Prophecy - The Lord wants to remind us that where two or more are gathered, he is with us and I started to wonder as we are gathered together here on Teams, is Jesus with us. I got a very strong, "Yes, yes, I am with you. I am here." I want to pass on Jesus' strong love and message to us that he is right here with us. He is in each of our homes, in each of our hearts. He reminded me that he is the Way, the Truth and the Life. And so because of our meeting tonight, our coming together, he is so happy and so grateful for your attendance and "Of course," he said, "of course, I am with you and of course, I come to you. I am right here living beside you, around you and inside of you."
Scripture Reading Psalm 98:4-6 - "Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises. Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the song of melody. With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord."
Scripture Reading Psalm 33:20-22 - "Our soul waits for the Lord, who is our help and our shield. For in God our hearts rejoice; in your holy name we trust. May your kindness, Lord, be upon us as we have put our hope in you."
The songs we sang talked about the great sacrifice that Jesus made and it reminded me what was said in the opening prayer that it's so difficult for us to understand what he really did for us. But then, the last song we sang, "Jesus, I love you," I was thinking if we just throughout the day say, "Jesus, I love you; Jesus, I love you," often, often throughout the day, that in itself is thanks and it pleases his heart, I'm sure.
Confirmation in Vision & Scripture Reading Psalm 65:5 - I want to confirm the first prophecy. I saw a vision of Jesus laughing and happy and being amongst us. He was in a joyous mood. Scripture Reading - "Happy the man you choose, whom you invite to live in your courts. Fill us with the good things of your house, of your holy temple."
About three weeks ago, I was spending a lot of time in prayer because I believe God when he says he is always there, "I'll always be there to help you." I sensed that he was asking me to do something but he needed to get my O.K. He wasn't going to do it if I wasn't going to say, "Go ahead, God." How can you say no to God. I said, "Go ahead," but it's not quite finished yet. And he said it wouldn't be easy because I would have to go through things. I'm going through it slowly. He's being kind. It's a wonderful thing but it's not all easy. I want to do what he wants me to do. I trust the Lord.
Prophecy - "My children, if only you knew how much I love you. I have loved you from the beginning of time and I will always love you to the end of time. And even though man has fallen, I have redeemed you because I love you. The death, passion and resurrection of my Son was so that my love come within you and in my love you have that power, through my Son, Jesus, to be transformed, to be redeemed from your sins, to be protected from evil and from the ways of the world. This is the love that I have for you that you may be made whole from the anguish and the agony of despair, of brokenness, of hopelessness. This is the love that I have for you that you may become like me, that my life may live in you and that you may live in me, in my love, and that the world may know that I have come to redeem them and save them as well. Speak, speak this good news to all my people that they, too, may know the gift of salvation that I am offering them."
Scripture Reading Mark 1:40-42 - "The leper approached him with a request, kneeling down as he addressed him, 'If you will to do so, you can cure me,' Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, 'I do will it. Be cured.' The leprosy left him then there and he was cured." I feel that God is asking us to ask him. He loves us so much as was said in prophecy.
Prophecy - "My children, thank you so much for all of the time that you put into your prayer and your praise and all of the time that you put into your love for each other. Your compassion for each other, I see each day. I see your trust in me and your compassion for each other. Thank you. My love is with you."
I would like to confirm that reading about that man who was cured of leprosy. A lot of time we think of leprosy is a physical disease but it's an internal spiritual disease. It's our human condition. It's our brokenness ands that's the leprosy that Jesus truly, truly wants to deliver us from and heal us of.
Scripture Reading John 3:16 - "Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but have eternal life."
Fr. Faricy spoke on "Love". Love is the key to knowing Jesus. His love for us is so powerful and we can tune into it. He shows his love in action - he died for ME, as if I was the only person on earth and he'd do it again. 1 Cor 13:4-7 is his personality profile in so far as he loves us. Jesus is patient, kind, is not envious, does not boast, is not puffed up with pride, does not lack respect, does not look to his own benefit, is not irritable, does not hold grudges, forgives everything. Jesus is love. Jesus loves you unconditionally. Jesus does not say, "Shape up and I'll love you more. Jesus loves me partly because of my sinful tendencies. Mercy is an integral part of his love for me. I am the one Jesus died for. The Father's love is reflected in Jesus and in Hosea 11:4 God says, "I have led you with cords of kindness, with leading strings of love." The image here is God as a mother. The mother in Israel and Palestine ties cords around a child's chest and this holds the child up as the child learns to walk. God the Father has a maternal love for us. In Isaiah, this is what God says, "Does a woman forget her baby at the breast or fail to cherish the child of her womb? Yet even if these forget, I will never forget you. Look, I have branded you in the palms of my hands." God's love for us is tender, merciful, compassionate and fierce for us, like a mother's love. i.e. story of Italien women grabbing Fr. Faricy's arm, asking for prayer for their family - fierce love for family. God's love is a faithful love. And his love is a refining fire. A silversmith holds the silver over a fire and the silver gets hotter and hotter and it begins to glow. How do you know when the silver is totally refined, when all the impurities are out of it? The silversmith will tell you, "When I can see my image, when I can see my reflection in the silver, then I know." When God can see his image in you clearly, that's when the impurities are gone. Jesus and the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit call us to love other people as Jesus loved us (he died for us), leaving them free, not possessively. Love is a choice. When we choose to love even our enemies (like in the parable of the Good Samaritan), God will empower us to love.
Joe spoke about the difference of two priests in his life. In one instance, Joe was lifted up and in another, it was the exact opposite. The first priest encouraged him to put his name up for the parish council. When this priest was transferred, the new priest wanted to hand pick the members for the council. Joe felt the tension between them. He was told it would be best if he dropped out right away. Joe mentioned that he had been elected by the parishioners and he only had six months left to complete his term. Joe was forced out. As a result, Joe felt humiliated and hurt. To go to church, to hear this priest speak, was not a pleasant experience for Joe. He took it to prayer. Two passages from Scripture touched his heart - Matthew 6:14-15 - "Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours; but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either." Matthew 5:44 - "But I say this to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." After about a year, Joe asked the Lord what he should do to improve the relationship. In the quietness of his heart, he seemed to hear the Lord say, "Joe, give him a gift, something that he likes." That was the last thing Joe wanted to do, but he did it. When the priest opened the envelope with the gift card, his whole demeanor changed and there was healing.
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