Category: Goodness

Thanks to God for My Suffering and Cross

“I can be made whole in Him,”

I believe and feel in my heart that I’m truly blessed to be suffering.  I thank God for my suffering here in my sinful life, here on earth.  For over a decade I’ve been suffering more than I did in all the years of my prior life in totality.  They say God never gives us more than we can handle but He does give to us what we need most, as He is our heavenly Father and knows with absolutism what each of us needs specifically in order for us to complete this earthly journey intact, that is our souls being worthy of being in His presence on our judgment day.  And just like the Good Shepherd knowing his lost lamb when found and it knowing the Good Shepherd we will know our Master and Good Shepherd Jesus and He will know us as His.  Then we pass through the narrow gate with Him in all of His glory into eternal paradise.

I know through this suffering now as difficult as it has been and is that all of my suffering only scratches the surface of what suffering Jesus withstood just on His journey to the cross, being hated, ridiculed, beaten and spat upon; then nailed to a cross to die slowly in agony!  My suffering is so little yet it is a heavy burden which I struggle with only as a mere sinful man to get through it to hopefully better days ahead.  After all who am I that I shouldn’t suffer, I’m like any other sin riddled human being and should suffer, especially if I want to be deserving of an eternal glorious existence.  By giving me this suffering God is reminding me of what waits on the opposite end or wrong choice if I so choose, of the God man paradigm that must be soul based on faith and obedience.  I have been faithful all of my life, but not strong enough in that faith at all times as I should have been.  And why, because I disobeyed my heavenly Father who knows all things and always knows what is best for me, but I thought I knew better at times and went off on my own not consulting with him or perhaps being even half-cocked and unprepared for the subsequent consequences of my own foolish actions and even stupidity because I was foolish enough on my own to think I knew what I was doing.

Then there were quite a few other humans that attacked me or in the least antagonized me in my suffering but remembering and seeing now that all of it was nothing compared to Jesus and what he must have felt.  We must realize when he took up His “everlasting covenant” he was here as a man, a perfect one but still a man with flesh and all the accompanying pains and sorrows that come with being human.  To that was added all the sins and death from sinful behaviors of all kinds by all humans which was dumped upon Him, He who was the supernatural God Almighty, but also for a time an earthy man carrying that entire load and burden of sin and suffering!  And through it all He called out to His heavenly Father consistently and directly asking for strength and “divine providence” in each step he resisted all temptations to follow His own will as a man avoiding and conquering every human sin that we have committed making Him blameless, so that He could carry out His Fathers will, not his own even though he was a flesh man and could have resorted to His own devices or stray from the mission; no instead He faithfully called out to His Father to help Him get through it all and complete His one soul mission, saving all of mankind His children, the lost lambs.  He loves us that much and more than we can imagine!  He is so happy to give this gift of eternal life to us, as long as we are willing to be obedient and faithful to Him, allowing Him to lead our way.

Today I suffer greatly my heart sorrowful and my body is wretched; but someday maybe soon or many in many years to come that will all pass away and “I can be made whole in Him,” a complete and perfect child of God, that is what He promised me and you!

Lawrence  Morra

John 1:16 “Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.”

 

John 1-6

The Word Became Flesh

1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

6 “There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.”

9 “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

John 1: 26-27 “I baptize with  water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”

Just Because; How Much is One Man Supposed to Take!

Just Because; I’ve got a Cause

There’s only one thing worse than a Rebel without a cause; a Rebel with a Cause!

“I’m a Rebel and I’ve got a Cause!”

Lawrence Morra

Update: This is the Deal!

Not all rebels are cut from the same cloth.  Wasn’t Jesus Christ the ultimate rebel!  He came to show everyone once and for all that the old ways were in need of revision and that the time had come to set things on the right path out from the drudgery of the daily material routines and rituals that had served their purpose of establishing some order among men who had come out of the wilderness raw and naked.  Now he would show them a new way and in a sense transform them from the earthly chrysalis in which they were trapped to be truly free and able to fly off into the heavens like the butterfly.  He told us all that we have that capacity and gift within us that is ours for the taking if we will accept it by acknowledging Him by our devoted faith in Him.  That in the end is what it all comes down to is a question of faith, and if we are looking to Him to guide us we can never lose!

Some rebels I’ve actually met told me they were born to lose and even had that tattooed on them.  But they, are surrendering to failure and sin totally missing the point or tossing a gift of opportunity beyond imagination aside, to be instead a defeated one.  Why do I even allude to this idea of being a rebel of any kind you still might wonder and I tell you it’s simple.  The ways of the world grow darker all the time and many are caught up in the vortex of worldly affairs which cares nothing about you or me.  This world is falling away and the system by which we live is very corrupted and not of God or His heavenly kingdom.  Emphasis is being placed on so many foolish and even wicked practices and behaviors diverting so much attention and energy away from where it should be focused.  When I say I’m a rebel I’m talking about being one who tries to point out these failures by all of us to make the best of all we have before us; to serve Him and make a difference in everything we do and not slip into this complacency of accepting the status-quo, or as someone once told me, “to just go along for the ride!”  Don’t be swept up in the frenzy of technology and an overabundance of information (TMI too much information or information overload) that is at times so titillating and alluring or in the very least extremely distracting, which is just like those captivating sirens In Homeric mythology of Ancient Greek literature beckoning to those at sea, leading the seafarers to the rocky coast or quagmire drawing them in closer to their doom, not seeing clearly in the fog or haze what danger lies in those treacherous waters beneath them.

We don’t have to accept the circumstances or follow all convention; we should always discern and ask questions in order to understand clearly all things that encompass our lives.  Then where change or improvement is needed it can and should be applied by all those involved doing what they should to make things right, never sacrificing justice but to instead see that it is served.  We are the stewards of this earthly world while we inhabit it and should never take that responsibility lightly.  The old adage of “do the right thing,” certainly applies to all, so the more of us that follow that precept the better the world becomes.  “I’m not my brother’s keeper,” but I can at least watch his back and ask that he do the same for me.  By just doing that we can all make life more compassionate with fewer unnecessary pitfalls along the way.  Being a good minded rebel in this way can serve our best interests, just by not “going along to get along;” you see a problem or concern then find a way to highlight it and address it!  Much too often too many people just “blow it off,” and say “it’s not my problem” which is the exact opposite way to look at things if we really care about our lives and the state of affairs in our daily activities.

Yes, instead we must be next to “still waters” as often as we can be to restore our souls with the light of love from the eternal, which shines down upon us always if we will seek it in our hearts.  Because it is there in our purest heart that lays the connection to the Great One, the Most High, which is the source of all wisdom and eternal love.  Don’t be so caught up in this material life that you lose sight of this, because it is plain to see how dangerous and unkind this earthly man-made system is, especially if you are seeking the “light of truth and justice” that only God can provide, nothing else can or will.  Trust in Him, “as you move forward in your day, a day of promise and hope.”

Lawrence Morra  8/11/2019

 

Two Men;One a Servant of God the Other a Minion of Satan

“your salvation waits just as I know mine does, if we remain vigilant and faithful in Him”

Appearances alone will not tell the true story, as we can see by photographs of these two men who were born 40 years apart but more importantly there was a chasm of difference that was earth shattering between their souls!  Billy Graham led a life serving Jesus Christ doing so much good for other human souls leading multitudes of people to Christ the Savior while Joseph Stalin with his brutal rule butchered and put many human beings to death; but he also got many others to do his bidding so he in turn led many souls to perdition and hell.

In my reaching out to a fellow Christian who had noticed a striking decline in the number of parishioners attending her local parish church apparently brought on by what seemed to be some internal conflict of the local church hierarchy, causing the church to lose its former inspirational appeal so she was greatly troubled.  But more shocking yet was the fact that at the same time came the news of the startling revelation regarding the shake-up around author and former pastor Joshua Harris’ retreat away from the teachings of Christ; and that Harris announced his total departure from Christianity.  So, then she and her family began a quest to find a new church to attend weekly which I commended her on for not losing hope or faith and being vigilant to seek God’s guidance; all of which I tried to sum up in the following outlook I share here for anyone who might feel they are in a similar situation.  As you read on here please bear in mind the contrast of these two men; one who led people to the path of righteousness, love and freedom; the other to wickedness, hate, and enslavement! These polar opposite men!

This was indeed some sad news to hear about, though not unlike the turmoil throughout the world which is so prevalent, and I believe we now live in the unprecedented time that Scripture spoke to regarding the time period before the final conflict and Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  For many years I’ve felt like I don’t belong and in fact the system as well as many people around me seemed to be much less connected or interested in each other as community and more apathetic!  The lack of compassion and indifference is appalling these days with so many giving lip service to one thing or another but inside not caring at all about their neighbor; this is so different than how it was when I grew up which isn’t ancient history!  Here is something Billy Graham had said that I believe speaks volumes about this current time and he referred to a particular scripture that came to my mind immediately upon reading your Blog Post; which is Isaiah 5:20.

“Many of our news magazines carry stories of immorality.  Theologians and pastors are quoted as condoning sexual immorality under certain circumstances. The Bible says through Isaiah the prophet:

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20).

“Humanity has always been dexterous at confusing evil with good. That was Adam and Eve’s problem, and it is our problem today. If evil were not made to appear good, there would be no such thing as temptation. It is in their close similarity that the danger lies.

Modern social righteousness often differs from the righteousness of the Bible. Someone has said: “A wrong deed is right if the majority of people declare it not to be wrong.” By this principle we can see our standards shifting from year to year according to the popular vote! Divorce was once frowned upon by society, and laws against fornication and adultery were strictly enforced. But now divorce is accepted by society, and fornication is glorified in our literature and films.

The Bible says: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil.” God has not changed. His standards have not been lowered. God still calls immorality a sin, and the Bible says God is going to judge it.

Honesty was once the hallmark of character. But it has been set aside with an “It’s all right if you don’t get caught” philosophy. Only when we are in court are we required to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

 https://billygraham.org/decision-magazine/june-2012/confusing-evil-with-good/

I hope you are helped by my thinking about this and looking into this source of wisdom and insight that I came upon which quotes the late Mr. Graham.  I do know and have faith that our Lord is fully aware of your difficulties and you are on the right path, so keep trusting in Him, your salvation waits just as I know mine does, if we remain vigilant and faithful in Him alone and not to be fooled by the ways of this world which is falling away! 

God Bless You and Yours.

Brother in Christ,

Lawrence Morra

Everything Running Toward It’s Expiration Date

“make this present life be one of honor, integrity, quality and love!”

Youth is a time of exuberance and exploration while its father and mother becomes reflective contemplation.  Yes, I want to admit that I’ve noticed through life that getting old is no fun and our cultures promote youth and physical beauty way too much because there is money to made; the keeping youthful and fit or good looking business paradigm is a lucrative industry, and who after all wants to lose their life or newness!

But, I’ve also learned this world is a failing one with nothing escaping the ravages of time and decay, so what is there to gain in trying to hang onto this world beyond an expiration date?  No I won’t eat meat, cheese or vegetables that have exceeded their removal date and I won’t expect my own life or its current capabilities to go much beyond its built in longevity; all of which teaches me that it’s not how long we are here but how well we live while we can and what we leave as our lasting legacy to others; because what matters most for any of us is if we made some positive difference, and that our true prize awaits us in eternity!

I hope to see you all there, so make this present life be one of honor, integrity, quality and love!

Lawrence Morra

The Good Old Days and Good Folks

“if only I can be half the man my father was!”

I had responded to a post on LinkedIn this week and just today seeing that a man that had left some good commentary on the post to which I had left some typical for me lengthy text, now was overwhelmed with some thoughts and feeling coming at me from my past during my childhood and what I thought and still hold near and dear to my heart about my parents and their generation, as well as seeing so many wrong people out in our society now that are on the attack and have no concept or love of any of the things that matter and brought us all to this point making America the Great Nation that it is! I do hope something in my words today will ignite a spark of appreciation in you and that you will also find the time to watch the movie I mention; I think it will help you understand where I’m coming from and how people should all wake up if they haven’t already!

Jimmy: just caught up, for some reason I didn’t get this update notification until today? But, thank you and I agree with what you say here, I think the good news especially is that you’re straightforward and forthright, two qualities I love to see in men first of all because that reminds me of my Dad who was “the best of the best,” a great guy and a real man!  Everybody loved my Dad and most of all they all respected him because they knew him well enough to know he was a man of honesty and integrity!  I used to hear him saying in conversations with different people as I was growing up, “I’m not half the man my father was!”  Dear God now with a tear in my eye I hear him in my heart and say the say darn thing, “if only I can be half the man my father was!”

He fought in WWII and those people back then men and women were so amazing to me, sure they weren’t perfect or even close but wow what character and integrity most of them had and how they were always willing to sacrifice even their lives without hesitation to protect their loved ones and this Great Nation; “such good decent folks.”  My Dad actually had some young lady at the city clerk’s office fudge some document so he could hurry up and go fight in the war as he was only 16!  What the hell, then when that fact caught up with him he was already fighting in the Pacific Theater and his CO had communications dispatched to his parents as he had turned 17 during the fighting and if they gave their permission he could stay and serve!  My grandfather signed but my grandma didn’t!  Dad stayed in the war the whole duration and saw buddies die or even get pulled under by sharks in the ocean; and now I cry because Dad told me many of them the last thing they cried out was, “Mom or Mother!”

Then after the war he came back and went right to work holding down two jobs and buying a house for Mom and went on to raise six children and never complained!  Not even with his severe back trouble when he would walk out in the morning going to work bent in half and tell me, “don’t worry about me son you do good in school, I’ll be fine and straighten out as the day progresses!”  Robert Mitchum an actor many of us boomers know of and one of my favorites of the old days, left home at 16 and headed to California riding the rail system hopping freight trains which his dad had worked on but was killed in a rail yard accident just a few years prior.  Mitchum did some amateur boxing matches along the way to make a few bucks, then shortly after arriving in California he was spotted as a potential great image for the silver screen and hooked up with the right people to start as a heavy or outlaw in western movies.  But then, he too signed up and fought in the war!  I say all this because I wish the younger kids girls and boys would all learn this stuff and really get their minds and hearts right so they too can be strong good people as Men that do what is required to make a difference, and Women that can have the wonderful qualities that so many of our Mothers had and some still do!  I appreciate that you said the things that you did and the others here too, because it got me wanting to say something important that I feel and I hope many folks out there will spread the good that all those old timers paid forward for us, and that we all make our deposits into the trust fund for the future generations and we should pray that God will bless we humans and this weary world to not suffer too much!  God Bless!

BTW one of my all-time favorite older classic films that Mitchum starred in with a beautiful British born performer that made it big in those days out in Hollywood, Deborah Kerr; “Heaven knows Mr. Allison.”  It’s a movie about a WWII marine who gets stranded on an Island with a nun in the middle of the war during a bloody campaign by the Japanese to take possession of an island to use as a weather station outpost within a chain of Pacific islands!  I love that story and the time period it depicts, along with it’s having a religion component that fits wonderfully with it all, and how it’s a great transformational process for these two good souls caught up in a living hell that mankind seems so good at creating.  I have a DVD of the film and I think I’m going to watch it again for probably the 25th time this weekend during the heat wave; which is very fitting as how the Pacific where the story takes place although it was actually filmed on the islands of Trinidad and Tobago, has much of the weather we are now experiencing, so the mood is set.  I love the end of the film and the words spoken with fine performances; along with the superb John Huston direction making it all so wonderful and uplifting, just beautiful!  A 1957 movie trailer said, “1944, in South Pacific, the castaway Marine Corporal Allison drifts in a raft to the Tuasiva Island, where he meets Sister Angela.”

I include here a link to a Blog that did a wonderful layout about the film and its background on Deborah Kerr’s 95th birthday!  I know you will find this article interesting and the movie will touch you deeply as well as inspire!

Lawrence Morra

PS I love these people then, now and forever; and all who will strive to follow suit!

 

https://back-to-golden-days.blogspot.com/2016/09/film-friday-heaven-knows-mr-allison-1957.html

Mission Accomplished

dreaming about talking to some lady and having feelings in the dream of something being imperative

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED-Another Turtle Doesn’t Bite the Dust

I awoke very early this morning and found a message about my recent Blog post “Do You Think This Is A Joy Ride?”  This message struck me as being simple, pure and genuine in that its author recognized the deeply convicted spiritual nature of my message and intent.  So I decided not to go back to bed and write a response; even though it was only 2:30 AM, and I certainly needed to so I could get some urgently needed sleep, as I had been sleep deprived the last couple of days.  No, instead I stayed up and opened up, which I tend not to do especially online, about very deeply held personal challenges or struggles!  I was as a child a fairly open and very friendly lad, what one of my uncles whose name is Gus, referred to me as, “a happy go lucky kid!”  And I stayed that way true to my nature into adulthood, until more recent years when I was challenged by the cruel and ugly side of the world and some people that love being nefarious or even wicked, whether out of bitterness, worldly conformity, selfishness, jealousy, pure hatred of those they can’t understand, agendas or even at times pure evil; I became a target of such.  Maybe because as some would say I stood out in the crowd or was too loud and vocal about things I shouldn’t be, but as I saw it, if it involves me and the things that matter, damn straight I’m going to voice my opinion or stand up for my rights!

So, after writing a lengthy reply comment, I was too awake to just jump back into bed and instead talked to my dog that by now had shown interest in my own activity and problem which she now had too, of not being able to sleep like we should be.  But, after a little play, talking and hugging I thought it was about time to try hitting the hay again, so off to bed.  I went out like a light and started dreaming about talking to some lady and having feelings in the dream of something being imperative and I could see how I was motivated to get moving and do something; even though I didn’t know what!  I awoke again after sleeping barely an hour more and noticed how it wasn’t looking bright around the shaded window like it typically does at this time of morning; being just past sunrise.  I thought how if I would be taking my dog Penny for her walk we were going to have to do it very early before the sun is much up over the horizon, as it was supposed to be a hot day and major thunder storms are expected later today as I write this.  At that point I was so tired I thought maybe we can be lazy on Saturday and sleep in for a few hours!  And that way I could get much more rest and not feel so beat up, and that later maybe the clouds would be thick enough that the sun won’t be so intense, making for a somewhat comfortable walk for Penny. That’s because she is getting up in years and I don’t want to stress her in the high about 90 degree temperature with the humidity at saturation levels making it more like South East Asia around here.

But, then that imperative feeling came back which was definitely compelling me to jump up now and take the walk early as we had done for previous mornings.  So the mission began; which I had no idea was in play other than that imperative feeling of “get going,” and we were now off and out the door heading down the road we usually take that leads down along the water’s edge of a cove nearby my home, when that’s the path we decide to follow out of the several we use to keep things interesting.  As we walked along we seemed to be more interested in taking a more direct least encumbered path to a destination we usually end up at one way or the other and then sit for a spell, watching the ducks, geese and occasionally the swans that are just out in the cove just off and very near the shores edge.  Our walk became more brisk as I had noticed the sun and it’s full effect was starting to break through the heavy cloud and fog canopy overhead and the humidity was making me feel wringing wet, so I could only imagine how Penny would feel by the time we were on our way back home, especially if the clouds cleared completely!  So even though I had let her off the leash for a stretch which usually causes her to walk just ahead of me like the leader of the pack, she was now falling behind a bit and so I clipped the leash back onto her harness so I could keep us moving briskly in order to make our trip to the water sooner rather than later, in order to sit and rest then hurry back to the AC and some ice water!  Suddenly as we were in the general vicinity of where we will turn down another road to walk straight to the cove, as we were approaching this long dirt driveway that runs off into some nearby woods Penny stalled and got agitated about something, it seemed she was looking in the wooded area and stopped dead in her tracks and wouldn’t move even though I tried to get her going.  This was something she hadn’t done before especially in that particular location, so I eased up and tried to let her investigate a bit to see if she could show me what was going on that attracted her attention so much.  Nothing, I couldn’t see anything in the woods, which I figured had to be what was diverting her, maybe some animal sitting still or just behind some trees, but I’ll never know it seems because then she suddenly started heading in the usual direction we needed to go.  But then, we hardly walked another hundred feet and came to a short paved driveway where a woman was just walking around the back of her car and trying to get a closer look at something very small lumbering or trudging along going under the car.  Then I could see what it was, a baby snapping turtle, which it turns out that if I had come along a half a moment sooner or later; I would not have seen this little turtle today!  This immediately brought back my memory of how I once rescued one the same size in the capital city near a highway construction site by a nearby river.  Back then I was driving a cement mixer to pour new concrete mix for a bridge column and had just after the pour noticed something moving in the dust of the all dirt access road leading into the site.  I pulled over to the side and put on the air brakes and jumped down to investigate more closely, and that was the first time I rescued a baby snapping turtle, which I placed into my shirt pocket until I got back to the company property and parked the truck.

That turned out to be a long ordeal for both me and the baby snapping turtle that never would have made it in the location where I found it aimlessly wandering to its death.  It was late fall and I brought that turtle to a lake a few towns over a couple of days later and placed it near the edge of the water expecting it to scurry in like a bolt of lightning but to my surprise it didn’t move at all and then turned back toward me.  Then I thought, what is up with you little guy all these Lilly pads and a huge lake with all sorts of interesting wild coastline with plants to nibble on and with winter coming a nice muddy bottom for you to bury yourself and hibernate through the winter and you want nothing to do with it?  I could have left you where I found you I thought and you would be a goner already; so now what?  OK, I thought, I guess I found you and now it’s my responsibility to do right by you; so you want to winter in with a human being and take the easy route or path for some reason, maybe you even realize instinctively that some big mouth bass will swallow you whole here!  Lucky you I thought, how you had me out of all the guys that work around that site to notice you in time and put you in my pocket; all those other guys some I know and many I don’t I’m sure they either wouldn’t have noticed or if they did the last thing they would have done is put you in their shirt pocket, but more likely you would have been mashed under 40 tons of rubber and metal.

So, that turtle got back home with me to spend the entire winter with in a nice fish aquarium that I converted into a terrarium or turtle like habitat, months later in early spring after he had grown into a nice size juvenile yearling reptilian creature, I drove to a major state preserve to the site of an old ancient battle ground by much swampy land for his release!  I have to admit I did get a bit attached to this bugger that winter and I had many a talk with him or her, never tried to find out which, but now the moment of truth was arriving as I had to first park my Jeep on a fire access road and hike in a couple of miles to where I decided he would spend his life far away from that capital city and all the man-made world with all of its machinery and foreboding activity.  Yes, after all of our time together I wasn’t about to throw caution to the wind and say see ya later alligator, well OK, Turtle, and dump him at the most convenient place for me, NO NO, it had to be the most special place I could imagine were this special turtle would live a life of Greatness with other turtles hopefully, in a very primitive and wild area far removed from people, even me, although I had parting words for him about that point.  When I got to the water’s edge of the swamp and like that time many months prior placed him on the shore, but just before I did I said, OK this is your new beginning and I hope and pray you will love it here living a very long life that turtles like you usually do!  And then,  I went on to say that one day in the future I will remember you and take a hike back to this very spot and look for you to say hello again, but until then just remember our time together at my home and know that I love you and want you to be happy!  Then, this time as I did place him there by the edge of the water he without any hesitation darted with speed I never had seen this turtle display, right into the water with a plop and there he went straight down about four feet to the muddy bottom and got right to burying himself to hide from the prying eyes of the world.  Never knew turtles could be that shy, or maybe I had talked too much all those months and this turtle wanted out big time, it figured, wow crazy people!  I said again goodbye, and left that place, and haven’t been back since.  That turtle in his shell in that moment of truth got me thinking how I was really kind of shy behind my thick head and big mouth too!

Now all these years later, here I am with one of his kind again, which is sitting in the same tank terrarium that I’ve kept tucked away in my home; while I now think over how I will handle this rescued turtle.  They live many decades and that first one may now be in its prime or beginning to get old and might want some company!  Another, “Mission Accomplished!”

Lawrence Morra

 

Do You Think This Is A Joy Ride?

“as it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.”

What do some of you think, we’re on some joy ride or trip?  Why does a 2 year old baby come down with brain tumors and go through many medical procedures only to then succumb to the disease.  Why did a family get stuck in a burning tenement and all perish even a one year old baby!  Why did Bashar al-Assad the tyrannical dictator and the wicked leader of Syria get to use internationally banned chemical nerve agent weapons of mass destruction on his own people mainly civilians and most of those women and children, causing them to die tremendously painful deaths struggling to breathe while in excruciating pain that Obama the false American President said would be a RED LINE and wouldn’t be allowed in essence, but the whole world just watched this all happen not once but several times and did nothing!  Yet much of the free world were idolizing this false President Obama like some rock star when I know for sure he is a devil and instigator/destroyer who wanted all of that evil to be inflicted on those children!  Why are there millions of human babies in the womb and even out of it being murdered by the Industrialized Abortion Machine!  Why is there so much hatred and turmoil in the world while most people are thoroughly involved with self, even constantly taking selfies now and the majority of these people are caught up in how to get lots more money, preferably in some easy way!  What part of this do any of you have a hard time understanding; that we children of God are here to “Love and Serve Him.”

But Jesus said, “Allow the little children, and don’t forbid them to come to me; for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to ones like these.” Matthew 19:14

And said, “Verily I say unto you, except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3

“Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:10

But here is the most important one that I can impart to you because I have lived it for many a year through very difficult trials and tribulations which damaged me physically which at first I felt sad about but that I now embrace and thank God for allowing to happen to me for without them I would surely be doomed now, and not enlightened as I understand through the Holy Spirit now who precedes all wisdom, my path is steady and true leading directly to Him.

“If you were of the world, the world would love his own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” John 15:19

I’m still far from perfect but my sacrifice is not in vein, as I can offer up all of my suffering to God in His Glory and in so doing bring more light into this corrupted doomed world, as it is falling away and will have served its purpose when in that final hour God will take it all away! “God Giveth and He Taketh!”

I have nothing to fear but He that created me because he is the living God who came as the Son of Man to judge the living and the dead and it will only be Him that judges all things as to what they are and will be for eternity!  That is the one thing all of us should pay heed to and be fearing, because any earthly seen power or even unseen powers and principalities might destroy the body but the soul is for God only to decide if He knows it as one of His own.  But Jesus told us, “Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  On that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?”  And then will I declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” Matthew 7:21-23

Those that don’t abide in Him will hear Him most assuredly say that in the moment of judgment!  And only a fool would not fear the possibility of hearing that condemnation!
“He has not appointed His beloved Bride to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9).  God never pours out his wrath upon his children.  God will chastise his children—we’re the objects of his chastisement—but never His wrath.  God’s wrath is only for the unsaved.  “In those days shall men seek death and not find it and shall desire to die and death shall flee from them,” Revelation 9:6.

“The Holy Spirit stands aside; the anti-Christ, rises to power.  If Jesus’ first coming does not save you, his last coming will certainly condemn you.  What a weeping and wailing when the lost are told of their fate, they will cry for the rocks and the mountains, they will pray but their prayer is too late.  Pestilence, famine, war, terror, regimentation, the reign of the anti-Christ, the beast, will be here.  Demons will come out of the bottomless pit and infest the earth.  All the horrible nightmares this world has ever known will be rolled into one as hell will have a holiday, especially in the last 3½ years, known as “The Great Tribulation.” Revelation 6:17.

“Satan makes one last attempt to overthrow God.  He is cast into the lake of fire.  Then the final judgment.  Every unsaved man, woman, boy and girl will stand before God to be judged.” Revelation 20:7-15

I read this in studying Scripture;  “That some man is going to style himself as greater than God, pretending to be God—and people will believe him.”  Why?  Because:  “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.  And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-11).

Lawrence Morra

PS  To all of you a so important message came to mind during the night as I slept which I  must in duty to Him convey to you now.

The little what appears as an innocent baby shows us by its suffering that none of us is exempt from suffering and my own suffering tells me that we all get far less than we deserve.

“And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.  But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.  Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.  And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.” Mark 10:13-16

“Jesus said unto them, did you never read in the scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?  Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.  And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.”  Matthew 21:42-44

We all have some form of habitual sin even by default being also creatures of the flesh with original sin, but moreover we can’t rise above the allures of the material fleshly world which is the devils realm of folly and vice.

I can see that only by the grace of God are any of us counted worthy to enter His kingdom.  Scripture says, “as it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.” Romans 3:10.

Also, we should remember that we may very well be in the good graces of God by the suffering of others; so always show mercy and kindness to those who suffer.  Very important too; is our what I call gifts of suffering, because they act as a warning to teach us what comes for our iniquities or failures before God, who is giving us many chances or opportunities to come clean, always seeking to help us purge our souls of guilt by our turning away from all sin, because it is made clear, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”  2 Corinthians 4:17-18

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 8:37-39

Peace and Blessings from our Lord be with you always.  Amen

 

4th of July Message from a Fellow Patriot

“what the Great Generation did for all of us who live Free!”

Normandy Beach Landing

The Blogger Equipping posted this fantastic piece which dovetails perfectly with this 4th of July, so much so  that I wanted to help spread his  beautiful overview of what the Great Generation did for all of us  who live Free!

Have a Blessed 4th of July and please follow the link to his post as soon as you have time!

Thank You!

https://equippingblog.wordpress.com/2019/07/04/the-greatest-generation/

Lawrence Morra

EYE of the TIGER

My thoughts to share with a Blogger, a Commenter and all of You!

Yes indeed fine Lady, bravo for this strong and vital message!  A noteworthy attempt to keep in mind the “eye of the tiger,” as I do realize even though I know I’m aware of what’s happened to our country and the world, that it is far too easy to be diverted or distracted from the task at hand or the imperative to not only be aware but to be an active positive force in this battle to keep what is most important in focus 24/7; because we are all indeed in a battle or fight to the finish to turn humanity into a putrid sewer of debauchery and sin or to rise above the base, vain and egocentric malaise of being another captive fool for the NWO machine and freakish left that is in place to prepare the human race to be enslaved by Satan!

Every minute of every day the conscious and subconscious thought processes are being bombarded with mixed messages and outright lies to mold minds and the masses to react like a school of fish to whatever stimuli are introduced, in order to maintain a captive audience while in a true sense creating a herd of human cattle or as many refer to such animals in the current vernacular SHEEPLE; to be driven off a cliff or whatever the anti-Christ will desire to do with them.

I truly appreciate those individuals like you who keep the imperative in focus and in my face, I too am just an imperfect sinner who needs the light of God and His truth made stronger or encouraged while all the clamor or background noise increases.  And, simply put; I admit I can always use a kick in the ass!

Amen.

Lawrence Morra

Mirror That Kind of Giving That Jesus Christ Gave to Us

My thoughts to share with a Blogger, a Commenter and all of You!

Thank you Blogger, very interesting and timely piece you wrote here in my eyes.  I want to speak to you in particular commenters especially the one who saw the Bloggers story in a negative way, and to all others who care to listen to my perspective.

You’re dead wrong and trying to soft sell Abortion and that the Left has no agenda which they most assuredly do, which is to promote radical and liberal things and squelch conservative traditional values and living.  In many cases so they can be victorious in telling the world that they can do as they please even if it doesn’t fit into the conformity of thousands of years of civilized behavior or modus operandi and accepted culture that is not only based on religious context but on common sense in your face reality!  This is something the fallen angels did when they transgressed God putting them above God!  All this gender bending and saying be what you want to be is straight from hell and most sane truly honest people know that.  You are born male or female and that is it, and sure there are rare aberrations but that is an extreme minuscule number of humans out of the billions that have walked this planet.  The radical left would want the status-quo to be the minuscule minority that should be leading the way for all human standards and behavior or a justification to bend reality and say that it is fine to change what sex you are!  Poppycock and stupidity have been allowed to take the driver’s seat because of very wrong and bad court decisions having been made over the years and a cultural shift was allowed to exacerbate becoming what we have now a diametrically opposed confrontation in world populations that’s grown into a feud of unrelenting attacks upon each other or the opposition!  This should never have been allowed to happen but it did and I say because too many humans have put themselves above God and what life is and should be; “radical thinking gone amuck and out of control,” just what the evil one wants us to be doing, killing innocent babies and wanting to do the same to each other.

Infamous abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell had no problem with abortion just like Joe Biden a professed Catholic said he has no problem with same sex marriage during Obama’s 2nd Presidential campaign!  Many of Gosnell’s patients were “given anesthesia by untrained assistants; patient’s died on the operating table from an anesthesia overdose; abortions were performed on babies older than 24 weeks; and some babies were delivered alive, after which Dr. Gosnell cut their spinal cord with scissors.”
This by a doctor who did take an oath to “do no harm” obviously did every day and each time he terminated a pregnancy and that is the “heart of the matter” when life is life, and who if anyone can take a life and for what reason.  In war we must do or die its kill or be killed and sadly the human race hasn’t found a way to prevent such war killing or major out of control disputes with each other!  Now we have this “abortion war” that was allowed to grow to a point of having a global impact creating industrialized wholesale abortion, most of which would not be happening if humans found a way and inner strength to behave in a proper responsible manner; to leave sexual relations to a devout love relationship and procreation between couples in order to produce a family and wanting to have a child together.  In other words living morally, not like pigs or self-indulgent lustful flesh beings which pop culture and the like are promoting!

Similarly, we might say that priests are working directly for God Almighty and take vows of obedience to Him and when ordained as a priest they must stay above sin or reproach which is a tall order and big boots to fill!  This Blogger is seeing that objective clearly and understands the great commitment these men have made and how much they have to love God our Creator to do such a thing, and they surely deserve respect and appreciation for doing so, just like any great doctor who fulfills his duty to “do no harm” and works every day to save life, any life, even that of a criminal shot in a gang war or any other man-made sinful behavior!  We are all wreaking with sin inherently just by virtue of being human and imperfect beings at this stage of existence!  God promised there is much more to come beyond this life and will give us that gift of Eternal Life if we will follow some simple requests of Him!  Of course some will fail big time in this life and that is sad, and even priests fail at times or ministers, soccer coaches and gymnastic teachers or those failed individuals in any other group where there is always going to be opportunity for sin and failing to enter the equation.  Instead of all people now recognizing the fact that we are in such an important battle of Good vs. Evil and calming the turmoil while we peacefully face the facts and reality as to what has gone wrong and what is continuing to run us off the precipice; we instead as an imperfect planet of humans seem to be more interested in perpetuating the clamor and fight to win out or beat the opposition, over really fixing and curing disease that riddles us.

The Blogger graciously pointed out a great good that took place, a pure example of humility and love that Jesus Christ expressed to all of us and how that is what all of us should strive to do each and every day, the “oath of the living” should always be to do that, and we’re obligated to try OUR BEST; if we fail, God will understand but we MUST try our best, not be fakers and liars!  That is called true FORGIVENESS!  We must all forgive each other and show that we will try our best to do that in all situations, but that is another tall order, nonetheless we must try; or will we be deserving and given forgiveness when it will really count standing before our maker?  No; we will not and God has made that clear through His example as Jesus Christ who took all the sins and filth of this world that any and all humans have or will commit and took that unbelievable burden upon his own spirit to suffer its “full consequence,” an act mind you that obviously only God could perform; and all because He loves us more than we can imagine; allowing us all an opportunity to be FORGIVEN outright for any sin, and enter the Kingdom of God as pristine as the driven snow, His Heavenly Paradise for Eternity if we will hold up our end of this most precious “Everlasting Covenant “with Humanity!  We must try very hard and with his grace and Holy Spirit the Comforter that we can depend on, this burden and difficult task can be made easier to carry as our own personal cross in our personal relationship with Him; but we must carry that cross or we will never succeed.

I hope anyone reading my words will be inspired by God as I am to find Him in their hearts and act upon His will to do the right thing, be strong in his overpowering Love for you and submit to Him, He will never let you down!  I did go to the Ascension Mass last night and when I got home I found the email notice about this Blogger’s new Blog Post and I was drawn to the fact that she does the Rosary which is a practice I wrote about recently for Easter and also that her rosary is made with wooden beads.  I have the same type of rosary which I wore around my neck last night in Mass, and this rosary was given to me by a special good servant woman of God, who was in a hermitage for many years serving God there while of course helping the nuns. She had thought of becoming a nun herself but eventually her path was shown to her and it was to do as she did.  She got this rosary at Medugorje which was blessed with Holy water there.  She had gone there for a healing and when she got back home her illness got worse in time.  She remained faithful and continued doing her rosary each day then when rushed to the hospital she had her rosary with her and died on the operating table.  But she was revived and was shortly after cured miraculously.  Around this time I had just been through a horrible industrial chemical inhalation injury and was trying to deal with the difficulties of fighting the damage and illness that was caused by that injury, along with having to finally fire my lawyer and take charge of my own workers compensation case in the court system.  I used to see this lady in church many times and one Sunday she had told me all about her history with the nuns and then her illness.  It turned out that I too had the same endocrine illness when I was very young and was eventually cured not by doctors but by God I believe, because just as mysteriously did I too become afflicted with this disease I got well again just as mysteriously, because I believe that I was tested and God wanted me to move on from that difficulty to the many more that were coming my way up the road; and all to serve Him and His will for me just like all of you should. Again, on another Sunday I was in church and this nice lady came over to me after the mass and said, “here this is for you my dear friend,” and placed her “precious rosary in my hands.” I’m crying now telling you all this, because I try to keep most of my problems and pains to myself, but this was one issue where I felt I need to forget myself and give it all to the Glory of God and thus to all of you out there to hopefully make a difference for any of you who will see the light of God and follow Him.  I do it out of love for God; I want no pat on the back, nothing.

Understand please; it takes a lot to open up to virtual strangers for me about such personal things that are so deep in my heart and soul.  That was the rosary I had with me in mass last evening, and I had it with me in court over an extended period while I fought my way through the legal system Pro Se, where eventually the judge at the closure of my case said I did as good a job if not better than any attorney could have.  See with God you are going to make it; as He gives to us we must “mirror that kind of giving,” because, “that is the point this Blogger made here;” you have to understand and don’t be self-centered or weak in your sight.

Look beyond yourself, far beyond; to where God has prepared a most unbelievable place for you to be with Him and all that is good forever. Amen
Lawrence Morra