Tagged: Daily Reflections

“As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight, but when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight.” —Exodus 17:11 Moses at first prayed intermittently while Joshua fought a battle. Moses learned from experience that he needed to pray continually during the time of the battle. Moses had no thought of praying always during daily life; he was just learning to pray always during a battle. Well over a thousand years later, Jesus spoke of “the necessity of praying always and not losing heart” (Lk 18:1). No one...

“Hence, all depends on faith, everything is grace.” —Romans 4:16 All depends on faith — marriage, parenting, finances, health, education, happiness, security, etc. Therefore, in every area of our lives, we should seek opportunities to act in faith. We should not try to maintain the status quo but break new ground by acting in faith. Would daily prayer with your spouse take faith? If so, do it. Would having another child take faith? Whatever it takes, “walk by faith” (2 Cor 5:7). Where are the faith opportunities in your life? Would it take more faith to quit or continue your...

“I have no one with me but Luke.” —2 Timothy 4:11 St. Luke never saw or heard Jesus, but he knew things about Him that even Jesus’ closest followers had not realized. This motivated Luke to write his Gospel and its sequel, the Acts of the Apostles. Luke epitomizes Jesus’ statement: “Blest are they who have not seen and have believed” (Jn 20:29). Although Luke had not seen Jesus, he knew Jesus more deeply than many of those who had walked and talked with Jesus (see 1 Pt 1:8). The Holy Spirit gave Luke many special insights into the person...

“My soul trusts in His word. My soul waits for the Lord.” —Psalm 130:5-6 When I was younger, waiting used to be for me like chalk squeaking on a chalkboard. My prayer often went like this: “Lord, I want this so bad, this conversion, this vocation. It’s not a selfish thing I’m waiting for; You Yourself have put it on my heart, Lord. Hope deferred is making my heart sick (Prv 13:12), and still it hasn’t happened…” Gradually, I Iearned that waiting for the Lord, if done in a spirit of “waiting with” the Lord, grows into a time of...