#inhissteps

#InHisSteps #tobelikeJesus #discipleship #liketheMaster #humility #ApostolicLife #Apostolic #Pentecostal #BeingChristian https://www.instagram.com/p/CRKKJPfhlm1/?utm_medium=tumblr

The Convinced and the Convicted It’s incredible what I can convince my two-year old daughter to be true. I can convince her that chocolate is disgusting;that my legs will stop working if she doesn’t use her manners; and that a spoonful of soup is a witch venturing into a cave. All the while, I’m very aware that the world is convincing me in the same way. That the newest Apple Macbook is essential to my productivity; that the right moisturiser will turn me into Lee Min-ho; and that new workout gear will make me a better athlete. In today's Gospel, Jesus says no one can see the Kingdom of God “without being born from above.” Talk about an impossible requirement for getting into heaven. I don’t know a single person who naturally fits this description. But God assures us that, yes, we can be born from above. That’s exactly why Jesus suffered, died, and resurrected from the dead. This is why we are baptized. This is why we are confirmed in faith, why we pray, return to God through the Sacrament of Penance, and receive the Eucharist. For man it is impossible but, for God, it’s all part of the plan. But the world is trying its hardest to convince us otherwise. A lot of my friends believe that God doesn’t care for them. Some don’t even want to go to heaven. The world can convince us of some pretty strange things. May we remain convicted to keep the Spirit alive in us everyday. Our Catholic faith has shown us a fail-safe way to do just that. May we bring more people into the Mothership of Faith! How can I attract more people to the Catholic faith? #cfcablazecommunications #inhissteps #dailygospelreflection #faith #eastertide #convinced #convicted https://www.instagram.com/p/CNi94FoAWPB/?igshid=1di4eyvw9u4ls

UNLIKELY MESSENGERS I often find myself questioning the Lord’s choice for a messenger. Of all people He could’ve first appeared to, He chose a sinner from “whom He cast out seven demons” to bear one of the most important messages—that He is alive! Just like the apostles, I would’ve had my doubts about the news, wondering why Jesus didn’t appear to more credible people first. We often have a tendency to miss the message because we judge the messenger. Once, I was looking for an envelope with important documents when my husband suggested I look for it among his things. Since I’m more organized than him, I ignored his suggestion and spent my energies searching everywhere else for it. When, out of sheer exhaustion, I finally looked into my husband’s things, the envelope was indeed there! I could’ve spared myself the extra stress if I had only trusted him. Often, pride makes us think that we know enough not to listen to what other people have to say. Prejudice often leads us to think that we know God better. We think we know how He should appear and talk to us in our daily lives. In the process, we miss experiencing Him in the people whom we judge the most. By His grace, may we learn to be humble enough to welcome Him even in the most difficult or unlikely people in our lives. When have I doubted God’s message because of my prejudice towards the messenger? #CFCAblaze #InHisSteps #DailyGospelReflection #prejudice #messenger #EasterTide https://www.instagram.com/p/CNc8jiZAWxv/?igshid=bt9kfr0lkcyk

BACK TO WHERE IT BEGAN Only a few days after Jesus’ resurrection, three of His disciples can be found back in the Lake of Galilee where it all began for them. It’s hard to believe why they would’ve gone back to their old lives as fishermen, especially after the news of Jesus’ resurrection from Mary of Magdala, and after they themselves encountered Jesus and saw His pierced side. Even after all that, they still turned their backs on their mission. But God, ever so patient, turned this into an opportunity for the disciples to rediscover their calling by harking back to their first encounter with the Lord. God met them where they were. All night, the disciples had been fishing yet caught nothing. It was not only their nets but their hearts that were empty. The risen Christ walked to the shore and called out to them, asking if they had caught anything to eat. As when they first met Him, Jesus guided them to cast their nets and lo, they drew a huge catch! Afterwards, Jesus served His friends breakfast, turning their mourning into a new morning. When I grow weary, when I lose sight of my purpose, what memory or encounter can I go back to in order to be renewed? #inhissteps #dailygospelreflection #weary #renewed #eastertide #purpose https://www.instagram.com/p/CNbIinVgdtm/?igshid=8n6lqrmq6t7o

TRUE FAITH Just as the apostles questioned if the apparition of Jesus was real, we too sometimes entertain doubts in our hearts that weaken our faith. I joined a Catholic youth community when I was 14, but, following my entry, I felt I was not cared for properly. I was yearning to know God so I looked for Him elsewhere—even in a Protestant youth group which my classmate invited me to join. Although my prayer life grew and my knowledge of God increased, there was a lingering doubt about God’s presence in my life. Soon enough, I grew weary from continually doubting God and went back to look for Him where my faith began—the Catholic Church. It was when I started going back to Mass and the Sacrament of Reconciliation that my doubts finally left me. There in the Eucharist, I was clearly shown who Jesus is. And through Reconciliation, I was shown the death of sin and the Resurrection of Christ within me. If ever we doubt Christ in our lives, we need only to visit Him in the tabernacle or receive Him in the flesh in the Holy Mass. This is true faith. In what ways can I strengthen my faith when doubt creeps in? #inhissteps #dailygospelreflection #eastertide #faith #sacraments #eucharist #holymass #confession https://www.instagram.com/p/CNXv58ygZGv/?igshid=1w2kkkjmd1t5x

WE RESURRECT WITH JESUS Sick during the height of a global pandemic, I had to come to terms with my own mortality. At first, it was just a cough so I didn’t mind it that much. But it worsened each day so that I soon had trouble sleeping at night, unable to breathe without feeling pain. I was not so invincible after all. What worsened my symptoms, however, was the growing sense of anxiety that I may have contracted a deadly virus. Amid my fears, I did my best to hold on to God’s promise to me that I would be healed and that we would get through this together. Thankfully, after ten days of extreme discomfort and equally fervent prayers, I was fully recovered and back on my feet. The Gospel today is a reminder of the fulfillment of God’s greatest promise to us. Jesus was born to share the good news of our salvation, died to redeems the sins of the world, and resurrected so that we may have eternal life with Him. We are born, will die, and, most importantly, will be resurrected with Him. Let this truth overcome us, not only with fear but more so with joy, as it did Mary Magdalene and the other Mary that day. What worries me? What promise from God do I hold on to amid my anxieties? #inhissteps #dailygospelreflection https://www.instagram.com/p/CNQ08QlgY5Z/?igshid=19c4q6yg0zbld

UNTOMB THE ENTOMBED People were lined up after the mass asking for a blessing. I could see from the corner of my eye this lady who seemed to be waiting for everyone to finish. It was obvious she was carrying a burden. When everybody was gone, she asked if I could hear her confession. I obliged. And that was when she told me that she had aborted her first child twenty-four years ago. Surprised that it took her that long to confess the sin, I prodded further and found out that she had confessed it before. “Why are you confessing it again now?” I inquired. “It was supposed to be my first child. I cannot forgive myself until now, Father,” she said. Imagine the weight that woman had been carrying. When she first confessed that sin, God had already forgiven her. It had been erased from Divine memory, never to be unearthed again. Today is Easter Sunday, Jesus has been raised from the dead, the tomb is empty. On that first Easter morning, God manifested himself as one who untombs the entombed. At times, it is quite the opposite with us: we entomb the untombed. That woman whose confession I heard had been untombed from the grave of her sin and guilt. But for many years, she kept entombing herself in guilt and unforgiveness. When we refuse to forgive ourselves for the evil that we have done in the past, or when we hold grudges and refuse forgiveness to those who have wronged us, we entomb the untombed. Today, let us ask Jesus for a share in the grace of His resurrection. Let us leave the darkness of the tomb and embrace the light of a new day. Let us rise with Jesus. Let us untomb the entombed. What have I buried myself in—guilt, anger, shame, unforgiveness, resentment, frustration? Shake these off and rise with Jesus. #inhissteps #dailygospelreflection https://www.instagram.com/p/CNOAu5LAdwk/?igshid=6pugw89klt69

Awesome time Great Commission Bible Church @officialgcbc CAMP DAVID today #InHisSteps I celebrate the Grace of God over Pastor @revolujohnson and Mama @ololade_oyekunbi (at Foursquare Idimu Camp) https://www.instagram.com/p/CNLoJVdpGOt/?igshid=10bquv6733fh6