Matthew 17:24-27 ~ sons are free

Matthew 17:24-27

 When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” 

25 He said, “Yes.” 

And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, 

“What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” 

26 And when he said, “From others,” 

Jesus said to him, 

“Then the sons are free. 

27 However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for Me and for yourself.”

Genesis 1

20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 

21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. 

And God saw that it was good. 

And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

Genesis 7

7 Then the Lord said to Noah, 

“Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, 3 and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth

Jesus telling us about Who He Truly Is:

Jesus plainly and clearly bore witness to Himself.



Matthew 11:29
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Jesus repeated what God said to Moses:


Matthew 22:31-32
And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God:

32 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? 
He is not God of the dead, but of the living."

Matthew 28:22b
Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.


John 5:17
But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”


John 6:35
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”


John 6:51
“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.”


John 8:12
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”


John 8:18
I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.


John 10:9
I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.


John 10:11
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.


John 10:14
I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.


John 10:38
If I do them [works], even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.


John 11:25
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.”


John 12:32
And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.


John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”


John 15:1
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.”


John 17:9
I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.


John 10:30
The Father and I are one.

  

John 21

 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. 

7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!”

Hebrews 1:1-3

1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways,

 God spoke to our fathers by the prophets

but in these last days 

He has spoken to us by His Son

 

Whom He appointed the heir of all things, 

through whom also He created the world. 

He is the radiance of the glory of God 

and the exact imprint of His nature, 

and 

He upholds the universe 

by the Word of His Power. 

Abba, Father,

You are working

and so is Your Son, Jesus.

Jesus prays for us

John 17

7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 

8 For I have given them the Words that You gave me, 

and they have received them 

and have come to know in truth that I came from You

and 

they have believed that You sent me. 

I am praying for them. 

I am not praying for the world but for those whom You have given me, 

for they are yours. 

All mine are Yours, and Yours are mine, 

and I am glorified in them. 

And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, 

and I am coming to you. 

Holy Father, 

keep them in Your Name, 

which You have given me, that they may be one, 

even as We are One.

We see South America boldly proclaiming

to live within the authority of God 

in the goals for their culture

and Ireland.

The Church of England.

We want to live

and breathe

and have our being

in your 

Way,

Life 

and Truth.

Dwell in us, Father,

we ask in the Highest Name of Jesus.

Dwell, fully, in those we love

Help us to seek You 

first

and we will finish well 

in Jesus Christ.

We pray 

Peace

for Israel

and Your Good Creation.

Continued Healing

and all Good Health!

Thank You.

Our God is working. His Son,

Jesus is working.

Amen.

Lent Question of the Day:

May the God of hope 

fill you with all joy and peace in believing, 

so that by the power of the Holy Spirit 

you may abound in _ _ _ _

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

YES Bless the Lord Jesus

Thank You Jesus

John 6:44-51 ~ raise him up

 

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 †

YES Bless the Lord Jesus

Thank You Jesus

John 14:1-4 ~ Believe in God, Believe in Jesus

† 

John 14:1-4

 

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. 

In my Father's house are many rooms. 

If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also. 

And you know the way to where I am going.”

2 Corinthians 5:17  

Wherefore 

if any man is in Christ, 

he is a new creature: 

the old things are passed away

Behold, they are become 

new.

British Columbia 

Beaches of Israel

One day, we will all make the journey.

The Lord God Almighty will know. And yet, we will say.  All will speak of those they love.  And others, like my Grandmother Anita, will tell the Lord of seeing Him in the hungry and downtrodden of the Great Depression and feeding Him from a line of His people and seeing them hungry and fed. 

My Great Aunt Clarice, will tell of seeing her adopted nephew unable to pass in High School in the big city, probably from Fragile X Syndrome, and housing, feeding - so many levels, and making sure Jimmy graduated in a small, caring hometown. Thirsty for a hope and a future. A small hometown sees a stranger and welcomes him. Him. 

Our Tate, will tell Jesus about his priesthood and many were naked and clothed with the Name of Jesus. Saved. His trips to the jail to visit those in many types of prison and free in Jesus, free in deed.  Feed the Sheep!

What will we say? Will we sponsor a child, care for those we love. Have a life speaking, to the Lord, until our hearts see Him?  Will we tell Him we prayed for Israel?  Probably, like most parents, Our Father wants to hear from our hearts.

This is Lent. Prepare the heart!

Abba, Father,

Thank You

You hear

and love us

and answer our prayers.

Your Good Will

be done on earth

as in

Heaven.

Our heart hears the call from You.

And we see in Scripture 

the mercy of the merciful

Luke 17:17-19

Then Jesus answered, 

“Were not ten cleansed?

 Where are the nine? 

Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 

And He said to him, 

“Rise and go your way; 

your faith has made you well.”

Help us to LIVE

 each day

putting You first.

As the Name of Jesus covers us

and 

the Holy Spirit dwells in us.

We ask healing

of Your Good Creation!

The fullness of the earth is Yours.

The healing of those we pray for
in our heart and soul.

Those who have worried about

illness

and the ones they love.

Dwell in us, Father,

we ask in the Highest Name of Jesus

Dwell fully in those we love

Help us to seek You 

first

and we will finish well 

in Jesus Christ.

Thank You.

Our God is working. His Son, 

Jesus is working.

Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

YES Bless the Lord Jesus

Thank You Jesus