Brownies, Anyone?

"They had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.

"He enjoined them, 'Watch out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.'

"They concluded among themselves that it was because they had no bread.

"When he became aware of this he said to them, 'Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread? Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?' They answered him, 'Twelve.' '"When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?' They answered (him), 'Seven.' He said to them, 'Do you still not understand?'"

MARK 8:14-21

"Lord, guide me as I seek Your truth at all times."

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A Van, Please!

"The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him.

"He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said, 'Why does this generation seek a sign? Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.'

"Then he left them, got into the boat again, and went off to the other shore."

MARK 8:11-13

"Lord, grant me the grace to see and marvel at the many miracles You allow to happen in my life."

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The Little Deeds We Do

Canon EOS 350D

"So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.

"Avoid giving offense, whether to Jews or Greeks or the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in every way, not seeking my own benefit but that of the many, that they may be saved.

"Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ."

1 CORINTHIANS 10:31-11:1

"You are the reason why I am here, Lord.
May everything I do be for Your glory."

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Compassion In Action

From www.compassion.com

"In those days when there again was a great crowd without anything to eat, he summoned the disciples and said, 'My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will collapse on the way, and some of them have come a great distance.'

"His disciples answered him, 'Where can anyone get enough bread to satisfy them here in this deserted place?'

"Still he asked them, 'How many loaves do you have?' 'Seven,' they replied.

"He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then, taking the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute, and they distributed them to the crowd. They also had a few fish. He said the blessing over them and ordered them distributed also.

"They ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over--seven baskets."

MARK 8:1-10

"Father, draw me deeper into Your presence. On this Valentine's Day, let me experience Your compassion in a way I have never experienced it before."

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To Believe Or To Doubt?

From www.joeyfaller.org

"Again he left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis.

"And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him.

"He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man's ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, 'Ephphatha!' (that is, 'Be opened!')

"And (immediately) the man's ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly.

"He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it.

"They were exceedingly astonished and they said, 'He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and (the) mute speak.'"

MARK 7:31-37

"Lord, banish all my doubts and help me to believe."

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Rocky and Chucky

From various web sites

"From that place he went off to the district of Tyre. He entered a house and wanted no one to know about it, but he could not escape notice.

"Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him. She came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter.

"He said to her, 'Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.'

"She replied and said to him, 'Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children's scraps.'

"Then he said to her, 'For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.'

"When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone."

MARK 7:24-30

"Jesus, I thank You for the grace to persist and believe! Your grace will enable me to achieve and receive Your bountiful blessings."

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Guard Your Heart

"He summoned the crowd again and said to them, 'Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.'

"When he got home away from the crowd his disciples questioned him about the parable.

"He said to them, 'Are even you likewise without understanding? Do you not realize that everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters not the heart but the stomach and passes out into the latrine?' (Thus he declared all foods clean.)

"'But what comes out of a person, that is what defiles. From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.'"

MARK 7:14-23

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Made To Procreate

From www.productdose.com

"Then God said, 'Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures, and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky.' And so it happened:

"God created the great sea monsters and all kinds of swimming creatures with which the water teems, and all kinds of winged birds. God saw how good it was, and God blessed them, saying, 'Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas; and let the birds multiply on the earth.'

"Evening came, and morning followed--the fifth day.

"Then God said, 'Let the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures: cattle, creeping things, and wild animals of all kinds.' And so it happened:

"God made all kinds of wild animals, all kinds of cattle, and all kinds of creeping things of the earth. God saw how good it was.

"Then God said: 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.'

"God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them.

"God blessed them, saying: 'Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth.'

"God also said: "See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food; and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground, I give all the green plants for food." And so it happened.

"God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed--the sixth day.

"Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed.

"Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing, he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.

"Such is the story of the heavens and the earth at their creation."

GENESIS 1:20-2:4a

"Lord, help me to put more weight on what You say instead of what others say. Amen."

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Starstruck

"After making the crossing, they came to land at Gennesaret and tied up there.

"As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him. They scurried about the surrounding country and began to bring in the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.

"Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed."

MARK 6:53-56

"O Lord, grant me the boldness to proclaim my faith."

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Touch

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3

"On leaving the synagogue he entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John.

"Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them.

"When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him.

"Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.

"Simon and those who were with him pursued him and on finding him said, 'Everyone is looking for you.'

"He told them, 'Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.'

"So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee."

MARK 1:29-39

"Dear Lord, help me become an instrument of Your healing and love to those I touch today."

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Great Leaders, Great Followers

From forums.catholic.com

"Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have; God is pleased by sacrifices of that kind. Obey your leaders and defer to them, for they keep watch over you and will have to give an account, that they may fulfill their task with joy and not with sorrow, for that would be of no advantage to you.

"May the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant, Jesus our Lord, furnish you with all that is good, that you may do his will. May he carry out in you what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever (and ever). Amen."

HEBREWS 13:16-17,20-21

"Lord, grant me an obedient, humble heart to be a good follower so that I can be a good leader in whatever task You give me. Amen."

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My Helper

"Let mutual love continue.

"Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels.

"Be mindful of prisoners as if sharing their imprisonment, and of the ill-treated as of yourselves, for you also are in the body.

"Let marriage be honored among all and the marriage bed be kept undefiled, for God will judge the immoral and adulterers.

"Let your life be free from love of money but be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never forsake you or abandon you.'

"Thus we may say with confidence: 'The Lord is my helper, (and) I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?'

"Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

"Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teaching. It is good to have our hearts strengthened by grace and not by foods, which do not benefit those who live by them.

"We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. The bodies of the animals whose blood the high priest brings into the sanctuary as a sin offering are burned outside the camp.

"Therefore, Jesus also suffered outside the gate, to consecrate the people by his own blood. Let us then go to him outside the camp, bearing the reproach that he bore."

HEBREWS 13:1-8

"Let me keep my faith, Lord, that I may never wane in my trust no matter what circumstance comes into my life."

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Excess Baggage

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3

"He summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick--no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic.

"He said to them, 'Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there. Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.'

"So they went off and preached repentance. They drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them."

MARK 6:7-13

"Lord, simplify my life that I may prioritize only the things that will bring me and others closer to heaven."

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Soothing Discipline

Canon EOS 350D

"In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood. You have also forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons: 'My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges.'

"Endure your trials as 'discipline'; God treats you as sons. For what 'son' is there whom his father does not discipline?"

"At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it. So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for that holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one be deprived of the grace of God, that no bitter root spring up and cause trouble, through which many may become defiled."

HEBREWS 12:4-7,11-15

"Lord, I pray that the rigors of Your discipline would eventually bring the peaceful fruit of righteousness in me. Amen."

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Talitha Koum

Canon EOS 350D

"When Jesus had crossed again (in the boat) to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea.

"One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, 'My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on her 8 that she may get well and live'

"He went off with him, and a large crowd followed him and pressed upon him.

"There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak.

"She said, 'If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.' Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.

"Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, 'Who has touched my clothes?'

"But his disciples said to him, 'You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, "Who touched me?"'

"And he looked around to see who had done it.

"The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth.

"He said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.'

"While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue official's house arrived and said, 'Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?'

"Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, 'Do not be afraid; just have faith.' He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.

"When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. So he went in and said to them, 'Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep.' And they ridiculed him. Then he put them all out. He took along the child's father and mother and those who were with him and entered the room where the child was.

"He took the child by the hand and said to her, 'Talitha koum,' which means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise!'

"The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around. (At that) they were utterly astounded.

"He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat."

MARK 5:21-43

"Jesus, I need Your hand to see me through.
Thank You for never letting go."

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Survey Says...

From www.wonderweb.com.au/survey.html

"When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, 'Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,' and to offer the sacrifice of 'a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,' in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.

"Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Messiah of the Lord.

"He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying: 'Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.'

"The child's father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, 'Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.'

"There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.

"When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.

"The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him."

LUKE 2:22-40

"Dear Jesus, fill me with Your spirit and wisdom that I may make godly choices. Keep me close to You always. Amen."

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Your Own Prophet

"'A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you from among your own kinsmen; to him you shall listen. This is exactly what you requested of the LORD, your God, at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, "Let us not again hear the voice of the LORD, our God, nor see this great fire any more, lest we die."

"'And the LORD said to me, "This was well said. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kinsmen, and will put my words into his mouth; he shall tell them all that I command him. If any man will not listen to my words which he speaks in my name, I myself will make him answer for it. But if a prophet presumes to speak in my name an oracle that I have not commanded him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, he shall die."'"

DEUTERONOMY 18:15-20

"Lord, may I recognize Your voice when You speak to me
through someone else.
May You use me to speak to someone."

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