Category Archives: By Paula Rose Parish

How Joy Gives Us Strength for Living

The Psalms are full of positive affirmations and praise to God, like the following—

 The Lord is my strength and praise, who has become my salvation. You will draw water with gladness from the fountains of the Saviour. Among you is the great and holy one of Israel. Confess the Lord and invoke his Name. Make his plans known among the people. Remember that his Name is exalted. Among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.

 Sing to the Lord. For He acted magnificently. Announce it to the whole world and rejoice and give praise. O habitation of Zion. The Great One, the Holy One of Israel, is in your midst. Among you is the Great and Holy One of Israel.

Holy Scripture is Food for our Living in Joy

When we analyse Luke 1:39-56, we find that Mary rising, travelled quickly into the hill country to the city of Judah; Mary entered the House of Zechariah. There, Mary is greeted by pregnant Elizabeth. Then an amazing thing happened! When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leapt into her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit!! Amazing or What!

Elizabeth immediately reacted, crying loudly, saying, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb”!

When you read this passage, have you ever wondered how this story may concern you personally?

For this passage to concern you personally, it is worth thinking about How we cultivate the spiritual gift of joy in your life and turn our attention to how God has blessed you, even in difficult times.

Elizabeth is Mary’s Cousin. Elizabeth is elderly, and her husband Zechariah, for whatever reason, they have never been able to have children. Finally, however, God has worked a miracle, and Elizabeth has conceived a child. Their child will grow up to be John the Baptist, whose role in life is to prepare Israel and the Gentiles for the ministry of Jesus Christ. So the story starts when Mary travels into the hill country to the city of Judah, where she visits the house of Zechariah and Elizabeth.

As she enters their home, Mary greets Elizabeth, and as she hears the greeting, the infant leapt within her womb, and Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth then cried loudly and said, “Blessed are you among women, and bless it is the fruit of your womb”. Luke 1. 39 to 42.

This beautiful story depicts two miraculous pregnancies. One is brought about by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, while the other is the miraculous conception in the womb of a woman who was advanced in years.

Mary had travelled a long distance to be with her cousin for the last few months of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, and upon greeting Elizabeth, another miraculous event occurred. The baby in Elizabeth’s womb is St. John, the Baptist, who leapt for joy. So even before his birth, John began to fulfil his unique mission of preparing the way for the Lord – awe-inspiring!!

Within the womb of Mary, John began his ministry at that moment by inspiring his Mother, Elizabeth, when he perceived the divine presence of the Saviour of the world.

Consider especially the conversations these two holy women would have shared during their months together.

Even though we are given only a little insight into their initial conversation from the scriptures, we can only imagine the sharing of good news and joy between them.

True Lasting Joy Can Be Yours

Their conversations would have mutually shared the spiritual gift of joy. 

It is essential to point out that Joy is more than an emotion. It is spiritual in nature. Therefore, deep joy is not only an experience of something fun but also the experience of realising the action of God in your life.

God works in beautiful ways, leading to gratitude and rejoicing. This joy produces strength and energy that is contagious and uplifting. We must all strive to see the hand of God at work in our lives by focusing on God’s divine actions.

Joy Give Us Strength for Living

We need to be strengthened by this gift so that we will be encouraged and strengthened. As we daily strive to fulfil God’s will, reflect upon the witness of joy that these two holy women give us. The great news is that you are called to share the same joy as you humbly turn your attention to how God has blessed you.

If you find that you lack joy in life, then consider where you allow your mind to wander throughout the day in an undeclined way.

To find out if your mind is undisciplined or not, ask yourself –

  • Do I mull over and over past problems and hurts?
  • Do I worry about things that I am experiencing right now?
  • Do I fret about what tomorrow might bring?

These questions and more help determine if your mind is under your control or if your mind is in control of you.

 If you can do some or all of these questions, your thoughts will certainly eventually lead to depression and possibly even despair.

Try to turn your mind to God’s loving, positive actions in your life.

Count the many blessings you have been given because of those divine actions. If you do this and make a habit of it, you to rejoice with Saint Elizabeth and our blessed Mother. And your joy will be complete and everlasting.

Let us Pray.

My Jesus, as you dwelt in the sacred womb of your own, dear Mother, Your presence caused much rejoicing in her heart and in the hearts of Elizabeth and John.

Please help me see your presence in our world and my life so that I, too, will be filled with the joy of you constantly coming to me. Jesus, I trust in you? Amen.

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Just Shut Up & Listen!

Even beyond what has been recorded in the gospels is only a glimpse of what Jesus actually did.

John 21.25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.


Now the easter season is ending, and Pentecost is beginning, we look back and see that John’s Gospel has been a central focus throughout the Easter season.

The Gospel of Saint John differs significantly from the other three synoptic gospels. John’s language is mystical and symbolic. John presents the seven miracles as signs that reveal Jesus’ Divinity.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus is identified as I AM, the Son of the Father, the Divine Presence, and The Bread of Life. Jesus is the light of the world, the Eternal Word and more. John points to the crucifixion as Jesus’ hour of glory, in which he takes up his cross-throne for the world’s salvation.

So You May Believe


Saint John states that he wrote his Gospel so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that, through this belief, you may have life in his name.

John loved our Lord and understood him through personal experiences while Jesus was alive on earth and through a profound level of Prayer he practised.

We learn from John that deep Prayer is this depth of understanding and mystical knowledge.

The Gospel is communicated so the reader is quickly drawn into John’s prayerful understanding. As John concludes his testimony about Jesus, he states something worth pondering. He states that Jesus did so many things not recorded by him or others. If they were all written down, the whole world would not contain the books that would be written.

First of all, everything that was written down is the source of prayerful study for a lifetime. You could never be exhausted by the meaning we find in John’s Gospel alone.

What Jesus did within every mind and heart He touched is truly indescribable. How Jesus transformed lives, volumes upon volumes, could not thoroughly describe the miracle of it.

Jesus’ divine action of saving souls, rescuing people from sin and death, and pointing them to eternal life is more than our feeble minds can fully comprehend.


As we conclude this Easter season and our reading of John’s Gospel, allow yourself to sit in awe of the infinite activity of our Divine Lord in the lives of those who have turned to him. Consider every movement of Grace in your that has been accomplished with such care and love by our Lord.

Reflect upon the fact that one day, you will contemplate the eternal Word made flesh for eternity. The Messiah, the Great, I Am the Son of the Father and every other name given to him. Who is our God and King forever? You will be face to face, beholding his beauty and actually fellowshipping with Him- Amazing!

Prayer Connects Us

Saint John loved our Lord and understood him deeply because he spent his life prayerfully pondering all that Jesus did. Contemplative Prayer is silent Prayer allowing our whole being to engage with God. It is about mulling over or contemplating what the Lord shows our souls and minds.

Just Shut Up & Listen!


When we stop the chatter, our souls can express the cries of our hearts to God and receive what God has to say to us.

Even Jesus, Himself, committed Himself to this holy pondering. Therefore, if you make contemplative Prayer a daily habit, you will be drawn more deeply into the fellowship of the Holy Trinity.

Let Us Pray.

Come |Holy Spirit, Fill our hearts and Kindle in us the power of your love. Jesus Messiah, you are truly beyond comprehension in your beauty. You are God from God, Light from Light, The Light of the world.

You are the great I am, and all the books worldwide could never describe the depth of your greatness and love. Fill my mind and heart with the gift of deep spiritual insight so that I may see you more clearly. Love your more dearly, follow you more nearly, day by day.
Jesus, I Trust In You.
Amen

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Virtual hugs, I look forward to your visit to my next blog post!

Remember to live life on purpose, in Hope. Faith and Love

Paula Rose Parish💕

🖤Want to help support me as an author?

 ✔BOOKS BY PAULA available at AMAZON in the UK, USA, Aust;

📚Nothing Good about Grief: Path to recovery with Psalm 23 after COVID-19 & other losses.

 📚Psalm 23 Unwrapped: Hope in difficult times.

The Importance of the Ten Commandments

Psalm 23 Verse 3b-he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 

I was living in Oklahoma, USA, when Dan, my husband and father of four children, announced he was leaving our family without warning.

After speaking to the children privately, I found out he slandered me to them, telling them it was my fault I was leaving.

To my dismay, he grabbed everything and crammed what he could into the family car. With panic and terror in my heart and voice, I cried out-you can’t leave us with no money! (he had exclusive access to our bank account). With a smile, he slowly reached into his pocket and drew out a single dollar. As he gave it to me, he said, don’t let anybody tell you that I never left you with any money and then disappeared into the night. I was devastated and suffered a breakdown.

That was in 1994; from then on, neither I nor the children have seen him again. Dan did not explain his reasoning for leaving; we were terrified, not knowing what the future would bring.

The letter that changed everything

  A year later, the week of my 40th birthday, the children and I lived in the UK. To my surprise, my youngest son, who was six then, received a letter from Dan, his father. The letter was bizarre, not at all one that should be written to a six-year-old. 

However, through this letter, we learned why he abandoned us. The letter stated that he left us to start a new life with another woman. This woman, he explained, was younger, prettier, and smarter than me and had no children to hold him back. He wrote that God told him to leave because the burden of his wife and children hindered him from God’s perfect will. To his absolute shame, he used God to justify his actions. The reality was, unbeknown to me that he had committed adultery for some time even though he professed to be led by God.

The truth is that our Shepherd- God, only leads us in the path of righteousness, not into paths of the unrighteousness of sin. My now ex-husband was on an unrighteous path leading to nowhere-land and blamed the children and me instead of taking culpability himself. He put the onus on God and us to avoid any responsibility. The story that God told him to leave was, of course, fabricated.

Dan did this so he could be free from blame and the judgement of others. Sadly, some people believed his lies for a time because he was so convincing, a typical narcissist personality. 

My husband’s behaviour has nothing to do with God’s love revealed to us in the Bible. However, such behaviour is typical of the influence of a false god of one’s own making. 

Dan created his own God with his own values to suit his lusts. This God was created by his selfishness, delusion, and sin. In the shock of our sudden loss, we grieved and felt the loss deeply; our lives were never the same again, nor was our relationship with each other .

Be Wise in What You Do

 Decision-making, when we are distressed is tricky. It is tempting to make unwise choices as Dan did without fully considering the consequences.

Be careful who you follow because we can be fooled into thinking that so-called well-meaning folk have our welfare at heart. Some scammers make offers we may interpret as an answer to prayer, but we must be alert and discerning. If the paths they offer do not lead to righteousness, they will lead us to sin.

Be watchful; if something does not benefit you, your family, your future, or anyone else, do not do it! One great rule is- if in doubt- don’t! If you smell something fishy, trash it immediately. When the red flags come up, notice them because God only leads us on the path of righteousness. Satan appears as an angel of light but is really our foe. Satan’s job is to cause us to detour onto the unrighteous path, bringing us to eventual destruction.

The opportunity you’ve been offered may look incredible, far too good to be missed; it appears as an angel of light. It may be an opportunity for a new relationship, more money, a new job or something illegal. Whatever it may be, we can be fooled into believing this is a good thing, eventually only to find it is nothing but ashes. The best person in the world can be tricked and fall for the promises of a persuasive individual. So what are we to do?

The paths that God has chosen for us are clearly marked out for us in God’s Word. No path of righteousness, for example, will ever pass through the field of extramarital sex.

No path of righteousness will ever travel over gluttony, adultery, slander, dishonesty, unloving behaviour, or engage with anything illegal. The righteous path will not lead us away from the Ten Commandments.

Exodus 20 NIV

The Ten Commandments

And God said these words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and the land of slavery.

1 “You shall have no other gods before me.

2. “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above, on the earth beneath, or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

3. “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

4. “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labour and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

5. “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

6. “You shall not murder.

7.”You shall not commit adultery.

8. “You shall not steal.

9. “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour.

10 “You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.”

Thank you for visiting me here; I hope this post was helpful.

To be notified whenever I post new content by subscribing using the banner as you come onto the site.

Virtual hugs, I look forward to your visit to my next blog post!

Remember to live life on purpose, in Hope. Faith and Love

Paula Rose Parish💕

🖤Want to help support me as an author?

 ✔BOOKS BY PAULA available at AMAZON in the UK, USA, Aust;

📚Nothing Good about Grief: Path to Recovery with Psalm 23 after COVID-19 & other losses.

 📚Psalm 23 Unwrapped: Hope in difficult times.

My Thoughts about the Coronation of the King and Queen

Here in the United Kingdom, we recently witnessed the Coronation of King Charles the Third and the crowing of Queen Camila.

I would have loved to go to London, join the crowds, and be part of the celebration. However, I had arranged to watch the Coronation on the big screen with friends at my local and attend a street party afterwards. But unfortunately, I could not do that because I have a knee operation coming up and need to be shielded to prevent catching COVID. Because if I get positive for COVID, the operation will be cancelled. I’ve been waiting for this operation since 2017, so I don’t want anything to go wrong this time.

So, instead, I had an early lunch with a glass of Champagne and watched the Coronation celebrated on my TV. And it was lovely because I watched it on television; I could see and experience things that I wouldn’t be able to if I were physically there. So, it worked out OK.

And then Sunday night, I enjoyed watching the Coronation concert, which was quite impressive. I marvelled at how all that incredible light display was achieved. Absolutely amazing what can be done these days; it is undoubtedly genius!

And as I watched the Coronation live on TV, my heart became overwhelmed and tearful at one stage. Confused, I said, ‘Lord, why am I feeling like this?’ Then the strong thought came to me that one day I’ll be at the marriage supper of the Lamb where I’ll see my Jesus Christ face to face. So Jesus Christ is crowned King of Kings and Lord of Lords Forever and Ever.

What we experience about our Kings and Queens in this life is just a mere shadow of what we will be experiencing in eternity, when Jesus Christ redeems all things to himself and calls his bride to sit down at His supper and to celebrate the consummation of the Bride of Christ with the Bridegroom.

And then a Psalm came to me that was a cry from the heart of King David of Old. David wrote the Psalm. It said, my heart yearns for the courts of the Lord. David writes, ‘My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. You are my King and my God.

Psalm 84

For the director of music. According to Gittith. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm. How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh cry out for the living God. Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young– a place near your altar, O LORD Almighty, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever praising you. Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength till each appears before God in Zion. Hear my prayer, O LORD God Almighty; listen to me, O God of Jacob. SelahLook upon our shield, O God; look with favour on your anointed one. Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favour and honour; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.

The King of My Life

During the Coronation service, there was an opportunity to pledge faithfulness and support to the Crown. I didn’t pledge allegiance to the Crown because I’ve already pledged allegiance to Jesus Christ, my Saviour, Lord, and King.

 Jesus is the King of my life. Jesus didn’t receive a jewelled crown as Charles 3rd did, but a terrible crown of thorns for the redeeming of our souls.

And no matter what mistakes I make or what hurts. I experience whatever achievements and joys I may achieve. And it’s all because of the guidance of my King and the King who reigns in me by the Holy Spirit. So when I became quite emotional about the Coronation, I realised that it reflected my heart on how I feel about King Jesus.

Nothing can compare in this life; nothing can ever replace what is prepared for those who love God through Jesus Christ.

The Coronation concert was spectacular. The singing in the Abbey was terrific, putting tingles up one’s spine. But the singing in heaven, well- It will be unimaginable. And the light display will be – unprecedented because Christ is the light who will shine throughout all eternity.

And in that place, there will be no more night, and there will be no sun. The sun will not be needed because Jesus will rule, reign, and emulate all the lights we need. 

Isaiah 60.19 

 ‘The sun will no longer be your light by day, nor will the moon’s brightness shine on you, for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.’

Our unimaginable, absolutely amazing. The warmth of the glow of God’s Love and Grace and Mercy poured forth from the throne forever and ever- Amazing- can’t wait!!

 And it is there for any of us freely in faith through Jesus Christ and then living a life of service and love.

And that’s one thing that came through loud and strong at the Coronation of King Charles, and indeed Queen Camilla is the King’s prayer for God to enable him to serve, not to be served.

And Jesus calls us all. To serve and not to be served.

And sometimes, I do not get it right. 

Of course, I don’t, and you don’t either. We’re human beings, we fall, but then we pick ourselves up and have another go. If our motivation is correct, if our hearts are right, God can forgive the rest. We must live a life of honour, love and consecration to God, filled with repentance and forgiveness.

As the Nicene Creed points out – see below- we must not forget to honour our ancient church traditions that have been in place for 2000 years that are Apostolic and Catholic.

We honour God in all we do and say to the best of our ability, And love others the same way we love ourselves. 

Then we can kneel before Jesus our King. With no shame, but in love and adoration as we meet him face to face because He took our shame away upon that cross. 

Because of the blood of Jesus, who died upon the cross for you and me, we no longer live a life of shame but of love and victory over the power of sin and death. Because of Jesus, we can live a free and triumphant life – if we choose it!

 Jesus Christ lives, rules, and reigns in heaven and in our hearts as a king of Kings. And the Lord of Lords Glory to his name forever.

A Prayer for King Charles & Queen Camilla

O God, to whom every human power is subject, grant to your servant our sovereign Charles success in the exercise of his high office so that, always revering you and striving to please you, and may he may constantly secure and preserve for the people entrusted to his care, the freedom from civil peace and that your servant Charles, our King, who, by your providence, has received the governance of this realm, may continue to grow in every virtue, that, imbued with your heavenly grace, he may be preserved from all that is harmful and evil and, being blessed with your favour, may, with his consort and the royal family, come at last into your presence, through Christ, who is the way, the truth and the life and who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God, forever and ever.

Amen

Thank you for visiting me here; I hope this post was helpful. Also, to be notified whenever I post new content by subscribing using the banner as you come onto the site.

Virtual hugs, I look forward to your visit to my next blog post!

Remember to live life on purpose, in Hope. Faith and Love

Paula Rose Parish💕

🖤Want to help support me as an author?

 ✔BOOKS BY PAULA available at AMAZON in the UK, USA, Aust; 

📚Nothing Good about Grief: Path to Recovery with Psalm 23 after COVID-19 & other losses.

 📚Psalm 23 Unwrapped: Hope in difficult times. 

How to Overcome Betrayal and Sin.

JOHN14.1-12

I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life

14 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, that where I am, you may also be. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas told him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

8 Philip told him, “Lord, show us the Father; it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus told him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and more excellent works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.

Have You Been Betrayed?

Have you been betrayed? If you’ve lived on this planet for a significant amount of time, the chances are that you would have been betrayed by a friend, an acquaintance or somebody close to you. I have been betrayed many times by various people and a few times by the same people. Betrayal leaves you in total shock when you discover the truth about it. And it can affect you physically; for me, it was like a physical feeling of a knife entering my heart.

Betrayal is one of the worst things somebody can do to another person, and it has consequences, not only for the person being betrayed but for the betrayer, as we see in today’s story.

The Betrayal

Jesus told his disciples, ‘Do not let your heart be troubled. You have faith in God, her faith also in me. In my Father’s house, there are many dwelling places there; if there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? John 14 verses 1-2. ‘ 

These consoling and encouraging words were spoken by Jesus to the Apostles at the last supper. Immediately after the supper, Judah’s left to betray Jesus. Jesus turned to Peter in the presence of the others and told him that he would deny Jesus three times before the rooster crowed- New Living Translation.

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.”

By now, the disciples must have been discouraged. 

So, likewise, Peter must have been discouraged from being accused of a future betrayal.

What a fantastic supper they enjoyed, full of hope and promise, then at the end, it became shrouded by discouragement, doubt and fear. The Apostle’s bubble burst when Judas walked out, and then Peter was singled out by Jesus as a betrayer. Imagine the heartbreak for Jesus that two of his beloved disciples turned away from him in different ways. The repercussions varied; Judas would hang himself with overwhelming guilt, and Peter, repenting and receiving God’s forgiveness, would become the first Pope- who can know the mind of God?

In the upper room, Jesus sensed his follower’s despair and possibly feared in their hearts, so Jesus, who loved them all, said, ‘Do not let your heart be troubled.’

 Peter was told that he would soon betray Jesus, and when he did, Peter wept bitterly. Weeping can be a sign of repentance because as he wept, he realised the gravity of his actions. Thinking about it, I wonder if he recalled Jesus’ words -‘ do not let your heart be troubled.’

We Can be Tempted

 Being tempted to engage in sin can be discouraging, but that is a good sign. Because if we are not affected by our sins, it shows we lack genuine love for God. And if we give into those temptations and fail to experience sorrow, this is even worse. So to truly repent, we must sincerely apologise for our sins.

However, discouragement over our sins cannot remain. It must turn into its opposite, the virtue of hope. Hope will result from seeing only when we hear. And understand Jesus’ promises. Jesus not only tells the disciples not to be troubled, but he also tells them why. Jesus promises them he will prepare a place for them in heaven. And will come to take them to that place in his Father’s house, despite their failings.

 Do You Get Discouraged by Your Sin?

By believing in what Jesus said, Peter and the other Apostles will be able to dispel the initial discouragement they feel over their failings and turn back to God with the anticipation of heaven. So Peter overcame his sin and later became Pope – but Judas allowed his sin to overcome him. 

Do you get discouraged by your sin? If you do, begin by calling to mind any sin you regularly struggle with. Habitual sin, especially, will lead to sorrow, repentance and hope. The problem is that all discouragement ends in despair and the abandonment of virtue. 

Like Saint Peter, we must strive to weep bitterly over our sins. However, we must not let our sins and temptation lead us toward despair, like Judas, instead like Peter, motivate us to seek forgiveness and regain hope, courage and determination.

Jesus Forgives Sin

Jesus was betrayed by those closest to him, and yet he forgave.  To regain hope, courage, and determination will only be possible if we always hear Jesus tell us, do not let your heart be troubled. Instead, we must sense his compassion and tenderness and allow that love to fill us with confidence. 

We will one day overcome all sin and be welcomed into the Father’s house. 

Reflection

Do you allow your sins, temptations, and the testing of this life to discourage you from Jesus’ promises of redemption and eternal hope? Do you allow your sins and the temptation to drive you to despair, or do you use them as a motivation to regain hope? Finally, do you find the courage and determination to trust in Jesus’ promise of redemption and eternal life? 

Reflect today upon any sin with which you regularly struggle. As you do, consider whether your discouragement leads to despair or hope. Hope does not come from your ability to overcome sin on your own. It comes from the compassion of our Lord and his promise to redeem you. That is good if you have a troubled heart; it is the starting point for hope. So, may Jesus lift your troubled heart and point your eyes to heaven.

Let us pray.

Most compassionate Lord, though I am a sinner, you speak to me with tenderness and call me to repent and seek forgiveness so I will always have hope in heaven. 

Please give me a feeling of true and holy sorrow for my sins, and help me to always turn back to you. So that you will one day lead me to the fullness of the Father’s house.

 Jesus, I Trust in You. 

Amen.

Thank you for visiting me here; I hope this post was helpful.

To be notified whenever I post new content by subscribing using the banner as you come onto the site.

Virtual hugs, I look forward to your visit to my next blog post!

Remember to live life on purpose, in Hope. Faith and Love

Paula Rose Parish💕

🖤Want to help support me as an author?

 ✔BOOKS BY PAULA available at AMAZON in the UK, USA, Aust;

📚Nothing Good about Grief: Path to recovery with Psalm 23 after COVID-19 & other losses.

 📚Psalm 23 Unwrapped: Hope in difficult times.

Your Body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit – Look after it!

Defining Wellness

There are a variety of reasons that not all of us are healthy. However, good health is a good goal for us to go for. We may be struggling with a disability, frailty of years, an injury or something else. However, we can endeavour to care for and nourish ourselves through it all.

It’s a daily effort to ensure we stay healthy through nutrition, lowering stress levels, and many other ways. The Bible tells us that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, so we are responsible for looking after ourselves to the best of our knowledge. I enjoy increasing my knowledge and perpetually learning how my mind, body, and soul works and how best to nourish them.

To understand the significance of wellness, it’s important to understand how it’s linked to health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health is defined as..

“being a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

The Global Wellness Institute defines wellness as the active pursuit of activities, choices, and lifestyles that lead to holistic health.

 Wellness is an individual pursuit—we have self-responsibility for our choices, behaviours, and lifestyles—but it is also significantly influenced by our physical, social, and cultural environments. Wellness is a series of positive daily choices to live your life to the fullest! 

I want to support you in making the right daily choices for your wellness. I do this through coaching, counselling, speaking publicly, and writing.

Wellness is a modern word with ancient roots. The fundamental tenets of wellness as preventive and holistic can be traced back to ancient civilizations from India, China, Greece, and Rome. 

Various intellectual, religious, and medical movements developed as conventional medicine developed. However, focusing on holistic and natural approaches, self-healing and preventive care, these movements have provided a firm foundation for wellness practices.

The idea of wellness is broadly defined, but each has several similar components. I am interested in wellness for your soul as well. Faith in Christ will aid the wellness of your mind and body, which should not be overlooked.

To be able to maintain wellness, it is something that you desire and choose to pursue. It’s a choice you make in life that requires constant effort to achieve.

While associated with a healthy lifestyle, wellness goes beyond the confines of general health. It encompasses a positive outlook on your mind, body, and soul and is something we often have more control over than health.

Wellness has various dimensions and can be viewed as a quality, state, or process.

At face value, the idea of wellness may appear complex- but it need not be.

Thank you for visiting me here; I hope this short post was helpful. 

Please subscribe using the banner as you come onto the site. Also, please follow this blog, and you’ll find a button on the bottom right and leave a comment with any questions or prayer requests. 

  

Virtual hugs, I look forward to your visit to my next blog post! 

Remember to live life on purpose, in Hope. Faith and Love 

Paula Rose Parish💕 

Thank you for visiting me here; I hope this post was helpful.

To be notified whenever I post new content by subscribing using the banner as you come onto the site.

Virtual hugs, I look forward to your visit to my next blog post!

Remember to live life on purpose, in Hope. Faith and Love

Paula Rose Parish💕

🖤Want to help support me as an author?

 ✔BOOKS BY PAULA available at AMAZON in the UK, USA, Aust;

📚Nothing Good about Grief: Path to Recovery with Psalm 23 after COVID-19 & other losses.

 📚Psalm 23 Unwrapped: Hope in difficult times.

God Loves YOU!

The important thing is that God loves you so much and sent his Holy Spirit to help you through each day. When we consciously rely on the Spirit’s help, God strengthens and holds us. One thing is for sure I cannot do without the Holy Spirit’s workings in my life.

I refer to Romans chapter 15: 13 which reads.. ‘the God of hope will fill you with all joy and peace in believing, and that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. ‘

The power of the Holy Spirit manifests in three ways.

One – the outward and visible display of power.

Two – the inward and spiritual manifestation of power.

Third – the Holy Spirit’s work and power in the future.

I pray the Lord will speak to your heart of his love during Lent.

A LENT PRAYER

Lord God, you who breathed the spirit of life within me. Draw out of me the light and life you created. Help me to find my way back to you. Help me to use my life to reflect your glory and to serve others as your son Jesus did. AMEN

Please read the gifts in Isaiah 11:2-3 –here

Wisdom: Also, the gift of wisdom, we see God at work in our lives and the world. For the wise person, the wonders of nature, historical events, and the ups and downs of our lives take on a deeper meaning. The matters of judgment about the truth and being able to see the whole image of God. We see God as our Father and other people with dignity. Lastly, being able to see God in everyone and everything everywhere.

Understanding: The gift of understanding, helps us to comprehend how we need to live as a follower of Christ. A person with understanding is not confused by all the conflicting messages in our culture about the right way to live. The gift of understanding perfects a person’s speculative reason in the apprehension of truth. It is the gift whereby self-evident principles are known.

Counsel (Right Judgment): With the gift of counsel/correct judgment, we know the difference between right and wrong and choose to do what is right. A person with the proper judgment avoids sin and lives out the values taught by Jesus. The gift of truth allows the person to respond prudently and be happy to believe in our Christ the Lord.

Fortitude (Courage): With the gift of fortitude/courage, we overcome our fear and are willing to take risks as a follower of Jesus Christ. A courageous person is willing to stand up for what is right in the sight of God, even if it means accepting rejection, verbal abuse, or even physical harm and death. The gift of courage allows people the firmness of mind required both in doing good and enduring evil, just like Joan of Arc did.

Knowledge: With the gift of knowledge, we understand the meaning of God for us each day. The gift of knowledge is more than an accumulation of facts. It knows God himself and his will.

Piety (Reverence): With the gift of reverence, sometimes called piety, we deeply respect God and the church. A person with reverence recognizes a total reliance on God and comes before God with humility, trust, and love. Piety is the gift given at the Holy Spirit’s instigation. We pay worship and duty to God as our Father.

Fear of the Lord (Wonder and Awe): With the gift of fear of the Lord, we are aware of the glory and majesty of God. A person with wonder and awe knows that God is the perfection of all we desire: perfect knowledge, perfect goodness, perfect power, and perfect love. This gift is described by Aquinas as a fear of separating oneself from God. He describes the gift as a “filial fear,” like a child’s fear of offending his father, rather than a “servile fear,” a fear of punishment.

Also known as knowing God is all-powerful. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 1:7) because it puts our mindset in its correct location concerning God: we are finite, dependent creatures, and He is the infinite, all-powerful Creator.

The important thing is that God loves you so much that he not only provides your salvation through Christ, but provides gifts for you to live a happy and meaningful life.

Thank you for visiting me here; I hope this post was helpful. 

Please subscribe using the banner as you come onto the site. Also, please follow this blog, and you’ll find a button on the lower bottom right and leave a comment with any questions or prayer requests. 

  

Virtual hugs, I look forward to your visit to my next blog post! 

Remember to live life on purpose, in Hope. Faith and Love 

Paula Rose Parish💕 

God is With You Even in the Hard Times.

This year, lent fell on 26th March 2023. The Gospel scripture is John 11:1-45. Here we read Jesus arrived in Bethany four days after his friend Lazarus had died. He could have gone earlier, but he didn’t. So while he delayed, Lazarus died.

When he arrived in Bethany, Martha went to greet him. When she saw him, she said, “Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn’t have died” (v. 21). Do you hear the reproach in that? “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.”

I can’t remember the last time that someone expressed that kind of disappointment in me–my mind has repressed the memory–but I can remember feeling the shame of it. It’s terrible to have someone look you in the eye and tell you how you have disappointed them- to have their say they depended on you, but you let them down.

I can’t remember the last time that happened to me, – maybe as a child- but I can remember wilting under the glare of honest judgment. When that kind of thing happens, you want the earth to open up and swallow you. At least, that is how I felt. I wanted the earth to open up and swallow me.

Martha said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.” But instead of wilting under her reproach, Jesus said, Your brother will rise again” (v. 23). That sounds familiar. So our whole world caves in, and a friend, who does not know what to say and is not intelligent enough to keep his mouth shut, says, “It’s God’s will.” Or “Hang in there!” Or “It’ll be O.K.”

When that happens, we want to shout, “My wife just died! Don’t tell me that everything’s going to be all right! It’s not all right, and it’s not going to be all right!”

Martha responded to Jesus’ promise that Lazarus would rise again by saying, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day” (v. 24). She might have added, “But what good does that do me now!” Martha could have said, “I know that I will see Lazarus in heaven, but I want him here now!” She could have said, “Jesus, you have been healing strangers. Why couldn’t you do that? You’re your friend Lazarus! Why didn’t you come when we called for you?”

Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever wondered why God didn’t help when you were hurting?

Some people say a loving God would never allow good people to suffer. But on the other hand, some Christians say God will always give us what we ask if you have enough faith.

I know Christians who talk about praying for a parking place and getting one–as if that somehow validated God’s love and their faith. They are the same people who will tell you that God will always heal you if you have enough faith.

But that isn’t what the Bible says. Jesus says that God “makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust” (Matt 5:45). Christians sometimes prosper and sometimes don’t–just like everyone else. It means we cannot expect that life will always be a bed of roses just because we are Christians. Christians get sick, just like everyone else. Christians die, just like everyone else.

That doesn’t mean that there’s no benefit to faith. On the contrary, those of us who have faith have a decided advantage. I believe that God does help us in adversity.

And yet, we must admit that Christians suffer–and Christians die. That is neither an indication that God doesn’t love us–nor that our faith is weak. It’s just a fact of life. We see it in our Gospel lesson. Lazarus is a dear friend of Jesus, and yet he dies. Jesus could have moved more quickly to help him–could have saved him–but he didn’t.

Jesus explained to his disciples that Lazarus’ illness was for God’s glory. That’s significant. We need to hear it. Lazarus’ illness was for God’s glory. What does that mean? It means that Lazarus’ illness and Lazarus’ death–provided an opportunity for people to see the presence of God in their midst–to witness God’s power–to experience .

Jesus finally Shows Up

Jesus came to Bethany four days after Lazarus died. The four days are essential to the story. People believed that the soul resided near the body for three days, hoping to rejoin the body. Finally, on the fourth day, the soul gave up and departed. Four days meant that it was over–there was no hope.

And that means that it would be a resounding miracle if Jesus could bring Lazarus back to life after four days when it had become hopeless. Then, people would give God glory. And that’s what happened.

The tough times in our lives glorify God too. It is one thing to have faith when everything is going right. It is another to have faith when everything is going wrong. Faith amid adversity is a powerful witness. It glorifies God.

Tragedy pushes us through a one-way door, and once we pass through it, we can never return to how life was before.

We can’t go back, no matter how much we ache to do so. All we can do is give thanks for what once was, for the good that was there, the happy times we had, the laughter, love, and the memories we shared.

Then, saying goodbye to those times and those loved ones, we put our hand in the hand of him who gave orbit to the sun, moon, and stars and trust that he has a course for our lives from there.”

But the troubled times in our lives do more than provide an opportunity for us to glorify God. Instead, they provide opportunities for us to become closer to God. Many would never have found God if life had not forced them to their knees.

And our troubled times allow God to redeem us – in others words, bring us back to himself. God does redeem his people. The Bible is one long story of God redeeming his people.

In the case of Lazarus, Jesus raised him from the dead. That was the way that he redeemed that situation. But that was unusual. God doesn’t let many people return from the dead but redeems them.

The promise of the story of Lazarus is not that we will never suffer tragedy. Nor is it that God will never let us die. Nor is it that, once dead, Jesus will give us back our physical life on this earth. Instead, the promise is that God walks with us through all of life–even the hard times–primarily through the hard times–even through the valley of the shadow of death. It’s a promise that God redeems his people.

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen said The Church is not so much a continuously living thing as something that has survived a thousand crucifixions through a thousand Resurrections.

Believe that promise! Whatever your situation, put your hand in God’s hand and see if it isn’t true. You will survive a thousand crucifixions through a thousand Resurrections.

Thank you for visiting me here; I hope this post was helpful. 

Please subscribe using the banner as you come onto the site. Also, please follow this blog, and you’ll find a button on the lower bottom right and leave a comment with any questions or prayer requests. 

  

Virtual hugs, I look forward to your visit to my next blog post! 

Remember to live life on purpose, in Hope. Faith and Love 

Paula Rose Parish💕 

How Should Christians View Mental Illness in Themselves?

Coping with Mental Illness as a Christian

Some Christian communities may understand mental illness as the result of spiritual causes, such as sin, demons, or a lack of faith. Such perceptions will likely influence how Christian individuals view and experience their mental and spiritual health.

Not raised a Christian, I found faith in Christ in my early 20s through a dramatic conversion experience. Therefore, I had not learned how Christians should live or their values. However, Christian living is something I learnt along my faith journey. Reading the Bible regularly, I gradually realised what it meant to follow Christ and found it was far more than soaking oneself in a mere religious belief.

To follow Christ was to live a different life, and to live that different life, one being/ heart much go through a transformation. This transformation is outlined in the Gospel of John chapter 3 – click here to view it.

To adopt new values is to live differently, which is impossible unless we are transformed by renewing our minds- click here to view scripture.

I was Not Believed

As a teenager, I was hospitalised twice with intense nerve pain throughout my body. Both times doctors told my parents that nothing was wrong with me. As I writhed on the hospital bed, I insisted I felt pain. After a series of tests, the diagnosis was given as psychosomatic pain; its other words, it was all in my head. The doctor told my parents in my presence that I was making it up for attention.

I was not offered any support, counselling or sympathy but instead told that something was wrong with me mentally and I needed to get over it – I was not believed, so guilt and shame flooded my being. I felt guilty as I put my parents in great worry, embarrassment and inconvenience, which resulted in me never going to my parents again about any problems that I had, fearing again that I would be not believed.

Looking back, I realise that at that time, I was under tremendous stress due to my abusive boyfriend’s fiancé trying to hold down an apprenticeship working six days a week which I hated.

How should we view mental illness as Christians?

No one asked me about my circumstances, how I felt or what I thought was happening. As a result, I became more introverted and would deal with my problems independently. Sadly, this led to bouts of depression and profound loneliness.

When I came to faith in Christ, I suddenly had a sense of acceptance, purpose and meaning that I didn’t process previously. I realised that my life is an eternal journey, and every step counts towards what God put me on this earth for. However, I still battled depression occasionally, exacerbated by post-natal depression with my third child and continued for years. At that time, my husband began to be abusive toward the children and me. 

If I had faith, would things be different? But is this normal for a Christian?

Below is a wise and down to earthly excerpt from Daily Bread, which explains how Christians should view mental illness. By mental health issues, we do not mean just the usual feeling blue, forgetfulness or other emotional and mental factors. Instead, we use it to mean issues that affect the mind, which end up debilitating to the extent that they can change and harm our lifestyles. As the dictionary puts it, “a condition which causes serious disorder in a person’s behaviour or thinking.”

Some Christians have particular difficulty with experiencing and dealing with mental health illness. They don’t recognise it as an illness. Although they would accept that Christians can get physically sick, they seem to think Christians should not get mentally ill. But they seem to forget that since the fall, all human beings have lived in a broken world, with decaying bodies, trapped wills and disturbed minds. There is no more reason for a Christian to think they will never experience mental illness than there is to think that we will never get sick. See the full article here https://ourdailybread.org/christians-and-mental-illness/

Mental Illness & the Christian 

So how should we view mental illness as a Christian? Over the last 40 years, I’ve sat listening to sermons and read Christian books that claim that any mental illness is always from the devil and one needs deliverance. The other sermons claim that depressed people are in sin, bringing sickness upon themselves. Yet another is ‘you have faith you will never have a mental illness or any other type of illness. All these scenarios, and more that I can’t outline here now, lay the blame squarely on you- there’s something wrong with you, they say, and it needs to be put right. I once did, but I no longer prescribe these explanations because they shame the person and do not uphold them in love as Jesus would.

Don’t Play the Blame Game

Sometimes people blame others, parents, teachers, and co-workers, for causing the illness due to how they have been treated. The blame game does not work. Stuff happens. Life happens. A circumstance may have triggered how you feel, but to carry on blaming and even shaming others or rejecting them is not part of Christian values. Christian values are about forgiveness. Forgiveness does not mean that you must reconcile physically, but you must reconcile in your heart and hold no bitterness or hate and do no harm.

If You Need Support

You may be experiencing mental illness of some kind. As a Christian, you want to keep it secret as I did, in fear of being judged. If you are struggling to find non-judgmental advice or support, please feel free to contact me.

Thank you for visiting me here; I hope this post was helpful. 

Please subscribe using the banner as you come onto the site. Also, please follow this blog, and you’ll find a button on the bottom right and leave a comment with any questions or prayer requests. 

Virtual hugs, I look forward to your visit to my next blog post! 

Remember to live life on purpose, in Hope. Faith and Love 

Paula Rose Parish💕 

Stepping into Lent #2

Matthew 4:1-11

Do you struggle with the hardships you face in life, or do you cling too tightly to life’s comforts?

Read HERE Matthew 4:1-2

I am fascinated by the science of Bible Numeric. To find out more click HERE

By numerics, we mean observing that God has planted order in the world and His Word. The number seven, for example, recurs throughout the Bible – as in the number of days of creation, the days of a week, the number of biblical feasts, and others.

Both the Old and the New Testaments sync with numeric patterns of seven. No writings of other religions display the phenomenon.

We draw the conclusion that only God could have created such a pattern. It could not have occurred by chance. It is further evidence of the seal, or signature, of God. It is proof of divine authorship.

Firstly– 40 is also a significant number. In scripture, it is used over 140 times.

For example, the rain during the great flood lasted 40 days and nights. Each time Moses went to Mount Sinai, he remained there 40 days and nights. The Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years. After his resurrection, Jesus appeared for 40 days before ascending to heaven. And there are many uses of 40 throughout the Bible. 

In science, forty is the unique temperature at which the Fahrenheit and Celsius scales correspond. 

In mathematics, 40 is a semi-perfect number. 

In Antiquity, beginning around the second millennium BCE, a Sumerian God was sometimes referred to in writing by the numeric ideogram for “40”, occasionally called his “sacred number”.

In Judaism

In the Hebrew Bible, forty is often used for periods, forty days or forty years, which separate “two distinct epochs”.

· Rain fell for “forty days and forty nights” during the Flood (Genesis 7:4).

· Noah waited forty days after the tops of mountains were seen after the flood before releasing a raven (Genesis 8:5–7).

· Moses sent spies to explore the land of Canaan (promised to the children of Israel) for “forty days” (Numbers 13:2, 25).

· The Hebrew people lived in the lands outside of the promised land for “forty years”. This period of years represents the time it takes for a new generation to arise (Numbers 32:13)

· Several early Hebrew leaders and kings are said to have ruled for “forty years”, that is, a generation. Examples include Eli (1 Samuel 4:18), Saul (Acts 13:21), David (2 Samuel 5:4), and Solomon (1 King 11:42).

·        Goliath challenged the Israelites twice a day for forty days before David defeated him (1 Samuel 17:16).

·        Moses spent three consecutive periods of “forty days and forty nights” on Mount Sinai:

Christianity

Christianity similarly uses forty to designate essential periods. 

· Before his temptation, Jesus fasted “forty days and forty nights” in the Judean desert (Matthew 4:2, Mark 1:13, Luke 4:2).

· Forty days was the period from the resurrection of Jesus to the ascension of Jesus (Acts 1:3).

· According to Stephen, Moses’ life is divided into three 40-year segments, separated by his growing to adulthood, fleeing Egypt, and returning to lead his people out (Acts 7:23, 30, 36).

· In modern Christian practice, Lent consists of the 40 days preceding Easter. In much Western Christianity, Sundays are excluded from the count; there are 46 days total Lent; in Eastern Christianity, Sundays are included.

In Human life

·        Quarantine, the practice of isolation to prevent the spread of epidemic disease, derives from a Venetian dialect of the Italian quaranta giorni meaning ‘forty days’, the period that ships were required to be isolated before passengers and crew could go ashore during the Black Death.

  • Interestingly, 40 is even significant in human nature in that we develop within our mother’s 
  • We are in the Womb for 40 weeks before being born.  

We commemorate the forty days and nights spent in the desert by our Lord while he fasted. Here, 40 is a time of testing, temptation, or trial. 

Saint Bede commenting on this, points out that this period is also a symbol of our entire life on earth, which includes the idea of days and nights.

In St Matthew’s version of events, he primarily uses – 40 days and 40 nights. 

The days represent the many blessings we receive, while the nights symbolise the crosses we endure. 

Thirdly, as we begin our Lenten journey, we must apply the lessons we learn from Jesus’ time in the desert.

What Can We Learn?

First, we see that the spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the devil. This teaches us that not only did Jesus endure temptation, but he also was not afraid to face the devil and did not fear his attacks. Instead, he willingly faced the temptations of being led by the spirit and overcame them.

This also enables us to confront and overcome every temptation through power and initiative. We must never be afraid to confront temptations directly and confidently when the Holy Spirit leads. 

The second important lesson is that Jesus voluntarily fasted during this time in the desert. This stresses the importance of moderation, self-restraint, and self-control. 

If we see the pattern of 40, we will understand that self-control is always a part of our daily lives.

Therefore, when we experience the joys and blessings of life, symbolised by 40 days, we must indeed celebrate them.

But we must always do so with self-denial, in that we must never allow the passing things of this world to hinder our relationship with God and our discipleship walk. 

St John of the Cross wrote that we could even become overly attached to spiritual solace and embrace the 40 nights of testing and trial by not letting the difficulties of our lives discourage or distract us from seeking and fulfilling the will of God.

Fasting helps us with this. Fasting restrains us from looking inward unduly and plants our focus squarely on God the Father, strengthening us through life’s ups and downs.

Fasting helps us keep our eyes on the truths God has revealed to us while rejecting the ideas that the devil speaks to us.

Reflect Today 

Reflect upon the importance of embracing the 40 days and nights model. It will help give you courage throughout life. It will help you make sense of the ups and down’s joys, and sorrows we encounter.

We must embrace the blessings and crosses and, through it all, allow ourselves to be led by the spirit, facing every circumstance with courage and self-control. 

Reflect upon the crosses you endure or may cling unduly to life’s consolations. 

Let’s seek to embrace the road of virtue this lent, imitating Jesus 40 days and nights in the desert.

LET Us Pray

Our temperate and courageous Lord, you confronted all temptation with courage and strength. You fasted throughout the 40 days and nights to teach us how to navigate the ups and downs of life. Please give us the virtues of temperance and courage. May your Holy Spirit empower us to meet any life challenges so we may follow you into the desert of our lives. 

Jesus, we trust in you- amen.

Thank you for visiting me here; I hope this post was helpful. 

Please subscribe using the banner as you come onto the site. Also, please follow this blog, and you’ll find a button on the bottom right and leave a comment with any questions or prayer requests. 

  

Virtual hugs, I look forward to your visit to my next blog post! 

Remember to live life on purpose, in Hope. Faith and Love 

Paula Rose Parish💕 

🖤Want to help support me as an author? 

 ✔BOOKS BY PAULA available at AMAZON in the UK, USA, Aust;  

📚Nothing Good about Grief: Path to recovery with Psalm 23 after COVID-19 & other losses. 

 📚Psalm 23 Unwrapped: Hope in difficult times.  

Does God Care About Your Wellness?

There are a variety of reasons that not all of us are healthy. However, good health is a good goal for us to go for. We may be struggling with a disability, fragility of years, an injury or something else we can’t help or avoid. However, we can endeavour to care for and nourish our wellness through it all.

It’s a daily effort to ensure we stay healthy through nutrition, lowering stress levels, and many other ways. The Bible tells us that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, so we are responsible for looking after ourselves to the best of our knowledge. I enjoy increasing my knowledge and perpetually learning how my mind, body, and soul works and how best to nourish them.

Does God Care About Your Wellness?

In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV), he asks, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 

To understand the significance of wellness and how it’s linked to health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health is defined as.. being “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

The Global Wellness Institute defines wellness as the active pursuit of activities, choices, and lifestyles that lead to holistic health.

 Wellness is an individual pursuit—we are self-responsible for being self-aware of our choices, behaviours, and lifestyles—but it is also significantly influenced by our physical, social, and cultural environments.

Wellness is a series of positive daily choices to live your life to the fullest! 

What is Wellness About?

Wellness is a modern word with ancient roots. The fundamental tenets of wellness as preventive and holistic can be traced back to ancient civilizations from India, China, Greece, and Rome. Codes of wellness are also found in the Law of the Old Testament- the Hebrew Bible.

Various intellectual, religious, and medical movements developed as conventional medicine developed. However, focusing on holistic and natural approaches, self-healing and preventive care, these movements have provided a firm foundation for wellness practices.

Wellness-focused and holistic interventions have gained more visibility in the last fifty years.

Wellness is about healthy living, self-help, self-care, fitness, nutrition, diet and spiritual practices, and environmental and social interaction that have evolved into a flourishing wellness movement today.

The idea of wellness is broadly defined, but each has several similar components.

Wellness is something that you desire and choose to pursue. It’s a choice you make in life that requires constant effort to achieve. If you want a well soul. One needs to try to pray, read and study the Bible and hang around like-minded people. Ensuring you get teaching builds you up spiritually so you can grow in Christ.

While associated with a healthy lifestyle, wellness goes beyond the confines of general health. It encompasses a positive outlook on your mind, body, and soul and is something we often have more control over than health.

Wellness has various dimensions and can be viewed as a quality, state, or process.

At face value, the idea of wellness may appear complex- but it need not be.

If you want more blogs about wellnes, let me know, and Ill be sure to post them.

Thank you for visiting me here; I hope this post was helpful. 

Please subscribe using the banner as you come onto the site. Also, please follow this blog, and you’ll find a button on the bottom right and leave a comment with any questions or prayer requests. 

Virtual hugs, I look forward to your visit to my next blog post! 

Remember to live life on purpose, in Hope. Faith and Love 

Paula Rose Parish💕 

🖤Want to help support me as an author? 

 ✔BOOKS BY PAULA available at AMAZON in the UK, USA, Aust;  

📚Nothing Good about Grief: Path to recovery with Psalm 23 after COVID-19 & other losses. 

 📚Psalm 23 Unwrapped: Hope in difficult times.  

Hello Everyone, How are You All?

It’s been a very long time since I posted. When I lived in the USA, the expression was ‘It’s been a hot minute since….’. 

Well, minutes or months, this last 6 months, I have been finding it difficult to write anything, absolutory anything- due to heaps of random stuff happening in my ministry, home and personal life.  

I have yet to have time to write or even visit my own website. I do have good intentions, but these are often not fulfilled., due to sudden changes in schedules and ministry demands that are outside my control. 

But putting it all in perspective, what other dear folk are facing in Ukraine, Cyprus, Turkey and other parts of the world, my plight is very pale compared. 

I pray for them and support them through donations regularly. 

Doing Gods Will in Difficult Times 

I remember during the COVID Pandemic how I felt during those prolonged lockdowns. Here in Wales, we had full lockdowns every few months – or so it seemed- lasting up to 8 weeks. South Wales is accessible through the Prince Charles Bridge joining England and Wales ( I wonder if it will be re-named after the coronation). 

During COVID, the bridge was operated by security. All comings and goings were monitored, and many received very hefty fines for travelling during lockdowns. The whole thing felt like a police state as we lost all our freedoms. During that time, I often felt I was living in a dystopian movie, acting out a part I didn’t sign up for and didn’t know how to get out of. 

The government restrictions only allowed walking or driving close to our homes, and all visiting folk outside our bubble was strictly prohibited; the problem was, I didn’t have a bubble.

My family and friends lived many miles away, and I was new in my town; I didn’t know many folks then. My only human company came from a disembodied female voice from the other side of my fence. I had never met my neighbour but came to learn her voice well. After COVID, we became good friends and supported each other however we could.

The restrictions did not allow me to minister to folk face to face, and not seeing friends or family left me empty. 

However, being me, I wanted to make the best of a challenging time. I didn’t want to waste my time – after all, I would never live this particular day again or breathe the same air- right! So I wanted to use my God-given time the best I knew how. 

So, I decided to write those books I have always said I would write. I decided to minister over the internet, which required me to build a website and set up a YouTube channel. 

Thanks to all the wonderful and talented creators on YouTube, I learnt how to write and self-publish books for free. How to source and set up and maintain a website. How to start a Youtube channel. How to use my camera and film, edit and post videos. How to write an online course, film it and post it on Udemy. And I learnt so much more than that. Every day was filled with goals and tasks, creating the projects I felt the Lord Jesus wanted me to do. I even set up a Kanban Board to keep me on track! Being high percentile dyslexic, I need calm to get things done. The alarming situation that COVID presented allowed me to get stuff done.  

I felt under pressure not to waste time, as I knew that the peace and quiet my isolation brought would not last- so I got stuck in. 

My Goals Were Realised

And so, it was, two books were written, and I self-published through Amazon. I built 3 websites (I couldn’t stop once I started, lol), and many other projects got done. I was passionate and focused on what I was doing, and living alone with only my fur babies helped me accomplish far beyond my expectations- Thank you, Lord!. 

I have studied much about the desert mothers, fathers, and people who spend their life cloistered to pray, study and work for the kingdom. These dedicated people of God experienced aloneness for years on end. Still, in their isolation, they produced classic works for us to learn from today.

 There is a lot said for living like a monk, although involuntary! I always said I wanted to do some monk-ing one day – I did just that during COVID.

Now, I am awaiting a Knee replacement, and the lengthy renovation of my home is ending. Praise the Lord for that! I am looking forward to peace and quiet to get more stuff done, might even do some monk-ing- voluntary this time!

This is The Day the Lord Has Made

So, I decided to connect and write this article. I miss posting and getting feedback from you.

When my dining room is decorated and tidy, I will start making videos again, and I will have another book in me to write in future. So I’ll try to be mindful of today and focus on getting stuff done- after all, This is The Day the Lord Has Made it, and I will rejoice and be Glad about it!

Great Feed Back

Thank you so much for your feedback. My feedback about my books, videos and blogs is very encouraging. I am helping and supporting those to read and view them with the Good News message of Christ, so I want to continue doing that. 

I am getting older now and certainly lack the vigour of my youth, so I give my weakness and abilities to God my Father to turn it all into something that can be used for his glory.

New Ministry

My new job is going well. I was called to a new pastorate near my home last October 2022. I serve seven Churches with a colleague and have been given pastoral responsibility for four of them.

 Although I am now super busy, I get super tired sometimes. However, I am enjoying the ministry immensely. I thank my heavenly Father for using me in this way, and what a privilege it is to work for the kingdom and have the creator of heaven and earth as your boss !! The people in my churches are typical loving welsh people. A down-to-earth, no-nonsense type of person, which I greatly appreciate. God, the Holy Spirit, is moving among the people, and we see needs met, hearts healed, and lives restored in the name of Christ. 

Here and Now

 When I first came to Wales, I was so impressed with the people’s warmth, the country’s beauty, the ease of travel, and the laid-back living that I knew I wanted to make South Wales my permanent home. 

In living here since 2011, I have found the love, acceptance, and warmth of the Welsh people, especially in the villages in the beautiful welsh valleys. 

Welsh people have a living and vibrant faith in Christ, maybe because memories still existed of the great Welsh Revival in 1905. Many years ago, God chose this tiny country to display His glory to the world, the ripples of which are still felt today. 

Thank you for visiting me here; I hope this post was helpful. 

Please subscribe using the banner as you come onto the site. Also, please follow this blog, and you’ll find a button on the bottom right and leave a comment with any questions or prayer requests. 

  

Virtual hugs, I look forward to your visit to my next blog post! 

Remember to live life on purpose, in Hope. Faith and Love 

Paula Rose Parish💕 

🖤Want to help support me as an author? 

 ✔BOOKS BY PAULA available at AMAZON in the UK, USA, Aust;  

📚Nothing Good about Grief: Path to recovery with Psalm 23 after COVID-19 & other losses. 

 📚Psalm 23 Unwrapped: Hope in difficult times.  

Faith In Christ & Your Well-Being.

In this article, we are briefly discussing what it is that makes us healthy and define what health actually is. You may ask, what has this got to do with faith in Christ? Shouldn’t we develop spiritually and give the physical a miss? After all, isn’t the physical body sinful, and should we not be repressing it, not nurturing it?

Many Christians think this way because of the doctrine of original sin (which most theologians disagree with) teaches that anything to do with our body, or mind for that matter, is of the flesh, and the flesh is evil. Further, a well-known passage by the Apostle Paul gets misconstrued about the body as unimportant, and of little value, and has led many believers to neglect the care of their bodies. We will be looking at this text in future articles, so watch out for that.

I intend this year to explain the doctrine of original sin in more detail, who made it a doctrine and why. And I want to write more about healthy spirituality and faith in faith, including the health of mind, body, and soul.

I will bring in scriptures from the Bible to share how our Father God is interested in us as a whole being who is comprised of mind, body and soul.

 By understanding health, and what it means for our daily living, we can better equip ourselves to be healthy. Good health and well-being bring many benefits to all of us. Healthier people tend to be happier, play an active role, and contribute to society and the economy through their families, local communities, and workplaces. If you are happy and feeling well, you will be better able to serve the Lord in the way you have been called.

According to HM Gov Department of Health, there is a two-way relationship between well-being and health: health influences well-being, and well-being itself influences health

  • Health is one of the top things people say matter for wellbeing
  • Both physical and mental health influence well-being, however mental health and wellbeing are independent dimensions, mental health is not simply the opposite of mental illness.

What is health?

We use a broad definition of health that encompasses holistic health and well-being. This means we are not only interested in whether or not people are ill or have a health condition but also in how healthy and well they are. According to HM Gov Department of Health, there is a two-way relationship between wellbeing and health: health influences wellbeing, and wellbeing itself influences health
  • Health is one of the top things people say matters for wellbeing
  • Both physical and mental health influence wellbeing, however mental health and wellbeing are independent dimensions, mental health is not simply the opposite of mental illness.

Definition of health

The concept of health as a balance between a person and the environment, the unity of soul and body, and the natural origin of disease,

WELLNESS is a combination of the 7 Pillars of health (for more info click the ink)

All should be called to be healthy and balanced to achieve well-being or elements must be observed each element affects the other.

So, to understand what health is, we need to be understanding what it is in relation to all aspects of the 7 Pillars.

You are a Holistic Being

So many of us just concentrate on our physical health and ignore all the other elements. You can be physically healthy, mentally and emotionally unwell. But the problem is that your mental and emotional state will finally catch up with you and affect your physical health. Then your social health will suffer, and in turn, affect your mental and emotional health. Then all the aspects of your life will be affected, and that’s when life becomes difficult. So, we cannot separate any elements of our body, but we must look at Health holistically – as a total whole- because you are a total whole. The problem is that this takes a little bit of research to get our heads around. We do not automatically understand how to maintain the health of our bodies nor our minds or our emotions or even our social well-being, it is something that needs to be learned. This is why people who enjoy educating themselves are usually a lot fitter than those who don’t. Science has learned how healthy your physical brain is and that it actually affects your mental and emotional health. Both physical health and mental health can influence wellbeing. So, learning to love learning, is one of the key elements in your total health.

Ways to make physical health stronger

· daily eating nutritious meals and snacks

· physical fitness activities that challenge your muscles

· Regularly visiting Dr and dentists and other health providers for check-up’s. Avoid all harmful behaviors and habits

Ways to make Mental and Emotional Health Stronger

· Improve your physical health

· Strengthen your positive relationships

· Deal with thoughts and feelings and the choices you make sure you have a positive and balanced self-concept and self-esteem

Material Cited

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/215911/dh_122238.pdf

Thank you for visiting me here; I hope this post was helpful. Please subscribe using the banner as you come onto the site. Also, please follow this blog, and you’ll find a button on the lower bottom right and leave a comment with any questions or prayer requests.   Virtual hugs, I look forward to your visit to my next blog post! Remember to live life on purpose, in Hope. Faith and Love Paula Rose Parish💕

New Year Hope


Dear Hope. Faith.Love community,
As we all know, Advent comes before the Christmas season. The Christmas season is then followed by New Year celebrations.

In all our celebrations, as part of the festivity, we exchange messages and greetings with friends and our beloved ones. Especially, as Christians, we celebrate the New Year with great enthusiasm, excited by what the Lord may have in store for us.

Toasting glasses at midnight (if still awake) and the fireworks high in the sky depict the New Year celebrations.

These celebrations signal that it is the time to start new and fresh in all parts of life. It is also an opportunity to reflect upon the past and plan for the future. At the start of a New year, we can better ourselves by making relevant changes.

In addition, the New Year also provides a fantastic opportunity to continually meet each other in Church for worship and to encourage one another in our faith journey into the New Year.

New Year is the right time to reschedule everything thoroughly, do better, and be better, to God’s glory.

At the start of the year, it is a time to enjoy the current moment forgetting the past worries of 2022 while looking forward with hope for 2023.

The New Year brings us many opportunities and adventures. On the occasion of the New Year, we say resolutions, get new things, prepare for the year ahead, work on new goals, etc., with expectations.

In the last 12 months, you may have experienced troubles, worries or lost a loved one, as I have.

The size, intensity and nature of your problem are no barriers to God’s healing power as long as your faith in God’s love for you remains intact.

Whatever you may encounter in the next year, Father God will be with you and help you overcome all your problems. God never said that your life’s journey would be easy, but He did say that the arrival would be worthwhile.

God will be with you, giving you peace of mind. So do not be afraid to face a new year.

This New Year has a lot of promises for us. So trust God, and everything will be well!

If God called you to a task in this new year, He would qualify you for the job, so keep trusting God. True faith means holding nothing back. It means putting all your trust and hope in God’s fidelity to His Promises.

True happiness is obtained through acts of kindness filled with love for loved ones, friends, neighbours, and even strangers. Consistent acts of unconditional kindness will ensure that this new year will be filled with many blessings.

With God as our leader, we may be prepared to live another year under His guidance and love.

I hope 2023 gives you immense joy and beautiful moments, creating memories to cherish in your heart.

Thank you for visiting me here; I hope this post was helpful.

Please subscribe using the banner as you come onto the site. Also, please follow this blog, and you’ll find a button on the lower bottom right and leave a comment with any questions or prayer requests.

Virtual hugs, I look forward to your visit to my next blog post!

Remember to live life on purpose, in Hope. Faith and Love

Paula Rose Parish💕

🖤Want to help support me as an author?

 ✔BOOKS BY PAULA available at AMAZON in the UK, USA, Aust;

📚Nothing Good about Grief: Path to recovery with Psalm 23 after COVID-19 & other losses.

 📚Psalm 23 Unwrapped: Hope in difficult times.

Help the Grieving to Cope with loss at Christmas Time

Christmas is not always the season to be jolly. There is plenty of folks who are facing Christmas alone for the first time, who may have lost a loved one through divorce or death and find themselves at a loose end.

I have written two books available on Amazon that will help the grieving to make seems of things. Why don’t you purchase for someone you care about who is grieving? The cover has changed and has been revised for my ‘Nothing Good About Grief Book’. For both books to view and purchase, click link HERE

Except from My Book

There is Nothing Good about Grief, particularly at Christmas time. When grief strikes at the heart, the effects send us reeling into bereavement. We are drawn into a vortex of loss, and it can feel like that we cannot escape. This experience is familiar to us all, a vortex of loss, and we get hurt. Sometimes our grief is left unresolved. What can you do when When grief strikes the heart What happens when you find yourself in one of the darkest periods of your life which can feel like the valley of the shadow of death? During COVID-19 pandemic we have suffered loss, changing our lives forever. How can you cope when your whole life is turned upside down and all that is familiar and held dear is There is Hope-?


I have written a book for the bereaved called- Nothing Good about Grief . If you are a person of faith, or no faith, or somewhere in between, this book is a little ray of light and hope. Perhaps you are supporting someone whom you know is grieved, or just want to research the topic, then this book is for you. Like everyone else on the planet, I have experienced the dark valley of mourning.

Change is all about us these days, and our reality is vastly different from a few months ago. Suddenly we all have become very vulnerable. The world is experiencing an unprecedented catastrophe. Collectively, we weep and grieve. The worldwide pandemic of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) is still a reality for us all. This unforeseen disaster has swiftly taken the lives of loved ones, leaving the grieving disillusioned and struggling to make sense of it all. During the government-imposed lockdown, people lost livelihoods, assets, and social freedoms. The economy, families and marriages were all under great strain. People living together every day and night, with no respite, has caused domestic abuse to rise sharply across the world.

During COVID, families lived in fear of loved ones who were meant to care for and protect them. Basic daily needs became increasingly challenging to meet, and many others became homeless. We stayed home to stay safe, while daily routines and lifestyles were turned upside down. Restricted freedom of movement caused much psychological strain, and people felt hemmed in. Sadly, for some, suicide was the only way out.

The losses have been incalculable, unbearable, and extraordinary. Every human being on the planet shares a sense of unspeakable loss, and collective grief, and we are left bereaved. Nothing will be the same again. What will the future look like? The good news is that all is not lost.


There is Hope– Within the beautiful images of the 23rd Psalm, we will find the way forward and by applying its truth we have a sure and certain hope for a happy future. Through all the grief and pain, the Shepherd is walking with you, leading you on the right path to recovery. Grief is a natural reaction to loss. Bereavement is the process we go through when we grieve. Being a member of humanity means we walk through dark valleys throughout our lives. As described in Psalm 23, some of those valleys may feel like we are passing through death itself, dramatically changing our reality forever.

We try to express to others how we are feeling. Careworn, we fail to find the words that accurately describe our pain. No one can take away our grief. We feel alone. The devastation of our anguish is not apparent but is visible to the heart. Finding a pathway through can be complicated. There is certainly Nothing Good about Grief! My book will help you to understand and articulate what you are experiencing, and to come to terms with what is happening.

The thoughts and ideas I present in my books are the results of forty years of my personal and professional experience and theological understanding. When we are grieving a weighty book is challenging to cope with; therefore, I have written it as an easy read.

Part One is the preamble to later sections. Do not skip through this because this will prepare you for your journey. Part Two is devoted to defining grief and bereavement, understanding what the symptoms of the three phases of grief are, and why we feel as we do. Part Three supplies a three-phased guide to recovery and discovering pathways into the new light of day. Part Four provides simple ways to recover through reflections and guidelines. Part Five will help you make the adjustments you need and assist you on your journey, keeping you on the path to maintaining your recovery.


From a therapeutic point of view, to help with grief recovery, I offer a Phased Approach because no one grieves in the same way as you do. Your bereavement is particular to how you feel and react to your grief. I see the term Phase as a statement of hope. The symptoms of grief outlined here in this book are well documented. However, the difference is that I have developed the phased approach because it is flexible while using Psalm 23 as a guide. A phase is a period in your life, it is fleeting, and it does not last.

The symptoms of your grief I have outlined are Shock, Suffering and Anger/resentment. As you move through these into recovery, these symptoms will not last. You will eventually fully recover to enjoy life again. A phase denotes qualities that refer to time, a stage and flexibility, softness, and gracefulness. It is not fixed or rigid and can be adapted to each need. On the other hand, the process or step method is the opposite of that of the phased approach. It does not allow for individuality, fundamentally inflexible with a specified way of doing things for everyone. I see the three phases as a prescription of care, in the sense of a remedy and will bring you through to recovery.

And like any prescription, the right dose is required for recovery. If you take more than is prescribed, the effects will be damaging. If you do not take enough, the remedy will be ineffectual. If you take someone else’s dose, there will be a problem. For each person, the dosage is different depending on a whole host of factors. That is why each prescription has only your name on it. The three phases are the same, they have your name on them. Utilizing the phased approach, instead, of following steps or a process method is more realistic, so you can move at your own pace and just far more darn right kinder!

For over 40 years, and over several countries, I have worked as a church leader and professional counsellor. We will journey together while learning that you have a Shepherd who leads you on. Your Shepherd who understands, and weeps for your pain, is calling you into His love and mercy.

Thank you for visiting me here; I hope this post was helpful.

Please subscribe using the banner as you come onto the site. Also, please follow this blog, and you’ll find a button on the lower bottom right and leave a comment with any questions or prayer requests.

Virtual hugs, I look forward to your visit to my next blog post!

Remember to live life on purpose, in Hope. Faith and Love

Paula Rose Parish💕

🖤Want to help support me as an author?

 ✔BOOKS BY PAULA available at AMAZON in the UK, USA, Aust;

📚Nothing Good about Grief: Path to recovery with Psalm 23 after COVID-19 & other losses.

 📚Psalm 23 Unwrapped: Hope in difficult times.

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