Faith Must Be Sincere

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 17, ten lepers begged Jesus to have pity on them. Jesus asked them to go show themselves to the priests. As they were going, they were cleansed. But only one of the ten returned and fell at the the feet of Jesus to thank him. Jesus said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you." I believe what means the most to the Lord and counts for us is that we sincerely believe in him, even though we know we can never be perfect. This is so much better than being a believer outwardly but with no sincerity within our heart.

**"Killing" the Ego

        The ego is always in us. We can starve it, not pay any attention to it, etc., but it tends to rear its ugly head every chance it gets. Even when we are serving God, we remind ourselves that we are doing something good. In Luke 17.10, Jesus described the attitude a servant should assume by saying, "When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'" The best way to "kill" the ego is to let the Lord fill you to the fullest so that you will be occupied with him alone.

Forever With Jesus

        Communion experience. Our relationship with Christ once established is forever. We are loved by him forever. He'll guard our soul always. We'll have eternal life with him forever. He understands us always. We can trust in him forever. He is perfect for us as passing creatures in this passing world.

*Extra Awareness

We should live and realize that God knows everything about us at any time.        

The Unlovely and Unpleasant

        Jesus wants us to love everyone, especially those who do not love us. By the same token, we should also be willing to perform any task that's unpleasant to serve the Lord.

**To Be Nothing or Everything to God?

        Before the Lord God, we must realize that we are nothing, smaller than a dust particle in the universe, sinful and full of pride. Then to the Lord, we are his most precious children he would sacrifice his own Son to save so that we might have eternal life – we are everything to him! The question is "Do you want to remain to be nothing or become everything to God?"      

***My Great Wise Advice

        When we meet God after we die, we'll be shown in a flash what we've done and failed to do on earth so that we would understand why we receive the final judgment given to us. It would be smart for us to review our past on our own now and correct our course if necessary. Start storing up treasures in heaven now to avoid facing the biggest possible shock of your whole existence.

**Two New Realizations

        I realized two things today, one happy and one sad. The happy one first: Everything Jesus said in the scriptures was spoken out of love. He might sound harsh and demanding at times, but they were uttered out of love too! The sad realization: So many of the beautiful things man have created in the world seem rather pathetic, for their works were all created for their own glory. My comment would be in the vein of Jesus' prayer from the cross, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do."        

**God's Tolerances

        The Lord God understands our human nature and weaknesses well. As long as our intention is good and sincere, he tolerates our childishness, fears, or even our stupidities, for his love overlooks all our faults and shortcomings. But we can do much better than that! Submit yourself to him and seek to be holy like him, and you'll get all the help you need from him.

Following God in Faith

        To put our faith in God means to wait patiently for him to prompt us, lead us, and guide us. Getting anxious about what we can do for him is rushing ahead of the Holy Spirit. The Lord knows our intention to serve him and will show the way in his time. We simply follow and not question when he reveals the whole plan to us or just the next single little step for us to take. 

*Greatest Possible Intimacy

        Communion experience. I experienced the greatest possible intimacy with the Lord to date, making me realize that he is with all of us always. 

Saving Faith

        To believe in God is to believe in his love for us. It is this faith that has the power to save us.

**Best Way to Live*

        You've heard said that we should live each day as if it is the first day of our life. This is good, for it makes us look forward to discovering new things every day. Then it's also been said that we should live as if today is the last day of our life. This is better, for now we are being farsighted. Unfortunately though, many miss the point and start to enjoy the pleasures of the world as much as they can. Personally, I see that the best way for us is to live as if the Second Coming of Christ is going to happen anytime now, which is true. This is being most realistic. Realizing this, we can still continue to store up treasures in heaven in the meantime.    

Joy of Success

        I have tried hard to come up with a drain connecting the pipe on the house to the underground pipe. Previous installations had never lasted long. Finally, I stumbled upon a downspout extender that could work with some modification. I tested it and I was right! It was a good feeling that I solved the problem satisfactorily. I thought of how happy we and God would feel when he succeeds in making us perfect. 

*God Full of Surprises

        God has an amazing way of answering prayers. When my heart is burdened and I pray to him, I have no idea how he is going to help me. But help does come at the appropriate time in an unexpected way. His latest response to me came when I was listening to a talk online on a subject totally unrelated to my issue, yet what I heard illuminated me. It's a matter of correcting my perception to see the overall picture and it took someone else to make me see it. Our God is full of delightful surprises, making my journey of following him truly exciting.

***Enjoying God

        I had enjoyed doing many things in life. Listening to good music whether it be classical, jazz, vocals, or other instrumentals was one big enjoyment. Driving a sports car on a winding road was also fun. And there were others. Now I no longer get carried away by any of these things, so you might think that I have no more fun in life. Certainly, all the things remain the same; what had happened was that Christ had become so dazzling and attractive that everything else just faded away, you might say. It's like the shining sun standing out more than anything else you can see. I finally realized that no created thing can be more beautiful than its creator. Being with my Lord is now my greatest enjoyment, and fun.

***A Jewish Convert Story

        This is the amazing, beautiful testimony of Roy Schoeman which I just came across unexpectedly on YouTube. I know there is a purpose here for me. May you profit from watching it. (A footnote. Roy is the author of the book Salvation is from the Jews and also published the book Honey from the Rock, a compilation of stories by 16 Jews who have found the sweetness of Christ.)

*Most Important Freedom*

        You can have the freedom to get the best medical care, to accumulate great material wealth, and to earn highest possible honors, but if you do not have the freedom to believe in your God, then you are not free at all.