November 2024
What Do You Hunger For?
For most of my life I’ve had dental woes. Lately, things are getting worse, partly due to aging I suppose. This is seriously stressing me out.
I don’t like things in my mouth that are breaking, loose, falling out. Not to mention, wasting huge amounts of time and money on dental visits and long-suffering until my appointments.
This is preventing me from eating some of the things I enjoy, so it’s frustrating and challenging. I am not new to issues with food, more recently having raised three kids with severe food allergies.
As I continue to hunger for the foods I enjoy, I think it is God’s way of turning my attention to spiritual food and hunger for Him. Nothing on this earth will ultimately satisfy. The human heart longs for more than what earthly food can give.
Thus, I have been pondering spiritual food, specifically Communion, the body and blood of Christ, which fills and sustains us just like the physical food we eat.
Spiritual food is the only truly life-giving food that can save us for all eternity and give us strength for our days on earth.
While I (patiently?!) wait and hope for my teeth to be repaired, Jesus “repairs” us through our communion with Him, the most intimate way we can connect with Christ this side of heaven.
The Lord’s Prayer invokes “give us today our daily bread” which many times we forget means spiritual bread as well. (Matt. 6:11)
Food is necessary to keep us alive but we must eat proper, healthy food. A person with food allergies who eats the wrong food, has the potential for death. So too we need the right kind of spiritual food (Communion, God’s word, prayer, etc.) to avoid spiritual death.
God is known for feeding His people throughout the Bible, from manna in the desert in the Old Testament to the loaves and fishes in the New.
As a good earthly father feeds his children, why wouldn’t our Heavenly Father do the same for us, and even more? Especially since He is no longer physically walking with us in human form.
“Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asks for a fish? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him?” (Matt. 7:10-11)
I recently learned of Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa of Portugal who lived on the Eucharist alone for 13 years after being paralyzed and later bedridden, from jumping out a window to escape an attacker. This has been medically proven.
On July 30, 1935 Jesus appeared to her, saying: “I have put you in the world so that you may draw life only from Me, to bear witness to the world how precious the Eucharist is…..The strongest chain that keeps souls in bondage to Satan is the flesh and sins of impurity.” (The Eucharistic Miracles of the World, pg. 294)
Our flesh must be crucified with Christ so we don’t give in to the devil.
This holy woman’s story is a testament to the Eucharist and spiritual food being of utmost importance. Of course I am not suggesting anyone try to live on communion bread alone, but after hearing this story and many others throughout the ages, how can we not believe or partake as often as we can in this great gift of Jesus Himself?
Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” (John 53-56)
I admit it has occurred to me, that maybe I am crazy to think a piece of Styrofoam bread is Jesus, but people for 2,000 years before me have believed it and still do today. This is where faith comes in.
Plus, I have had experiences that were otherwise unexplainable pointing to this reality. You can read about one I shared here.
Things are not always as they appear to the naked eye and our feeble human minds are not able to comprehend all things. I would rather believe and get strength from a piece of spiritual bread even if I were to be wrong, than follow the sinful, evil, false teachings of the world and get nowhere, with no peace, no spiritual food, no eternal life.
When the focus is on Jesus you can’t go wrong. He will take you where you need to go.
We must remember we are not worshipping a piece of bread, we are communing with Jesus. There is the popular saying “you are what you eat.” In receiving Jesus in this way, we are drawing closer to Him who loves us and made us, and hopefully becoming more like Him in the process.
We are that which we consume, whether it be positive or negative, so we need to be careful about what we “eat” in every sense and choose our diet wisely.
As we become strengthened through Christ’s body and blood along with His word, we are then prepared to go forth and feed others so that they too may be spiritually fed and gain eternal life.
How Much Courage Do You Really Have?
11-11-2024
Trigger warning. I will mention Trump in this article.
Politics is not my usual topic, but being a United States citizen, it does affect all of our lives and we need to be aware and on guard to protect our freedoms and this great Nation.
We just dodged a bullet. America was at a crossroads. We are in a spiritual battle between good and evil. A battle we can’t afford to lose. Thankfully, God had mercy on America once again.
As a child of LEGAL immigrants, (key word: legal), my parents were grateful and proud to have fled Germany after World War II to come to the United States of America.
I have heard about how wonderful this country is my entire life. As an American-born child, I rolled my eyes. But during the scamdemic when our freedoms were gone, (willingly in most cases–insane!), I am no longer rolling my eyes. Our freedom of speech and to worship were threatened like never before. I write some more about this here.
Life in America has changed drastically over the last 15 years and not in a good way.
I don’t intend for this to be only about Donald Trump, he is just a man, but when someone displays an extraordinary amount of courage in the face of evil, I kind of take notice and find it inspiring.
Trump is imperfect, as we all are, and God is in charge, but God does use people to accomplish His will, and often the most unlikely people at that. The Bible is full of examples. God needs more than perfection, He needs willingness and many other traits depending on the task.
God is clearly using Donald Trump. Like him or not, this man is anointed to serve our great country. I did not like how he handled the scamdemic and locked down the country, or that he allowed the fast-track of an experimental deadly vax, but other than that, he did many good things. And the economy was great. Everybody wins with that.
Plus he never took a salary! The media ignores that, while so many other “public servants” go to Washington to become rich, typically through nefarious means.
But the thing I find amazing is Trump’s courage and perseverance against all odds and the evil doers who continually try to bring him down. Even surviving two attempts on his life and a raid on his home. You can’t deny his unusual amount of courage. Nothing stops this man. This is remarkable. Most people would have given up long ago.
It’s like superhuman fearlessness. There has to be a greater power behind him. That’s why it appears God has His hand on this man for a purpose. And likewise, our country.
If all of us had even one iota of the courage this man has, imagine what this country could be like!
Trump’s energy level is mind-boggling, especially at his age. His amazing family also says something about the man. His stand against globalism and open borders and his love for our Constitutional Republic are vital. Our Constitution is a precious gift we must not let slip away.
My point to all this is how courageous are we? Do we choose courage in the face of evil? As proven during the scamdemic, most people do not. The easy road of least resistance was taken by far too many. I was horrified more people did not stand up for their freedoms! Very sad and scary.
The question becomes, how much are we willing to risk in the face of evil. Everything?
Our country and the world is in the mess it’s in because few have the courage to stand up and fight evil and take whatever consequences that may bring. How many will fight until death for freedom? Talk to some Veterans about that.
I am now humbled and more hopeful about our future and that of our children, but we cannot become complacent! There is still much work to be done and much more after the next four years. We cannot let our guard down and must continue to fight for godly principles.
We can never forget the mercy that God has bestowed on this great Nation and need to thank Him every day and do whatever is in our power to keep fighting the battle. We must be involved as we are able, so we can leave a better, safer, stronger America for future generations.
God Bless America, Land of the Free and Home of the Brave!