GOD SHALL LIFT YOU UP AGAIN

⏰Monday of the Twenty-Fifth Week of Ordinary Time 1 (25 September 2023)

📖Ezra 1:1-6; Ps 126:1-2ab, 2cd-3, 4-5, 6 (R.v.3a); Luke 8:16-18

🎤GOD SHALL LIFT YOU UP AGAIN! 

Amen!

Child of God, I may not be able to say exactly what you are going through at the moment. I may not even be able to say what will happen to you next. Yet, there is one thing that I am sure of: The Lord does not abandon his own. At the appointed time, he will surely lift you up. At that time, even your enemies will begin to work for your good.

In Jer 25:11-12, the prophet declared that the people of Israel would not remain in exile forever. When the time comes, they shall be liberated, and those who stand against them shall be punished. That became the foundation upon which the book of Ezra is built. This book, which we begin to read today, is proof that God never fails to fulfil his promise.

Again, when the Lord means to lift you up, he can send you help from uncommon places. To liberate the people of Israel from Babylon, he used the pagan king, Cyrus of Persia. So you do not really need to be worried about how your help shall come. The Lord is the master planner; he is working out everything for your good.

Nonetheless, you need not relax from pursuing righteousness because it is the manure that will dispose you to rise and attract the favour of God. Even though God is ever merciful and gives generously, it is only those who dispose themselves well that benefit from it. Notice that it is those "whose spirit God had stirred" (Ezra 1:5) that will benefit from that liberation. You can see! We must let God be in us and rework us.

Jesus tells us how to begin to allow God to come into us: We must let our light shine out for others to see and give God the glory. That light is righteousness.

May the Lord lift you up in this new work week and beyond. May he turn every stumbling block on your way to a stepping stone. And may his light in you never go dim so that you may be a source of testimony to all who encounter you. Amen

Peace be with you!

http://www.fadajbcezeonwumelu.com/god-shall-lift-you-up-again/

GOD CAN DO MORE THAN YOU CAN EVER ASK

 wenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

Isa 55:6-9; Ps 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-19 (R.v.18a); Phil 1:20c-24, 27a; Matt 20:1-16a

GOD CAN DO MORE THAN YOU CAN EVER ASK

May the peace of Christ which is beyond all things dwell with you. Amen.

After a long time of suffering in exile, the prophet of the Deutero-Isaiah had, right from the beginning, in Isaiah 40:1, embarked on the project of comforting and encouraging the people. Throughout the book (Isa 40:1 – 55:13), he prophesied restoration and the coming of the Messiah. At the end, in Isaiah 55, he reminds the people that God is able to provide all that they need, but they need to do one important thing: to come back to God (cf. Isa 55:6).

As we gradually approach the end of the Church's liturgical year as well as the end of the civil year, that call of the prophet is equally made to us to remind us of our own inevitable end.

To prepare for that end, St Paul, in his letter to the Philippians encourages us to live in Christ always in such a way that we might never be afraid or worried about living or dying, because alive or dead, we belong to Christ (see Phil 1:20-24).

Most times, what makes us lose touch with Christ is our pursuit of ephemeral things. Yet, paying more attention to Jesus is really all we need. The Psalmist said that "The Lord is close to all who call upon him" (Ps 145:18). Have you called on God to take care of those little worries that are dragging you away from the vineyard of God? Remember that it is almost time for harvest! Are you ready to give an account of your stewardship?

In case you see yourself in a distant land from the vineyard of God, never lose hope. God is ever ready to welcome you back in the same way the Father welcomed the Prodigal Son (cf. Luke 15:11-24). He only needs you to take a step back home.

In the light of the above, the Gospel (Matt 20:1-16) encourages us to fill our minds with the benevolence of God and so never think that any sin of ours is beyond God's mercy. God does not think as man thinks, and his mercy extends from everlasting to everlasting upon those who seek him (cf. Ps 103:17).

So what are you waiting for? "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; all other things will be added for you" (Matt 6:33). "Place all your worries on him since he takes care of you" (1Pet 5:7).

Think of this! Assuming the labourers refused to follow Jesus when he invited them into his vineyard, do you think they would have received the payment he made to them? Today, as you hear his voice, harden not your heart.

May God give us the grace to wait on him in all things, and as we place all our hope on him, may his generosity be ever abundant in our life. In the end, may eternal life not elude us through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Have a blessed and spirit-led Sunday. Peace be with you.

https://www.fadajbcezeonwumelu.com/god-can-do-more-than-you-can-ever-ask/

_Things worth pursuing in life_

_Things worth pursuing in life_

1.Making many friends.

It will make you realize why you shouldn’t make many friends.

2.Gift something to your parents with your first salary.

Trust me, the sheer joy you’ll see on their faces will be something you will cherish for the rest of your life.

3.Dance like nobody’s watching, that too in a stranger’s wedding.

Your most enjoyable dance is going to take place.

4.Give your share of food to someone else.

This might keep you hungry for a night but you would be satisfied with pride and respect for yourself.

5.Have kids.

You’ll realize that time comes and goes, now it’s someone else’s turn to enjoy.

6.Live for few days as if in poverty.

You’ll understand how lucky you are to have these resources which half of the world doesn’t.

7.Do charity without mentioning on social media.

You will experience what helping someone actually means.

8..Wave at school going children in a van.

Those kids will wave back at you and there would be a priceless smile on their faces (including you too).

9.Donate blood.

The satisfaction you’ll get after donating your blood is just speechless.

10.Stay away from your parents for sometime.

You will understand their importance in life coz one’s value is understood only when one’s gone.

11.Go for a seven day trek.

You will be amazed to see that you can live happily without so many things.

12.Lose something or someone.

If you don’t experience what losing feels like, you won’t grow.

13.Challenge your body, physically. Push your limits.

Doing this in a consistent basis is one of the most rewarding things one can ever dedicate to themselves.

14.Fall in love at first sight.

It teaches you the difference between physical attraction and true love.

15.Experience a breakdown.

It teaches you how to get yourself up again when you fall.

16.Read, read and read.

It expand your knowledge. It doesn’t have to be a book, it can be articles, magazines...

17.Leave an answer incomplete.

People will point that out in the comment section which will teach you that people focus on negatives more than the positives.

WHEN IT IS REAL? 💘

WHEN... WHEN IT IS REAL? 💘

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1 💯----- When you truly love someone, you actually enjoy being loyal and faithful. 

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2 👰------ Being married someday is going to be so cool. like you get to come home to your best friend every single day and just do life together. 

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3 🤷..When another man makes your girl feel appreciated, you fucked up. You gave the next man the opportunity to show her better. 

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4 💁----- When a woman tells you what she has been thru with an ex she's trusting for you to learn from him & not put her through the same bullshít. 

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5 🤦-----When you lie to someone you love and get caught, have enough respect to come completely clean. You owe them that, it's the least you can do. 

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6 🙆------ Life is too short to waste one single second with someone who doesn't appreciate and value you.

Is humbleness a sign of true success?

True success is not about what you have achieved but the kind of person you have become in the process.

Sometimes, when people achieve wealth, status or power, they become very arrogant, boastful and inconsiderate toward others. If you need to brag about your achievements, it means that you are not satisfied with what you have achieved and need to call for attention from others to approve of your success.

Achieve big in life but never make it believe that you are better than others. If you have genuinely achieved success, you will never feel the need to show it off to others.

Dr Bhawna Gautam

Are you grateful to those who raised you?

 

The relationship with our parents is a very beautiful relationship. Our parents are worthy of much respect and care.

Today people have become so self-centered that as their parents become old, they start to neglect them. They forget all those times when their parents stood for them, cared for them, and went beyond their capacity to provide for them. All they did ever was love and care for them and all they ever want is to be with them.

Never ever see your parents as a burden. They are the biggest blessing in your life. As time goes and our parents grow old, it is our responsibility to be with them. We cannot ever do what our parents did for us but we can always try that in their old age, we give them the much needed comfort.

Dr. Bhawna Gautam