A Thought for Today 31-12-2010

Isaiah 4:2-3

That day, the branch of the Lord shall be beauty and glory, and the fruit of the earth shall be the pride and adornment of Israel’s survivors. Those who are left of Zion and remain of Jerusalem shall be called holy and those left in Jerusalem, noted down for survival.

It is very easy to overestimate the importance of our own achievements in comparison with what we owe others.
(Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8fSjtPLuBQ

A Thought for Today 30-12-2010

Luke 2:36-40

There was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well on in years. Her days of girlhood over, she had been married for seven years before becoming a widow. She was now eighty-four years old and never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. She came by just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.

When they had done everything the Law of the Lord required, they went back to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. Meanwhile the child grew to maturity, and he was filled with wisdom; and God’s favour was with him.

If a man loses his reverence for any part of life, he will lose his reverence for all of life.
(Albert Schweitzer)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GqEZJUpBYE

A Thought for Today 29-12-2010

Hebrews 1:1-2

At various times in the past and in various different ways, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets; but in our own time, the last days, he has spoken to us through his Son, the Son that he has appointed to inherit everything and through whom he made everything there is.

Only he who believes is obedient and only he who is obedient believes.
(Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qG1ThtgguE

A Thought for Today 24-12-2010

Isaiah 11:1-3

A shoot springs from the stock of Jesse, a scion thrusts from his roots: on him the spirit of the Lord rests, a spirit of wisdom and insight, a spirit of counsel and power, a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is his delight.

The Church's note must be a supernatural note which distinguishes incarnation from immanence, redemption from evolution, the Kingdom of God from mere spiritual process.
(Arthur Middleton)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VynBiI9M30

Weekly Blessing:

http://www.francescoproductions.com/weeklyblessing.asp

A Thought for Today 23-12-2010

Jeremiah 30:21,22

The Lord says this: Their prince will come from Jacob, their ruler come from their own people. I will let him come freely into my presence and he can come close to me. And you shall be my people and I will be your God.

The Christian response is contained in these two fundamental dogmas: that of the Trinity and that of the Incarnation. In the trinitarian dogma God is one, good, true, and beautiful because he is essentially Love, and Love supposes the one, the other, and their unity.
(Hans Urs von Balthasar)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nD5mxkOxMk

A Thought for Today 22-12-2010

Isaiah 45:8

Send victory like a dew, you heavens, and let the clouds rain it down. Let the earth open for salvation to spring up. Let deliverance, too, bud forth which I, the Lord, shall create

The first attempt at a response: there must have been a fall, a decline, and the road to salvation can only be the return of the sensible finite into the intelligible infinite.
(Hans Urs von Balthasar)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAH0qm6OWKk

A Thought for Today 21-12-2010

Isaiah 7:14-15

The maiden is with child and will soon give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel. On curds and honey will he feed until he knows how to refuse evil and choose good.

If God wishes to reveal the love that he harbors for the world, this love has to be something that the world can recognize, in spite of, or in fact in, its being wholly other.
(Hans Urs von Balthasar)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC-b4mYFT1A

A Thought for Today 20-12-2010

Genesis 49:10

The sceptre shall not pass from Judah, nor the mace from between his feet, until the one comes to whom it belongs, to whom the peoples shall render obedience.

Our Christian conviction is that Christ is also the messiah of Israel. Certainly it is in the hands of God how and when the unification of Jews and Christians into the people of God will take place.
(Pope Benedict XVI)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2D1VEZLM44

A Thought for Today 17-12-2010

Isaiah 11:1-3

A shoot springs from the stock of Jesse, a scion thrusts from his roots: on him the spirit of the Lord rests, a spirit of wisdom and insight, a spirit of counsel and power, a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is his delight.

Jesus Christ is the beginning, the middle, and the end of all. In the Gospels he walks in human form upon the earth, and accomplishes the work of redemption.
(Philip Schaff)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWS7CpFHJ8E

Weekly Blessing:

http://www.francescoproductions.com/weeklyblessing.asp

A Thought for Today 15-12-2010

Isaiah 45:8

Send victory like a dew, you heavens, and let the clouds rain it down. Let the earth open for salvation to spring up. Let deliverance, too, bud forth which I, the Lord, shall create.

Hope is patience with the lamp lit.
(Tertullian)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j0UpSl54Z8&feature=related

A Thought for Today 15-12-2010

Luke 7:19-23

John, summoning two of his disciples, sent them to the Lord to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or must we wait for someone else?’ When the men reached Jesus they said, ‘John the Baptist has sent us to you, to ask, “Are you the one who is to come or have we to wait for someone else?”’ It was just then that he cured many people of diseases and afflictions and of evil spirits, and gave the gift of sight to many who were blind. Then he gave the messengers their answer, ‘Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind see again, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, the Good News is proclaimed to the poor and happy is the man who does not lose faith in me.’

Patience is the art of hoping.
(Luc de Clapier)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxuOdqJwcak

A Thought for Today 14-12-2010

Matthew 21:28-32

Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people, ‘What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He went and said to the first, “My boy, you go and work in the vineyard today.” He answered, “I will not go,” but afterwards thought better of it and went. The man then went and said the same thing to the second who answered, “Certainly, sir,” but did not go. Which of the two did the father’s will?’ ‘The first’ they said. Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you solemnly, tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you, a pattern of true righteousness, but you did not believe him, and yet the tax collectors and prostitutes did. Even after seeing that, you refused to think better of it and believe in him.’

Obedience is an act of faith; disobedience is the result of unbelief.
(Edwin Louis Cole)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbrRGr_q-z0

A Thought for Today 13-10-2010

Philippians 3:20-21

We are waiting for our saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transfigure these wretched bodies of ours into copies of his glorious body. He will do that by the same power with which he can subdue the whole universe.

The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.
(Arnold H. Glasow)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rqhG2yT-58&feature=related

A Thought for Today 10-12-2010

2 Peter 3:8-9

With the Lord, ’a day’ can mean a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord is not being slow to carry out his promises, as anybody else might be called slow; but he is being patient with you all, wanting nobody to be lost and everybody to be brought to change his ways.

The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.
(Arnold H. Glasow)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4ZSiDul54M&feature=related

Weekly Blessing:

http://www.francescoproductions.com/weeklyblessing.asp

A Thought for Today 09-12-2010

James 5:7-8,9

Be patient, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. Think of a farmer: how patiently he waits for the precious fruit of the ground until it has had the autumn rains and the spring rains! You too have to be patient; do not lose heart, because the Lord’s coming will be soon. The Judge is already to be seen waiting at the gates.

There is no road too long to the man who advances deliberately and without undue haste; there are no honors too distant to the man who prepares himself for them with patience.
(Jean de la Bruyere)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDmsInSvgPA

A Thought for Today 08-12-2010

Luke 1:26-38

The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.

Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.
(Benjamin Franklin)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPbV_HTpyx0

A Thought for Today 06-12-2010

Philippians 3:20-21

We are waiting for our saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transfigure these wretched bodies of ours into copies of his glorious body. He will do that by the same power with which he can subdue the whole universe.

Many people die at twenty five and aren't buried until they are seventy five.
(Benjamin Franklin)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a63Lga6aEL0&feature=related

A Thought for Today 03-12-2010

2 Peter 3:8-9

With the Lord, ’a day’ can mean a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord is not being slow to carry out his promises, as anybody else might be called slow; but he is being patient with you all, wanting nobody to be lost and everybody to be brought to change his ways.

It is only possible to become a member of God’s family by second birth. We either believe or we do not. We choose to belong either to the old temporal order or to the new eternal order. God has no elite. His purposes are not exclusive but inclusive. He paid the price. After that there is no other doorbell to ring except that of “Our Father in heaven” (Mat 6:9). We can opt out or opt in.
(REINHARD BONNKE)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TXxlKLCCMY&feature=related

Weekly Blessing:

http://www.francescoproductions.com/weeklyblessing.asp

A Thought for Today 02-12-2010

Matthew 7:21,24-27

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘It is not those who say to me, “Lord, Lord,” who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven. ‘Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not fall: it was founded on rock. But everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and struck that house, and it fell; and what a fall it had!’

The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of our own ignorance.
(Benjamin Franklin)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZIGjfCA5YQ

A Thought for Today 01-12-2010

1 Corinthians 4:5

There must be no passing of premature judgement. Leave that until the Lord comes; he will light up all that is hidden in the dark and reveal the secret intentions of men’s hearts. Then will be the time for each one to have whatever praise he deserves, from God.

I didn't fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong.
(Benjamin Franklin)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfsIlsXnPfw