Truest, Most Real and Amazing Love of All

This is supposed to be my entry to Testify to Love: Get a chance to win Avalon’s “The Greatest Hits” at my friend's blog: Gannsdeen.com.


Sadly it's late now. I wasn't able to read the part where he says the deadline in Nov. 30th and today is unfortunately December 1st. Now, I'm sure all of you are now shouting and asking why I didn't do it before the deadline. To answer that, I didn't notice and I forgot. LOL! Enough of that, here's my post:


My post is all about the Love that every man is dying to have. It's more than a feeling or anything else. It can't be faked, in fact it's THE most real thing. A lot of us have run from there to here, from hurt to more hurt, from failed expectations to more failed expectations. It's almost a hopeless cycle.


I had a conversation with a friend who just broke up with his boyfriend. This friend of mine is a "HE" as well, making their relationship a homosexual one. If 10 years ago, this kind of relationship is a taboo. At this time though, it has become a "normal" thing especially that I'm working in a call center. (Disclaimer: I don't agree to this kind of relationship but I respect my friends who are engaged in it). So back to my conversation with him. I asked him, what really happened? Why did they break up after more than a year? He answered (hesitantly) it's because he no longer understands what his partner really wants and that he now had grown tired meeting the needs of the other while expecting his own needs be met as well. Actually, most of the relationships we see right now is of this nature. You agree or not. Everyone engages in a relationship because they need something from the other person. It maybe financial needs, emotional support, or just having someone to lean on. Don't take me wrong, these are why there are relationships. For our needs to be met. But when these "meeting of our needs" become the center of the relationship then that's when it crumbles. When each one starts to take and expect instead of freely giving without expecting in return, that's when relationships end.

Love, I've explained to him must be selfless. For relationships to work, one must be willing to give and give and just give. With this he replied, "Isn't that unfair?". Of course it is. That's what love really is. Even if the other one doesn't give back, it just continues to love no matter what. This kind of love is seldom found. Especially when people who are looking for it doesn't have it in the first place?

Where is this Love then?

It's in the Father, the GOD who created everything including love and the ability to love.

Here's what the Bible says from The Message version:

But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him. Rom. 5:8

And John 3:16 from The Message version still:

"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

Now we were of no use whatever to him, but He still chose to love us. And he continues to love us no matter what. I mean, REALLY! It doesn't matter what you have done or what you are going to do, He'll continue to LOVE us.

When each partner has this Love then that's when relationships grow! Why? They're already filled with God's love that they just overflow without anymore taking.

Here's a song from Hillsong that would always tell me how Real, How TRUE and How Amazing God's Love is:

So You Would Come by Hillsong

God Bless you more and more!

He'll Put Your Lives Together

Colossians 1:22 (The Message)

But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God's side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence.

Lately, I have been experiencing failures and disappointments in the 3 most important (if not the only) areas of my life. 

First for my family, when I returned last weekend I was planning to witness and tell them that Jesus loves them and died for them. I wasn’t able to which hurts me so bad because I know how important it is.

Second, in my job I haven’t been hitting targets and expectations even how much I tried for the past few weeks now plus bad impressions on my leadership are starting to appear hurting me really bad. 

Thirdly, my dear roommate who I’ve been with for approximately 9 years now is leaving for AbuDhabi to pursue a career there. Aside from the fact that I’ll be missing him so much, at the same time it does hurt my heart as well which makes me re-think my future in comparison to him. I asked myself “Why is there something happening to him and he’s starting to be successful while I am stucked in this little Call Center Company for 4 years now?"

So many disappointments. So many failures. So many frustrations.

Really. They were, for me OVERWHELMING.

They say these things should push you closer to God and make you stronger in your spiritual life. 

I don’t think that’s what’s happening to me. I started to be broken and messed up. I started to be doing things on my own and GIVE UP.

Praise the Lord for He came to my rescue (as always)! 

He reminded me of my faith and trust in Him. 

He reminded me that what’s happening right now is just plainly part of the GREAT and WONDERFUL plan for my life.

He reminded me that there’ll be time for everything.

He reminded me that things will just take place in it's right time.

He reminded me of His promises and that he’s faithful to fulfill them.

He reminded me that there's always HOPE in Him and that when I do what HE wants me to do, there'll be no room for frustrations, hurts, failures and disappointments.

He will surely put my life together.

Amen!

Say Sorry Now

Colossians 1:21 (The Message)

You yourselves are a case study of what he does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got.

I’m not sure about you but the first verse describes me at times. It in fact describes me right now. I am just a “rebellious” boy doing bad things, failing God and giving him trouble every chance i got.

Is that true to you as well?

How many times did we choose to shut up and stand up for our faith when we were expected to?

How many times did we say yes to bar-hopping and partying thinking it’s just for the occasion?

How many times did we engage in gossip and ungodly conversations just for us to be “IN”?

How many times did we choose to sleep instead of waking up to attend that scheduled prayer meeting?

How many times right after the service did we start lying again and going back to our old selves?

How many times had we turned our eyes to that pretty woman?

How many times did we fail GOD?

I’m guilty.

If you’re not, you’re worth commendable! I encourage you to continue and keep on.

As for me and for others out there, it’s time to make the 360-degree turn.

It’s time to ask forgiveness, go back to God and start becoming a good boy once again.

Praise the Lord for He is a God of second chances and even third or fourth or fifth chances!

He said in His Word that He is faithful and just to forgive us if we confess our sins before him. (1 John 1:9)

Without asking forgiveness, we can never be truly happy and rewards God had prepared will no longer come.

Let’s go now to our own closet rooms or wherever you are right now, please say you’re sorry NOW.

Test of True Christianity

I've been reading through blog posts today and I'm blown away with how real the "TRUE CHRISTIANITY" in the lives of these people.


The first one I read from Joshua Harris site. It's a story about a missionary named Paton.


Here's the story:

[When Paton declared his intention to take the gospel to the New Hebrides islands] a Mr. Dickson exploded, "The cannibals! You will be eaten by cannibals!" The memory of Williams and Harris on Erromanga was only 19 years old.

But to this Paton responded:

Mr. Dickson, you are advanced in years now, and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms; I confess to you, that if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by Cannibals or by worms; and in the Great Day my Resurrection body will rise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer.

This is the courage and zeal each one us must have! A courage that no circumstance, no situation or problem can pull us back and prevent us from fulfilling what God wants to do through us. A courage that believes that if God leads, God will surely provide.
The second one is from Dan Lacich of Provocative Christian Living. It's a story about the blogger's friend.


Here's an excerpt from his post:


On November 8, 2009 in South Asia, I and two other pastors from The Austin Stone, were robbed and attacked by a small gang of South Asian youth. Unexpectedly, one of these youth sliced my left cheek with a straight razor. The wound was 5 inches long and an inch deep. It spanned from about my left sideburn to the left corner of my mouth. Fortunately, the two other men with me were physically unharmed. We ran for safety in the middle of the city, pleaded with locals for help, and finally ended up in the emergency room at a local hospital where a doctor stitched up my face with three layers of stitches.


Even though he suffered these, here's what he has to say:

Our suffering in South Asia was a "gracious thing" inthe sight of God! It was a gift of grace! Listen to the profound message of 1 Peter 2:19-21: "For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps."


I don't want to waste a good moment of suffering. The legacy that I want to leave on this earth and to my family is a heap of stories of radical, simple devotion to Jesus! I am learning that the Calvary Road is not a path merely to endure; rather, the Calvary Roadis to be embraced with joy and hope! The Calvary Road is a "gracious" road! That straight razor may be the greatest blessing of the year for my family and I as it leads me one step further on the Calvary Road - the Road that my Lord embraced on his way to die for thugs like me and the South Asian man who knifed me.

Read the whole post here: http://www.austinstone.org/current/god_gospel_mission/lessons_from_a_razor/


Such an amazing MEN of GOD! Such are True Christians!
Let's all desire to be just like them! Same Zeal! Same Enthusiasm! Same faith!
Praise the Lord!

Stop Complaining

I receive this email last night and it made my day.


I was about to complain how hard and difficult my job is. I was starting to complain about how I look, how I speak and how my life is going. 


Until I receive this email...

If you think you are unhappy, look at them!

If you think your salary is low, how about her?

If you think you don't have many friends..

When you feel like giving up, think of this man

If you think you suffer in life, do you suffer as much as he does?

If you complain about your transport system, how about them?

If your society is unfair to you, how about her? 

Enjoy life how it is and as it comes
Things are worse for others and is a lot better for us!

Stop Complaining! Start Helping!

God Bless you more and may you always learn to extend this blessing to others. :-)

One WORLD: We're All In This Together

I was browsing through the Youtube's most viewed videos and I bumped into this video. A video that has really made me thinking. A video that I think every politician, every celebrity and yes every CHRISTIAN like us must watch and learn from.

It's not very spiritual as we might expect it to be but the messages written by people like us are the REAL and TRUE Christian messages everyone should hear or in this case read.

There'll be two videos. The first one is the background while the second one is the response. Enjoy and learn.

Now here are the responses. Amazing!

God Bless you more and may the difference start with each one of US.

Have a Break!

Hello Everyone!

After several months working, stressing it out and performing at my best!

I realized I need to have a break! I only have 1 life, I need to strike a balance between work and my family. This time it's my family's turn!

Plus, this is the best time for me to go home because it's my niece's birthday!

And by the way, I'll be the host tomorrow for the Birthday party and guess what: This would be my first time so please pray for me. LOL!


Till next post!


May God Bless you always!

Keeping One's Promises To The Lord

This is in connection to my previous post about my promise to God to give him my very First and best fruit from this site. You can read it here: Honor The Lord With Your Firstfruits.

I was reading the Book of 1 Samuel. I was reading about the story of Hannah the mother of Samuel. That's where this post will revolve in.

Hannah was barren. And we all know that for Jewish women, it's like their greatest achievement if they can give their husband not just a child but a male child. What's making it worse, the other wife constantly provokes her. 1 Sam. 1:7

Imagine the misery Hannah was going through. This is even though Elkanah, her husband loved her and gives her double portion. 1 Sam. 1:5. This love was clearly manifested in verse 8 when Elkanah said this:

"Elkanah her husband would say to her, "Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don't you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?" 1 Sam. 1:8 (NIV)

Now isn't that sweet?

But that's not my point. Because even though with all these affection and love, Hannah's desire was to still provide and give Elkanah, a son.

Out of desperation, here's how she prayed:

"And she made a vow, saying, "O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head." 1 Sam. 1:11 (NIV)

That was the promise!

And by the way, this was not like an ordinary prayer, she prayed violently (shall I say) that the Prophet Eli thought she was drunk.

And God, as always was faithful to answer her prayer,
and then came Samuel!

Hannanh could have just forgotten about her promise. I mean that was like 9 months ago, right? How many of us forget what we promise the Lord when we receive what we were asking for. We can't even say, "Thank You Lord!" Hannah's case was like 9 months. She could reason out, I'm sure God would understand. Coz if I gave this boy up, it's still as if I didn't have a son who can be an heir to his father. And a lot more excuses or shall I say reasons. Sometimes logical reasons.

But...

It's not a question whether it's logical or the most practical, it's a question of OBEDIENCE and KEEPING ONE'S PROMISES to the Lord.

A lot of us can easily give a promise.

"See you at 4pm sharp!" and then shows up 4:30pm

"Don't worry, I will do this..." and then deadline comes the thing was left undone.

Sounds familiar? I'm guilty as well.

We easily break promises as if they're just nothing. But the truth is, it hurts people. It hurts your kid when you forgot to buy the right robot or barbie he/she chose. It hurts people when you come late. How much more God? It does hurt him.

See the situation?

God is always ready to GIVE and ANSWER our PRAYERS. We sometimes (always) fail to do what we need to do as a response.

Back to Hannah, here's what happened:

1 Samuel 1:27-28 (New International Version)

27 I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. 28 So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD." And he worshiped the LORD there

That's one GREAT Example of KEEPING ONE'S PROMISES.

Now, let's go to you!

What promises have you broken before the Lord? Please ask forgiveness.

Are there still promises ready to be fulfilled? It's not too late to do them!

One more thing that surely would excite you:

When we keep our promises, here's what God will do as demonstrated in the life of Hannah

1 Samuel 2:21 (New International Version)

21 And the LORD was gracious to Hannah; she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.

See, God gave her more than what she has prayed for!

We truly have an AMAZING God, don't you think?

Honor the Lord With Your FirstFruits!

Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the first and best part of all your income.

Prov. 3:9 [GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)]

Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops;

Prov. 4:9 [New International Version (©1984)]

I praise the Lord and I would like to testify that our God is Good and forever will be!

Just this Monday, I received an email from our Frontdesk that "I got mail!".

I hurriedly checked on it and I was surprised with what I saw.

I received a check from one of the Advertising companies I have subscribed to. Wow! I didn't expect that. I mean I just blog and blog and try this and try that!

It's not like big but it was like manna from heaven that I wasn't able to stop myself to tell all my workmates about it. LOL!

I then remembered my promise to God when I started this site: I WILL GIVE HIM FULLY MY FIRSTFRUIT!

It was tempting. I mean how lovely it would be to buy a remembrance or spend it on something like a celebration or to even just laminate it (as suggested by one of my friends, my friend is weird (don't tell her..)).

But no, I will keep my promise to the Lord my God.

As is written above by the wisest man ever lived, We are to Honor our God with our FIRST and BEST Part of our Income! And may the Lord be praised. After all he's the reason why this site exists. He's the reason why I exist. Isn't he just worth it?

How about you?

What Best and First fruit have you given to God?

I encouraged you to read a post related to this from a respected Pastor of mine from Singapore, Ptr. Kong Hee: Giving Our First Fruits

Psalm 100: Shout for Joy to the Lord!

Psalm 100 (New International Version)

Now aren't they cute?

If you hardly understood them, the complete text after the jump...


Psalm 100
A psalm. For giving thanks.

1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.

3 Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his [a] ;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.

5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Random Texts

I'm not sure how you call it in your place but here in the Philippines we call SMS, text messages.

This would just be very short. These are several text messages I received just this morning and these have blessed me a lot. I hope that it will bless you as well.

#1

"If wealth is he secret of happiness, then the rich should be dancing on the street...

But only poor kids do that.

If power ensures peace of mind, then officials should walk unguarded,

But those who live simply, sleep soundly.

If beauty and fame bring ideal relationships, then celebrities should have the best marriages,

But those who trust God completely have the most fulfilled relationships.

May We all have a peaceful day filled with God's abundant blessings!"

#2

"Here's a beautiful prayer to start this bright sunny day:

'Lord when I lose hope because my plans have come to nothing, help me remember that your LOVE is always greater than my disappointments and your PLANS for my life are always better than my DREAMS!'

Good Morning and take care!"

#3 (from my MOM)

"Morning Prayer:

'Lord, even the best of my intentions can be misunderstood. Help me to go on anyway and be grateful for whatever comes my way. Amen.'

"Mowning! Have a nice day ahead!"

God Bless you today my dear readers! God loves you so much!

Sesame Street 40th Anniversary

HAPPY 40th Anniversary Sesame Street!

Proverbs 17:22 - "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."

Be a True Disciple

First, I'd like to apologize as I was not able to blog while I was there in the conference. The amazing presence of God was really there and the WORD was very powerful that it blows me away everytime. Even though with these wonderful things, I still got exhausted that every after the conference I can no longer a finger to type. So I am sorry.

Second, I don't what to say... I mean I received a lot REMA and MANNA from Heaven that I don't know where to start and how to begin.

Just to keep the ball rolling, let me start with this:

Disciple is from the WORD Discipline. The first followers of Jesus Christ were disciples. At present, we now have believers, followers, goers, church-hoppers and a lot more!

A lot of us would want to define what the real follower of Jesus Christ instead of being what was the original design.

The disciples were "disciplined" believers and followers of our Lord! Disciplined people who are able to enslave their bodies to bring them into subjection to the Lord Jesus Christ! Discipline people who will choose to wake up an hour ahead to spend time with God! Disciplined enough that tries his best to have the Word of God read and applied daily. Disciplined enough to know that the good news he received is not supposed to be kept but shared. Who really lives to be a light and Salt to the earth.

Now, how do you think God regard you? Be challenged! We can do this!



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