Bayanihan Fund Drive: Donate to Ondoy Flood Victims

This is in support for those who have been affected by the Typhoon Ondoy here in the Philippines.


To those who want to donate, please do so by visiting this link: BarrioSiete Official Forum



Quoting from their post:

My fellow bloggers, readers and lurkers; it breaks our heart seeing all these images and watching the videos coming from Manila – the wrath and devastation not only to properties but also to the lives of our fellow Filipinos. Tropical typhoon Ondoy is not only creating havoc but also bringing epic floods in the Metropolitan Manila area.

In the spirit of Barrio Siete, I invite you all to join our Bayanihan Fund Drive: Donate to Ondoy Flood Victims. Very simply:

1.) Make a donation to our Bayanihan Fund Drive: Donate to Ondoy Flood Victims. If you can’t, then help us by making this viral and create an entry entitled: “Bayanihan Fund Drive: Donate to Ondoy Flood Victims“. A link to this original entry will be appreciated where your readers can make a donation. Please leave us a note in the comment section if you are joining so we can list your entry, in case the pingback doesn’t work.

2.) Invite other bloggers to join our “Bayanihan Fund Drive: Donate to Ondoy Flood Victims”

3.) We will list the names of the donors in a worksheets, their organization and/or their websites, unless they prefer to be anonymous.

4.) The listing will be updated regularly and will be posted here in Barrio Siete Dot com.

5.) We are only accepting monetary donations in currencies accepted by Paypal.

6.) All donations will be remitted only to the Philippine National Red Cross in Manila. (We have not made any contact with them yet.)

Chocolateworld.net is gathering blogs and websites of those who will support and post about this. You can visit it and leave your link.

If you have a blog or a site, please don't hesitate to post about this.

God bless the Philippines!

You Reign | Citipointe: Video, Lyrics, Music Monday

You Reign Citipointe Music Video

You Reign by Citipointe Lyrics

Verse:
Over star filled skies
Over all created life
What was always meant to be
Your glory reigning over me

Pre-Chorus:
You're above
Anything thrown my way
Victorious
I live to stand in You always.

Chorus:
You reign
Over all the earth we sing it
You reign
Justice and peace you bring it
You reign
Holy one, You Reign

Bridge:
Your kingdom come
Your will be done
Jesus reign over me

Source: MusiCoop

I Do What I Don't Want To Do

I Do What I Don't Want To Do

How many times did you feel that way? Right now, that's what I am feeling. I don't know. I really don't.

I can just relate to what the Apostle Paul had said in his letters to the Romans:

 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin.  I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good.  So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t.  I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.  But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. [Romans 7:14 - 15 (New Living Translation)]

I believe that this experience will surely result to more praises to GOD! So please pray for me...

I can boldly say, apart from God's grace and love, I AM NOTHING!

Blessings to you more! May God's grace truly overflow in your life :-)

He knows and He remembers!

Revelations 2:1-7 is the letter to the Church in Ephesus. This passage is famous on the point of the Ephesians forsaking their first Love for the Lord. It's even entitled "The Loveless Church" from New King James Version. If you're like me I'm easily drawn to the Title's point in reading the passage.

This changed when my Pastor preached about this last Sunday.

Here's the passage from Revelations 2:1-7

The Loveless Church

1 “To the angel of the church of Ephesus write,
‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: 2 “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; 3 and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. 4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. 6 But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’

But here's the new revelation:

Did you notice verses 2 and 3? The first time I read this, I thought to myself this is just a "background" of what the Church of Ephesus was before they lost their first love. But actually, it also talks about God's nature and love towards the Church.

HE KNOWS!

Yes! You read it right! He knows! God said in verses 2 and 3 that HE knows their works, their labor, their patience, their perseverance and the many more good things they have done for Him!

What am I trying to say?

I'm saying GOD knows and GOD remembers everything we've done in the past for Him. He remembers our little act of kindness, our labor in the ministry, every tear we cried, every prayer we uttered, every step we took to visit a friend, every cent we gave to those who are need. Yes! Everything is accounted for. Every labor we've done has been written down and will never be in vain! 1 Cor. 15:58

And this even though just like the Ephesians, He's no longer our first love. He remembers the good even if we've failed him a lot of times already! He took notice FIRST of the good things before the bad.

That's how GOD is. He loves us so much that no matter how idolatrous and even though we always go and look for other "lovers", He remains to be the greatest lover. The lover who never forgets.

As a TL during coaching sessions, we are asked to start with recognition then the Areas for Improvement (weaknesses of the agents) and then end it with Recognition again so that agent leaves with a light and happy heart.

Now, notice what GOD said after the telling Ephesians they've lost their first love:

But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Rev. 2:6

Now I think that's just sweet. Isn't it?

Blessed Is The Man Who Fears The Lord

Praise the Lord!

Monday was an amazing day for me and the Lord! It was a day I communed with him and sought him with all my heart. Just Him and me and His word. Indeed it's indescribable! My prayer is for you to also stop and pause for a day in your week, instead of being caught up with the roller coaster of needs and priorities. To pause and seek God for fellowship and "just" enjoying His presence. Yes, above asking for anything, let's all seek his Heart and His presence first and foremost.

What I did pray about? I'll share it on another post. Watch out for that!

On this post though, I would like to praise the Lord for the WORD (promises) He had given during that fellowship. Truly, God speaks! Actually, I think He had been speaking to me several times now. I think He had been talking to you now. I was just too busy to listen. This is because only when we're still and silent in His presence do we hear His small still voice. [One thing you can think and reflect about... ]

He guided me to Psalm 112. A Psalm entitled "The Blessed State of the Righteous". I'm not sure if I've read this Psalm before. Probably once or twice but during this time the WORD was just too powerful that I was moved to tears and praises to my God and personal Lord.

Psalm 112
The Blessed State of the Righteous

1 Praise the LORD!

Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
Who delights greatly in His commandments.

2 His descendants will be mighty on earth;
The generation of the upright will be blessed.

3 Wealth and riches will be in his house,
And his righteousness endures forever.

4 Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness;
He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.

5 A good man deals graciously and lends;
He will guide his affairs with discretion.

6 Surely he will never be shaken;
The righteous will be in everlasting remembrance.

7 He will not be afraid of evil tidings;
His heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.

8 His heart is established;
He will not be afraid,
Until he sees his desire upon his enemies.

9 He has dispersed abroad,
He has given to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever;
His horn will be exalted with honor.

10 The wicked will see it and be grieved;
He will gnash his teeth and melt away;
The desire of the wicked shall perish.

Amen!

A lot of promises, I know and I praise the Lord for all those. But as I've always said Promises will remain futile unless one does something about them. Unless I do something about them!

Do I even fear the Lord everytime I make a choice or a decision or on the way I live my life? Am I even the man this Psalm is talking about? Honestly, I am not.

But why can I still declare these promises for myself?

Because after all at the very start I was already unworthy of the promises and only God in His will can make all these things to happen. Because after all IT IS ALL ABOUT GOD. I trust HIM and believe in HIM that He can work through me and make me the "RIGHTEOUS MAN".

I may not be the man as of now but I WILL BE THE MAN soon through Jesus Christ!

That's the beauty of the Lord! He doesn't leave you or forsake you to just live your life on your own. He'll work through you and help you to make all His good plans for your lives to happen.

God bless you! Take time to speak with the Lord today, k?

Ministry Is Not About You

Not just a side line job over the weekend.

Not just an ordinary responsibility.

Shouldn't be taken lightly.

Not just an excess of your time

Takes commitment. 100% of it!

Let's you deny yourself. Your "whole" life along with it.

Pushes you to let go of what's holding you back.

Draws you closer to the Lord even more.

Needs your time, effort and attention.

If you choose to follow Him, you'd need to pick up your cross daily.

Not about you but about God working through you.

Definitely not easy but God can!

Ministry.

Matthew 16:24-25 (Amplified Bible)

²⁴Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also].

²⁵For whoever is bent on saving his [temporal] life [his comfort and security here] shall lose it [eternal life]; and whoever loses his life [his comfort and security here] for My sake shall find it [life everlasting].

God Is Amazing!

Psalm 19:1

1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Here's a pic from the newly updated Hubble Telescope. Wouldn't you be amazed?

Thanks to @louiegiglio for the pic.

ABOUT THIS IMAGE:

This celestial object looks like a delicate butterfly. But it is far from serene.

What resemble dainty butterfly wings are actually roiling cauldrons of gas heated to more than 36,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The gas is tearing across space at more than 600,000 miles an hour—fast enough to travel from Earth to the Moon in 24 minutes!

A dying star that was once about five times the mass of the Sun is at the center of this fury. It has ejected its envelope of gases and is now unleashing a stream of ultraviolet radiation that is making the cast-off material glow. This object is an example of a planetary nebula, so-named because many of them have a round appearance resembling that of a planet when viewed through a small telescope.

Continue reading from the Hubble site here.

Change: Difficult But Not Impossible

Change. As they say is one of the constant thing in this world. It's either we're changing for the better or for worse.

Here's what I learned recently about CHANGE.

I didn't know about this until it was preached by my Pastor last Friday. In the Bible we are always compared to an eagle. Encouraging us to soar high above problems and in any situations we may face. We need to have an eye like that of an eagle to be so focused on our targets and prey.

But the things we can learn from an eagle's life doesn't stop there.

Usually the eagle's lifespan is 70 years. But they only last up to 70 if they undergo a major change during their 40's.

What is this change? You might ask. Let me tell you...

During their 40's (during their old age) their talons and beak start to bend. The talons and beak can bent to as much as taking out the capability of the eagle to catch their prey.

Their wings as well grow heavier and will start to stick to their bodies giving them a hard time to fly swifter the usual.

At this point, the eagle faces a major decision: either to DIE or undergo that major change I've been talking about.

What is this change? Yeah..yeah..You've asked me that question the second time now.

The eagle must fly to a mountaintop and go through 150-day series of changes (that's approximately 5 months).

First, the eagle must knock its beak to a rock until it breaks allowing a new beak to grow. (Now that's painful...)

Second, after the new beaks are fully developed the eagle then starts to pluck its talons to take them out to allow new ones to grow.

Third, it then plucks its own feather to take them out allowing new feathers to grow.

After all these painful, hurting one self process, the eagle can then fly it's "come back" flight and will then live for 30 more years.

What can we learn from this?

1. Change is a decision one should make.
- If we hear ourselves sometimes complaining why blessings are not coming and promises are not happening, I think we better ask ourselves first this question "Have we decided to go through the change that's necessary?". I'm not just talking about "not drink soda" or "not watching TV". I'm talking about major overhaul of our lives, lifestyle, choices and decisions. "Have we decided to take on the narrow path?"

2. The Change is Difficult
- I mean, really difficult. If you can look at the life of the eagle, it ended up really hurting itself to be changed. In the same way, we will soon come to a point when we object with ourselves, when we enslave our own will and choices, when we let go of ours to allow HIS. It can reach to a point that you would need to let go of your friends. It can reach to a point that you would need to resign from your secured job because your Christian principles are now being compromised. You will come to a point to say NO even though you've used to saying YES to a lot of things. Are you ready for this?

3. Change takes some time
- It took 5 months for the eagle to go through the change. As they always say, change doesn't happen overnight. It takes time. Sometimes it takes a lifetime. That's why there's a decision. One need to choose and with that choice comes the responsibility to continue and persevere.

If we want to see fruitfulness and God's plan happening in our lives, change must be done.
Rest assured though that yes it may be DIFFICULT but IT'S NEVER Impossible with CHRIST who strengthens us. [Philippians 4:12]

We are now faced with a challenge to Change. Are you willing to take it?

We Are All one In Christ Jesus

This is a guest post by Daniel Smith of Different Frequencies...Same Radio.

As a United States Sailor, I have had the blessed opportunity to meet
missionaries and visit churches all over Asia and the Middle East. As
a blogger, I have had the privileged of reading blogs from all over
the world, and I have had people from all over the world read my blog.

Ten years ago I preached a short message of encouragement to some
missionaries and staff at a Baptist church in Pattaya, Thailand. In
that message, I spoke of how we may be of any number of ethnicities,
but we were all one in Christ. In our modern world of blogging and
easy travel, that is no less true.

As Paul states in Galatians 3:28: There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for
ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

The world is a much smaller place than when Paul went on his many
missionary journeys, and yet he realized the same thing back then that
we can realize today. It's no less true now than it was when Paul
first wrote the church in Galatia. It doesn't matter where I am from.
Once I joined the church through the blood of Christ, I became part of
a body of believers from many tongues and tribes. That is no more
easily discovered than by simply looking through the blogs we read
every day.

What a blessed thought!

Note: This is the first guest post I have approved for this site and I hope that this would be a FIRST of Many. I encourage you to send me an email to yourdailyword@gmail.com with Subject line: ARTICLE and I'll check if I can publish it. Blessings to you!

Thanks Daniel for this Article. May God bless you and your blog as you work in God's vineyard!

Thank You!

For the past month the site has been awarded with several awards and I'd like to thank my friends here in the blogosphere for the honor. May God bless you all!

First off is the Super Scribbler Award from Sharon Faith of Simply4God

There are some rules for this award in which I am willing to comply. Here are the rules:

1. Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.

2. Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.

3. Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to This Post, which explains The Award.

4. Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit This Post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we’ll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor!

Here are my chosen 5 blogs:

1. AsTheCrackerHeadCrumbles

2. - sound of a softbreath -

3. My Reflections and Impressions

4. Dedicated Christian

5. My Christian Diary


I would like to also thank Yami of Mom Writes For A Cause

Yami,

I am so blessed for considering the site Inspirational!


I'd like to thank Julie of Julie's Daily Inspirationals as well for the One Lovely Blog Award!

Julie,

This was so unexpected but really much thanks to you!



The site was featured as well as the First Glorious Wednesday Post from Rom of Roaming Around with Romela

Rom,

Thanks a lot. I hope that our friendship here in the blogosphere grows deeper.

Lastly but not the least (of course), I'd like to thank The Fledgling Blogger for the Loyal Friend and Visitor and J'Adore Tien Blog Awards.

JuneZach,

Thanks. I am happy that I have met you here in the blogosphere.




To all of you who read, who receives and forwards every post, who loves the Lord, who is blessed with the site: THANK YOU!

In return, I'll be giving all these awards to the deserving bloggers as well! Watch out for that!