**Extreme Outcomes**

         Remain in Christ and you are saved and on your way to heaven. Rejecting Christ and you are lost and cut off from him forever. These diametric outcomes are extreme because God's love for us is extreme and to reject this great love is surely to be extreme too.

***Saints' Preference**

         I believe that all the great saints, living and deceased, would prefer or have preferred to remain unknown so that Christ alone may be the center of our attention and glorified.

**Unbeatable Feeling

         Communion experience. The Lord touched me way beyond the physical level; he healed and perfected my soul!

***The Christ Difference***

         If you are living without Christ, chances are you are not too happy with your life. But if you are quite happy, then know that this is as happy as you'll get, for you cannot possibly have a happier afterlife without knowing Christ first. On the other hand, with Christ you're lifted to a higher state of existence—you are now set free from the world and your sins, and destined to live your next life infinitely happier than your present one. 

***The Crucial Question***

         In today's Gospel reading from Luke 9, Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’” Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.” Today, we face the same question and must respond to the Lord, for how we answer will determine our eternal destiny.  

**Difficulty in Following Christ**

         Some of the teachings of the Lord Jesus seem almost humanly impossible for us to follow. Of course, we should never give up and decide to ignore them. So what shall we do? First of all, we must believe that God will never put anyone who loves him through a test he can't pass. And if we do face a difficult test situation, the Holy Spirit will surely show us how to respond. So stop worrying and trust in the Lord fully, then everything will work out well. It sounds cliché, but it's the truth.

**Clear Fact Today**

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 9, Herod the tetrarch was greatly perplexed about Jesus because he heard some saying, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead"; others, "Elijah has appeared"; still others, "One of the ancient prophets has arisen." That's understandable. Today, with billions of Christians worldwide, it should be crystal clear that Jesus is the Son of God, our Savior!

***Why Total Abandonment?***

        St. Augustine wrote in his autobiography Confessions this famous saying: "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you." So if your heart is restless, you have not rested in God yet! The Lord God can totally take care of us and we need to abandon ourselves totally in him.

**Unfinished Business*

         We'll always have unfinished business to deal with till our last day on earth. So try to complete what's important or necessary first and the rest when you have the time. Of course, if you die right now, you'll just have to let everything go. So it wouldn't make any sense to let unfinished business cause you to lose your peace. Once you're with the Lord in heaven, he may still assign tasks for you to perform. Then you'll simply see it as following his will and not as something to complete. And you'll always experience peace and joy. So why not see it that way starting right now on earth? If you know your are heaven bound, you might as well live as if you were already there?

*****OUR ONE & ONLY GOD*****

        We all like to be our own god, but there's only one true God who is our Lord, our Savior, our shepherd, our teacher, our counselor, our friend, our brother, our confidant, our soulmate, and also our servant—He is the God of Christ.

***How Does Your Soul Look?***

        I watched Charlie Kirk's memorial service on TV. His wife Erika who will succeed him as the CEO of Turning Point shared his one notable message from his journal: Every time you make a decision, it puts a mark on your soul. I totally agree that every thought, every intention, every word uttered, or every doing of yours can keep your soul spotless or tainted. How you want to appear finally to the Lord is all up to you.

***Doing God's Will Is . . .***

an absolute joy, for anytime you please him, he shares his joy with you! 

*****Mark of a True Christian*****

         In today's Gospel reading from Luke 8, Jesus said to the crowd: "No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light." Personally, I feel that the Lord wants us as his followers to shine like lit lamps for all to see. In other words, we must boldly live as Christians. Charlie Kirk had the courage to speak what he believed to be the truth fearlessly. His recent assassination has inspired millions worldwide to carry his torch. It's the Lord's doing. Now, not everyone can speak as well as Charlie, so it boils down to that we have the courage to follow God's will whatever that might be. And it finally boils down to that we have the courage (humility) to submit ourselves totally to the Lord God!

****Do You Know?

         What's truly exciting about following Christ is that if you are open to him, he can transform you without bounds to make you beautiful before him beyond words! 

**The Happy Ones*

         Many people are not happy with the state of life they are in. By contrast, happy are the ones who joyfully follow God's every will in whatever position they happen to be in. 

***Way to Happiness

         Communion time experience. Happy is the one who submits himself totally to the Lord to let  him enter and dwell in him.

***Accept Christ and Be Fulfilled***

         When we were born into the world, we did not witness our own birth. So when we learn later that the Lord God of Christ created us, we need to accept that! I can testify to you that when I followed up by submitting myself totally to Christ, I was completely fulfilled, knowing that Christ is the way and the truth and the life! 

**World in Turmoil**

         Today the people on the left hate and refuse to dialogue with anyone with whom they disagree. They don't even know why they are like that. Since they don't really believe in Christ, Satan must have gotten them. One leftist even believed that Charlie Kirk had wished to die as a martyr—what an absurd and sick thought! Wanting to be known as a martyr is the very opposite of being unafraid of martyrdom should that be in accordance with God's plan. Once Satan has gotten control of you, your conscience loses all its clarity. Sadly, this is exactly what's happening in our world.