JOURNAL=2-6-15-POWER AND AUTHORITY

JOURNAL=2-6-15=POWER AND AUTHORITY




“BE MINDFUL of prisoners as IF sharing their IMPRISONMENT-and of the ill-treated of yourselves-for you are also in the BODY” Hebrews 13:3


WE are ALL PRISONERS of something and or/someone in this world-SOME of us are or have been actual prisoners of the penal system in this world-but for most of US-we are PRISONERS to our past-or something or someone from our PAST-maybe just PRISONERS of ourselves and some aspect of our personality-there was a day WHEN I was like this


BUT through PRAYER-hard work-GOD and the HELP of all you out there-I HAVE BECOME a SLAVE to loving GOD-and a slave to loving others-and I HAVE to tell you-IF I you can reach this point-and become a SLAVE to LOVING GOD and others-you would be much happier too-whatever IS in your past-WORK on letting it go-A PAST RELATIONSHIP-a slave to money and materialism-or IF you have a chronic illness like me-FORGIVE YOURSELF-and just DO the VERY BEST that you can


THE APOSTLES-after the RESURRECTION- became a SLAVE to Christ-and ALMOST ALL went to prison-and/or died for the cause-DIE to yourself-and PICK UP your CROSS and FOLLOW GOD and Christ-and you will be much HAPPIER too


And as far as actual prisoners go-it is easy to judge them as “worthless” or “rotten”-but REMEMBER-
they are part of the BODY OF CHRIST also-and just as deserving of RESPECT as you and me-they are STILL human beings


The author of today's quotation-Paul-began as a JEW-and a persecutor of Christians-and later went to jail for his LOVE OF CHRISTIANS-HE-like us-had/have the CAPACITY to CHANGE-and became the APOSTLE to the GENTILES


it is a GREAT DAY to be ALIVE in GOD 'S LOVE for us-and a GREAT DAY to break free from whatever is IMPRISONING US-and to be a SLAVE TO LOVE GOD and love others-after all-ALL power and authority RESTS WITH GOD




POWER AND AUTHORITY




WHERE do you get your power
Where do you get your FAITH
Where do you
Get the GRACE
TO RISE AND FACE ANOTHER DAY


Only by
THE AUTHORITY AND POWER
Of God
For ALL power and authority
RESTS with him


“Yours-O Lord-
IS the greatness and power
And the glory
And the majesty
And the splendor


For EVERYTHING in heaven and earth
Is yours


Yours-O Lord
Is the kingdom
You are exalted
As head over ALL” 1 Chronicles 29:11


And even
The great power of the GOSPEL
Comes from God


WRITTEN by the HOLY SPIRIT
THROUGH Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, and others


“But so
That you may KNOW
That the SON OF MAN
Has authority on earth
To forgive sins........'


Then he said to the paralytic
'GET UP take your mat
And go home'


And the man
Got up and went home


When the crowd
Saw this
They were filled
With awe


And they praised God
Who had given
SUCH AUTHORITY to men” Matthew 9:6-8


And keep in mind
That this SAME authority and power
Was PASSED on to
HIS disciples and apostles


And trickles down to us
His apostles and disciples today
FOR THE JOB
Is NOT yet done


Then Jesus came to them
And said:


'ALL AUTHORITY in heaven
And on earth
Has been given to me'


THEREFORE
Go and make disciples of ALL NATIONS


Baptizing them
In the name of the FATHER
And of the SON
And of the HOLY SPIRIT


And teaching them
To OBEY everything I commanded you


And SURELY
I AM WITH YOU
To the VERY END of the age” Matthew 28:18-20


To ALL my friends
Gentile and Jew alike


I INVITE YOU ALL
To work
In BRINGING people to God


MAY the POWER AND AUTHORITY
OF GOD
BE with you


LOVE YOU ALL


Robert P. Wallman
10-28-13





Ps 2-06-15

THE POWERFUL WEAPONS OF LIGHT

THE POWERFUL WEAPONS OF LIGHT




“BEHOLD-I have GIVEN YOU the power 'to tread upon serpents' and scorpions and upon the FULL FORCE of the enemy-


And NOTHING will harm you” Luke 10:19


USE those weapons
Of light
Use those weapons
Of LOVE-forgiveness-and KINDNESS


WHAT is this power
That the Lord gives us
To ESTABLISH his kingdom
On earth


“I am NOT ashamed
Of the GOSPEL


Because it is
THE POWER OF GOD


For the salvation
of everyone who believes
FIRST for the Jew
Then for the GENTILE


For in the gospel
A righteousness from God
IS REVEALED


A righteousness that is
BY FAITH
From first to last


Just as it is written:
“THE RIGHTEOUS
will LIVE by FAITH”


What chance does mere evil
Have against the powerful weapons
OF LIGHT


The powerful weapons
Of God


THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD


Love-forgiveness-kindness
CONQUERED everything once
And has
THE CAPACITY to do so again


Jesus gives us
THESE “weapons of light”


To CHOOSE to do good
To work for justice
And to treat each person
WITH DIGNITY


He gives us
THE GRACE to love
The capacity
To express gratitude
And the ability to
SMILE AT OTHERS


Really
What chance does evil have
Against the weapon of LIGHT


USE YOUR WEAPONS of light today


To express concern for others
To offer
A good-kind-or encouraging word
And continue to PRAY
For others


So use THE WEAPONS OF LIGHT
For someone who is suffering
And to CHANGE the world


Dear Lord-WE PRAY
That you shine
YOUR POWERFUL WEAPONS OF LIGHT
To others
Through the course
Of our day


In Jesus' name


Robert P. Wallman
11-18-14


Ps INSPIRED by an article in Living Faith magazine by Jennifer Christ



2-5&5-15

JOURNAL=2-5-15-TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR LIVES

JOURNAL=2-5-15-TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR LIVES




“SO THE twelve went off and PREACHED REPENTANCE” Mark 6;12




ARE you SORRY for anything you have done-or for anything you haven't done-it takes a HUMBLE MAN OR WOMAN to say that you are sorry-and we should ALL be willing to say it-WHEN we have wronged another human being-whether we be at FAULT or not


CONTRARY-to a popular movie that said-”LOVE means NEVER to have to say you are sorry”-I BELIEVE-LOVE means ALWAYS saying you are sorry-CONTRARY to the purely legalistic view-
point that sin is WHEN we break a rule- law-or commandment


I BELIEVE sin IS ANY BEHAVIOR that weakens our relationship with God-or another human being-or oneself-and we KNOW that sin can be acts of commission or omission-DEAR LORD-HELP us to understand what it means to REPENT-when we have been wrong-and then to do it


it is a GREAT DAY to be ALIVE in GOD'S LOVE for us-and a GREAT DAY to say “I AM SORRY”-
to GOD and others-for what we have done WRONG IN LIFE-or at least CONTEMPLATE ON OUR LIVES








TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR LIVES










You wouldn’t know it
By watching the 5 o’clock news
But we are all
Going to be held responsible
HELD accountable for our own lives


But today---in our culture
All you hear is---
“He did this to me---
Or it wasn’t my fault---she did it”


We ALL have had the experience
Of doing wrong in our life
And tried to EXPLAIN it away
With an excuse
Or by dragging someone else in to it
To share the blame


WE NEED to be a little more like David, who said,
“I am the one
Who sinned and done wrong
These are but sheep
What have they done?” 2 Samuel 24:17


When was the last time
In our culture---you heard someone stand up and say---
“Yes I did it---it was my fault---
I take responsibility for my actions”


It has been so long
I can’t even remember when


Instead---all we hear about
Is lawyers getting their clients off on technicalities
And frivolous lawsuit after lawsuit


It takes honesty and humility
To stand up, and say,
“It is I who have done wrong,”
As David did


And finally, Dear Lord,
We must remember
That we are NOT only responsible
For what we do
But also
For what we don’t do


If we have the capacity
To help someone
And we don’t---well
Look at what John wrote,


“This is how we know
What love is
Jesus Christ laid down his life
For us


And we ought to
Lay down our lives
For our brothers


If anyone
Has material possessions
And sees his brother in need
But has no pity on him
How can the love of God
Be in him


Dear children
Let us not love with words---or tongue
But with actions and in truth” 1 John 3:16-18


Dear friends
Only one had a blameless life
And it wasn’t you or me


And so dear Lord---we pray
That when called upon
We have the courage to stand up and say,


“I did it---or I didn’t do it”


Robert P. Wallman
2-2-12




11-11-14
2-5-15

JOURNAL=2-4-15-CHARACTER-REPUTATION-OUR GOOD NAME

JOURNAL=2-05-15-CHARACTER-REPUTATION-OUR GOOD NAME




“FOR WHOM the Lord loves-he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges”-
ENDURE your trials as “DISCIPLINE” Hebrews 12:6-7


It is IMPORTANT to ACCEPT ourselves in life-and it is important to accept WHEREVER WE ARE on life's journey-for LIFE IS A JOURNEY-and not a destination-and WE ALL do make mistakes on this journey


For WHEN things don't go our way-when times are tough-when our luck runs dry-and when we feel FORGOTTEN-and see NO END in sight-it is important to REMEMBER there are LESSONS to be learned-GOD may be trying to REFINE us-or it may be just the HARD LESSONS of life


IN either case-it is IMPORTANT that we KEEP GOD and FAMILY first-for they are the ones that will NEVER give up on us-and it is important to REMEMBER that all family is NOT necessarily blood-it is those WHO LOVE US-and ACCEPT US for WHO we are-as we should ACCEPT ourselves for who we are-the way GOD ACCEPTS US


LIKE a GOOD PARENT-GOD is more concerned with WHO WE ARE-on the INSIDE-than our number of achievements-OUR SOCIAL status-or our material wealth-GOD wants us to GROW and mature from the difficult lessons of life


it is A GREAT DAY to be ALIVE in GOD'S LOVE for us-and a great day for PASSING the lessons of life-by staying CLOSE to GOD AND OUR “FAMILY”






WITNESS




4-19-13




CHARACTER-INTEGRITY-OUR GOOD NAME




One of the most important things
We were born with
Is our CHARACTER
Our INTEGRITY
In choosing right and wrong
And OUR GOOD NAME


We can ruin our lives
By being dishonest
By making wrong choices
And by
NOT respecting others


And OUR GOD
DOES AGREE


“The man of integrity
Walks securely
But he who takes crooked paths
Will be found out” Proverbs 10:9


“The INTEGRITY of the upright
Guides them
But the unfaithful are destroyed
By their duplicity” Proverbs 11:3


Our CHARACTER is what guides us
What guides our decisions
What LEADS us to God
And what produces HOPE in us
And for us


“And we rejoice
In the HOPE of the Glory of God


Not only so
But we rejoice in our suffering
Because we know
That suffering produces perseverance
Perseverance-CHARACTER
And CHARACTER-HOPE


And hope does not disappoint us
Because our God has poured out
His love into our hearts
By the Holy Spirit
Whom he has given us” Romans 5:4-5


And so
When we have been stripped
Of everything
But our character and our integrity
We should still
Have our FAITH-HOPE-and LOVE


And our character and integrity
And our reputation-OUR GOOD NAME
Is influenced
By who
We surround ourselves with


“Do not be misled
Bad company corrupts our good character” Romans 15:33


And the LOVE of a good woman
Or a good man is important


“A wife of noble character
Who can find
She is worth
Far more than rubles” Proverbs 31:10


Finally-if it is true
We are the SUM
Of all the choices that we make
EACH CHOICE
Should be bringing us closer
To God and Christ
And in the end


That is who we are
THE SUM of ALL our choices


Which is our reputation


“He must
Also have a good reputation
With outsiders


So that he will not fall
Into disgrace
And into the devil’s trap” 1 Timothy 3:7


But even
If we have made some mistakes
Along the way
And ALL of us have


OUR GOD is THE GOD
Of infinite chances
And tomorrow is another day
TO BEGIN building character
To begin building HOPE
And to begin
BUILDING A NEW REPUTATION


Robert P. Wallman
3-26-13




Ps WITNESS 4-19-13




2-04-15

JOURNAL=2-3-5=THE RESPECTABLE SINS

JOURNAL=2—03-15=THE RESPECTABLE SINS


“Jesus said to the synagogue official-'DO NOT BE AFRAID-just have FAITH'” Mark 5:36


WE ALL face CHALLENGES to our faith-challenges to OUR DAY-in and DAY-out FAITH-we are tempted sexually for we all have weaknesses for certain people-we are CHALLENGED financially to do something NOT RIGHT-out of our greed-and we are challenged medically to ENHANCE ourselves in whatever way we can-perhaps in sports by taking certain types of drugs


BUT GOD calls on us-Jesus calls on us-to LIVE uprightly-to LIVE JUSTLY-and to live out of LOVE-kindness-forgiveness-and RESPECT-GOD tells us to NOT BE AFRAID and live out of FAITH


In today's GOSPEL-Mark tells us the story of the PRODIGAL SON-a young man who succumbed to the challenges and temptations of his day-yet his FATHER FORGAVE him-as our Father forgives us-WHEN we try and fail in today's world


FAITH boils down to one thing=TRUST; TRUSTING God in BOTH the big areas and the small areas of our life-IN our big and little fears-GOD tells us-Jesus tells us: “DO NOT be afraid-work on TRUSTING ME”-JUST HAVE FAITH


it is A GREAT DAY to be ALIVE in GOD'S LOVE for us-and a GREAT day to have FAITH IN GOD in facing the challenges and temptations of our life






WITNESS




3-06-13




THE RESPECTABLE SINS


We all know sins
Like murder, rape, child abuse
Ant violent crime---is wrong


We have a penal system
Set up for that
But beyond that---if we have a conscience
We have to reconcile our sins
With our God


But what about sins
Like coldness, indifference, ingratitude, and luke warmness
Toward others
Sins like, pride, jealousy, gossip, etc., etc., etc.


Just the sin of self-righteousness
The sin
Of thinking that we are better
Than the human being
Standing or sitting right beside us


The sins of the spirit
Are more difficult to get at
But I doubt no less of a sin
To our God


These sins are carried by all of us
In varying degrees


In the XVth chapter
Of Saint Luke’s Gospel
Jesus tells us such a story


A story about a Father and his 2 sons
1 respectable, 1 lost


The lost son takes his inheritance
Takes off for a foreign land
And spends everything he has
On wild living


Maybe by today’s standards
Wine-women-and song---maybe even drugs


A severe famine hits
And he has nothing to eat
So he decides to go home
Apologize to his Father
And beg for any job his Father
Will give him


His Father sees him coming from a long way off
And before the son can even apologize
And beg for forgiveness
His Father hugs him and kisses him
And decides to throw a party


The older son hears all the commotion
And basically throws a fit saying,
“All these years I have been slaving for you
And never disobeyed your orders
You never even gave me a young goat
So I could celebrate with my friends
But when this son of yours
Who has squandered your property
With prostitutes comes home
You kill the fatted calf for him” Luke 15:29-30


I certainly understand
How the older son feels
I am sure you can too


The Father responds,
“My son you are always with me
And everything I have is yours
But we had to celebrate and be glad
Because this brother of yours was dead
And is alive again
He was lost and is found” Luke 15:31-32


One thing the sinners of this world know
Is that they KNOW the are sinners


Jesus himself
Was unduly questioned and criticized
As to why he hung around “sinners”


Dickens once wrote,
“There is so much bad
In the best of us
And so much good
In the worst of us
It ill behooves any of us
To speak badly of the rest of us”


And Jesus himself said,
“If any of you are without sin
Let him be the first to throw the stone” John 8:7


Robert P. Wallman
11-3-11


Ps WITNESS 3-06-13


“Show proper RESPECT to everyone-LOVE the brotherhood of believers –
Fear God-honor the king”
1 Peter 2:17




Misc. WITNESS 3-22-14


2-03-15

JOURNAL=A LIVING SACRIFICE

JOURNAL=2-01-15-A LIVING SACRIFICE




“BEHOLD-this CHILD is destined for the fall and RISE of many in ISRAEL-and to be a SIGN that will be contradicted (and you yourself will PIERCE) so that the thoughts of MANY HEARTS will be REVEALED” Luke 2:34-35


SIMEON PROCLAIMED great things for this LITTLE BABY-but he also told Mary that she would be PIERCED by a sword-JESUS WAS and CONTINUES to be the HOPE for many-THE ONE we can count on WHEN ALL else and everyone else has FAILED US—has anyone ever looked to you with
EXPECTATION for something-what an awesome RESPONSIBILITY that that is-and WHAT a BLESSING from GOD that is WHEN you can come through-OF COURSE none of us can do anything on our own-ONLY THROUGH the GRACE of God


Mary accepted her fate-and was indeed THERE when a sword pierced Jesus and pierced her own heart-
MARY'S ACCEPTANCE of GOD'S PLAN for her life-even in sadness and tragedy-REMINDS US that love is indeed an HONOR and a PRIVILEGE-as well as an awesome RESPONSIBILITY-that we do indeed NOT let others down in their moment of need


WHEN we love deeply-we OPEN ourselves to deep pain-BECAUSE LOVE does come with a PRICE-as Jesus and Mary found out-yet they CAME THROUGH for us-HOW ABOUT US-CAN WE ANSWER the CALL for OUR life-WHEN we have to PAY THE PRICE-I DON'T KNOW-but I am SURE willing to try


Dear Lord-WE PRAY-that we INHERIT THE LOVE that Jesus and Mary had-and we pray that you DEAR LORD-COMFORT US when the love of this world really HURTS


it is a GREAT DAY to be ALIVE in GOD'S LOVE for us-and a great day for paying the price-for the LOVE that GOD has BESTOWED on us










WITNESS




2-25-13




A LIVING SACRIFICE




Christ lived a perfect life
He died a shameful death
But because he was perfect
God brought him back to life
Proving once and for all
THE SPIRIT OF GOD
Is in fact
THE WORDS OF LIFE


The early Christians
Died for the Spirit of God
And for the Spirit of Life


But I believe
That TODAY
God is asking us
For a different kind of sacrifice
He is asking us
To be a Living Sacrifice


“Therefore, I urge you
In view of God’s mercy
To offer your bodies as a living sacrifice
Holy and pleasing to God
This is your spiritual act of worship
Do NOT conform any longer
To the pattern of this world
Bu be transformed
By the renewing of your mind” Romans 12:1 & 2


There is a saying that goes something like this


“Do all the good you can
For all the people that you can
For we shall pass this way
JUST ONCE”


“I am the God of Abraham
The God of Isaac
And the God of Jacob
He is NOT the God of the dead
But of the LIVING” Matthew 22:32


“If anyone is thirsty
Let him come to me and drink
Whoever believes in me
As the scripture has said
Streams of living water
Will flow from within him” John 7:37


Chances are---at least in America
You won’t have to die for your faith
But I urge to live for your faith


FOR THE SPIRIT OF GOD
THAT LIVES IN YOU


Robert P. Wallman
6-16-11


Ps WITNESS 2-25-13




“The SACRIFICES of God are a broken spirit
A broken and contrite heart
Oh God-your will NOT despise” Psalm 51:17




2-01-15

JOURNAL-2-1-15=THESE HARD HEARTS

JOURNAL=2-1-15=HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS




“Oh-that today you would HEAR GOD'S VOICE: 'HARDEN not your hearts as at Meribah-as in the day of Massah in the desert........'” Psalm 95:7-8




Meribah and Massah received their names DURING EXODUS---Meribah means”quarreling” and Massah meant “testing”


The ISRAELITES-like us in today's world-seemed to be ALWAYS GRUMBLING-THEN Moses got mad at the people for TESTING GOD-as we often today-sometimes-NO matter what we have-it seems like we are STILL NOT HAPPY


I HAVE to tell you that I am mostly HAPPY and CONTENT-but when I do become UNHAPPY about someone or something-I WRITE it in my journal-and KEEP it to myself-or by PRAYING for that person WHO I KNOW needs HELP


SOMETIMES we just NEED to LET IT GO-and OPEN ourselves up to the PRESENCE OF GOD-the HOLY ONE in OUR LIVES-and live MORE PEACEFULLY


it is A GREAT DAY to be ALIVE in GOD'S LOVE for us-and a great day to STOP the grumbling and complaining-and OPEN OURSELVES up to the HOLY PRESENCE OF GOD








WITNESS




2-17-13




THESE HARD HEARTS










Have you ever run up
Against a hard heart
A heart that no matter what you say or do
You just can’t penetrate


I have
Too many times to count and enumerate


That is the nature of this world
The nature of people
Probably always has been---always will be


Moses ran up against
The hardest of hearts
When he ran up against Pharaoh


In Exodus
God calls Moses
From within a burning bush
And tells Moses
To go to Pharaoh
On behalf of his people---the Israelites
And tell him to let them go


Moses questions God---“Who-who-who am I……..” ( Moses stuttered )
To go on behalf of my people


And Moses runs into perhaps
The most hardened heart
That ever lived---PHARAOH


Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding
And the Lord
Turns the waters into blood


But pharaoh still refuses---
He has a hard heart


“If today you hear his voice
Harden not your heart” Hebrews 3:8


The Lord sends a second---a third
And even a fourth plague


Plagues of frogs
Plagues of Gnats
And plagues of flies


But he-Pharaoh is UNYIELDING


HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS


Still further plagues come
The death of livestock---
Boils-hail-and even locusts


But Pharaoh continues to be unyielding


The Lord continued to make Pharaoh’s heart hard
Because he wanted
The Israelite people to believe in him


He wanted them to KNOW
That his name is I AM---THE GOD OF MIRACLES


Harden NOT your hearts


“Therefore God has mercy
On whom he wants to have mercy
And he hardens
Whom he wants to harden” Romans 9:18


Finally Pharaoh says,
“Go worship the Lord
Even your woman and children may go with you……..” Exodus 10:24


But Pharaoh changed his mind yet again


Finally the Lord
Sent the last plagues


And God struck down
Every first born male of Egypt
But protected
The Israelite first-born males


And the Israelites fled
Finally got away---through GOD’S MIRACLE
The parting of THE RED SEA


And so today---out in the world
When we seemingly
Run into hard heart after hard heart
LET US REMEMBER
How the Lord
AIDED Moses and the Israelite people


And let us know
That if we ourselves are PENETRATED
WITH DEVOTION TO THE LORD’S DIVINE HEART
We too can labor with marvelous success


Like the commercial says---
“Keep your heart open and love will find a way”


“You yourselves
Are our letter
Written on our hearts
Known and read by everyone


You show
That you are a letter from Christ
The result of our ministry
Written NOT with ink
But with the SPIRIT
OF THE LIVING GOD
NOT on tablets of stone
But on tablets of HUMAN HEARTS” Romans 3:2&3


Because GOD IS LOVE
Like Pharaoh---these hard hearts


ARE GOING TO FALL


Robert P. Wallman
1-20-12


Ps WITNESS 2-17-13




2-01-15