When: Saturday, August 18, 2007 8:30 AM-9:00 AM (GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada).
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Dear Lord God, how today’s reading remind me of my time under the sun, first Joshua reminds me of all my broken promises to You, the many times I promised to follow and obey, I would try to make deals; if You help me with this, I would do that. Yet knowingly I disobeyed and sinned against You and others. I put other things first and made things under the sun my god and closed my heart to You, I believed I could find want I wanted under the sun and then return to You. But through my Lord Jesus Christ I was saved and found redemption; I was awakened to the reality of my beliefs and Your presence inside me. It became clear to me that I was sacrificing myself for the ways and things under the sun; for under the sun as Solomon proclaimed all is vanity and all is temporary, the only permanence is the loss of ourselves and the experience of You. Through Jesus I was able to find forgiveness and learn to forgive, and most of all forget. One of the first verses that penetrated my heart and engulfed my spirit was Joshua 24:15 and I too proclaimed "as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD". This became and continues my vision and quest, my hope and prayer as a legacy. I now walk under the sun according to Psalm 16 I take refuge in You, I know I have no good apart from Thee, You are my chosen portion and my cup, You give me counsel and instruction, I practice Your presence, I seek Your will and pray that I will fulfill Your purpose for me. I realize as Jesus taught in Matthew 19:14 that it is only when I allow myself to be like a child that I am closet to You. Wisdom and knowledge are things we seek as we grow, but only get in the way; it is the innocence of a child that I need to seek, for it is in that state that I can be closest to You. So while I need to be capable to witness and testify the Gospel, it is the innocence and total dependence of a child that I must practice and share. O Lord God thank You, in Jesus name I ask and pray for Your continued blessings, counsel and instruction, Amen.
But I would not believe in the Gospel, had not the authority of the Catholic Church already moved me.
— St. Augustine, Contra epistolam Manichaei
14 "Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 And if you be unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." 16 Then the people answered, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods; 17 for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; 18 and the LORD drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land; therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God." 19 But Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve the LORD; for he is a holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. 20 If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm, and consume you, after having done you good." 21 And the people said to Joshua, "Nay; but we will serve the LORD." 22 Then Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve him." And they said, "We are witnesses." 23 He said, "Then put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel." 24 And the people said to Joshua, "The LORD our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey." 25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem. 26 And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak in the sanctuary of the LORD. 27 And Joshua said to all the people, "Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us; for it has heard all the words of the LORD which he spoke to us; therefore it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your God." 28 So Joshua sent the people away, every man to his inheritance. 29 After these things Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being a hundred and ten years old.
1 Preserve me, O God, for in thee I take refuge. 2 I say to the LORD, "Thou art my Lord; I have no good apart from thee." 5 The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; thou holdest my lot. 7 I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. 8 I keep the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 11 Thou dost show me the path of life; in thy presence there is fulness of joy, in thy right hand are pleasures for evermore.
13 Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people; 14 but Jesus said, "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven." 15 And he laid his hands on them and went away.
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