You'll have true inner peace only after you know that God has chosen you to return to him to dwell in his house forever.
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
Focusing Upon Eternity
Jesus said, "What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?" My similar question: "What profit is there for one to indulge in some temporary sinful pleasures on earth and lose his chance to enjoy eternal peace and joy in heaven?" So be smart.
Dispelling Darkness
In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 5, Jesus wants us to be the light of the world. The world is sick, filled with venom and filth, and only the pure light of Christ shines as a refreshing beacon among us. Let us be pure enough to reflect his light to dispel as much darkness around us as we can.
*Avoiding Jesus
The Gospels tell about so many miracles Jesus performed, including his own Resurrection and Ascension. If you don't believe in them, is it because you don't believe that they ever happened? Without any solid proof, I don't believe anyone would have the guts to so believe, for it amounts to writing off the person Jesus altogether. Most likely, nonbelievers put off facing the reality of Jesus because of the sinful state they're in – further indicating that he is God who will be our judge.
**Joyful Truth!
I am thinking about Christianity again today. Since I believe that it is the truth, I am reluctant to call it a religion. If you do consider it to be a religion, then it is a most remarkable one indeed. God turned out to be love and actually sent his Son to earth to die for our sins so that we might have eternal life. This is pretty incredible and has the power to transform our lives to become holy saints – a most beautiful revelation to us from our loving creator. Things all work out, for that's how God has made us. Be amazed and believe, and be amazed even more. The truth is an immense joy!
Monday, June 11, 2018
Setting Our Own Destiny
Jesus and the Father are in each other. Jesus is the Son of God the Father, and they are one. You know Jesus and you know God. Since God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, why do we dismiss Jesus because he came to us 2,000 years ago? Time does not alter the truth, since the truth remain true forever. Today as in the days of Christ, those who do not believe in him choose not to believe in him, not because he is not our Lord and Savior. By our choice, we set our own destiny. I wish I could say bon voyage to all.
Letting Faith Bring Us Peace
When those in our family lose their faith in God, we feel the heavy burden on our hearts, compelling us to pray for them. If we have deep faith in God, we should realize that they are in God's hands; and therefore, we should detach ourselves from them and focus upon God alone. In Luke 1, Jesus sends 72 disciples in pairs to every town and place he intends to visit – to proclaim that the kingdom of God is at hand. Whatever town they enter that welcomes them, they are to eat and drink what's offered to them. Whatever town they enter that does not receive them, they are to leave and even shake off the dust that clings to their feet. This shows clearly that we are to do our part and leave the outcome to God. Remain meek and humble and trust that God will lighten our burden, and we'll find rest (Matthew 11.29).
Sunday, June 10, 2018
*God's Ways and Thoughts
In today's Gospel reading from Mark 3, Jesus spoke to the big crowd that gathered around him. His mother and his brothers arrived. Standing outside they sent word to him and called him. But he replied, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" Looking around at those seated in a circle he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother." That was a radical saying. It's the Lord revealing his ways and his thoughts.
Saturday, June 9, 2018
**The Best Good News for Us
There has been a number of suicides of well-known personalities in the news. How I wish I had the opportunity to let them know that God loved them so much that he had died for them so that they might live forever! This has to be the best possible news for all of us ever! One cannot truly appreciate and enjoy life until he knows Christ.
Setting Our Final Destination
June 7. An obituary usually gives a biographical sketch of the deceased. How many people learn how much about the deceased really doesn't make any difference to that departed soul anymore. What matters is whether that soul has gone to God or Not. Never forget that we have the power to chart our course after death before we die.
We Were Created From Scratch
June 5. Evolution and creation are separate things. It is my personal belief that we could not have evolved from some apelike creatures, since we are the only ones that were made in the image of God. The fact that we can conceive and get to know God is proof for me.
**To See the Splendor of God
June 5. There are so many magnificent cathedrals, basilicas, and churches built all around the world that draw vast numbers of visitors to admire their history and architecture. But I dare say that there are not many who actually get drawn closer to God afterwards. People built churches to glorify God; unfortunately, they can take the limelight away from him. For those who want to see the splendor of God, you don't even need to go inside a church. Just go to the Lord directly to seek and desire union with him and he'll reveal all his glory to you in person. The focus should always be on the Lord inside or outside any church.
**What Jesus Provides
June 3. What Christ provides us is absolute certainty in life. If you do not know him, you are simply lost.
**Most Perfect Gift
June 3. It was the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. The Gospel reading from Mark 14 tells how Jesus instructed his disciples to prepare for him to eat the Passover. It shows how the Lord could arrange things to happen as he had wished. At the Last Supper, he gave us the most perfect gift, his own Body and Blood, which can make us perfect. When I received Holy Communion, it was the most beautiful feeling to know that by giving in to his love, I become one with him.
Feeling How God Feels
June 2. Attended Vigil Mass at a beautiful church, Saints Peter and Paul. The Lord made me feel his great love for the poor. Of course, he loves every single one of us the same, but you feel his love more when you think about the poor, much like light becoming more prominent against darkness. Feeling how the Lord feels is a great joy!
The Soul Needs Rest
June 2. Yesterday I ate lunch at a food court packed with crowds and you could hear the noisy talking filling the whole place to the hilt. I knew all that would pass. Today I was resting in the pew of a magnificent basilica, experiencing quiet and peace. This would pass too, but the soul got refreshed.
Worst Condition of the Soul
May 31. I felt the intimacy of the Lord as if he's been etched in my very soul. And I had the image of the worst condition of the soul – a soul with sins tattooed all over it.
*Happy Ending Most Important
May 31. If you have some solitude and time, it can be spiritual beneficial to review your own life as a movie. Acting as the film critic and judge, what do you think of your life? This would be a good time to correct your course if necessary to make sure that your story will end happily!
Sad State Without God
May 30. As I was traveling, I saw these quotations at one hostel: (1) Keep your seeker spirit alive. (2) Bring your curious self here. (3) Seek the weird, the cool, and the random. (4) Lose yourself, then find your way. And at one public library, a quote from the famous poet, T. S. Eliot: The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may yet have hope for the future of man. If these are the best quotes we can come up without involving God, then we are in a pretty sad state.
Blessed Are the Weak
May 27. Know your weaknesses and thank God for them, for now you must depend upon him more (preferably entirely).
What Matters & What Doesn't
This message came to me on the 26th of last month. What matters is what God thinks of you, which depends upon how you respond to his will. What does not matter is what others think of you.
Loving God Alone
This message came to me on the 24th of last month. Whatever you do to anyone affects God. Therefore, make sure that you do not offend God in whatever you do to others. Then if you love the Lord, you'll love others too. Therefore, love God alone.
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
*Foolish Living
If you are smart, you should realize that if you rebel against God, you will certainly lose in the end. Not believing in him or following his will is, of course, rebelling against him. But if you do acknowledge that God did create you, you are admitting that you belong to him. When you die, you simply return to him, for judgment this time. Then it would be extremely foolish for you to rebel against him during the brief period between your birth and your death. (Note: I shall not be able to blog for the next two and a half weeks, so please check back for new postings on June 10. May God bless each and every one of you abundantly!)
***God Most Personal*
Only as a Christian you get to know God most personally. You know him by name and can even attain union with him, with him dwelling within you and fulfilling all your needs and desires. There is no feeling more beautiful than knowing your God most intimately!
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
*No Death, No New Life
To live in Christ, we must die in him first. There cannot be new life without death!
***Sure Way to Life Everlasting
John 14.6: I am the way and the truth and the life. No one come to the Father except through me, says the Lord. So Jesus is the only way to God. We might as well do all things through him or for his sake. First of all, let's love through him too, which is loving others with his love. This is the sure way to life everlasting!
*Our Highest Aspiration
To be like God should be our highest aspiration. Seeking union with him is the way to learning his ways and his thoughts. In union, you will see and feel things as he does.
Delight All Around
Communion experience. It was crystal clear that when we surrender ourselves to God, he takes great delight in being able to freely transform us anew. Our delight comes from feeling new and knowing that we are now delightful to him.
Why We Lack Peace
Our sins estrange us from God – as long as you have not reconciled yourself to God yet, you will not have inner peace. Once you start to follow Christ, you learn to live and love according to his will and you will experience his peace.
*Let God Restore You
To live with an unclean heart and a wounded soul is to live a miserable and pitiful life. Lucky for us, God is ready to cleanse our heart and heal our soul to made us new and whole again at our request.
Monday, May 21, 2018
God Heals the Soul
Communion experience. The peace of the Lord I experience is proof that he has healed my soul.
**Taking the Union Road
As a disciple of Christ, you'll realize your full potential if you allow the Lord to shape and mold you as he wishes. And this happens only after you surrender yourself to him and attain union with him.
Sunday, May 20, 2018
**God Is Good!
God is not just to be praised, worshipped, and adored; he is also to be one with us and enjoyed by us!
Power of God
Communion experience. I felt ready to go to my Lord. Once you possess him fully, your life is completely fulfilled.
***Freeing the Holy Spirit
We ask the Lord to send his Spirit to renew the face of the earth. The Lord is ready, but are we? We can go through the ceremony of Confirmation, but if our heart is not in it, nothing dramatic will happen. The key to preparing ourselves properly is to submit ourselves to God first. Without our submission, the hands of the Spirit are tied, so to speak. This is not talked about much probably because yielding to God is the most difficult step for anyone to take in the spiritual life, which is all about how much we let God be God. Anyhow, the Lord is readier than we are, so surrender yourself to him to let him do what you ask of him. This, in fact, is one basic principle of living the successful Christian life.
*Drink of the Holy Spirit Fully
Today is Pentecost Sunday, celebrating the birthday of the Church. From the second reading of 1 Corinthians, Paul writes: In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit. The Holy Spirit is indeed the one who can unify all Christians and of whom our spirits need to drink to get sanctified. If your heart is not on fire yet, ask the Holy Spirit to zap you and he'll do just that – I am speaking from personal experience. The Christian life comes alive once you are aware that the Spirit does dwell within you.
Saturday, May 19, 2018
God of Peace
Communion experience. Perfect peace can only be found in the God of Christ, the Lord lets me see.
*Good Enough Relationship
No one on earth can understand us perfectly, but God knows us perfectly and that is good enough for us! Then if we let him in for us to get to know him well, we'll have a relationship good enough for the Lord too.
Friday, May 18, 2018
***Living Forever With God
Communion experience. Every time I receive the Lord in Holy Communion, he heals my soul. This prepares my soul well for meeting him. Today I feel that he is all mine and I am all his. With God, you just live forever!
**Our Role and Our End
In today's Gospel reading from John 21, the Resurrected Lord revealed himself to his disciples and asked Peter three times "Do you love me?" Peter responded affirmatively each time and Jesus asked him and to feed his lambs, tend his sheep, and feed his sheep. Then Jesus said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." The Lord said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.
For those whom God has chosen to follow him, he definitely has a role for each of them. We are to glorify God in the way designated by him. The Lord also knows exactly how we are going to die. I am not saying that everything is predestined to the last detail, for our free will can alter things. But every time things change, the Lord knows how that's going to affect our journey to him. In my own case, I know I am going to him, and only he knows when and how.
Thursday, May 17, 2018
*Wise Decision
Communion experience. I realized that the Lord created me and recognized that it is best for me to remain in him forever. (No more straying away.)
***Our Ultimate Calling
In today's Gospel reading from John 17, Jesus prays that all those who believe in him may be one, and that they and he may be in each other. This is a clear call to union with him! It is our first and final calling!
*How Not to Waste Time*
We attempt to do so many things in life and easily lose our peace. Doing the will of God should be our sole goal, for this stores up treasures in heaven for us. If you are always busily doing your own things without considering the will of God, you may regret later. Time is more precious than gold, for every second you serve only yourself is a second lost forever and our time on earth is limited. I read once that when you drive an expensive sports car, you should shift its gears as if you're handling an eggshell. Time is a lot more precious than the gears of any car. Spend it wisely and you'll have eternal life!
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
**God Most Accessible
Communion thoughts. Here's the Lord I worship and adore, yet he lets me consume him. It shows how much he desires to be one with us. This is our most approachable God!
*Mutually Exclusive Worlds
After hearing today's Gospel reading from John 17, I saw that we either belong to the world or belong to God. Those who belong to the world hates those who belong to God. The distinction or separation between these two classes couldn't be any greater. Again, a mental image surfaced in my mind. I see all those who belong to the world bobbing in an ocean (the world). Many of them are practically totally immersed, while others are still afloat at various depths. Those who belong to God are being held up by him high above the ocean. So it's either you are wet or you are dry.
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
*God Is My Wall
Communion experience. It's easy for us to build a wall around us to keep God out partially or completely. Having received the Lord, now he's become my wall. This is not a wall to keep me in, for there is only emptiness outside of it; this is more a wall to keep me safe for me to remain firmly in the Lord.
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