PARADOXICAL

My Child,

You may not know me, but I know everything about you (Psalm 139.1)
I know when you sit down and when you rise up (Psalm 139.2)
I am familiar with all your ways (Psalm 139.3)
Even the very hairs on your head are numbered (Matthew 10.29-31)
For you were made in my image (Genesis 1.27)
In me you live and move and have your being (Acts 17.28)
For you are my offspring (Acts 17.28)
I knew you even before you were conceived Jeremiah (1.4-5)
I chose you when I planned creation (Ephesians 1.11-12)
You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book (Psalm 139.15-16)
I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live (Acts 17.26)
You are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139.14)
I knit you together in your mother's womb (Psalm 139.13)
And brought you forth on the day you were born (Psalm 71.6)
I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me (John 8.41-44)
I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love (1 John 4.16)
And it is my desire to lavish my love on you (1 John 3.1)
Simply because you are my child and I am your Father (1 John 3.1)
I offer you more than your earthly father ever could (Matthew 7.11)
For I am the perfect father (Matthew 5.48)
Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand (James 1.17)
For I am your provider and I meet all your needs (Matthew 6.31-33)
My plan for your future has always been filled with hope (Jeremiah 29.11)
Because I love you with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31.3)
My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore... (Psalms 139.17-18)
And I rejoice over you with singing (Zephaniah 3.17)
I will never stop doing good to you (Jeremiah 32.40)
For you are my treasured possession (Exodus 19.5)
I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul Jeremiah (32.41)
And I want to show you great and marvelous things (Jeremiah 33.3)
If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me (Deuteronomy 4.29)
Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37.4)
For it is I who gave you those desires (Philippians 2.13)
I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine (Ephesians 3.20)
For I am your greatest encourager (2 Thessalonians 2.16-17)
I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles (2 Corinthians 1.3-4)
When you are broken-hearted, I am close to you (Psalm 34.18)
As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart (Isaiah 40.11)
One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes (Revelation 21.3-4)
And I'll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth (Revelation 21.3-4)
I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus (John 17.23)
For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed (John 17.26)
He is the exact representation of my being (Hebrews 1.3)
He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you (Romans 8.31)
And to tell you that I am not counting your sins (2 Corinthians 5.18-19)
Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled (2 Corinthians 5.18-19)
His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you (1 John 4.10)
I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love (Romans 8.31-32)
If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me (1 John 2.23)
And nothing will ever separate you from my love again (Romans 8.38-39)
Come home and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen (Luke 15.7)
I have always been Father, and will always be Father (Ephesians 3.14-15)
My question is, “Will you be my child?” (John 1.12-13)
I am waiting for you (Luke 15.11-32)

Love, Your Dad.
Almighty God

posted by Resty Odon  # 7:00 PM 0 Comments

To be old and wise, you must first be young and stupid.

All that God requires of us is an opportunity to show what He can do. A.B. Simpson

All the waters in the ocean could never sink a ship unless it gets inside; likewise, all the pressures of life can never hurt you unless you let them in.

The Lord does not look so much at the magnitude of anything we do as at the love with which we do it. St. Teresa of Avila

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it s in the power of your hand to do so. Proverbs 3:27.

One great form of wealth is kindness. It does not diminish no matter how much you give. It increases the more it is shared.

Just like faith: the more it is shared, the more it is strengthened.

Somebody once told me, Be strong. Remember, not everything has a happy ending and endings don’t mean stop. It’s just a way of telling that there’s a new beginning ahead of us. You should always be ready for the unpredictable and expect the unexpected. It’s easy to fall, hard to get up. But once you’re up and back on track, you will be a better person. That’s the way of life. You don’t just live it, you learn from it.

Life is at its weakest when there are more doubts than trust. But life is at its strongest when you learn how to trust despite the doubts.

Accept that all of us can be hurt, that all of us can – and surely will at times –fail. Other vulnerabilities, like being embarrassed or risking love, can be terrifying too. I think we should follow a simple rule” if we can take the worst, take the risk.

Brokenness must be a gift from God, for He alone can will it. It must be equated with grace, for how can one survive it by mere strength. It must be accepted, so one can fully understand himself. For it takes a broken person to understand and love a person who is broken.

You need to feel a bit deprived at times, a bit lonely and in a way incomplete, coz if you’ve got everything here on earth, would you still look up to the sky?

Everything always ends up alright. If things are not alright, then it’s not yet the end.

An ordinary stone in David’s hand had an extraordinary effect on Goliath. May the ordinary things you do result in extraordinary breakthroughs.

Little trials without God can break you. Big trials with Him can make you great. May you always find strength in god’s faithful providence.

One lie is enough to break a trust. One sentence is enough to break a heart. One second is enough to lose a battle. One smile is enough to fall in love. One mistake is enough to lose a job. One touch is enough to heal a wounded heart. But whatever our pain, whatever our struggle, one God is more than enough.

To be happy, there are two things we must forget: the good things we do to others and the bad things that others do to us.

Man is based upon hope, he has no other possession but hope. This world of his is empathically the place of hope. Thomas Carlyle

The three stages of life:
Teens: you have all the time and energy but no money.
Workers: You have the money and energy but no time.
Oldies: you have all the time and money but no more energy.
Enjoy a balanced life.

What evangelization is: When a beggar tells another beggar where to get food. (from Bishop Buhain's homily via Malou)

God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer. Mother Teresa. (from Mel)

Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting. (from Malou)

Keep faith. God makes all things beautiful in His time.

Happiness is somewhere between too little and too much. May you have just enough wealth to meet your needs but enough poveryt to learn how to work hard; enough blessings to know God loves you, but enough problems so you don't forget Him; enough happiness to keep you sweet, but enough trials to keep you strong; enough hope to keep you happy, but enough sorrow to keep you human.

Who you are is God's gift to you, but who you become is your gift to God.

In the end, only three things matter: How fully you lived, how deeply you loved, aand how well you learned to let go of things not meant for you.

Old friends are gold. New friends are diamonds. If you get a diamond don't forge the gold. Because only gold can hold a diamond.

posted by Resty Odon  # 6:36 PM 0 Comments

Love consists not in feeling great things but in having great detachment and in suffering for the Beloved.” St. John of the Cross (from Malou)

posted by Resty Odon  # 5:57 PM 0 Comments

Even After All this time The sun never says to the earth, “You owe Me.” Look What happens With a love like that, It lightens the Whole Sky.

-Hafiz, fourteenth century Sufi poet

posted by Resty Odon  # 4:29 PM 0 Comments

So your love should be sincere. You should love your neighbors with the same love with which you love me. Do you know how you can tell when your spiritual love is not perfect? If you are distressed when it seems that those you love are not returning your love or not loving you as much as you think you love them. Or if you are distressed when it seems to you that you are being deprived of their company or comfort, or that they love someone else more than you.

From St. Catherine of Sienna's Dialogue (from Malou)

posted by Resty Odon  # 5:01 PM 0 Comments