**A Small Step to God

         This morning the Lord made me see that we are so very close to having life with him for all eternity—we only need to believe and trust in Christ fully, and we'll be ready to leave this world in peace. So we can have all of God and inherit everything he has for us or end up with absolutely nothing that would be of comfort to us. The choice should be a no-brainer. 

***Pushing God to the Limit

         God's most urgent call to us is to convert ourselves first. If we do that, we'll overcame sin and be saved for all eternity. Then we'll automatically want to spread the good news to all others. Yet much of the world does not heed this call and continues to ignore its own salvation. Perhaps the warning like the illumination of conscience will wake many up to God. We are really pushing the Lord to the limit, being so insolent and rebellious. Alas, if we reject God's infinite mercy, nothing will be able to save us. Perhaps this is the unforgivable sin?

***Only Way of Truly Living

         To know God well, we need to become like him. Then we can become his soulmates and get to know him thoroughly. Obviously, the Lord is already perfect, so we are the ones to be transformed by him to become like him. If we cooperate, it's a done deal, for everything is possible for him if we don't get in his way! It's that simple, and most exciting, I can assure you. This to me is truly living. To live any other way is not knowing what you are doing.

*Appreciating God for Giving Us Life

         I have acquired a print of Mary with Baby Jesus and one of the Crucified Christ. Originally I thought I would hang one in the living room and the other one in my study. The more I looked at them, the more I realized that they should go together to show fully why he came to us. Now they hang next to each other in the living room so that when I look at them, I see immediately that he came into our world to die for us in order that we may have life forever.

*How Is Your Conscience?

          God has given each of us a conscience to know right from wrong or good from evil, so we have the obligation to do our best to keep it clear and sharp. Without God's guidance, the conscience can easily get muddy or dull. But with God, the Holy Spirit can help you keep it super sensitive or sharp, and it becomes a great joy. It's a fact that those who have a poor conscience live with an unrestful heart, while those who possess a good conscience live in peace. A clear conscience is a must for being holy.

**Only God's Understanding Matters

          We often feel hurt when people misunderstand our action, especially when our intention is good. Then people are not God; they are fallible and may even be malicious. Since God is the only one who understands us perfectly, we only need to care about what he think of us. A hundred years of being misunderstood on earth now is nothing compared to being understood by God now and for all eternity later on. 

**Making God Remember You

        Do you know that when you pray for others, you are one of the beneficiaries too? The more you give for God, the more he fills you up. He always rewards those who are selfless. The more you forget yourself, the more he remembers you. 

**Flexible Praying

         Sometimes we pray for one thing single-mindedly, but we can be flexible and pray for the opposite outcome too. Here's one example to show you what I mean. I have suffered a shoulder pain for years due to repeated falls. The recovery has always been slow and incomplete. The pain now is tolerable. If the Lord wishes me to remain thus for whatever reason, that''d be OK with me, for he'll give me the strength and patience necessary to endure it. But at the same time, I am free to pray for its healing too, knowing that he can heal me in an instant. If that doesn't happen, it'll be OK with me too. The bottom line, "Thy will be done." So pray for whatever you need from God, but be flexible and happy with whatever he sends your way.

***Our Best Ally

        The most perfect existence for us on earth is to be of one heart and of one mind with the Lord God. This is entirely possible because it is what he desires, unless we don't care about it. We need to know that nothing is impossible for God and appreciate the fact that he can help us not only live perfectly on earth, but also get into heaven later! 

**To Belong to the Lord's Family

           In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 12, when Jesus was speaking to the crowds, someone told him that his mother and his brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with him. He said in replay, "Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?" Stretching his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my  mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and my mother." Jesus was speaking about his true family. Now we know how to belong to his family!

**A Generation That Rejects Suffering

         I see our generation as a spoiled generation. We complain it's too warm or too cold even when riding in a car for a short time. We get bored when we don't find anything entertaining around us. That is, we get unhappy anytime we don't get what we want. It is a self-centered generation that does not accept any suffering or even inconvenience, thus distancing itself from the Lord God who suffered for all of us for our salvation and advised us to take up our cross and follow him. Apparently, this generation life cares more about life on earth than life eternal.  

**Christ the Source of All Our Needs

         Christ is ready to give us eternal life, for he wants us to have the very best. It follows that he's ready to give us all the rest we need too. Accept and believe in him and you are set for living forever! Truth is always simple, but we always make accepting it complicated for ourselves.

**How to Achieve Freedom in God

        Before the Lord, we need to decrease to nothing. You see, God loves to become one with us and has made our path to him straight and smooth. But if our pride or ego is too big, we simply won't be able to squeeze through that narrow entrance to enter him. So we need to become a humble nobody first in order to succeed. Now, once in his infinite space, you get to enjoy your full freedom.

**Our Test for Entering Heaven

          Suppose you are given a long list of possible wishes and one of them is to get to heaven, and you are only allowed to choose one wish. I believe that anyone with some sense would choose to get to heaven. Then the heart is likely to overrule the head and you continue to live a life leading you further away from God. To remedy this, we need to give God our heart first, and this is precisely the stumbling block for many of us. Letting God have your heart will easily pave your way to be with God. This is the big challenge we face and the test we need to pass. It's all up to us. 

*Making Good News Good for You

       The God of Christ is ready to embrace you and carry you in his bosom all the way to heaven, but you need to seek him first. A closed heart will never know him, while an open one will find the truth and one day know everything. So make your most momentous move today without delay. The good news is made good only when you desire to hear and take advantage of it.   

**God Can Shape Us Perfectly

        I  attended Sunday Mass this morning. I felt as if I were a piece of twisted, deformed metal, and now I was going to the Lord to receive him in the Holy Eucharist and he's going to straighten me out completely. This is what he loves to do and is his specialty. He can shape us perfectly as long as we are willing to put ourselves in his mighty hands.  

**Ungodly Surrender to Satan*

        In the past, Christians died for their faith rather than offending God. Today we have bishops silencing priests who dare to preach the truth for fear of offending Satan. This is a fact, even if you don't see it that way. Those who remain faithfully in Christ the Lord have absolutely no need to fear Satan, knowing that he is only annoying like a mosquito at times—this was how St. Teresa of Avila described it. Focus upon serving the Lord alone and dismiss Satan entirely. Let God deal with the Devil.

*God's Accomplishments vs. Ours

         I was reading what's printed on a snack bag telling how this snack was made by someone who afters years of research and experimenting finally succeeded in making it so tasty. Human beings have accomplished many things. Today's hi tech inventions can be quite ingenious. Yet I find God's simple acts of love much more amazing. Our greatest achievements are not what we can accomplish on our own, but what we can do for his sake via his power. For whatever we do for our own sake, we don't deserve patting ourselves on the back.