Top 15 Mother Theresa Quotes

Spiritual Tools

Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

We are not contending with human beings alone. The Book of Ephesians in today’s Bible is telling us, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might,” not only in our own thoughts, words and actions. We are to, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Ephesians 6:11

This armor is spiritual armor, nothing physical about it. How are we to contend with the spirit of evil obviously present in the world? If enough good people do nothing, that also is evil. But the action we are being called to here is prayer. Prayer is not nothing. Prayer is a powerful force against the powers of darkness.

Jesus used prayer, as a shining example of how to not go out and do anything without first praying to God, praising him and seeking his wisdom and strength to give us the words to say and the most loving response to take as the solution. Jesus, our example, simply did not go out and take charge of life of his own accord.

There are forces out there that are motivating those minds who do not pray, and/or do not pray to the God of heaven, Father of Jesus Christ his Son. Why am I being so explicit on which “God” to pray to? As Ephesians 6:12 tells us, there are other forces out there, beyond our control, that are not of God, Father of Jesus Christ. These other forces are “God” to malicious groups and ideologies. These dark forces are indeed praying to their “God.”

So, if we are to “put on the whole armor of God” as Ephesians 6:11 says, what exactly are we to do?

“Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; above all taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one.” Ephesians 6:13-16

These are indeed evil days with mass shootings, guns allowed to be sold to mentally ill people, and greed at the helm while too many people die in the streets. The USA is upset now because it is happening here. But across the globe, atrocities occur on a daily basis in places we do not want to think about, so as not to ruin our happy vibe.

“Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray at all times in the Spirit, with aLL prayer and supplication.” Ephesians6:17-18

We are told to mentally be conscious of putting on and using the following spiritual tools:

• Prayer
• Stand in faith
• Truth
• Righteousness
• Gospel of Peace
• Carry faith as a shield

Pray. Pray as never before. As we can see, these are not weak forces that give up when they fail in some way or another. They are consistent. We need to be consistent. We have God, the Almighty Creator on our side. The other dark side does not win in the end. It is good for us to remember that.

Stand in faith. Stand firm in the faith. There is one God for all of us in reality. Every single one of God’s promises has come true in the prophesies, except for the last one. We need to stand firm in the faith in these last days. These are not the days to be willfully ignorant or suddenly stupid to go along with some other popular tide.

Truth. Stand in truth. John 17:17 says, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” Jesus is praying out loud for all of us in this Bible passage, as he prays directly to God, his Father for us. Remain in God’s word, the word that Jesus shared with us.

Righteousness. Righteousness is one of the chief attributes of God, Father of Jesus Christ. Righteousness is chiefly concerned with ethical behavior, moral uprightness, honesty, integrity, purity and living the way Jesus promoted. Righteousness is the basis of the Golden Rule promoted by Jesus.

Gospel of Peace. Gospel of Peace is a spiritual tool that wins in the end. It is not the person with the biggest gun, assault weapon, nor countries with the most hideous, dastardly tool of death that wins. No, the Gospel of Peace wins in the end. The Gospel of Peace is a firm foundation to stand on. No amount of retaliatory killing as manmade wars promote will ever even the score. Realize the dark forces are duped. Stand firm in the Gospel of Peace.

Carry the shield of faith. Carrying the shield of faith is the protection we need so that you and I “can quench the flaming darts of the evil one,” as Ephesians 6:16 says. Those flaming darts of the evil one cannot penetrate our shield of faith. How do we carry the shield of faith under the weigh of tragedy and oppression? Carry the shield of faith with the support of the Holy Spirit of God, as Jesus his Son instructed us to do. This is not done by our own spirit which can crumble under the weight of so much injustice. Rather, we need to bolster our minds and hearts, even if our bodies are weak and frail, in prayer. Pray at every moment, upon waking, getting dressed, before eating meals, while driving the car, before work and enjoyments, and at all times. Prayer does not need to be done in churches, before altars, icons (idols which Jesus warned us about), nor in supposedly sacred spaces. Carry the shield of faith in every phase of life. We are not promised no pain, fame and fortune, nor to be popular. As a matter of fact, we are promised to be ridiculed by a world, through created by God, renounces God. Carrying the shield of faith is a spiritual tool we cannot go without.

* I continue to extend a warm invitation to the worldwide meditation and prayer effort currently underway through July and August 2019. This is an international, concerted effort specifically addressing the inhumane conditions at the southern border of the United States of America and Mexico, as well as inhumane conditions globally. I extend this prayer to include all the mass shooting victims and their families affected in the Gilroy, CA; El Paso, TX; and Dayton, Ohio mass shootings. I also extend this prayer, asking the Good God above, Father of Jesus Christ, to send his Holy Spirit to be with the countries of Mexico and the United States as the necessary steps of healing and peaceful resolution can begin to take place. I also pray for sensible gun regulations in the United States of America so the country can move past willful ignorance and financial greed that has resulted in so many needless deaths. I am inviting all churches in all denominations in the world to invite all their parishioners to take part; and include all people without any church affiliation to participate. Scroll down to see how meditation and prayer reduced crime in Washington, D.C. by 48 percent.

God Bless

Mexico And The United States Are Joined In A Binational State Of Grief

Mexico and the United States of America are nations in mourning over the hate-filled shooting rampages in Gilroy, CA; El Paso, TX; and Dayton, OH. It is not only the USA that is grief stricken, but our neighbors in Mexico as well. To help these and other nations in the world who are struggling with overwhelming grief at this time, this post may offer some words of comfort for broken hearts, and hope for peaceful and Christ-like solutions for a world broken by ignorance and hate. Some of the victims’ names are mentioned here for additional prayers that could be sent their way by loving hearts from all over the world who are also grieving at a showing of the worst humanity has to offer to its brothers and sisters.

One fact that might help Americans realize that “Mexicans are not invading our country,” is to understand, first of all, that not all who look like Mexicans are illegal aliens, but have family roots here in the USA longer than the white folk who later settled here. Look at the map showing the 13 colonies compared to what is really going on in the country and who owns most of the land. They were always here. We are the newcomers.

Another fact is that El Paso, Texas and its sister city of Juarez in Mexico have a daily stream of people who drive and walk across the bridge in the border states to shop. This relationship has existed for years. It is not only Americans who are grieving the loss of God-given life.

In Gilroy, CA, the mother of Kayla Salazar, 13, said, “She took my hand and looked up at the sky.” Stephen Romero age 6, and Trevor Irby age 25 also lost their lives to gun violence. The shooter, 19-year old Santino Legan was later shot and killed by police.

In El Paso, 22 people have now lost their lives to the largest mass shooting in Texas, and 24 more were injured. Jordan Anchondo, 24, gave birth to her baby boy, Paul Gilbert, two months ago. At an El Paso Walmart, she gave her life to save his. She shielded the baby as she was being shot. Her husband tried to shield them both. Both she and her husband were both killed, but the baby, now a mass-shooting victim, had two broken fingers and was grazed by a bullet.

GoFund Me pages have been set up since no one expected their lives to be lost so early in their lives. Grammy-nominated singer Khalid, not forgetting his El Paso roots, plans on having a benefit for the families of this mass shooting.

El Paso victims also included Arturo Benavides age 60, an Army veteran; and Javier Amir Rodríguez age 15, a high school student and avid soccer player with Express Futbol Club, an El Paso soccer club for boys and girls. On Sunday the soccer club announced they are organizing a charity game to help with the Rodríguez family as well as for the soccer coaches who were also victims.

Elsa Mendoza Marquez age 57, was gunned down and killed. She was an elementary school teacher from Juarez, Mexico and mother of two adult children.

Juan Velazquez age 78, became the 22nd victim of the El Paso shooting.

El Paso shooter, Patrick Crusius, age 21, is arrested and being held with possible additional charges of hate crimes and federal firearms charges.

In Dayton, Ohio, Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl said that Megan Betts, age 22, was the first to be gunned down by her brother, Connor Betts who carried out the massacre. He was killed by a police officer prior to continuing this horror shooting as he was attempting to enter an extremely filled pub last Sunday.

Names of other shooting victims include:
Derrick Fudge, 57
Lois Oglesby, 27
Logan Turner, 30
Nicholas Cumer, 25
Thomas McNichols, 25
Beatrice Warren-Curtis, 36
Seed Sale, 38
Minicab Brickhouse, 39

We mourn these deaths and all those who have died needlessly from gun violence. Let us take a moment to remember the lives of these people, young and old, who have themselves given joy, love and hope to others during their lives.

Whenever there is a tragedy such as this, and the loss of loved ones, we ask over and over, WHY? Why Now?

In the Book of Ecclesiastes we read:
“To everything there is a season,
And a time to every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die …”

The deceased among us have made an abrupt turn in their journey and left us wondering. In our uncertainty, we seek comfort from one another and in that comfort we find strength, and in that strength, we share our healing love.

It can help to gather with family and friends at this time, to share the this loss and the losses in your lives that these situations bring up, even if the deaths you have experienced in your lives have been by natural causes and/or by illness. All of this seems untimely.

We are born into a life not of our own making. The Good God above, Father of Jesus Christ, send us his Holy Spirit if we ask for it, to help us through this life. Let us continue to pray for one another.

* I continue to extend a warm invitation to the worldwide meditation and prayer effort currently underway through July and August 2019. This is an international, concerted effort specifically addressing the inhumane conditions at the southern border of the United States of America and Mexico, as well as inhumane conditions globally. I extend this prayer to include all the mass shooting victims and their families affected in the Gilroy, CA; El Paso, TX; and Dayton, Ohio mass shootings. I also extend this prayer, asking the Good God above, Father of Jesus Christ, to send his Holy Spirit to be with the countries of Mexico and the United States as the necessary steps of healing and peaceful resolution can begin to take place. I also pray for sensible gun regulations in the United States of America so the country can move past willful ignorance and financial greed that has resulted in so many needless deaths. I am inviting all churches in all denominations in the world to invite all their parishioners to take part; and include all people without any church affiliation to participate. Scroll down to see how meditation and prayer reduced crime in Washington, D.C. by 48 percent.

The Golden Rule ~ Enter Through The Narrow Gate ~ Healing The USA

Where does one turn when 20 people are killed by an allegedly publicized, home-grown terrorist known to be a White Supremacist who also injures 26 six additional human beings in El Paso, Texas; followed by another nine people killed in a Dayton, Ohio shooting less than 14 hours later; all of which was preceded by three shooting deaths in Gilroy, CA at the popular Garlic Festival just days earlier; when politicians sanction locking up asylum seekers and putting children and adults in cages under the guise of securing the Mexican-United States border; and politicians gamble with their political futures as they agree with hate crimes and crimes against humanity?

Most of the offending political party claimed to be Christian, erroneously thinking they are promoting Christian values.

What did Jesus say about how to live and how to treat others?

Matthew 7:12-14 “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

The United States of America, the melting pot of the world, is in need of healing. How can we possibly heal?

Begin today. Begin today to go back to practicing the Golden Rule. What is the Golden Rule?

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

This applies to people you know and those you do not know, and to everyone in your home, work, social life. This applies to children and adults in cages, and to everyone attempting to care for those children and adults in cages. This applies to everyone in our inner cities, and to those in our countryside. This applies at all times. These are the words of Jesus.

The tide of hate in the United States of America is high and the door open to it is wide leading to destruction. How easy is it to join a wave of popularity, to overlook racism because “the bottom line is money,” and “at least we made more money this year.” The twist to the sad conversation by some alludes to “Why are they afraid of people making money?” All the while, these ones ignore the cries of humanity because it is not right in front of their own eyes, or with their own family members in cages, because of a line drawn in the sand.

Rather, go through the small gate on the narrow road, leading to life. Its sign posts are mercy, empathy, compassion, forgiveness and genuine love, in all your thoughts, words and actions. This is how to travel on this road. This is how to heal the United States of America, one thought at a time, one word at a time, one loving and forgiving action at a time.

Grief is real. Our country is hurt deeply. Too many of our citizens have died needlessly within our borders by our own members, far more than immigrants have killed US citizens. Too many of our citizens have killed human beings from other countries based on the color of their skin, or the country they came from, and others have been killed because our home-grown terrorists have been mentally challenged, killing children in our schools, and others in movie theaters and places of employment. It will take time for a full recovery. But this country will never heal if we do not start the process.

Now is the time to start.

* I extend a warm invitation to the worldwide meditation and prayer effort currently underway through July and August 2019. This is an international, concerted effort specifically addressing the inhumane conditions at the southern border of the United States of America and Mexico, as well as inhumane conditions globally. I am inviting all churches in all denominations in the world to invite all their parishioners to take part; and include all people without any church affiliation to participate. Scroll down to see how meditation and prayer reduced crime in Washington, D.C. by 48 percent.

God Bless