Disciple: pray like Jesus

 Disciple: pray like Jesus by ric gustafson

As his followers, Jesus wants us to pray to him. So how do we pray?. Jesus wants our whole being in his presence. He wants us to be quiet and open our hearts to him. Prayer can change us. Jesus's life was a prayer. As far as prayer, we need to be unafraid and unashamed. Jesus spent a lot of time teaching his disciples about prayer. Jesus put importance on solitude and community. God loves us more than anything else.

research help: ' walking the Disciple's path' by Linda Perrone Rooney

Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric

Disciple: a generous spirit

 Disciple: a generous spirit by ric gustafson

Love involves giving. Giving is part of being poor in spirit. Love and giving go hand in hand. Giving of ourselves creates new life in us and in others. God does not want us to judge people. God wants us to be a generous giver. Giving is an individual matter. To give takes determination and commitment. When we give out of our heart, grace and blessings come our way. God loves us more than anything else.

research help: ' walking the Disciple's path' by Linda Perrone Rooney

Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric

the lonely fruitcake page 1

 the lonely fruitcake page 1 by ric gustafson

I sat in the middle of the elegant dining room table.

I was sitting next to the mashed potatoes. Surely I will be picked.

The family said grace.

The pork tenderloin was passed around.

The mashed potatoes were passed around

Someone snickered and pointed at me.

What's wrong with me I thought to myself.

I'm full of candied fruit, nuts and spices.

The glazed carrots were passed around.

The family was eating and enjoying each other.

Sitting there, I was lonely.

research help: original story

Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric

Disciple: love your enemies

 Disciple: love your enemies by ric gustafson

One core of Jesus's teaching was about the concept of love. God wants our total love and to follow his Son. Jesus proclaims love your neighbor. This includes our enemies. It is our sinful human nature to not want to love our enemies. God is love. Loving God and others will bring us inner peace and union with God. Gospel love is a choice. Jesus came into the world to save us. He died on a cross to save us. God wants us to love and pray. We need to pray for those who hate us.

God loves us more than anything else.

research help: ' walking the Disciple's path' by Linda Perrone Rooney

Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric

Advent 2020: the Christmas tree

 Advent 2020: the Christmas tree by ric gustafson

The origin of the Christmas tree is complicated. A green branch was a sign of life and eternal life. Jesus used the Passover meal to talk about saving people from slavery in Egypt. Bread and wine points to God's saving action on the cross. Jesus's death saved people from the slavery of sin. Advent shows us that Jesus's mission was to redeem the entire world. God loves us more than anything else.

research help: LCM Advent 2020 devotional

Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric

Disciple: live as a blessing

 Disciple: live as a blessing by ric gustafson

In Matthew 5, Jesus begins his teaching ministry. He teaches so others can teach. Jesus taught the disciples so they can teach others. Jesus has a vision of life. He teaches that that to be happy they must be poor in spirit. The poor in spirit expose the truth of their heart. A relationship with Jesus involves behavior, values and motives. The heart of Jesus is in full union with God his Father. Jesus wants our inner surrender a surrender of the heart. The poor in spirit approach Jesus on their knees. Three qualities of poor in spirit involve humility, trust and vulnerability. We need to live simply and depend on God's mercy.

God loves us more than anything else.

research help: ' walking the Disciples path' by Linda Perrone Rooney

Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric

Disciple: surrender your nets

 Disciple: surrender your nets by ric gustafson

Jesus wants his followers to be fishing for men. How do you become a fisher of men?. We are to proclaim the good news, witness by word and use Jesus as our example. We as disciples are being sent to call more disciples. We are ordinary people. We are not wealthy or people of influence. We are laborers. We understand our environment. We take risks. 

One day, Jesus comes to us. He says follow me. Do you accept his call?. We need to respond to his call. Jesus knows we are ordinary sinful people. Do we accept his call?. He says come follow me. My prayer is that we will say yes.

research help: ' walking the disciples path' by Linda Perrone Rooney

Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric