The Pope is coming to town

It is very interesting to see the months of preparation that there has been in Philadelphia in anticipation of the arrival of Pope Francis. If the truth be told I did not even realize that Pope Francis was also going to be in Washington, DC as well as in New York City. It would seem that all I was hearing on the news was “Pope Francis is coming to Philadelphia.” It is a very exciting time I am sure for the city as not only will they be honored to have the Pope there, but there is also the meeting of families. With these two events thousands of people will be converging on the city, some just to get a glimpse of Pope Francis. What a boost this will be for the economy of the city as no doubt all the hotels will be filled to capacity, the restaurants will be overwhelmed and the merchants will no doubt be having a boom in sales. This is absolutely fantastic.

As I reflect on all of this I cannot help but think about the stark difference between the coming of the Pope to America and the return of Jesus Christ.  The preparation of His coming has been for thousands of Years, not just over months to a year. This preparation has nothing to do with the external (clean sidewalks, freshly painted buildings, beautiful meeting rooms, and well secured areas), instead the preparation for the return of Jesus Christ is all internal- a preparation of hearts.  With the coming of Pope Francis the majority of events will require tickets to attend. Many not being able to get a ticket will stand outside of restricted areas to get just a glimpse of him. Unfortunately the majority of America will not see Pope Francis. However with the return of Jesus Christ- all eyes will behold Him- that is the entire world. The dead in Christ will rise first, then those who are alive and remain will be caught up to meet Him in the air. There will be no restriction by social standing, education, position in the church or by race- the only criteria is that you are “born again”, washed in the blood of the lamb. This by far supersedes any other “coming to America”.

In His Service,

Vilma

Trust in God

I hope all is well with you and your family. For those with younger children, I can imagine how busy these last couple of weeks have been with "back to school shopping". Having had those days myself, I do understand it all, but don't have an envious bone in my body at the moment about you doing it :)

 As part of your "back to school" preparation, please include a time of prayer and fasting for your children also. Whether they are at home or away at college they constantly need the divine protection of God. There is so much that they have to contend with, We need to pray that they make the right choices at all times and not fall to peer pressure.
 

 Having said all this let me leave a couple verses with you from Proverbs 3:5-6- Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.  

 What have you been trusting God for? Another child, a relationship, a better marriage, a job, your own home, completing school? Well don't stop trusting God to bring it to manifestation. Trust requires submission- your will, emotions, feelings and intellect. These are the things that gets in the way when what you have asked God for is not coinciding with what it seems like God is actually doing. As these verses tell us acknowledge God in everything you do and allow Him to direct your path. We tend to acknowledge Him after we make our move, rather than before. It is like you seeing someone you know and they look at you, but do not acknowledge you. How do you feel? Well God does not want us to be saying we are walking with Him and then totally ignore Him in all our decision making. Acknowledge that He is there with you, and is working on your behalf behind the scenes.

 Acknowledge that He knows what is the best path for you, acknowledge that He loves you, acknowledge His attributes, Acknowledge that He keeps His promises and that He is not a man that He should lie. It then makes it so much easier to act when we know these things.

 Please remember to send any prayer request that you may have- nothing is too small or too large for God. You can email me at mpush810@gmail.com

In His Service,

 

Vilma

 

Follow His Lead

I trust all is well with you and your family and that you are enjoying the summer so far. For those who may be experiencing sweltering heat, please make sure that you keep as cool as possible- drinking plenty of water and using sunscreen lotion is always a plus.


  As for me and the family, we are doing well. We recently returned from a well -deserved vacation in Jamaica. I broke all my rules and ate so much food including my favorite Devon house ice cream, I came back quite a few pounds heavier, but quite refreshed and re-energized. From time to time we all need to take a break and get refreshed and strengthen.

  I cannot help but reflect on a well-known passage from Psalm 23-

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.
 
The words "He makes me lie down" - suggest something done by force. Jesus our Shepherd realizes that if He does not force us to lie down and rest, we would keep going until we fall over from exhaustion. Being the wise, caring compassionate  and loving Shepherd he is, He finds us the ideal places - green pastures- not only can we rest but our needs are taken care of.

 Don't you find it very calming when you sit beside a quiet pond, river or pool? It is times like this that we are able to meditate, reflect and eventually we drift off in sleep. It is in our quiet moments that Jesus is able to get our full attention. He is able to have meaningful conversations with us and by the end of it all our souls are refreshed and we leave strengthened.

 
  Why not pause for a moment and be strengthened? Cast your cares on Him. Follow where He leads, He knows the path- potholes and all. Do not stop along the way or try to wander, the green pastures and still waters are up ahead.


 Please remember to send any prayer request that you may have- nothing is too small or too large for God. You can email me at mpush810@gmail.com


 

In His Service,

 

Vilma

He knows my name

How many times do we meet someone and we recognize their face, but cannot remember their name? Or how many times people see you, speak to you and have no clue what your name is? Some do not even care or even wish to know your name. How does it make you feel, ignored, not important enough, bothered, or disappointed.  Perhaps you attribute it to a "memory issue" or something not worth a second thought. Whatever your emotion, don't dwell on it- somebody that matters know your name.

 You are perhaps saying well, my family knows my name, that is true but do they always call you by your name?  Sometimes not, My mother in particular would call me my sister's name and vice versa. So there goes that reasoning.

 But now, this is what the LORD says-- he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine (Isaiah 43:1).

 It is reassuring to be reminded that The Lord knows us by name. Although He is aware of our natural name, He also knows us according to our purpose or calling.  Regardless of how long ago He heard your voice or had a conversation with you, He will never forget who you are neither will he forget who your children are.  What is more amazing is that He adopted us as sons and daughters and gave us His name.

Everyone who is called by My name, And whom I have created for My glory, Whom I have formed, even whom I have made (Isaiah 43:7).

 Let me leave you with Israel Houghton's song, I am not forgotten, He knows my name.
 

 Do you have a prayer request? I would be honored to help you pray- you can email me at mpush810@gmail.com

 

In His Service,

Vilma

 

Can the ravens find you?

In I Kings 17 we find a very fascinating story about Elijah, King Ahab, a drought, a brook and some ravens. This seems a very unusual combination, but then again this is perhaps why I find it so fascinating.  King Ahab as did many of the previous Kings of Israel, continued to worship idols instead of God.

 Elijah, God’s prophet was not pleased with Ahab’s blatant disregard of God and made a declaration that there would be no rain in Israel for years.  Elijah was not concerned about the drought affecting him; he knew that God would somehow take care of him as He always did.

 The first thing we see God doing was instructing him to change direction and go towards the brook “Cherith” God had a plan for Elijah. He would be able to drink as much water as he wanted from the brook and be fed by the ravens at God’s command (v3-4)

 One of the fascinating parts of the story is how obedient Elijah was to what God told him to do.  God could have provided food to Elijah where he was, because He is God.  Elijah could have refused to move because Ahab was looking for him.  He could have said I am afraid that Ahab may kill me if I venture to take this journey to this brook you are asking me to go to.  Elijah could also have said God, I am hungry and tired, I do not have the strength to travel that far. 

What do you think would have happened if Elijah came up with all those excuses?  I do believe that Elijah would have starved and the raven would still have his mouth full of food waiting. They would have missed each other.

As you see God made sure that all that Elijah would need was already at the place where He was asking him to go. The great news is that God is still doing so today.  God has already made provision for you and it is waiting right at the place where He has sent you. Do not miss your resources because you fail to show up “there” Do not have the ravens waiting for you while you are starving somewhere else.

  It is not about where you are comfortable, or about where someone else is, rather it’s about where God has sent you, it's about where your ravens are waiting.

In His Service,

Vilma

HE Is Risen!

Do you understand- the grave could not hold Him. That very big stone in front of Christ’s tomb simply just rolled away. The Roman soldiers with their staves and clubs and spears were paralyzed, not only was the stone rolled away but their prized possession that Satan was rejoicing about is gone. All that was left behind was the linen clothes He wore and the cloth covering his face which was neatly folded.
Can you hear Satan summoning his angels to an emergency meeting? As a matter a fact, he has fired a bunch of them, reassigned some and sentenced some to hard times. How could they allow this to happen? As Hell’s rejoicing came to a sudden halt, Heaven stood at attention two Angels were standing at their posts in the empty tomb waiting to redirect all those who would be coming to the tomb.

Mary Magdalene and two other women were the first to arrive at the tomb, preparing to properly anoint Christ’s body as they were not able to do so on Friday. Can you imagine there surprise when they arrived and saw that the stone was rolled away? At first they thought that His enemies had stolen the body to further humiliate Him and His followers.
As they entered the tomb the two angels greeted them. The women were frightened but they were assured:
Do not be afraid. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he laid. Then go quickly and tell his disciple that Jesus has risen from the dead. Matthew 28:5-7.

These three women were the first to give the good news to everyone they met including the disciples – “He is Risen- Jesus was alive. These women did not question the fact although they did not see Jesus, they believed. Later and throughout the day Jesus appeared again and again, first to Mary Magdalene, then to Joanna and Mary the mother of James. That evening he appeared to two men walking to Emmaus and showed up unexpectedly in the room where ten of the disciples were hiding. It took about 1400 years to complete this work that God started to redeem mankind, but it was finally accomplished. Death’s icy hand was pried open, and Jesus conquered death, not just for himself, but for anyone that would bet their soul on God’s Passover Lamb.

Reflection: Just as He rose from the dead, so will you and your situations that seem dead and buried come back to life. Have Faith that He who has started a good thing in you will see it to completion. He is Faithful- Walk in His resurrection power. It’s not over-till God says it’s over.

In His Service,

Vilma

Not just mere words

One of the first prayers that most of us learned growing up in a Christian home was what we called the Lord’s Prayer. This prayer we later learned was actually the model prayer which was taught by Jesus to His disciples. This prayer is still very relevant today and one that we should use to pattern the way in which we approach prayer. Most of us have become so familiar with the words of this prayer that we simple race through it without thinking about th...e words we are saying.

This prayer in case you forget is found in Mathew 6: 9-15 and begins with the words “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name”. Yes that’s the one I’m talking about. This entire prayer is profound, but I would like to focus our attention on verse 12. Here is what this verse says-“And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors"

What does this verse means? Here are a couple interpretations. Father forgive me of all of my debts/trespasses/transgressions as I forgive the people who have transgressed or wronged me here is another way in which I interpret it. Lord the same way in which I refuse to forgive my children when they are disobedient and take me for granted, I want you to do the same with me when I do not do the things you ask and when I take you for granted. Father the same way in which I hold on to the grudge I have for my ex-husband for leaving me for another woman, is the same way in which I want you to remember the many times I left you to worship and admire other things and people instead of you.

Another interpretation that I have of this verse is this- Lord it is so hard to forgive and forget the many people who have wronged me over the years, but it is not worth holding on to un-forgiveness so with your help I choose to forgive them all, knowing that you will do the same for me as well.
Verse 14 explains very well, why we need to do this: “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you”. I think this makes so much sense.

I realize that left to me I would choose who and what to forgive instead of extending forgiveness to everyone. So the next time you say the model – prayer remember to pay attention to the details, it will make a difference.

In His Service,

Vilma