***The Compelling Lord***

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 16, Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it . . . the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay each according to his conduct." The Lord is speaking as God here. Again, he compels us to believe that he spoke the truth or didn't know what he's talking about—we are cornered!

***Ultimate Reality*****

        We can continue sinning and living in a disordered world filled with turmoil or obey Christ and have peace in a world filled with people loving one another. So it all comes down to if we obey or rebel against our Lord God. This is the ultimate reality, and we need to deal with it!

***Great Spiritual Messages***

         I have recommended the spiritual classic He and I by Gabrielle Bossis quite a few times on this blog, for the messages from Jesus to her show how much he yearns to be one with us. After reading them, I just't fell in love with the Lord even more! I gave a copy of thos book to a friend once who was suffering from terminal cancer and it completely cheered her up and changed her outlook. This book has garnered hundreds of 5-star reviews on Amazon, but unfortunately has become harder to obtain. (Note: Make sure you don't mistakenly buy the book with the same title by an Isabella Renee.) The following video lets you hear some samples of these beautiful messages.

**Remaining in God's Peace**

        In Matthew 5:22, Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment." That could also include those who complain about or are impatient with things. Essentially, the Lord wants us to remain calm, not letting anything upset our peace under any circumstances. This may seem impossible for us to achieve, but if you attain union with God through the Holy Eucharist, you can pretty much succeed or recover quickly should you fail.  

***Prayer Testing Your Allegiance to God***

        When you pray "Lord, have mercy on me," do you really meant it? If you do, you must be willing to submit all your will to his entirely. Otherwise, your prayer would be wasted. 

****Crucial Realization****

         The current life expectancy of the world is around 73.3 years. So this is how much time we more or less have to fix our eternity!

***Life Getting Better with Christ***

         I have lived long enough to go through many changes in life and must say that right now I am going through the best part, my last phase, for Christ is now my most beloved Lord and soulmate. What comes next will be a thousand times or more better! The best is yet to come for sure, amen.

***Thanking the Lord in Return***

        Communion experience. The Lord had already given himself up for us and all I could give him was my willingness to obey him in all things. That seemed to please him, for it's exactly what he was awaiting from us.

***Our Calling and Mission***

        In this evil-filled world, being a lukewarm Christian is not being of much use—all Christians need to be on fire to follow the Lord to fight evil and win souls! This is in fact our only calling and mission in this life.

***Mankind's Sad State***

        God has always loved us. He made us in his image so that we can get to know him. He keeps us alive on earth and provides us with what we need to remain alive. Most of all, he has shown us how to gain eternal life. Yet so many of us who know that we sin and mess up the world still do not accept Christ as our Savior! It's hard to believe that our consciences have become so dull and our hearts so hardened that we no longer care about seeking the truth anymore—a most sad state indeed!