Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Who Am I? Part 5

I am a daughter of God.
What does this really mean? Of course, we know the basic answer - it means I have a place to call home, I belong to someone, I have a purpose to know, love, and serve the Lord. As a daughter of God, I have a special mission. As daughters of God we have a special mission because we are women and as woman we have a different mission than man. So what is my mission as woman?

Woman has the ability to bear life - with bearing life you gain a deeper love, so as woman you are called to love. You have a loving heart that is meant for love. The only love that can completely satisfy your heart is the love of Jesus. Then, your mission, as woman, is taking this love that you have been given by Jesus Christ, accepting it, and spreading it. Seek to bring others to know Christ through your love. Through the love you give to others you can bring life because by sharing the love you give people hope.

You are called to be joyful because this love of Christ, given to you unconditionally, can only be spread through joy. Therefore, as a daughter of God you are meant to be joyful and to love with the love of the Lord and spread that love all throughout the world to each person you meet.

As woman, we are also beautiful. We are called to embrace that beauty. I don't mean objectify or promote your body as a pleasure giving object because of the way you dress, but I mean to recognize you are God's special creation. He made you beautiful just the way you are. And, as woman, we can use that beauty, if used properly, to spread love as well. Embrace your natural beauty.
How do we do this properly? In what way can we use our beauty to spread the love of Christ?
Well, to this I do not know the answer. I would say that the way people see you is based on the way you carry yourself and the way you treat your body. So, spread the love of Christ by being respectful to you body. Cover yourself - we don't want to see your cleavage, we don't want to see your butt hanging out your skirt or peaking out of your way too low cut jeans. Therefore, dress in a manner that shows you know your beautiful, but you know that beauty is a gift from Christ. Talk in a way that is respectful and people know you are daughter of God by the way you live your life.

The best way to bring people to the faith is to be a witness. Be a witness in your joy. People will see your joy and want to share in it.

Who am I?
I do not know the answer to this either. What I can say is I am a daughter of God. I belong to God. When we carry ourselves and live our lives as daughters of God we learn who we are. Live your life as a daughter of God. Let the light of the Lord shine through you always!

God bless!
Keep praying!

In the love of Jesus & Mary,
amber

Monday, December 27, 2010

Attitude is Everything

Philippians 2:5 Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus.

Jesus is always a loving and compassionate person. He did all things out of love for others and he dies on the cross out of love for his people with the desire to give people everlasting life. Therefore, all that we do should be done out of live. We should reach out to others and seek to help them because we love them. We should treat ourselves with respect because our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. Your body is meant to honor the Lord, so you - we need to act, behave, and dress in a manner that is respectful to our bodies out of our love for the Lord - because we want to honor him always. All acts should be completed with love and out of love for another person.

Also, over the past week I was on a retreat/mission trip where there was a talk given on being a self-gift. God did not have to give us life. We did not have to be born or put on this earth; however, God chose to put us here. God has on this earth at this time for a reason. We are here to serve and we must learn to serve with joy because that is how Christ served. We must carry ourselves and work joyfully in order to be most pleasing to our Lord. The reason we should treat our body respectfully is because when we are being respectful to ourselves then it is easier for us to be joyful in our service to the Lord.

Therefore, have the same joyful, compassionate, loving attitude of Christ. In serving in joy, you can come to define yourself and find out who you are by imitating Christ because we belong to Christ and we can only define ourselves through Christ.

God bless!
Keep praying!
In the love of Jesus & Mary,
amber

Monday, December 20, 2010

Who Am I? Part 4

Hello, prior to my post tonight I want to inform you all that I will be leaving for a mission trip tomorrow morning, so my series on being a daughter of God and self-definition will be post-poned probably until after the holidays because I will be so very busy this coming week. I wish you a merry Christmas and pray God blesses you! Now, on with the blogging!

You are a daughter of God. You are sacred. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

You are a daughter of God. You have a person you belong to - God. You are His princess. You are the apple of His eye. He loves you more than words can express. He sent his only Son to die for your salvation. Jesus Christ layed his life down for you - because he loved you that much, he loves you that much!

You are sacred; you are beautiful. You belong to God and he has a specific purpose for you. He made you with a specific plan in mind. His love for you is infinite. This makes you sacred. You were made with a purpose to serve the Lord and this purpose makes you important; this purpose makes you sacred!

Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Treat yourself as a body that belongs to Jesus, as a body that Jesus lives in. When we enter a chapel we genuflect out of respect for the Lord. We need to treat our bodies with respect just as we treat Jesus with respect. We need to dress in a way that does not objectify us. We need to talk in a manner that shows we are children of God. We need to demand respect from others. We need to refrain from use of drugs and alcohol. We need to save sex for marriage and remember that we are a tabernacle for the Lord. Upon receiving communion, our bodies enters into our body. We receive the body, blood, soul, and divinity of our Lord. Therefore, Jesus Christ lives in us in a most literal way. He is our strength. We need Him. We must learn to rely on him and him alone for everything because we can do nothing without him!

Because of all this, we must remember Jesus wants to live in us! Jesus wants to be the King of our hearts.  Let Him in. Let Him love you. Let Him heal your wounds. He is ever present in you and in your life!

Dearest Jesus,
We welcome you into our hearts. Please come and fill us with your Divine presence. We love you. Give us the strength to serve you in any way you may call us to serve.
amen

God bless!
Keep praying!
In the love of Jesus & Mary,
Amber

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Who Am I? Part 3

Originally, I was only go to break this down into three parts for my series, but I feel as if there is more to it and as I was skimming through my journal to find where I last left off in this I found something I wanted to share, but it doesn't really fit anywhere under my 3 original topics of choice, so I am just going to extend it and continue until I feel this work is complete.

You are a daughter of God. You are sacred. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

I am a daughter of God. I have a special purpose on this earth and in this life to know, love, and serve God. I belong to God and am never alone because He is always with me.

I am sacred. I am beautiful. I was made in a special way, specifically tailored to the needs of Christ's purpose for me in this passing life. Psalm 139 says: "You are fearfully and wonderfully made"
I was made fearfully - God was so careful when He made me, and designed me and my life because He was fearful to mess something up and desired to make me a perfect fit in this life. God was afraid to mess up His perfect creation.
I am wonderfully made - I was made and designed perfectly, wonderfully, and meaningfully; meant to do something amazing and wonderful in order to satisfy the needs of the Father.
Because so much Divine thought went into my creation I am sacred and I am beautiful. I was made for a specific, sacred, special purpose and belong solely to God.

God puts this much thought into each one of His creations. We are all fearfully and wonderfully made. When God made us, he had fear of screwing up and not doing something exactly as it needed to be. Deep thought and Divine planning went into the creation of each of us. Therefore, we are sacred beings!

God bless!
Keep praying!
In the love of Jesus & Mary,
Amber

Friday, December 17, 2010

Who Am I? Part 2

Last night I started the first of a series I am working on, as I come to define who I am in my own journey. Tonight, I shall continue down this path. I pray that the Lord may now guide my words.

The quote we are working from is: You are a daughter of God. You are sacred. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

Last night, I covered you are a daughter of God. Tonight, You are sacred.

You are sacred.

You are beautiful; you are sacred. I feel that when one says you are sacred it can be intertwined with you are beautiful. When we go into churches we see these sacred items and are often left in awe of their beauty.
We belong to God - which makes us sacred. We have a special purpose to serve God, to know and to love Him. We are beautiful, sacred beings who are made in the image and likeness of God. Our beauty comes from the Lord, from being a daughter of God; we should glow with the fire of the Holy Spirit. In our beauty, we should be filled with Christian joy and the joy of the Holy Spirit. We should go through each day allowing our sacred beauty to shine. We should live our lives as daughters of God. We should lives our lives remembering: we are sacred, we are beautiful, we are special, and we have a place where we belong: a home in the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The Lord's love for us is infinite! He has a specific plan for us, and each of our days is written in His book. He has a specific, special purpose for us to serve in His Kingdom - this makes us special; this makes us sacred! Having a purpose to serve the Lord makes us sacred. Everything about us, about our lives, about our creation and our detailed make-up make us sacred, special, important, and beautiful!
As daughters of God, we are the crown of creation! God made us last because he was saving the best for last! We, the daughters of the most high King, are special, important, beautiful, and most importantly sacred!


Therefore, we are daughters of God. We are sacred. We must choose to live our lives as such!

God bless!
Keep praying!
In Jesus&Mary,
Amber

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Who Am I? Part 1

Tonight I decided I am going to write a short series of posts with something I have praying with. Each post will break down this quote and what came from it in my prayer. The quote: "You are a daughter of God. You are Sacred. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit." It is a topic I am very passionate about, so please bear with me.
You are a daughter of God.

We are daughters of God. We were made by God and for God! He made us with a purpose and has a reason for us to be on this earth. He loves us and we belong to Him!

"I belong to someone because I belong to God. God is the only one who can define me!" Relationships with other people are not going to help define who you are and cannot let them define who you are. God is going to define you. God needs to define you! God must define you! You are a daughter of God and your purpose in this life is to know, love, and serve Him. He loves you. You belong to Him. You are a daughter of God who is fearfully and wonderfully made!

You are a daughter of God - What does this mean?
This means I have a purpose. This means I belong to someone who is perfectin everyway. This means I am a princess and in the eyes of my Father I am perfect.
This means I am called to love: God, friends, enemies, strangers, family, everyone, including myself, unconditionally.
This means I am called to serve and to lay my life down, to surrender my own wants and desires to the Lord. This means I am to lay my life down for my savior and give him everything, bring everything to Him!
Lastly, I am called to know. I am called to communicate with him. We must be able to tell him everything and anything, but we also must listen and hear what he has to say! Therefore, as a daughter of God I have a purpose to know, love, and serve God; I belong to God.
Being a daughter of God also means I am not alone because I have all of heaven with me, helping me, nudging and guiding me down the right path. I also have my earthly brothers and sisters to push me to grow in holiness, to pray for me and to help me.
As a daughter of God, I am beautiful. I was made for a special purpose, which comes with the general purpose to know, love, and serve God. Most importantly, I need to recognize that as God's creation I am beautiful and am most beautiful when the love of the Lord penetrates my heart so much that it explodes out and shines through; for all beauty comes from the Lord. He made me beautiful and perfect, just the way I am.

I am aware that I used "I" as I shared these thoughts with you, however, I want all to know that this applies to each creation...male or female, I chose I and daughter because it was easiest for me to reiterate from my prayer as I and I am a daughter of God.

God bless!
Keep praying!
In Jesus&Mary,
Amber

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Why?

Last night we had a servants meeting for my youth group leadership team. We got into an intense discussion about double life syndrome, and how to call the youth group teens to holiness and call them out of this trance many seem to be stuck in. In our deep discussion, our youth minister pointed something out, that I had never thought of, we talk about these same issues every year. We address modesty every year with a different approach. We brought in Justin Fatica, a profound speaker, who called our youth out and who called youth to live up to their purpose. Kids were on fire for about 2 weeks, then everyone went back to their old ways.

Also, I have to ask - why? Why be catholic? Why live your faith out in your life? Why devote you life to Christ? Why party? Why have premarital sex? Why drink excessively? Why get high? Why? Why? Why?

I can't tell you why. I cannot tell you why to do something because I am a different person than you and have different reasons for my decisions in my life.

I choose to follow Christ. I choose to consecrate my Christ to the Lord. I choose to lay my life down for the Lord and to do something more than live for myself. I choose this because I know that by choosing to live for Christ I will get to go to heaven. I have accepted this. There are days when I don't want to get out of bed. There are days when I want to cry all day. There are days when  I don't want to live. There are days when I feel completely and totally alone. But it is all okay, because I know Christ is with me. I know Christ is suffering with me. And there are days when I am so joy-filled I want to cry. There are days when my life seems like it could not get much better, yet I know that there is something so much better waiting for me in the eternal life Christ has promised me!

Therefore, I ask you why? Why do you choose to disregard the faith? Why do you go to church on Sunday after getting excessively drunk Saturday night? Why do you choose to live this life for the world, who promises you nothing?

Why not choose to do something more with your life? Why not choose to live for something more than just this world? Why not try just giving everything over to Christ and see where it takes you?

Just a thought.

God bless!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Spreading the Light of Christ

There is a mom at my parish who I often saw and would say hello to, but she always had to ask me my name, she could never remember it! I found it funny, and rather humorous, but one day she decided that it was ridiculous she could not remember my name, so she made an association with my name.

My name is Amber, and she made an association with Ember because Amber is a warm golden color and so she remembers my name because embers glow in a fire and she claims that I am always glowing.

We as Christians are called to live a life of joy. This mom tells me that she used this as an association to remember my name because I am always glowing. We are called to live a virtuous life and to glow with love, to have a fire of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. We are called to to be joyous and to shine with the love of the Lord.

Today, I encourage you all to shine with the joy and love of the Holy Spirit. Allow the Holy Spirit to live in your hearts and be source of strength, in order to love as fully as we are able.

I'm sure you are all wondering: How do we obtain this joy?
Prayer. Simple as prayer. You must must must take quiet time each day to give to Christ that is meant to give Christ time to speak to your heart. You will always need Christ in your life and will not get far without Him. Take time each day to pray quietly. Start small, with just 10 minutes and gradually build - it will be easy because once you get started you will not want to stop. When you experience the joy of  Jesus, you will continue to return to Him constantly because he will become your source of joy and you will want to spread his love throughout the world, to each soul you meet!

Here is a simple prayer to get you started, it is one that I say daily!

Dear Jesus, help me to spread your fragrance everywhere we go.
Flood my soul with your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess my being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of you.
Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with
may feel your presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me, but only you my Jesus.
Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be light to others.
 Amen,

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Ahh, peace and quiet

Finally! A chance to relax in peace and quiet, you've drawn yourself a hot bubble bath and are soaking into with your hot cup of tea to relax in peace and quiet after a long day.

Then, suddenly, you remember - I have a final on Wednesday, O I need to study for this quiz, shoot I need to take the dog out, man I have dishes duty tonight, gosh! I have so much to do and never enough time to do it...and when am I ever going to squeeze in time for prayer!? I suppose right before bed will work, hopefully I don't fall asleep.

Rest in our lives is very important, and by rest, I don't mean sleep, I mean resting in the goodness of God. I have learned recently, when we do not rest everything goes off balance and gets messed up. We begin to feel overwhelmed, stressed out, and my favorite - like we barely have time to breathe. Often times, we let our busy lives of  this world consume everything, sometimes we put too much on our plate and can't get all done and repeatedly become overwhelmed and feel like this life is too hard to handle! At least, this is true for me.

However, I have discovered that when we make time for silence in our lives, it's so much better. When we make a point to sit down each day in complete silence and rest with the Lord, He is able to sustain us! He is able to give us the strength we need to press on in this life. The Lord needs to be our source of strength. To him, is the one place we need to run each day.  I want to encourage you, I want to challenge you today and everyday from now on to make time for silence in your day. Be it in the car, in your room, in a chapel - find silence somewhere!

I want to challenge you to go to adoration! Find a church, talk to your priest - see when there will be an opportunity for adoration, and if there is not one, see if you can start one! I have experienced the beauty of adoration, I have been so filled with joy I have wanted to cry tears of joy, and so I encourage you today to make time for silence in your life and rest in the goodness of God!

You are a daughter (or son) of God. You are sacred. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

If you are looking for something to pray with, to meditate over, try these words above - they are powerful, if you let them change you!

God bless!
Keep praying!

In Jesus&Mary,
amber

Friday, December 3, 2010

Perfection

How often do we hear the phrase "be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect"?
I know I hear it all the time! But how often do we really look at what that means? What are we being told in this verse?

Last night, I went to One Gospel, which is like a youth group for college kids. It was pretty cool. The topic was being sons and daughters of God. Which, I chose to go because right now I want to learn what being a daughter of God means in my life. I know that I am a daughter of God, but what does that mean? How does it apply to my life? So, I went and we do some praise and worship and during praise and worship I asked God, 'Okay, what does this mean in my life?' And he didn't give me the answer I was expecting. I was expecting like a definition of sorts; but rather, God just told me you try too hard to be perfect. You are too hard on yourself. You don't give yourself a break when you fail.

When we fail, when we fall, that's when we need Jesus most. "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." When we fall, when we fail, Jesus comes. In our imperfections, Jesus is with us most. When we fall he picks us up, and he picks up our slack. In our human imperfection, we fail - that's a given fact, but Jesus makes up for it. Jesus fulfills and satisfies our every need. He takes all our imperfections and looks past them. He sees us as we will one day be, in heaven, and He wants to help us get there - so he lifts us up when we fall. We just have to be willing to get up and to let him help us get up.

So, be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect - by letting him take your imperfections, by letting him be with you and help you in your imperfection. We are called to be perfect, but we can only be perfect if we let the heavenly Father consume us and make us perfect.

God bless!
Keep praying!

In Jesus&Mary,
amber