Make your home in me, as I make mine in you,
says the Lord;
whoever remains in me bears fruit in plenty. JN 15:4, 5
GENESIS 15:1-12,17-18
My Soul's Beloved,
We are not to fear - this You say to us over and over again. Fear destroys whatever faith we have if we give in to it. Rather, we are to trust in Your Word, no matter how impossible it may seem; You have the power to do the impossible, for You are God of the impossible. From the very beginning, when You laid the foundations of the world, and created all that is, we know that You are a God and at Your Word all things come to exist.
So it is with Abram. He was childless, his wife had passed her childbearing years, and yet You assured him that he would have descendants as many as the stars in the sky and the grains of sand on the shore. You made a Covenant with him and his descendants, and it is one that will never pass away but will be handed down from one generation to the next until time will cease.
We panic. We are unable to wait patiently. We want to hurry things along and we decide to do things our way to make Your promises come true, but when we do, as Abraham did at Sara's bidding, the result is the progeny of Ishmael, the results of which are not just visible but detrimental to the progeny of Isaac. Yet, O Lord, we need not despair, nor ought we to be discouraged, even though the results of the fruit of Hagar's womb appear to destroy all semblance of the peace that You came to give the world.
Yet, O Lord, the darker our world gets with the spread of violence, evil, murder, and death, we will not be afraid, for we have the Eternal Word who has conquered all and is victorious.
It happened that the word of the Lord was spoken to Abram in a vision, ‘Have no fear, Abram, I am your shield; your reward will be very great.’
It happened that the word of the Lord was spoken to Abram in a vision, ‘Have no fear, Abram, I am your shield; your reward will be very great.’
‘Look up to heaven and count the stars if you can. Such will be your descendants’ he told him. Abram put his faith in the Lord, who counted this as making him justified.
‘I am the Lord’ he said to him ‘who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldaeans to make you heir to this land.’ ‘My Lord,’ Abram replied ‘how am I to know that I shall inherit it?’ He said to him, ‘Get me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon.’ He brought him all these, cut them in half and put half on one side and half facing it on the other; but the birds he did not cut in half. Birds of prey came down on the carcases but Abram drove them off.
Now as the sun was setting Abram fell into a deep sleep, and terror seized him. When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, there appeared a smoking furnace and a firebrand that went between the halves. That day the Lord made a Covenant with Abram in these terms:
‘To your descendants I give this land,
from the wadi of Egypt to the Great River,
the river Euphrates.’
PSALM 104(105):1-4,6-9
The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
Give thanks to the Lord, tell his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples.
O sing to him, sing his praise;
tell all his wonderful works!
‘I am the Lord’ he said to him ‘who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldaeans to make you heir to this land.’ ‘My Lord,’ Abram replied ‘how am I to know that I shall inherit it?’ He said to him, ‘Get me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon.’ He brought him all these, cut them in half and put half on one side and half facing it on the other; but the birds he did not cut in half. Birds of prey came down on the carcases but Abram drove them off.
Now as the sun was setting Abram fell into a deep sleep, and terror seized him. When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, there appeared a smoking furnace and a firebrand that went between the halves. That day the Lord made a Covenant with Abram in these terms:
‘To your descendants I give this land,
from the wadi of Egypt to the Great River,
the river Euphrates.’
PSALM 104(105):1-4,6-9
The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
Give thanks to the Lord, tell his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples.
O sing to him, sing his praise;
tell all his wonderful works!
Be proud of his holy name,
let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice.
Consider the Lord and his strength;
constantly seek his face.
let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice.
Consider the Lord and his strength;
constantly seek his face.
O children of Abraham, his servant,
O sons of the Jacob he chose.
He, the Lord, is our God:
his judgements prevail in all the earth.
He, the Lord, is our God:
his judgements prevail in all the earth.
He remembers his covenant for ever,
his promise for a thousand generations,
the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.
his promise for a thousand generations,
the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.
The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
MATTHEW 7:15-20
MATTHEW 7:15-20
My Soul's Beloved,
Your advice to Your followers, the sheep of Your sheepfold, is unambiguous and succinct. The easiest way to tell if someone is a false prophet and teacher is by the fruit they produce. Division, lies, and anything that goes against the Commandments of God are all the work of those who are in league with the prince of darkness to a greater or lesser degree. While many would froth at the mouth at this observance, denying that they are agents of evil, we can judge by their fruits that they are liars. You have said that anyone who lives by the sword will die by the sword, and we can see this unfold constantly when we declare war on each other, whether literal or spiritual.
The one, shining beacon of light on Mount Zion, the City on the Hill, where You have laid the foundations of Your Church on Peter, the Rock, and whose Cornerstone You are, is the only safe refuge for all of mankind. The Enemy, try as he may, will never prevail against her. The Church is the only institution founded by God Himself that bears good fruit in every season. All the rest may possess the truth to some degree, by the fullness of Beauty, Truth, and Goodness is to be found in Your Bride alone. This is why, Lord, You have given us this mission, to spread the Good News to the ends of the earth so many may believe and be saved.
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves. You will be able to tell them by their fruits. Can people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, a sound tree produces good fruit but a rotten tree bad fruit. A sound tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a rotten tree bear good fruit. Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown on the fire. I repeat, you will be able to tell them by their fruits.’
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