Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Strength for a Christian's victory over sin has been provided through the death of Christ Jesus. In the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible - Old Testament - The Hebrew people were described as God's elect, a person or group chosen by God for special favour and for the rendering of special service to Him. The gracious and free act of God by which He calls those who become part of His kingdom and special beneficiaries of His love and blessings.

However, - the New Testament - speaks of Christ Jesus as God's Chosen One and of the Universal Church of God's new chosen people. The Lord Jesus Christ is the living stone, rejected by people but chosen by God and precious to Him, set yourselves close to Him so that you too, the holy priesthood that offers the spiritual sacrifices which the Lord Jesus Christ has made acceptable to God, and may be the living stones making a spiritual house. As sacred scripture says: "See how I lay in Zion a precious cornerstone that I have chosen and the man who rests his trust on it will not be disappointed." - Isaiah 28:16 -

God's call of individual to SALVATION, made possible by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. We know that by turning everything to their good - God cooperates with all those who obey and love Him, with all those that He has called according to his/her purpose. God's call to salvation also involves the believer in the calling of living his and her life in the service to others.

God, alone know what is truly best for us at all times. Rely first on God [the Creator] and His holy Will. Depend on everything else only as far as God permit. Too few have the trust that God demand. Many lack the confidence which He desire of us. Heaven's perfect life is the only lasting good for us and live our earthly life according to His commandments, and He shall not fail us. May we never depend too much on human beings.

Do not put too much confident and trust in human relationships and human remedies. Things human can bring only a limited help in our daily needs. If we depend on them too much, we are doomed to bitter disappointments. Above all the persons and things that satisfy our needs each day, instead, put our reliance and trust in God. People who are for us today, may be against us tomorrow. Those who please us now, may displease us later on. The things that satisfy us at present, may dissatisfy us in the future. Do not be so foolish as to rely too much on these ambiguous creatures. People are human like us. There is a limit to their wisdom, their knowledge and understanding, and their love. Only in God alone shall we perfect Understanding, all satisfying Love, and infinite Wisdom. If we can make God the First One and the most importance in our daily life, there will be a great positive change in our outlook, our goodness and in everything around us. In other word, it means that for you and I who are believers, it is precious, but for unbelievers, the atheists, that is: heretic, freethinker, heathen, pagan and nihilist, the stone rejected by the builders has proved to be the keystone, a stone to stumble over, a rock to bring men/women down. They stumble over because they do not believe in the word of God, it was the fate in store for them.

Do not care too much about who likes us and who does not. Why waste time worrying about who is for us and who is against us? Just do our best to please God, and He will be on our side. God will stand by us as long as we hate sin and avoid it in our daily life. When God with us, what does it matter who else is against us? Never be disturbed when others say things that hurt. If we thought more often of our sins, we might even agree with some of their remarks. Therefore, speak often with God, and men will impress us less than they do now. The more we advance in prayer, the less will we be tempted to talk against others. What they say or do against us, will seem so trivial when we have learned to join Him through prayer and recollection. God know what we really are. What men say about us, will not change what we are. Do not worry what anyone may think or say of us. Do not fear the judgments of those around us. Just do our best for God's sake and then, we will enjoy His peace.

In God alone will we find true peace and glory. We must not desire to please men, nor fear to displease them, when there is question of doing what is right. Only God's judgment is important. All men/women will be judge at the Last Judgment by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Apostle/Saint John's the author of the Book of Revelation, his first vision is of Christ Jesus standing in the midst of His Church with eyes like fire, that is, All-Seeing, and feet like fine brass, that is, All-Powerful, and hair like wool, white as snow, that is, Eternal and All-Knowing and with a sharp two-edged sword coming out of His mouth, that is, The Word of Truth.

The central figure in the army of God the King is the Lord Jesus Christ, the only 'begotten Son of God'. Thus, the Book of Revelation begins the words, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ" - Revelation 1:1 - This is not a book of revelations, but of one revelation - The Lord Jesus Christ. The Book of Revelation or Apocalypse depicts the end of the present age and the coming of God's future kingdom. The grand theme of the Book of Revelation is that of two warring powers, God [Creator] and Satan [creature], and God's ultimate victory. It would be a mistake and foolish to consider the two powers as equal in might.

God [Creator] is always stronger and has infinite power than Satan [creature] and Satan will continue his scheming plots only because God [Creator] permits him to do so. Therefore, at the final battle Satan [creature] and his demons, devils and evil followers are utterly destroyed. In fact, without a contest. That is, by fire from heaven and consume them.

When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive all the nations in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, and mobilize them for war. His armies will be as many as the sands of the sea; they will come swarming over the entire country and besiege the camp of the saints, which is the city that God loves. But fire will come down on them from heaven and consume them. Then, the devils, who misled them, will be thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet are, and their torture will not stop, day and night, for ever and ever. - Revelation 20:7-10 -

The Beast or Satan influence in earthly and worldly affairs is clearly revealed in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible and in our everyday, earthly and worldly lives/life. Indeed, Satan is permitted to afflict God's people. But he is never permitted to win an ultimate victory over them. Satan nature is malicious. Satan leads people into sin by various methods, and of the method used by Satan in carrying out his evil work, none is more characteristic than 'Temptation'. Satan brings disorder into the physical world by afflicting human beings. At times he opposes the work of God by violent means, and disguise themselves as messengers of God. Along with his work of tempting mankind, Satan delights in deception. The great falsehood which Satan uses so frequently is that, good can be attained by doing wrong or sinning, that is, sin against God. As a great deceiver, Satan is an expert at falsifying truth.

Very soon now, I (The Lord Jesus Christ) shall be with you again, bringing the reward to be given to every man/woman according to what he/she deserves. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Happy are those who will have washed their robes clean, so that they will have the right to feed on the tree of life and can come through the gates into the city. - Revelation 22:12-14 -

The true of all scriptural/biblical prophecy, God's Word comes to a particular situation; but it yields a harvest to now and latest generations as they receive it. Hence, 'Revelation' assures us that God is present, purposeful, and powerful, today, tomorrow and days to come; no matter what forms the beast may take.

Strength for a Christian's victory over sin has been provided through the death of Christ Jesus.

Now my soul is troubled.
What shall I (The Lord Jesus Christ) say;
Father, save me from this hour?
But it was for this very reason that I have come to this hour.
Father, glorify your name!

A voice came from heaven, 'I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.' People standing by, who heard this, said it was a clap of thunder; others said, 'It was an angel speaking to him.' Jesus answered, 'It was not for my sake that this voice came, but for yours.'

'Now sentence is being passed on this world;
now the prince of this world is to be overthrown.
And when I am lifted up from the earth,
I shall draw all men to myself.' - John 12:27-32 -

By these words Jesus indicated the kind of death he would die. - John 12:33 -

I (The Lord Jesus Christ) have told you all this
so that you may find peace in me.
In the world you will have trouble,
but be brave:
I (The Lord Jesus Christ) have conquered the world. - John 16:33 -

Many people have trouble admitting the existence of such an enemy as Satan. Thus, many people wonder why God would allow Satan, this great embodiment of evil, to exist in His creation. No completely satisfying answer to this question has been found. Perhaps God allows it to show that evil and wrongdoing do not provide the key to the ultimate meaning of life which man/woman so desperately desires.

WRATH refers to the personal manifestation of God's holy, moral character in judgment against sin. Wrath is neither an impersonal process nor is it irrational and fitful like anger. It is in no way vindictive or malicious. It is holy indignation - God's anger directed against sin. God's wrath is an expression of his holy love. If God is not a God of wrath, His love is no more than frail, worthless sentimentality; the concept of mercy is meaningless; and the Cross was a cruel and unnecessary experience for His Son.

The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible declares that all people are "by nature children of wrath" - We all were among them too in the past, living sensual lives, ruled entirely by our own physical desires and our own ideas; so that by nature we were as much under God's anger as the rest of the world. But God loved us with so much love that He was generous with His mercy: when we were dead through our sins, He brought us to life with him and gave us a place with him in heaven in Christ Jesus, - Ephesians 2:3-6 - and that "the wrath of God's is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth and in unrighteousness". - Romans 1:18-19 - The anger of God is being revealed from heaven against all the impiety and depravity of men who keep truth imprisoned in their wickedness. For what can be known about God is perfectly plain to them since God himself has made it plain.

Since Christian have been "justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him". 
The magnitude of God's love is manifested in the Cross, where God's only Son experienced wrath on our behalf.  - Romans 5:6-11 - We were still helpless when at his appointed moment Christ died for sinful men/women. It is not easy to die even for a good man - though of course for someone really worthy, a man/woman might be prepared to die - but what proves that God loves us is that Christ died for us while we were still sinners. Having died to make us righteous, is it likely that he would now fail to save us from God's anger? When we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, we were still enemies; now that we have been reconciled, surely we may count on being saved by the life of his Son? Not merely because we have been reconciled but because we are filled with joyful trust in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have already gained our reconciliation.

"The day of the Lord's wrath" "Neither their silver nor their gold will have any power to save them. On the day of the anger of Yahweh, in the fire of his jealousy, all the earth will be consumed. For he means to destroy, yes, to make an end of all the inhabitants of the earth. - Zephaniah 1:18 - is identical with "the great day of the Lord". The great day of Yahweh is near, and coming with all speed. How bitter the sound of the day of Yahweh, the day when the warrior shouts his cry of war. - Zephaniah 1:14 - These terms refer to "the wrath of the Lamb", Jesus Christ will fall on the ungodly at His Second Coming.

"Then all the earthly rulers, the governors and the commanders, the rich people and the men of influence, the whole population, slave and citizens, took to the mountains to hide in caved and among rocks. They said to the mountains and the rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us away from the One who sits on the throne and from the anger of the Lamb. For the Great Day of his anger has come, and who can survive it?'" - Revelation 6:15-17 - 

Living God; and how you are now waiting for Jesus, his Son, whom he raised from the dead, to come from heaven to save us from the retribution which is coming. - 1 Thessalonians 1:10 - God never meant us to experience the Retribution, but to win salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that, alive or dead, we should still live united to him. - 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 - 

God will very rightly repay with injury those who are injuring you, and reward you, who are suffering now, with the same peace as he will give us, when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven with the angels of his power. He will come flaming fire to impose the penalty on all who do not acknowledge God and refuse to accept the Good News of our Lord Jesus. It will be their punishment to be lost eternally, excluded from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength on that day when he comes to be glorified among his saints and seen in his glory by all who believe in him; and you are believers, through our witness. - 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 -

***  As pre-contemplative and contemplative prayer play an essential role in the process of purification. Let us look at it more closely. The spiritual life is divided into two periods. The first we call pre-contemplative. Spiritual progress is achieved through our own effort. We need to reflect, evaluate, examine our conscience. We consider, decide and make resolutions. These resolutions are renewed and put into practice, until the desired change in ourselves has taken place. Love and faith have grow in us. It goes without saying that all these endeavours are impossible without the accompanying grace of God. All the same; it is we ourselves who make the effort to progress spiritually, it is we who work for the kingdom of God in the sweat of our brow.

After a certain time we are led into the contemplative phase. Our way of procedure changes. Instead of exerting ourselves to make progress, we now need to learn to look at God alone and let go of everything else. We trust that everything else will be added unto us, if we solely orient ourselves to God. The difference is very important. In the contemplative phase our sole endeavour is directed to our relationship with God.

Everything else happens by itself, occurs, is given. We no longer worry about the course of things on earth. This does not mean inactivity, but our activity has lost all anxiety. We are gradually becoming independent of results. The pressure for achievement disappears. During the pre-contemplative phase our effort was directly turned to changing ourselves and the world. We have to obtain results. This causes pressure, worry and stress.

These two forms of the spiritual life stand in a peculiar relationship to the inner reality of the human being, to the outer rind, to the dark layer, and the good core. The level around the rind presents the sphere of pre-contemplative prayer. Within the rind lies the sphere of contemplation.

This means in the concrete, that outside the rinds the laws for changing the world are valid; we have to think actively and reach goals. Our reactions in daily life are like this. If something disturbs us, we immediately ask ourselves what is the cause, and try to change it. Within the rind, in the dark layer and in the good core, we can neither think or act. The moment we begin to think or to act, we are already outside the rind.

How are we to behave in the contemplative sphere? First of all, look and gaze. This is purely spiritual activity with which we do not aspire to reach anything. To look, always implies letting go being directed toward something. Secondly, we can trust.

Thirdly, we can love. This is not love as we usually understand it. It is the pure love that no longer expects anything from the other. It is like the sun which always shines and does not cease to shine even when its ray are not received or reflected. This love comes from looking and cannot be made. If we remain in looking, in contemplating, it grows in a natural way. Fourthly, we can suffer, Sin that is suffered in contemplating and loving is redeemed and never returns.

In meditation, we gradually grow calm. This leads us to the rind we mentioned, our resistance to our sin. If we continue to devote our attention to awareness, the rind breaks open, and we enter the zone we called the layer of darkness. We experience our negative feelings which separate us from God and from others. Our spontaneous reaction is to think and do. We ask ourselves from whence this darkness comes, why it is there and how we can remove it. Thus we become active and fallen back into our old habits of thought and action.

On the contemplative level, however, we neither think nor act, and so we have left the contemplative sphere through our reaction and find ourselves again outside the rind, in the pre-contemplative sphere. If we want to stay in contemplation, we must stay looking. Looking means, in our case, directing our attention to the sensation of our hands, and through this to the awareness of the present. It is looking in the direction of the good core, the presence of God. We enter more into depth, into the dark layer, which causes pain.

To remain in contemplation we need to admit the pain and bear it. But whatever is suffered through in this way, while looking toward God, is redeemed. It does not return. So much light and strength comes to meet us from the good core, that we find the courage to continue.

***  BY REV. FR. FRANZ JALICS  S.J.

-     WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY     - 

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?' "Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He/She is like a man/woman who when he/she built his/her house dug, deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man/woman who built his/her house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 - 

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 - 

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/She will glorify me, since all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine." - John 16:12-15 -

Your generous contribution and support is profoundly cherish. I sincerely pray that: God blessing be upon you, always. Amen! Bank transfer: Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah - Public Bank Berhad account no. 4076577113 - Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.   


No comments:

Post a Comment

Introduction  By  THOMAS  MERTON  - The City Of God   - By  SAINT  AUGUSTINE  OF  HIPPO  - Translated  By  MARCUS  DODS  D.D.  - BOOK  OF ...