Unexpected caller...

It is Sunday, one of my favorite day of the week. My spirit is high! I'm looking forward to this day. I'm excited to go to church after work. Everything is perfect. I'm not late today (proud of it)which is a very good sign too. Like what I said, everything is on the right place! Although it's heavily queuing, it's fine with me...

Got a call from a lady (I think she's old because she said that she can't see things clearly anymore) asking assistance to get her email to work. I thought, "Another so so calls" I go through my routine, asking her questions relevant to her problems. The call went fine. It was a good one. Short call. Then before we end up the call, the lady (Her name is Ms. Dorothy Ledum) asked a question. A question that I've heard before.. "Lanie, do you believe that Jesus is your Savior?" she asked. My heart was filled with joy after hearing her question. This woman on the other side of the phone is my sister. Sister in Christ! I immediately said that I'm a Christian. To be honest, on my almost 5 years of being a technical support agent, this is the very first time that I've encountered a person like her. I mean, we're both Christian! It's just awesome! I'm so happy to speak to her! We prayed over the phone and it's just wonderful. My heart is full of joy! I can't explain it. I just admire her. She uses every opportunity she has to speak out the truth about Jesus!

I will never ever forget her. She's an inspiration to me. I thank God for letting me talk to her this morning.

Wherever you are Ms. Ledum, our conversation earlier is one of the best calls I ever had. Thank you so much for being a blessing.

Servant of God...

Being a Christian is NOT easy. Definitely not. There's a lot of problems to face. Persecution to endure. Trials to overcome. And there's a lot of people to reach out. I'm not complaining, not at all. Honestly, I haven't been to any of those yet. Well, there are times that I've been persecuted, I heard a lot of harsh judgement. But that's fine with me. I don't really give a thing to those. It made me sad, but it never made me look and go back to my old ways.

Sometimes I could hear myself asking, "am I doing anything good for my Lord?" "am I truly following Him?". Sometimes I feel that I'm useless. Sometimes I feel that no matter what I do, it will never be pleasing to my Lord's eyes. At times, I think that I'm not worthy to be called His child....

But God always find a way to make me realize that He appreciate every single thing that I'm doing for my neighbors, for Him. That He treasures me and He is so proud of what I've become.

Like the father, on the story about the prodigal son, God has all the reason to celebrate for having her daughter back to His arms once again.

As I continue my journey with Christ, I keep in my heart & mind the purpose why God had called me. His promises of eternal life always thrilled me, it even makes me wanna cry out of joy! It's amazing to find out that we are being included to the few, elite and special people that will be in His kingdom someday! And the excitement of knowing it and not sharing it to those who haven't heard of it makes me uneasy. It's like keeping a very important thing that the whole world has the right to know. I'm being selfish in some way.

Our working permit for God is worth a lifetime. A responsibility that He bestow upon His trusted people alone. And it's our job to refer & hire others too! It's not easy. The enemy will ALWAYS find a way to distract, disturbed, destroy us. But worry not! Our mentor, shield, best friend is always with us. 24/7. His hotline is always OPEN. He will never put us on hold. He will never let us wait in a very long queue! Jesus is ALWAYS AVAILABLE for us. He always finds a way.

Now, let me ask you this, who do you work for? Choose your boss now. He's waiting for your application. =)

Victory over Pain

(Listening to Almost Over You by Sheena Easton)

Sometimes, we failed to see the true purpose of all the hardship and challenges that we are facing. It's normal. We tend to focus on the pain, on the heartache. That's our initial reaction. Nobody can tell us not to feel the pain and just pretend. Even Christ allowed himself to feel the pain. He cried. He allowed himself to grieve for the lost of His dear friend Lazarus. It's part of our nature. We can't take that kind of response out of our system.

I have a friend who's really in a deep pain right now.. I can feel her pain, I can see her suffering from the heartbreak. I know I can relate to it, I've been through it myself. She once said, "Sana hindi na lang siya binigay ni God.." I understand her bitterness towards the situation. I know she's not directly questioning God's intention or purpose, but somehow, I feel that she has doubts about what God is planning for her. It is normal to feel bad, to ask question as to why this had happened instead of the other one. Again, I've been through that phase too. And honestly, during my own heartbreak, all the answer that I've heard seems to be not making sense to me. I can't accept the fact that we are DONE. That all their advise of moving on and acceptance is not helping me at all!

Jesus is the ultimate healer. Our one of a kind BFF! (Best friend forever). I can still remember the time when I asked Jesus to heal my broken heart. I cry to Him, pleading to restore my shuttered life. And Jesus did. Without having second thoughts, he helped me to revive my almost dying heart..

God has all the reason and answer why we are in pain. Actually God didn't cause that pain, this world has caused it. It's because this world is full of sin. He has a VALID reason why we have to undergo such trials. All He want us to do is to remain focus to Him. I know it's difficult. Yes sometimes it's hard to stay focus to Him when everything else is falling. But remember what He said. He won't forsake us, He will never abandon us.

I'm happy that God let me feel the pain. I'm glad He allowed me once in my life to be broken hearted. Why? Because I was able to come closer to Him and understand more His will than mine. He allowed me to undergo such pain for me to grow and live a life which is more meaningful and pleasing in His eyes!

God's amazing grace

I miss my blog. I've been busy for the last past weeks and I haven't had enough time to share my thoughts lately.

Time seems to pass so unconsciously fast. I can't hardly believe that it has been 5 months since the dreaded "b.u" day (short for break-up day. lol) and here I am, feeling more alive than ever!

Every step that I take now in my life is really worth it. And it's all because of Jesus. Jesus heals my heart. He gave me a second chance, and this time, I'm not gonna blew it! I'm lovin' every single day of my life now and it's all because of God's amazing and matchless grace!

Can you imagine life without His grace, His presence in our life, His love? I cannot. I don't think I can survive a day without God's guidance. No... He's all I ever need.

Everything is doing great right now.. I have a ministry (Young professionals) now at Word of Hope and I also have a vgroup (small group) at Victory. God is continue blessing me with so much grace! I'm so thankful to my friends. They keep on inspiring me to continue what I had begun.

Now I understand the true meaning of happiness. It's not only on having so much material things in this world, accomplishments, success in career, having a lot of friends (especially in facebook. lol) being in a relationship, places you've been to, but true happiness comes within. True happiness comes from having a true relationship and understanding of Jesus. Happiness is serving Him with all your heart. Happiness is knowing that after this life here on earth, there is another life greater than what we've experience here. Life with Jesus in heaven. Life without sadness, without hardship. But pure glory and happiness!

I hope all my friends and you who is reading this right now could also experience this kind of happiness. Happiness that money can't buy, happiness that can't be given by someone else but only by Jesus.

Word@Work - May 27

As promised, I'm gonna be posting some of the daily devotionals that I'm receiving from BeaconLight. I thank God for giving us this kind of technology. It is much faster to spread & communicate His good news!

The title for today's devotional is: Open for business

Luke 7:36-38 Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. (NIV)

The woman was known for her grubby reputation. 'Nice religious' people did not want to know her; but she believed that Jesus was different. So when she arrived at a smart dinner party, without an invitation, it caused quite a stir. Jesus and the other guests would have been reclining on low couches with their legs stretched out away from the central table. Standing behind Jesus, this weeping woman's tears splashed onto His feet, which she dried with her un-braided hair before breaking open a vial of expensive perfume and pouring it on Jesus' feet.

The questions everybody was asking were, "Why did she come, why was she weeping, why did she get so close to Jesus, why the perfume and why did Jesus not reject her?" The rest of the narrative will unfold over the next few days, but by this stage in the story all we know is that she came because she wanted to come, she wept because she could not help it; and we know that Jesus did not reject her at all.

Jesus never rejects anybody who comes honestly grieving over their sin. Those who really hope that Jesus will be merciful to them will find mercy and grace and love in abundance. Often the first step is the most difficult, wondering if our catalogue of sin will repel the Saviour of the world, wondering if the religious authorities will resent a social outcast and prevent access to Jesus. The answer is simple: Jesus welcomes sinners because He came to accept their punishment, as though He was the sinner instead of us. See www.crosscheck.org.uk to know more. That is why you can confidently tell your family, friends and colleagues that Jesus is waiting for everybody who know they cannot escape from their own mess.

Word@Work

I just want to share with you this daily devotional that I have from Word at Work from BeaconLight. I'm so glad that I subscribe to it. It helps me to get back on track specially on those days that I'm loosing my faith. Whenever the enemy is surrounding me. And whenever I try to do things on my own strength.

I just hope this will help you as much as it is helping me. Just read on and meditate on God's words. God bless everyone!

DIVINE EVIDENCE

Luke 7:21-23 At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to the messengers, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me." (NIV)

John the Baptist was wondering if he had got it right about Jesus: was He really the Messiah promised by God throughout the Old Testament? John's gloomy prison cell spoke of despair, but he knew that Jesus would tell him the truth. So the Master told John's disciples to report about what Jesus had been doing, providing key evidence to reassure the evangelist.

Multiple healings and exorcisms were clearly acts of God; and Jesus' care to teach the poor (contrasting the religious leaders who flattered the wealthy) was another sign of God's compassion, freely giving truth to the oppressed. But was this the work of an inspired prophet or of the Son of God? John knew that God always speaks in advance of His actions, so the true Messiah would fulfil prophecy. And that was the final proof: Isaiah 61:1-2 says, "The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD'S favour and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn ..."

God's Word always confirms the truth about Jesus to those who seek the truth. That is why it is far more important to let God speak through His Word than to rely on what your feelings say. It may be hard to live as a Christian, but do not let your reactions to circumstances entangle your heart and take you away from your only Hope. Only God's Spirit (who always agrees with the written Word) can assure you of your security, whatever may be happening to you. That will then give you confidence to face your community and your colleagues in the knowledge that Jesus is in charge; and serving Him is always worth it!

It's been a while....

Whew! Thank God for letting me write again. I have a lot to say but I felt like it is not the right time to blog about whatever I have in my heart. Wooopppss.. I know this should be easy, just pour your hearts out and start typing in, but not for me.

Hmm.. It has been 5 months. Since the break up. I'm still single but extremely satisfied. No flings, no dates with the opposite sex, but I'm fine with that.. Well, sometimes I feel lonely, I envy those couples around me, I miss the feeling of having someone hugging, kissing, & comforting me, but I think it's just normal. I've never been single for more than 4 months in the past. So you have to understand where I'm coming from, haha!

Life is never easy, life is really unfair. Even though I'm already a Christian, bitterness, temptation, anger still eludes in my heart. I still feel the pain although I know that Jesus already saved me. The war has already been won, but the battle still continues.. Our struggles in life is an everyday battle. We tend to still fall, to miss the right spot. To be mislead, but guess what, on every mistake, on every wrong move, there's still hope for us to go back on the right track. And that hope is JESUS!

Whenever I feel like being bitter, angry and sad again, I always ask Jesus to heal the wounds in my heart. And He never fails to revive my dying heart. Jesus is just amazing! He's a true friend, a loving Savior and an Almighty God. Can you imagine it, He's always in love with us, and He'll never abandon all his friends.

Right now, I'm focusing my life to Jesus. I know I sometimes stumble and even backslide but, I know in my heart that Jesus is always there to guide me. I wish that someday, I could be as good as Him. To love others like the way He loves me and you. To see things like He sees them. With God's grace, I know we can be like Him. Nothing is impossible with God.

Happiness is not just a choice, but its an attitude that we must adopt. Happiness comes from a clear conscience and deep relationship with God. Life is something that we need to be thankful for, it is just given to us only once, so lets make the best out of it..