When uniformity with God’s will and seeing Him face to face, living in His presence, becomes our greatest desire, then God honors it.
God told St. Catherine of Siena “This life, this desire, this possession, this love, this seeing, this having, this joy, begins here and now for those who desire me.”
But to even get to the point of this great desire, this hunger for Him, we must stop the ‘self fulfillment’ that we talked about yesterday, that the devil tempts us with. When we keep feeding our flesh with the measly scraps that the world has to offer, it ruins our appetite for God.
In Galatians 5:17 it says “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”
This is a very common tactic of the Enemy, to distract us and keep us from our inheritance, which is living life to the fullest (full union with Him). He even lies to us about what that is.
But He told St Catherine “They (His followers) will transcend the body and its laws which oppose the Spirit and all that comes between them and the truth, all that prevents them from seeing me face-to-face.”
So how do we do that? How do we ‘transcend the body’? It starts with knowing ourselves. See where our natural inclinations lie, learning about the Four Temperaments is great for this. You can go HERE to take an online test. I think the more we grow in spirit the more balanced we’ll be… but there may still be one area that surpasses the others. Once we know that one… we must check out what its negative tendencies are and work on those.
And also be aware of where the Devil is working his hardest to get us. Chances are that’s where our greatest attribute for the Body of Christ is to be found and he’s trying to block our way. We must not let him. Here’s where ‘reparation’ comes in. If he’s leading us in one direction, we must run fast to the opposite no matter the cost.
The following are the seven deadly sins which are at the root of all other sins and their opposite virtue that we are to practice instead.
- Pride-humility
- Envy-kindness
- Wrath-patience or
forgiveness - Sloth-diligence
- Greed- charity
- Gluttony-temperance
- Lust- chastity
Ephesians 6:12 says, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places“
Todays Gospel we hear Peter began to say to him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed you.” – Mark 10:28
As His children, we too are to ‘leave everything’ according to our own state in life and particular calling. That is, everything that is getting in the way of us hearing Him and being able to obey Him completely; our sins, our negative tendencies, our addictions…our own will…all must go.
But we don’t empty ourselves of these inordinate attachments with God’s grace in order to remain empty… but so the Lord can fill us Himself … and reward us according to what is best for us NOW… including allowing ‘persecutions’ so that we can be strengthened for the job He has in mind for us here on this side of heaven.
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 and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. – Mark 10:29-30