***Way of Becoming a Better Christian***

         I finally got home and finished unpacking. It's been a long drive. During one part of the trip, I turned on the the car radio and heard a priest speaking on a Catholic radio program. He talked about how a married couple must remain faithful to each other, we must be trustworthy in small matters, we must pray often, etc. Theses are all good rules to know and follow. Then I could easily add a hundred more such rules. If we can remember and follow them all, we'll definitely be better Christians. The problem is that it's not likely we'll remember all of them. I recommend that we surrender ourselves to the Lord to seek union with him. Once we attain that union, we'll be faithful to our spouse, trustworthy in all matters, pray often, etc., following all the rules effortlessly without even thinking about them. What an excellent, superb, and smart way to become a better Christian.

*Focusing upon the Lord

        I am going home today since leaving home eleven days ago. It'll probably take me nine hours to drive home, including taking a couple of breaks along the way. I've been missing the Lord a lot. Not that he's not with me, but since my friends were with me most of the time, I wasn't able to focus upon him always. Most of the friends are Christian, but Christ was never mentioned. Only once I had the chance to talk about him with one person in private. Christ is my Lord and my God, exactly how Thomas the Apostle felt about him. I look forward to be home so that I'll be able to focus upon the Lord a lot more.

Myopic People

        Today's thought. I see people, often the older folks, trying hard to think of ways to make more money. Of course, sometimes it's out of necessity, but in most cases they are already quite well off already. I feel sorry for them for not seeing that by believing in Christ, they can inherit all the riches of heaven for all eternity.

***Safe from Our Enemies

         From today's Psalm 18, David sang to the LORD after the LORD had rescued him from the clutches of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul, "O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, My God, my rock of refuge, my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold! Praised be the LORD, I exclaim, and I am safe from my enemies."  We who love and follow Christ are safe from our enemies too, for we are destined for heaven and no Satan or anyone in this world can possibly touch our soul, safe in the hands of our LORD!

*****Gems Learned from the Lord

     Today I thought of some of the gems the Lord had taught me. It's worth mentioning them again.
          (1) Let God love you and his love will make you perfect!
         (2) You have only one Lord, your God and Father. Never lord it over yourself for a single moment. Being a slave to God frees you completely, for now you are in perfect harmony with your loving creator.
          (3) Share all your thoughts and feelings with God so that there'll be no barrier whatsoever between you and him. This will lead you to union with him.

***Time To Be Productive

        Today's observation. People who do not know the God of Christ well are more or less lost. They while away much of their time doing things to amuse themselves, not in any way involving God. This is a pity, for our time on earth is limited—if we are truly with the Lord, we need to be productive by storing up as much treasure in heaven as possible now.

**Faith in God Essential

       Materialism has replaced God. The more materialistic we become, the further away we fall from God. If you do not have a strong foundation in the Lord, a good person is easily snared by materialism. Once captured, freeing oneself is nearly impossible without help from God. To become rich and comfortable, but without faith in God, cannot be your dream life. Faith must be present to fight materialism for the security of your soul. So it's God first and whatever might come last. 

***One Top Christian Priority

       Recently, someone, an incessant talker, pointed someone else out to me and told me that the person was an incessant talker. I had to try hard not to laugh. It shows that we easily find faults in others and not see our own imperfections. Jesus is right in calling anyone a hypocrite who seeks to remove the splinter from his brother's eye before removing the wooden beam from his own eye. We need to examine ourselves first to be sure that we are as perfect as possible before the Lord. To lead by example should be a top priority.

**Tragic State of the World

        Being sinners, we need to be formed and molded by Christ to become fit for entering heaven. Sadly, most of us are being conditioned and regulated by our secular, materialistic world, leading us toward self-destruction. The Lord continually calls and warns us, yet we become increasingly deaf and numb to him. A monumental tragedy unfolds.

**MyTrue Home

        As I mentioned, I am traveling now. Even though the homes of my friends and relatives I stay at are all very comfortable, I instinctively, intuitively, and spiritually know that I am not truly home until I am with my Lord Christ Jesus. Without him, you'll always be seeking peace and rest endlessly.

*To Die and Live Again

        In today's Gospel reading from John 12, Jesus said to Philip and Andrew, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever seres me must follow me." In short, for us to have eternal life, we must go through a spiritual death. Only by dying to ourselves can we have a new life. The key to achieving it is to follow Christ.

*Christ Our Only Passageway

         I haven't been able to blog these last two days because of traveling to visit my younger son and some friends. In Reading II from Hebrews 5 today, Paul writes, "When Christ Jesus was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him." We see that obeying Christ is necessary for eternal salvation. Therefore, if we can submit ourselves to him, we are ready. There is no way of bypassing Christ, as he is our final judge too.

Becoming God's Beloved

         After Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, a voice came from the heavens, saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:17) When Jesus was transfigured on Mount Tabor before Peter, James, and John, the three saw him conversing with Moses and Elijah. Then a bright cloud cast a shadow over them and again, from the cloud they heard a voice saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." (Matthew 17:5) Now, if Jesus is our beloved Lord, that'll surely make us God's beloved children! 

*It Is a Sin . . .

 to deliberately reject Jesus when you know about him and why he came into the world to die for us.       

**Most Appropriate Prayer

        If you think that you are a pretty good person, then you are not good enough for God. Remember the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18? The Pharisee took up his position and prayed, "O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous. I fast twice a week, yada yada." On the other hand, a tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, "O God, be merciful to me a sinner." Jesus said to all, "I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted." Indeed, the most appropriate prayer for us to say is "O God, have mercy on me a sinner." When you truly say it from your heart, you are drawn instantly close to the Lord. To humble ourselves is to imitate the Lord Jesus, always the right thing to do.

**Treasured Information for Us

        Also from today's Gospel's reading from John 5, Jesus said, "Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life." We see that the Son identifies himself with the Father and how we can pass from death to life. Such information is to be treasured!

**Proof that Jesus Is Our Savior

          In today's Gospel reading from John 5, Jesus said to the Jews, "Just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes." I am reminded of Jesus' healing of the paralytic in Matthew 9. People brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Courage, child, your sins are forgiven." At that, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming." Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, "Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"—he then said to the paralytic, "Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home." He rose and went home. That Jesus had the authority to heal the paralytic is proof that he had the power to forgive sins. Similarly, the Resurrection of Jesus is proof that he has the power to give life to whomever he wishes as he claimed in today's Gospel reading. He is our Savior.

***Easy Road to God

        Again from today's reading from Isaiah 49, the LORD says to the prophet: "He who pities them leads them and guides them beside springs of water. I will cut a road through all my mountains, and make my highways level." I really feel that the Lord has done all the work to remove all the obstacles and made our road to him level. Jesus had done the work and now we can get to heaven easily! The Lord wills something to be done and it's done. Well, we simply will to go to heaven by believing in Jesus and it's done for us! God has made everything easy for us; we just need to make it easy for ourselves.