Bob Crowley said:

I didn't talk to his wife anywhere near as much as I spoke with him, but she had spiritual sensitivity. She was certainly a peaceful person.

But I don't think she had his particular gifts. We're all different.

He didn't pay me a visible visit but the night the died I had this real sense of peace descend on me for about half an hour. I'd had it with other people from time to time (when they've just died) but this was easily the most pronounced and long lasting. I think he did visit in that sense.

I don't know exactly why we connected but I know God wanted me to meet him. Early on when I was still a new Christian, "Someone" appeared in a vision and said "I want you to stick close to Mr. Missenden (that was his name). He'll discourage you but you'll learn a lot from him." Then the someone just disappeared.

Although he did discourage me (something he did unintentionally to a number of people) I did indeed learn a lot from him. I haven't had anywhere near the same sort of personal interaction with any Catholic priest. He was easily the most influential religious person in my life.

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You both sound like you were birds of the same feather.

RileyG said:

Very nice!

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Thanks!

Michie said:

Leaders on both sides of the political aisle reacted to reports of the U.S. Secret Service firing at a man with an AK-style rifle near the Trump International Golf Club in Florida believed to have been planning to assassinate former President Donald Trump.

During a joint press conference with the FBI and Secret Service officials, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw of Palm Beach shared that an agent spotted the muzzle of the rifle and fired shots at the gunman on Sunday. According to Bradshaw, the shooter was between 300 to 500 yards away from the former president.

Authorities identified Ryan Wesley Routh as the gunman. The suspect has been chargedwith federal gun crimes. Authorities are working to determine a potential motive.

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'Deeply disturbed': Democrats, Republicans react to second Trump assassination attempt

Leaders on both sides of the political aisle reacted to reports of the U S Secret Service firing at a man with an AK-style rifle near the Trump International Golf Club in Florida believed to have

www.christianpost.com

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Apparently the Gov of Florida is also asking the State DA to find out the exact extent of criminal activity in this case because it is not logical to assume that the current justice department that is trying to jail the Republican candidate for president , is going to be fair-and-balanced when it comes to investigating those snipers that try to take his life.

Would be nice to know the full extent that the extreme-left media and politicians played in pushing the unstable gunman over the edge.

Hammster said:

And I responded.

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And what you posted didn't contradict what I and @iluvatar5150 pointed out. Which was that the Breitbart article was wrong.

probinson said:

I think she was the "wokest", by her own admission. Or at least "woker" than most anyone else.

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Yeah, I think so as well. Man, politicians have started going downhill. This reminds me of two verses from the Timothy books. Also, 2017 was the year of the eclipse. Maybe Kamala eclipsed everyone else in terms of wokeness.

1 Timothy 4:1 (ESV): "Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons."

2 Timothy 4:3 (ESV): "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions."

Michie said:

Marijuana | Unsplash/CRYSTALWEED cannabis

Twenty-four states have already legalized recreational marijuana (pot) and four states, Florida, Idaho, Nebraska and South Dakota, have ballot initiatives in the 2024 election to do the same. Big money is being spent to push these ballot initiatives because even more big money will be made. Whatever you have heard about the benefits of legal recreational pot, there is a destructive dark underside being covered up.

The following consequences will occur when recreational pot is legalized:

1. Increased highway accidents causing death and injury by drivers high on pot.[1]

2. Increased ER visits from drug overdoses in children, students and adults.[2]

3. Increases in serious crime as more drug lords move in to undercut the expensive legal product.[3]

4. Brain damage to developing minds.[4]

5. Farmland gobbled up to grow pot instead of food crops.

6. Increased tax revenue will mainly grow new government programs dealing with addiction, health and safety. [5]

7. Black market sales of more dangerous drugs will increase because of the gateway nature of Marijuana. [6]

To be clear, most states have legalized "medical" marijuana for the sick. This editorial is about recreational marijuana.

"Recreational" marijuana’s sole purpose is to get high not to treat a medical condition. Also, please do not compare recreational marijuana use with alcohol. People do not necessarily drink to get drunk, whereas recreational pot users’ main goal is to get high.

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The dark side of legalization of recreational marijuana

Whatever you have heard about the benefits of legal recreational pot, there is a destructive dark underside being covered up

www.christianpost.com

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Is there data to support these claims, or are you saying these are the potential dangers? California first legalized medical cannabis in 1996, and in 2012, Colorado and Washington legalized cannabis for recreational use. States considering decriminalizing the weeds have been monitoring the states that have legalized it for economic, criminal, social, and other effects. Now we know from Nixon's domestic policy chief John Ehrlichman that in 1968 President Nixon war on drugs was created as a political tool to fight blacks and hippies. He said, "the Nixon White House had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people,”

“You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin. And then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities,” Ehrlichman said. “We could arrest their leaders. raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”

President Nixon instituted the federal government’s drug classification system, and he knowingly wrongfully designated marijuana in Schedule I, among the substances like heroin believed to be most abused and deemed as having no proven medical value. The government was doing this to demonize and destroy the lives of blacks, and tree-hugging make love, not war white liberals. Nixon’s tactics also hampered progress in research on the therapeutic potential of marijuana over the last five decades. With this better understanding of cannabis, the Department of Justice said that the attorney general was circulating a “proposal to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III.”

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More photos and information.

“There was an early Christian community here way before Christianity became the official religion,” Tepper said. “Through the excavations, we learned about all the connections between Samaritans, Jews, pagans, Christians, soldiers and civilians: It is a microcosm.

Cosmic Charlie said:

Fact of life.

Thoughts and Prayers.

The cost of living in a free society where the 2nd amendment is properly enforced.

It's just too soon to talk about this.

But seriously,

If I had been shot at twice,

oh, wait I HAVE been actually been shot at twice in my life, so I have some perspective on this.....

...I'd consider it an indictment of my personality and maybe take some stock of myself to figure out why people want to shot at me.

But, hey,

That's me.

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I know the sound of a bullet flying by a wee bit too close. The shooter didn't know me and wasn't selecting me in particular as the target. Not an indictment of me or my personality and I never lost a bit of sleep wondering 'why me?'. It was all on them.

Except the US is not actually based on the Bible or the Word. It was based on enlightenment ideas about government and liberty.

KevinT said:

So was Jesus talking about that sort of bondage-marriage? Or was He talking about ANY sort of union between future between humans?

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Kevin, thank you for the pleasant response.

It seems to me that Jesus is simply being factual. When He says, "people will neither marry nor be given in marriage" (Matt 22:30). There doesn't seem to be any room for ambiguity here. Marriage is marriage, however one wants to parse out all the kinds of possible types of marriage mankind has devised. Whatever possibilities there are, there will be no marriage. Just as the angels.

KevinT said:

You are making a similar inference as I did initially.

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Actually, I think mine is deductive logic.

KevinT said:

You are saying that no marriage among angels --> no children among angels, which is similar to what I wrote: "One might infer that when Jesus precludes future marriage that He meant no future children".

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Well, that would be skipping some steps.

(1) There is no marriage among angels in heaven (Matt 22:30).
(2) It is a sin to have sexual relation outside of marriage according to God (Heb 13:4).
(C) If angels do not marry then it follows that angels do not have sexual relations in heaven. Otherwise it would be sin. And there is no sin in the new heaven and new earth.
(3) If angels do not have sex in heaven, because one must be married to have sex, then angels do not procreate in heaven.
(C) If angels do not procreate in heaven. Then it is reasonable to concluded that angels cannot procreate at all. For why would God allow such a thing if he intends angels to never marry and never have sexual relations (because they don't marry).

KevinT said:

Yes, marriage has traditionally been tightly linked to reproduction and the raising of children, and this is the Biblical model. But think about the wild animals. Some pair for life, but many just temporarily come together for copulation. In some animals the male stays to help raise the young, and in other cases not. A wild lion will mate with a lioness and then take off. The mother raises the cubs alone.

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This is not biblical marriage. So it does not apply to Matthew 22:13. Jesus is speaking of human beings who are in the image of God and the union of marriage in which God has established for human beings. You have turned the topic of marriage among human beings into sex outside the bonds of marriage. Which the Bible says is a sin.

KevinT said:

I am not saying that they might go against God's directions. But rather that the directions from God could be different due to different circumstances.

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God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow (Heb 13:8). The reason that we can have confidence in our Lord is because He is righteous, pure, and eternal. We know that evil will never be good and good will never be evil. God's eternal character is...well...eternal. The topics in which you speak that God might "be different" are one's he has declared sin. That is, that sex outside of the marriage bond is sin. Sex with angels, although I do not think this is even a thing, will always be sin and God will not reverse course and make something that was sin to be not sin. How then would it be justice to condemn the wicked in this world to then turn around and give the stamp of approval to that same wickedness in the next? That would seem to be against His character.

KevinT said:

Best wishes and peace to you as well.

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Thank you Kevin.

Keep seeking God's truth as if it was hidden treasure.

Cardinal Raymond Burke believes we are possibly living in the “last times.”

“Are these the last times? I don’t know that. Our Lord Himself said that it is for the Father to make these decisions. But it certainly seems that way, and so we need a strong intervention from Our Lord,” wrote Burke in an X post on Thursday as he called upon people to join a 9-month novena to the Blessed Mother.

“Are these the last times? I don’t know that. Our Lord Himself said that it is for the Father to make these decisions. But it certainly seems that way, and so we need a strong intervention from Our Lord; and we’re begging Our Lady to intercede on our behalf.” Join the 9-month… pic.twitter.com/Bvoz4KQN2v

— Cardinal Burke (@cardinalrlburke) September 12, 2024

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This 17th-century oil on canvas painting by Bernardo Strozzi titled "Saint Francis in Prayer" is part of the "Heavenly Earth: Images of Saint Francis at La Verna" exhibit at the National Gallery of Art in Washington. (CNS photo/courtesy National Gallery of Art)

(OSV News) — Throughout 2024, Franciscans around the world commemorate the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi receiving the stigmata on Sept. 17, 1224, the appearance of the bodily wounds of Christ’s crucifixion.

At an April 5 audience with members of the Franciscan communities of La Verna, Italy, where St. Francis was staying when he received the wounds of Christ, Pope Francis commemorated the eighth centenary and said the stigmata serves as a reminder of “the pain suffered by Jesus in His own flesh for our love and salvation.”

Pope Francis’ message on the stigmata​

“The image of Christ in the crucifix that appears to him in La Verna, marking his body, is the same as the one that had impressed itself upon his heart at the beginning of his ‘conversion,’ and which had indicated to him the mission of ‘repairing his house,'” the pope said.

While there have been several notable figures in the church who experienced the stigmata, St. Francis’ experience was the first recorded occurrence of the phenomenon. Yet, such recognition of a quite miraculous, and excruciatingly painful, phenomenon was something the poor man of Assisi did his utmost to avoid.

The vision and the wounds: St. Francis’ experience​

Continued below.

7thKeeper said:

No, it was about bomb threats. Daisy's post you referred to when you answered talked about there now being bomb threats at Springfield.

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I was referring to what she was responding to from someone else, which was about evidence of Haitians eating cats.
Read post 36, then 44-46 for the sequence.

Sen Richard Blumenthal says DHS has almost been 'derelict in its duty'.
A top Senate Democrat blasted the Biden-Harris administration for "stonewalling" in response to requests for information on the assassination attempts on former President Trump and the potential failures of the U.S. Secret Service.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) within the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was "almost derelict in its duty by resisting our requests for documents, evidence and information that are necessary to investigate."

The Democratic Senator reiterated his disappointment in the department, and added that he has become "angry" that DHS has not been more "forthcoming."

Hammster said:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/14/politics/fact-check-harris-campaign-social-media/index.html?cid=ios_app

A social media account run by Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has been repeatedly deceptive.

The @KamalaHQ account, which has more than 1.3 million followers on the X social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has made a habit of misleadingly clipping and inaccurately captioning video clips to attack former President Donald Trump.

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Indeed often they take things out of context ... so does the left leaning media ... that is why people should find and watch the full video(s) of what is being "claimed" ... you can't depend on "video clips".

Apostle I.V. Hilliard is co-founder of New Light Church in Houston, Texas, along with his wife, Pastor Bridget Hilliard. | YouTube/New Light Church

Megachurch Pastor I.V. Hilliard, who co-founded New Light Church in Houston, Texas, urged his congregation Sunday not to trust the "tabloid, online stuff" and declared that "I love my wife" after she shared "disturbing posts" online, including a photo of a hematoma she says was caused by bumping her head on a shower door.

The public debate about the health of his wife, Pastor Bridget Hilliard, was triggered by the recent posting of the photo of her bruised head on Instagram. The original post about the "traumatic incident" she suffered on Aug. 18 has since been deleted, but screenshots of the post are still being shared online.

"In [a] situation like this, I want to thank everybody for [your] prayers. Don't try to trust the tabloid, online stuff for your information. That's just speculation. You've got to trust the proven voices that you've heard over the years. Let me say it again. I love my wife," Hilliard told the congregationthat he passed on to his daughter, Pastor Irishea Hilliard, in 2018.

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Gave you the answer. Have a great day.

I pray all of Northern Europe and Scandinavia become Catholic again

Monastic Life and the Holy Spirit
(the struggle with evil)
Chapter talk 2018

The Good Zeal Of Monks (The Rule Of St. Benedict – Chapter 72)

Just as there is a wicked zeal of bitterness which separates from God and leads to hell, so there is a good zeal which separates
from evil and leads to God and everlasting life. This, then, is the good zeal that monks must foster with fervent love:
They should each try to be the first to show respect to the other (Rom 12:10), supporting with the greatest patience one
another’s weaknesses of body or behavior, and earnestly competing in obedience to one another.
No one is to pursue what he judges better for himself, but instead, what he judges better for someone else.
To their fellow monks they show the pure love of brothers; to God, loving fear; to their abbot,
unfeigned and humble love. Let them prefer nothing whatever to Christ, and may he bring us all together to everlasting life.

++++++++++

When thinking about evil in the world along with the influence of the Holy Spirit it can bring forth many of my own struggles that come from living any sort of life with others. For any community can be considered the world in miniature with the same problems that seem to plague mankind.

The rule is there to, first of all show that entering Monastic Life is just the beginning of a life-long journey with the struggle with self. If that struggle is not taken on with a certain level of fervor, then for the most part, the desire for balance and peace will be spent in fighting everyone else, from the Abbot down to the youngest novice. It is not a very pleasant way to live, yet some do live that out in their lives, to varying degrees. Left to ourselves, with only one’s resources, the central theme of life can be power and domination over others.

Quote: This can lead to false zeal, gossip, political intrigue, etc. It is contrary to what the Holy Spirit is seeking to teach us. The flesh wants to be in control rather than to have to trust in God. Hence it sets up its own observance, under its own control. And when it has met its own demands it declares itself to be righteous. Because the flesh hates being told what to do, it takes God’s Law and makes it “manageable” based on its own terms. For example, if I’m supposed to love, I’ll limit it to my family or countrymen; I’m “allowed” to hate my enemy. Jesus says that we must love our enemy. The flesh recoils at this, because unless the Law is manageable and within its own power to accomplish, the Law cannot be controlled. The flesh trusts only in its own power. The Pharisees were “self-righteous.” That is to say, they believed in a righteousness that they brought about through the power of their own flesh. But the Law and flesh cannot save; only Jesus Christ can save. The flesh refuses this and wants to control the outcome based on its own power and terms.- Unquote) Msgr. Charles Pope

You could say that our past can drive us mercilessly, allowing no rest. To seek to control others is a battle that will never cease. This can be seen in the world, in the news that we read every day. People rebel against any kind of external control. Even if it is to the detriment of the overall culture.

Instead of the “Will to Power”, we are called to mutual obedience. Or to put in in the words of Jesus: “The greatest among you is the servant of all”. It goes contrary to how we normally operate.

The questions is: How do I live with others and not descend into bitterness, gossip, and the desire to control the world around me so that I can simply live my life in peace. How easy or difficult that is depends on one’s past, temperament, as well as the unique care that we all received care and input when young. Deep conversion which is a long process is needed to break free of the chains that bind us from our past.

In the monastic life, what keeps the monks from living in harmony, loving one another, be obedient to one another, and serving one another? To the extent that this is not done, leads to the misery of the monk, as well as harm inflicted on the community if it gets serious enough. The rule states that this can be an ongoing issue in Monastic life, as well as I would imagine in community life everywhere.
In the fifth chapter of Galatians, it states:

13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh ; rather, serve one another humbly in love.
14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions
21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

A realistic look at the human situation is not hard to acquire, as long as we bring ourselves into the equation as well. It is possible to get lost in self-righteous indignation, and in the process fail to see what is in our own lives
that’s need conversion that also adds to the evil tha

Etheridge believes fewer young people are getting married because, in many cases, they prefer to prioritize their careers or tend to be reserved and don’t put themselves in social situations to meet people.

A Summer Dating Report from Eventbrite, a website where users can research and obtain tickets for events, records 69% of millennials would rather meet in person than through dating websites. The report also includes 1.5 million searches on Eventbrite’s website for in-person dating and singles events.

Husband and wife Ben-David and Lizzie Warner met at a young-adult event at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Arlington, Virginia.

“The best way to meet someone is to go to Catholic events,” Ben-David said. “But you should meet in the context of living out your life. Don’t just go to events to meet your spouse. Let life happen, live Catholic life and have a Catholic community, but don’t make finding a spouse the only reason.”

Ben-David said he has noticed many young Catholics place too much weight on first dates rather than getting to know people. He said Catholics should instead seek to casually date at the beginning of a relationship.

Lizzie said young Catholics often struggle to find partners when they expect perfection from their future spouse.

“Many women can be too influenced by the Hollywood experience and seeking that ‘spark’ and perfection,” Lizzie said.

The couple said young Catholics should seek to develop a sense of self-identity and a vision for their lives to know what they want in a spouse.

“If you don’t have a sense of who you are as a person, you’re going to be lost and not know what to look for,” Ben-David said.

The Catholic Project hopes the panel will be an encouraging and edifying experience for those attending, according to White.

As Etheridge said, “Our hope is for us panelists and Catholic University is to help everyone there gain some perspective on being single — and recognize that everyone has flaws and issues — but marriage is a good and holy thing to want.”

I wish them much success!

Just this morning, he blames Democrats for bringing up inconvenient truths about Trump's attacks on democracy--and urging them to vote--for the two attempted assassinations.
Another inconvenient truth: Trump threatens to deport millions, makes fun of the disabled, and makes comments that most people interpret as racist and xenophobic. Is it any wonder that his inflammatory comments may have triggered two very disturbed individuals?

Mt 25:

24 He [S3] also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed,

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S3 thought his master was a hard man.

25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’

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He was fearful. He was not thinking properly. His reasoning didn't make sense to the master.

26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed?

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The master would judge him according to his thinking of the master.

27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.

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That's logical. S3 did not follow the proper logic.

28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

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S3 was an unproductive, worthless servant.

What was the third servant thinking by hiding his talent in the ground?

S3's thinking was flawed. His fear and negative impression of the master's character led to a failure to fulfill his responsibility. We are to actively use the gifts, talents, and resources God has given us.

The military army controlled the country by force since 1 February, 2021. They arrested all ruling leaders. The military tortured people with every kind of actions for whoever against their military coup.

The civilians can't bear it now and formed PEOPLE DEFENSE FORCE (PDF) and hold hand made guns to defend ourselves. So every possible with airstrike they bomb to keep silent not to oppose them.

Minority ethnicity group also have fight for military army, for years. You can find in the internet.

Also, we have our ministry website page if you would like to know us.

Thank you!

The term "freethinking" when qualified as free from faith, is propaganda. One should be wary when it is used to subconsciously prepare the mind to accept a definition of faith that implies superstition, or myth. It's actually reasonable to hope that Love is Eternal, and unreasonable to hope it isn't, because faith is the evidence of things hoped for.

As Christians, the most important aspect of our relationship with God and our walk with Christ is summed up in one word: love. We proclaim that we love God, that we want to do His will, and that we want to live in a way that is pleasing to Him, becoming the person He intends us to be.

But I can almost picture something written in the clouds of Heaven: "Oh, really?"

Think about it. How many of us truly love the very tools God uses to shape us and mold us more into His image? While we say we love God, are we equally willing to embrace the processes through which He refines us? Let’s examine some of the divine tools God uses in our lives, which we often resist, even though they are critical to our growth.

Trials

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