Human nature versus God's grace

THE DIFFERENT MOTIONS OF NATURE AND GRACE

THE VOICE OF CHRIST

MY CHILD, pay careful attention to the movements of nature and of grace, for they move in very contrary and subtle ways, and can scarcely be distinguished by anyone except a man who is spiritual and inwardly enlightened. All men, indeed, desire what is good, and strive for what is good in their words and deeds. For this reason the appearance of good deceives many.

Nature is crafty and attracts many, ensnaring and deceiving them while ever seeking itself. But grace walks in simplicity, turns away from all appearance of evil, offers no deceits, and does all purely for God in whom she rests as her last end.

Nature is not willing to die, or to be kept down, or to be overcome. Nor will it subdue itself or be made subject. Grace, on the contrary, strives for mortification of self. She resists sensuality, seeks to be in subjection, longs to be conquered, has no wish to use her own liberty, loves to be held under discipline, and does not desire to rule over anyone, but wishes rather to live, to stand, and to be always under God for Whose sake she is willing to bow humbly to every human creature.

Nature works for its own interest and looks to the profit it can reap from another. Grace does not consider what is useful and advantageous to herself, but rather what is profitable to many.

The fundamental questions of life

Read this incisive article by R. K. Sepetjian. The article was originally posted here. 

Life's 4 fundamental questions

Did you know that what you believe about Life’s 4 Fundamental Questions can have an enormous impact on your worldview, way of life and the decisions that you make?

What are Life’s 4 Fundamental Questions?

1. Who am I?
2. Where do I come from?
3. What is my purpose?
4. What happens when I die?

Every people, tongue and tribe across the globe, and down through the ages, have struggled to discover meaning and purpose in their lives through an apprehension and understanding of the answers to the four questions above. In fact, every social and religious system in the world, attempts to answer these questions in a meaningful and inspirational way.

How would you answer these questions?

1. Who am I?

Candid quips

These insightful quips were posted to Daily manna, a WhatsApp group, by Sunday A. I reproduce the full post below.

Permit me to give you these words of wisdom. It will also be a great blessing to you. Please read and meditate on them:

1. ON EARNING:
Never depend on single income. Make investment to create a second chance.

2. ON SPENDING:
If you buy things you do not need, soon you will have to sell things you need.

3. ON SAVINGS:
Do not save what is left after spending, but spend what is left after saving.

4. ON TAKING RISK:
Never test the depth of a river with both feet.

Is Obama anti Christianity?

I think Cameron got it right where Obama is missing it. The Church has been placed under all sorts of pressures and restrictions in the United States to the extent that many do not even acknowledge the foundational role of Christianity in the birth of this great nation.

The following piece is from Conservative Tribune

UK’s Prime Minister Defies Obama, Makes Huge Announcement About Christianity

When a world leader makes a video to wish his citizens a happy Easter and declares that his is a Christian country, you can be fairly certain that it’s not Barack Obama.

Still, who it is will both shock you and make you realize how far we’ve fallen under this president.

David Cameron, prime minister of the United Kingdom, released an Easter video message to Britons. While the two-and-a-half minute speech touched on a number of themes, one of the core sentiments Prime Minister Cameron relayed was that the United Kingdom was a “Christian country.”

“Easter is a time for Christians to celebrate the ultimate triumph of life over death in the resurrection of Jesus,”Prime Minister Cameron’s address began.

Will religion go the way of dinosaurs?

Find out the answer in this article from CNN.

The world's fastest-growing religion is ...

By Daniel Burke, CNN Religion Editor

Despite predictions that religion will go the way of dinosaurs, the size of almost every major faith -- sorry, Buddhists -- will increase in the next 40 years, according to a study released Thursday by the Pew Research Center.

The biggest winners, Pew predicts, will be Islam and Christianity.

Islam, the world's fastest-growing faith, will leap from 1.6 billion (in 2010) to 2.76 billion by 2050, according to the Pew study. At that time, Muslims will make up nearly one-third of the world's total projected population of about 9 billion people.

Why are some people so wicked and devilishly callous?

The story of the crashed Germanwings plane is still unfolding but sufficient details have emerged which proved that the plane was purposely crashed by the co-pilot after encouraging the captain to leave the cockpit and then locking him out.

Whether the co-pilot's action resulted from his medical problems has not been properly ascertained. Acquaintances of the co-pilot have recounted previous statements from him suggesting he might have been planning this gruesome act for a long time.

I guess, plane makers should be thinking of making cockpits accessible from both ends to captains or both pilots.

The action of the co-pilot to say the least is wicked. He was ready to die. But he decided to take over 100 innocent people along. What is the differece between him and suicide bombers?

Here is how the New York post reported the story.

Images with messages

  The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon