DAY TWO TALK TWO
BR. FRITZ MASCARENHAS
There is no such thing as
instant spirituality we battle daily against the world the flesh and the devil each
day is a new battle and the greatest of these enemies is the flesh. We are our
own worst enemy. I must offer my life to
Jesus. This is authentic Catholic
spirituality. I must actively seek the
will of God each day. Every baptized
Catholic has to grow in holiness this is our vocation. Sin is at the root of all our problems and
nothing and no one can take away sin by Jesus alone. The joy of being a Christian is to allow
Jesus to work continually in our life. He won the victory for us on the Cross
and He wants us to live in that victory.
The Ministry of Jesus is to bring the lost sheep back to the fold. It takes discipline for faith to be released
into our life. Speak the truth in
love. We need conversion all the
time. It is ongoing. No instant spirituality each day is a new day
battling with the world the flesh and the devil and the greatest of these
enemies is the flesh.
Sin is at the root of all our
problems. Jesus is the only one who can
take away the sins in our life. Jesus
came to teach us how to live and there is no true life apart life in Christ. In
surrendering to the will of the Father we ask Him to be Daddy to us.
Luke 19:41 Jesus is looking at Jerusalem the
temple where Jews from the known world come to pray and He says,
41 When
Jesus had come in sight of the city, he wept over it 42 and
said, “If only today you knew the ways of peace! But now your eyes are held
from seeing. 43 Yet
days will come upon you when your enemies will surround you with barricades and
shut you in and press on you from every side. 44 And
they will dash you to the ground and your children with you, and leave not a
stone within you, for you did not recognize the time and the visitation of your
God.”
Peace comes from a way of life from imitating Jesus. Because you have
rejected him the days will come when the enemy …
Why has Jesus given his life
for us - is it to have an ordinary
life with an ordinary spirituality? If we reject the life that Jesus wants to
give us then we will face an enemy who hates us. He is a spiritual being and he
wants to destroy us because we are Christians. If we reject Jesus then we have no defenses against the devil. We will find life unbearable because the
devil will hem us on every side as the devil is a thief, a murderer, he
ensnares, he kills devours, destroys, he is a liar, he hates and is wily, he is a
deceiver and he kills the soul. Jesus
came to save us from all the wiles of the enemy Without Jesus all our spiritual defenses will
crumble and the devil will come in and out at will because we did not recognize the time of the visitation of our Lord.
Jesus is the sin specialist this
is why we have to come to Jesus daily in order to come out of sin. If I am not coming to Jesus to come out of
sin then I have not understood Jesus' mission. If I am not prepared to come to
Jesus in order to seek His help to take away my sin which is my problem which
separates me from God for whom I have been created – to enjoy perfect union
with Him. Sin separates me from my
God. I must be conscious of my sinful
areas and areas of vulnerability. Sin
will give up on us only five minutes after we die until then sin will trouble
us. Because I am a loved sinner I must
be conscious of the sin in my life and I must go to Him daily
GOD'S WORD IS CONSISTENT THROUGHOUT
SCRIPTURE
Isaiah 53:4-6 - MESSIAH
4 Yet ours were the sorrows he bore,
ours were the sufferings he
endured,
although we considered him
as one
punished by God, stricken
and brought low.
5 Destroyed because of our sins,
he was crushed for our
wickedness.
Through his punishment we
are made whole;
by his wounds we are
healed.
6 Like sheep we had all gone astray,
each following his own way;
but Yahweh laid upon him
all our guilt.
Sin is a cancer on the soul. It
takes us away from God as each one indulges in their own selfish desires. We all
have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. He who says he is without sin is a liar. Our
iniquity was laid upon Him who is the spotless Lamb of God who love
righteousness. The poison of sin is so deadly that it took nothing less than
the life of God to destroy it. He became sin for our sake. This is why we must make every attempt to
come out of sin and also feel a great burden until the entire family is converted
and comes to the Lord.
Matthew 1:21
21 and now she will bear a son. You shall call him
‘Jesus’ for he will save his people from their sins.”
Jesus came to save us from our
sins. We must have this assurance that
this is why Jesus came. This is His Ministry – to save me from my separation
from the Father.
Luke 2:10-11
10 the angel said to the shepherds, “Don’t be
afraid; I am here to give you good news, great joy for all the people. 11Today a Savior has been born to you
in David’s town; he is the Messiah and the Lord.
Fear does not come from God it
comes from the evil one and Jesus is constantly telling us not to be
afraid. Fear cripples. Fear comes from the devil. It stifles, it depresses, it kills. The Good News of great joy to all people is
that Jesus was born to save me from my sinful, selfish nature, which is my
problem and makes me live a dysfunctional life.
John 1:29
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him
and said, “There is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
Jesus public ministry begins
when John the Baptist pointing to Jesus
and announcing there is the Lamb of God who takes away the SIN of the
world. We must destroy sin from the root
by the total surrender of our will to the will of God. We destroy the root of
sin by praying thy kingdom come they will be done. Jesus, my Lord and my
God. Holy Spirit may it be done to be
according thy word.
Romans 6:6
6 We know that our old self was crucified with
Christ, so as to destroy what of us was sin, so that we may no longer serve sin
We all have a tendency towards
sin must be destroyed that I might no longer be enslaved to sin. Jesus came to set us free. There are certain areas in our life that are controlling
us. Every time we fall into sin we are hurt. We cannot justify our sins rather
we must claim the victory that Jesus won for us and come out of sin. We must come diligently to Him and ask Him to
help us to come out of sin and little by little He will free us and conform us
to Himself.
2 Corinthians 5:21
21He had no sin, but God made him bear our sin, so that
in him we might share the holiness of God.
Jesus who knew no sin took
upon Himself our sinful nature in order to make us righteous.
Titus 2:14
14 He gave himself for us, to redeem us from every
evil and to purify a people he wanted to be his own and dedicated to what is
good.
Jesus came to redeem us from every
iniquity and purify us. Sin is our
problem so He came to save us from every aspect of sin and He helps us to be
zealous for good works. We must make
time for our neighbor. We must be
concerned about their spiritual welfare – we cannot live selfish, self-centered
lives if we do, our spiritual life will be choked.
Hebrews 9:26
26 …..
But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin
by the sacrifice of himself.
Jesus came to put away sin
by the sacrifice of His life. If we are serious about overcoming sin we must
come to Jesus daily and ask Him to help us to come out of those sinful areas in
our life that trouble us and those around us.
God is holy and cannot tolerate sin we cannot journey with Him if we remain
in sin. Once we are conscious of our sins we must desire to rid ourselves of it
this is possible only by a complete surrender to the will of God.
1 Peter 2:24
24 He went to the cross bearing our sins on his own
body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live an upright life. For by
his wounds you have been healed.
He bore our sins so we can die
to sin and live in holiness. This dying
to sin is a daily process. Jesus said, If
any man wants to be my disciple he must deny himself pick up his cross daily and
follow Him. I must die to my sinful self centered nature. When I walk with the Lord I must become
sensitive to sin. It is a daily renewal
of our lives. I must be sensitive to
sin.
1 John 3: 5
5 You know that he came to take away our sins, and that there
is no sin in him.
Jesus came to take away sin
and if I want to fellowship with Him I must get rid of sin. We are our biggest problem. We have not only inherited
a sinful nature from our first parents we have been conceived in sin. Thanks be
to God that Jesus saves us when we place all our hope in Him.
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