13. March 15, -13th Day of Lent

The Wonderful Mercy

" For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

             -John 3:16

There is no other way to understand our Gods mercy to all of His children. Mercy was with all His children, mercy came down to earth ,it was tortured and nailed, died to show the extend of love to us and resurrected; to be in us always at all time. Mercy encompass us no matter however we go astray from this loving Kindness.

We sometimes behave cruelly to Gods love for gaining our wishes.We may sometime compromise His plans with our plans even though we are aware of its consequences. Even by knowing the great love of our lord, we forget Him,we never thank Him. But God never forgets us,He never stops loving us, He is always merciful,always reaching His hands to us. 

Why God is always merciful us? Is he not fed up on us? 

"God has been kind to you. He has been very patient, waiting for you to change. But you think nothing of his kindness. Maybe you don’t understand that God is kind to you so that you will decide to change your lives."

-Romans 2:4

God is kind to us so that we will decide to repent and change our lives.No matter how we are,how mean we are, how untrue we are in our love to Him, God waits for us patiently. His mercy towards us is without measure.

"But God is rich in mercy, and he loved us very much. 5 We were spiritually dead because of all we had done against him. But he gave us new life together with Christ. (You have been saved by God’s grace.)"

-Ephesians 2:4-5

Let us receive this new life together. Let us do a simple thing for Him,"Trust in Him and Jesus".

"Your goodness and mercy will be with me all my life,

    and I will live in the Lord’s house a long, long time."Psalms 23:6

Let us reflect on our lives. Let us realize how wonderfully Gods mercy has protected us. Let us repent on our unrighteousness. Let us return to the eternal satisfaction, to our Lord- the Inexhaustible source of mercy.

"This is the Lord’s message:

    “Now come back to me with all your heart.
Cry and mourn, and don’t eat anything!
    Show that you are sad for doing wrong.
13 Tear your hearts,
    not your clothes.[a]”
Come back to the Lord your God.
    He is kind and merciful.
He does not become angry quickly.
    He has great love."-Joel 2:12-13

Oh lord ,Untiring giver of mercy,help us to realize our iniquities, help us to realize your marvelous touch of mercy in our life. Guide us back to You,so that we can always stand for You in this world and help others to get to You.Amen

Reading:

Luke 15:11-32

Psalms 32

12. March 14, 2014- 12th Day of Lent

Seek for the True Wisdom

We are not of this world. We are Gods children who came to stay in the world for a while. But the powers of the world try to deceive us and make us worldly. It tempts us and drag us down to sin so as to block our way, back to our Fathers Eternal house. We need immunity to fight the world. We need wisdom to differentiate what is right for us. For this wisdom we must see the world through the Lords eyes. We must feel the world through His hands. We must conquer this world like Jesus. Always remember "the world is made for us by our Father in Heaven ; we are not made for the world".The world should never slave us.

For this wisdom to fill in us, we should seek Lord first. We must accept in our souls that we are living by His breath in us. 

As James 1:5-8 says:

"Do any of you need wisdom? Ask God for it. He is generous and enjoys giving to everyone. So he will give you wisdom. But when you ask God, you must believe. Don’t doubt him. Whoever doubts is like a wave in the sea that is blown up and down by the wind.  People like that are thinking two different things at the same time. They can never decide what to do. So they should not think they will receive anything from the Lord."

When we were little children, we used to believe blindly what our parents say.They held our hands and guided us until we were able to fly by our own. In the same way ,as a child depends on their parents, we must be to God. We are immature in spirit,hence we must grow in His wisdom that has been planted in us as the Holy Spirit.We must hear His voice.

James 1:21

"Be humble and accept God’s teaching that is planted in your hearts. This teaching can save you."

The Holy spirit that God gave us teaches us everything that we need for living in this world.  Let us invite Him to our thoughts and give our ear to the Spirit, be humble and hear what He says...for we are not enough to live this world but the one who is in us is greater than the world.

1 Corinthians 2:10-12

"The Spirit knows all things. The Spirit even knows the deep secrets of God.  It is like this: No one knows the thoughts that another person has. Only the person’s spirit that lives inside knows those thoughts. It is the same with God. No one knows God’s thoughts except God’s Spirit. We received the Spirit that is from God, not the spirit of the world. We received God’s Spirit so that we can know all that God has given us."

Let us be aware of what God has given us and how He has planned it for us.Let us live life through Him.

Lord Heavenly king open our minds ,ears, eyes and all senses to receive your wisdom to live in this world as you chose us, conquering it and reaching to you finally. Let this world never make us far away from you. Amen

Reading

James 3:13-18

11. March 13 ,2014- 11th day of Lent

Our Weaknesses are for The Lord

We are all good at finding weaknesses, specially the weaknesses of our fellows. If it is our weaknesses, we get worried over it often. We try our best to overcome it but our efforts may go waste. This is because we excavate the weaknesses for our selfish desires.May be to become supreme among a group or to hide up a flaw.

But we hardly think about the fact that 'we are not our creators nor of our fellow beings' Our Creator Father, who made us gave everything to us with a definite plan. It is said that,

'God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. He chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. And God chose what the world thinks is not important—what the world hates and thinks is nothing. He chose these to destroy what the world thinks is important. God did this so that no one can stand before him and boast about anything.' 

--1Corinthians 1:27-29]

The weaknesses in each of us are not to shame others or to feel ashamed of  self but it is given to us to make us humble and to search God in our lacking. If God made us strong in all things, we will never feel a need of help, we will be strong so that the human power of this world will rule us. But if we are weak in something we search for help.

The search of help in our weakness can guide us to the influence of two powers; the Spiritual power from our God or the worldly powers. It is in this stage that we need the right wisdom to chose the eternal power. The worldly power may seem easy to gain over our weakness but it is futile and short lived. But the power that we seek from the spirit of God is eternal.

'It is not the wisdom of the rulers of this world, who are losing their power.  But we speak God’s secret wisdom that has been hidden from everyone until now. God planned this wisdom for our glory. He planned it before the world began.  None of the rulers of this world understood this wisdom.'      -1Corinthians 2:6-8  

In our weakness God gives us His spirit to us and from then on it is God who works in our weakness . Just think, who will be strong... will it be a perfect worldly man or a man through him God works? So it is great to have weakness, we only have to submit them to our Lord, He will work for us.

Christ is the one who gives me the strength I need to do whatever I must do.- Philippians 4:13

If we have any weakness, either it is a weakness in habit , alcoholism, drugs, selfishness, depression , sexual thoughts or anything like that, let us invite God to our weaknesses...Let us pray "Lord i am weak in this world, i am not able to overcome my lust or passions, please give me your strength that is everlasting, so that through you i can beat my weakness which traps me in this world. Amen.

2 Corinthians 12:9
"But the Lord said, “My grace is all you need. Only when you are weak can everything be done completely by my power.” So I will gladly boast about my weaknesses. Then Christ’s power can stay in me."

Reading ;
Psalm 25

10. March 12 ,2014- Tenth day of Lent

The Church- Unity of Souls 

When God created man He made him single at first but He found that it is not right for man to be lonely and created Eve. All animals that we see around are not made single but with pairs or they are living in social groups . we find a mutual understanding, sharing, respect and sacrificing nature among these groups. When we look at the plants and trees, the trees are with a mass group of branches and leaves, flowers and fruits, together they grow with mutual sharing.

God planned His creation in such a way "unity is strength".the unity in work, the unity in dedication, the unity in efforts, the unity for sharing and suffering for others. Amongst the diversified characters the souls must remain united in God.

When we journey through life there may have been number of situations while we failed fighting alone. We needed the help of our partner,children,relatives or friends or co-workers to tide over the crisis. In the same way we must join our souls with others to offer a helping mind and hand to those in need. There are many things in life that we cannot face alone. The load of it cannot be managed by our own souls. This is when Church comes to our life. 

A marvelous place were at them same time hundreds or thousands of mind and souls unify together in God. When we think of the "Mass", even though the timings are different between many places, at one part of the hemisphere we can find the unity of souls, millions of them, at the same time..the incense of prayers arising at the same time to the Lord. Let us expand "MASS"- Multitude Aggregated in Souls Submission at the same time.In Church , in the Mass, we all join together to God, to His sacrifice for us and to His compassionate love for us. 

1 Corinthians 12 gives us a marvelous answer for this: 

"God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.  If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body." 

-1 Corinthians 12:18-20

"God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it,  that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.  If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored,all rejoice together.

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.  And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing,helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues." 1 Corinthians 12:24-28

In this Lent, let us join our souls together to be whole in God. Let us see the hearts of others and their needs.Let us join with all and pray with sincere love towards others, for there is living God in all of us. For it is said;

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."Mathew 18:20

The Church is our foundation from were we learn to join our souls to the soul of God in unity for making His kingdom Whole. In this lent, let us be able to make ourselves pure and to join together our souls with others to feel Gods love midst us. Amen

Reading:

1 Corinthians 12

9. March 11 ,2014- Ninth day of Lent

Confession 

Our weakness towards the world is trapping us in sins. The sins make us far from Lord in our heart.It blocks our spiritual way to our Lord.  If our spirit remains aloof from God ..it dries out beyond limits that we will find it hard or we have to sacrifice much to get back to God.

Let not our sins accumulate and block the way to Our Father. Let it not prevent the blessings/plans that God has for us. For that we have to confess and make our heart lighter so as to rise to our Lord for Him to reside in.

We cannot confess straight to God. We are vulnerable groups always weak when tempted and always exposed to the earthly trials. We hardly can submit all our sins directly to Him as we get shattered by the world. But a Priest is the chosen person by God for us. A priest sacrifices all the worldly lusts, he has far more better control than us upon this world and thrives on temptations through prayer. Priests are always in communication with Lord..his prayer is his weapon. Priest never shatters. Hence he has the privilege to take our sins to Lord Almighty and through the Body and Blood of Jesus we get cleansed of our sins.

In this lent, let us list out all our sins and all that we have done that did hurt the Lord.Let us humble ourselves by sharing our sins to the Gods chosen one and let us remove the block. For this, at first we must wish for our confession and pray for it to Lord. Lord will prepare a beautiful way for the confession.

"Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity 
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
 my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.Selah

I acknowledged my sin to you,
    and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
    and you forgave the iniquity of my sin."- Psalms 32:1-5

Prayer;

Lord help us to humble ourselves and renew ourselves to your chosen one without fail so that you are having a space in our soul to live. Amen

Reading:

Psalms 32

8. March 10 ,2014- Eighth day of Lent

Be Serene in All Times

Jesus, born for Mary and Joseph ,born for us, faced many trials in His life.Starting from the threatens of King Herod to the day of resurrection, Jesus was exposed to the trials of this world. In the desert by Satan, among people-their questions and traps, the pain that He suffered the day before He was arrested, the trails in the court, the hard journey to the Mt Golgotha, the Crucifixion.

What amazes is the serene nature of Jesus. At all times, no matter how tough the situation was, Jesus stood calm and peaceful. How He was able to be so? Let us scroll back to our own life, how do we approach different situations? Are we able to stay as the same person, calm and peaceful, at all times? When our life flows without much trouble, we are happy and stable, but the moment a small disturbance happen to this normal flow, we get tensed. We transform into a different person who will be impatient, disturbed, irritating, sometimes angry or stressed. Our face reflects the emotions of our heart and it will be found tightened in all muscles. We feel a burden on our shoulders and neck making us ill. A speck of worldly trial converts us to an entirely different character which inturn will affect our relations, homes, children, work etc. Why this dual personality?

In James 1:8 it says..."being a double-minded man,unstable in all his ways."

This is were Jesus was strong. We can see in the Bible that, after a period of exposure to the world and it chaos, Jesus retires Himself to an isolated place and He prays. His prayer was the strongest weapon. He constantly talked to God the Father who gave Him the power to face this world with a serene mind. This can be seen also during the night before He was betrayed, Jesus cried and prayed to the Heavenly Father when He felt Himself weak and troubled.

" Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled.  Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.”  And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”- Mathew 26:36-39

This is the marvelous way of approaching the worldly trials. Jesus was strong in His faith to Our Father in Heaven. He always gave honor in the name of the Father.As a little child who cries to the parents and depends on them helplessly..we must submit ourselves to our Lord. Because He says,

“Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child?
    Can she feel no love for the child she has borne?
But even if that were possible,
    I would not forget you!
16 See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands.- Isaiah 49:15-16

This is how God love us. Hence in all our troubles and trials, let us remain serene and strong in faith to Our Father, who will make things happen only for our good. Whenever we feel loosing our mind, keep calm retire to an isolated place and cry out to Lord, bring your helplessness to Him, He will surely give you the Strength. Make Prayer Continuous ,regularly talk to our Father.

Prayer
Lord help us to be serene in all times by continually praying to you and strongly believing in you and perfectly submitting to you. Lord my strength reside in me.Amen

Reading 
Mathew 6:26-34

7. March 9 ,2014- Seventh day of Lent

Learn to say "NO'' to what is Against Gods Way.

We often get exposed to situations that compels us to do something or to compromise in, which we actually dislike.  We become 'people pleasers' to keep up a relationship or to get a favor. This is a great trap in which we knowingly fall. We do this for a momentary happiness or gain but this can tumble down our relation with God.

By doing something just for the sake of the world can block a great plan or a great blessing that God has for us. God must have paved way for a beautiful carving for us if we would have stood for Him in such times. But this get destroyed when we compromise His ways for our momentary satisfaction by joining with friends in gossiping or judging others,by enjoying the lust of world for the sake of company, or when we stand selfish among our brothers or fight with them. In all such cases, not only we are committing mistakes but also we are promoting others to deepen their mistakes instead of making them realize and turn back from their flaws.

Let us remember Jesus who stood firm in the temptations that He had to face in the wilderness. He was too weak and hungry to be trapped by satan , but He stood firm in God the Father and He conquered the evil traps. This firmness in God raised Jesus from death to eternal life.If He would have fallen for the devil what would the fate be?But He stood firm and at last angels came and served Him,this is Gods protection if we stand for Him.And this is an everlasting one, and not like the momentary worldly pleasures. Mathew 4:1-11

Hence where ever we are. in whatever groups we may be in, or in however situations we are in, We Should Stand as Gods Children..All Should See the Living Lord in Us. We should be ale to say NO to what we are aware is Ungodly.

Titus 2:12- 'instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, '

It is our dependency on worldly passions that compel us to be so.It is said  in '1 Timothy 6:9

Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.. '

Hence let us be wise in God each second. Let us give our mind to God so that in all situations He can guide us and give us the power to say No  to the worldly traps.  

'So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.'- James 4:17

Lord help us and give us wisdom to understand what is not right and give us the power to deny it and say No..because it is You who created us and You know us more than we know ourselves. Amen.

Reading;

Psalms 119:1-10,33-40

6. March 8, 2014- Sixth Day of Lent

Never Fail to Pray

Often there arise times that we don't feel like praying.  We may be lazy or busy with many things around us that we hardly remember to pray. A failure to pray will take us far from Gods care and protection. 

Whenever we feel a dryness in prayer or when we are helpless that we are not able to find peace of mind for praying, we can still do one thing..just sit for a moment for God. Where ever you are or what ever you do..just recede to a corner and stay calm for God..hopefully this is something we can do. Even Jonah was able to pray in the stomach of a shark.  If we are ready to do this..rest God will take care. 

'Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.…Pray without ceasing'- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Pray in the Spirit at all times. Pray with all kinds of prayers, and ask for everything you need. To do this you must always be ready. Never give up. Always pray for all of God’s people.                                                                                                                         - Ephesians 6:18-20

“But when you pray, you should go into your room and close the door. Then pray to your Father. He is there in that private place. He can see what is done in private, and he will reward you.

And when you pray, don’t be like the people who don’t know God. They say the same things again and again. They think that if they say it enough, their god will hear them. Don’t be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.So this is how you should pray:

‘Our Father in heaven,
we pray that your name will always be kept holy.We pray that your kingdom will come—that what you want will be done here on earth, the same as in heaven.Give us the food we need for today.Forgive our sins,    just as we have forgiven those who did wrong to us.
 Don’t let us be tempted,
but save us from the Evil One.' "- Mathew 6:9-13

Let us recede to our heart and find a mind to sit for God even when we does not feel like praying..but never cease to find a time for God

Reading 

Mathew 6

5. March 7, 2014- Fifth Day of Lent

Are we really in Lent

During lent we sacrifice something that we like in food or we fast for a time. When we look deep into this action, can we find anything that is really meant to us? The act of leaving something for lent must arise from our heart. It should mold us to a new creation. Leaving food and fasting are just actions that we take but as lent finishes we return back to normal. 

Lent should renew us every time and make us more like the children of God and closer to Him. As Jesus took his friends to the Mount Tabor and showed them how He shined in the glory of God the Father (Mathew 17:1-9) , the transgression should also take place in us and we should shine in the glory of God .

What really Lent means, it is said, 

                     “I will tell you the kind of day I want—a day to set people free. I want a day that you take the burdens off others. I want a day when you set troubled people free and you take the burdens from their shoulders.  I want you to share your food with the hungry. I want you to find the poor who don’t have homes and bring them into your own homes. When you see people who have no clothes, give them your clothes! Don’t hide from your relatives when they need help.”

 If you do these things, your light will begin to shine like the light of dawn. Then your wounds will heal. Your “Goodness” will walk in front of you, and the Glory of the Lord will come following behind you.  Then you will call to the Lord, and he will answer you. You will cry out to him, and he will say, “Here I am.”

Stop causing trouble and putting burdens on people. Stop saying things to hurt people or accusing them of things they didn’t do. Feel sorry for hungry people and give them food. Help those who are troubled and satisfy their needs. Then your light will shine in the darkness. You will be like the bright sunshine at noon. "- Isaiah 58:7-10

This can change us. Let us stop causing trouble with our thoughts or actions to our fellow beings. Let us stop judging others. Let us be able to accept others with a sincere heart and wish them with a pure mind. Let us stop saying things to hurt people. let us stop putting burdens on our dear ones. Let us not be selfish. Because God lives in each and every one, if we hurt them , Our Father will be in pain.

"Whoever is not against us is with us. I can assure you that anyone who helps you by giving you a drink of water because you belong to the Messiah will definitely get a reward.

“If one of these little children believes in me, and someone causes that child to sin, it will be very bad for that person. It would be better for them to have a millstone tied around their neck and be drowned in the sea." -Mark 9:40-42

Let us be in a true lent and ask for His wisdom to find out ourselves and what should be cleansed from us to get more closer to Our dear Father. Let us look to the Cross and see the depth of Love God has for us.

Reading:

Mark 9:33-50

4. March 6, 2014- Fourth day of Lent

God loves you unconditionally.

When we try to return to God there are many things that pulls us back and drags us back into the world. Many things that we find  difficult to leave from our life. These things may be our weaknesses or passions or habits . But its true that we find them hard to control. 

When we are more closer to God , His strength is so powerful that when temptations pull us back to the world,God holds us tightly. But when our mind slips away behind the weakness just for a second knowingly ,we get carried away from God. This can happen even in a nano second when we just allow our weaknesses to have a peep back, taking  our mind away from Gods hands to the world. 

Our worldly action makes us exposed to the worldly influence again blocking the rays of wisdom from God, this can create days of vacuum in our life. Days of dryness of spirit. We will find hard to pray, a total numbness in mind. We feel indifferent while attending Holy Mass or while reading Bible. This is the real pain of spirit and Our Father suffers this when we go away from Him.

When we get into such a situation, NEVER LET THIS TAKE OVER US FOR LONG, NEVER LET THIS VACUUM SUCK OVER OUR LIFE'S ESSENCE FROM US,OUR GOD FROM US.

THIS WILL PARASITE ON US AND RUIN US. 

Without a wait CRY OUT TO LORD. CRY IN THE STATE WE ARE. LORD I AM NOT ABLE TO FEEL YOU IN ME.When we cry out to Him in helpless, and as we sit in submission, there will be voice whispering inside you..."MY DEAR CHILD,I LOVE YOU THE WAY YOU ARE,I LOVE YOU ALWAYS EVEN NOW AND FOREVER" This is the amazing love of God for us. No matter how we are, who we are, or the way we are..God is still loving us and He wants us to be in His hands and be perfect like Him. 

In this lent, let us make ourselves special for Him. Let us fight with the world in us and defeat it. For God says;

 But in all these troubles we have complete victory through God, who has shown his love for us.- Romans 8:37In this world you will have troubles. But be brave! I have defeated the world!”-John 16:33

With God in us always , we are complete.

Reading :Psalms 19

3. March 5, 2014- Third day of Lent

Return to God with our Whole Heart.

Let this lent tear our heart and reach its inner corners,for the lord is kind and merciful.

He does not become angry quickly.He has great love. Let His love purify and melt our hearts which has solidified in this materialistic world. 

When we give our heart to Lord, He make it light with our repentance and tears and it melts in his love and He gives us His wisdom. Our heavy hard heart can never rise to God, but a humble heart is light and a repented soul is the perfect gift for God from us. For it says in Psalms 51:17; "The sacrifice that God wants is a humble spirit.God, you will not turn away someone who comes with a humble heart and is willing to obey you."

Hence let us pray;

 "put true wisdom deep inside of me.

7 Remove my sin and make me pure.

God, create a pure heart in me,
    and make my spirit strong again.
11 Don’t push me away
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Your help made me so happy.
    Give me that joy again.
    Make my spirit strong and ready to obey you."- Psalms 51

Reading : Psalms 51

2. March 4, 2014- Second day of Lent

Leave everything and follow Jesus

Leave everything in the hands of God and follow Him. For it is says "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."Mathew 6:33. In all things we do or decide let us first submit it to God Almighty, give some time for His wish to be revealed, for His decision is always right for us. A thing that is done or a decision that is made after this submission will definitely turn out to be successful and with everlasting satisfaction. God will send His angel before us and make our path straight. 

Hence lets us learn to leave everything for Him and follow Him.  Sacrificing the world for God has an eternal price for us .Let us be obedient children to Him and not to be conformed to our passions of this world. Let us grid up our minds and set hope in the Almighty grace. For it is said,

	"Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel,
	who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses andbrothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life." - Mark 10:29-30

Reading: Psalms 25

1.March 3, 2014- First day of Lent

Be unshakable in Trials Temptations and Sufferings ,Just Believe in God  and trust in His Love

We are borne to a new living hope through resurrection of Christ. Let us be firm in this belief of salvation to be revealed in the last days.  God’s power protects us through our faith, and it keeps us safe until our salvation comes.We are the children of God, this world will reject us and suffer us and will put us in trials. But always remember,

" The only temptations that you have are the same temptations that all people have. But you can trust God. He will not let you be tempted more than you can bear. But when you are tempted, God will also give you a way to escape that temptation. Then you will be able to endure it."  -  1 Corinthians 10:13

These temptations are only for a little while and these troubles test our faith and prove that it is pure. And such faith is worth more than gold. Gold can be proved to be pure by fire, but gold will ruin. When your faith is proven to be pure, the result will be praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ comes. Our faith has a goal, and we are reaching that goal—our salvation.

Reading: 1 Peter 1:3-9