Are You Throwing Good Money Away?

You know there are a few things in life that you will never forget. One thing that I will never forget is the first car that I bought with my own money. It was a Chevy, don't ask me why but for some reason I was in enamored with that car. I liked the grip the steering wheel, the seats were totally comfortable and most of all it was in my price range. I remember when I first got that car I took care of it, it was my most prized possession. Overtime though being young I did work hard to push it to it's limits.  Not wanting to part with my prized possession, I started dumping money into it. Needless to say it was a lost cause, and before long I had to part with that dear beauty. At the end it had gotten to the point where it seems like no matter how much money I invested in the car, it was never enough to keep it going.

Life it seems is very similar. 

One of the beautiful things about this life is all the different people we get to meet. Some people I have met have been very true to me. Others I have met, not so dependable. As a young adult one of the first things you need to learn is how to notice who your true friends are. Building a relationship is not an inexpensive matter. Sure you may spend some money spending time with someone, but what is more costly is your compassion, your love on those you hold dear. While I have always realized that money is important I have never put too much stock in currency. To me money comes and goes and is really irrelevant. For those that are wondering I do save for retirement and I do like nice things, but I hold relationships much more dear than any amount of money or coin that might be floating around in my pocket or bank account. 

Money can't buy happiness, we have all heard this, true money can buy you choices but it truly cannot buy you happiness. I have been dirt poor and I've had a lot of money. The only difference between those two life situations were the type people that surrounded me. If you have a lot of money and are surrounded by people who love and truly care about you life is great. If you have a lot of money and you're surrounded by people who are just trying to get things from you and are trying to steal from you it is horrible, empty and cold. If you are dirt poor and you were surrounded by people who do not care about you it is just as horrible, empty and cold. However if you are dirt poor and you were surrounded by people who truly care about you and you feel like a king.  

Thing is you have to realize who you are, what's going on and what's important.

People talk about money a lot. What I find is truly valuable now is time. Anymore I try to focus really hard on how I spend my time. I have given up, to some degree, spending my time chasing riches. I have given up spending time chasing empty pleasures. My number one priority at this point my life is spending my time with God. When I pray to God I find peace. I find that the more time I spend developing a deeper relationship with my God the happier I am. I find the more time I invest in reading the Gospels and the other books of the Bible the stronger my interpersonal relationships on this earth are. I find that the more I donate to worthy causes the happier I am. It's like its Christmas Day all over again and I get that same thrill watching those I love open the gifts I got them. I find that the more I pray and meditate the more peaceful and serene I become. 

No longer do I chase fast cars, fast women, easy money and cheap thrills. Chasing such empty pleasures leave me hollow and cold inside after the pleasure is gone. In contrast, when I get done praying, reading my Bible, spending time with my children or attending mass on Sunday I feel peace and serenity that not only lasts during the action but that continues on into my days to come. 

So how do you spend your time? Is it satisfying? Are you looking for something better?

Know this, God loves you and he wants to spend time with you. You are his child and he loves you like no other. He wants to share everything that he has with you. Does that mean that you'll never have a bad day? No, but with God in your life you'll find you can conquer anything. I encourage you this, stop wasting your time on worldly pleasures, they're empty. Your time on this earth is precious. Do not waste it. One day you will die and your soul will need a place to go. You can go to heaven or you can go to hell. I don't mean to be rude, but it is that simple. 

Anybody can chase the pleasures on this earth, and know this there's nothing wrong with pleasure. God made food to taste wonderful. God put beautiful things on this planet for you to enjoy. God put beautiful people on this planet so that you would not be alone and find pleasure in their company, but these are gifts that should be respected. These are gifts that should be treasured. These are not gifts that should be treated like cheap thrills which are thrown away as soon as they are consumed and you have no more use for them.

The resources on this planet should be treasured and respected.

Each person that you meet is a gift and should be treasured and respected. 

Imagine you gave your dear friend and amazing treasure or a large sum of money. If on the next day you saw them wasting that treasure or throwing that money away on empty thrills as is if it was nothing how would you feel? 

I would imagine you would be hurt. I would imagine that you would feel like your precious gift was not appreciated. That is how God feels when we waste the gifts he gives us each day. But know this, God is waiting for you right now. His son Jesus is waiting for you to. God Jesus and the Holy Spirit all have so much more to give and to share. They do not want to see you waste your life. They want to see you rise up, become strong and to be the person they know you can be. It all starts with you though by making that choice, by asking God to come into your life taking Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and asking the Holy Spirit for help each and every day. Trust me what you have waiting for you on this earth if you bring them into your life pales in comparison to any quick pleasure you could chase down on your own. In heaven you will find a sheer Utopia that cannot even be imagined. Anyone can live a life of sin, it's easy, but just like anything else in life if you want to be a champion and enter the gates of heaven you will have to live a life of discipline. The best part is you have the world's best life coach waiting for you. All you have to do is call. 

So how will you treat your relationship with God? Will you cherish him like your most prized possession, or will you let it rot and rust?

MT 7:6, 12-14

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine,
lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.

“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the Law and the Prophets.

“Enter through the narrow gate;
for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction,
and those who enter through it are many.
How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life.
And those who find it are few.”

Are You Searching For Lazy Summer Days?

Summer is in full swing, and this summer is a little different. Through chance and circumstance I have been essentially grounded. I hurt my hand a couple weeks ago and I've been stuck at home waiting for my hand to heal before I can go back to work. It's been a challenge to say the least, but it's also been interesting because I've been able to view my teenage son's summer as he transitions from junior high to high school. He's at that stage where he wants to play all day long like a little boy but he wants the privileges of an adult. I remember this time of my life it was it was a challenge. So I go through each day and I ask God for lots of patience, so that I can teach him how to be the wonderful man I know he can become. When I was about his age there was a band that was kind of popular. I'm not really going to recommend that anyone listen to their album because it's not very Christian. The band was called House of Pain, they were a rap group. There was an opening line off their record Shamrocks and Shenanigans that for some reason is stuck in my mind this morning.

"The time has come for everyone to start picking up what's in their own backyard instead of looking at their neighbors yard."

I remember when I was a teenager  that line just seem so poignant. I just wanted to tell everyone to get out of my face because they had no idea what I was going through or what I was trying to do.  That line off the record and reminds me of some of the things that Jesus said. Jesus came to teach us to love it's as simple as that, and through the act of love, Jesus wanted us to try and suspend our judgment of others. When you judge someone you not loving them. When you judge someone, especially in the open, it puts tension between you and whoever you're judging. Now say you see someone and they're headed down the wrong path, God does not want you to just stand idly by. Jesus taught that we should go confront that person but that it should be out of love and it should be done with compassion. In his time here on earth Jesus met with a wide variety of people. Reading the Gospels one thing that you will see very noticeable is that Jesus spends a lot of time with sinners, however he would reach out to those in pain, whether it was physical, emotional or mental, he would cure them and encourage them to sin no more. To the average ordinary sinner he would show compassion and that's what he wants us to do. The only people that Jesus ever really chastised for their transgressions were the Sadducees and Pharisees.  These were powerful people that would impose strong laws on their people, and then act as if they themselves were sinless. They would chastise those who were sinners. They would show no compassion. Essentially the Pharisees and Sadducees acted as hypocrites and Jesus called them out as such. 

You are not perfect, I am not perfect, there is no one on this planet that is perfect. We are all sinners. I am sure there are those out there who will think that since we are all sinners it's pointless to try and get to heaven or to try and follow God's word. Keep this in mind, no matter how old you are on this planet, you are still merely a child. You could be 90 years old, but put that against eternity and you are merely a child. In all reality we have a very short time on this earth so it's important to choose our path wisely. God knows that you are broken and that you are a sinner, but you're his child and he loves you. God wants to help you to grow and to be wise. God knows all of your talents and your abilities because he gave them to you. God loves you and he simply wants you to become the best you possibly can be. He loves you so much he gave you the greatest gift of all.

God gave you free will.

You get to choose. You can choose to follow God's will, listen to Jesus is good word and allow the Holy Spirit to into your life, and go to Heaven or you can turn your back on all of that. You can choose to follow your will. You can choose to live a life of sin. You can choose that sin will be your master and through which you will become a slave to it, chasing pleasure after pleasure.  God will always love you but don't expect him to magically create a stress-free existence for you if you choose to not follow him. In a way a relationship with God is like a relationship with anyone else. 

Close your eyes and think of your best friend. Think about the fun times you spend with each other. Think about your common interests. Now imagine your best friend stops spending time with you. How would you react? You call them time and time again to spend time with you but they always say, "no". How would you feel? On top of that, every time that your best friend does call they are always wanting you to help them get out of a jam. They call when they need help moving. They call when they need to borrow money. They call when they need you to bail him out of jail. They call when they want you to be a babysitter. Would that person still be your best friend? 

How long would it take for you to start saying, "no"?

God is much the same. He wants to spend time with you. He loves you, but if you treat him like a servant instead of a friend don't be surprised when he stops answering your calls. There is a reoccurring cycle in the Old Testament. The Jews, God's chosen people, would prosper and do well when they heeded the Commandments of God. Problem was, that after several years of prosperity, the Jews would take God for granted. They would fall away from his commandments they would start worshiping other gods even. God sent prophets to warn them hoping that they would get back on track and once again create a strong relationship with him.  Unfortunately they would not and because they chose to walk away from him, because they exercised their free will, God let them have what they wanted. All would be well for a short period of time but then they would become invaded. Because the Jews chose to turn their back on God, they no longer had Gods protection. They would be conquered by rival nations and put into slavery. The Jews would realize they're folly and they would cry out to God and ask for forgiveness. God would return, help them, unfortunately though the cycle would start over. 

God loves you and he can help you to do amazing things. If you choose to follow God's way you will have peace serenity even in your most turbulent times, but you have to choose to follow God's will. You have to walk through your life with love and compassion. You have to be willing to hold your judgment of others. If you love God with all your mind body and soul. He will be your God and he will help you with anything that you desire. 

2 KGS 17:5-8, 13-15A, 18

Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, occupied the whole land
and attacked Samaria, which he besieged for three years.
In the ninth year of Hoshea, king of Israel
the king of Assyria took Samaria,
and deported the children of Israel to Assyria,
setting them in Halah, at the Habor, a river of Gozan,
and the cities of the Medes.

This came about because the children of Israel sinned against the LORD,
their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt,
from under the domination of Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
and because they venerated other gods.
They followed the rites of the nations
whom the LORD had cleared out of the way of the children of Israel
and the kings of Israel whom they set up.

So summer break is here, and it's time to grow up. Will you choose to be ever a child and just seek momentary pleasures and enjoy a lazy summer days, or will you choose to be an adult? Will ou take on responsibilities and freedom and happiness and pleasure in heaven

And though the LORD warned Israel and Judah
by every prophet and seer,
“Give up your evil ways and keep my commandments and statutes,
in accordance with the entire law which I enjoined on your fathers
and which I sent you by my servants the prophets,”
they did not listen, but were as stiff-necked as their fathers,
who had not believed in the LORD, their God.
They rejected his statutes,
the covenant which he had made with their fathers,
and the warnings which he had given them, till,
in his great anger against Israel,
the LORD put them away out of his sight.
Only the tribe of Judah was left.

MT 7:1-5

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Stop judging, that you may not be judged.
For as you judge, so will you be judged,
and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?
How can you say to your brother,
‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’
while the wooden beam is in your eye?
You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”

The Quick Fix vs. The Grand Prize

Having children is wonderful, because as I teach them I learn. By teaching them I remind myself what's important in life. What's really cool for me especially is that my children don't learn any of the lessons I teach them the first time I teach them.  I find this is really cool because since I have to teach them certain things over and over again I get to be reminded in kind and relearn myself over and over again. This is especially helpful for someone like me who forgets things all too quickly. One of the things I get to teach my children on a regular basis is delayed gratification. I have to teach them that they have to deny themselves with they want to do right now and sacrifice, so that they will be happier and more well-rounded in the long run. I find this lesson extremely important for me as well seeing as how we live in a culture that seems to be based on instant gratification.

My seven-year-old loves to play video games. He loves to spend his time trying to build on Minecraft ,and conquer the enemies of Halo or whatever other video game he is trying to win against. One thing that my seven-year-old has already learned about science is that the quickest destination between two points is a straight line. Logically for him when he's ready to play video games what he should do is to move directly to the Xbox or the computer and begin playing with no regards to what time it is, what he needs to do, if he's brushed his teeth, if he's fully clothed... you get the point. He gets very upset sometimes when I ask him to do mundane things like eat dinner or get dressed or feed the dog before he plays video games. I have to remind him though that his happiness is important to me. I don't interrupt his journey to fun merely out of spite. I tell him that because I love him I require that he sacrifices some of his time to do things that are important so that he grows up healthy and well rounded. 

I have a 14-year-old that is in a similar situation with a different issue. He doesn't see the value in saving money. He recently went through eighth grade promotion and so now he's got a good sum of money burning a hole in his pocket. You can only imagine the amount of eye-rolling in deep sighs I received when I required him to deposit a good portion of that money into his savings account. He has learned the lesson of science and travel very well too. He has money in his pocket, there are things that he wants, he has the money so obviously to him the thing to do is to go and buy the things that he want right now. I find comical similarities of talking to my teenage son and saving money, and talking to grown adults about the importance of faith in their life.

Whenever I talk about spirituality, religion or faith to any of my peers I often hear comments in regards like, "God just is a buncha rules! God just doesn't want me to have fun! God just wants to have all my money!" Immediately when I hear these comments I see the picture of my teenage son with his disappointed face when I try to explain to him why it's better to put money in his savings account than to go out and buy all the Pokémon cards he possibly can with the money in his pocket. One thing I've learned in this life is true, that life is short. With all that I see in the media and the news today I have learned that you will never know when it is your time to go. 

Like saving for retirement many think, "Oh yes that is important I'll start on that next week. I have things though that I really want right now." Problem is next week there's something else just as important. The delay of starting to save for retirement gets put off week after week. 

God, faith,religion, spirituality are treated the same way. 

"Oh yeah that God thing! Yeah, I want to go to heaven. That's important, but I have so much to do right now. I can't make it this Sunday.  I'll do it next week, yeah." 

However next week comes and there something more important again, a game to go see, a party to go to, a beautiful day that just begs to be relished. Know this, one day you will die. You'll die and your soul will no longer have a home. It will need some place to go. 

This is the part where some people will get angry and they will say things like,"If God was really about love he would realize I'm a good person and he would let me in anyway." 

The fact is God is more like you, than you think. God loves all indeed, he truly does, but he only wants to let those whom he knows into his house.  Heaven is Gods eternal home. He created it for himself and for you. He wants you to be there, but let me ask you this, how many people, how many homeless people are you willing to invite into your home which you do not know? 

Right now are you willing to get up, leave your home  and go out into the street and take a homeless person by the hand whom you do not know and invite them into your home? I know that at this point there are some who are scoffing. I know that there are those who say I'm ridiculous. Seriously I would not have one problem inviting a homeless person into my home, but I would want to know them. I would want to get to know them. I would want to make sure that me and said homeless persons would have an understanding in that while I would welcome them into my home with love, that they would have respect for what's mine in how things were to be in my home.  

God is the same way. God wants to invite you into his home. He wants you in heaven. He loves you but he also wants a relationship with you. He wants to have an understanding with you.  Trust me the last thing God wants is to invite a bunch of people into heaven and then have them tear up the place because they don't have the same vision of what Heaven should be as he does.  And Heaven is his home, it's his place he created it. It's his, so of course he's not going to just let anyone in and destroy his home because there's a misunderstanding of what you and what he thinks heaven should be.

God his already been through this before. One of his most beautiful angels and a third of the angels that chose to follow him, were kicked out of heaven. You probably know him by name, Satan. Being a father is who's brought life into this world, I can only imagine the buckets of tears God shed when he had to kick a third of his angels ,which he made out of love, out of heaven. I am sure that God never wants to have to do that again, I know I wouldn't want to, so God has rules. The most beautiful thing God ever did for you, for me and everyone else was that he gave us free will. 

We get to choose. 

God lets us do whatever we want. Now if we want to go to heaven, yeah we got to play by his rules, but if we decide we want to do it our way then we have to pay the consequences. This is the part where some people will think or say, "Yeah but my way is not that bad." Problem is when we start doing "my will" instead of God's will selfishness creeps in. Selfishness takes over. Selfishness is not love, and Heaven is where perfect love resides. 

At this point some of you may be thinking, "Well I can't make it to heaven. I'm not perfect.", and you're right you can't make it. Nobody can find their way into Heaven. I mean Heaven is so amazing, it's so beautiful, it's so wonderful, it's so perfect there's nothing you could do on this planet to earn admission into heaven. 

But that's the cool part, you don't have to earn your way into heaven. You have to love your way in. I'll tell you right now being a father, my children are in my home because I love them, and after they reach that adult age when there out on there own, they will be welcome back into my home if they love me. I want my home to be filled with love, so I'm not going to allow people into my home who are going to bring in hearts filled with spite anger and rage and just emotionally trash the joint. 

God's the same way. God wants Heaven to be filled with love. In heaven there is perfect love. First he wants to love you. God wants to build a relationship with you. Because he loves you he wants to teach you the most perfect beautiful way to love. Will you make mistakes? Yes, but that's OK God doesn't expect you to be perfect. He knows you're not perfect. It's because he loves you that he's willing to take the time, he's willing to be patient. Because he loves you and he knows how awesome you are, he wants to teach you so that you can become the best you possibly can be. Then when your best buds with God and his son Jesus and you hang out with the Holy Spirit out of true desire he will be ready for you to come home to the paradise he made for you called Heaven, if you choose that's what you want to do. 

So...

You don't have to be rich, God has a paradise waiting for you.

If you have a relationship with God that's tight and you are sad, God will be there and he will take care of you. and he will lift you up.

If you were willing to castaway selfishness and have no problem being meek God will shower you with gifts of love.

If you desire to be right and true God will provide you with the answers.

If you decide to be merciful, to live a life of mercy, to show mercy to all those who are in need, God will shower you in mercy.

If you live your life following the Commandments of God, and when you make mistakes, with all your heart ask for forgiveness, and love God and put love into this world you will see God in Heaven.

If you work to bring God's version of peace on this earth you will see God in heaven.

If you walk through this life and you are persecuted because you follow God you will be blessed. God will love you and you will spend eternity in heaven specially blessed.

If people lie about you, spit on you, mock you,  kill you because you stand up for the word and the love of God, God will specially bless you and you will find special treasure in heaven. God will not forget. 

God will reward you. Just like God has specially rewarded all the prophets that have come before you and who tried to help His people who have been killed because of God and his love and his word.

So maybe you're wondering, "How do I get started?" If you're at step zero and God is not in your life at all talk to him. That's all you got to do. Prayer is just like talking. Pray to God and ask that he come into your life. Pray to God tell him you want to relationship with him and his son and the Holy Spirit. Next step go to church this might be weird. Ask that person at work or at school or whatever who you know has faith in God to take you to church. I find going to church for the first time helpful if you go with somebody you know.  If you don't know somebody just go. I've had people tell me that when they tried going to church for the first time they were treated poorly, don't sweat this. If you meet Christians that are rude remember Christians aren't perfect. Christians make mistakes to. Know this, Satan will tempt you to not have a relationship with God. Satan is great at putting up obstacles so that you do not want to go to church. Satan doesn't want you to build a loving relationship with God. Satan wants you to live a life without faith so that you can come hang out with him in hell, so he can make every single one of your worst nightmares a reality for eternity. Don't fall for Satan's trap. Find a church that makes you feel like you are home away from home. Once you find a church that fits you, speak with your pastor or your priest, let them guide you and educate you, so that you can make the most of your relationship with God. One of the things that you will do is that you will be baptized. If you have never been baptized and you go to a Christian church and they do not want to baptize you, find a new church, getting baptized is huge! It's a requirement. 

Most importantly though as you proceed with your journey in developing an awesome relationship with God Jesus and the Holy Spirit remember to breathe. Don't let yourself get overwhelmed. Remember God is love. Jesus is love. The holy spirit is love. They love you and they want to spend eternity with you. So relax, pray, lay it all out there for God. Pray to Jesus, tell him how you feel. If your mad, tell him. Being mad isn't a sin. Tell him if you're mad, you're sad or you're happy. He wants to share everything with you because he loves you. 

Go to church, go to church every Sunday. People balk at this one, but I'll tell you going to church is like having the most awesome support group ever. That's why you want to make sure that you find a church that makes you feel like you're at home. Go to church and listen and learn. Before the service starts pray to God. Pray to the Holy Spirit ask them to show you one thing to take away from that service. It could be something in one of the, hymns or one of the scripture readings, something from the homily or the sermon something will strike you. My best advice, and I know this will sound really geeky, but take pen and paper with you. Take notes and if something strikes you write it down. Become active in the church that you choose donate your time. The more you hang out with God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the fellow members of your church the more you will feel filled with love and the happier you will be. Now you don't want to sacrifice your other important relationships. If you have children you want to make sure that you still care for them and their needs. You don't want to neglect your responsibilities at work because you're spending all your time at church. God doesn't want you neglecting any of your responsibilities. If you're married and you have a wife or a husband your newfound zeal may come as a shock to them. Not everyone is at the same place in their faith journey at the same time, so remember be like Jesus and love your way through everything.

As you go out into the real world, the world that is cold and focused on selfishness, remember Jesus is your role model. I highly recommend reading the Bible every day. What I like to personally read is the Gospels. They're very easy to digest just easy to understand and can do wonders for you as you negotiate through your day. As you journey through your every day life and you feel sin trying to tempt you look to Jesus. Pray to Jesus. Use Jesus, who is your role model on how to deal with difficult people and difficult situations.

All these things and more will help you to develop a wonderful rich relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. And just like with anyone else when you have a good relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit you will bear fruit from that relationship. The better your relationship gets with them the more peace, serenity and happiness you will feel in day-to-day life no matter what gets thrown at you. You will find yourself journeying closer and closer to heaven. Because really that is the goal, in being a Christian, you are to become a saint and reside in heaven. 

Your time here is short how, do you choose to spend it? What's your retirement plan? What and how much are you willing to sacrifice, and for what? God loves you and he's waiting for you. Now you get to choose, but be careful don't delay. Today is the day you get to start planning for eternity.

Gospel MT 5:1-12

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain,
and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. 
He began to teach them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward will be great in heaven.
Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Shhh! The DONUTS are Calling!

You know I feel that I am destined to be fat. Why? No, I don't have a glandular problem. No I don't have a heart issue that keeps me from exercising. No, I have no other physical or mental disorder that keeps me from exercising or making wise choices. 

Why am I destined to be fat? Me, I am the reason. My habits make my life what it is and on Wednesdays we have DONUT DAY at work. Just so you know my heart swell just typing DONUT DAY. I can't say no to the donuts, or rather I choose not to. I have come to realize that the only thing that will hold me back in life is me. Sure, the world can throw a ton of stuff in my way, but in the end I make the decisions of what or what I don't want to pursue or put in my mouth that so willingly accepts donuts. 

God stands in heaven preparing a place for you, yes you and you alone. A place tailor made for you. You can come in and stay for an eternity. A place with no pain, sickness, poverty, it is sheer HEAVEN. Do you have to jump through flaming hoops or walk over broken glass or sacrifice your first born on an altar? No, you have to love. Yep you have to love. I know that doesn't sound hard but we are human and we have broken hearts and so it's hard. I know that its hard when I get cut off in traffic. I want to practice the little "sign language" that I know. 

God wants you to love and follow him. Will your life be terrible if you do? No, actually anymore I find that my life is "terrible" when I don't follow God, when I don't follow Jesus' teachings. I find that when I chase empty pleasures and refuse to love God is when I find unhappiness. There is a difference between happiness and pleasure. Happiness can sustain. Pleasure is over pretty much as soon as you stop doing what brings the pleasure. I find pleasure in eating donuts but when I stop cause I can't eat anymore I have an upset stomach and then when the sugar crash ensues... you get the idea. 

God is rules, rules, rules though, or so I hear. Look at those rules. Those rules are about loving. Does God want you to sacrifice? Yeah, but I guarantee that you will find no champion of any sport, business, lifestyle or discipline that does not sacrifice. You want to gain anything great you will have to sacrifice something. The greater the "thing" the greater you will have to sacrifice.  In my journey to become a good Christian I have had to sacrifice. I have lost friends. I have given up money to help others out of love. I have had family relationships strain. I have people mock and make fun of me. I have missed out on worldly opportunities, but none of that "pain" compares to being whipped to the point of having my flesh ripped off my body, being kicked, beat, and mocked, spit on and the forced to carry my own device of death to a place where I had nails driven into my body in full view of the public naked, left to hang and die and even stabbed in the side. Jesus went through that because he loved. He loved perfectly and he loved you so much he was will to go through all of that for you so you could gain entrance to Heaven and in return God wants you to love. Love God with all your mind , body and soul and to love EVERYONE  you meet as you love yourself.

Is it easy? No, but if you let him God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit will be there with you every step of the way. All the Saints and Angels will be cheering you on in Heaven. Will you make mistakes and fall? Yep, but if you go to God with a true, honest and regretful heart and ask for forgiveness he will forgive you. Jesus will never give up on you. He is waiting for you right now. He's the greatest life coach of all time, but here's the thing, you have to choose. It won't be easy. It will be hard. You will be challenged, but if you grab that desire with all your might and stand Jesus will be next to you, but you have to choose.

So do you want Heaven for all eternity, or do you wish to roll the dice and check Hell? Are you willing to sacrifice and rise like a champion or sit down and eat that donut?

Gospel MK 10:28-31

Peter began to say to Jesus,
“We have given up everything and followed you.”
Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you,
there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters
or mother or father or children or lands
for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel
who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:
houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands,
with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.
But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first.”