***Evil Times Are Here

**A Lesson Learned

         When you are ill and not feeling well, you can be in the most beautiful place in the world and it's not going to make you feel any better. Imagine how happy you can be in heaven when you don't ever get sick again. Although I tested COVID-19 positive myself, such self-tests are not always reliable. So I had myself tested again at a hospital this morning and should hear the result tomorrow. So far I have a bad cough preventing me from falling asleep. I called out to the Lord to have pity on me, but the cough did not abate. Last night, I decided to abandon myself totally to Christ and not think about anything else. Surprisingly, the cough left me in peace and I was able to fall asleep. I think there is a lesson here. That is, it is better to trust in God fully than to ask for this or that, for he knows what's best for us. Becoming anxious only shows our lack of trust in him and is thus counterproductive.  

**Extraordinary Developments!

***How to Have Everything***

        If you capture the Lord, everything he has will be yours and you'll have everything. Without him, you can try to capture everything you want on your own, and you will lose all you have captured when you perish. The choice is clear. To capture the Lord is effortless—all you need to do is let him capture you and it's done. It's so simple and clear.

****Make Our Existence Meaningful

         As I quarantine myself in one room of this house which sits at a relatively high point, I look out the window and see the distant hills, some other houses far away, and many trees spread over the vast expanse of dry fields—this is the world I live in. I realize that I can think, reason, understand good and evil, and conceive God. So if there is no God nor afterlife, then my brief existence here becomes absolutely meaningless, senseless! As I believe in Christ, life becomes completely meaningful and makes perfect sense. Think about it and I believe that you'll see it my way too. 

****Wise Advice

        I am now in Southern California, away from home, and find myself with COVID-19. So I am isolating myself in someone's house. It makes me realize how fragile life can be. Dying is saying goodbye to this world forever. So it would be wise for all of us, no matter what age, to be prepared for meeting the Lord and let everything else go. In evil times like ours, it's more urgent than ever to choose Christ right now before it's too late. Think of eternity, beyond this fleeting, insecure life! 

***Cause of Disorder

        God has everything. He only lacks our obedience. We have nothing to offer him except our obedience. Therefore, obey God and we'll have perfect order in the universe.

***Christ the Best

        After experiencing of the joy of knowing Christ, everything else becomes boring or lackluster. The best-tasting food or fruit, the best entertainment the world can provide, the greatest music or artwork man has ever created, the most beautiful objects or sights of this world . . . they all pale into nothing next to the glory of the Lord. For anyone who wants to attain union with God, he must choose between God and the world. You either let the Lord set you free or remain enslaved by the world (the evil one). It's all very clear. 

****No Forgiveness, No Love

        Today is the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A "reading I" from Romans 12 contains these verses: "Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold onto what is good..." and "Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse therm." What is hard for us is to hate evil and not the evildoer. In the video below, Mary tells us that forgiveness is the most exalted form of love. To love is our calling, and if we still cannot forgive someone, then our love has fallen short.  

**Need for God's Mercy

       My seasonal allergy has given me a cough. When I can't stopping coughing, I couldn't help calling out to Christ, asking him to have pity on me. Then I realize that for all of us who are in sin, how much more we need to beg for his mercy! 

***The One Who Is

        I see Jesus as the only one who is the life and can never die. This is not the case with Buddha, Mohammed, or anyone else.

*Seeing Others in a New Light

         I haven't been able to blog in the last few days as I've been traveling, visiting my younger son and some relatives and friends. This thought came to me on May 27. We all have family members and friends, but there are billions of others in the world we won't ever know. Since all earthlings are irrefutably children of same Father in heaven, we must see and treat everyone else as a member of the same family. 

**Levels of Faith

        Jesus said to Thomas, "Have you come to believe because you have see me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed." (John 20:29) So we have those who (1) have not seen and have believed, (2) have seen and believed, and (3) have seen but still do not believe. It's simplest to belong to 1, Those who have the greatest faith deserve to be blessed. If you will only believe after you see, then what you expect to see may never happen. Weak faith doesn't deserve any blessing. As for those in 3, they have hardened their hearts and are on their own; they are to be pitied.

***Knowing Jesus***

         Jesus is all love, pure love and divine mercy. Once you know him, you can't help but fall in love with him and lose all your fears. If you are still afraid of or feel uneasy about him, that's because you don't know him yet. It's also his way of telling you that you need to know and love him. 

****What We Must Never Miss

        If we arrive at the airport late, we can miss the flight. This has happened to me twice. Each time I lost some time, got on another plane, and I was on my way again. We can be late for other events and things too, but it's usually not a matter of life and death. Now, there are people who do not think about getting ready in time for meeting God. Perhaps they think that they'll have plenty time for that later. If you miss doing that, you can suffer horribly severe consequences. This is one thing one must not neglect or put off.

***God Confirming Our Belief

        When I believe that Jesus is truly my Lord and my God, he reveals to me that he indeed is. This confirms my belief. When God Let you know, you just know. No explanation needed. (So if you want to know Christ, believe in him first. This is the beginning of humility.) 

***Only God Is Powerful

        I look at the world and see many high achievers. Some of them are indeed so powerful that no one would dare to go against them. Then I see that one day they'll all appear before Christ to be judged by him, who was the most humble and meek man on earth when he was here. When we face him, our naked souls are completely at his mercy. Whatever power we had now means nothing and may even become our biggest burden. What a dramatic contrast to one who remains humble and meek in the world and let Christ exalt him/her high on judgment day.

***Ultimate Fulfillment

       Communion experience. God already loves me with the greatest possible love and is letting me love him to my heart's content. My joy is complete and my life completely fulfilled.