"YOU WILL BE FILLED WITH POWER WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT COMES ON YOU, AND YOU WILL BE WITNESSES FOR ME TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH."

"But I have testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me." (John 5: 36).

Thursday 31st March 2022 of the 4th week of Lent.

Today we look at the "testimony" of Jesus. We ask: What are the credentials of Jesus? How do we know that this Man is who He claims to be?

In His trial before Pontius Pilate, Jesus affirms that the purpose He came into the world is to bear witness to the truth. Jesus, according to His own testimony is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

To validate that Jesus is who He claims to be, we match His claims with His works. A Trauma doctor must be able to perform in a critical emergency situation in order to be believed. If not, he is considered an impostor, a fraud.

Jesus is genuine and authentic in every sense. He healed every type of sickness. He raised the dead. He cast out demons. He fed thousands from a few loaves and fish. He taught people the message of eternal life. Jesus fulfilled every profile of the Messiah prophesied by Isaiah and other prophets.

How about His character? Jesus is irreprochable in His personal conduct.
Finally, He was crucified and rose from the dead, prophesied by Himself. He appeared to those He chose to see Him. His Apostles who saw Him after His Resurrection were all prepared to die and actually died to testify to the truth of His Resurrection.

The Church Jesus founded which shall never be destroyed by forces of evil is alive and following the Way of her Lord all over the world. The lives of the Saints continue to be irrefutable advertisement for the authenticity that the Church is the Body of Christ and the Temple of the Holy Spirit.

"The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." (Revelation 19: 10). That testimony is alive today in the Church in miracles, healing, teaching and witnessing to the truth of the Gospel.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

OUR GOD IS OUR HEALER, OUR REFUGE IN ALL TYPES OF DISTRESS. HE IS OUR STRENGTH. CALL ON HIM WITH ABUNDANT TRUST IN THE DAY OF DISTRESS AND HE WILL ANSWER YOU. GOD NEVER FAILS!

"There was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes. In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be well?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.” Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.” (John 5: 1.... 6)=

Tuesday 29th March 2022, in the 4th Week of Lent.

Our Gospel of today records the encounter of Jesus with a crippled man. Jesus knew he had been in this condition for 38 years. What the man did not know was that Jesus was not there by chance or accident. Jesus had a divine appointment with the crippled man on that day and place and time. Happily the crippled man was ready and received his healing.

We are saved by grace through faith. The day Jesus freed me from the oppression of alcohol by His merciful love, I received a free gift but I cooperated with Jesus like the crippled man by saying "Yes Lord. Heal me."

Where do you need healing in your life? Jesus is always passing by. Are you ready for Him?

"My Mother is the agent of all healing, the chosen instrument of the Holy Spirit for the restoration of life, of light, and of unity in every place or instance where these are lacking. Not until this sovereign disposition of My Father is recognized and confessed will there be the healing, purification, and sanctification of the priesthood and of the Church for which so many souls labour and offer themselves. None of these objectives can be obtained by human means, or even by spiritual ones, apart from the role that belongs to My Mother and to none other, because she alone is the Immaculate and, so, is alone the human instrument fit for the workings of the Holy Spirit." (IN SINU JESU, Thursday, January 29, 2009).

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

O LORD ARISE TO HAVE MERCY ON THE CHURCH. FOR THIS IS THE TIME TO HAVE MERCY. YES LORD, THE TIME APPOINTED FOR MERCY HAS COME.
"BEHOLD NOW IS THE FAVORABLE TIME. THIS IS THE DAY OF SALVATION."

"Thus says the Lord: In a time of favor I answer you, on the day of salvation I help you; and I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people, To restore the land and allot the desolate heritages, Saying to the prisoners: Come out! To those in darkness: Show yourselves! Along the ways they shall find pasture, on every bare height shall their pastures be. They shall not hunger or thirst, nor shall the scorching wind or the sun strike them; For he who pities them leads them and guides them beside springs of water....

"But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.” Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you." (Isaiah 49: 8... 15).

Wednesday, of the 4th week of Lent 2022.

The kindness and mercy of God is in full display in our first Reading. The People broke the Covenant with God and suffered as a result. The suffering was crushing. They must have muttered thus: "We are convinced now that God has utterly forsaken and forgotten us." How close have you been to despair? You pray for recovery from illness but no sign of healing. For the mending of a broken family but things get worse. For financial improvement but slide into bankruptcy. Or any one of the conditions that befalls man on earth.
If you or your loved ones is in any of the above situation, God has a special good news for you in His word today.

"Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you." (Isaiah 49: 15).
But in case you still have some doubts, "See, upon the palms of my hands I have engraved you." The Lord God assures us. (Isaiah 49: 16).

Now, the ball is in your court:
To believe or not to believe. It is a choice. If you believe, appropriate the Scripture, write it down, memorize it and repeat it until it is yours.

"The LORD is faithful in all his words and holy in all his works.
The LORD lifts up all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down." (Psalm 145: 13 - 14).
The Lord is gracious and merciful. His mercies never fail.

"Glory and praise to you, O Christ!
God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son: everyone who believes in him has eternal life.
Glory and praise to you, O Christ!" (John 3: 16).

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com