Love Prevails!: HOPE's song. . .

My People,

Good Morning! It’s wonderful to be here again. Every heart has a song, if you’d only take the time, you would hear it.

Day 29^th July, 2015 – It began to rain on my way home from attending the Bible class. I had just put on my raincoat and it poured a little more heavily and I spoke out loud to Abba Father saying ‘You can make it rain all that will happen is I will get completely soaked in the rain.’ And it did rain heavily and I got a bit drenched. I enjoyed the feeling that nothing separated me and my Abba Father. The moment was ours. We were happy.

What must it feel like standing at the peak? It is a thrill, a moment that goes written all over the heart as a moment that will never surpass any other. And yet here I am thinking of such a moment. After the wait that is what it will be.

I will be vindicated. Abba, Father, You are my vindicator.

The below lines are part of the lyrics from Boyzones-No matter.

No matter if the sun don't shine (sun don't shine)
Or if the skies are blue (skies are blue)
No matter what the end is
My life began with you

I can't deny what I believe (what I believe, yeah)
I can't be what I'm not
(I know, I know) I know this love's forever
That's all that matters now
No matter what

No matter what (no, no matter, no)
No, no matter
That's all that matters to me.

Day 12^th August, 2015 – My cousin scolds me calling me manner less. That took me by surprise, I asked him why? He told me that when you meet or see Priests you always greet them. I did not know who he was talking about. And when he told me that we passed the Priest on the road, you will never know how I regretted my behaviour. That is not who I am. I don’t choose to ignore anybody. Jesus would never do that, neither will I?

Day 9^th of August, 2015 – Abba Father, asked me a question that surprised me, ‘Do you love money’?

Through the day, there was a rerun of the question in my mind. And through it all my answer always came back, ‘I love You, Abba Father.’

As I am putting this topic together, Abba Father asked me again and this time so that I would be able to put down, my reply, “Everything to me is You. You are everything I have and possess. If it be Your will, You can take away everything else. Leave only You to me. And I still will have everything in the world. You are my all.”

The next day, my desktop went down and stands to be un-repairable. This would be my second desktop within a month. The only 2 I had. I lost a Hard Disk. My UPS went down.

Add to it I was on leaves due to my ill health. I reported back on Tuesday and I still don’t feel any better.

I come from a family with a strong genetic code. My grandfather lived for 110 years. Everybody in my family makes it to 80+. We don’t have any illness.

Abba Father, this ones to You, I love You to the ends of this world and beyond.

19^th August, 2015 – I am back home early. I Got myself injected by the Doctor. I hope to get better, God willing. To Him all praise forever.

Sometimes we don’t understand why we are waiting. Good things take time. Often we are waiting but if we don’t wait the right way then it will take a toll on us. So now may not be the right time but when you believe in God, He will get you there. Amen.

Waiting is really a difficult thing to do and I for one agree with you. But the more you wait the more the heart is set on fire. Waiting makes the heart grow fonder and it is a good thing. It tells God, that you trust in Him. Patience-a little bit longer and we will get there. We both know we will.

We all go through difficult times. Many people get stuck, in the arising conflict (also known as setback) causing them to miss out on the next level that God was preparing them to go. Whatever the conflict it is not there to stop you; it’s there to prepare you for the greater work God wants to do in your life.

Do you ever feel like you have had too many setbacks? Maybe you have faced a lot of disappointment? And the thought that fills your head is if ever God has a plan for you? Know this though, through all sorts of difficulties God has a plan to strengthen you and me for a future that is in His hands.

When God lays out a plan for our lives, each day is a blessing which unfolds with the day. We need not worry for what our destiny holds. Trust in the goodness of God!

Often we think that we are the ones who face a setback. That we suffer the most because things creep up at any given time and hold us back. We always talk about ourselves and our testing times.

Would it surprise you if I said that God suffers setbacks too? Has that thought ever crossed your mind? Maybe it did and maybe not?

If you start with Genesis move on to Exodus and so on you will encounter the various times that what had to be, couldn’t be because people fell short. To this present day, we fail to realize the love of God. True God’s plan never fails, His plan never suffers setbacks. But when we fail, when we suffer due to our setbacks, God suffers with us. Our pain becomes His. Our setbacks due to our lack of faith and patience in His timing, not only hold us back but they limit God, too.

Believe in God’s perfect timing and believe that God is our Restorer.

When faced with terrible circumstances people, begin to question God. Not so with Job, Job is a devout man who pleased God. God allows satan to afflict Job. God never doubts Jobs love for Him.
When Satan attacks he attacks repeatedly. Job looses everything his family, wealth and everything he has.
In his suffering Job waits on the Lord. He trusts God. In the end, Job understands God’s purpose in his suffering.
Trials are for a reason we may at times not understand unless God chooses to have them revealed. Whatever our trial is we need to love God above the pain, in and through it all. The name of God be praised for evermore.
God blessed Job with twice as much as he had before!

Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. James 5:11

“The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” Job 1:21

“Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him,” Job cries out in despairing belief.” Job 13:15

Still trusting in God as his Advocate, Job insists, “I know that my Redeemer lives.” Job 19:25

“I have prepared my case, I know I will be vindicated.” Job 13:18

“I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.” Job 42:2

God sent Joshua to conquer Jericho, a huge fortified city, with the strongest warriors. Before God could outline the plan He assured Joshua of victory (See I have given-Below line). Victory was by the Lord’s hand. It was not just enough that Joshua had faith but he had to also visualize what he was told and to believe that it would be so. Joshua walked by faith and not by sight.

And the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors. 3 And you shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days. 4 Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 And it shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people will go up every man straight ahead.” 6 So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD.” 7 Then he said to the people, “Go forward, and march around the city, and let the armed men go on before the ark of the LORD.”

Each day Joshua and his men were to march silently around the city with the priests carrying the trumpets of rams’ horns. On the seventh day they were to march seven times around the city and the priests were to blow their trumpets. On the 7^th day at their shout the walls came down.

Victory is dependent on two things: God’s power and faithfulness to His plan.

Believe and God will get you get to your Promised Land!

Moses was called by God to lead His people out of Egypt.
One day when he saw one of his own people being beaten he tried to take things into his own hands and he killed an Egyptian. Because of this act he fled to the desert. Moses' missed on God's timing. He needed to deliver his brethren from bondage, but he went about it the wrong way.
Moses spent the next 40 years working as a shepherd for Jethro in Midian. He married Zipporah (Jethro's daughter) and they had two sons. Moses became the meekest man on earth. At 80 Moses was told by God to return to Egypt and free the Israelites from slavery.

Moses was also told that Pharaoh would not let the people go easily. But after God sent the plagues on the Egyptians Pharaoh sent for Moses and told him to take his people out of Egypt. Pharaoh and his army, however, followed the Israelites. With the Red Sea in front and Pharaoh's army behind, the Israelites cried out to Moses. Moses obeyed God, and God delivered them.

While in Macedonia, Paul was, in obedience to God to go to a specific place for a specific mission. He and Silas were beaten and humiliated, then thrown in an inner prison and placed in stocks.
But, they sang praises! They didn't allow their circumstances to cause them to doubt God's will. They suffered but their deliverance came suddenly.
The bigger the trial is the greater the Blessing. Be obedient in trials and trust God’s deliverance.

God is faithful.

Words have power they can be a blessing or a curse. It’s what you say and how you put them across.

In life we all need to be approved and mostly approved by our parents. We want to be accepted.

To be approved means to belong. All the tragedies of the heart are because someone we love let us down. It could begin with parents and family members and sometimes it could be the one we love or for some people they feel let down all their life.

What it really is – it’s a cycle. We carry the hurt, we become fearful. We trust very little or not at all.

God approves of each and every one of us. All we need to remember is that we are pre-approved by the Great Almighty God.

So if no one in your life has ever mentioned how wonderful you really are, then you need to be told.

You are simply amazing.

You are wonderfully made. He has made you in His likeness and image. We all are.

If people have treated you bad, they have forgotten how to treat each other, we need to remember that you and each one of us is and are a child of the most High God.

Back in 2010, I had this book, ‘God’s word, daily reflection’ and on each page there was a passage to write something on. And for each day, I wrote - “I am blessed. My prayers have been heard and the manifestation of my prayers is on the way.”

I wrote it over and over and over each and every day. Today the 13^th August, 2015-I did not go searching for the book nor did I remember that I wrote this. But now as I sit to put down this topic together with the grace of God, I know it makes perfect sense.

The syntax for creating a Code is

If (condition 1)
Else if condition 2
else.

The above is just a tiny bit of a programming code. The implication is on our conditions with each other as people and our conditions that we place with God. We face it in our daily lives if someone is good to me then I’ll be good to that person. Isn’t that what we normally say and do? So we created programs just the way we live our lives based on IF and ELSE.

Much of our behaviours are learned. We can always learn to be nice people. Every day God pours grace after grace on us. We need to ask God for His help to receive the grace to live our lives the way God intends for us and not the way we intend If and Else.

Don’t let the bad moments in life be your defining moments. What they need to become is your stepping stone to success. God is our restorer. No matter what you’ve been through or no matter how bad it looks, God can make it all turn around or God can simply make the outcome so unimaginably beautiful and splendid that it will have you enchanted for the rest of your life.

DISCOVER GOD. Let Him enchant you.

He never forgets His creation. He is faithful.

If you want to become everything God has created you to be, then you need to choose discipline and self-control! Allow the Holy Spirit to lead you.

Day 12^th August, 2015 – Fr. Ashlyn’s point of teaching was with reference to Luke and he touched on the subject with reference to the Poor people.

Both me and this lady are standing and here comes this man and parks his bike/cycle (I did not see what it was) outside the building in the middle of the footpath. The lady snaps at him telling him that he is not to park there. She tells him that it is an inconvenience for people pointing towards me. I tell her that it’s no trouble. He says sister (addressing her) it will be only for 2 minutes. And then she goes to say that he will take more than that. And she brings in the topic of the Gospel for the day. She continues with the Gospel saying that when a brother is wrong, one must get two more brothers and show him the error in his ways. Matthew 18:15-20

First, she could have made a request. Secondly, she should have informed the security of the building. Third, this should actually be the first point. That she could have been considerate as he was working for his daily wages.

What I saw was lack of compassion, patience and understanding. In a way she was right but her method of getting the job done that was wrong. And to think we just came from Bible class-not good behaviour at all. We don’t give people a good feeling of knowing Jesus and we let Jesus down. Question we need to always ask ourselves is ‘what would Jesus do’?

We all have to grow. We have to learn to let go. We can’t hold on to everything now, can we? And it’s not healthy if we do. And when we do hold on to something when we are meant to let go, we bring in untold pain and misery. And worst of all we still fail to understand.

As parents, the job of being a parent is never done. But the day has to come when one needs to let go. As God is a parent to all of us, we are put in His place to our children and we must do everything that God would want of each one of us that is bringing our children up in the Holy fear and reverence of the Great God. We fail in being good parents when we do everything by our books and not by His Will even though we would like to fool ourselves that we do.

Smoking, drinking and gambling when children are around simply fails in showing them what is right.

Buying expensive gifts to make up for the lost time-just encourages them to take further advantage of you as parents because you show them you are guilty. Children are nobody’s fools. They are smart and they can be selfish. But teach them to walk in the right way then their smartness turns to Wisdom and their selfishness turns to giving of themselves for others. They learn the meaning of the word Sacrifice.

When in times of difficulty, when you are stretched beyond your limits, when the times they grow tough and painful - Did you know that these growing times are all part of God’s plan? These incidents are not in our lives by accident. They are placed there on purpose to equip us and prepare us for our future.

Remember: We are meant to bloom just like the Lotus. Look at the condition at which it grows. It is planted or rather grows in muddy water. It’s difficult to understand how a flower can not only bloom but thrive in such a condition-let alone grow in it? If you ever want to remember an instance remember ‘Lotus’ a flower, flower that withstands the test of time.

God's strength equips us every step of the way! We need not be afraid of trials. The storms may come, the winds may blow, but with God by our side, we will stand like the lotus to the test of time.

Sometimes things really look next to impossible. And you begin to think is it going to work out. The thing with God is He loves to bring His best in the best way possible. God loves fairy tales too. Imagine putting such thoughts in a writers mind so that there would be fairy tales and children would have something to go on with. Fairy tales are a wonderful way of growing. The most wonderful memories of mine are reading Fairy tales and Enid Blyton.

The thing about fairy tales, the lesson they teach you is that there is always a happy ending. The lessons I learnt are:

If you have ever read fairy tales-then you will know that the answers always took time. Bad things always happen to good people-and you continue doing good to people. Do good even if bad happens. Don’t let the bad stop you. Good always wins. And the most essential thing required no matter what happens in life is to have a good heart.

When you live like this you won’t have to live a life of discouragement. As you grow things change but you know there is one thing that doesn’t change it’s the little child in each one of us. Don’t let it die.

I was brought up with a sound teaching of God, Heaven and all the Saints. My parents never ever spoke of fairy tales but as children we come across it in schools and what it does is keep children with the notion that the world is not so bad and there is magic if you only believe. What we need is to believe. The thing about reading is the same. You can’t see it but you can picture it. That’s the most beautiful thing about reading. It can be anything you want it to be.

Most adults-grown-ups find it hard to believe or visualize something and that is because they grew up way too fast. I never let the child in me die.

Hope and faith are what are required to face life. Things can turn suddenly. Children, they are very aware of the terms of fairy-godmother, father-christmas and so on. Isn’t it everything what God is. God can be anything and anybody. He can be anybody for you. He moves the entire galaxy for just one person. And that could be very well you. All it takes-all He asks is for you to believe. Do you want to keep Him waiting? HE does that gladly. Wake up....... if you’ve had a rough start, well you could have a beautiful finish! Here’s to Dreams that do come true!

The enemy (the devil) will remind you of every mistake, every failure. He'll deceive you into thinking about the past so that he can hold you to all the mistakes you have ever made. Don’t fall into the trap of believing all the lies you hear. Believe that God has set all of us free. God condemns no one.

If anyone’s done you wrong, let God set it right. Don’t pray that the person who did you wrong suffer. That’s no prayer at all. Pray that God give you the strength to forgive and love with all your heart, because then you would be doing the will of God.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:44 - But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Sometimes the things that cause us trouble are not meant to break us down but rather to show our strength or make us find out something about ourselves we would have never known if this thing did not come about. There is a saying, ‘that which does not kill me makes me stronger.’

Grief in time has the potential to strengthen you permitting you accept it with grace. God has a perfect plan for you and it will not always make sense but therein lies the beauty. Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there. In time, we all see what God intends for each of us. Amen.

Nothing is a surprise to God. Have you given up on a dream or a relationship or your health? God wants our lives to be more blessed than what we’ve experienced in the past. Be grateful and happy in whatever situation you find yourself in and when you do you will move into a season of blessings!

God has great plans for our future. We all need to discover the untapped potential within us and be everything that God intends.

Believe and expect God’s blessings to chase you and when you do you will walk into God’s blessings forever.

We are meant to help each other in our walk to life. As we come of help to each other, God will bring the right person to push us through.

I love going to Mt. Carmel’s Church. These are my priests.

Fr. Alvaro – is always passionate about his homilies. He will look at his watch during the homily but what I love most is that no matter what the hand on his watch reads, he will complete his homily in grand style. I have said it before, I will say it again, I love the way he is enthusiastic about delivering his homilies. There is an affection when he talks and when he gives the homily. Always a cool person to talk too.

Fr. William - The 9^th of August-Sunday 10:15 am mass one of the ladies mentioned the word soft spoken for Fr. William and I don’t agree. Fr. William is stern and a disciplined person. He is appreciative and likes to make sure that everyone is thanked and you will notice that during the celebration masses. He does not display his emotions, I think the only 2 times you will notice it is, if you do - one, during the mass when he utters the word ‘Ever’. If you are perceptive everything he is he brings it out in that word (all the love) and the second time is- No matter how tired Fr. William gets, when kids go to him, he Lights up like the candle in the dark. All the tiredness disappears. As a kid, that’s the way I would see Jesus in my dreams, always smiling. And the one time that I saw him cry was when he announced during the celebration mass that Fr. Warner was leaving. I will never forget how it was seeing him hurt.

Fr. Joe – I love the way Fr gives the communion. He always looks at the face of a person.

As a kid for Sunday class, I would watch Fr. Joe from such a distance. I will never forget how the Church would echo with all of us children singing.

Growing up I would visit all the Church and hear the mass but never Mt. Carmels. I would skip it altogether. My wish as a kid was to stand near Fr. Joe but it never happened. Now everytime I attend mass and every once in a while when I receive communion from Fr. Joe, I am reminded of that feeling as a kid. I was nobody then, I am nobody now, but you see God never forgets.

Fr. Lenny - If I have to say something about Fr. I think the word that comes to mind is that – to me from what I see is that he is very shy and the most I have spoken is just a simple Hi or maybe wishing for a feast. I used to love when Fr. Used to say at the end of the mass - ‘Smile, God loves you.’ I think they are very important words, because most often you see people carrying their loads back home. To remember to smile, is saying you trust God. The below lines are from a hymn they used to sing in the Church. It’s a wonderful hymn.

Smile! Don’t you know God loves you?
Take the time to smile at someone
And before you’re through
Someone will be smiling back at you.

Fr. Ashlyn – has an immense level of understanding and patience. He reads people well but will never try to outsmart anyone. He has a sense of humour but until you know him well you want see that. When he starts the Bible Class-it’s absolutely wonderful to listen to him. I love the homilies and I wish they were longer. They are wonderful though. He gave a homily on Sunday-that was amazing. He is irreplaceable.

Below is what Fr. Ashlyn explained to us during the homily. Please do read as I put the article so that as I was made to have a deeper understanding, I hope it helps you too.

Jesus wants to strengthen our faith in His Eucharistic presence-The most recent Eucharistic miracle recognized by the Church authorities.
At seven o’clock in the evening on August 18, 1996, Fr. Alejandro Pezet was saying Holy Mass at a Catholic church of Buenos Aires. As he was finishing distributing Holy Communion, a woman came up to tell him that she had found a host on a candleholder at the back of the church. On going to the spot, Fr. Alejandro saw the Host. He placed it in a container of water and put it away in the tabernacle of the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament.
On Monday, August 26, upon opening the tabernacle, he saw to his amazement that the Host had turned into a blood like substance (flesh). He informed Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio. For several years the Host remained in the tabernacle.
On October 5, 1999, in the presence of the Cardinal’s representatives, Dr. Castanon took a sample of the (bloodish) fragment. Dr. Frederic Zugiba determined that the analyzed substance was real flesh and blood containing human DNA. He testified that, “the analyzed material is a fragment of the heart muscle which was alive when the sample was taken also indicating that the heart had been under severe stress, as if the owner had been beaten severely about the chest.”
If Jesus causes the Host to become visible flesh and blood, He does so to enable us to see the Holy Mass as His passion, death, and resurrection.
The Eucharist—the presence of the risen Jesus under the appearances of bread and wine—is one of the most important and most difficult explanations. During the Last Supper, Jesus “took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins’” Matthew 26:26-28. When Jesus took and gave the apostles the bread and wine, He said, “this is my body….this is my blood” by which He clearly meant that the bread and wine which He gave them to eat and drink really was His body and blood.
Jesus said “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 6:53-56.