Today the Lord led me to read Timothy. The focus seemed to be on 1 Timothy 2:1, "First of all, then, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity. This is good and pleasing to God our savior, who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth." It is interesting because I had been focusing on the President's speech last night and the outburst from the South Carolina Senator. But the Lord is clear that we should always pray for our leaders. I think that may be something that gets lost in all of the vitriol and name-calling that goes on in our political arenas. But take the time to read the passage more closely. He is reminding us to pray for each other, everyone, not just our family and friends but our world, our company, our city, our nation. The passage concludes by focusing on our mission in life. We must share the knowledge of the truth. How are you doing in this area. I know that I struggle with this task but it is getting easier through practice. Where I was timid and tentative in the past, I am now more bold. I create opportunities to talk about the Lord and His kingdom in all situations. My colleague at work calls this the Jesus web but I choose to think that the web is a positive thing. You may not know that a spider's web is the strongest material in the world based on its size. How awesome is it then to offer to your friends an opportunity to wrap themselves in the Jesus web and become safe and secure in the Good News? So let us lift up our leaders in prayer so that we may live in peace and share the knowledge of the kingdom. By the way, I love the new Toby Mac song City on Our Knees. The message in this song ties to today's topic perfectly. Toby sings, "To a city with one king, A city on our knees." How incredible would it be to see your city on its knees praising God?
Kurt Hilgefort, is a Catholic father of six who publishes his thoughts on his blog Shadows of Augustine . He responded to my seven question survey with the following answers. Kurt is the first layperson to respond to the seven question survey and I think that his experience is extremely relevant to me personally and I hope that you are inspired by his thoughts as well. If you would like to respond, please send an email to fellmananthony@gmail.com with your thoughts and I will be happy to publish them as well. 1. What is the biggest challenge to your faith that you have faced so far? The biggest challenge for me has been the whole dying to self thing. On an intellectual level, there are no barriers. It comes down to a matter of accepting the authority of the Church that Christ founded upon Peter. My challenge is not in the intellect, but rather in the will. The challenge for me has always been to continually seek conversion. I want to be transformed, but I want it to be over all ...
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