Temptation Is Sure To Come

Beads of Joy 11-08-10

Temptation Is Sure To Come
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Hello Everybody,

Another fantastic week is here once again. And today is another wonderful day for us to reflect on the gospel, God's word brought to us through scripture. Yes I am all excited and all wound up as usual when it comes to sharing about Jesus. I pray that the last two days of poetry were enjoyable. I need no praise, I only pray that the poems about our Lord, help you to feel that incredible excitement and Joy that I always feel about Him when I get to share Him with everyone. Today we are reflecting on Luke 17:1-6 (Temptation to Sin / Sayings of Faith). Truly wonderful and insightful words from our Lord today. We must obey what He teaches us, and we must really be serious about obeying Him. Let's keep in the reality of who Jesus is in our lives, we can start by identifying who we know He is not. He is not our parents; He is not an older sibling; He is not an elder in our community; He is not our boss at work; He is not a government agent; He is not law enforcement; He is not simply a good hearted wise man. Well then who is He? We all know, He is God, Almighty God, and creator of the entire universe. Knowing and truly believing that with all your heart makes obeying Him a complete and utter pleasure everyday. So now let's look at today's gospel.

You know all of us have some sort of "driving force" in our lives. Something that motivates, excites, thrills and pushes us to the next level, the next day, the next moment everyday. What is it that toots your whistle? A rather unique way to ask I think. Satan sets traps for us everyday, he is the expert in deceit and lies. He to like God wants our soul, but the difference is with satan, after he embraces our soul and entangles us in his web of lies, murder and destruction, he will cast us into the lake of fire of all eternity and torment us. A hefty price to pay for living a life that pleases our worldly pleasures alone. Many people are misled by others who sometimes knowingly mislead them. Some do it through politics, others through organizations that lie about health-care, and still others do it focusing fully on the pleasures of this life. A very wise man, ok, my cousin of 66 years of age told me, "No matter how much money you have you will never buy happiness and what really matters in life, look upon your family, your kids, your wife, your parents; it don't matter how much money you have, you can't buy all that love and support." That was the very wise words of my cousin Eugene Mosiello. Thank you cuz. Those words resonate, you know how much of a role Jesus plays in our lives. I appreciate your love, and I love you dearly in return.

How much do you really trust that our Lord will help you resist sin? How much do you really trust that our Lord will help you through the fire of temptation? Sometimes it's the temptation that defeats us way more that the actual sin. Know that we do have the strength within us, through God's grace to defeat the temptations, put before us in our lives. Yes, I agree with you, sometimes it seems as though it is absolutely impossible. Is it a desire to something carnal? or hateful? or revengeful? or mean and deadly? Do you feel led to destroy what is good? to destroy what is life? to think you, yourself are your own God? I know some of that may seem a bit far fetched, but scary at that may sound, so much of it and even more is true for so many of us. There is only one God, one Lord, one leader and enforcer of the law, and His name is Jesus. Leaders and tyrants and dictators come and go in this life, but Jesus remains. Let us not try to control our lives the way we want it to be. I know that just turned off a whole bunch of you all, sorry, you don't have to like it. Just read God's word and you will simply see that we must surrender fully to His will, not our own. In doing so, and seriously doing His will, we will not so easily be led into sin, the very sin that in the end can and will destroy us.

We need to be examples for others to witness. Our lives will never be perfect by any means. We all fall short, no one is perfect and no one is without sin. But how we handle that in our lives will be seen by many, and that example will either led or send away many to our Lord. Trying our best and never giving into the world's definition of happiness and pleasure and success is a wonderful first step for many of us. Jesus Himself clearly tells us, "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:32. We are weak and we need Jesus, His love, His forgiveness, His help in defeating that which draws us away from Him. Refer to scripture for comfort, we are not alone as sinners. Jesus sits with us, to help guide us back to Him through these temptations that mislead us. Look at what Mark 2:16-17 say, "When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Praise Jesus for loving all of us so much. Today let us look towards Jesus as we know and feel and sense temptation attacking us. He will be there to help us through. And when in doubt, share your true trust in our Lord, by praying to Him, "Jesus, I trust in You."


Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO

Today we pray the Joyful Mysteries

1. The Annunciation
2. The Visitation
3. The Birth of Jesus
4. The Presentation in The Temple
5. Finding of Jesus in the Temple