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Tuesday, December 5th
2023
The First Week of Advent
·
Isaiah 11:1-10
·
Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, & 17
·
Luke 10:21-24
Christians, God the Heavenly Father said:
let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place,
and let the dry land appear; and it was so….
Then, God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering
together of the waters called he, Seas: and God saw that it was
good.
And, then, God
Said: let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and
the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself,
upon the earth; and it was so….
Then, the earth did bring forth grass, and herb yielding seed
after its kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in
itself, after its kind; and God saw that it was good.... The evening
and the morning were the third day….
Yes, Christians, God the Heavenly Father delivered unto his
Son, the Lord Christ Jesus all things, and we shall all stand before
the judgment seat of Christ Jesus; for he, Jesus is Lord over all;
whereas, every knee shall bend before the Lord Christ Jesus and
every tongue shall give praise to God the Heavenly Father….
Yes, Christians, Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah rejoiced in
the Holy Spirit….
Yes,
Christ Jesus did give praise to God, our Father, who art the Lord
and creator of heaven and the earth: for Jesus witnessed, among the
people that the childlike were aware of things that were hidden from
the learned and wise, and Christ Jesus testified that it was because
of God’s gracious will that he revealed some things and hid others….
Yes, Christians, from Isaac and then to Jacob, and many
generations later, from the stump of Jesse, came David, and the
promise of the eternal….
David, king, shepherd, from Bethlehem, much like those, shepherds
who witnessed the birth of Christ Jesus: David was dismayed and
wondered and pondered, why God the Heavenly Father would bless him
in such a way; asking God: “Who am I that you have bestowed such
blessing upon?”
Yes
Christians, who are we that we are children of God?
Not only figuratively speaking but literally, who are we in
Christ Jesus; what does it mean that we are no longer slaves to our
flesh?
Does it mean that
we are now free to transgress, at will, against God, the Lord Christ
Jesus or should we consider what Saint James teaches: that God the
Heavenly Father does not and cannot tempt with evil; whereas, the
Holy Spirit only testifies to the things that Christ Jesus witnessed
and Christ Jesus only testified to the things that God the Heavenly
Father sent him to witness….
Still, we must also be aware that our enemy the tempter is
like a roaring lion, roaring temptations between our ears and is
seeking to destroy souls….
Saint James, Apostle testifies that we lust and have not;
that we kill and desire to have, and cannot obtain; that we fight,
wars; yet, we have not because we do not ask….
Then, if we do ask, it is for the chasing after the flesh and
not the seeking of God the Heavenly Father’s Righteousness: we ask
[of God] and receive not, because we ask amiss, which means, we ask
not rightly; we ask, so that we may consume it, what we have asked,
on our lusts….
Saint
James then severely admonishes us, calling us: adulterers and
adulteresses….
Then the
Apostle James, Saint, testifies that which some Christians have
difficulty accepting because of their concept of Christ Jesus, a
concept that is not of the will of God the Heavenly Father but is a
concept of the delights of their flesh: for the Apostle James,
Saint, testifies, do you not know [and understand, accept, confess
and testify] that the friendship of the world is enmity with God!
Therefore, whosoever [and this whosoever includes: priests,
politicians, governors, mechanics, Bishops, Cardinals, Pope,
Senators, Congress-people, chefs, bus-drivers, airplane pilots,
secretaries, and yes,] whosoever, therefore will be a friend of the
world is the enemy of God….
Saint James says, when our lusts conceive, that is, our
sinful desires -- imagine something lustful -- that it brings forth
sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death….
Now Christians, King David was a man after God the Heavenly
Father’s own heart, and he was most certainly anointed to be God the
Heavenly Father’s servant but Isaiah wrote, about the bud that would
blossom, from Jesse, this prophecy some 400 years after David had
gone to live with his fathers, so clearly this is Isaiah prophesying
about the Lord Messiah Jesus, the Christ, Son of God the Heavenly
Father, Son of Joseph and Mary, Mary the blessed Mother….
Jesus, the Christ with wisdom and understanding, with counsel
and strength, with knowledge and fear of the Lord God the Heavenly
Father, and this fear of the Lord being his delight: will use good
judgment in justice….
In
contrast, whereas, the abominations of the world take delight and
pride in their shame….
Now Christians, some falsely believe now as some did before: that
they are delivered from their abominations, but Christ Jesus’s
sacrifice on the cross is so we will be delivered from doing these
abominations; and there is a difference….
Truly, it has been declared, by the Lord of Host, God the
Heavenly Father: amend your ways and your doings, and then God the
Heavenly Father will cause for us to dwell in a suitable country….
Yes, God the Heavenly Father causes things to happen in the
manner that we ourselves procure: if our procurement is the
forsaking of God and our deeds are wicked, we will receive eternal
damnation; as well, if we procure the way of good, that is, being
pleasing to God our Heavenly Father and his Son the Lord Christ
Jesus our reward will be eternal life….
Truly Christians, Christ Jesus testifies that the kingdom of
God is within us; as well, he testifies: whosoever keeps his
commandments is the person who loves him, and if we keep Christ
Jesus’s words and teachings God the Heavenly Father will love these,
and yes Jesus will love these, and will manifest himself unto
them….
Then Christ Jesus
tells of the quality of what loving him means: Jesus Christ saying,
if you love me, you will keep my words and if we keep the words and
teachings of our Lord Christ Jesus, then also will God the Heavenly
Father love us and will come unto us and make his abode with us; we
will be filled and blessed by the Holy Spirit and the word of God
will resound in us….
Truly, Christ Jesus as Saint Paul testifies, in the day when God the
Heavenly Father will judge the secrets of men, by Jesus Christ
according to his gospel, Christ Jesus will judge not by appearance
but by the word God the Heavenly Father gave to him to give to us,
that is, give to humankind….
Christ Jesus will not judge by hearsay, but the Lord Jesus
Christ will judge with justice….
Now Christians, in the name of the Lord Christ Jesus let us
pray and be thankful….
Amen….
Tuesday, December 12th
2023
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
·
Zechariah 2:14-17
·
Judith 13:18-19
·
Luke 1:26-38
Christians, it is dear; so, let it be dear
and not only to your lips but to your hearts: for, we are to love
the Lord God the Heavenly Father, the God of Jacob Israel, Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ with all our heart, mind, soul and strength;
truly, it is the person who not only hears Christ Jesus’s words but
keeps them, that is the person who loves God, Father, Son and Holy
Spirit…. Moreover, this keeping of Christ Jesus’s Gospel is not by
the traditions of men, but is in the meaning for by that, the Lord
Christ Jesus has procured: the traditions of men have caused there
to be denomination after denomination; but truly, there is one
church, and Christ Jesus is the head of this one single church, the
body of Christ: the church is made of those individuals who have
confessed that Christ, Jesus is Lord; individuals, who acknowledge
and confess their sins; and have gone on, to live their lives, by
going and sinning no more: confessing and repenting of our sins
daily and, always, thought by thought and imagination by imagination
– first seeking the kingdom of heaven and the Heavenly Father’s
Righteousness and in the hopes of being pleasing to the Lord Christ
Jesus, Son of the God of Jacob-Israel…. Yes Christians, it is dear,
so let it be dear to your hearts, minds and who we are in Christ
Jesus that Jesus’s mother Mary is blessed among women and that she,
the Blessed Virgin Mary has her individual, unique place in the
kingdom of heaven…. Now Christians, in the testimony from
Zachariah, we read: understand and rejoice for the Lord God the
Heavenly Father is coming to dwell with us…. Yet, Christians, ask
yourselves, since sin cannot stand in the light of God the Heavenly
Father, how can it be professed, now, as it was before wrongly
lived, in the time of Jeremiah: for the Lord God of Jacob-Israel
declared that in his house, called by his name, the children of
Judah have done evil in his sight…. Clearly, since the time they
entered the land that the God of Moses gave unto them; they have
done abominations: steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely,
and idolatry, which is the chasing after the ways that are not the
way of the Lord Christ Jesus…. Clearly Christians, in the many
denominations of today, we see idolatry abroad: they indulge the way
of the sinful flesh and chase after the flesh, by walking after it:
condoning what God has called sin…. Then, they being puffed up with
position and its power proceed in the ways of the flesh instead of
walking and living after Christ Jesus’s Holy Spirit: for the
carnally minded is death; but the spiritually minded is life and
peace…. We are not to fear men who hate Christ Jesus: Jesus said,
if they hate me, they will hate you and they hate Jesus Christ
because he kept the commandments of God the Heavenly Father, the God
of Jacob-Israel…. Truly Christians, the most loving thing that we
may say, is, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand; yes,
repent and believe in the Gospel…. Yes, God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ to be a
sacrifice for our sins; therefore, to believe in the Lord Christ
Jesus, let us do all things in remembrance of him – knowing that to
be washed clean by his ever present blood-sacrifice is: that we must
first acknowledge our sins and sinfulness, that is, repent and turn
away from our sin and sinfulness; for if we do not repent of our
sins according to Christ Jesus we will all perish…. Truly, Christ
Jesus’s glory that he gave unto us, who sincerely believe, in him,
was not given so we could remain in our sin or practice the
abominations of the world, that is, the abominations of the flesh,
but the eternal life in Christ Jesus is given to us, when we are
righteous by faith, that is, being in right standing with God the
Father, the Son and Holy Spirit by faith…. Truly, Saint Paul,
Apostle, tells us: do you not know that a little leaven, leavens the
whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven that there may be a
new lump and live in the true glory of repentance in Christ Jesus
the Lord…. Yes, John the Baptist made straight the way, for the
Lord Christ Jesus: baptizing in water, but Christ Jesus tells us
unless we are born from above, born again, in no way will we enter
into the kingdom of heaven: yes, be baptized and be born of both
water and of spirit, repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ’s
Gospel for the kingdom of heaven is at hand…. Yes Christians, the
Law of Moses is now realized and witnessed in spirit and life
through Christ Jesus: for Christ Jesus is the fulfillment of the
law…. Jesus, the Christ allowed himself to be crucified, for the
sins of humankind; so that the righteousness of the law might be
fulfilled in us: those, who walk not after the flesh, but those who
walk after the spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit of and by Christ
Jesus’s Gospel…. Clearly, God’s heavenly temple proclaims his word
constantly, continually and eternally, as the ark of his covenant
calls to his creation: live in truth; be in life; and walk in the
way of spirit and life, that being, Christ Jesus’s Gospel of
repentance for the forgiveness of sin and sinfulness…. Yes
Christians, the New Jerusalem has been laboring, since the time of
Christ Jesus’s ascension into heaven; where he is seated at the
right hand of God the Heavenly Father…. Yes, the twelve tribes of
Israel and the twelve Apostles and the men of Nineveh and the Queen
of the South, along with Christ Jesus, our Lord and friend have been
laboring to bring, Christ Jesus’s Gospel of salvation to all
humankind and this spiritual battle is: as a lion roaring in the
consciences of people…. This roaring lion, our adversary, the
devil, is looking to devour souls and is mocking Christ Jesus:
wanting to indulge peoples’ sexual immoralities and all sins of the
flesh, pride, vainglory, arrogance, haughtiness and by and through
idolatry: oppression and perversions…. Still, the Gospel of spirit
and life is the grace and truth that allows us to overcome the flesh
and overcome the world, for Christ Jesus overcame the world by
overcoming the fear of death and by overcoming death: as he rose
from the grave of death for death could not contain him…. Now
Christians, in the name of the Lord Christ Jesus let us pray and be
thankful…. Amen….
Tuesday, December 19th
2023
The Third Week of Advent
·
Judges 13:2-7, 24-25
·
Psalms 71:3-6 & 16-17
·
Luke 1:5-25
Christians, in these first few lines of the
Gospel of Luke there is more than one line of testimony being given:
Herod, although Jewish was loyal to the Romans and not to his own
people…. There is also testimony about Abijah, for she had a
specific individuality as an Israelite; historically, she was from
the line and the house from Aaron, the high priest that was
appointed to be Moses’s helper…. Thirdly, the testimony centers
around God the Heavenly Father’s specific interaction with the
Israelites: in this instance, through the angel of the Lord who
appeared to Zachariah: Zachariah was struck dumb, that is to say he
lost the power of speech, for the nine months of gestation, that is,
until the moment of the circumcision of John, the Baptist, because
of his, Zachariah’s disbelief of what the angel of God the Heavenly
Father had announced unto him…. So, also, do we not see and
understand that there are many topics of thought to meditate upon,
in the hopes of furthering our understanding of God’s love,
righteousness, wrath, and way that humankind is to love God the
Heavenly Father in completeness and what is love of neighbor and
what is not love of neighbor…. Let us look at what Saint John,
Apostle says: he says, love not the world, neither the things that
are in the world. If any man loves the world the love of the Father
is not in him…. So, therefore, see and understand that we are
realizing that there is only one true love and then there is the
love that is not love, but is an emotion or desire or an escapism or
an indulgence, which is based on the interests from pride and
arrogance and the appetites, the lust of the flesh and a pretentious
life: these sinful things…. Now Christians, a thing we should
realize on this testimony of the wife of Ma-Noah is the similarities
and the distinct differences, between, the testimony of Christ
Jesus, the light who came into the world, taking away the sin of
Adam, and Samson, who delivered his people, partly, from the
Philistines…. Christ Jesus’s conception made the Virgin Mary clean
of Adam’s sin: humankind was translated from the kingdom of darkness
to the kingdom of God the Heavenly Father’s dear Son at this
conception and this was caused by God the Heavenly Father’s word
that was spoken over her and not by any physical or other
interaction: Jesus, the Messiah, the Christ was conceived in the
daughter of Jacob-Israel, the daughter of David by and from the
spoken word of God the Heavenly Father…. As God the Heavenly
Father, in the beginning, spoke: let there be light: and there was
light, so too, God the Heavenly Father spoke, again, let there be
light and Christ Jesus the light of the world was conceived in the
womb of the Virgin Mary and the Gospel of spirit and life was the
new covenant with humankind: yes, Christ Jesus came into the world,
and it was announced, it was spoke, by the Archangel Gabriel; the
holy spirit came over her and she conceived: Christ Jesus’s Gospel
is spirit and life: Jesus, the Christ is the word made flesh…. Now
Christians, in Christ Jesus’s last moments, of his earthly ministry,
with his followers, the Risen Savior Christ Jesus opened the
understanding of the Apostles and Disciples and told them that
repentance for the remission of sins should be preached in his name
among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem…. So, now let us see that
the testimony and history of Samson is filled with wonder and
lament…. The lament in Samson’s life was brought partly from his
own behavior and then how the Philistines, through the wickedness of
the woman, Delilah, blinded him and cut his strength, which God had
placed through the restriction of his hair…. Still, with Christ
Jesus, we hear him testify: daughters of Jerusalem do not weep for
me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children, for indeed
the days are coming when people will say, “Blessed are the barren,
the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.” In
both, the testimony of Samson and also with the Lord Christ Jesus,
it is God the Heavenly Father who caused these events to happen,
they were not brought about by the hands of humankind…. Now with
Samson, the angel told Ma-Noah: to be careful that Samson takes no
wine or strong drink and to eat nothing that was unclean…. Let us
remember, in this moment, that Saint Peter, Apostle had the vision –
not a dream – that God had made that, which was unclean, in regard
to things that are eaten, clean…. Now the angel, also, told
Ma-Noah’s wife that no razor was to touch the head of the child
Samson; it is a curious question: how many people have taken or
thought that if they let their hair grow long, they may have the
strength of Samson, when, indeed, this strength was only ever given
by God the Heavenly Father to Samson through Ma-Noah and his
wife…. There is also another distinction between Ma-Noah’s, wife
and Zachariah’s, wife Abijah, and that of the blessed Virgin Mary,
who had not yet been married to Joseph, Christ Jesus’s adopted
father; whereas, with Ma-Noah’s wife, she was barren and so too was
Elizabeth, but Mary, the blessed Mother of the Lord Christ Jesus,
she was but a young woman and was a virgin…. Yes, Samson was
consecrated to God the Heavenly Father from the womb and Christ
Jesus was with God the Heavenly Father, before the creation of the
world…. Whereas, John the Baptist was and is a beloved Prophet; who
made the way straight for Christ Jesus: he was a voice of one crying
in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord make his paths
straight, and John, the Baptist cried, admonishing Herod, saying,
you adulterer: repent from your sinfulness; yes, repent for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand…. Now Christians, in the name of the
Lord Christ Jesus let us pray and be thankful…. Amen….
Tuesday, December 26th
2023
Feast of
Saint Stephen, Martyr
·
Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59
·
Psalms 31:3-4, 6 & 8, & 16-17
·
Psalms 118:26 & 27
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Matthew 10:17-22
Christians when we endure in faithfulness
toward Christ Jesus, we in simplicity and godly sincerity are
having and living our conversation in Christ Jesus’s way,
truth and life, while those who hate us, because we love God
with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and not the world, as
Christ Jesus testified, they hate us because we love him, Jesus
Christ the Lord, while they prefer and love the things of the
world…. Now Christians, because they lost the argument with Saint
Stephen, they resorted to deceit and treachery: the testimony states
that Stephen was filled with grace and power; truly, these were the
Holy Spirit and the Word of God…. Isaiah testifies that God does
instruct to discretion, and does teach: fitches are not threshed
with a threshing instrument, but are beaten out with a staff, but
the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyrenians, and Alexandrians and
people from Cilicia and Asia did not like the light of truth Saint
Stephen spoke but preferred darkness: things of the world, sensual
lust, that is, the lust of the flesh, the lusts and the enticements
of the eyes and using deceit to sway their politics; instead of
living and walking in the truth, Christ Jesus the Lord…. Yes, these
individuals: the Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyrenians and Alexandrians,
and people from Cilicia and Asia knew that the people had agreed
with Saint Stephen and they could not withstand the wisdom and the
word of God the Lord Christ Jesus that Saint Stephen testified, so
instead of accepting the truth and turning toward the truth, they
chose their greed, covetous and vanity, the darkness of the world,
for their lives…. Now, it is not as if an individual can see, on a
person the darkness, readily: like little boy’s dirty hands from
playing in a sandbox, making roads, rather, we see clearly the deeds
of a person: deceit, blackmail, covetous of a person’s labor, greed
of a pretentious life, the things of the world, these dark deeds of
the world…. Strangely, when in faith with Christ Jesus as Saint
Paul, Apostle teaches that we come out from among them and be
separate, it may be suggested that this is a bias or prejudice, but
when the people of the Synagogue of Freedmen, Cyrenians and
Alexandrians, and people from Cilicia and Asia, through the
politics, do -- as they did to Saint Stephen: these men of darkness
-- live as if they are doing right, when in reality, they are
choosing the works of the flesh and not the way of life and
truth…. Yes, the certain members of the Synagogue of Freedmen were
infuriated, they gnashed on-toward Saint Stephen with their teeth,
but as it teaches, in Acts 6:11--7:60, these upright, leaders of the
community: the Freedmen Synagogue, the Cyrenians and Alexandrians,
and people from Cilicia and Asia stirred up the people and bore
false witness against Saint Stephen to the officials, the Sanhedrin:
claiming Saint Stephen spoke blasphemy against Moses and God, and
they did this because: they knew Saint Stephen spoke the truth in
all wisdom and spirit; yet they, the Synagogue of Freedmen and
others preferred the darkness…. Now Saint Stephen saw the kingdom
of heaven. Yes, he saw the heavens open up and the Lord Christ
Jesus was standing at the right hand of God the Heavenly Father and
being filled with the Holy Spirit, Saint Stephen exclaimed the glory
of God the Heavenly Father, which is his Son the Lord Christ
Jesus…. Now because these certain individuals that were standing
with Saint Stephen were filled with darkness, greed, covetous and
the sins of the flesh, they covered their ears and cried with a loud
voice, and rushed upon Saint Stephen: they did not want to hear the
truth, for they were about to commit murder, so that they could
receive humanly praise, from Saul of Tarsus…. Yes, these reprobate
individuals took Saint Stephen out of the city, and stoned him to
death, for through the Holy Spirit, Saint Stephen was speaking the
way, the truth and the life; yet, these ardent slaves to their
flesh, the certain individuals of the Temple of Freedmen and others,
reveled in their wickedness and gloried in their sin and
then laid the cloak of the dead man at the feet of their master,
Saul of Tarsus…. Then the beloved and honored Saint Stephen with
his last breath called out to his friend, the Lord Christ Jesus: oh!
everlasting Father receive my spirit…. Now Christians, the Psalmist
declares: into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit…. Yes
Christians, pray that we live our lives, so that we too build our
lives on the words and teachings of our Lord Christ Jesus: for
Christ Jesus is the rock who the builders rejected…. Let us find
Christ Jesus’s peace through his spoken word and through our faith
in them: for Christ Jesus is the word made flesh…. Saint Paul
teaches us that there is no law against gentleness, meekness,
temperance and self-control and God the Heavenly Father has
commanded the light to shine out of the darkness, shining this light
in us through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and also to give the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ…. Yes, Christians, we are no longer tossed and turned by
every different doctrine as we once were before Christ Jesus: those
who walked according to the course of this world; those who walk
according to the world that Christ Jesus overcame and walk according
to the course of the roaring lion, the tempter, the devil, who tries
to beguile, as he did Eve, to corrupt us from the simplicity that is
in Christ Jesus; whereas, God is light, and in him there is no
darkness at all…. Now, if we say that we have fellowship with
Christ Jesus, who overcame the sinful flesh and the world, and yet
walk in darkness, walking and living according to the obvious sins
of the flesh, then we lie and we do not have truth…. Yes
Christians, we are unto God the Heavenly Father a sweet savor of
Christ, in them that are being saved: to one we are the savor of
death unto death; and to the other to the savor of life unto
life…. Yes, ask yourselves; who is sufficient for these
things…. Truly Christians, let us testify, live and abide in the
words and teachings of the Lord Christ Jesus, knowing, that God the
Heavenly Father is our witness and that each of us will be rewarded
according to our deeds: woe to those who call evil good and good
evil; that put darkness for light and light for darkness…. Woe to
those who cause one of these little ones that believes in Christ
Jesus to stumble, to misguide, cause them to entertain sin and woe
to those who call abomination blessed…. Now Christians, in the name
of the Lord Christ Jesus let us pray and be thankful…. Amen….
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