Day 10-- Forgiveness!

21 'If the wicked, however, renounces all the sins he has committed, respects my laws and is law-abiding and upright, he will most certainly live; he will not die.

22 None of the crimes he committed will be remembered against him from then on; he will most certainly live because of his upright actions.'

EZEKIEL 18:21-22

No matter how bad we have messed up in our lives--no matter how low we have fallen. The Lord wants to forgive us. In the Lord's mercy we will find LIFE!!!

Not only is He willing to forgive us, but, if we repent, none of our sins shall be hold against us! But repentance here involves not only feeling sorry for our sins, but turning our lives around: conversion, respecting the laws of God, being upright. 

It will not be easy and we will certainly err at times, but, in the words of Pope Francis: "the Lord never gets tired of forgiving us!"

Let's take it a step further-- since forgiveness will give us life, it is only logical that we too must forgive those who have hurt us in order to embrace that new life! This is a very hard thing to do!!! People have stepped all over our hearts, have hurt us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. But hate, bitterness, and resentment are internal--they do not make the other person pay... they just make us wither. Forgiveness will set you free.

If you find yourself unable to forgive, remember that God forgives you, who have also done wrong. Sounds familiar?

"Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us..."

It is in the measure we forgive that we will be forgiven.

And if you still can't forgive--ask the Lord to help you!

Day 9--ask, ask, ask!

7 'Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.

8 Everyone who asks receives; everyone who searches finds; everyone who knocks will have the door opened.

9 Is there anyone among you who would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread?

10 Or would hand him a snake when he asked for a fish?

11 If you, then, evil as you are, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

MATTHEW 7:7-11

Pretty simple, right? Ask for things, God says!!! So then why won't He give us all we ask for??!?!?!?!? Like, come on, God, you promised!! Well, let's look at the comparison of parents and their children: would you give your kid a snake when he asks you for a fish? No? Well would you give him a snake if he asked you for a snake? Or a bomb if he asked you for a bomb? OKAY THEN!

See, God tells us to ask him for anything but He will give us GOOD THINGS. Not the definition of "good things" that the world has... but truly good things: love, joy, patience, justice, temperance, strength, courage. If you are praying for something that will push you further away from God, he probably won't give it to you.

Remember, God knows what you need. Also remember: God's timing is perfect. It might not look like that at the moment when you are desperately clamoring to Him... but just hang on. Keep asking. Keep praying. Trust him.

Oh Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in You.

Don't cease to ask. But don't obsess over things either-- let Him surprise you! And--here's something that works wonders for me-- if you ask Him but ultimately leave it all to His will... if you say "God let it be as you wish" then He will give you whatever it is that you need in order to follow His will.

I know we doubt and we despair and we get frustrated about not having control--hey, I've been there, I'm that person, the control-freak. So let's pray that we may not only believe in God but believe God: believe that He will do what is best for us!

So help my unbelief, Lord.

Day 8--God's soft spot for you

'God saw their efforts to renounce their evil ways. And God relented about the disaster which he had threatened to bring on them, and did not bring it.'

JONAH 3:10

So the people of Nineveh were being really bad and God send Jonah to tell them "You know what, that's it... I'm destroying Nineveh!!" But the people of Nineveh believed in God and repented!!! They were afraid of destruction so they turned to go and did penance: they fasted, they prayed, they put on sackcloth (very unattractive, I know).

And God saw their repentance. And He changed his mind.

God forgave them and spared them from the punishment. Why? Simply out of love-- He's got a soft spot for us when we asked him for forgiveness. 

So don't ever feel like God couldn't possibly forgive what you've done in your life--because He can and He will, if you are truly sorry.

If you need to reconcile yourself with the Lord, don't hesitate. Go to confession, seek His mercy. It's not the priest who is forgiving your sins---it is Jesus!! 

So come clean, let Jesus put you back together.

Day 7--Our Father

'Yahweh is near to the broken-hearted, he helps those whose spirit is crushed.

Though hardships without number beset the upright, Yahweh brings rescue from them all.'

PSALM 34:18-19

How is your heart? What ails you? Do you feel abandoned, lonely, forgotten? Are you sad, bitter, anxious?

Let me remind you of something: Emmanuel.

Emmanuel is one of the names we use for Jesus, and it means God is with us. So if you are struggling, if you are grieving or suffering, remember: God is with you. Are you broken-hearted? God is with you. Is your spirit crushed? God is with you. Is life getting too hard? God is with you.

Take your sorrows to Him. He will give you rest.

Pray like He showed us:

Our Father who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name,

thy kingdom come, thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven,

give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us,

and lead us not into temptation'

but deliver us from evil.

Day 6--Be holy!

Yahweh spoke to Moses and said: Speak to the whole community of Israelites and say: "Be holy, for I, Yahweh your God, am holy."

LEVITICUS 19: 1-2

You must be thinking: "Oh no, she's pulled out Leviticus". Yes, I am afraid it was bound to happen eventually---part of the Bible, you know. 

We've been talking about God's unconditional love for you, and yes, it's a wonderful thing and it radically changes your life. But it doesn't stop there. Because, out of love, God wants you to be free and happy. And a quest for true freedom and happiness is a quest for holiness! We are created in his image and likeness, so He wants us to be holy, just like He is holy.

No, I'm still not talking about obedience. It's not about obedience simply because He wants the best for us--to live life to the fullest-- and He doesn't tell us to do this or that just because He's a tyrant. He knows your heart better than you do, so of course He's going to tell you "do this and that" so that you can satisfy the deepest desires of your heart!!!!

But the devil likes to confuse us and say: "but if you do this instead, you will know good and evil, and thus be like God". The thing is... God doesn't do evil, so how would doing evil turn us into gods?

And He also knows, in His mind-blowing wisdom, that we are flawed and have shortcomings. He knows we are not perfect and that it will be a huge struggle to attempt holiness! But they key word is ATTEMPT---STRIVE, FIGHT, TRY VERY HARD. It's in the trying that He meets us half way (or more like 10% to 90% of the way-- the ninety being God's). If we try with our whole hearts to be holy, and ask Him for his grace to get there, He will provide that grace.

So don't be afraid of holiness!! In this race, God is your number one fan!

It won't be easy, though. You will struggle, the world will mock you and scorn you for being counter-cultural, and there will be people who will leave your life because of it. But whatever the Lord sends you instead is SO. MUCH. BETTER. I promise. I've been there. He might not send it soon, but He will send it. And when you get whatever it is that your heart desired, you will REJOICE. Take me, for example-- I had to move to the other side of the world to encounter the friends God had been promising me for years! And I rejoice.

Remember, good things come to those who wait (in the Lord, might I add).

Jesus, teach me to be holy, just like you are holy.

Day 5--The battle has already been won!!

'One man's offence brought condemnation on all humanity; and one man's good act has brought justification and life to all humanity. Just as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience are many to be made upright.'

ROMANS 5:18-19

We've talked a lot about God wanting you, loving you, calling you by name despite your brokenness. But as if that wasn't enough--God became man so that he could pay your and my debt for our sins. You see, if Jesus wouldn't have died for us, we would have to pay our sin with death--and I'm talking about spiritual death, eternal damnation. Sin came into the world through Adam, and salvation, redemption, reconciliation with the Father came into the world through Jesus of Nazareth, the new Adam, God made flesh. God could have come up with a billion ways of fixing the problem, don't you think? He is, after all, God. AND YET... He became man, was born in humility, and went through the most horrendous death at the time--a punishment that belonged to us--so that we could be made whole again. 

In today's gospel, Jesus and Satan have an epic battle, and at the end, Jesus says 'AWAY WITH YOU, SATAN!!' Jesus wins. He always does. He always will.

What you have to understand is that this war between death and life, salvation and damnation, good and evil, has already been won by the Blood of Jesus!

In the movie The Passion of the Christ, there is a scene right after Jesus draws his last breath and then dies on the cross and the earth starts shaking where the devil is shown SCREAMING and just losing it. You know why? Because that's when the devil realized that he had lost!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In that cross, Jesus had given himself, out of love, for the expiation of our sins.

So, if the battle is already won, what's there to do? Well, you and I need to choose a side! And tell me, who's dumb enough to choose the loser side? Exactly. However, sometimes people choose the loser side because they don't know or understand what Christ did for them or how He won the battle for them. You have no excuse though--I've just told you ;)

Day 4--quick, it's almost over!

Jesus said to them in reply, 'It is not those that are well who need the doctor, but the sick.

I have come to call not the upright but sinners to repentance.'

LUKE 5: 31-32

Do you ever feel like your place is not in church because you're not like those goodie-goodies who don't kill a fly? Who wants to deal with all those self-righteous people!! GROSS!

But, have you ever thought that maybe, just maybe, the people that are in there go because they feel sick and are looking for the Doctor of doctors? Have you ever stopped to think--'hmm... I wonder what's the story behind this person?' or 'what do they seek to get from here?'

Maybe they seek the exact same thing that it's missing in your heart. I know I do. Because, you and I, we are dirty and sick. And, deep down, we want cleanliness and healing. We are the tax collector. We are the prostitute. We are the Samaritan woman who had had five husbands. We need Jesus to repair our brokenness. 

So what if instead of judging these people we reach out? What if instead of scoffing we smile? Oh, the endless possibilities!! Remember what God wanted from us yesterday--to reach out to those in need. That includes emotional and spiritual need as well!

So, if you are needy of love, or forgiveness, or peace, reach out to Jesus. And reach out to me. We are hungry for the same things, but He is our doctor, our healer. Are you tired, are you in pain, are you bitter, are you lost? The Doctor's got the cure. But you have to let him in the door first.