Why Not Accepting Jesus?

       If you have not accepted Jesus into your life yet, why not? As I said before more than once, with Jesus you just have to decide if he is true God or false man ~ there is no third choice. If you don't believe, then it boils down to either he is right and you are wrong or he is wrong and you are right. A better question: What is your true reason for not accepting him? Be honest and your answer may change your mind.

Boring Happiness

        The Pursuit of happiness in our secular world, especially the entertainment sector, is downright much ado about nothing. Once you know Christ, anything that does not uplift the soul and spirit becomes utterly boring. This is a good test of how much you belong or not belong to the world.

Doing God's Will Right

        Doing God's will is a serious undertaking and there is to be no cutting corners about it. Whatever we do, we should see as carrying out an assignment from God, our duty and an honor. Half-heartedness has no place in serving God.

A Great Analogy

        I love Jesus calling us his sheep and himself our shepherd. Indeed, although we can still manage to survive without him, we'd be in constant danger and not knowing where we are going. With him we are safe and know exactly where we are heading. It's such a great analogy! To be his sheep or not to be his sheep, that shouldn't even become a question.

God for Our Relaxation

        Matthew 11:28-30 was read at the July 19 Mass. Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. ...my yoke is easy, and my burden light." Since we are weak and God is strong, it's logical that we should rely upon him in all things and at all times. To word things a little differently, God is for our relaxation.

Why We Sin Easily

        I've been thinking that we try not to catch the flu, a cold, or any virus. If someone is down with a contagious disease, we stay as far away as possible. Yet when it comes to sin, not only often we don't run away from it, we even embrace it despite knowing that sin is harmful and its consequence can even be deadly. Why so? Perhaps it's because we see how sickness or a disease directly affects us and we don't quite see how sin stains the soul. It should help to realize that sin directly grieves God!

Let God Do the Rest

        I am still lagging behind in posting. The Gospel reading on July 18 was Matthew 11:25-27. Jesus praised the Father for having hidden these things to the wise and the learned but revealed them to the childlike. He also said that no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him. So, it is God who does the revealing. Our priest at Mass told the story how another priest worked hard on a homily, but it still came out rather flat and he felt dejected. Then a woman told him after Mass how the sermon had deeply moved her. It seems that all we need to do is to do our best and let God do the rest.

Taking Criticism the Right Way

        How do we take criticisms from others? It's easy to feel offended if we don't control our ego ("Who are you to tell me what to do?") Recently, an older lady gave me some constructive suggestions as to how I could have performed a certain task better. I realized that she meant to be helpful and what she said was to the point and exactly I needed to know. I felt that God used her to communicate to me. When the Lord wants to speak to you, he doesn't care whether he offends your ego or not. I am grateful that he continues to groom me for what he wants me to do.          

No Escape from Reality

        In John 8, the Jews said to Jesus, "You are not yet 50 years old and you have seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM." What an awesome answer! To me, Jesus is the eternal reality. Reality, being real, exists and there is no escape from that. Those who do not believe in the Lord live in a virtual world and will have to face him inescapably in the end. 

Getting the Right Help

        I started my last post four days ago, then my computer malfunctioned. A couple of months ago, the computer was cleaned by Microsoft for virus and malware infections. Then I had the so called "stop error" or "blue screen." Since it's a Sony computer, I contacted Sony for support. Both Microsoft and Sony do all the work by taking remote control of my computer at their end. Sony used the Iolo System Mechanic tool to check and repair the problems uncovered, inexcusably ignorant of the known fact that this tool messes up Window Vista in various ways ~ in my case, the Windows Installer. As a result, I could no longer install any new software ~ it was definitely a serious blunder! Online I couldn't find an easy solution to this particular problem. Finally, I got a local 30-year experienced person to come to my home and he amazingly fixed the problem in a simple way. Moreover, he removed even more viruses and malwares. The lessons I learned: (1) Online fixing is not good enough and even risky, (2) There are many softwares such as Iolo System Mechanic, which you can download free or are low-cost, but you can't be sure that they are both safe and effective, and (3) You can't beat having someone who's experienced and can personally come out to you check out the problem. (I would avoid using any big chain that employs many repairmen available for different locations because you don't know whom you are going to get.)

        These lessons point to the truth that for spiritual healing, we should choose God and appeal to him for help. 

Fortified by God

        During the Communion Rite at Mass on July 17 (4 days ago), when we prayed "Lamb of God...have mercy on us" and "Lamb of God...grant us peace," I felt that mercy and peace were perfectly for us to ask from God for. Then just before Communion, we asked the Lord to heal our souls. I saw that shielded from evil by the mercy of God, with our soul healed and in peace, we should be ready to face anything coming my way.

Judgment Day Warning

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 11, Jesus made it clear that there is a judgment day for all. This gave me comfort because the fact that there would be closure just made life meaningful. Of course, judgment day, also known as doomsday, does not spell doom for those who follow and love the Lord, but for those who don't, this is a warning to be heeded.

God Must Come First

        This is a sequel to the excerpts quoted from Matthew in my last post. Jesus makes it clear that God must come first and be the only one to attach ourselves to. The time to follow him should be the moment we hear his call. And if we respond with "not yet" after we hear his voice, we only prolong the time we won't have inner peace. We all (should) know that God commands and pursues us because he loves us, so any problem has to come from our hardened hearts.  

Only God Can Speak Thus

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 10, Jesus gives many commands to his Twelve disciples with great authority. Some excerpts: "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me." This is clearly God speaking, all right!

We Too Levitate

        Levitation is defined as the rising of a body in air by supernatural means. Historically, there have been many levitating saints. In a way, we also "levitate" as we get to know the Lord. At the beginning, we are deeply immersed in the world and attached to the many things of the world. The result is that we feel heavily weighed down and tired. As we know God through Christ more and more, the burden gets lighter and lighter until finally, we are in union with him and feel like being lifted up into air in total freedom. So it is like levitation, but the rising just took a lot longer.

Being One in God's Love

        Today is optionally the Memorial of Our Lady of Carmel, so I thought of Mary Our Mother. As Mass was starting, I felt that I really knew and was most close to her, St. Therese, as well as all the other saints. This is made possible through the love of God, for in his love there is no separation, only oneness. It's all understood and felt in the hearts of both the saints and mine ~ one of the numerous delights of knowing God.  

Cana Miracle Amazing Wonder

        I mentioned "wedding ceremony" in my last post. Now I am bringing up the wedding at Cana which Jesus attended. I often thought about the first miracle Jesus performed there ~ changing water into wine. Someday our scientists probably can figure out a way to achieve this, but they'll have to add or do something to the water to change the chemistry, while Jesus just had the empty jars filled with water and out comes the wine. This instant powerful transformation is evidence enough for me to believe that Jesus is God. 

How Union Attracts Us

        During a wedding ceremony, a couple promises to be true to each other in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love and honor each other all the days of their lives. I brought this up because once we are in union with Christ, whether we are in good times or in bad, in sickness or in health ~ it doesn't matter anymore! All external circumstances and conditions will no longer affect the union. Such is the attraction of God.