Price of Freedom

Price of freedom

“No one who remains in him sins, and whoever sins has neither seen him nor recognized him.” (1 John 3: 6)

Jesus promises that if I remain in him, he frees me from sin. What does freeing from sin mean? It means freedom from the compulsion of sin; freedom from the domination of a sinful life style.

How do I remain in Christ? I remain in Christ through these means of grace:

· Eucharist

· Word of God

· Confession

· Prayer

· Examination of conscience

· Spiritual reading

These are the visible means of remaining in freedom. The price of freedom is investment in eternal vigilance.

FATAL ERROR

Fatal Error

“The reason why the world does not acknowledge us is that it did not acknowledge him.” (1 John 3:1)

It is fatal error for the child of God to ever seek recognition from the world. Do not crave for such recognition. The world will never give it to us as long as we commit to Jesus Christ. Know this truth once and for all. Believe what you read. Teach what you believe and practice what you teach.

Sow a thought

Sow a thought

“If you know that he is upright you must recognize that everyone whose life is upright is a child of his.

You must see what love the Father has lavished on us by letting us be called God’s children – which is what we are!” (1 John 2: 29 – 3:1)

Do I truly believe that I am a child of God? It is an act of great love on the part of God to make me his child. Do I fully realize what this means? Correct thought is the key to correct action. Belief empowers action. I will think differently, speak differently and behave differently today if I truly believe that I am a child of God. How do I empower myself with the powerful thought of my filial adoption?

As I reflect on the above, this thought comes to mind:

Sow a thought and you reap an action.

Sow an action and you reap a habit.

Sow a habit and you reap a character.

So a character and you reap a destiny.

Our destiny is to be children of God but there are a number of steps to the full appropriation of this gift. It starts with a thought of our divine filiation. We get the thought from the word of God. The next step is to act as if I am a child of God. Then another action. More action until it becomes a habit.

Wisdom and Understanding

Wisdom and Understanding

“The Lord opened his mouth in the assembly, and filled him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and clothed him in a robe of glory.” (Sirach 15: 5)

The above scripture was used on the feast of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazienen, both doctors of the Church.

Wisdom and understanding are gifts of God. Honor and glory come from God. The Lord himself opened the mouths of Basil and Gregory in the assembly. Both men were faithful to the anointing they received from the Holy Spirit. They witnessed to Christ in the Assembly with their gifts of wisdom, knowledge and understanding of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God.

Who are you?

Who are you?

“Who are you? We must take back an answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about yourself? So he said, ‘I am, as Isaiah prophesied: A voice of one that cries in the desert: Prepare a way for the Lord. Make his paths straight!’ (John 1: 22)

Who are you? John the Baptizer knew who he was. From the Scriptures, he was able to discern accurately his identity. I learned many years ago that we find our true identity in the Scriptures. What I find about myself in the Scriptures is troubling. I find for example this passage:

“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you….. To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak. Have no fear before them, because I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 1: 5 – 8)

I answered: ‘Lord but I do not want to be a prophet. I am satisfied with things as they are. I love my quiet private life.’

In the beginning

"Let what you heard in the beginning remain in you; as long as what you heard in the beginning remains in you, you will remain in the Son and in the Father." (1 John 2: 24)

What is the beginning for me? The beginning of a new life for me was 060195. This was the day I experienced and accepted the presence of the Holy Spirit in me. This is the day that I can truly say is the New Beginning in every sense of the word. With the awareness of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, I heard words from the Scriptures that were new words. The words came to a new heart to begin the formation of a new man in Christ Jesus. I thank God that what I heard in the beginning remains in me.

"But as for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you; since the anointing he gave you teaches you everything, and since it is true, not false, remain in him just as he has taught you." (1 John 2: 27)

I believe that I received an anointing from the Lord in 060195. This anointing gives me a strong sense of what is true doctrine, that is a type of sensus fidei. I am also very happy to realize that the anointing remains me in after over ten years. Praise the Lord!

What does the word of God mean that I do not need anyone to teach me? Where then am I to seek teaching? There is no doubt that the Holy Spirit has taught me a great deal since 060195. I believe that the Holy Spirit is warning me here about false teachers. Be on your guard against those who could mislead me by false doctrine.

Open Access

"I know about your activities. Look, I have opened in front of you a door that no one will be able to close." (Revelation 3: 8)

"I know about your activities." Christ Jesus knows all about me. He knows where I am, what I am doing and how I feel at this moment. What an awesome knowledge!

"I have opened in front of you a door that no one will be able to close." What door is Jesus talking about? Many commentaries say that the "open door' is the opportunity to proclaim the gospel. I feel in my life that Christ has given me an open access to his word. He has also given me an open access to the Eucharist and the Blessed Sacrament. Let me then trust in Jesus who has absolute power to save me and who started this good work in me to take it to the next level.