arunangelo

Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World (John 1:29). He is the new Passover lamb whose sacrificial flesh and blood brings us forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26:27-28). Therefore, unless we eat His flesh and drink his blood, we would not have life within us (John 6:53). By His sacrificial flesh and blood He sealed God

Faith is to believe what we do not see or we do not understand. It is like a little boy who believes everything his father tells him. He believes, because, he trusts his father. He trusts his father because his father loves him; and because, his father is his very own. This is how it should be between God and us. We therefore, should have faith in God by believing in everything He tells us, even when we do not understand it; and by believing in His way of life. To believe is to accept in our heart and to act according to what we accept. Therefore, to believe that God loves us is to accept His love in our heart by loving others the way He loves us (John 15:12). Similarly, to believe in His forgiveness is to forgive others the way He forgives us (Matt 6:12). Also, to believe in His mercy is to be merciful like He is. God showed His love for us by having mercy on us and forgiving us of our sins against Him. He did this by compensating for our offenses against Him by His life. We too to have to forgive our offenders of their offenses against us; by having mercy on them; and by compensating for their offenses by the sacrifices we make for them. Jesus therefore, tells us to (Luke 6:27-25) love our enemy, do good deeds to those who hate us, bless those who curse us, and pray for those who mistreat us. If anyone slaps us on one cheek, we must let him hit the other one too. We must give to everyone who asks for something; because, God is good to the ungrateful and the wicked. We must be merciful, just as our Father is merciful (Luke 6: 35-36). We must remember that mercy triumphs over law (James 2; 13); and it is mercy, and not sacrifice, that God desires (Matt. 12:7). We must not take revenge on those who do us wrong. If someone takes us to court to sue us for our shirt, we must let him have our coat as well. We must walk an additional mile if the occupation forces ask us to carry their pack for one mile (Matt 5; 39-41). If anyone borrows something from us we must not ask for it back (Luke 6:27-30). We must be willing to lay down our life for others, including for those who cause us grave hurt; just as God in His Divine mercy sacrificed His life for us, although we gravely hurt Him (by our sins). This is what it means to have faith in Jesus.

(Matt: 5; 3-11) Those who know that they are spiritually poor will find peace, because, in their humility they will accept total dependence on God. Those who mourn with others will find peace, because, compassion will free them of selfishness. Those who are meek will find peace, because they are free of pride. Those whose only desire is to do God

Jesus

Although we may think that we are righteous, in reality none of us are truly righteous (Roman 3:23), because, deep in our heart we harbor hate, anger, jealousy and pride. This becomes very evident when someone hurts us or our interests are interfered with. When we are hurt or insulted, we feel that we have lost something or that something has been taken away from us. We then feel that if we take revenge we can get even with out offender. We generally call revenge with various righteous sounding terms such as restitution, justice and punishment. We tend to overlook the fact that everything in this World is inconsequential, because, they are not permanent; and that our only true treasure, which never gets destroyed, is God

To trust God, is to believe that His life of unconditional love is the only way to live, and sincerely make an effort to live it. This means that we must have absolute trust, that through love we can overcome all obstacles. We must believe that love can break all barriers and change human hearts. To believe in him is also to have absolute trust in his love, mercy and wisdom. To believe in Him therefore, is not a feeling or an emotion or mere recognition that God is Lord of our life (because even the devil knows that); rather, it is a combination of conviction and action. If we recognize that we are sinners and accept God

True conscience is the voice of God, which guides every human heart. It guides us in all our decisions, constantly persuading us to do what is right. Since every human soul, which is the essence of a human being, is made in the image of God; it can survive only if it allows God

Since true love is unconditional and selfless, true love goes beyond friends and relatives (who are our own, whom we like, who have either helped us in the past or from whom we expect to get something in return). According to Jesus (Luke 6:27-25) we must love our enemy, do good deeds to those who hate us, bless those who curse us, and pray for those who mistreat us. If anyone slaps us on one cheek, we must let him hit the other one too. We must give to everyone who asks for something; because, God is good to the ungrateful and the wicked. We must be merciful, just as our Father is merciful (Luke 6: 35-36). We must remember that mercy triumphs over law (James 2; 13); and it is mercy, and not sacrifice, that God desires (Matt. 12:7). We must not take revenge on those who do us wrong. If someone takes us to court to sue us for our shirt, we must let him have our coat as well. We must walk an additional mile if the occupation forces ask us to carry their pack for one mile (Matt 5; 39-41). If anyone borrows something from us we must not ask for it back (Luke 6:27-30). We must be willing to lay down our life for others, including for those who cause us grave hurt; just as God in His Divine mercy sacrificed His life for us, although we gravely hurt Him (by our sins). The above paragraph tells us that, we have to love our enemies by our actions, and to be merciful to them. It further tells us that, we should not offer resistance to injustice. We may think that, if we do not offer resistance to injustice, we might help to increase injustice. In reality however, when we do not offer resistance and offer love instead, we can change the hearts of those who are unjust. Generally people are unjust and selfish, because they are insecure. When we offer resistance, their sense of insecurity increases and they become more unjust. On the other hand, when we do not offer resistance, they do not feel threatened. Their sense of insecurity therefore, diminishes, and they become open to receiving our love. This love then, can change their hearts to make them just people. More often than not, we fight injustice done to us or hurt inflicted to us, by taking revenge and protecting our own interest. This makes us hateful and selfish. On the other hand, when we go out of our way to help our enemies, we cultivate love. When we fight for our rights, self consumes us. This makes us selfish. When we are selfish we remove ourselves from God. This takes peace out of our hearts. On the other hand when we offer love to our offenders, we find peace; because to act in love, is to be in unison with God. Only love can overcome all obstacles and bring true peace, because, God is Love; and nothing is impossible with Him. When we doubt that love alone can solve all the problems in the World, we doubt God.

In Jesus, we see the fullness of God

Jesus

God is love. Therefore, to understand God, we must understand love. Love is a spirit. It is the spirit of God. This spirit is unconditional, pure, holy, sacrificial, eternal and all forgiving. Love therefore, is the spirit of total, unconditional, self-giving service to others. Love always forgives and never seeks revenge. It forgives by showing mercy and by making sacrifices in the process of helping their offenders. Love sacrifices self so that others may have life. Love is therefore, creative. Love is sanctifying, because, love generates goodness in others. Love brings hope, peace and joy to the broken hearted. Love is therefore, redeeming. The fullness of love is God. In His love, God who is infinite made us who are finite, in His own divine image. Since God is love, we as his image are made to live His life of love. In doing this He invites us to a life of love with Him for all eternity. When we sinned by choosing selfishness, we rejected love (who is God). In doing this we brought eternal death upon ourselves, because, without love (which is eternal) there is no eternal life. God, however, did not give up on us or condemn us. Instead, to save us from death and bring us back into his family, he came into our human family in the person of Jesus and taught us the truth about true love. He taught us to forgive others unceasingly, love our enemies and be helpful to them (Matt 5:43-48), never to judge or condemn others (Luke 6: 37-42), offer our life completely to the service of others (Matt. 22:33-40) and never to divorce our spouse (Matt.19: 4-9). The world rejected his teachings; hated him because of what he taught; and because of their hatred for his teachings, killed Him. Although he had power to prevent his death, he lovingly accepted it. He did this in order to completely empty self on our behalf. He could do this on our behalf, because, his infinite love for us makes him one with us. Furthermore, in order to nourish our souls with his life, he gave us His sacrificial body and blood as real food (bread and wine). His passion and death were acts of infinite love; because, an infinite God gave up His own life, so that those who had rejected Him might have his life. Because love is eternal, His life in our soul (which is love) makes our soul immortal. In other words, because of his death, we do not have to bear the eternal consequences of sins, which is death of our soul. Although we have to face the earthly consequences of sin (which is suffering and death in our present form of life), He (love) helps us to use our sufferings to purify our spirit and gives us hope and peace in the midst of our suffering. Jesus

Most people and religions agree that God created the Universe, and is infinite in wisdom and power. However, different religions and cultures have disparate opinions about who God is. Some see him as a mighty warrior who destroys evildoers and unbelievers, and protects those who are faithful to him. Others see him as someone who is awesome and just, who watches over us from a distance. Still others believe that God is love (1 John 4; 7-12). They see him as a kind, merciful, all forgiving, generous and loving father, who created us in his own image (by giving us the ability to live His life of love); in order that, we might share His life and have an intimate love relationship with Him and each other. They also see Him as our savior, who redeemed us from evil (which is rooted in selfishness) by taking a human form (as Jesus the Son of God) and emptying Himself completely of self (through His most horrifying and humiliating death on the cross) on our behalf, and giving us eternal life by feeding us with His own sacrificial body and blood (John 6, 53-58). They also see Him as the Holy Spirit (spirit of love), who dwells in every human heart, and who continually shows us the path to true love. They see these three attributes of God, as three persons in a single being of God. Because God is love and expression of love needs a free will, each of the three attributes of God