157. Behold Mary





Mary and all the saints help us to stay on the road of faith through their experience. Jesus offers us to behold Mary as our Mother. Let’s recognize her as Mother of God:

“Standing by the cross of Jesus was his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.” John, chapter 19, verses 25 to 27



Jesus’s message is also for us, “Woman, behold, your son”. As Jesus introduces Mary to John, we are also Mary’s children. John wasn’t forced by Jesus to welcome Mary home.



Let’s read the Catechism of the Catholic Church which is a simple and practical prayer. Let’s just read the important points about Mary, what the Church believes and teaches about the Mother of Jesus in numbers 963 to 975. Let’s meditate especially number 971, why we pray with Mary, why she helps us in the mission:

“‘All generations will call me blessed’(Lk 1:48): ‘The Church’s devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship.’ (MC 56). The Church rightly honours” the Blessed Virgin with special devotion.

From the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honoured with the title of ‘Mother of God,’ to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs... (...).



This very special devotion ... differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and greatly fosters this adoration. LG 66); The liturgical feasts dedicated to the Mother of God (see SC 103) and Marian prayer, such as the rosary, an ‘epitome of the whole Gospel’, express this devotion to the Virgin Mary.” (cf MC 42.) Catechism of the Catholic Church - IntraText



The worship given to Mary is different from that reserved to the Trinity. But it’s essential. We worship the Trinity, but we pray with Mary. Mary adores and prays the Trinity with us. She is for us an example of faith and life with Jesus.



The new American Bible, 2011-2014

Book: The heart's mission, Normand Thomas

My old pastor told us a bit of a humorous story about an African American preacher who had a reputation for great sermons.

A journalist asked him what his secret was.

He thought for a minute and then replied "First, I tell 'em what I'm going to tell 'em!"

"Then I tell 'em!"

"And then I tell 'em what I told 'em!".

setst777 said:

Does "Colossians 2:13" state how or when He made us alive - before or after believing?

If not, why are you using "Colossians 2:13" to prove your assumption? You prove nothing by quoting it.

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Sorry if I was unclear. I only mentioned Colossians 2:13 because you mentioned tat verse in your post. You wrote "“Death to life” (Ephesians 2:5; Colossians 2:13) is only by Faith"

I quoted it to show that it doesn't mention faith.

setst777 said:

You are using human reasoning to explain away God's Words. Do you realize that? Lord Jesus never used Lazarus' resurrection to teach that a person dead in sin has to be made alive so he can believe. Never does the New Testament teach this anywhere.

Lord Jesus taught that we receive life from death by faith:

John 11:25 I am the resurrection and the life; the one believing in me, even if he should die, he will live.

John 5:24 (WEB) 24 Most certainly I tell you, he who hears [listens to] my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and doesn’t come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

Do you believe God's Word, or the assumptions of men?

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Sorry, but I think you are reading far more into what I wrote than I actually said. I only said that saying that a sinner dead in trespasses and sins can stir himself to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is similar to expecting dead Lazarus to stir out of his tomb. I never claimed that Jesus used Lazarus as an illustration of this

setst777 said:

That is your assumption. You have shown no Scripture that teaches this. Rather you are insinuating your doctrine into "Colossians 2:13."

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Sorry (again!) I wasn't insinuating anything into Colossians 2:13. By "those Scriptures," I was referring to the two verses from John's gospel, John 11:25 and John 5:24, which you had quoted, and which my words that you are referring to immediately followed.

setst777 said:

Does Lord Jesus teach "when" we are born again in "John 3:1-18"?

Yes, he does in John 3:14-18. Eternal Life in us is the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, and is by faith.

John 3:14 (WEB) 14 As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him should not perish, but may have eternal life.

That is what Lord Jesus replied to Nicodemus' question, "How can these things be?"

Do you believe what Lord Jesus replied to Nicodemus about being born again?

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My question to you is this: How can a sinner dead in trespasses and sins display faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? I hope we can discuss this as we started, without our posts becoming in anyway unpleasant. Thanks for taking the trouble to reply.

I heard a science fiction writer once describe collaborative writing by saying that each person will think he is doing 80% of the work and as long as both are OK with that, things will work.

Christians can go further by transitioning from the selfishness of the flesh to the selfless love of Christ-likeness which is supposed to be normal Christian maturity

2Co 5:15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

Most people think that "love" is the bundle of emotions containing anticipation, expectation, stimulation, and even lust. However, emotions often are transient. Real love is what sustains a marriage and is defined as;

1Co 13:4 The love is long-suffering, it is kind, the love doth not envy, the love doth not vaunt itself, is not puffed up,
1Co 13:5 doth not act unseemly, doth not seek its own things, is not provoked, doth not impute evil,
1Co 13:6 rejoiceth not over the unrighteousness, and rejoiceth with the truth;
1Co 13:7 all things it beareth, all it believeth, all it hopeth, all it endureth.

Most Christians are unaware that maturing into Christ-likeness is even possible, much less expected.

Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Wookiee said:

This option either involves cloning (the problem will probably persist) or reinstalling Windows.

Can you send a photo of the blue screen (so the entire screen and error text is legible)? It could be anything from dying hardware, to bad drivers, to viruses. How often is it happening? Does it happen while doing anything in particular?

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Thanks for your reply. It happens everytime going to this. It goes to repair next but it cant fix itself. I can go to cmd and using xcopy i was able to get to my files. I probably will just remove the old ssd and get a new one.

I am thinking the old ssd can be used as an external drive allowing me access to my tax and bible software?

I don't quite get your point. What is being omitted in typical Greek practice that would mean explicitly saying "most holy Theotokos save us" during litanies is somehow making up for some lack? Which Slavic practice isn't missing?

rocknanchor said:

What I am saying is this prophesy isn't one to mess around with due to the peril of competing for the hearts.

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, , and not at all that hard to see. The only thing difficult to see here is from them and their CANNOT STAND, THE VERY THOUGHT OF turning away from this expression of spite upon the Spirit of grace. The continuation of one more ancient trait. But then, not only is this easy to see, but easy to understand seeing God would cause ''strong delusion'' due to their spite.

The thing we all need to keep in mind is, the Spirit of his grace is freely given, but not widely available. It is only narrowly assured (2 Peter 1:10).

Jermayn said:

The rise of deepfakes may actually have a major positive benefit for society. People will be forced to stop believing everything they see online.

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The downside is that some people don't believe anything and disengage.

lismore said:

At Halloween in this country supermarkets sell ouija boards as kids toys. I have know even 'Christian' families to see it as a bit of harmless fun. It seems to be harder and harder for many believers to go against the cultural grain now, to keep the distinction between light and darkness. God Bless

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Actually it started out as a parlor game and "Ouija" is a trademark of Hasbro (inherited from Parker Brothers) Ouija - Wikipedia. I put them in the same category as crystal balls. Maybe sometimes demons channel though them or whatever. But I think most of the time it's all just make believe and nonsense.

The Liturgist said:

That’s really not the case though; I’ve seen St. Augustine accused of a Manichaean influence to his views on sex, usually by Orthodox old believers who refuse to accept that the Eastern Orthodox church always venerated him as a saint and want him removed from the Menaion because he’s “too Catholic.” These criticisms have been dismissed.

The error St. Augustine made was rather a technical error, and he himself admitted there were technical errors in his writings, and openly repented of as many as he was aware of in his confessions.

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I'm not speaking of Orthodox Christians, I'm speaking of western Christians who were critical of Augustine's dispositions towards guilt and shame, self-hatred, and self-erasure masked in piety.

Apple Sky said:

And what was Og ?

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I have looked at the 22 verses that mention Og, and none say he was one of the Nephilim.

What will you do at the time of the end?
Jeremiah 5:1-2 Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look and take note, search for anyone who acts justly or one who seeks the truth – that I might forgive that city. People may swear by the Lord, but in fact they perjure themselves.
Is it possible to find anyone there today, acting in Godly truth and justice?

Jeremiah 5:3 Go; You look for righteousness. You have punished Your people, but they took no heed and refused to learn. They hardened their hearts and would not repent of their sins.
Israel and Judah, punished by their exiles, but they still don’t truly repent.

Jeremiah 5:4-5 The Lord thought; these are only the common people, those that don’t know the Laws of their God. I will go to their leaders and teachers, they should know the right ways. But, they too, have gone away from the right path and no longer keep the Laws or trust the Lord.
Jeremiah 5:6-9 So they will be struck down by disaster, for their rebellious deeds and apostasies are beyond counting. Why should I forgive them for this? Your children have forsaken Me, with idols and adulteries. Shall I fail to punish them for this? I will exact vengeance on these people.

Jeremiah 5:10-13 Prune the vine, lop off the branches, for they are not the Lord’s. Faithless are Israel and Judah, both faithless to Me, they both deny their God, saying: He does not see or care – no harm will come to us, we won’t see war or want. The prophets just spoke empty words, meaningless wind. Therefore, because they talk this way, I shall make My words a fire in your mouth and it will burn up these people like brushwood.
Apostate, atheistic Judah, the Jewish people, and Israel, the Western peoples, are still similar to their ancestors. The clear prophetic warnings were ignored then and are ignored now. The ‘burning’ did not happen then, still future.

Jeremiah 5:14-19. I am bringing against you a distant nation, of mighty warriors, they will conquer you and destroy cities. But in those days, I shall not make an end of you. When you ask; Why has the Lord done this to us? You will say; it was because we forsook our God, so we must serve foreigners and live in another land.
In ancient times Assyria conquered Israel then Babylon conquered Judah. Judah has returned and now the decreed punishment by exile of the 10 Northern tribes of the House of Israel, is nearing completion. Ezekiel 4:4-6

Jeremiah 5:20-25 Proclaim this to the people of Israel and Judah: Listen you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see nothing, ears and hear nothing. Do you not fear your Maker and tremble before Me? But My people have a defiant and rebellious heart. They have rebelled and gone their own way. They did not acknowledge how the Lord gives the rain and their prosperity. Their wrong doing has upset natures order and their sins have kept away her bounty.

Jeremiah 5:26-31 For among My people there are scoundrels, who lay traps and prey upon others, They grow rich and fat, by turning a blind eye to wickedness. Shall I fail to punish them for this? There is an appalling outrage in this Land. Prophets prophesy lies, the Rabbis and priests rule by their own authority – that is the way the people like it. What will ye do in the end thereof? Isaiah 51:1-8, Revelation 22:6-7
Reference; REB, NIV, KJV. Some verses abridged.

HBP said:

Well, Paul died circa 62 AD and the most plausible date for Luke's gospel is the mid-80's. There is substantial doubt that the Luke who was the companion of Paul was the Luke to whom the Gospel and Acts are attributed. Paul clearly never met Jesus or participated in his ministry, so he certainly wasn't an eyewitness. Paul says In Galatians he got his gospel from no one, but by direct personal revelation. His letters are utterly silent on anything Jesus said or did. He surely did speak with some like James and Peter who had known Jesus, but I see no reason to think he was a source for Luke when Luke had Mark, the Q source, the L source and people who actually were eyewitnesses.

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Yet Paul refers to Luke as the "beloved physician" (what we would call a doctor), and the gospel of Luke includes evidence of having been penned by a medical man. He alone includes the words, "Physician heal thyself." Concern healing, he alon describes a fever as "a high fever":

“Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. But Simon’s wife’s mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her.” (Lu 4:38 NKJV)

I believe the same Luke who penned the gospel of Luke and Acts accompanied Paul.

MrMoe said:

How should ICE conduct these arrests?

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Flashback to the Biden administration:

Proverbs 14 Select Verses NASB1995


Many are those who profess faith in Jesus Christ with their lips, but by their chosen lifestyles they deny him. Outwardly they make professions to know Jesus Christ as Lord and as Savior of their lives, but he is not Lord of their lives, for they are still lord of their own lives. They have no fear of the Lord, for they do not honor God with their lives, for their hearts are far from him. And some of them are living in secret sin, and so lies are what they practice.

And some of these false professers of faith in Jesus Christ are people of influence and power and authority over other people who put their trust in them and who are believing that they are telling them the truth. But it turns out that the ones they trust to tell them the truth are liars, manipulative, deceitful, and crooked people who take advantage of the spiritually immature and those who naively trust people they should not be trusting.

These are foolish people who profess Jesus with their lips but who ignore his commands, and who continue to do what they know is wrong and evil. And we must be very discerning people so that we don’t end up believing and following after the foolish who lie to us and who willfully deceive the naïve who are not being discerning. So we must pray for wisdom to discern lies from truth so that we don’t end up following the lies and not the truth.

Fools mock at sin. Yes, they do indeed. So many professing Christians today are believing a false gospel message which teaches them that all they have to do is to profess faith in Jesus and now all their sins are forgiven and heaven is now guaranteed them when they die, but regardless of how they live. For they are being taught that God will no longer judge them for their sins and that obedience to God is no longer required of those of faith in God.

And this type of teaching and philosophy largely stems from Scriptures being taken out of context and made to say what they do not say if taught in the appropriate context. And then they twist the Scriptures to their advantage so that they can keep on in deliberate and habitual sin without conscience and without feelings of guilt. And many are teaching them that if they feel guilty for their sin that they should just “claim who you are in Christ.”

But to be “in Christ” we must be people of God who have, by faith in Jesus, died with him to sin, and who are now walking (in conduct, in practice) according to his commands. But does this mean that we must live in sinless perfection and if we sin once that we are now kicked out of God’s kingdom? No! God’s grace does not demand sinless perfection or we are cut off. But if sin is our practice, and not obedience to God, we will not go to heaven.

For if we mock at sin, and if we have this attitude of heart and mind that our salvation is a free license to keep sinning against God, and that God is still going to let us into his heaven, that is not of God. We should be people of faith who want to do what is pleasing to the Lord, whose desire is for him to obey him and to walk in his truth and righteousness and to no longer make sin our practice. We should be people of God who walk in uprightness.

So, just because “so and so” said it, it doesn’t make it true. It doesn’t matter who the person is, or how popular, or how well esteemed and respected they are. We should test the words of everyone who is proclaiming “the words of the Lord,” and against the Scriptures taught in their appropriate context. For context is critical to discovering truth and to discerning the lies. For if we follow the lies and not the truth, and if we continue living in sin, and not in walks of obedience to our Lord, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

Seek the Lord

Based off Isaiah 55
Musical Instrumentation by Mark Bradley
An Original Work / July 20, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

“Come to Me all you who thirst; come to waters.
Listen to Me, and eat what’s good today,
And your soul will delight in richest of fare.
Give ear to Me, and you will live.
I have made an eternal covenant with you.
Wash in the blood of the Lamb.”

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him.
Let the wicked forsake his way, in truth.
Let him turn to the Lord, and he will receive mercy.
Freely, God pardons him.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,”
declares the Lord, our God.

“My word that goes out of My mouth is truthful.
It will not return to Me unfulfilled.
My word will accomplish all that I desire,
And achieve the goal I intend.
You will go in joy and be led forth in peace.
The mountains will burst into song… before you,
And all of the trees clap their hands.”

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Fools Mock at Sin
An Original Work / July 3, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love