Mary TV Daily Reflection 1/20/2011

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  Image by Laura Grace via Flickr

January 20, 2011 St. Fabian, St. Sebastian Dear Family of Mary! "Dear Children!  Today I call you especially now to advance against Satan by means of prayer.  Satan wants to work still more now that you know he is at work. Dear children, put on the armor for battle and with the Rosary in your hand defeat him!  Thank you for having responded to my call." (August 8, 1985) Image via Wikipedia "Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand.  Stand therefore...And take...the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." (Eph. 6:13-14, 17) Now that we are all protected, from head to toe, the Lord will give us a weapon to wield in this battle, the Sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  How brilliant is this!!  If we understand the nature of the spiritual battle we are in, this makes total sense.  Our enemy, the devil, has only limited access to us.  His battlefield is our mind and heart, and the weapon he uses is temptation.  He uses words to assault us, words of fear, of hatred, of malice, of enticement, of slander and deceit, of doubt and despair.  He tempts us to acts of pride, of vanity, of passion, of rebellion, and on and on.  His words throw us off our balance, confuse us, misdirect us, and bewilder us.  His words are destructive and poisonous.   And his arguments are deadly mazes, impossible to overcome with human wisdom.  Enter the word of God!  With such an enemy, we need heavenly aid.  God has provided this aid.  It is the Holy Scriptures.  In the word of God we find the antidote to every demonic temptation.  God's inspired words can counter every lunge and parry of the enemy!  His word can fend of every blow.  We see Jesus using the word of God in just such a confrontation.  In Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus defeats the tempter by quoting Scripture.  (We might want to read this today) No matter what the enemy throws at Him, Jesus counters it with the authoritative words of the Scripture.  The enemy can not persuade Jesus to step outside of His Father's will.  He is beaten. Our Lady would have us take up the same weapon every day. "Dear children! Also today I call you to be carriers of the Gospel in your families. Do not forget, little children, to read Sacred Scripture. Put it in a visible place and witness with your life that you believe and live the Word of God. I am close to you with my love and intercede before my Son for each of you. Thank you for having responded to my call."  (January 25, 2006) Our Lady knows that if we believe and live the word of God, we will be equipped for battle.  The word of God brings grace into our hearts and gives us the mind of God, so that we will not be fooled by the enemy.  She also said, "Little children, you do not know how to live in the grace of God; that is why I call you all anew to carry the word of God in your heart and in your thoughts." (August 25, 1996)  Having God's word in our hearts and our thoughts is exactly what will protect us from the enemy's assaults.  Like Jesus in the desert, we will have the right answer to every temptation, and the right idea for every situation.  God's word will guide us through our day, like a light in the darkness.  We will live in the grace of God! To strengthen our ability to wield the sword of the Spirit, we need to read and study the Scriptures daily.  Our Lady has counseled us, "I call you to renew prayer in your families by reading Sacred Scripture and to experience joy in meeting with God who loves his creatures infinitely." (September 25, 1999)  The Scriptures should be part of our daily prayer.  We need to hear from God every day, and one of the best ways for Him to speak to us is through Scripture.  He can take a verse of Scripture and anoint it is such a way that we receive inspiration for our very particular situation.  It can be life changing.  For instance, the other day I was being tempted to be angry at a situation in which one man had much too much power over a group of people.  I was tempted to judge him and be very angry.  Then in Morning Prayer I read this scripture, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." (Mt 5:5).  Immediately I received an inrush of peace.  It was as if the anger and fear associated with that situation were drained away.  I felt peace and trust in God, and the assurance that, in God's time, all would be set right.  There is no question that the meek will inherit the earth, they will triumph with Our Lady and Jesus one day.  That certainty defeated the devil's attempt to sow anger and judgment in my heart.  This is the kind of battle that the Lord wants us to win.  With His word, we have the upper hand!  We can stay in His peace, receive His wisdom, and find His will.  Keeping the Bible close at hand, all day long, is a good thing.  We never know when we will be attacked!  I think it was Nehemiah who had his men rebuild the temple with a tool in one hand and a sword in the other.  They were ready for an attack at all times.  We, too, need to be armed with the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, all day, as we go about our daily duties.  These are days of high alert!  We need to be ready for battle. In Jesus and Mary, Cathy Nolan www.marytv.tv

 

 

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