Amazinglifefoundation-alf

Amazinglifefoundation-alf TRANSFORMING COMMUNITIES-" SAYING NO TO TEENAGE PREGNANCY" EMPOWERING THE WOMEN AND THE YOUTH

Wellspring Suites
16/05/2025

Wellspring Suites

08/04/2025

We are so like the men in this passage from John. Quick to judge and we want that person punished. There's a saying, "People who live in glass houses, shouldn't throw stones." Jesus knew what was in the hearts of the people who accused the woman caught in adultery. He wasn't going to play their game. In the Gospel, the men walked away, beginning with the oldest. But we know people – and maybe ourselves at times – that call out the secrets sins of others while trying to pretend we have blameless lives. I believe that every one of us has something they would like to hide. It could be a youthful indiscretion or something more current, but we all have something. Would we like to be judged in the same way that we judge others? I'm sure we can find excuses for any of our behaviors, and may not consider them sins, because we can justify them. Don't we realize that the people we're judging also have reasons for their behavior as well?

In the Gospel story, there's no mention of the man she was caught with – in the very act – just her. In that day, a woman alone couldn't work and could be cast out of her husband's home if he so chose. Maybe that was the only way she could have a place to live or food on her table. We'll never know. And maybe we shouldn't worry about judging our neighbor either. Who's the judge? The answer to that is simple – God. Since we are not God, we don't have the right to judge.

04/03/2025

What is this law of the Spirit of life in Christ? Jesus gave us the answer in his last discourse to the apostles during the Last Supper. His law is the law of love. When we obey this law, we don't need to worry about whether or not we are following the commandments. After all, is lying, cheating, stealing, loving? Are we showing love when we act out of anger, refuse to forgive – or ask for forgiveness? Is being prideful, acting out of prejudice, envy or greed, loving? Is neglecting God, having no respect for others or ourselves, loving? You get the picture. When we live lives guided by Jesus' law of love, we don't have to worry about anything else. We are free. God knew the weakness of humanity and gave us Jesus as the model of how human beings should live. When we act according to the "flesh" or pleasure, we can easily be led from temptation to sin. Living in the "spirit" means that we are making choices according to Jesus' law of love. It's not easy. There are times when we face choices where it seems impossible to know what the right thing to do is. The question we can ask ourselves is, "Which choice is the most loving?" Which is the choice Jesus would make? It is then that we need the guidance of the Spirit. We can pray, make our most loving choice, and know that God will not condemn us if we choose wrongly. Remember, Jesus was accused of breaking the law when he healed people on the Sabbath. Would God really have wanted someone to suffer unnecessarily because of the day of the week?

28/02/2025

Dear Lord, I know there is no law that can ever replace the power of grace. Grace frees me from shame that hinders me from walking in my calling. Your grace empowers me, like the prophets and disciples of old, to move boldly in Your direction. Grace gives me freedom, and I will not use that freedom to sin. Instead, I ask that You would grant me the fortitude of character to lead with courage and minister with love. May grace move me more than the law ever could. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

25/02/2025

Is the feeling of unworthiness the reason you don't think you can be a disciple? Isaiah didn't think he was worthy to be a prophet. We are sometimes people of unclean lips and we certainly do live in the midst of people of unclean lips. What made the difference so that Isaiah responded to God's call? He confessed his sin and received forgiveness. The first step is always to recognize our fault and sins, the second is to take responsibility for them and then to accept God's forgiveness. They are all difficult, but the third is sometimes the hardest. Have you ever hurt someone, asked their forgiveness and then been forgiven but you're still beating yourself up over it? It can be difficult to accept forgiveness because we still haven't forgiven ourselves. Isaiah was open to receive God's forgiveness and so was able to accept his assignment to deliver God's message. Once we can accept the fact that God has chosen us in our unworthiness and has made us worthy though his forgiving love, we will be ready to say, yes, to whatever mission God has in store for us.

24/02/2025

If there's one thing I learned as a parent, I get more frustrated when my children exhibit "qualities" that I dislike in myself and then see in them. It can be hard to look honestly at our faults and yet there are times when we are more than happy to find fault with others. Sometimes the problem can be an unwillingness to admit ignorance and so we refuse to listen to the ideas of another because it might mean that we are wrong.

We all know the saying, the blind leading the blind, but do we ever apply it to ourselves? In the days before GPS, we had to rely on a map, our memory or the directions of a friend to get us from place to place. If I get lost, do I stubbornly resist asking for help? Trust me, I have experience in this! Do we hold others to a standard that is higher than we hold ourselves? Am I someone who calls a person dishonest because he or she is spreading rumors that are false, but see no problem with taking home office supplies from work? Am I a "do what I say not what I do" parent? Do I punish my children for using the foul language they learned from me? Do I excuse myself for the same things I find fault with in others? Being blind to our faults can cause problems with our relationships. No one is perfect and Jesus knew that.

Today we are given a reminder that we need a self-check, and if you're brave enough, ask a friend to give you that check-up. Then we can work on removing the beam in our eye.

22/02/2025

Do we really love God's commands? For many people, the commandments have become God's "suggestions." Corporate theft has become so common it no longer rates headlines. Adultery??? It's so common many have forgotten that it's one of the "thou shalt nots" and violence in word and deed is rampant and no one seems to remember "thou shalt not kill." The media delights in leading us in the way of covetousness. After all, don't we all need fancy cars and expensive vacations? We forget God's message, echoed by Jesus, to take care of the poor while we indulge in luxury. Putting God first, refraining from cursing, keeping Holy the Sabbath, respect for authority, eliminating violence, fidelity in marriage, honesty in word and action and being satisfied with the gifts we have without envy of others, are all proscribed by the commandments but seem to have gone out of favor in today's world. It can be difficult to do the right thing when all around us say that this is old fashioned, that the commandments were meant for a different time and place. Yet, theologians of every denomination tell us that these are actually the basis for any civilized society. Perhaps, the lack of adherence to the commandments is the reason our civilization has become so less civilized! We need to get back to basics and reexamine our lives in respect to the commandments. As I began this reflection, do I really love God's law?

17/02/2025

James 1
1. From James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ: Greetings to all God's people scattered over the whole world.

Trials and Temptations

2. My friends, consider yourselves fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way,

3. for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is the ability to endure.

4. Make sure that your endurance carries you all the way without failing, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

5. But if any of you lack wisdom, you should pray to God, who will give it to you; because God gives generously and graciously to all.

6. But when you pray, you must believe and not doubt at all. Whoever doubts is like a wave in the sea that is driven and blown about by the wind.

7-8. If you are like that, unable to make up your mind and undecided in all you do, you must not think that you will receive anything from the Lord.

9. Those Christians who are poor must be glad when God lifts them up,

10. and the rich Christians must be glad when God brings them down. For the rich will pass away like the flower of a wild plant.

11. The sun rises with its blazing heat and burns the plant; its flower falls off, and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way the rich will be destroyed while they go about their business.

12. Happy are those who remain faithful under trials, because when they succeed in passing such a test, they will receive as their reward the life which God has promised to those who love him.

13. If we are tempted by such trials, we must not say, *This temptation comes from God.* For God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one.

14. But we are tempted when we are drawn away and trapped by our own evil desires.

15. Then our evil desires conceive and give birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

16. Do not be deceived, my dear friends!

17. Every good gift and every perfect present comes from heaven; it comes down from God, the Creator of the heavenly lights, who does not change or cause darkness by turning.

18. By his own will he brought us into being through the word of truth, so that we should have first place among all his creatures.

Listening and Doing

19. Remember this, my dear friends! Everyone must be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to become angry.

20. Human anger does not achieve God's righteous purpose.

21. So get rid of every filthy habit and all wicked conduct. Submit to God and accept the word that he plants in your hearts, which is able to save you.

22. Do not deceive yourselves by just listening to his word; instead, put it into practice.

23. If you listen to the word, but do not put it into practice you are like people who look in a mirror and see themselves as they are.

24. They take a good look at themselves and then go away and at once forget what they look like.

25. But if you look closely into the perfect law that sets people free, and keep on paying attention to it and do not simply listen and then forget it, but put it into practice---you will be blessed by God in what you do.

26. Do any of you think you are religious? If you do not control your tongue, your religion is worthless and you deceive yourself.

27. What God the Father considers to be pure and genuine religion is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their suffering and to keep oneself from being corrupted by the world.

15/02/2025

Faith and Deeds

14. My friends, what good is it for one of you to say that you have faith if your actions do not prove it? Can that faith save you?

15. Suppose there are brothers or sisters who need clothes and don't have enough to eat.

16. What good is there in your saying to them, *God bless you! Keep warm and eat well!*---if you don't give them the necessities of life?

17. So it is with faith: if it is alone and includes no actions, then it is dead.

18. But someone will say, *One person has faith, another has actions.* My answer is, *Show me how anyone can have faith without actions. I will show you my faith by my actions.*

19. Do you believe that there is only one God? Good! The demons also believe---and tremble with fear.

20. You fool! Do you want to be shown that faith without actions is useless?

21. How was our ancestor Abraham put right with God? It was through his actions, when he offered his son Isaac on the altar.

22. Can't you see? His faith and his actions worked together; his faith was made perfect through his actions.

23. And the scripture came true that said, *Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous.* And so Abraham was called God's friend.

24. You see, then, that it is by our actions that we are put right with God, and not by our faith alone.

25. It was the same with the pr******te Rahab. She was put right with God through her actions, by welcoming the Israelite spies and helping them to escape by a different road.

26. So then, as the body without the spirit is dead, also faith without actions is dead.

15/02/2025

Let's pay particular attention to the opening phrases of this passage. Faith teaches us that we are all God's children and have a responsibility for others. It's easy to go through life not paying attention to the needs of others. That way, our consciences won't be moved to do something. We can be quite comfortable by not looking at others in pain whether they are on the streets of our city or on a continent far away. We don't have to go far to see examples of injustice. The real question is, "What do we do about it?"

Our works can take different directions depending on our circumstances. For those who have enough money, they can make donations to organizations that help with food and housing. For those with time, they can volunteer at food banks or homeless shelters. For some, they can volunteer for educational trips to other countries to help teach better methods of sanitation or purification of water. Everyone has some ability to help others. There are many people who do good things for others. Does that mean that they have faith?

Actually, no. In fact, I know of a gentleman who has organized a wonderful group to go to Africa to help organize the local women and teach them about maternal and child care. This man has no problem declaring that he is an atheist. His works are those of a good human being who has not faith in God, but of a good humanitarian. For those of us who declare that we are Christians, our faith needs to go hand in hand with the good works we owe our brothers and sisters who are less fortunate.

13/02/2025

What will I render to God for all his benefits? Have you ever tried to write down all the blessings and benefits that God has given you? When I try to count my blessings, I wind up thinking of something else just when I think I've finished.

First, I thank God for each day that I wake up. Sometimes I'm hurting from arthritis or I have a headache, or a cold, etc. But I woke up. I have a roof over my head and I pray for those who do not. I give thanks for the food in my refrigerator and again, I am reminded of those who wake up hungry and don't know what they will eat that day. I do give to organizations that actually spend their donations on the poor, and am grateful that I have enough to do that. I have a family that is doing well with a few members that are struggling with finding work and pray that they will find a job soon. The older I get, I find that I am loosing friends who have returned to the Father, and I pray for them as well as for those still fighting the battle of aging. I am grateful that I have the freedom to worship my God in whichever way I choose and I make sure that I do not take this for granted, so I show up on Sunday! I have vowed to follow Jesus and I don't take that vow lightly. I'm sure that you have many of the same blessings that I do. Although there may be many of you who also have the blessing of youth!

Today, take some time and count your blessings and benefits and decide how you will give thanks to God and what sacrifice you will offer in thanksgiving.

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