**Disposing of Our Crosses

         We carry many crosses daily, and it's easy to lose our inner peace. Then I see that compared to the crosses Christ carries, ours are nothing. No cross can be heavier than the Passion he underwent, and he never complained and kept on loving us. Since then through all these centuries, he still suffers daily as we continue offending him. For the love of the Father, he endures it all! We need to endure our small sufferings for the same reason. In fact, if we offer our crosses up to the Lord, we are drawn deeper into union with him and all our crosses practically vanish.

***Making Christ Our Center

        Jesus, being the Lord God, must become our center. That is, we must do everything according to his will. This is not being extreme, only being right and proper. This is also being realistic and wise, for we came from him and must go through him for our final judgment. We need to make him truly our Lord, for he loves us with the greatest possible love.

****Praying for Trust

      We pray for our needs, but I see that it's fundamental to pray for our trust in God. Without trust, we pray in vain. With trust, all things are possible. So open up to God to let him increase your trust foremost. 

***The Way to Freedom

        We all worry or get anxious about things. Christ tells us to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness first and not to worry or be anxious about anything. I've come to see that we either trust in ourselves or Christ, and to achieve inner peace we have no choice but to trust in him with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind. This entails total obedience and abandonment to him, setting ourselves totally free from ourselves. It may be difficult, but with God everything is possible.

**World's Sad State and Hope

         Rampant worldwide scamming plus the fact that law enforcement agencies are slow in going after the scammers is another sign indicating that the world has more or less accepted evil as a way of life. One needs to be keenly aware that once evil takes hold of you, you are on your way to perdition. Good and evil are as distinguishable from each other as day and night. If we lose this discernment, we are doomed. Wait, we do have the light of Christ shining among us; this is our bright hope! Remain in his light and we'll be going nowhere but heaven, come hell or high water.  

**God's Certainty

         Dealing with fellow human beings, who are all sinners, is not always easy. You can never be certain about what they might do to you. I've been let down numerous times by Christians too. Also, we can never be certain about what accidents or ailments might befall us through nobody's fault. This leads me to trusting in God who is the only one about whom I can be totally certain. I know that he'll always love me and is totally trustworthy. If I follow him faithfully, he'll without a doubt lead me to heaven. 

*****God Indispensable!

     Yesterday I blogged that another reason we need God is that he's the only one who can understand us perfectly. Here is a list of more basic reasons. Of course, I am talking about the God of Christ, our only God.

1. He created all of us in his image.
2. He's the one who keeps our hearts beating and lungs breathing.
3. Everything we need for our sustenance comes from him, including the earth we dwell on.
4. He loves us with the greatest possible love.
5. His sole aim is to save us from sin and get us to heaven.
6. Only he can take away our sins and make us pure and whole again.
7. Only in him can we find the joy that satisfies the soul for all eternity.
8. Only in him can our soul rest in true peace.

     I can give many more reasons. Anyway, let me just pause and ask if you can still possibly live without this God?

**Be Smarter than Evil Spirits

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 1, Jesus came to Capernaum. He entered the synagogue and taught. A man with an unclean spirit was there; he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!" Jesus rebuked him and said, "Quiet! Come our of him!" The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him. 
          The unclean spirit knew exactly who Jesus was and obeyed him. On the other hand, many of us do not obey Jesus because we don't know who he truly is—this is most unfortunate. In Philippians 2, Paul wrote, "At the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord." Be smart and recognize and accept who Jesus truly is, then no evil spirit will be able to touch you.

**Being Wise Early

        When you are young, you live and plan as if you have all the time in the world. Then when you get old and realize that your time on earth is limited, you start to wonder if you've done enough for the Lord—surely you don't want to appear before him empty-handed. This is the beginning of wisdom. To be most wise, look for Christ when you are young, start storing up your treasure in heaven and settle your eternal destiny early. Then you will live a life in peace.  

**Another Reason We Need God

        In this life, there is just not one person who can truly understand you. In fact, we, being imperfect, misunderstand each other all the time. This is how arguments get started. This is also one big reason we need the Lord God who alone understands us perfectly and can make us more understanding. In heaven, there will be only trust and harmony without any misunderstanding.

***One-on-One with the Lord

        Communion experience. The Lord entered me and it's a one-on-one with him. He alone created me, keeps me alive every moment, and will judge me when I face him. My destiny is completely in his loving hands. I rejoiced in my good fortune!

*****Our Selfless Lord

        Today we celebrate The Baptism of the Lord. Jesus was completely sinless, yet he still asked John the Baptist to baptize him like any one of us. This moved me very much, seeing how humble and meek he was. Later he even washed the feet of his disciples. Finally, he gave himself up so that we might be freed from sin and have eternal life. How more selfless can one possibly be? Here's God, the Almighty, to whom we ought to submit ourselves totally, yet he never lords it over us. It is this astounding selflessness that has won me over to follow him.

***God Knows What's Best for Us

         We often don't see what's best for others. For example, parents give their small children all the material things to keep them happy and entertained, but end up spoiling them. Grown children give their parents expensive gifts, not realizing that they'd rather have you talk and listen to them more. We have good intentions, but we don't often see what others need the most for their good. Our Lord God doesn't always promise us happiness in this life, but he surely knows what to give us now to make us happy for all eternally later. All you need to do is to trust in him a little longer while you are still here on earth.

***The Warning Again

        I just finished the second book on Garabandal, Garabandal, Message of Hope, by José Luis Saavedra. The coverage of the apparitions is comprehensive. I was impressed and inspired after reading about the miracles associated with the apparitions and the messages from God given to us through the Blesses Virgin to the seers. The Warning of illumination of conscience was specifically prophesied. I personally believe that this can happen anytime now. Anyway, you have no obligation to believe in it.
           I am posting this video I came across today because it explains the warning well. Besides, I believe that it's always prudent that we be prepared in case it does come. Otherwise, the shock we experience might be too great to bear. (The message ends around 8:20.)

****Being Truthful to Yourself*

        To be set free by God, we need to be truthful to ourselves. That is, we must have the courage to look at ourselves squarely in the face in God's presence. It is analyzing yourself scrupulously while remaining wide open to the Lord. He then makes you see what truly lies deep within your heart and soul. This is a most rewarding moment, for you've let the Lord in and now understand yourself and experience a great freedom in him. 

***Joy in a Class of Its Own

        Among all the joys we might experience, the joy of knowing Christ the Lord and Savior is the only joy that is permanent, deep-rooted, and penetrates the soul and liberates the spirit, bar none.   

**Modern-Day Tragedy

         I realize that most people work in mega-cities and face traffic congestion, crowds, commotions . . . on top of job stress. After work they just want to unwind, relax or rest. Life continues on like this and as a result, they just don't get in touch with God anymore. This is tragic—ignoring the soul and not realizing that we need to commune with God to live a meaningful life and gain eternal life. 

*****What You Should Know

          It is that we all have recourse to the Almighty God. We can call on him at any time about anything from our hearts and he hears us and will respond to us! He can do so much for us and specializes in getting us to heaven—so if you don't even look his way, you can't be very smart. Let me testify to you that if you have a lot of pride, you won't ever see God; but if you can submit yourself to him humbly, he'll come to you, set you free, and make you see the truth!