Day 324 - I will never know how much it cost

I will never know, oh Lord, how much you paid so I could be free.
To see you on that cross, suffering, innocent blood being shed, just so I could live.
I, Lord, so small and so sinful, so human. It overwhelms me Lord, to see how much you
care about me and how much you take care of every little detail of my life, so that I can serve you.

You did tell us, "seek first the Kingdom of Heaven, and all the other things will be added."
Thank you, Lord, for that promise. Sometimes I forget to seek, but you never forget to take care of me.
I am nothing, Lord, without you. I am so so so thankful, so grateful. I do realize how much you do and have done and will still do, forever, just because I am your child.

Thank you, Jesus, my Lord, my Father, my Everything.

Day 323 - The vineyard story

To whom hasn't heard of the vineyard story, in summary it's about this land owner who hires men to work for him at different times of the day. The catch though is that he promises the same wage to all the men, despite how many hours of work they have done, also, he begins paying the ones who arrived at last, and then pays last the ones who began working early in the morning.

With that story Jesus wanted to tell us that it doesn't matter what we do, and how much effort we put into things, we all deserve the same amount of Grace because in truth we are all sinners, made of the same flash.
He also gets me thinking that some of us were built to be the first workers, waking up early, working long hours, and some others were built to come in at the last minute and still receive the same payment. Who is better than who, it's not up to us to judge, but how our hearts respond if we are the hard workers or the lazy bums is what matters.

Let's say I was in the place of the early worker, I might be pretty mad by being paid the same as the guy who arrived at last, I understand the point of view, but what Jesus is trying to say is that, receive what you got thankfully, and realize it was given to you by Mercy and Grace, not because we deserve it.
And if I was at the late comer position who worked only one hour, barely sweat, and then gets the same payment, I'm sue God is looking into my heart to see if I am just humbly thankful knowing that He is acting on Grace with me, or if I get myself all proud just because I ripped somebody off and had advantage over others.

No position is easy, and they are no position is better than the other. It's the heart's challenge that matters, not the outcome I believe.

God does the things that only He understands, who am I to question?
I minus just enjoy what He gracefully gave me, and bow to Him, every day of my life.

Day 322 - When the day comes

Everything shall pass in this lifetime. There is nothing eternal unless it comes from the Kingdom of Heaven.
All the pain, the illness, misery, agony, starvation, all of that one day will end, because the day is near.

Our bodies are not eternal, our houses, our jobs, our troubles, none of it is eternal, only what we store in His Kingdom is eternal.

The they will come when all of us are judged, we will all face God and be accountable for our decisions, our mistakes, our selfishness. But thanks to Him, when that day comes, the ones who believe and follow Christ's steps will be spared from eternal pain.

See, the Bible says that the pain we experience now is nothing compared to the pain we could face in case we are not spared on the judgment day.
It's like people that make jokes about going to Hell, why would you want to go there? Why would you even joke about it? Whoever thinks that way has no idea what hell must be like.

The Bible also says that when the day comes, every knee will bow before the Lord, and every tongue will proclaim His glory. So why so much disbelief and so much rebellion?

I used to say "I would be so much happier if I just believed". And now I do, and I can say: Yes, I am indeed, happy as one could be. With the Holy Ghost in my life and God's guidance before me.

Day 321 - Only God knows why

God has an unique way of working things out. As much as I try to understand, it seems as if God's ways are this big puzzle and I can't wrap my head around it. Each little piece, each little reason for the things He does or allow to be done.
People always say "why is there poverty or illness if there is a God?"
And "why did I have to suffer this much to come to God? Couldn't there be a different way for it?
"If God is God and He is so powerful, why didn't He create humans with less rebellious character?"
And so on, so forth. There are thousands of questions related to God's mysterious ways, and we will never know the answers, in fact, we are not supposed to.

I have to put my mind in the right place and think that I am here only to serve God, and to live for Him, to humble myself so I can be saved, not to know the reasons why He does what He does.

What I need to know is:
- He has created me
- He loves me
- He will never forsake me
- He died for me so I could be saved
- His will won't ever take me where His grace can't protect me.

I love you Jesus, this is for you!

Day 320 - Forgive and forget

Forgive and forget,
Forgive and forget,
Forgive and forget...

Because I am also subject to failure. Because Jesus Himself forgave all of us, and He is perfect.
Because we are no better than anyone else to judge or keep bad tracks about one's mistakes.
Because the things we don't let go eat us up inside.
Because lack of forgiveness leads to lack of happiness.
Because this life is so short, why keep all the resentment?
Because that's we are here for.
Because we are Christians.
Because it's the right thing to do.

Forgive and forget!

Day 319 - Live for you

I want to live for you, Lord. That's the only thing that makes me worthy of being alive.
I sometimes have this fear that if I misbehave I will lose the blessings God gave me,
but the truth is, He doesn't give me things or blesses me because I deserve it, but because
He is merciful and graceful, otherwise, I would be let to die, since I am no better than anyone else.

I don't deserve anything, just as pretty much everybody else I know. So why do I keep thinking
that I need to do things to deserve God's favor? Of course we must obey His law and do good deeds,
but that's just because He doesn't want us to get in trouble, and because He wants us to learn obedience,
which is not part of human nature. But if it was so that we could exchange that for blessings,
we would all be done.

Anyway, God is good, and He is all powerful. He can do everything, anything, at any time. Because
He is God.

Day 318 - Christmas is inside

Dear God,

Thank you for Christmas.
Thank you because I know that your Son Jesus was born, and that He lived,
taught and died so that I could have joy in my heart right now.
Because Christmas is that great joy that doesn't go away for nothing in this world.
Christmas is everyday. It's the assurance that my Lord is with me, that He lives in me,
and that because of Him I can have Salvation, Eternal Life, Forgiveness, Peace,
Kindness, Faith, Hope, Mercy, Grace, everything else that comes only from you.

I love you Lord, I love you so much, and I don't want ever be away from you,
because everything else is temporary, but you, you are the Eternal, the Alpha and Omega.
I have only the right to be happy, to rejoice, to be thankful. Knowing how much you did for me,
I have no right to complaint, to be unhappy.

Encourage me Lord, give me the strength, the righteousness, the peace I need to conquer what you
planned for me.
Because I am your child, and I will always be, because you said "believe and I will never forsake you".

Thank you, Father. Amen.