There May Never Be Tomorrow!!!!

True Story

Timmy was a 16 year old boy who loved Jesus with all his heart.  He had a 6 year long battle with a very painful muscle cancer before he died. He longed to see others come to know Jesus. That was what his life was all about. Loving others, and knowing that they loved Jesus just as much as he did. 

Timmy wasn't afraid of dying. For he knew that he would soon be with his King. He knew that soon he wold be with Jesus. No, Timmy wasn't afraid of dying. However, he was scared. He was scared that the people around him, that he loved so much, would not see Jesus. He wanted to know that when he went to heaven to be with Jesus, that his mom and dad and brother and sister would be alright. He was more concerned about others than he was about his life, and the pain that cancer brought him.

Timmy knew what a relationship with Jesus was all about. He knew that he had love Jesus with all his heart mind and soul. He knew that in order to love others, he had to love Jesus more. And Timmy loved Jesus so much.

Timmy wanted his life to count. He wanted his life to mean something when he finally went to be with Jesus. He wanted everyone to know that his life was based on the fact that he loved his Jesus. Timmy knew that he would not be here very long. He knew that any day that was given to him was precious, and that every day he woke up was a gift from God. Timmy made sure that he encouraged others and made them feel special. He simply wanted others to see the LIGHT of Jesus in his words and actions.

Our life is but a vapor. It is very short. A vapor is gone as soon as it appears. We never know when our last breath will be. We never know when that last doctors appointment or that last car ride will be our last. We never know if we will even wake up in the morning. God didn't promise us one more second on this earth. He didn't promise us we would have tomorrow. Will you wake up tomorrow?

What have you done with your life to say to others that you love Jesus? What will your life say about you if you don't wake up tomorrow? If you don't like what it will say, then will you change it starting now? Sometimes we don't begin very well, but we can finish well. We can make changes starting right now. We can begin again, and start loving God more than the other people or things in our lives. So we can learn to love who we are, and in turn love the other people in our lives the way Christ intended.

Unconditionally and regardless of how they look or treat us. Jesus loved us when we were all but unlovable. Timmy knew how to love like that. He understood what it was to love the people that Jesus loves. I want to love others with the love of Jesus Christ. I long to be more like Christ, so I can love others the way Timmy did.

Will you as a person, spouse, parent, friend, child, be the one that others say "Loved with the heart of Christ?". That you didn't look at the past mistakes and make judgement. That you didn't care about how they looked. That you loved them despite of their failures. That you forgave them and moved forward despite the past hurts they caused. That you truly loved them with the heart of Christ.

Will the things you say and do today, be remembered for the Christ-like attitude you had years after you die? Or will your attitude, and the things you do and say be remembered years down the road because they weren't so nice?

We are here but for a short while, and then we are gone. Make sure that the things you do and say, make a difference to others through Christ. Don't wait till tomorrow. It may never come. don't put it off. You never know if you will be called to leave this world in the very next moment.

Make sure the things you accomplish, are those that honor God and bring encouragement to others. Be prepared, be ready and be waiting with joy for the moment when you will meet Jesus your King. He is waiting for you! If you are not ready when He comes in calling for you, you will miss your chance and you will miss your crown.

James 4:14-15

Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.  Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”

FASTING - Part 1 - By Pope Shenouda III

  

 THE BENEFITS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF FASTING

HH Pope Shenouda III  

Part 1: 

Fasting is one of the most important spiritual means. But why?

First of all, because it helps us keep self-control. 


As the one fasting abstains from eating and drinking generally for a period of time, he stops himself from eating whatever relates to animal fat. And so he restraint. In the process of restraining from food and drink, he will also restrain himself from committing sins. 

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God put this element of restrain from the beginning when He asked Adam and Eve to abstain from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Here, He put the principle of self-control. from the beginning of the history of humanity, to make us fully realise that freedom does not mean lack of restrain. Although God was very generous with Adam and Eve and gave them permission to eat from "every tree of the garden", but He put a rule, which was to refrain from eating from a particular tree (Gen 2:16,17) and (Gen 3:3).

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Maybe we fully realise here the seriousness of the phrase that King Solomon said, expressing his unrestrained pleasure: "Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them" (Eccles 2:10).  So eventually he lost his wisdom and sinned. "His heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David" (1Kings 11:4). And many desires caused him to stumble…..

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Fasting is also an evidence of being elevated above the level of the body. 


In it, we do not give the body all that it asks or desires of food. By so doing, we are elevated above bodily desires. We are even being elevated above materialism in general. And so we give the spirit a chance to take it's opportunity, remembering the Lord's saying: "Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life" (Jn 6:27). And the Apostle's saying: "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." (Rom 8:6).

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The spirit becomes stinger during fasting.  


During fasting, our prayers are also deeper and our contemplations are deeper. Our relationship with God becomes stinger, even our hymns also. There is a big difference between recording one of the Pascha hymns during the Passion Week and recording the same hymn at a non- fasting period. The effect of fasting on the spirit is not restricted to Christians only but the Hindus, the Yogies and the Buddhists find spiritual strength in exercises of fasting and asceticism. Their spirits become more pure…

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Fasting then is not of benefit only to fight against the negatives but it also benefits positively in strengthening the spirit.

Therefore we find that most of the spiritual occasions are preceded by fasting.  


The church sacraments for example, such as Baptism, Myron (Chrism), Holy Communion and Priesthood have to be preceded by fasting. Receiving the blessing of tests is preceded by fasting. We fast for many long weeks before Christmas and Easter, before the Feast of the Apostles, the Fest of the Virgin Mary and for the Epiphany we fast the day before (the Baramoun). How beautiful is the saying in the Acts of the Apostles, (before the laying on of hands on barnabas and saul): "As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said; Now separate for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Then having fasted and prayed and laid hands on them, they sent them away" (Acts 13:2,3).

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From the book - The Spiritual Means
 By HH Pope Shenouda III