Throughout history to the present, there have been many who yearned for God, experienced a calling, believed in him and followed him joyfully even to death (for example, the Christian martyrs). If we just happened to be on earth by some kind of accident with God nonexisting, I don't believe what I described above could ever have occurred. Intuitively, I again know that God exists and has made it possible for us to know him.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
God Ever-Present
When I got up around six this morning, I did not turn on any light and saw that it was still quite dark outside. In this quiet darkness, it was easy to sense your loneness. Yet immediately I knew that Jesus was present, more certain than I knew that the sun would soon rise.
Monday, October 19, 2015
Jesus, Savior and Sanctifier
Communion reflections. When Jesus went on the cross, he carried all our sins upon himself. We surrender to him and we become clean. When we receive Jesus in Holy Communion, all his love enters us. We surrender to him and we become holy.
Spiritual IQ
In today's Gospel reading from Luke 12, Jesus told the crowd the parable of the rich fool. The fool is the rich man who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God. He says to himself, "Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!," not knowing that his life will be demanded of him that night. Here's someone who probably has a lot of business acumen, but a low spiritual IQ. Obviously, a high intellectual IQ can get you into a university, but you would need a high spiritual IQ to get into heaven.
Journey of Faith
I still remember when I first became a Christian, there were instants at which I sensed the existence (not presence) of God to keep me going in my journey of faith. As I persisted, my faith grew, but I was still amazed by others of stronger faith. When I asked the Holy Spirit to baptize me during my involvement in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement, things started to happen. I actually experienced the presence of God and his power of transforming us. When you let the Holy Spirit take over, your spiritual growth soars without effort on your part. Those were the memorable four and a half years of my life. Finally, the Lord withdrew and the time had arrived for me to surrender to him so that his graces might pour freely into me. Now I do not have to make myself believe anymore ~ the faith is automatically in place as I enjoy his presence within me and about me. Throughout the entire process, God remained gentle, patient, and loving. He truly respected my free will in order to make my faith meaningful to me. What a great Lord!
Sunday, October 18, 2015
Ever Present Urgency
Today I particularly feel the urgency for the world to turn to the Lord before it's too late. Since Jesus can come at any time and we can die at any time, that urgency remains ever present. Every moment we have is precious, an opportunity for us to glorify God and not to be squandered in sinning against God. Both good and bad things happen. It is only when bad things happen that we wish they have not happened.
No Fair Again
Communion experience. I felt great joy in receiving the Lord, so beautiful, loving, and holy; yet so many ignore, reject, or even blaspheme him. Where is fairness? Know that when we hurt the Lord, we end up ultimately hurting ourselves the most. When we love him, we love ourselves too and become happy.
Unfair to God
When we wish to speak to God, he is all ears and jubilant. Then when he wishes us to hear him, we harden our hearts or play deaf. How unfair!
God Is Real!
I have posted on this blog over 5,000 times for the sole purpose of letting all know that God is real, that he loves us and is longing for our love, and that he is to be experienced and enjoyed. I am not forcing myself in any way to say all these things for his sake ~ it just comes forth from my heart naturally as the Holy Spirit directs and inspires me. And it's a great honor and joy to serve the Lord, our Father, our brother, and our teacher. I'd like to emphasize that God wants to be one with you all; he wants you to experience his love, his power, and his holiness. There is nothing more exciting than letting him transform you into a new creature, good enough to enter heaven. As the father said to the elder brother of the prodigal son in the parable, "Everything I have is yours." This is the kind of relationship God desires to have with you. We are so privileged and blessed that we can get to know our God so intimately through Christ. Let him break you down and build you up again, and you'll know that I am speaking what I know to be the truth.
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