12 And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.
The Lord brings His children through challenging situations, not to destroy them but rather to prepare them for what lies ahead. Be assured that even in your most trying times that God has not forgotten His promise to you. You may be eating manna today but your time for milk and honey awaits you. It is your time to possess the promise.
All Souls’ Day, November 2, Pray for the Dead#AllSoulsDay
2 Maccabees 12:44-45
44 For had he not expected the fallen to rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead,
45 whereas if he had in view the splendid recompense reserved for those who make a pious end, the thought was holy and devout. Hence, he had this expiatory sacrifice offered for the dead, so that they might be released from their sin.
“On this day is observed the commemoration of the faithful departed, in which our common and pious Mother the Church, immediately after having endeavored to celebrate by worthy praise all her children who already rejoice in heaven, strives to aid by her powerful intercession with Christ, her Lord and Spouse, all those who still groan in purgatory, so that they may join as soon as possible the inhabitants of the heavenly city.”
Everything you want to know in life is in the Bible. As having my Christian roots in Catholicism, I did not know the Sign of the Cross was referenced in the Bible. Yes, I still bow my head when the name of Jesus is said. I never take Holy Communion in my hand. I am old school. But I never learned the Bible in nine years of Catholic School. Not until I went to a Baptist women Bible Study did I understand what the Bible means. Wow, I am just learning after 6 decades of life.
Pray continually, Paul urged the Thessalonians. The early church fathers took this one step further: continually make the sign of the cross.
“In all our travels and movements, in all our coming in and going out, in putting on our shoes, at the bath, at the table, in lighting our candles, in lying down, in sitting down, whatever employment occupies us, we mark our foreheads with the sign of the cross,” wrote Tertullian at the turn of the third century, A.D. In the fourth century, St. John Chrysostom (apparently anticipating an American Express slogan) wrote, “never leave home without making the sign of the cross.”
Andreopoulos and Ghezzi find in the sign of the cross a symbol of baptism, protection, profession of faith, defiance of the Devil, invocation of God’s power, solidarity with the church, and a rebuke of self-indulgence—to name a few.
The origins of the sign are unknown; as Andreopoulos points out: “our information is sparse because this ancient practice emerged naturally, as something that made sense to most Christians.” The earliest descriptions, such as Tertullian’s, indicate that the cross was made with one finger—probably the thumb—on the forehead in the shape of a Hebrew T or a Greek X, letters that stood for names of God and Christ. Presumably, early Christians were taking their cues from passages in Genesis 4:15, Ezekiel 9:4, and Revelation 14:1 and 22:4 that describe a mark on the forehead as a sign of God’s claim on a person.
“The spiritual weight of the sign has always been the same,” Andreopoulos writes. “In texts from Tertullian and Origen to Kosmas and Aitolos, it is a blessing, a prayer, a proclamation of the Christian identity, a living mystery, and an acceptance of the role that God has given us.”
“Whether I sign myself silently or with the invocation [of ‘in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit’],” writes Ghezzi, “it helps me to look beyond the mundane things I have to do every day … and focus on God and on the greater part of reality, the part that is spiritual and invisible.”
Leviticus 14: 33-42, 1 Corinthians 5:6-8: Is Your Home Clean for The Word of God?
Leviticus 14: 33-42 ESV
33 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,34 “When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your possession, and I put a spreading mold in a house in that land,35 the owner of the house must go and tell the priest, ‘I have seen something that looks like a defiling mold in my house.’36 The priest is to order the house to be emptied before he goes in to examine the mold, so that nothing in the house will be pronounced unclean. After this the priest is to go in and inspect the house.37 He is to examine the mold on the walls, and if it has greenish or reddish depressions that appear to be deeper than the surface of the wall,38 the priest shall go out the doorway of the house and close it up for seven days.39 On the seventh day the priest shall return to inspect the house. If the mold has spread on the walls,40 he is to order that the contaminated stones be torn out and thrown into an unclean place outside the town.41 He must have all the inside walls of the house scraped and the material that is scraped off dumped into an unclean place outside the town.42 Then they are to take other stones to replace these and take new clay and plaster the house.
1 Corinthians 5:6-8
Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Is you house ready for the Word of God at anytime?
I therefore claim this place as a place of Christian spiritual safety and protection.
I bless this place with my mouth, my heart and my mind in the name of my God; Jesus Christ.
I ask You Lord Jesus Christ to secure your blessing and spiritual protection while we (your Christians) stay and live here.
Please clean it with Your Holy Blood,
and let it be made as new for me (and my family).
Let only your Holy Spirit and Holy Angels of Heaven be here with us!
I choose to have faith in your power Jesus,
the same power that saved my soul!
I love you Jesus:
Amen!
St. Patrick’s Prayer This day I call to me:
God’s strength to direct me,
God’s power to sustain me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s vision to light me,
God’s ear to my hearing,
God’s word to my speaking,
God’s hand to uphold me,
God’s pathway before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s legions to save me.
Sidewalks Chalk 