Bread of Life

Prayer...

Prayer is, in the strictest sense, a humble religious petition of man to God to seek divine benevolence and benefits he needs for life, both temporal and eternal. It is a conversation with God, either by accepted prayer forms, or from the heart. Consider these words as if God were speaking them to His children...

"It is not necessary my child, to know much in order to please me much; it is enough that you love me fervently. Speak here to me then, as you would speak to your most intimate friend, to your mother, to your brother."

~God your Father~

He Gave His Only Son

"Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."

John 21:29

Quotes to Live By

There should be less talk. A preaching point is not a meeting point.

The dying, the cripple, the mental, the unwanted, the unloved-- they are Jesus in disguise.

In the West there is loneliness, which I call the leprosy of the West. In many ways it is worse than our poor in Calcutta. (Commonweal, Dec 19, 1997)

It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving.

The poor give us much more than we give them. They're such strong people, living day to day with no food. and they never curse, never complain. We don't have to give them pity or sympathy. We have so much to learn from them.

I see God in every human being. When I wash the leper's wounds, I feel I am nursing the Lord himself. Is it not a beautiful experience?

I do not pray for success. I ask for faithfulness.

Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go.

If you judge people, you have no time to love them.

~Mother Teresa~

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Jesus My Love In Acrostics

by Stella Armstrong

A week ago my daughter told me that her homework in Reading was to make an acrostic poem. An acrostic poem is a poem in which the first letter or syllable of each line spells out a word or a message. According to Wikipedia, there is a famous acrostic poem in Greek where the first letters of each line spelled out the Greek word "Ichthys." This acrostic poem was the acclamation "Jesus Christ, God's son, Savior" which in Greek is "Iesous Christos, THeou Yios, Soter." "Ichthys" is formed by the "I" in "Iesous,"" followed by "CH" from "Christos," "TH" from "Theou," "Y" from "Yios" and "S" from "Soter." Since "Ichthys" is also the Greek word for "fish," the early Christians had come to associate the fish symbol with our Lord, as most Christians up to now still do.

...early Christians had come to associate

...the fish symbol with our Lord

Making an acrostic poem about our Lord came to my mind after a friend and I were talking about friendship with Jesus. We were also talking about the recent onslaught of powerful storms in the Philippines, barreling the country one after the other, that brought forth enormous flooding and huge mountain slides and affected millions of people. We both observed that circumstances like these often make it easier for people to call on God, but forget about Him after the trials are over. On the other hand, for some, circumstances like these would make it difficult for them to understand why God is a friend, or why there would even be a God. For others, it is only through these circumstances that would make them finally explore a friendship with God. I had to remember what my grandmother would always say to chide me when I was a lot younger: never wait for God to break my knees, with the implied caution that it is a wiser thing to learn and want to know God in happier circumstances than wait for an unfortunate situation before I turn to Him). The Holy and incredible gift of His life for us surpasses all that is beyond in the expression of friendship and love for us; that for those with an open and grateful heart it would be very easy to see that here is Our God who desires to be in every moment of our lives, good or bad. So for all of those who have accepted this invitation of friendship from Jesus, both joy and sorrow are shared with our faithful friend, and each day, no matter how good or horrible, is a step closer in enriching this friendship. Others celebrate this wondrous friendship in music and in songs; others write letters to Jesus. My friend said she needed a little help in this direction, and so I told her about the acrostic poem. As I have never written an acrostic poem myself, I thought of taking that advice for myself too, with the acrostic "Jesus My Love:"

Jesus, my friend, my savior
Ever loving, ever true
Sweetly devoted to me and safely You keep me
Understanding my weakness and fears

Jesus, my friend, my savior...

...ever loving, ever true.

Surely guiding me through this dark valley
Mending my broken heart with your peace
Your arms around me wherever I may be

Lovely is your sweet song to my longing heart
Only You can fill this heart with joy so true and pure
Victor over death You give me the gift of eternal life
Every moment You look out for me, You love me.

During those days when God desires us to be still and unable to do much except hold a pen and piece of paper, try an acrostic addressed to Jesus, our friend.

URLVD

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