Search Results

Life is hard. My dad used to say “the first 100 years are the hardest” and I would roll my eyes as it sounded a bit facetious as well as lacking empathy for my troubles. As i grew older and racked up God wins so too did my faith. This I know… We all encounter really hard trials and get knocked about a little too hard and God is in it with each one of us. The other night my physical pain got the best of me again and I cried. The devil leapt at the opportunity to tell me that I was dying. My hairs on the back of my neck raised and I rebuked the insidiousness. God stepped in and the song by The Red Clay Strays played in my head reminding me He was in control and that despite feelings that I am just fine. This latest need for healing will happen when it happens and will preach the goodness of God through tears. He is I AM. And https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=5z2QfZ7zQsw&list=PLO-KW6q601j4cnxs4Imh871cFS_lfnPZW

I found this article interesting in that this is a 2 fold lesson; 1/ the dangerous side of cherry picking bible verses to support ones thoughts and ideas along the lines of 2 CORINTHIANS 10:5 “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” Keep in mind that diminishing who Christ is the goal of Satan. And it looks like it duped yet another child of God. And 2/ Be wary of not thinking things through. Ask God for His truth per James 1:5 i f any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. From the FB Catholics Online Class… JESUS IS MORE THAN A PROPHET Answering the Priest Who Converted to Islam _________________ Recently, a story has been circulating: An American priest said he became Muslim because the Bible, he claimed, only showed Jesus as “a prophet,” never God. He said: "When I read the Old and New Testaments, I saw that all the books spoke of Jesus as a prophet, a human, and a messenger only. But I told my congregation that Jesus is God, even though the scriptures themselves didn't say that. That's hypocrisy." Then he continued, "When I read the Quran, I found one verse: 'Say, If there were other gods along with Him, as they claim, they would certainly seek a way to the Owner of the Throne.' (Quran 17:42) I imagined, if there were two gods or more with different opinions, whose will would be carried out? Could one god submit to another? But I also had many difficult questions, like when Jesus prayed on the mountain, to whom was he praying? If the answer is to God, then there are two gods, one praying and one being prayed to, so Jesus is not God. Another question, when Jesus ascended to heaven and 'sat at the right hand of God', how many gods are on the throne? One on the right, one on the left? If the answer is one God, why are there two seats? There are many questions like that, especially those often asked by children, which are hard to answer clearly. That's why I'm convinced that Islam is the only truth and monotheism (tauhid) is the logic that explains this existence. The face of Jesus in the church is different from the face of God in Mecca." But here’s the problem: Either he never read carefully, or he chose to ignore the verses that shine too brightly to deny. Because the truth is thunderous: 👉 Jesus is not just a prophet. 👉 He is the eternal Word of God, the One before whom angels bow. ✝️ 1. JESUS CLAIMED DIVINITY HIMSELF “Before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58). The Jews picked up stones, knowing He used the Divine Name of God revealed to Moses. “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). His hearers accused Him of blasphemy because “you, being a man, make yourself God.” If Jesus wanted to be seen only as prophet, why did His words provoke charges of blasphemy? ✝️ 2. JESUS IS WORSHIPPED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT The disciples worshipped Him after the resurrection (Matthew 28:9,17). Thomas confessed: “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28). Jesus accepted the title, He didn’t reject it. Philippians 2:6–11: Christ, “being in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped … therefore every knee should bow.” If He was “only a prophet,” then the apostles committed idolatry. Yet this worship is central to Christianity. ✝️ 3. JESUS PRAYING DOES NOT DENY HIS DIVINITY Muslims ask: “If Jesus is God, why did He pray?” Answer: Because He is true God and true man. As man, He prays. As God, He receives prayer. This is not weakness, it is the mystery of the Incarnation: God stooping so low that He prays with our human lips. ✝️ 4. “SITTING AT GOD’S RIGHT HAND” IS NOT TWO GODS When Scripture says Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father, it doesn’t mean two chairs in heaven. It’s biblical language for sharing divine authority (Psalm 110:1). ✝️ 5. EVEN THE QURAN POINTS TO CHRIST’S DIVINITY The Quran itself contains verses that raise serious questions: “The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, is the Word of God and a Spirit from Him” (Quran 4:171). 👉 The Word of God is eternal, not created. Can God’s Word be separated from Him? No, so if Jesus is the Word, He shares God’s eternity. “We supported Jesus the son of Mary with the Holy Spirit” (Quran 2:87). 👉 No other prophet is described in this way. Why is Jesus uniquely called “Word” and “Spirit”? “Christ Jesus will be eminent in this world and the next and among those nearest to God” (Quran 3:45). 👉 If He is nearest to God for eternity, what does that say about His nature? “The Day of Resurrection, Jesus will be a witness against them” (Quran 4:159). 👉 Who judges humanity on the Last Day except God? Yet here, Jesus does. Even in the Quran, Jesus stands apart. More than prophet. More than messenger. Unique. Holy. Near to God in a way no one else is. ✝️The Truth The “priest” said proclaiming Jesus as God was hypocrisy. But denying Jesus’ divinity is the greatest hypocrisy of all. If He were only a prophet, then His death on the Cross was just a tragedy. But if He is God, then the Cross is the key that unlocks eternity. That’s why the apostles preached. That’s why the martyrs died. That’s why, across centuries and continents, hearts still fall to their knees and whisper with awe: “My Lord and my God.” (John 20:28) Not just prophet. Not just teacher. But God-with-us. Forever. #CatholicsOnlineClass _____________

Good morning and Happy Easter!! God is good all the time! The last 4 weeks have been a time of healing from a lumbar spine disc replacement with 2 fusions and I don't know when I have felt more isolated. Which appears to be exactly how and where God wants me. This down-time of has given me time to dwell on past choices and experiences, not in the manner of Lot's wife in bemoaning what I have lost, but in the interactions of others in what I could have done better. For example... the similar back surgeries my mom went through. I can now appreciate how debilitating the recovery is. I ruminated on how I tried to be the supportive daughter in being with her as much as I could as I worked and lived 4 hours away. When I couldn't be with her, I sent flowers with cheery notes. When we talked I encouraged her to walk more than just a couple of trips around the dining table. After all, they say exercising even in the pain has to be done. This advice hit me now like a cold slap of water as I now I walk around my kitchen island. This slap of reality allowed me to continue to wallow through what I could have, should have, would have, done better by her led the door to open to guilt. And I was flooded with it. I cried out "JESUS!" And the Holy Spirit stepped in and reminded me that guilt is not of God. On a sidebar here... have you ever noticed that the Holy Spirit never speaks or refers to the enemy? But only of God? Anyways then, as I bemoaned to Jesus my then lack of compassion, The Holy Spirit showed me I had exhibiting fea over compassion. And so I gave the guilt to the cross of Jesus and asked Him to take it in accordance to 1 Peter 2:24, as Jesus personally carried the burden of our sins in his own body on the cross, to free believers from sin so they may live in righteousness and to do as I could and realize that mom chose to lean on others for reasons that had little to do with me. It's a hard lesson to accept that the tragedies that others experience cannot always be earthly fixed. No good intended advice can land always on their circumstances to help. No warnings can always prevent. Our paths to heaven are what they are and it is what it is. To get there we need to lean on Jesus. Happy Easter! He is risen. For you. And me.

Let's talk! Submit Thanks for submitting!

Discover Art! on the Outskirts Welcome to my Art! on the Outskirts Studio blog and shop to view my very own passion projects filled with unique and engaging content. Explore my site and all that I have to offer; perhaps Art! on the Outskirts will ignite your own passions as well. BLOG My Testimony Speaking from my heart in paint. On and beyond the canvas.