Bp524 - Believe

29 Fire and hail and famine and pestilence, all these have been created for vengeance;

30 the fangs of wild animals and scorpions and vipers, and the sword that punishes the ungodly with destruction.

31 They take delight in doing His bidding, always ready for his service on earth; and when their time comes they never disobey His command.

32 So from the beginning I have been convinced of all this and have thought it out and left it in writing.

33 All the works of the Lord are good, and He will supply every need in its time.

34 No one can say, ‘This is not as good as that’, for everything proves good in its appointed time.

35 So now sing praise with all your heart and voice, and bless the name of the Lord.

Sirach 39:29-35, NRSVACE

The whole world saw it, Riley. President Trump has completely broken the Democratic Party.

"But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen."

— 1 Peter 5:10‭-‬11 (NKJV)

Lord, I’m tired of stressing over things that are already in Your hands. I’m laying it down right now. In Jesus Name, amen.

Ten Truths About God’s Absolute Being

1. God had no beginning.

God is who he is means he never had a beginning. And that just staggers the mind. Every child asks his parents, “Where did God come from? Who made God?” And every wise parent says, “Nobody made God. He just was always there. Always. No beginning.”

2. God is without end.

God is who he is means God will never end. If he didn’t come into being, he can’t go out of being, because he is being — absolute being. There’s no place to go outside being. There’s only he. Before he creates, he’s all there is. Absolutely.

3. God is absolute reality.

God is who he is means God is absolute reality. There’s no reality before him. There’s no reality outside of him unless he wills it and creates it. He’s not one of many realities before he creates. He is simply absolute reality. He’s all that was — eternally. No space. Space didn’t exist. The universe didn’t exist. Emptiness did not exist. Only God existed forever, absolutely and absolutely all.

4. God is utterly independent.

God is who he is means that God is utterly independent. He depends on nothing to bring him into being. He depends on nothing to support him. He depends on nothing to counsel him. He depends on nothing to make him what he is. He is absolutely independent.

5. Everything depends on him.

God is who he is means everything that is not God depends totally on God. All that is not God is secondary, dependent. The entire universe is secondary reality. Let that sink in, because nobody in this city believes that. And if the church doesn’t, you’re just like them. All the universe is secondary. Humanity is secondary. God is primary, absolute first, last, glorious. Everything else is secondary.

6. Nothing compares to God.

God is who he is means all the universe is, by comparison to God, as nothing. Galaxies compared to God are nothing. All the universe by comparison to God is as nothing. Contingent, dependent reality is to absolute, independent reality as a shadow to substance, as echo to thunderclap, as bubble to ocean. All that we see, all that you are amazed by in your land or around the world — all the world, all the galaxies — compared to God, is as nothing. If you put God on one side of the scales and the universe on the other side of the scales, the universe goes up like air or dust on the scale. Isaiah 40:17: “All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.”

7. God cannot be improved.

God is who he is means God is constant. He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. He cannot be improved. He cannot be diminished. He’s not becoming anything. He is who he is. There’s no development in God. There’s no progress in God. Absolute perfection cannot be improved.

8. God sets the ultimate standard.

God is who he is means he is the absolute standard of truth and goodness and beauty. There’s no law book that he consults in deciding what is right. There’s no almanac to establish facts for God. There’s no guild, no musical guild, for example, to determine what is excellent and beautiful. He’s the standard. He himself is the standard of the right, the true, the beautiful.

9. God always does right.

God is who he is means God does whatever he pleases, and it is always right, always beautiful, always in accord with truth. There are no constraints on God from outside that he doesn’t will to exist, and thus govern. All reality that is outside of him is subordinate to him. So, he’s utterly free. He’s the only free being in the universe, in fact. He is utterly free from any constraints that don’t originate from his own will.

10. Nothing is worth more.

God is who he is means he’s the greatest, the most beautiful, the most valuable, and the most important person in existence. He’s more worthy of interest and attention and admiration and enjoyment than all persons and all realities put together, including the entire universe.

— John Piper <Desiring God>

Our Lady of Good Help - Champion, Wisconsin, USA

This is the site of the only approved Marian apparition in the USA.

Public page: https://www.facebook.com/ChampionShrine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peshtigo_fire

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Shrine_of_Our_Lady_of_Good_Help

The mysteries of the rosary on murals, with the corresponding verse from the Bible.

The Joyful Mysteries:

The Luminous Mysteries: 

The Sorrowful Mysteries:

The Glorious Mysteries:

Stained glass window image of St. Joseph and Our Lord. 

Surely, this is our God; we trusted in Him, and He saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in Him; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.' Isaiah 25:9

The word " trusted" appears twice in this verse. The word trust means, you have faith in Jesus, in your waiting, in your pleading, in your praying. It basically means to rest, trustfully, in God at all times.

Perhaps you are waiting for God to do something in your life. You don't understand why things are not happening in the way you expected it to happen. I want to encourage you, God knows everything and He sees everything. He knows your fear , He knows every anxious thought.

It may not make sense now, but He will cause you to see the salvation of God, the goodness of God, the greatness of God, and the wisdom of God, in ways far greater than you could think or imagine. Don't lose heart. Be of good cheer.