**Extreme Outcomes**

         Remain in Christ and you are saved and on your way to heaven. Rejecting Christ and you are lost and cut off from him forever. These diametric outcomes are extreme because God's love for us is extreme and to reject this great love is surely to be extreme too.

***Saints' Preference**

         I believe that all the great saints, living and deceased, would prefer or have preferred to remain unknown so that Christ alone may be the center of our attention and glorified.

**Unbeatable Feeling

         Communion experience. The Lord touched me way beyond the physical level; he healed and perfected my soul!

***The Christ Difference***

         If you are living without Christ, chances are you are not too happy with your life. But if you are quite happy, then know that this is as happy as you'll get, for you cannot possibly have a happier afterlife without knowing Christ first. On the other hand, with Christ you're lifted to a higher state of existence—you are now set free from the world and your sins, and destined to live your next life infinitely happier than your present one. 

***The Crucial Question***

         In today's Gospel reading from Luke 9, Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’” Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.” Today, we face the same question and must respond to the Lord, for how we answer will determine our eternal destiny.  

**Difficulty in Following Christ**

         Some of the teachings of the Lord Jesus seem almost humanly impossible for us to follow. Of course, we should never give up and decide to ignore them. So what shall we do? First of all, we must believe that God will never put anyone who loves him through a test he can't pass. And if we do face a difficult test situation, the Holy Spirit will surely show us how to respond. So stop worrying and trust in the Lord fully, then everything will work out well. It sounds cliché, but it's the truth.

**Clear Fact Today**

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 9, Herod the tetrarch was greatly perplexed about Jesus because he heard some saying, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead"; others, "Elijah has appeared"; still others, "One of the ancient prophets has arisen." That's understandable. Today, with billions of Christians worldwide, it should be crystal clear that Jesus is the Son of God, our Savior!

***Why Total Abandonment?***

        St. Augustine wrote in his autobiography Confessions this famous saying: "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you." So if your heart is restless, you have not rested in God yet! The Lord God can totally take care of us and we need to abandon ourselves totally in him.

**Unfinished Business*

         We'll always have unfinished business to deal with till our last day on earth. So try to complete what's important or necessary first and the rest when you have the time. Of course, if you die right now, you'll just have to let everything go. So it wouldn't make any sense to let unfinished business cause you to lose your peace. Once you're with the Lord in heaven, he may still assign tasks for you to perform. Then you'll simply see it as following his will and not as something to complete. And you'll always experience peace and joy. So why not see it that way starting right now on earth? If you know your are heaven bound, you might as well live as if you were already there?

*****OUR ONE & ONLY GOD*****

        We all like to be our own god, but there's only one true God who is our Lord, our Savior, our shepherd, our teacher, our counselor, our friend, our brother, our confidant, our soulmate, and also our servant—He is the God of Christ.

***How Does Your Soul Look?***

        I watched Charlie Kirk's memorial service on TV. His wife Erika who will succeed him as the CEO of Turning Point shared his one notable message from his journal: Every time you make a decision, it puts a mark on your soul. I totally agree that every thought, every intention, every word uttered, or every doing of yours can keep your soul spotless or tainted. How you want to appear finally to the Lord is all up to you.

***Doing God's Will Is . . .***

an absolute joy, for anytime you please him, he shares his joy with you!