May God bless our sister Autumn...we will never know what God had for
her...but now, his Mercy is all about and around her...continue to pray
for her soul and those who are in the throes of Depression, etc. St.
Dymphna Pray for us...pray for them!!!
Oh, Peter! Don't you just love Peter :-)
One word came to my mind when it comes to Peter: impulsive! His words and
actions go before his thoughts.......walking on water in the storm,
refusing Jesus's foot washing, announcing he would die for Jesus, cutting
off a soldier's ear, denying Jesus three times, and walking on water
towards Jesus (and breakfast :-). Most of all, he spoke and brought three
thousand people to Christ in Acts 2:41! The total grew to five thousand
by Acts 4:4!
As I read the devotion today, a question came to mind. Is confession the
same thing as repentance? I use them interchangeably.....are they?
My thoughts now:
* The difference is the heart!
* Confess: Admit, Acknowledge, Reveal, Disclose. You can admit you have
done such a thing, but it doesn't mean you think it is wrong. Examples: A
child took a cookie you told him not to eat; Sanctuary cities not
enforcing the law; I am a sinner in the world; Cashier didn't scan an
item in my cart;
* Repent: to turn from evil, and to turn to the good. You have to first
admit it was wrong, you turn from it and turn to good.
* My initial search: Bible uses both words, but Jesus uses
"Repent!"
* Matthew 4:17, "From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
* Luke 5:32, "I (Jesus) have not come to call the righteous but sinners
to repentance.”
* 2 Corinthians 7:10, "For godly grief produces a repentance that leads
to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death."
* 1 Samuel 16:7b, "For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the
outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”
My prayer in Psalms 139:23-24, "Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try
me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and
lead me in the way everlasting!" Amen!
Debbie, please know I will tuck Autumn in my Rosary today.
God Bless her and all who love her.
Lord, please forgive us of our many sins and mistakes. I never mean
to hurt you.
Great Message, Amen!
Amen. :)
As I get older and have come full circle in faith, I find myself
trying to reconcile as soon as I sin. Peter is such a great person to
emulate!
I ask please L F family you pray for the soul of my freinds
grandaughter autmn she was 14 and commited suicide .
I will pray for Autumn. She is with our Lord.
May God Bless you and your friends & family in this time of
sorrow.
I am so sorry for Autumn's family. There is so much pain, regrets,
and guilt she left behind for those who are close to her, family and
friends. My heart breaks and tears flow when I hear any teens
committed suicide :-(
I just sent an email out two days ago regarding the same topic. I
don't think my leadership is going to share with the parents because
this is such a taboo topic, so I share with you so you can share with
parents!
Take heart! Jesus has overcome :-)
"This article below "Parent's Guide to Teen Depression...." caught my
eyes because some of the prayer requests we got in our girls' small
group on being depressed. And it brought back memories of my
experience at Franklin Regional High School in a small town in
Murrysville, PA, where my girls attended high school. They were the
same grades as my two girls:
* Cameron Smith, an 11th grade student at Franklin Regional High
School, shot himself in 2013.
www.franklinregional.k12.pa.us/UserFiles/Servers/Server_76266/File/District%20Announcements/Parent%20Letter%20Cameron.pdf
* Alex Hribal, a 10th grade student at Franklin Regional High School,
stabbed 22 people in 2014.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Regional_High_School_stabbing
"In fact, suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15- to
24-year-olds. Suicide does not just happen. Studies show that at
least 90% of teens who kill themselves have some type of mental
health problem, such as depression, anxiety, drug or alcohol abuse,
or a behavior problem. Oct 18, 2016"
https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/.../Teen-Suicide-Statistics.aspx
I wish parents know more about this epidemic in our teens! I wish our
teens know how common depression is in their generation and that they
don't feel alone and open up to share their struggles......
I want to share the statistic above and this article with our parents
in
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/depression/teen-depression-signs-help.htm?inf_contact_key=e6bddb2d2e5463a28d8f65896cb835368368eb98e90eff40f0288643365c9319
It is not easy to decide whether to share with parents realizing the
culture here in XX, I understand that! But with that said, the
epidemic is real and we need to call it out to our brothers and
sisters in Christ!"
May the Lord have mercy on autumn.
I offer my prayers for Autumn. May she be at peace with the Lord.
May God's presence be with Autumn's families and friends! I cry with
you in your sorrow!
Rick Warren: My son's suicide and God's garden of grace......9th
September 2016
In April 2013, Rick Warren's son Matthew took his life. Ahead of
World Suicide Prevention Day tomorrow a new report has revealed that
Childline get a call every half an hour about a child contemplating
suicide. Speaking to Premier Christianity magazine in 2014, the
pastor of Saddleback church explained how he dealt with the
tragedy.
https://www.premierchristianity.com/Blog/Rick-Warren-My-son-s-suicide-and-God-s-garden-of-grace
Excerpt:
Looking back, is it possible to begin to see purpose in your
pain?
I saw it from day one. In fact, we can’t handle pain unless we
understand there is a purpose. The gospel doesn’t offer painless life
on this earth, but it does offer us meaning, which makes pain
bearable. The first stage was shock, which is a human emotion.
Sometimes I’d be sitting at home at night, expecting him to walk in
through the door and watch TV with us, as he often did. Then it went
to sorrow, which is a godly emotion. The Bible says, "Jesus wept."
The only reason you are able to grieve is because God grieves. The
Bible makes it very clear; we were made in his image.
The third phase is what I call struggle. All the "why" questions. The
biggest one for me is, "Why didn’t you answer the prayer I prayed
every day for 27 years?" The prayer I prayed more than any other
prayer went unanswered. But explanations never comfort. What you need
in tragedy is not an explanation, you need the presence of God.
Then you come to the stage of surrender. Surrender is when you say
I’d rather live and walk with God and have my questions unanswered
than have all my questions answered and not walk with God.
Has this shaken your faith in any way then?
Not at all. Piers Morgan asked (we finally did one interview, and we
chose CNN because we knew it would go worldwide) whether I ever
doubted God or his existence. I said, "No, I never did, but I doubted
his wisdom."
Amen! Thank you Holy Father for today and for today's Gospel. Thank
you Lord for my faith, my life and for my family. Thank you Holy Father
most of all for your great sacrifice and for the opportunity of
forgiveness and reconcilliation. Please Lord have mercy. Amen
Comments:
One word came to my mind when it comes to Peter: impulsive! His words and actions go before his thoughts.......walking on water in the storm, refusing Jesus's foot washing, announcing he would die for Jesus, cutting off a soldier's ear, denying Jesus three times, and walking on water towards Jesus (and breakfast :-). Most of all, he spoke and brought three thousand people to Christ in Acts 2:41! The total grew to five thousand by Acts 4:4!
As I read the devotion today, a question came to mind. Is confession the same thing as repentance? I use them interchangeably.....are they?
My thoughts now:
* The difference is the heart!
* Confess: Admit, Acknowledge, Reveal, Disclose. You can admit you have done such a thing, but it doesn't mean you think it is wrong. Examples: A child took a cookie you told him not to eat; Sanctuary cities not enforcing the law; I am a sinner in the world; Cashier didn't scan an item in my cart;
* Repent: to turn from evil, and to turn to the good. You have to first admit it was wrong, you turn from it and turn to good.
* My initial search: Bible uses both words, but Jesus uses "Repent!"
* Matthew 4:17, "From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
* Luke 5:32, "I (Jesus) have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
* 2 Corinthians 7:10, "For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death."
* 1 Samuel 16:7b, "For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”
My prayer in Psalms 139:23-24, "Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!" Amen!
God Bless her and all who love her.
I just sent an email out two days ago regarding the same topic. I don't think my leadership is going to share with the parents because this is such a taboo topic, so I share with you so you can share with parents!
Take heart! Jesus has overcome :-)
"This article below "Parent's Guide to Teen Depression...." caught my eyes because some of the prayer requests we got in our girls' small group on being depressed. And it brought back memories of my experience at Franklin Regional High School in a small town in Murrysville, PA, where my girls attended high school. They were the same grades as my two girls:
* Cameron Smith, an 11th grade student at Franklin Regional High School, shot himself in 2013. www.franklinregional.k12.pa.us/UserFiles/Servers/Server_76266/File/District%20Announcements/Parent%20Letter%20Cameron.pdf
* Alex Hribal, a 10th grade student at Franklin Regional High School, stabbed 22 people in 2014. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Regional_High_School_stabbing
"In fact, suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds. Suicide does not just happen. Studies show that at least 90% of teens who kill themselves have some type of mental health problem, such as depression, anxiety, drug or alcohol abuse, or a behavior problem. Oct 18, 2016"
https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/.../Teen-Suicide-Statistics.aspx
I wish parents know more about this epidemic in our teens! I wish our teens know how common depression is in their generation and that they don't feel alone and open up to share their struggles......
I want to share the statistic above and this article with our parents in https://www.helpguide.org/articles/depression/teen-depression-signs-help.htm?inf_contact_key=e6bddb2d2e5463a28d8f65896cb835368368eb98e90eff40f0288643365c9319
It is not easy to decide whether to share with parents realizing the culture here in XX, I understand that! But with that said, the epidemic is real and we need to call it out to our brothers and sisters in Christ!"
Rick Warren: My son's suicide and God's garden of grace......9th September 2016
In April 2013, Rick Warren's son Matthew took his life. Ahead of World Suicide Prevention Day tomorrow a new report has revealed that Childline get a call every half an hour about a child contemplating suicide. Speaking to Premier Christianity magazine in 2014, the pastor of Saddleback church explained how he dealt with the tragedy.
https://www.premierchristianity.com/Blog/Rick-Warren-My-son-s-suicide-and-God-s-garden-of-grace
Excerpt:
Looking back, is it possible to begin to see purpose in your pain?
I saw it from day one. In fact, we can’t handle pain unless we understand there is a purpose. The gospel doesn’t offer painless life on this earth, but it does offer us meaning, which makes pain bearable. The first stage was shock, which is a human emotion. Sometimes I’d be sitting at home at night, expecting him to walk in through the door and watch TV with us, as he often did. Then it went to sorrow, which is a godly emotion. The Bible says, "Jesus wept." The only reason you are able to grieve is because God grieves. The Bible makes it very clear; we were made in his image.
The third phase is what I call struggle. All the "why" questions. The biggest one for me is, "Why didn’t you answer the prayer I prayed every day for 27 years?" The prayer I prayed more than any other prayer went unanswered. But explanations never comfort. What you need in tragedy is not an explanation, you need the presence of God.
Then you come to the stage of surrender. Surrender is when you say I’d rather live and walk with God and have my questions unanswered than have all my questions answered and not walk with God.
Has this shaken your faith in any way then?
Not at all. Piers Morgan asked (we finally did one interview, and we chose CNN because we knew it would go worldwide) whether I ever doubted God or his existence. I said, "No, I never did, but I doubted his wisdom."