Your Daily Word: July 2009

Cory Aquino: You Will Be Missed

They say pictures mean a thousand words so here it is: MY TRIBUTE TO THE PRESIDENT WHO FOUGHT FOR OUR FREEDOM! She will always be remembered. May she eternally rest in peace.

Read more about her in her Wikipedia Page: Corazon Aquino

What Are We Really After?

Lately I had been very busy increasing my "authority" in Entrecard by dropping (that's the term when you visit a site) at least 300 a day. Entrecard for those who are not familiar is a community of bloggers and advertisers helping one another in building traffic. And it did! Entrecard has brought back a good number of traffic to my site. Taking away a time for me in making sure that I post a devotion on the Word of God daily =(.

On my way to the church this afternoon, I was thinking about this and asked myself: "What am I really after?" Is it just traffic and increase in my blog ranks (the site remained #1 last week) that are important? Or is it about people being able to read God's Word and be brought back to God and be led to love God even more which was supposedly the very reason why I started my site?

That made me realize something. Sometimes in our lives/journey, we can be caught up in chasing pretty rainbows and great rewards this life can offer. I mean great traffic and high blog ranks are good, right? But that's NOT the main purpose of this site. In our lives, pretty rainbows are pretty and enjoyable but "is that the purpose why we're here?" Let's take this day as a time to check ourselves once again: What are we really after? Who are we really living for? What on earth are we really here for? Is it just about job promotion, financial success or even recognition? Isn't it about bringing glory to the LORD everytime anywhere?

Let's join David in his Psalm;

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts." Psalm 139:23 (NIV)

Let's ask God to search us and if possible discipline us for us to just be brought back and be "pinged" into fulfilling His purposes for us.

After all His purpose and will for us is good, perfect and pleasing.

So now go ahead and seek God and get back on track to the journey He has prepared for you! And remember He originally created us to bring GLORY to Him.

And about the Entrecard, I'll possibly continue being a member but I just need to make sure Time is managed correcty and pretty well!

You Owe Somebody Your Love

Romans 1:13-14 (New King James Version) 13 Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. 14 I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise.

Romans 13:8 (New King James Version) Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.

We all know we've been commissioned by God to go and make disciples. We all know all of us are sent out to the ends of the world to tell them the good news about the Lord Jesus Christ! Are doing it?

Yesterday, I was asked by my pastor to lead "The Lord's Supper". It was just the second time ever that I did it. You guess how tense I was. Anyway, I still reflected on God's Word and asked for His guidance on what He wants to tell His church. And here's the revelation:

"It's not enough for us to just remember the Lord's death and sacrifice for all of us and be glad about it. If it was then Jesus could have just died and then that's it. But NO, he didn't just die. He resurrected and ascended to heaven leaving us a commission to do! We are to remember but also we need to GO and tell them what we know."

Based on the verses above (Rom. 1:13-14 and Rom. 13:8), Paul as the apostle to the gentiles didn't just obey this commission but went up a level higher. He chose to be indebted and obligated to bear fruit in Rome.

What do you feel when you owe somebody? If you were like me, I had a time that I can't help myself but worry where to get the money to pay. There was a time that I was panicky because I needed to pay the amount the soonest possible time. You may have different experiences but one thing is common: there is this obligation and responsibility to pay ASAP!

What do we learn from this?

Let's all feel this "force of obligation" to share the GOOD NEWS to other people. Actually these are not really OTHER people because they are our friends, workmates and family. If Romans were entrusted to Paul, the people around us had been entrusted to us as well. Let us not be contented in living our lives without giving these people the chance in hearing/receiving the greatest gift we have received through the Lord Jesus Christ. We owe them our LOVE for them.

A fulfilled life is measured not by the success in career, or to how many places you've been to, or to how many clothes/bags you've bought, but yo how many souls you have brought to God.

Let's all be challenged! Let's all be indebted to love and share what we know.

Pray like a Child | Wordless Wednesday (Almost!)

Matthew 19:14 (New International Version)

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

No More Running Wild by CHC Music, Lyrics

Here's one song I really like and I'm so blessed with.

Let's all stop running wild and go back to our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's not wait for tomorrow, LET'S DO IT TODAY!

NO MORE RUNNING WILD BY CHC Lyrics
Courtesy of Guitar4Christ

TODAY I’M LEAVING ALL MY TROUBLES BEHIND

I’M LETTING GO I’LL FOLLOW THE LINE

I’M HOLDING ON WITH ALL OF MY LIFE

I SEE A RISING SUN

WE’VE ONLY JUST BEGUN

TODAY I’M WALKING TO THE BEAT OF YOUR HEART

TAKE ME ALL THE WAY TO THE START

STRETCH YOUR HANDS STRAIGHTEN THE PATH

I’M FOUND IN OPEN SKIES

YOUR HEART IT LIVES IN MINE

TODAY….TODAY….TODAY….

TODAY I’M FINDING MY FIRST LOVE AGAIN

I’M LEARNING HOW TO LET YOU IN

I’M TRUSTING YOU WITH ALL THAT I AM

THE SHADOWS FADE AWAY

IT’S YOU THAT CLEARS THE DAY

NO MORE RUNNING WILD

I’M YOURS FOR LIFE

WELL YOU GOT ME HERE

YOU GOT ME

I HEAR YOUR CALL TONIGHT

YOUR HEART IS MINE

WELL YOU GOT ME HERE

YOU GOT ME

WHOA… …

YOU DREW ME OUT OF THE DEEPEST SEA (WOAH OH OH OH)

YOU GAVE MY SOUL A SONG TO SING (WOAH OH OH OH)

YOU TOOK ME UP ON THE MOUNTAINS HIGH (WOAH OH OH OH)

I SEE MY LIFE IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT WOAH OH OH OH….YEAH!

Blessed Are Those Who Dwell In Your House

Here's a PSALM for this Sunday for you to read and meditate on. This has blessed me and my prayer is for it to bless you as well!

Psalm 84
To the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath.[a] A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

1 How lovely is Your tabernacle,
O LORD of hosts!
2 My soul longs, yes, even faints
For the courts of the LORD;
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

3 Even the sparrow has found a home,
And the swallow a nest for herself,
Where she may lay her young—
Even Your altars, O LORD of hosts,
My King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in Your house;
They will still be praising You. Selah

5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
They make it a spring;
The rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength;
Each one appears before God in Zion.[b]

8 O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
9 O God, behold our shield,
And look upon the face of Your anointed.

10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
The LORD will give grace and glory;
No good thing will He withhold
From those who walk uprightly.

12 O LORD of hosts,
Blessed is the man who trusts in You!

God Bless you!

Where the is no Vision, People Perish | Apollo 11's 40th Anniversary

Proverbs 29:18 (King James Version)

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

July 16, 2009 marks the 40th anniversary of the success of the Apollo 11's Mission to land in the Moon. At that time nobody thought that that's possible. It would seem to be an insane and crazy thought. But President John F. Kennedy didn't allow these things to stop him from reaching his goal.

He said on May 25, 1961:

"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."

9 years later, Apollo 11 succesfully returned to earth from Moon on July 16, 1969. Now that's amazing!

I have been checking on the latest blog posts in google and I came across this post from http://www.webinknow.com/ entitled: We choose to go to the moon: What marketers can learn from Apollo.
He had listed three points that surely gave a big hit on me:
1. Set a really BIG Goal
2. Challenge conventional Wisdom
3. It takes teamwork

You may go to his post and read how he explained these points in a "marketer's" perspective.

On this post, I'd try to explain it with my humbler Christian's perspective.

1. SET A REALLY BIG GOAL
-- In Proverbs 29:18, the wisest man said "When there's no vision, the people perish.". And that's very true! Ask any businessman or any succesful man you know how they become who they are right now. I'm sure the unanimous answer will be: "It started with a dream, an idea, a VISION!" Without a person dreaming, nothing will happen. Without a person believing for anything, nothing will happen. Man must first believe and dream! And this is not one of those dreams that you only dream at night and feel good about them when you wake up, these are the dreams and faith and visions that push man to work and do something about them. Visions after all will be empty without action.
-- Also, focus on "BIG GOAL". When you dream, don't dream for things that are easily reachable. Dream for things that you're incapable of achieveing, things that would seem impossible for you, things that are REALLY BIG that it overwhelms you. This way, you'll trust in GOD and will allow HIM to work through YOU for these dreams to happen. Surely, your faith will increase and your relationship with him will be more closer!

2. Challenge Conventional Wisdom
-- When people say it's Impossible, you say "I can do all things through Christ who gives us strength!". When people say you'll fail, you say "We are more than Conquerors in Christ". When people say you don't have enough knowledge to do it, you say "We have the mind of Christ!"
Now we are not dependent on what other people would say, we depend on what God through His Word say. Prov. 29:18 says "but blessed is he who keeps the law." It is when we keep the law, that we'll know the "what" and the "how" to achieve the dream.

3. It takes TEAMWORK
-- Work with your brothers and friends. Pray about your dream. Pray about your vision and continue seek God's Will. Let's all remember, "It's not good for man to be alone."

What are your visions or dreams lately? What are the challenges you're going through in achieving them? To whom have you shared this vision?

Most importantly, have you constantly prayed about it?

God Bless you!

God has the Power to Do what He has Promised

Romans 4:18-25 (New International Version)

18Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be."[d] 19Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead. 20Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." 23The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, 24but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

There are a lot of promises that we can find in the Bible. In fact I think all of it are promises and truths that we can claim. Here are some of them:

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 2 Corinthians 4:8, 9

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who the are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 1 Peter 5: 7

The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. Psalm 34:10

Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. Isaiah 49:15,16

Now those are really great promises. Promises that we can really hold onto and believe in.

But I think that's not the main issue. The issue is "Are we Persuaded that God can do and will do what He had Promised?" These promises will remain futile and empty unless we choose to believe in them.

Abraham believed in God even how illogical and unrealistic the promises were that's why in the end "it was credited to him as righteousness".

SO why don't you review all the promises you have read and heard before and start to believe and have faith in God and be persuaded that GOD CAN!

God Bless you!

You Are God's Building

My first job was in a construction company. I was tasked to estimate the electrical expenses and needs for the site. Along with that I was also tasked to make sure that what’s in the plan get followed in the site itself. This only means I need to get the shovel, the hammer, the fliers, the “climbing” (we were building 60-meter cell sites/towers) and the grounding (land excavation of up to 3 meters or more). It was hard and really tiring. And I was actually “THE” engineer. How much more if I was the construction worker? That must had been more strenuous.
But here’s what I’ve learned today from 1 Corinthians 3:5-17. We are workers and builders in the Kingdom of God! Oh Yes! Being part of God’s family doesn’t just make us children of God [John 1:12] but workers and builders as well!

Paul said in 1 Cor. 3:9-10

9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.

Reflection:

1. We are co-workers with Paul. We are either the ones who lay down the foundation or those (I believe most of us will be) build ON the foundation. Either way we have a job to do! Paul referred to the Corinthians as the “Buildings” [1 Cor. 3:9]. Your friends, your family, your workmates, everyone are buildings. Buildings who may and may not have the foundation yet who is Jesus Christ [1 Cor. 3:11] but still they are our accountabilities. We have been called to either lay the foundation by sharing God’s WORD to them or build on the foundation (Word of God) by encouraging them, praying for them, discipling them and bringing them closer to God. How have you been building on other people’s lives lately? Have you been laying more burden (e.g. pain, discouragement, hurt, bitterness, etc.) or have you been laying some great things for the building to be more like what God has planned for it to be built.

2. We are at the same time the “BUILDINGS”. This is where I also praise the Lord. Indeed God is a complete God. He didn’t call us to just work and work and give away as mentioned in verse 1. We too have builders building on us making us better Christians. Correcting us, training us, rebuking us sometimes through God’s Word. My prayer is for each of us to be magnificent buildings, beautiful architecture, wonderful masterpiece as what God had planned for us beforehand.

So we see that there’s a process. God had raised Builders to lay the foundation in your hearts (during your Spiritual Birthday) and He has also raised builders who have discipled you, taught you and helped you grow from baby infants to now a mature Christian. And yes, even until now your builder is praying and backing you up always. But the process had not ended there. You too must be a builder on somebody else. Doing exactly what your builder did and had been doing to you.

And here’s the promise from [1 Cor. 3:14]:

“If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.”

Getting Personal

This post is my 83rd post for this site. Truly it has been a wonderful ride but yes, there's still more to come! And I'm so blessed to have all of you with me in this journey.

Today, I want to be a little personal and connect with my readers. You can ask me any question you have about this site, about me or just anything you wanna ask. You can leave a comment below the post or you may also send an email to yourdailyword@gmail.com and I'll try my VERY BEST to answer each of them with all honesty!

So go ahead! Spit it out!

And oh some questions might be answered by the "profile" I have just updated with a blurry pic (lol!) and have placed at the top part of this website.

Let me leave you with this verse today:

1 Corinthians 1:9
God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

Put on the Lord Jesus Christ

Romans 13:14 (New King James Version)

"But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts."

In another version Romans 13:14 is stated as

"Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."

Reflection:

I see two opposing "SHIRTS" here while we are the person to wear either of them. One is a shirt that puts ourselves first. A shirt that makes us dethrone God as Lord (Master) in our lives. A shirt that serves well our selfish and sinful desires. While the other one forgets your "SELF' and places GOD above all else. A shirt that allows GOD to build you up (sometimes to break you) for the better (to be more like Him). A shirt that fills your heart with Hope, Future, Love, Joy, Peace and all good things out there. And the shirt I am talking about is Jesus Christ!

In Romans, Paul was saying "PUT ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST", in NIV it says "CLOTHE YOURSELVES with the LORD JESUS CHRIST". Between the two Shirts, which one then would you choose?

What's more amazing is this; when you wear Jesus Christ (shirt) quoting from my friend makes you a "walking billboard" or others would say it an "open Bible" and truly indeed people are not just saved by words we say but also by the lives they see or in this case by the shirts we wear.

Everyday, don't go out wearing just your wonderful polo or pants, but let's all put on Jesus Christ!

Blessings to you more and more!

Seek His WORD

Psalm 119:9-11 (New King James Version)

9 How can a young man cleanse his way?
By taking heed according to Your word.

10 With my whole heart I have sought You;
Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!

11 Your word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You.

God said in His word, for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." [1 Peter 1:16]. We can only do so when we keep HIS WORD in our hearts (believe it) and when we take heed in obeying it (not just believing but acting on it). A lot of us can easily believe what the WORD of GOD says but we most of the time fail to act on the word especially if we fail to even understand what the the WORD is trying to say.

Review and re-check your daily devotion with the LORD.

Have you been very busy with other things lately that you just simply read the Bible without meditating on it?

Have you been very busy becoming successful in your job or in any endeavor you are in that you are forgetting the most essential thing?

Are you caught up with deadlines and priorities that you neglect reading HIS Word?

Seek HIS WORD above EVERYTHING ELSE and PRAY so that you will not wander from his WILL for you: his good, perfect and pleasing WILL.

GOD Bles you!

BEHAVE LIKE A CHRISTIAN

I am in no way the right person to say what's right and what's not in being a Christian and how a "CHRISTIAN" should behave because just like everybody else I too am a struggling one. Struggling to be more like Christ everyday. Struggling for Christ to continue molding me to be the person He created me to be.

But how do we really behave like a Christian? Let the Word of God spill the beans...

It's a letter/epistle of Paul to the Romans.

Romans 12:9-21 (New King James Version)

Behave Like a Christian

9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.

10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;

11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;

12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;

13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.
17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.

18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.

19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.

20 Therefore

“ If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

You claim to be a Christian, right? Check back what Paul had to say?

What do we learn from this? We may not be the perfect guy who can do all those things but we can the person whose heart is fully dedicated to the Lord with humility accepting that he's not perfect yet with willingness to be broken and changed.

God Bless you!

Published by Your Daily Word

Desert Song by Hillsong United Video and Lyrics

When we had our Sunday fellowship a while ago, there was no electricity. And Imagine a worship service with no electricity. That just means, no band, no microphone, no light and most unfortunately no AIRCON on a Hot Summer Day! That was indeed one sweaty sunday! Nevertheless, the worship service continued. After all, we didn't go there for those things. We went there to worship and serve the Lord Jesus Christ! And that's exactly what we did! No band, no aircon, no anything just God's presence dwelling in the praises of His people. That was indeed on meaningful and blessed service!

One of the things I'm so blessed with aside from the very powerful Word of God delivered to us by our Pastor in which I plan to share here as well is the song that we sang during the Praise and Worship. It's called "Desert Song" by Hillsong United. It was my first time to hear that song and I thought that was new but I was corrected by seatmate. I'm not sure when it was released but as per my seatmate, she heard the song a long time ago. Whew! Oh well. Here's the song that I'd want you to listen to.

It's all about God being God in any and every season of our lives. It's all about our God being faithful in providing and giving us victory when we're in need, when we're in a battle and when we are in desert and all that's within us is dry.

If you can't view the video, you may click here: Desert Song

Desert Song by Hillsong lyrics
Verse 1:
This is my prayer in the desert
And all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in the hunger in me
My God is a God who provides

Verse 2:
And this is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flames

Chorus:
And I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon forged against me shall remain

I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

Verse 3:
And this is my prayer in the battle
And triumph is still on it's way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I'll stand

Bridge:
All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship

Verse 4:
This is my prayer in the harvest
When favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be empited again
The seed I've recieved I will sow

God Bless you!

Here are some Music Videos you can also listen to:

HE IS MIGHTY TO SAVE US

DON'T BE ANXIOUS | MY LIFE IS IN YOUR HANDS

JESUS: YOU ARE MY BESTFRIEND

LAUGHING WITH BY REGINA SPEKTOR

Recommended Christian Blogs/Sites

This site has been very blessed with so much blessing from the time it started. I'm not sure if I've shared it with you but when I started this site and wrote my first post, INSTANTLY I got a new follower and a comment on the very first post I made. Check my first post here: Welcome to Your Daily Word

But look at where we at right now? We see 114 Blog Followers, 198 RSS and/or Email Subscribers, 6 Mobile Subscribers and just recently the site got another level up from Google. This site is now PageRank 3 in just 3 months of blogging. And I want to thank all of you who are reading this right now who made this possible. I Praise the Lord for your lives.

Speaking of praising the Lord for this successes, one person actually commented and congratulated me saying "I did a good Job! and then he continued quoting: "You did a good Job but I think the Lord didn't have anything to do with it. He's just too busy to take care of your blog." This statement is completely and utterly FALSE. Clearly, he has a wrong concept of God. We should never forget God is not a man that he gets tired, gets busy or gets sleepy. He in fact is always there for us, watches over us and takes care of us. Always and always the glory belongs to God. And if this site will be made successful (and I believe that He will do it), the glory shall always belong to whom it deserves: My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Back to to the Thanksgiving! Yes, I thank the Lord first and foremost for everything He has done to this blogsite. Second I'd thank all you subscribers that I may not know personally but I pray and declare for God to bless you more and more and for His purposes for your lives to surely come to pass! Thirdly, my family who has always been there for me, supporting me, reading my posts. To my family: I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART! Lastly (but not the least: seriously) are my friends here in the blogosphere. Without them reading and leaving comments and linking back to my site, PAGERANK I think will be impossible. So today, I'm giving LOVE back.

Here are my friends and their Blogs/Sites that I request for you visit:

Please check my Blogroll on the sidebar for more recommendable Christian sites.

Tom Usher of Real Liberal Christian Church

Kuya Kevin off KuyaKevin.com

BSHELLY of Seeking God's Heart

Kevin of Journey of Verse and The Chronicle Watch

May God Bless you all and Thanks again!

The Truth Shall Make You Free | Happy Independence Day

John 8:31-36 (New King James Version)
The Truth Shall Make You Free

31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.

32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”

34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.

35 And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.

36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

As the United States celebrate their Independence Day today, I am reminded of the above passage. Truly, the freedom we have is but a "fake" freedom unless the Son has set us free. People think they're free because they can do anything, anywhere and anytime they want. But as Jesus had said, "whoever commits sin is a SLAVE to sin".

My prayer therefore, and I hope you join me is for God to break the chains of slavery to everyone who are enslaved by sin up until now. Be it drugs, addiction, pornography or even a simple theft and lie. All these are still considered sins before God and a lot of people are ensalved to these.

Today is also a reminder to all of us as well, that even though we have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ and had been set free from Death and Sin still a lot of times we pretend to be slaves to our human nature. We actually make ourselves slaves again when we choose to give in to temptation the devil is throwing at us when we could have rebuked and resisted it!

You see, today aside from the celebration of the Freedom the Lord Jesus Christ had given us for free is also a Day of Prayer for constant breaking of chains as we continue our Spiritual Journey with Him.

God Bless you!

Laughing With by Regina Spektor (Video and Lyrics)

Today I will be sharing with you a video I bumped into through the website of Joshua Harris. I don't know Regina Spektor and I haven't heard of "Laughing With" song but when I listened to it and read the lyrics, it hit real hard.

It is just the most honest and I'd say provocative and truthful song I've ever heard so far. Especially in this time of crisis, wars and problems, can we laugh with God? or do we start being discouraged and down or even to the point of being disappointed with God? Let's remember and "not forget" all the promises of the Lord to us. Surely, we can still laugh no matter what because we know He's in charge!

Laughing With

"Laughing With" by Regina Spektor Lyrics:

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one's laughing at God when they're starving or freezing or so very poor

No one laughs at God when the doctor calls after some routine tests
No one's laughing at God when it's gotten real late and their kid's not back from that party yet

No one laughs at God when their airplane starts to uncontrollably shake
No one's laughing at God when they see the one they love hand in hand with someone else and they hope that they're mistaken
No one laughs at God when the cops knock on their door and they say "We've got some bad new, sir,"
No one's laughing at God when there's a famine, fire or flood

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party while listening to a good God-themed joke or
Or when the crazies say he hates us and they get so red in the head you think that they're about to choke

God can be funny
When told he'll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie
Who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus

God can be so hilarious
Ha ha
Ha ha

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one's laughing at God when they've lost all they got and they don't know what for

No one laughs at God on the day they realize that the last sight they'll ever see is a pair of hateful eyes
No one's laughing at God when they're saying their goodbyes

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party while listening to a good God-themed joke or
Or when the crazies say he hates us and they get so red in the head you think that they're about to choke

God can be funny
When told he'll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie
Who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus

God can be so hilarious

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war

No one's laughing at God in a hospital
No one's laughing at God in a war

No one's laughing at God when they're starving or freezing or so very poor

No one's laughing at God
No one's laughing at God
No one's laughing at God
We're all laughing with God

Laughing With by Regina Spektor from the album Far

If you can't view the video click here.

You have been Blessed to be a Blessing

Genesis 12:2 (Contemporary English Version)
"I will bless you and make your descendants into a great nation. You will become famous and be a blessing to others."

On several posts, I have spoken about God’s plans of prosperity and success for our lives and about how God can give you an increase in what you do and in every endeavor you'd take. And these promises are ALL true.

A lot of Bible verses can prove this point, here are some:

Joshua 1:8 (New International Version)
Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

John 10:10 (Amplified Bible)
The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).

Psalm 66:12
You have caused men to ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water; But You brought us out to rich fulfillment.

And a lot more verses/promises out there that we can believe in and claim for ourselves. Indeed this is a given FACT: God’s plan for you is to give you hope and a future!

But the cycle doesn’t stop there because the same Bible that says we will be blessed SO MUCH also says this:

Genesis 12:2 (New International Version)
"I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.

In Gen. 12:2, we see GOD promising to bless Abraham and to make his name great and make him into a great nation. But God didn't stop there instead continued by saying “and you will be a blessing”. In other versions, “…and be a blessing to others”. And you are Abraham’s seed.

Galatians 3:29
And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Being a seed gives you two things. First, you get to have the privilege of being blessed and for being recipient of the promises spoken to Abraham. Second thing is the accountability and responsibility for you to be, like Abraham a BLESSING to others.

We can believe that we will be blessed and I am sure that it will be done as God had promised but the question we should ask ourselves is this:

“Are we willing to be channels of blessings to our friends, family and others after we've been blessed?"

God Bless you!