Today's Jesus card reading is about the faith that will save us.
But is faith a gift from God that we receive, is it only offered to some, or is it something that we autonomously search after?
Faith really is something that we are not given, though it can be achieved by all. Faith is not a gift, as shown by the woman who was hemorrhaging, and this is why those who believe in God's love and compassion are truly, truly blessed and are the salt of the earth. However, the faithful are not immune to dejection, and therefore must remain strong in their conviction, continually seeking after it, because Jesus is not of this world, and in so, neither is hope.
If you have faith, if you even have the slightest bit of hope HOLD ON to it, and let nothing get in it's way. That morsel of hope is going to save your very life, and the lives of countless others. People who are so hurt, people who want to die, or who are planning their deaths, your morsel of hope can rescue them. Your faith, even the size of a mustard seed, is worth its weight in gold. Respect it, nurture it, and above all do not be ashamed of it!
Cherish your faith and the peace that it bestows. Don't confuse your peace for mundanity, show others the hope that you invest in, and see how exhilarating and meaningful life becomes. Faith is not a gift, God didn't make us to be robots who have no free will. Choose God, choose faith, choose peace, and choose to save others. Amen
Today's card reading is about receiving what we ask for in prayer.
Jesus tells us that we can move mountains when we have the faith that we can. In previous lessons, we learn that God only 'answers" our prayers when we ask in accordance with His will, however today's verse shows us that with incredible and unwavering trust in God's power, we can really have ANYTHING we want!
BUT there is a catch :) We must have a CLEAN heart before praying. This means that we must have NO resentments towards others! So how can we receive from the Father without blemish?
We confess our sins to one another. This is the starting point, and this is where we find real healing begin; this is where we become open to receive all that we desire for the peace and joy that we all crave. This is true repentance, and this is where humility begins, for this is where we REALLY start to trust God, and put Him first.
Do you harbour ill feelings towards a person? If you do, just think ahead - think of what you want, for God WANTS you to be happy! Go to someone who you trust, then go and pray in gratitude for the opportunity and wisdom that God bestowed upon you to be healed and prosperous. Then, when you are prepared to go to God with your petition, be ready to experience miracles, because they WILL happen! Amen.
Okay, I just HAVE to post this person's comment, it is utterly brilliant and I believe spot on. WOW. He is on Facebook, and his name is Stephan Joseph. He's just a regular guy posting in forums, I only mention him as a source. For those who are not aspiring theologians, Calvinism is one of the first branches of Christianity that broke from the Catholic Church in the 16th century. For the record, I do really like a lot of Reformed preachers, but this is just AWESOME.
"Calvinism is cancer. With few exceptions of a couple brothers I met online everyone I know that’s a Calvinist personally had a profound emotional breakdown at some point and then either left the faith or backslid into complacency, pride and ineffectiveness.
Why is it that Christians just talk about Jesus constantly and Calvinists talk about Calvinism?
You will notice it. They are infamous for it. Men like Piper or McArthur and RC Sproul have absolutely cult like followings that hold them and even men of the past like Luther and Calvin up as new Apostles.
There’s no room to disagree with them not substantively.
The root of it all is a concept called Divine Determinism which is the spiritual equivalent of atheism.
The Muslims, Gnostics, Calvinists and Atheists all hold that man cannot freely decide his fate but that ultimately God decides because man is not free from his nature.
Now an atheist can hold to morality but has NO logical reason to do so. A Calvinist can hold to hope but has no grounds for it. He may or may not be “elect” he may or may not be “predestined” and I use quotes around those words because they utterly redefine them from the Jewish application in Scripture regarding Gods purposes for and in Christ and for Israel etc in rejecting Ishmael/ Edom and accepting Issac. It’s a denial of what an ordinary person means when they say free will. It’s a denial that God actually loves every person in the world the same way and impartially. It’s logical denial that man can be responsible for sin because God has made man born unable to respond!
It’s filled with innumerable horrors and iniquities in history, abuses of reason, denial of plain scripture.
It was based on the ignorant ramblings and renderings of a man in the 5th century named Augustine that had no knowledge of Greek, or of Jewish culture or context, that was interpreted by a lawyer in the 1500’s and you get Calvinism.
It’s a philosophy that makes God untrustworthy and double minded in that He offers salvation to those that cannot reach out for it. It makes Satan more single minded in his hatred of mankind than God is in His love for us. Satan desires that ALL damned and God does not desire that all be saved.
In short it’s an exaltation of Gods Power over His Love when the Scripture never said “God IS Power” but rather Power belongs to God. It does say “God IS Love”
Today my angel card readings of the immediate past, present, and future, were all directed to my studies in ballet, more so, to performance in this why-am-I-still-doing-this fine art. (Funnily enough, it's World Ballet Day).
Green was a major sign, connecting all three cards, and this was special because I have not yet had a reading where all three of the cards were connected. My immediate past was spot on too, and when we say immediate, we mean it. I am referring to last night, to returning to the studio, begrudgingly, after a two month hiatus, and after making major plans in my schedule causing this hiatus that sadly fell through, for reasons left unconcerned to you, dear reader.
One thing that green symbolizes, other than so many wonderful and positive attributes (and has always been one of, if not my favourite, colours), is inexperience. Well, after having studied ballet for over ten years, not including in childhood, to the point of incredible growth and even to the extent of injury, I am still a novice, especially when it comes to performance. Ballet it so intense, and to have ever been a professional, I needed to have been studying it during the really formative years, in middle and high school, which I wasn't.
Still, I am grateful to have gently been brought back into ballet, because it has enriched my life, even outside of the studio. But I still get flustered in the city open classes: my flexibility is still not full, and I can't pick up choreography in one-go. I still don't dance en pointe, and I am only confident doing what I have learnt in class, which has been really just one teacher this entire time, meticulously correcting us to the point I feel confident with what I have directly learnt, but not dancing what I have seen others do. I have learnt only basic choreography, without really big jumps, and after a rotten 2017, and change in medication which caused some weight gain, I simply don't feel I have the "ballerina" body that I feel I need in order to compensate for my short-comings.
However, I do have a good teacher, who is inspirational and who reminds us that with clean technique, we can do anything. And I do have clean technique. I have professional-level technique. In fact, I am astounded at the sloppiness that I see when I am (privileged enough) to observe company morning classes. But I have the sloppiness in my discipline instead, and this affects my flexibility, which has always been my Achilles heel. And now it affects my body image. I am not condemned to this extra five or so pounds, though. I can *easily* do more exercise, sit-ups, whatever.
And though I feel that my inexperience and limitations are glaring, we don't get better at something unless we do it. I also remind myself of what my friend said about this time last year, when I was about to perform at an in-studio, recital (with stage fright) - very few people can do what I do. And it's true. Besides, I think Hedwig would have appreciated me dancing to her theme song.
.jpg)
.jpg)
