❤ THANK YOU LORD ❤

For all that You gave me in the past years. Thank You for the sunshiny days and for the sad and cloudy ones; for the calm afternoons and the dark nights; for the love and for all beautiful and sweet things; for the flowers and the stars. Thank You for health and sickness, for sorrows and joys. Thank You for all You that gave me and all that You asked of me. 

Thank You Lord, for Your smiling face and friendly hand that kept me strong. Thank You for the loneliness, for the work, for the worries, for the fears, for the difficulties and the tears; and for everything that brought me closer to You. I saw Your loving hands and providence even in the negatives! Thank You, Lord.

Thank You for having kept me alive, for having given me shelter, warmth and nourishment. Thank you, Lord, for having given me friends and dear ones. Thank you for all that You created especially man and woman, whom You created in Your own image and likeness. Thank you for the innocent little children in the families and for good souls, who live according to Your will. Thank You Lord.

Thank You Lord for this year and all the 365 days of this year; I am ready to do whatever You wish, Lord, I am ready to follow You always in all circumstances, but I ask You for faith to see You in everything and everybody; hope, that I may not dismay; and charity to love You and others more each day; and to let You be loved among those around me. Give me patience and humility, detachment and generosity; give me Lord what is good for me which You alone know, for I do not know what is good for me I do not dare to ask. 

That my heart may be alert, my ears be attentive, my hands and mind active, and that I always may be ready to do Your Holy Will with Your grace.

Lord! Pour out Your grace and blessings upon all my beloved ones and grant the entire world Your peace. 

Thank You, Lord. Amen.❤✝

source: my FB friend Lori Potvin

God's timing is PERFECT

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven

What is the good life which God intends for us? And how is it related with the ultimate end or purpose of life? Is it not our desire and longing for true happiness, which is none other than the complete good, the sum of all goods, leaving nothing more to be desired? Jesus addresses this question in his sermon on the mount. The heart of Jesus' message is that we can live a very happy life. The call to holiness, to be saints who joyfully pursue God's will for their lives, can be found in these eight beatitudes. Jesus' beatitudes sum up our calling or vocation - to live a life of the beatitudes. The word beatitude literally means "happiness" or "blessedness".

God gives us everything that leads to true happiness 

What is the significance of Jesus' beatitudes, and why are they so central to his teaching? The beatitudes respond to the natural desire for happiness that God has placed in every heart. They teach us the final end to which God calls us, namely the coming of God's kingdom (Matthew 4:17), the vision of God (Matthew 5:8; 1 John 2;1), entering into the joy of the Lord (Matthew 25:21-23) and into his rest (Hebrews 4:7-11). Jesus' beatitudes also confront us with decisive choices concerning the life we pursue here on earth and the use we make of the goods he puts at our disposal.

Jesus' tells us that God alone can satisfy the deepest need and longing of our heart. Teresa of Avila's (1515-1582) prayer book contained a bookmark on which she wrote: Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you. All things pass - God never changes. Patience achieves all it strives for. Whoever has God lacks nothing -God alone suffices.

Is God enough for you? God offers us the greatest good possible - abundant life in Jesus Christ (John 10:10) and the promise of unending joy and happiness with God forever. Do you seek the highest good, the total good, which is above all else?

The beatitudes are a sign of contradiction to the world's way of happiness 

The beatitudes which Jesus offers us are a sign of contradiction to the world's understanding of happiness and joy. How can one possibly find happiness in poverty, hunger, mourning, and persecution? Poverty of spirit finds ample room and joy in possessing God as the greatest treasure possible. Hunger of the spirit seeks nourishment and strength in God's word and Spirit. Sorrow and mourning over wasted life and sin leads to joyful freedom from the burden of guilt and spiritual oppression.

God reveals to the humble of heart the true source of abundant life and happiness. Jesus promises his disciples that the joys of heaven will more than compensate for the troubles and hardships they can expect in this world. Thomas Aquinas said: " No one can live without joy. That is why a person deprived of spiritual joy goes after carnal pleasures." Do you know the happiness of hungering and thirsting for God alone?

Lord Jesus, increase my hunger for you and show me the way that leads to everlasting peace and happiness. May I desire you above all else and find perfect joy in doing your will.

source: From the desk of Don Schwager, 

hosted by Kairos Europe and the Middle East