Today’s Readings:
Acts 14:5-18; Psalm 115:1-4,15-16; John 14:21-26
LOVE COMES FIRST! The proof that we truly understand the meaning of love is that God is the first Person that comes to mind when we think of love. St John tells us that, “God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1John 4:16). To love is to allow God take possession of your mind, heart and body, so much so that to live is to be conscious of God’s presence in and around you. Does God have such a hold on you? Have you given yourself over to God such that you can say that you only do what God wills for you and for your happiness and peace?
May God take possession of your heart, fill it with love, so that you only think, will and do what pleases God and attain the wonderful reward of loving God, through Christ our Lord. Amen. LET THE LOVE OF GOD FILL YOUR HEART. Jesus says, “If anyone loves me, he/she will keep my word, and my Father will love him/her, and we shall come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23). To love God is to know God’s word through a daily study of it. It is to apply it to the different situations which life presents you. It is to never set it aside at any time or in any situation but to always judge every situation in the light of what God has said through His word. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your Word Is a lamp unto my feet and light unto my path”. The absence of God’s word is the presence of darkness and to dwell in darkness gives room for wrong decisions which eventually ends in destruction. May that not be your portion in Jesus’ name. Many people have lost their way today because they have failed to allow themselves be guided by God’s word and by the counsel of those who are also guided by God’s word. They preferred to be guided by their own desires. This is a constant source of temptation. We can learn a thing or two from Paul and Barnabas about how to place the love of God above our own desires.
While at Lycaonia, they were faced with the temptation of taking glory in the work which God has done through them. They preached and cured a man who was crippled from birth and the people mistook them for the Greek gods Zeus and Hermes. The people quickly brought oxen to sacrifice to them. This was the shortcut to fame they could have jumped at. How many people today have jumped at similar shortcuts after years of serving God and giving their best passionately to the ministry or to their chosen profession or career. Some have concluded that there is no other way to success than by taking the shortcuts which life throws at them. Saints Paul and Barnabas did not allow themselves be swept away by such temptation. They must have remembered Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness and His reply to the devil after He was offered the kingdoms of this world and all their glory: “You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve” (Luke 4:8). Paul said, “We are human beings like you. We have come with the good news to make you turn from these empty idols to the living God…” (Acts 14:15). To live for human praise is to give in to idolatry and idolatry is simply the worship of the devil.
God will bless you as you strive to do His will. Never think that you can take a shortcut to His plan for your life. Remember, “There is a way that seems right to a man/woman, But its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12). How many people have destroyed themselves in the pursuit of wealth, fame and prestige? God confers all three and even more (eternal happiness) when we choose to seek all things through Him, with Him and in Him. Let this be your prayer this week and always.
JUDE-MARY OWOH
Prayer:
Through Him, with Him and in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory, praise and adoration are Yours, Heavenly Father, together with your beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, forever and ever.
My Father, may I always give You the praise that You deserve in all that I do, in Jesus name.
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