theROCK

in Living the Gospel, Faith

Gift of Grace

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What was the last gift you received that truly surprised you and changed your life? Maybe it was a tool that helped you better organize your life or helped you to finally lose that stubborn weight. Maybe it was a gift that changed the trajectory of your life or gave you a second chance at life itself. Gifts that have the ability to change our lives often come from people who truly love us.

Through the sacraments, we receive an undeserved gift from God called grace. This sanctifying grace helps us get into heaven. So what are you doing daily to stir your faith so that it is a fire that consumes all parts of your life?

Unfortunately, I believe many of us can treat our faith as another activity to squeeze into our busy lives. When we treat our faith as an activity, as an obligation, it is easy to place faith on the back burner when life gets busy. Our faith is not an activity, it’s a relationship with a God who loves us. A God who is constantly willing to give us the gifts we need to handle the turbulence in our lives and was willing to give the gift of Himself for us to spend eternity with Him. What are we doing with that gift to better ourselves, better others, and better our relationship God?

Posted by Andrew Schueller
Tags: heaven, faith, sacraments, grace, gifts
in Encouragement, Prayer, Faith, Love, Body of Christ (the Church), Jesus

Through the Narrow Gate

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Since God revealed himself to Abraham in the Old Testament, all that was ever asked of believers was to have a relationship with Him. This entailed talking to God through prayer and following directions known as commandments. In return, God bestowed all forms of blessings upon them, including children. Children that were to be formed to believe in God as well. Throughout the Old Testament, believers in the one true God struggled but never fully lost faith. By the time history reached the New Testament,
God's people needed a reboot. They had all but lost faith when Jesus arrived on earth to reinvigorate our relationship with God.

In teaching us, suffering for us, dying for us, and rising from the dead for us, Jesus defines the love God has for us and models for us the love we are required to have for God. It is this love, through a relationship with God, that can get us through the narrow gate named in the Gospel.

I don't know about you but I don't want to be left outside the gate. I don't want my loved ones left outside. I don't want anyone left outside. In my mind, to be left outside means that a lifetime was wasted in getting to know Jesus. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. In knowing Him, having a relationship with Him through the Mass and the sacraments and engaging with others in a manner that will assist all of us in getting to Heaven, I hope to pass through the narrow gate. No one should be left outside if we do our very best to lift each other up.

Posted by Jill Fischer
Tags: heaven, god, relationship, gate
in Encouragement, Living the Gospel, Faith
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The Narrow Gate

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In Scripture, Jesus is asked, who will be saved--a question that is brought to his attention several times. Let’s face it, we too want to know if we will be in heaven and who will be with us. Which family members or friends will be at the table in the Kingdom of Heaven?

Jesus reminds us to strive to enter through the narrow gate. Historically, Jesus tells us that the camel will enter the narrow gate easier than a rich man enters heaven. The camel had to lay on the ground and crawl carefully through the narrow entrance. It was uncomfortable for the camel to do this. We are challenged to strive to give ourselves wholeheartedly to Christ. The demands of discipleship often asking us to move out of our comfort zone. There may be pain and suffering in following Jesus, but His grace is always there to sustain us.

 How is God challenging you today to follow Jesus?

Posted by Mary Lestina with 1 Comments
Tags: heaven, following jesus, narrow gate

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