Many in affection is mistaken for true love until it is put to the test. Only time and trials prove how genuine our love for God is. Both the time and the trials are given to us in our daily life. Many desires God heavenly kingdom, but few desire the Lord Passion[Cross]. A large number of people seek God consolation, but few care for His trials. All wish to rejoice with Him, but very few are willing to suffer anything or have patience for God sake. He see so many people follow Him as long as they experience no trouble. They bless God. While they experiences unpleasant things, hardships and sufferings, they quickly become resentful and murmur against God.

A mercenary is a soldier or a person who serves for pay rather than for any patriotic reasons. Should God not call these selfish followers and believers? They are devoted to Him, not for God but for His gifts. They follow Him for what they can get by uttering the name of God to misuse it, not for what they can give. They love themselves more than God. If they realized what God mean to them, they would love Him above all else, even above themselves. How few are those who serve God without self-interest!

It is so true. How often we have done good deeds with selfish motive. Too many times we do things for the Lord, but with a selfish reason. He was completely unselfish in His self-sacrifice for us, so that we might live to the fullness. Therefore we should never rest content until we have succeeded in serving Him for His own sake. True, we cannot do anything for His sake without gaining blessings for ourselves, since God will not be outdone in generosity. Still, we should strive to purify our motives by an honest desire to please Him.

God made all men for the perfect happiness of Heaven. He who strives for Heaven, pleases God because he is fulfilling the purpose of God creation. Peoples want to go to Heaven for different reasons, if one shows any degree of love for God, he shall enter into eternal life. The love which we require is not a feeling, nor a sentiment. It is a love of appreciation, an intelligent act of the will, based on the first truth.

This first truth is that 'I am God' the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. All men are obliged to live their daily lives according to this truth. They do it by surrendering their self-will to His supreme and all-wise Will. In this self-surrender they show the love which God demand of all intelligent creatures. There are numberless degrees of perfection in this love of appreciation.

1. Some love God only as much as they are obliged. They desire to avoid Hell, since they dread all harm and inconvenience to themselves. They surrender their self-will to Him only enough to avoid mortal and serious sin. They disregard venial and less serious sin because they want to please themselves as far as possible, without losing Heaven. Though these people are blindly and foolishly selfish, they are, nevertheless, offering Him the love which we require of them. If they die in the state of grace, they will eventually enter into Heaven, after they have been completely purified of self-love in Purgatory.

2. Others rise to a higher degree of love for God. They desire to be more generous with Him. They seek to surrender themselves to God's Will, not only in serious matters, but also lesser things. They make an honest effort to eliminate all venial sins from their daily life. As they embrace God's Will more fully, they die to self more completely. Much of their Purgatory is fulfilled in their earthly life. They shall receive a higher heavenly glory than the first group.

3. There remains the highest degree of love for God. Those in this class are not content with opposing all sins, mortal and venial, big and small, serious and less serious. Their appreciation of God rises higher still. They desire to offer themselves entirely to Him by imitatiing God in their daily life. Even when there is no question of sin, they strive to abandon their natural preferences and follow His example of self-sacrifice. They have seen His goodness and have preferred it to all created things. These generous souls are known as the "pure of heart." They seek to live only for the highest reason - God eternal plan. God made man that he might become God-like on earth, fulfilling His wisdom, growing in His goodness, and finally sharing His heavenly glory. The pure of heart have only one desire - to please God as much as they can in all things.

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -