Tuesday, August 13th

Do not expect an easy passage. Sturdy growth in body, mind and spirit comes from constant effort. The whole person emerges from constant striving towards that perfection which your Heavenly Father purposes for you. He who sits by the wayside achieves nothing and remains contained in his own selfhood . But every child of the Father is created to identify with the joys and fulfilment of His Eternal Kingdom, to reach out and progress and become perfect as the means are made available through My saving love and in the light and power of Our Holy Spirit.

And besides the pains of growth which all healthy, developing children of the Kingdom must encounter there are the trials and tribulations of a fallen world. To pass through these, embracing them as a share in the cost of redemption, and emerge unscathed and fortified is to progress and prosper in the life of the Kingdom.

These truths My beloved Disciples soon learned and discovered joy in faithfully bearing witness in persecution. In Stephen, first witness through death to \My resurrection, the radiance of joy at His dying vision of My risen glory brought Saul of Tarsus to His search for the truth in Me and the service of My love