yimzwik, God's Message For You Today, February 20, 2013

Daily Bible Reflections for February 20, 2013 Dear yimzwik, God will never leave you. This Wednesday is no different. Praying for you, Bo Sanchez PS. Do you live in the Philippines? Sign up for Bo's weekly  cellphone message. This is FREE. (That is why you have to live in the Philippines to sign up for this service.) Text:   BOSEZ_<your full name>_ <your email address> and send to any of the following numbers: Globe (09178494444); Smart (09088949999); Sun (09228945555) And you'll start receiving Bo's inspiring message to encourage you, guide you, and bless your week.   20 February Wednesday TODAY'S READINGS: DIDACHE | COMPANION | SABBATH DIDACHE   MEGAPHONE   “So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh, according to the Lord’s bidding.” – Jonah 3:2   I’ve always had the passion to present God in a cool, relevant, and contemporary way. I enjoy introducing modern Christian music to my friends. Whenever I’d share His Word, I try to use present-day examples so that those listening can easily relate to it. Because God is cool. His love is hip. God’s Word is always in-style. He transcends all trends. God is everything but boring. He’s the greatest person ever — yesterday, today and forever. (Hey, it rhymes!) Now, I believe God calls us to present Him to the world in the same way. Especially today, when we’re competing against the Internet, movies, MTV, Lady Gaga, and so much more. We have to fight for His Word to stand out and be heard! So that those who are far away from Him, people who are lost and hurting, will come to know love personified — Jesus. Friends, God is giving us a megaphone today to speak to this generation. Our message is the Gospel. Our platform is the marketplace, our office, Facebook, Twitter, our friends, our family, the strangers we meet. Let’s broadcast the game-changing story of Christ! Mike Viñas (mikemichaelfcv@yahoo.com)   Reflection: How will you tell the world that Jesus lives?   Father, empower me to amplify Your message of grace every day.   Blessed Jacinta and Francisco Marto, pray for us.   Didache | Companion | Sabbath | Top COMPANION 1ST READING   Sometimes, if not many times, we are like Jonah, in that we are not as obedient as we should be and it takes us a few attempts to get things right. Does this justify disobedience? No, it does not. Just because God is forgiving and compassionate, it does not mean we should take advantage of Him. A true disciple will always do his best to be obedient the first time around and, thus, avoid all the problems that inevitably result from disobedience.   Jonah 3:1-10 1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and announce to it the message that I will tell you.” 3 So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh, according to the Lord’s bidding. Now Nineveh was an enormously large city; it took three days to go through it. 4 Jonah began his journey through the city, and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,” 5 when the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth. 6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes. 7 Then he had this proclaimed throughout Nineveh, by decree of the king and his nobles: “Neither man nor beast, neither cattle nor sheep, shall taste anything; they shall not eat, nor shall they drink water. 8 Man and beast shall be covered with sackcloth and call loudly to God; every man shall turn from his evil way and from the violence he has in hand. 9 Who knows, God may relent and forgive, and withhold his blazing wrath, so that we shall not perish.” 10 When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out.   P S A L M Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 18-19 R: A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn. 1 [3] Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. 2 [4] Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me. (R) 10 [12] A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me. 11 [13] Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me. (R) 16 [18] For you are not pleased with sacrifices; should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it. 17 [19] My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn. (R)   GOSPEL     Jonah’s sign is the sign of obedience — no matter how hard he tried, he could not escape being obedient in the end. This is a lesson to us all that it is simpler to be obedient from the start rather than try to blaze a new path with our own will, expecting to do better than following God’s way. Jonah’s sign is also the path of repentance, modeling for us the way to take when we have been disobedient. Let us seek to follow the first path more than the second one.   GOSPEL ACCLAMATION Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart for I am gracious and merciful.   Luke 11:29-32 29 While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. 30 Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. 32 At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.” think: A true disciple will always do his best to be obedient the first time around.   T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST Thank You Lord for: ___________________________   ____________________________________________   God’s special verse/thought for me today_________ ____________________________________________   READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Philippians 1-4   Didache | Companion | Sabbath | Top SABBATH   WHEN A HANDICAP BECOMES AN ADVANTAGE   It is almost natural for us to think that persons who directly experienced the physical presence of Jesus during His earthly ministry were truly blessed. The words of the Lord Jesus in our Gospel, however, make us have second thoughts on this. He says that the people of Nineveh in the time of Jonah, and the Queen of Sheba in Solomon’s reign — persons who never saw Jesus personally — were, in a way, more blessed. For while the contemporaries of Jesus got to see Him and all His works, these grace-filled experiences failed to touch their hearts and minds. On the other hand, the Ninevites and the Queen of Sheba repented and believed in God when they saw the imperfect signs during their lifetime. Days before I sat down to write this reflection, I had to condole with a couple who have been very active in the Marriage Encounter and Family Encounter apostolates. They just lost their 34-year-old daughter to a long and hopeless bout with a degenerative, incurable and fatal genetic syndrome that affected her muscular contractions. The daughter died due to complications in the lungs and the hardening of her throat muscles that strangulated her. What could have even been more painful for the couple was that they were bidding goodbye to an only child! They were, in fact, witnessing the end of their family line. In the midst of this devastating experience though, the calmness and deep faith of the man and his wife was most touching. Where loss could have made others bitter, they have allowed God’s assuring love to envelop them instead. Fr. Domie Guzman, SSP          REFLECTION QUESTIONS: What dark moments have you gone through as an individual and as a family? How did you manage to go through these? Do you know of anyone going through some faith crisis? Include this person in your prayers today.   Thank You, Lord, for keeping me company during the dark moments of my life.   Didache | Companion | Sabbath | Top

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