch on to the affirmative

Don't mess with Mister In-Between

You've got to spread joy up to the maximum

Bring gloom down to the minimum

Have faith or pandemonium

Liable to walk upon the scene

To illustrate his last remark

Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark

What did they do

Just when everything looked so dark

Man, they said we better, accentuate the positive

Eliminate the negative

Latch on to the affirmative

Don't mess with Mister In-Between

No, do not mess with Mister In-Between

Do you hear me?

Oh, listen to me children and-a you will hear

About the elininatin' of the negative

And the accent on the positive

And gather 'round me children if you're willin'

And sit tight while I start reviewing'

Todays Gospel (Luke 10:21-24) reminds us of the graces given to followers of Christ:

Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

Turning to the disciples in private he said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.
For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”

In Anne a lay apostle's book Whispers From the Cross, she directs us to focus on the positive:

"If the world is facing a difficult time, and it seems that we are, then we will need to work very hard to understand God’s power and stop talking about darkness. Is the darkness there? Of course. Only a spiritually blind man would deny this. But we sometimes add to the darkness instead of holding up the light. We can be guilty of doing this by talking incessantly of the darkness with dire threats of impending doom. In most cases, we are speculating. Perhaps we should speculate on how God can rescue us and posit those theories instead of hypothesizing how the enemy will play with us next. Perhaps we will speculate on how the Church will lead us with strength and courage instead of how we will be overcome. Perhaps we could try an exercise and guess how good men will become great men through challenges instead of guessing how men of apparent lesser good will become evil through temptation. May the Lord have mercy on us for being so pessimistic about God’s world and may the Lord enlighten us as to how we bring unity to God’s Church and not division. If we identify that unity is desirable, and indeed necessary for the advancement of the renewal, then we will make a decision to participate in the acquisition of this unity. Jesus loves us so much. He has such tremendous hope placed in each one of us and in each one of the roles we have been assigned."

Lay apostles, what are you focused on today? Life is full of disappointments if you continue to dwell on them. So, let's accentuate the positive . . . stepping away from all the negativity and opening our eyes to the beauty and graces provided by Our Father in heaven. At the least, with every negative thought, quickly think of a positive one to offset it! I'll be working on that right along with you!

Thank you, Lord, for shaking the negative out of my head with Your beautiful words in the Gospel and in Anne's books. Continue to remind me to focus on the positive!

God bless,
Bonnie

Thankful for His Mercy

I am a sinner . . . no ifs, ands or buts. Even though I have read every Volume, every book Anne a lay apostle has written, every Heaven Speaks booklet and write about the Gospel almost every day, I still make mistakes. But the beauty of faith in Jesus Christ is His Great Mercy. He knows who we are . . . who we really are deep down behind the facade we cling to so others think we have it together . . . and He still loves us despite our missteps. The dark recesses of our minds are not hidden from Him. Nothing is. God loves us unconditionally. Isn't that what every human being on this earth craves . . . unconditional love? Begin today by being thankful for His Mercy . . . He will lead you the rest of the way.

There is a song by Michael W. Smith called "Lord Have Mercy." It's a beautiful song which we all can relate to. Below are the lyrics and a YouTube video recording of the song featuring Amy Grant:

Jesus, I’ve forgotten the words that You have spoken

Promises that burned within my heart have now grown dim

With a doubting heart I follow the paths of earthly wisdom

Forgive me for my unbelief

Renew the fire again

Lord have mercy

Christ have mercy

Lord have mercy on me

Lord have mercy

Christ have mercy

Lord have mercy on me

I have built an altar where I worship things of men

I have taken journeys that have drawn me far from You

Now I am returning to Your mercies ever flowing

Pardon my transgressions

Help me love You again

Lord have mercy

Christ have mercy

Lord have mercy on me

Lord have mercy

Christ have mercy

Lord have mercy on me

I have longed to know You and Your tender mercies

Like a river of forgiveness ever flowing without end

I bow my heart before You in the goodness of Your presence

Your grace forever shining

Like a beacon in the night

The Gospel (Matthew 9:27-31) message today is . . . believe and see the mercy of Christ:

As Jesus passed by, two blind men followed him, crying out, “Son of David, have pity on us!”  When he entered the house, the blind men approached him and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?”  “Yes, Lord,” they said to him.  Then he touched their eyes and said, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.”  And their eyes were opened.  Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” But they went out and spread word of him through all that land.

In Volume Four, Jesus reminds us of God's great mercy with the end goal being eternity with Him:

"Believe Me when I say to you that you will never have peace, true peace, while you are
separated from Me. And your eternity must be considered. You will spend eternity in one of two places, dear little soul. You must give this serious thought and determine where you would like to reside. You say you do not believe in God or you do not believe that God would send people to hell forever. I tell you today that it is not I, the only God there is, who condemns souls to hell. It is the soul himself who chooses to reside in hell. Do you know why the soul chooses hell? Because there are like-minded souls there. A soul who aligns himself with darkness does not choose heaven because that soul would not be comfortable in heaven. You must understand that you can be angry with God but God is not at fault. You can blame God for all that is wrong with your world and perhaps this will work for you on earth. I assure you though, on this day that this will cease to work for you at the moment of your death. At that time there will be only yourself to blame as the Truth is inescapable. You will be facing the one, the only, and the true God and attempting to tell Him that He does not exist. How do you think this will go for you? It will not go well, dear soul, and that is why I am speaking to you now. I want you to divert from this path that leads to damnation. You are choosing against Me now and I am asking you to stop. I love you."

Lay apostles, think about what the word "mercy" means. Dictionary.com defines it as "compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence." This word has Jesus written all over it!  Try to recall all the mercy you have been shown or demonstrated in your lifetime. It's quite amazing when you think about it! Man, I have been given an abundance of mercy when I didn't deserve it. I will strive to prove my thankfulness to Him for the rest of my life and throughout eternity.

Thank you, Lord, for forgiving my transgressions. 

God bless,
Bonnie

Accentuate the Positive

Negativity abounds every time I turn the TV on. It's one of the reasons I rarely watch the news. Now if I were the owner of a television station with news telecasts, here is what I would make mandatory: for every negative piece of news, there was positive to offset it. Think about how that could effect people. Or better yet, MORE positive than negative? There are countless compassionate people making this world a better place, striving to bring hope when hope can be hard to find. There is a song by the beloved Ella Fitzgerald called "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive" which sums up what we as Christians should be showing the world. Here are some of the lyrics, followed by a YouTube video of Ella singing this uplifting song:

Gather 'round me, everybody

Gather 'round me, while I preach some

Feel a sermon coming on here

The topic will be sin and that's what I'm again

If you wanna hear my story

Then settle back and just sit tight

While I start reviewing

The attitude of doing right

You've got to accentuate the positive

Eliminate the negative

Latch on to the affirmative

Don't mess with mister in between

You got to spread joy up to the maximum

Bring gloom down to the minimum

Have faith, or pandemonium

Liable to walk upon the scene

To illustrate my last remark

Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark

What did they do, just when everything looked so dark?

Man, they said, we better

Todays Gospel (Luke 10:21-24) reminds us of the graces given to followers of Christ:

Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

Turning to the disciples in private he said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. 
For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”

In Anne a lay apostle's book Whispers From the Cross, she directs us to focus on the positive:

"If the world is facing a difficult time, and it seems that we are, then we will need to work very hard to understand God’s power and stop talking about darkness. Is the darkness there? Of course. Only a spiritually blind man would deny this. But we sometimes add to the darkness instead of holding up the light. We can be guilty of doing this by talking incessantly of the darkness with dire threats of impending doom. In most cases, we are speculating. Perhaps we should speculate on how God can rescue us and posit those theories instead of hypothesizing how the enemy will play with us next. Perhaps we will speculate on how the Church will lead us with strength and courage instead of how we will be overcome. Perhaps we could try an exercise and guess how good men will become great men through challenges instead of guessing how men of apparent lesser good will become evil through temptation. May the Lord have mercy on us for being so pessimistic about God’s world and may the Lord enlighten us as to how we bring unity to God’s Church and not division. If we identify that unity is desirable, and indeed necessary for the advancement of the renewal, then we will make a decision to participate in the acquisition of this unity. Jesus loves us so much. He has such tremendous hope placed in each one of us and in each one of the roles we have been assigned."

Lay apostles, what are you focused on today? Life is full of disappointments if you continue to dwell on them. So, let's accentuate the positive . . . stepping away from all the negativity and opening our eyes to the beauty and graces provided by Our Father in heaven. At the least, with every negative thought, quickly think of a positive one to offset it! I'll be working on that right along with you!

Thank you, Lord, for shaking the negative out of my head with Your beautiful words in the Gospel and in Anne's books. Continue to remind me to focus on the positive!

God bless,
Bonnie