Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119)
Galatians 5:1-18 & Acts 12:1-11 It is interesting that Peter was saved “from all that the people were expecting,”; perhaps those people included Peter himself! Saint Peter well knew the pain and darkness of imprisonment at the hands of godlessness. Chained more than once between guards, this time Peter had four squads of soldiers guarding him and freedom seemed far from possible. Yet ‘suddenly an Angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in Peter’s appointed cell of darkness… and the chains fell off his wrists … as Peter got up quickly,” at the Angel’s command, to be led out of prision. Within a few minutes he found himself a free man, knocking at the door of friends. This is the freedom Jesus can and does provide to not only a select few, but to each one of us who is imprisoned in darkness of any kind, be it mental, emotional, spiritual or physical. The breath of any faithful prayer, “Jesus! Help me!” has the immediate and lasting effect of changing darkness to light, despair to hope and even hatred to trusting love. With the Holy Spirit’s help and presence in our lives, God constantly and consistently frees us from the Principalities and Powers of darkness and evil, to Live, to Love - and even to Laugh – again. Do I realize all the freedom I can have because of Jesus’ work of salvation – freedom from fears, from resentments, from sin, both mine and others’, and from toxic circumstances of all kinds? After realizing the true freedom Jesus brokered for us on the cross, will I be able to laugh again, along with Peter and his astonished friends, when I find myself unchained and walking freely in the Light of God’s mercy? Christ Jesus, teach me the freedom you have won for us. I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. (Psalm 34:4) The Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed… The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. St. Paul’s letter to Timothy, 4:17& 18. Soli ad gloriam Gospel Mystery of the Day on FaceBook & www.gospelmysteryoftheday.ca
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AuthorBeverly Illauq lives in Kemptville, Ontario, where she greets each morning by seeking the Gospel Mystery of the Day - the Word of the Lord for direct and practical application to the specific challenges & joys of the day. Archives
March 2024
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