Tag: spiritual warfare

Morning Prayer: 30 August – Psalm 102:13-22; Amos 9:14-15; Revelation 12:17 ~ on warfare

Morning Prayer

+ In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentences

One thing I have asked of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory.

Psalm 102:13-22

full armor

You will arise and have mercy on Jerusalem — and now is the time to pity her, now is the time you promised to help. For your people love every stone in her walls and cherish even the dust in her streets. Then the nations will tremble before the Lord. The kings of the earth will tremble before his glory. For the Lord will rebuild Jerusalem. He will appear in his glory. He will listen to the prayers of the destitute. He will not reject their pleas.

Let this be recorded for future generations, so that a people not yet born will praise the Lord. Tell them the Lord looked down from his heavenly sanctuary. He looked down to earth from heaven to hear the groans of the prisoners, to release those condemned to die. And so the Lord’s fame will be celebrated in Zion, his praises in Jerusalem, when multitudes gather together and kingdoms come to worship the Lord.

Amos 9:14-15

I will bring my exiled people of Israel back from distant lands, and they will rebuild their ruined cities and live in them again. They will plant vineyards and gardens; they will eat their crops and drink their wine. I will firmly plant them there in their own land. They will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the Lord your God.

Revelation 12:17

And the dragon was angry at the woman and declared war against the rest of her children — all who keep God’s commandments and maintain their testimony for Jesus.

Reflection

IONA

COLUMBA’S PROPHECY
‘Vast throngs I see in realms far, far away –
with stubborn pride they challenge Christ’s appeal:
and thou, dear home,
though plunged in long decay,
shalt rise anew thine ancient fires to feel,
leading the last long war with holy zeal!
But oh! let none thy blessing dare to claim
who shirk the law of strife! Messiah’s heel
must feel the serpent’s bruise,
strong through Christ’s name
by vigil, fast, and prayer,
the serpent’s pride to tame.’
His utt’rance ceased,
but still his eye looked on
as if in distant skies his mind could read
the mysteries of the future.

R. M. Benson
__________


__________

St Columba flyer

Farewell, then to Iona. In old days, when they said goodbye in the Gaelic, they said something lovely, but so charged with meaning. When husband parted from wife, mother from child, lover from her who was ‘half his sight’, they remembered that days might be dreary, friends few, and life hard. But they looked into each other’s eyes, and the words always came – ‘The blessing of God go with you, and the blessing of Columba.’

G. E. Troup
__________

Canticle:

Christ, as a light
illumine and guide me.
Christ, as a shield
overshadow me.
Christ under me;
Christ over me;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Be in the heart of each to whom I speak;
in the mouth of each who speaks unto me.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Christ as a light;
Christ as a shield;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.

Blessing

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you,
wherever He may send you.
May He guide you through the wilderness,
protect you through the storm.
May He bring you home rejoicing
at the wonders He has shown you.
May He bring you home rejoicing
once again into our doors.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

_____________________________________

Peanut Gallery: The general format for Morning Prayer is adapted from the Northumbrian Community‘s Daily Office, as found in Celtic Daily Prayer (see online resources here.) Our Scripture readings and reflections will be taken from the Aidan Daily Readings (Celtic Daily Prayer) during the month of August. On Sundays, we’ll return to the USCCB readings (see online resources here) and various liturgical resources in order to reflect the Church’s worship and concerns throughout the world. Photo illustrations and music videos, available online, are included as they illustrate or illuminate the readings. I will try to give credit and link to sources as best I can.

Morning Prayer: 26 August – Psalm 91:1-7; Daniel 2:20-22; 1 Timothy 4:1-2 ~ on the shadow of the Almighty

Morning Prayer

+ In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentences

One thing I have asked of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory.

Psalm 91:1-7

iona abbeycrossshadow_0417

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.

Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you.

Daniel 2:20-22

He said,

“Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he has all wisdom and power. He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars. He reveals deep and mysterious things and knows what lies hidden in darkness, though he is surrounded by light….”

iona dove_0014

1 Timothy 4:1-2

Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.

Reflection

IONA

Jesus called the twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases. Luke 9:1
_____

For in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, by virtue of his prayers, he cured men suffering from the attacks of various diseases; and he alone, God helping, drove out from this our Island (Iona) which now has the Primacy, malignant and innumerable hosts of demons warring against him, seen by bodily eyes and beginning to bring deadly diseases upon his Monastic Society.

Adamnan, The Life of Saint Columba
_____

I feel no conflict here.

From ‘Iona”
a song on the album by Iona
_____

Do pray for the protection of the work God has raised up on the island of Iona. Many people journey there each year, tourists and pilgrims of all kinds, many of whom have rejected what they have seen of Christianity so far. How crucial is the witness of those they meet there! Others journey there to the pre-Christian power sources of druidism and magic, for Iona is the focus of much attention from those interested in what is loosely termed ‘new age.’

Pray for much wisdom for the Christians they will meet on Iona and who engage or interact with them. For all who seek to minister or have been given responsibility at the Abbey, Camas or MacLeod centres, or at Duncraig or at the Catholic prayer-house or at Bishop’s House, we pray protection from weariness and discouragement, from division and argument, from deception and lies of every kind.

What good are our prayers? A painting I love shows a boy shooting paper aeroplanes at the sky. Coincidence or not, in the exact place his paper aeroplanes were aimed the thick cloud has cleared as if a window were opened to the deep of the heavens.

O Isle from whence the Light streamed far and wide
God guard thee from all evil.

Bessie J. B. MacArthur
_____

Pray for all who are part of the tapestry of Iona’s life today:
teaching truth too the living,
chanting consolation to the dying,
and battling to the death
with paganism
for the possession of the Isles.

Kenneth Macleod

__________

Safe within these shores / I feel no conflict here
I feel my spirit soar / Within this sanctuary

Iona, Iona

There are no ghosts to haunt me / There is no blood upon this land
No power to make me fear / No hour of darkness here

Iona, Iona

All bathed in emerald / Out of the mist arise
I see the stones appear / A cross before my eyes

Iona, Iona, Iona
__________

Canticle:

Christ, as a light
illumine and guide me.
Christ, as a shield
overshadow me.
Christ under me;
Christ over me;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Be in the heart of each to whom I speak;
in the mouth of each who speaks unto me.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Christ as a light;
Christ as a shield;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.

Blessing

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you,
wherever He may send you.
May He guide you through the wilderness,
protect you through the storm.
May He bring you home rejoicing
at the wonders He has shown you.
May He bring you home rejoicing
once again into our doors.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

_____________________________________

Peanut Gallery: The general format for Morning Prayer is adapted from the Northumbrian Community‘s Daily Office, as found in Celtic Daily Prayer (see online resources here.) Our Scripture readings and reflections will be taken from the Aidan Daily Readings (Celtic Daily Prayer) during the month of August. On Sundays, we’ll return to the USCCB readings (see online resources here) and various liturgical resources in order to reflect the Church’s worship and concerns throughout the world. Photo illustrations and music videos, available online, are included as they illustrate or illuminate the readings. I will try to give credit and link to sources as best I can.

Is there no hope for change? – Cosmocon reblog

image

Peanut Gallery: As we approach the celebration of our nation’s birthday,  I am disheartened.  I will fly the flag,  but not with great enthusiasm.  Why? Because,  as Cosmocon points out “the United States is coming apart.”

And I don’t think this is just the sour grapes prognosis of a couple of old white guys. I think we are dealing with something much larger than that… way beyond organizational or political solutions.

This is a heavenly battle being played out on earth before our very eyes.

Please read Cosmocon’s original blog here:

http://cosmoscon.com/2013/07/02/is-there-no-hope-for-change/

And, as the saying goes,  get on your knees and fight like a man.
____________________________

Is There No Hope For Change? – Cosmocon

The United States is coming apart and I don’t know how we save it.

We have reached a point where our overreaching Government has become so big that it is out of the control of even those who support it.

IRS, DoJ, NSA, looming Obamacare, Debt greater than our GDP, unsustainable entitlement programs….the list goes on and on.

Even today, the architect of Obamacare realized that he must scale back the employer mandate until after the mid-term elections.  Of course he’s doing this because businesses have been expressing their displeasure to the Administration and the last thing Obama needs is another repeat of the 2010 mid-terms.

We are also seeing massive protests by the Pro-Abortion crowd because the Texas Legislature is trying to pass a bill to outlaw Abortions after 20 weeks.  The vile tweets in the #StandWithWendy and #StandWithTXWomen are enough to make you sick to your stomach and it makes me wonder how we became a nation where many choose to defend the right to kill viable babies just for the sake of birth control.   It’s not enough that we had to read about the evil inside Gosnell’s abortion clinic but there appears to be a large segment of the population that are totally cool with killing babies right up to birth.

@gdthomp01 I support a pregnant persons choice to terminate the pregnancy at any point. #prochoice #abortionondemandwithoutapology—   (@GingerTimeLady) July 01, 2013

It’s enough to make me throw up my hands and wonder how we take this country back.  There is a great PowerPoint presentation showing how Conservatives can be a force multiplier and get involved in precinct activism and it is worth a read by everyone.  While that is good work that we should definitely be involved with, I was left thinking that there was a bigger issue that we have to attack in order to rescue the US from the path we are on which is eerily similar to the Roman Empire.

Then I saw this video of #StandWithTXWomen people chanting “Hail Satan” and I realized what we need.

We aren’t just fighting a political war.  If that were the case, the only thing that would save us would be a revolution.  But a revolution is only successful when the vast majority of the citizens are in opposition to the ruling government and this isn’t the case now.  There are too many people that are opposed to Conservative principles to solve this with a revolution.  Do I have to remind you that Obama just won re-election by a decent margin?  This is not a problem that can be solved by a revolution or a civil war.

We can’t combat the “Hail Satan” crowd, the #STandWithTXWomen crowd or the “Free Government Handout” crowd with blog posts and cute tweets.  Let’s face it; we can’t do it by ourselves.  I just can’t do it.  I have failed.  The chasm is too vast.  America is more polarized now than ever before.  We need help.  I need help.

And when we reach the end of our rope and realize that we can’t do it on our own that is when we turn to a higher power.  And then we find that Jesus has been waiting for us patiently all along.

We are fighting a Spiritual war in America and we just can’t win without help from the Holy Spirit.  Only when we fall to our knees and admit we are powerless against the Prince of Darkness do we get help.  The past few decades may have served the purpose to humble the Church and make us realize that we have neglected the One who could help us.  It’s time to turn to Him.  He’s the only hope we have.

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”  Ephesians 6:12