“Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.” (Deuteronomy 4:1)

And Jesus didn’t change the Law, but He fulfilled it in Himself. And He repeated the promise: “Whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:19)

Just look how much the Lord loves us: he never gives up encouraging us to stay faithful.

Maybe it will be easier to meet our commitments if we offer each other a well-meaning support?

Dosia

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him (Isaiah 53:2)

My husband, children and friends do not always show “beauty or majesty”. And sometimes I don’t find it easy at all to look at them and to be with them, especially when they are annoyed or “difficult” in any other way. But this is then, and probably mostly then, when I can put to test my love for them.

Am I able to find within the mercy and courage that Veronica had? To offer the gestures of kindness, that favourable look that goes beyond my daunting impression about the other person’s behaviour?

Am I ready to welcome the other in his/her suffering? Or do I stay entrapped in my own fear, resentment, sense of helplessness or discouragement?

The test may come out better or worse, but I’m sure love should not be missing from the ways of the cross.

Basia

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him” (Jeremiah 17:7)

If you entrust your needs and expectations to the Lord, He will satisfy them all in His own perfect way.

The need for self-esteem and recognition? – “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine!” (Isaiah 43:1)

The need for safety? – “The Lord watches over you – the Lord is your shade at your right hand” (Psalm 121:5)

For being understood? – “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28)

For strength? – “I can do all this through Him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13)

And finally:

Love? “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 17:7)

Dosia

Seek good, not evil, that you may live. (Am 5:14)

Seek, protect, support and strengthen GOOD – in my spouse and in me.

DoesN’T  that sound like the prescription rooted in His Word to help “my love NOT to burn out”?

Basia

“He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Matthew 5:45

It’s good that God’s sense of justice is so completely different from the human version of it, because we’re always given another chance – despite our weaknesses and failures.

So let’s be grateful for God’s mercy, for His love, which accepts us as we are. His love comes always before everything else; it heals, liberates and changes the old into the new.

Dosia

Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. (Psalm 25:4)

For me, the Lent is the exceptional time of taking a closer look at the ways of the Lord, especially his most difficult and last way – the Way of the Cross. The way of remaining silent and gentle, the way of sacrifice, patience and rising from the falls, of accepting – without complaint – all the painful and difficult part of life.

I guess I can tell God’s ways from those that are not His. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m an expert on the former. I’m still learning. I’m learning the “highway code” of those beautiful and difficult ways.

I know these ways are safe, protected and they have clear destination. I don’t want to turn back, though I know I can turn around and choose another path: God’s ways do strip me of freedom. Falls are inscribed in the progress, so I mustn’t get discouraged. Because it’s not about high speedometer read-out and perfect performance – inside and outside.

The vital thing on the Ways of God is to trust Him and let Him guide you, as He has foreseen everything: every bump, every thorn and curve. With Him, each fall, hardship and effort are just the means of achieving something more! It’s so much easier for me, when I realize that, to go through each tough experience with some positive attitude. In the end, all His paths lead to Joy!

Basia

“… your Father knows what you need before you ask him.  Pray then in this way:
Our Father in heaven,..” (Matthew 6:7-15)

Isn’t that wonderful that we’ve got the Father in heaven? And that we are the heirs of heaven? And that He looks after us all the time? And that we may actually call Him “Abba, Dad”?

Today is our Children’s Day, too!

Dosia

When he went out after this, he noticed a tax collector, Levi by name, sitting at the tax office, and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ (Luke 5:27)

Tax – a charge imposed by the state for transportation of goods across its borders (dictionary definition).

My home – my castle, my state. In my state, it is ME who collects taxes by imposing my will, my mood, my laziness or my selfish attitudes upon the others. And it is ME whom He calls to follow Him. And not only that. IT IS ME He wants to stay with, because He knows how much I need Him.

Dosia