"Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48)

Monday, July 30, 2018

**Facing Death

        We all die one day and we feel differently about death. Those who know they are in grave sin may face the greatest fear. Again, they could turn to God in their last moment and be saved. Therefore, dying suddenly or in sleep is not necessarily a blessing, for you are robbed of the chance to repent. Some people do not know what's going to happen after death and are more or less resigned to entering the unknown – this can be a very uneasy experience. Anyway, the best way to leave this world is to let Christ into your life as much as possible to the point that you become one with him. In deep love with the Lord, you long to be with him forever, thus banishing all fear of death. Death now is the gateway to total fulfillment and contentment.   

**Prophecies Meant for Us

        In today's reading from Matthew13, Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables to fulfill what had been said through the prophet: I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world. In the time of the Old Testament, I am sure that all the prophecies about the coming Messiah couldn't have impacted the people much, for they have not yet been fulfilled. The prophecies mean so much more to us now that we are able to see how Jesus' had come and fulfilled them all. (You can easily find dozens of prophecies fulfilled by Jesus concerning his coming and in his passion, death, resurrection, and ascension.) Time to believe!

Sunday, July 29, 2018

**A Sin Is a Sin

        We cannot say to God that we are a little bad now, but we are really good at other times, for the good doesn't cancel the bad. All our sins need to be absolved by God. Being more good than bad won't get us anywhere. Getting the Lord to forgive all our sins is the only way out.

Dream Realization

        I see wild, enthusiastic audiences at popular music festivals completely letting themselves go under the spell of the performers and/or music. The Woodstock Festival of 1969 amazingly attracted an audience of more than 400,000 and many attendees lost all their inhibitions by going naked and using drugs freely. My thought is how beautiful it would be if we can all abandon ourselves completely in the Lord God instead! That would indeed turn earth into heaven. 

*Alternative Viewpoint

        You may see yourself living in freedom on your own without God; but in fact, you are only living in a prison built by you to keep God out.

Alternative View

        If you do not believe in Jesus, rather than questioning yourself why you should believe in him, look into why you shouldn't believe in him, and you may realize that he is to be accepted, followed, worshipped, and loved with all your heart and all your soul.  

Saturday, July 28, 2018

*Urgent Call to Arms

        Beyond just believing in the Lord, we must realize that we are to fight to win the spiritual warfare in which he is engaged. To be a good soldier, we cannot afford to remain complacent. The least we could do is to pray hard for ourselves and our enemies. To love the Lord with all our heart is to fight for him with all our spirit.

***Our Inside Track

        Everything we do God knows and therefore affects him. Whatever we do, whether we know it or not, is either for or against him. If we are not being honest with someone, we are not being honest with God, period. If we love someone, God feels loved by us, period. This is beautiful, for it makes living our life meaningful – we actually have the inside track in shaping our own life and our future the way we like! Once again, it's time to rejoice in the Lord.

God Offering His Love

        Communion time thought. When Jesus was ready to enter me, he was ready to offer me his most tender, humble love. 

*A U-Turn We Must Make

        As sinners, the big turning around we must make is to repent of our sins to God to get them removed so that we might be saved. Otherwise, we would remain lost forever. This is completely logical, almost common sense. I am bringing it up to remind everyone, for sin has made us forget that we shall face its consequences if we do not do anything about it now.