I am raising funds for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) as a participant in their Team In Training program and I'm asking you to help by making a donation to my fundraising campaign. I am doing this in honor of my mother, Gloria Mayor, who was recently diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma and battling the fight against blood cancer. I have become a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training (TNT) and will be participating in the San Diego Rock 'n Roll Marathon on June 6th, 2010. Please take a moment to check out my website!
Please use the link in this email to donate online quickly and securely plus learn more about my progress. You will receive a confirmation of your donation by email and I will be notified as soon as you make your donation.
http://pages.teamintraining.org/ocie/rnr10/mmoraqEach donation helps accelerate finding a cure for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. More than 823,000 Americans are battling these blood cancers. I am hoping that my participation in Team In Training will help bring them hope and support.
On behalf of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, thank you very much for your support. I greatly appreciate your generosity.
Thank you,
Marie Mayor-Mora
P.S. I would appreciate it if you would forward this email to as many people as you can to encourage them to donate as well. Thanks again.
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Daily Prayer: LORD, as a fellowship of believers we would like to lift up Gloria Mayor. The enemy would like her to sulk in a place of fracture and disorientation; but we know You have a holy and loving desire for Your daughter. We pray that Gloria has her eyes lifted toward You and not the cancer. We plead the powerful, healing and wonderful blood of Jesus over her blood and entire body to do all the fighting on her behalf. For the battle is not Gloria's, it is Yours. We pray that her hope and faith are in You; that she allows it to be in Your hands alone. We pray that she seeks Your face in earnest, so that You will release a powerful and miraculous move of Your Spirit to bring healing and restoration to both her body and her life. For You will surely deliver Gloria, and she shall not fall by the sword that is seeking her life. But by placing her trust in You, her life shall be a prize to her; as she gives You all the glory and honor for that life. We also lift up Gloria's family, her husband, her son, daughter, and son in law. We pray that they are trusting in You as well. Trusting that You have each of their best interest at heart. I pray that they allow their minds and spirits to refer to You on all things; that they stay open and believe that You are directing their steps into the abundant life You have for each of them. Give them peace and the strength that can only come from You. We lift up the doctors, specialists and nurses serving Gloria. You are the one who has given them the skills, abilities and knowledge. Let Your Spirit dwell in each of them, to do Your glorious work. We pray this through faith in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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*If TGN isn't delivered to you early enough; You will always be able to find the fresh daily Word at
www.thegoodnews4yourlife.blogspot.com - first thing in the morning; save the page in your favorites!
www.biblegateway.comMark 7:1-23 (NLT) 1.2
...AND LIVE THE WORD (emphasis :1-9)
1 One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. 2 They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating. 3 (The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands, as required by their ancient traditions. 4 Similarly, they don't eat anything from the market until they immerse their hands in water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to—such as their ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles.)
5 So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, "Why don't your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony."
6 Jesus replied, "You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,
'These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 Their worship is a farce,
for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.'
8 For you ignore God's law and substitute your own tradition."
9 Then he said, "You skillfully sidestep God's law in order to hold on to your own tradition.
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First Mark explains these Jewish rituals because he was writing to a non-Jewish audience. So to put this all in the right context, let's start with this- the disciples didn't have dirty hands. They simply didn't carry out the traditional cleansing. With Jesus they were not bound to that tradition (along with so many others). The Pharisees thought this ceremony cleansed them from any contact they might have had with anything considered unclean, Jesus said they were wrong in thinking they were acceptable to God just because they were clean on the outside.
Today, many traditions still remain. For example, the confessional. Sins are confessed to a man, memorized prayers are "prescribed" to the sinner and they are told to sin no more. This ritual lacks the relationship and direct communication with Jesus. The Son of God who died for our sins. Jesus made himself available to people while He was on this earth, and He still is available to us in a direct way as believers. When you're in a relationship with Jesus, I know (from experience), we're much more likely to take confession and repentance a lot differently; more seriously. There really isn't any accountability in a dark box. When I confess my sins to Jesus, I have to come face to face with Him. Full of shame and regret. The awesome thing about Him, is that He is able to take that all away and gradually change me into the person the Father has created me to be. And man, a rosary- can't do this.
Hypocrisy is pretending to be something you are not and have no intention of being. Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites because they worshiped God for the wrong reasons. Their worship was not motivated by love but by a desire to attain profit, to appear holy, and to increase their status. We become hypocrites when we (1) pay more attention to reputation than to character, (2) only accepted God to get into Heaven, yet don't desire to know Him, (3) carefully follow certain religious practices while allowing our hearts to remain distant from God, and (4) emphasize our virtues but others' sins. As I get deeper and deeper into the Word and get understanding from God; I am starting to realize there are many "church rules, standards, sayings and rituals" that are not of God. This angers me because these fallacies are just locking people up into unnecessary and ungodly bondage, and it is being passed down generation to generation.
Isaiah's prophecy (Isaiah 29:13), that Jesus uses above in verses, 6-9, says it all:
" 'These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship is a farce (light comedy, foolish/ridiculous display),
for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.'
For you ignore God's law and substitute your own tradition." Then (Jesus) said, "You skillfully sidestep God's law in order to hold on to your own tradition.
The Pharisees added hundred of their own petty rules and regulations to God's holy laws, and then tried to force people to follow these rules. These men claimed to know God's will in every details of life. There are still religious leaders today who add rules and regulations to God's Word, I mean parents do it to scare their kids into obey-causing much confusion among believers. It is idolatry to claim that your interpretation of God's Word is as important as God's Word itself. It is especially dangerous to set up unbiblical standards for others to follow. Instead, look to Christ for guidance about your own behavior, and let Him lead others in the details of their lives.
Man's interpretation is not God's inspired revelation. I'll give my opinions every now and then, but I will always stress the importance of knowing and following the Word alone. What God's Word commands is right. You can't allow nor rely any person(s) to simply give you this information; YOU have to seek it for yourself, YOU have to know it; so that you can test what you read, hear, see and feel by the Word.
Yesterday, our daily TGN introduced us to Mark, chapter 7; a reader actually responded with this revelation: " (Man's tendency to "sidestep God's law...") "Requires us to maintain the closest of relationship with the Holy Spirit to deftly maneuver between what is Man required vs. God Inspired." Thank You DS! I totally agree.
If TGN helps you in anything, I hope it's helping you to KNOW THE WORD! And I hope you're encouraged to dig in deeper on your own. It's so very important. Our relationship with God, grows in His Word.
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Daily Prayer: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Your words are flawless. Thank You for the Word today! It is a mighty Word and I pray that I get it in the exact way that You have authorized me to receive it. I pray for understanding and direction in application of Your Word. Hallelujah Jesus! You are raising up a mighty and strong people in Your Name and Your Word is our foundation; Your Spirit is our guide. Thank You for being so available to each and every one of us. We can come directly to You and You will be there for us. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You. Correct what needs to be corrected and stir our hearts to move in the heavenly direction of Your Kingdom. In Your Awesome Name we pray, amen.
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Resources:
biblegateway.com, NIV Women's Devotional Bible- Classic Edition, Life Appreciation Study Bible, Joel Osteen, Spirit of Prophecy.
The Word is meant to be used TODAY!
Spread The Good News: www.thegoodnews4yourlife.blogspot.com
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