Remain in My Love

“Remain in my love.” John 15:9

This is what Saint Paul prayed for the people of Philippi: “That your love may increase, grow, abound more and more in knowledge, depth of insight, discernment, judgement, and every kind of perception so that you may be able to approve that which is excellent, that which is best, pure and blameless, what is of value..." (Phil. 1:9-10)

We are indeed blessed if we witness real love in action. It is very seldom that we see it on TV or in the movies. It is sad that many people are governed by the counterfeit love that seeks happiness for themselves, and not the kind of love that brings joy. Saint Paul was able to write about joy a lot, even while he was in prison!

In St. Paul's prayer, it is apparent that when our love for God and others increases, so does our wisdom and discernment. We will be able to sense “what is vital and prize what is excellent and of real value" (Amplified Bible). Wisdom is seeing things through the eyes of the giver of wisdom, God Himself. To see life, people, situations from God's perspective. To see others as they truly are- God's children, God's beloved. To have a depth of insight into God's heart.

Seems impossible? If we want to know how a person thinks, whom he cares about, what should we do? SPEND TIME with them. That is the only way we can know what is important to God.

Jesus said to his disciples: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete.” (John 15:9-11)

I am the Vine

"I am the vine, you are the branches." John 15:5

These words of Jesus, part of His farewell message to His disciples, are very powerful. If we can only understand the true meaning of this short phrase, we would be different persons. After Hudson Taylor contemplated these words, he considered his life "an exchanged life". 

Hudson Taylor wrote: “The Spirit of God revealed to me the truth of our oneness with Jesus as I had never known it before....I saw not only that Jesus will never leave me, but I am a member of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. The vine is not the root merely, but all- root, stem, branches, twigs, leaves, flowers, fruit. And Jesus is not that alone- He is soil and sunshine, air and showers, and ten thousand times more than we have ever dreamed, wished for and needed. Oh the joy of seeing this truth!"

Why was it so exhilarating for Taylor to realize this? Hudson Taylor had been a mighty missionary of the faith in China for several years but he had been exhausted and depending much on his own strength and resources. He had been striving for faith! 

He wrote in a letter about this discernment, “…It is a wonderful thing to be really one with a risen and exalted Savior, to be a member of Christ! Think what it involves! Can Christ be rich and I poor? Can your right hand be rich and your left poor? Or your head be well fed while your body starves? No more can your prayers or mine be discredited if offered in the name of Jesus!"

Hudson Taylor founded the China Inland Mission and went through much suffering and challenges in doing so. His first wife, his second wife, and I don't know how many children died before him. His family was almost killed in a riot in China! His house burned down to the ground, nothing left! He had to depend on God for providing not only for himself and his family, but also the mission. But God did provide! 

"The branch of the vine does not worry, and toil and rush here to seek for sunshine, and there to find rain. No, it rests in union and communion with the vine; and in the right way, is the right fruit found on it. Let us abide in the Lord Jesus."

When Hudson Taylor died, his second son, Howard Frederick said of him, “Christ was the reason for his peace, His power for calm."

My Peace I Give To You

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” John 14:27

Philippians 4:6-7 is one of my favorite Bible verses. We read, “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God, then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." 

I like to pair it with the following passage from St. Augustine's Confessions: “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in Thee."

I remember when I had no peace at all, little things made me cry, and it seemed as if everything I had done in my life was worthless. I would argue with everyone and fought with my poor mother who could not understand what was happening. It was in such a contrast to my usual state of mind where I was content, thankful for everything, and rarely in contention with anyone. My mother called it my MIDNIGHT CRISIS, and so it was! 

I found out eventually there was something wrong with my thyroids which caused all the havoc with my emotions and mental well being. 

Through it all, and it lasted for more than a year, I held on to Philippians 4:6-7. I would confess it, pray it, claim it, repeat it, and I knew that one day, 'this too shall pass'. And thank God, it did!

Peace is not the absence of problems, conflict, storms, anger...It is the surety we belong to Someone who loves us and wants the best for us. It is the confidence that everything will turn out right, even in spite of ourselves. 

Thank You Lord that even in a world full of tension and strife, You are the gatekeeper,  and we can enter into Your peace!

I Will Send You the Advocate

“I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” John 14:25-26

In these days of confusion and unclarity, I often think of my parents and wonder what they would have done to solve the many challenges of this amazing time. My father passed away in 2019. He was a very innovative man, with lots of ideas. My mom, who died in 2014, was enterprising, so industrious, and persevering. I miss them both so much. But they did not leave us empty handed. They left us a thriving business with a lot of potential and great promise.

I suppose when Jesus left His disciples, they were confused and did not know what to do at first. But just as our parents left us a gift, Jesus did not forsake His disciples without leaving them a lot of wise words and the most precious of all, the largesse of the Holy Spirit. 

Jesus said in John 16:7, “It is better for you that I go.” What can be better than Jesus beside them 24/7? What can be more preferable to Jesus walking preaching, healing people, loving them? Believe it or not, Jesus not being on the earth! That’s what He said in the 16th chapter of John. “It is much better for you that I go, (it is profitable, expedient, it is for your good, it is for your advantage that I leave you),” Jesus said to the disciples because they were filled with grief. “Unless I go away, the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you, (will not have close fellowship with you, will not be able to partner with you). But if I go, I will send Him to you.”

I can see that if Jesus were still walking the earth, I would have to go where He was to speak to Him, to ask Him about what to do about this or that. Can you imagine the crowds around Him, clamoring for His attention? 

Instead I can be in my nightclothes, and just ask Him from wherever I am. I can read the Bible and the Spirit can illuminate certain passages for me. I can pray in the Spirit for people I don’t even know because the Spirit knows them and their problems. And the Holy Spirit can speak to a trillion people all at the same time. The Spirit is more omnipresent than the internet or TV or radio because the Spirit can go where those are forbidden or censored. 

Yes Jesus is present in a more powerful way today. He is IN us! And because He is IN us, we can be more powerful if we work together, pray together, plan together!

Let us not waste this precious gift of the Spirit by belittling it, or not being aware that we have Him in us. Jesus said in Luke 10:19, “I have given you authority…to overcome all the power of the enemy.”

Love One Another

“I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35

Jesus continues, “And here is how to measure it- the greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends.” After Jesus taught His disciples about love, and prayed, they crossed to the Kidron Valley where He was betrayed. 

Usually when I think about this self-sacrificing kind of love, the kind of love that Jesus had, I think of the larger than life saints like Maximillian Kolbe, who volunteered to die in place of another prisoner in Auschwitz. Kolbe was a hero many times over before he sacrificed his life for another in that Nazi concentration camp. And there are many other saints who sacrificed their lives in love for others. 

But there are ordinary people who live extraordinary lives as well. Ronnie Smith was a 33 yr. old chemistry teacher in Austin, Texas, when he and his wife discovered that Chemistry teachers were much needed in Libya. Ronnie decided to go in spite of the many warnings he received. “They’ll see you as an enemy! They’ll kill you!” 

“I don’t care,” he said, “My life is in Jesus’ hands, my after life is in Jesus’ hands. Even if they do kill me, I’m still going.”

After 18 months of teaching in the International School of Benghazi, four unidentified gunmen in a black Jeep shot him down in December 5, 2013. Two weeks later his widow Anita wrote an open letter that was spread all over the news. When she and her husband had traveled to Libya, they saw the suffering of the Libyan people, “but we also saw your hope, and we wanted to partner with you to build a better future.” To the attackers, she wrote: "I love you and I forgive you." 

She came out on CNN, and told Anderson Cooper, “I just envision the black Jeep driving up to him and I don't know their faces. I just want them to know that God loves them and can forgive them for this. I just really want them to know that I do love them and I forgive them, and Ronnie would want this, and I hope and pray that our son, Hosea, would believe this," she said. “Yeah, they took away my husband. I loved my husband. But it's got to be God's spirit that's pushing me to show them that this is what God wants them to see.” 

In today’s climate of division, hatred, bullying, where truth is attacked by a barrage of lies, we too can practice the radical love Jesus espouses. 

How do we love as Jesus loves? How do we forgive as Jesus forgives? Only by His grace and Spirit within us!

Show Us the Father

“Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” John 14:8

My sister and her husband went on a pilgrimage through the Camino de Santiago twice! The Way of St. James, as it is known in English, is a huge network of pilgrims' ways that leads to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain. Tradition has it that the remains of Saint James the Great are buried there.

The scallop shell, found on the shores of Galicia, came to symbolize the way, and can be found in hundreds of posts and signs along the Camino as one walks or bikes along the trails. The pilgrims look for the shell printed in yellow on a blue background to know for certain they have not lost their way.

We may not know it, but we are each on a pilgrimage. We may be comfortable where we are but we do not belong here. We are all taking our own route to our forever home. So we should also look for signs along the way, to make sure we are not lost. Just as Philip asked Jesus, “Master, show us the Father,” we too should be looking for our Father along the way. Jesus answered Philip, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”

Along the Camino de Santiago, the scallop shell, or the Vieira, is the sign the pilgrims look for. In our pilgrim journey, we should always look to Jesus. Those who walk the Camino also carry the shell along with them on their journey. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24)

I am reminded of Steve Green’s beautiful song which goes: 

“We're pilgrims on the journey of the narrow road

And those who've gone before us line the way

Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary

Their lives a stirring testament to 

God's sustaining grace

Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses

Let us run the race not only for the prize

But as those who've gone before us

Let us leave to those behind us

The heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives”

The only way we will leave a heritage of faithfulness, is by looking to Jesus and following Him.

THE Way, THE Truth and THE Life

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

Many people have rejected Christianity because of its exclusivity. But truth by its very nature IS exclusive. You can’t have many truths. Pilate asked Jesus in John 18:38, “What is truth?” but he did not wait for the answer. Many of us do the same. We prefer to make our own truth because we do not like to change how we think and how we live. Jesus said He is THE way. He did not say He is one of many different ways. 

Jesus said, “I came to bring truth to the world.” If what He says is true, then all other so-called “truths” are fake news. As Jeff Cavins says, we live in an age of unparalleled radical individualism. There are many articles about “Defining your truth”, and “Living your truth”. One article on Huffington Post by Rebecca Mckown actually ended with, “Now you are ready. Your truth has been un-earthed. Now go and live your truth. I will be right beside you.”

No one on earth can be right beside us all the time except Jesus. No one died so that we can live victoriously. In almost all other world religions, we have to earn nirvana through good deeds. The good has to outweigh the bad. The way of Christ is counterculture. Christ became sin for us so we can be righteous, holy and pure and the Father can accept us into His Kingdom. We have access to our Father because Jesus reconciled us. How glorious is this way of God that we may have an intimate, loving relationship with the Son, the Father and the Spirit. It is wholly incomprehensible that God would want that with us. Thank You Lord that You made a way where there is no way! You opened up heaven’s doors, because You are THE way, THE truth and THE life!

Who is He to You?

“From now on I am telling you before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe that I AM. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.” (John 13:19-20)

Sometimes Jesus speaks in riddles. I am sure the simple fishermen among the disciples were wondering what He was talking about when He said this. They had no inkling of the horror that was coming. But Jesus said one thing they understood: “...when it happens you may believe that I AM” 

Many people insist that Jesus never claimed to be God, but He did. Jesus said, "I and the Father are one," and, "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father." He also said, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” When Moses encountered Yahweh in the burning bush in the 3rd chapter of Exodus, Moses asked what he was to answer the Israelites when they ask what God has sent him to them. We read in verse 14 this answer: “And God said unto Moses, I AM That I AM: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” (KJV) The disciples may have been simple men, but they recognized the name, I AM. 

C.S. Lewis, who was once a professor at Cambridge University wrote: “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the son of God: or else a madman or something worse.” In other words, we were not given the choice by Jesus to say he was a good man, a great teacher or anything of that sort. He is either who He says He is, God, or He is crazy or a very evil man. 

Who is He to you? If He is a mad man or an evil person, we do not need to do anything more but resign him to the dust heap of history. But if He is God! If He is God, we have to go through the Bible with a fine tooth comb and find out all there is about Him that is important to our very existence, and to our life in the world to come!  And change the very fiber of our lives!

Love One Another

Jesus said to his disciples: “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:12-13)

How do we make the call to love one another REAL in our lives? Before our loved ones pass away, it is important to take the time to speak to them, tell them we love them, that we will be okay, and give them time to tell us what’s in their heart. 

In the same way, before Jesus was crucified, what He did and said was very important. He washed each of His disciples’ feet and said, "Do you understand what I have done for you? Now that I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you should also wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you...Now that you know these things, YOU WILL BE BLESSED if you do them."

And then, after a little while he said, "A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so must you love."

Why a new commandment, when the Jews were already instructed to "love thy neighbor as thyself?" (Leviticus 19:18) Is it not because we are to love as Jesus loves, not as we love ourselves? Many of us do not know how to love ourselves. We can be over critical. We want to change the way we look, the way we speak, the way we act, the way we perform our work. We get frustrated with ourselves. We usually think that what we are, what we are capable of, is never enough. We do not accept ourselves unconditionally. I know there are some people who even hate themselves! 

That's why Jesus says, "Look at me. Look at the way I love you. Look at my commitment to you. It does not depend on how you look, your achievements, your worthiness. I accept you for who you are. Even if you fail again and again. Even if you see yourselves as thin or fat, or white or dark, or timid, or dumb. I love you. I died for you. I want to help you to grow, to mature, to use all your gifts, not only for My glory, but because that is how I can bless you."

The first step to loving others, is to know God's love for us. He loves us unconditionally, eternally!

Faith Matters

“... and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.” Acts 11:26

There have been many plagues and epidemics that have ravaged the human race throughout history. Seven million people have died from the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak as of last year. The Antonine plague in A.D. 165-180 may have killed over 5 million people in the Roman Empire and decimated their army. In A.D. 541-542, the bubonic plague killed almost 10% of the world’s population and marked the start of the decline of the Byzantine empire. Then there was the infamous Black Death in 1346-1353, seven years of devastation that changed the course of European history. Bodies were buried in mass graves. An estimated 500 million  people died from the Spanish Flu from 1918-1920. Some communities almost became extinct. And the list goes on. 

But wherever there is pain and trials, there the Christians go bravely. In one French account of a plague, it is written, “The nuns in one hospital, having no fear of death, tended the sick with sweetness and humility. New nuns replaced those who had died, until most had died. Many times renewed by death, they now rest In peace with Christ.” This selfless nursing tradition developed in the early years of Christianity. In his book, “The Triumph of Christianity”, sociologist and historian Rodney Stark makes the powerful case that the main reason why Christianity flourished while Roman paganism dwindled in the 1st to 4th centuries was because of the care Christians gave toward those who were sick and suffering. While well known Roman healers like the classical physician Galen fled the city of Rome for their country estates, benevolent Christians stayed and ministered to the sick and dying. 

Rodney Stark wrote, “What went on during the epidemics was only an intensification of what went on every day among Christians… Indeed, the impact of Christian mercy was so evident that in the fourth century when the emperor Julian attempted to restore paganism, he exhorted the pagan priesthood to compete with the Christian charities. In a letter to the high priest of Galatia, Julian urged the distribution of grain and wine to the poor, noting that “the impious Galileans [Christians], in addition to their own, support ours, [and] it is shameful that our poor should be wanting our aid.” But there was little or no response to Julian’s proposals because there were no doctrines and no traditional practices for the pagan priest to build upon…. Christians believed in life everlasting. At most, pagans believed in an unattractive existence in the underworld. Thus, for Galen to have remained in Rome to treat the afflicted during the first great plague would have required far greater bravery than was needed by Christian deacons and presbyters to do so. Faith mattered.”

Yes, faith matters, today more than ever. As Christians we are called to be loving, generous and merciful, like Christ. The COVID pandemic may be over, but what Mother Teresa said when she was alive still holds true. “The greatest disease in the West today is not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love. The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty -- it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality. There's a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God.”

This is not only a problem for the West. Many of our young people experience anxiety and depression, and our country’s suicide rate is estimated at 5.4 deaths per 100,000 people. About 12.5 million of our countrymen experience mental health issues. We ourselves may not be equipped to deal with these serious challenges but we can surely pray in faith, encourage one another, and give generously, of our time and resources, as much as we are able, to those in need.

Giving Thanks!

“Then will I go in to the altar of God, the God of my gladness and joy;

Then I will give thanks upon the harp, O God, my God!” Psalm 43:4

It is easy to give thanks and praise to God when everything is all going well. It is more challenging when we feel everything is caving in on us. 

How can we think God is good if He allows us to undergo so much pain? My 95 year old aunt died in the hospital a few days ago. We just brought her for pneumonia in one of her lungs but it quickly progressed to sepsis. She had to undergo many tests, and she was unhappy about all the tubes and the BiPap oxygen concentrator. The last straw was when the doctor wanted to insert a nasogastric tube through her nose to feed her. She just refused it even if the doctor said she absolutely needed it to get better. 

I personally think all of life is a journey with God asking us along the way, “Do you trust me?", “Do you believe what I said to you in the letter I wrote to you, the Bible?", “Do you follow my instructions which are ALL for your good?"

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Do not be anxious about anything, but in EVERY situation, by prayer and petition, with THANKSGIVING, present your requests to God. And the PEACE of God, which transcends all understanding, will GUARD your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."Philippians 4:4-7

This is what God says we should do if we want His peace! Easy to do? No!!!

It goes against every natural law, but God's ways are different from ours, His economies are different, His thinking is different! BUT He made us, He loves us and He gave us our instruction manual. If we want to live the way He intended us to, we need to read it and follow it. 

I am sure my auntie Cora is with the Lord already. She is in a much better place after a life of loving the Lord, trusting Him and thanking Him for His goodness! 

My Sheep Hear My Voice

“My sheep hear my voice...” John 10:27

Sometimes it is difficult to hear the voice of God. The world clamors for our attention every day. One of my constant memos to myself is “Word before the world”. That means that before before I open my phone, before I answer the hundred and one things calling me, I go before God, thank Him, read and ponder His word, and just be with Him. I am not always successful. 

But God is always waiting. The Lord said that He is the good shepherd, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow Me.” On the 4th Sunday of Easter, the Catholic Church celebrates Good Shepherd Sunday. Jesus is our Good Shepherd, and we are His sheep. Although a lamb is lovable and cuddly, it is not exactly a compliment to be compared to sheep! Sheep are quite dumb, short sighted, stubborn, and defenseless. They gather in groups and really need someone to guide them because they can't take care of themselves. They move all together in a herd. In 2006, 400 sheep fell into a 15 meter deep ravine and died because of this instinct.

When I read this passage, I always remember my husband Luigi’s story of his encounter with sheep. He asked a shepherd if he could feed his sheep. The shepherd said, "That's my problem. Even my son can't feed them. They only recognize my voice!" True enough, when Luigi tried, the sheep did not come. He would approach them and the sheep would move away. Then when the shepherd called, they came right away!

Sheep who know a good master's voice and follow him, will be taken care of. But sheep who follow the wrong voice can end up in a ravine!!!!

Lord, may I know Your voice and follow You. I hold on to Your promise that no one can take me out of Your hand.

Why are You Persecuting Me?

“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Acts 9:4

What must Saul have been feeling when Jesus burst into his reality? Saul was so sure he was doing God’s will. He watched as Stephen was stoned to death. He was zealous in rounding up the new followers of Christ, bringing them to Jerusalem in chains and throwing them in jail. But God did not allow him to continue. On the road to Damascus, a brilliant light flashed from the sky and he fell to the ground. “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 

“Who are you, Sir?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting!”

 

I wonder how many times Saint Paul told his conversion story, and to how many people? It was certainly dramatic, and did not need any embellishing. How many people were spellbound and turned to God because of listening to him? What marked him as a man that God wanted on His side? Perhaps it was his passion and bravery. Whatever he did, he did with conviction. God doesn't want us to be lukewarm, sitting on the fence, waiting to see which side will win. I am sure if he was alive today, Saint Paul would not be intimidated by trolls. 

Saul never saw Jesus, never touched Him, never knew Him. Yet Jesus accused, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" Jesus was the man Saul arrested, had chained and scourged. Jesus was the woman Saul had dragged into prison. Jesus is the maid we talk harshly to. Jesus is the beggar we ignore. Jesus is the employee we vent our anger on. Jesus is the Christian persecuted in China we do not even pray for. Jesus is the baby in the womb with no voice we do not fight for. Jesus is the hungry child in Payatas we do not feed.

 

Lord, how many times have I, like Saint Paul, persecuted You? Open my eyes, like You opened Saul's, and make me see what I can do for You and Your people. 

How Can I?

“Do you really grasp what you are reading?" "How can I," the man replied,"unless someone explains it to me?" Acts 8:30-31

Philip was one of the seven men, along with Stephen, who were chosen to distribute bread to the widows and the community. Like Stephen, it was important to him, not only to give bread, but also the bread of life. In this chapter of Acts, he is instructed by an angel to go to the desert. There he meets an Ethiopian eunuch, a treasurer of the Queen of that country. This man was reading Isaiah and Philip asked him if he understood.

 "How can I unless someone explains it to me?" the man answered. Philip then took the opportunity to tell him about Jesus. “Then Philip opened his mouth and, beginning with this Scripture passage, he proclaimed Jesus to him,“ we read from the same passage of scripture. How blessed this Ethiopian man was that God sent someone to teach him! 

Back then, it took a movement of the Spirit for someone to know about Christ. The Holy Spirit directed Philip to go to the desert. The Spirit told him to catch up with the man's carriage. After the encounter the Spirit snatched Philip away and the eunuch saw him no more!

But today, there is so much opportunity to read the Scriptures, to understand it, to know more. I love listening to preaching on YouTube, and reading teaching from books. I can search about almost any topic about the word of God and like the eunuch, find living water in the desert!