John 6:44-51
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.
And I will raise him up on the last day.
45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the Bread of Life.
Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.
I am the Living Bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the Bread that I will give for the life of the world is My Flesh.
Patrick loved witnessing for Jesus.
God equipped him for this work.
He went back to Ireland, willingly, like Peter and like Paul. Patrick had Joy in his work God gave him. St. Patrick drove the snakes from Ireland, the human snakes inciting war & human sacrifice. He did this without a-how-to-book, without a phone call to a spiritual guidance counselor, without visual aids. Patrick had his faith and the Word of God. Led by the Holy Spirit of God, his life made a huge impact.
St. Patrick ~ Thomas Cahill, Catholic author of the best-selling book How the Irish Saved Civilization:
"Some 1,500 years ago, a teenage boy from what is now Great Britain was kidnapped and enslaved by marauders from a neighboring country. Not since Paris absconded with Helen of Troy has a kidnapping so changed the course of history.
The invading marauders came from fifth-century Ireland. The teenager they captured eventually escaped, but returned voluntarily some years later. In the meantime, he had become convinced that he was handpicked by God to convert the entire country to Christianity.
Apparently, he was right.
In the process of converting the primitive people of Ireland, however, the former slave experienced a conversion, too. In the years that followed, he not only shared God with the people of Ireland, but also grew in his understanding of God through them.
Proverbs 10:12
Love covers offenses
raise him up
Cahill says, "The early Irish Christianity planted in Ireland by Patrick is much more joyful and celebratory [than its Roman predecessor] in the way it approaches the natural world. It is really not a theology of sin but of the goodness of creation, and it really is intensely incarnational." His use of biblical quotations, Cahill says, "is far more accurate and appropriate than many of the Fathers of the Church."
It's hard to grasp just what an accomplishment that was, says Cahill.
When Patrick decided to "willingly go back to the barbarians with the gospel," Cahill explains, "he had to figure out how to bring the values of the gospel he loved to such people. These were people who still practiced human sacrifice, who warred with each other constantly, and who were renowned as the great slave traders of the day.
"That was not a simple thing. This was before courses were given to missionaries in what is now called inculturation—how to plant the gospel in such a culture," Cahill says. "No one had ever even thought about how to do it; Patrick had to work his way through it himself.
These two brief documents, Patrick's Confession and his "Letter to Coroticus," are the basis for all we know of the historical Patrick. The uncontested, if somewhat unspecific, biographical facts about Patrick are as follows:
Patrick was born Patricius somewhere in Roman Britain to a relatively wealthy family.
He was not religious as a youth
And, in fact, claims to have practically renounced the faith of his family.
When Patrick looked back at the end of his life on his service to Ireland,
Cahill says, he must have been pleased with his accomplishments. By the time of his death, or shortly thereafter, "the Irish stopped slave trading and they never took it up again." Human sacrifice had become unthinkable. And although the Irish never stopped warring on one another, "war became much more confined and limited by what we might call the 'rules of warfare.'
"I think he probably died knowing that he had succeeded in his mission," Cahill adds, "he also died hoping that success would be permanent and not temporary."
In fact, Patrick's success couldn't have been more permanent. Not only had he accomplished what he'd set out to do—convert the nation to Christ—but in the process he'd retrieved from obscurity the primary objective set by Christ for his apostles: the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth.
And so it was that a young Briton named Patricius,
died an Irishman named Patrick.
And neither Ireland
nor Christianity
was ever quite the same."
Matthew 9:17
New wine is put in new wine skins and
both are preserved!
Abba, Father,
Know the Scriptures,
Know the Power of God.
And we will believe in
the One He has Sent.
Surely, He took on our infirmities
and carried our sorrows;
yet, we considered Him stricken by God,
struck down and afflicted.
But He was pierced for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace
was upon Him,
and by His stripes
we are healed.
Each Day we are Blessed
to ask for more
More Heaven on earth.
Gently, we hand You our Cares
knowing Your Hands hold
this so well.
Tenderly.
And we are Loved and Filled.
We give thanks to
draw near to you with confidence
in Jesus Christ
according to Your Will
Your Word
Your Steadfast Love
and Your Promises in Jesus.
Dwell in us
and help us to be Pleasing to You
Dwell in those we Love and Honor
and help us to seek You first
and we will end well in Jesus Christ.
Matthew 6:33
Seek first the kingdom of God
and
His righteousness,
and
all these things will be added to you.
Thank You, Father,
for March.
This Beautiful Time.
This is the Day!
Thank You
for Jesus Christ.
Thank You.
Our God is working. His Son,
Jesus is working.
Amen.
♔ Lord Jesus Saves †
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment