The Flower

                                                               1903

The flower is a language of the Nature. Flowers tell us the heart of the
Nature. They reveal us what is in human's heart as we, human beings, are
a part of the Nature.

The flower is a language of silence. Angels shall speak of their ideas
by the language of flower in heaven.  If eloquence is silver and silence
is gold, the flower is the language of gold as a language of silence.

I love flowers. I shall speak, through flowers, of all my heart. There
are flowers of hope, flowers of disappointment, flowers of joy, flowers
of sorrow, flowers of arrogance, and flowers of meekness. Colors and
odors of flowers are so diverse as the varieties of human heart.  One's
favorite flowers show us one's character, as one's friends do one's heart.
 

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Sending Daughter to Heaven

                                                       Feb. 1912

This ceremony today is not of funeral, but of wedding for Rutsuko. We,
her parents, send our beloved daughter to the heaven as a bride. Here we
have a feast for the marriage of the Lamb as the Revelation says.
Rutsuko goes today to Christ as his bride arrayed in fine linen, clean
and white, of the righteousness of saints. Therefore we covered her
coffin with her best cloth. Today is the day of Rutsuko's true
celebration."                                   ( from "Thanks")

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About Grace

                                                              1909

What is Grace? It is the POWER OF LOVE that God gives a person through
Christ. In short, it is the Holy Spirit. It is the power of the Spirit
not of consuming fire but of forgiving and getting rid of sins and
giving the heart of good instead. It is called the grace of Christ
because it is given only through Christ.

Grace stayed in abundance upon Christ. "And the child grew, and waxed
strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the GRACE of God was upon him"
(Luke 2:40). The life of Jesus was full of grace. The listeners of Jesus
therefore "wondered at the GRACIOUS words which proceeded out of his
mouth" (Luke 4:24). His gentle character, humble attitude, heart of love
from which the virtue flows out as touched: all of these were the
outcome of grace flowed out of within him. I shall call it the current
of love or the generator of gentle light. Anyway, it is sure this power
of spirit is strong and efficacious.

Thus, all who are saved by Christ receive this power more or less. By
receiving this, sins disappear and the inborn character of anger is
faded. Instead, the heart of forgiveness is born. Not by education, not
by the change of surroundings, but by the GRACE OF CHRIST, we
become, in its true sense, a gentleman or a lady who "is not easily provoked,
thinks no evil; rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth," as
Paul says (1 Corinthians 13:  5- 6). Truly I say to you, there is no
power as the grace of Christ. The rulers and the nobles of the world
don't know this power; none of any morals enable us to acquire this
power. Only Christ is the generator of this miraculous power. Come all
to Christ and receive the grace of this tremendous power that creates a
person good from the bottom of heart.

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One of my Favorite Hymns

                                                                          1902

"Just as I am, without one plea" was made by Ms. Charlotte Elliott of
England. This is the song of great help and comfort to those who took
refuge in Christ, being ashamed of own sins or distressed in the doubt
of own heart. How many times could I come to Christ without fear,
singing this song, when I was going to depart from Christ, losing Him in
my heart, and going to be cut off the bond of faith! Truly, truly I say
to you, the blood of Christ is the sole medicine to cure the troubled
conscience. The philosophy of the world can not know of this. But we,
the cured, truly believe in the work of His blood.