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..

One with Christ...

Antipolo 2010 (April10)

(Me & my friends @ WOH)

I will never ever forget this day. The day when I open my heart in service to God. I never thought that this day is already planned by God. I'm just overwhelmed with His power and grace.. After all that I've been though, I was able to prove that no one can love us and remain by our side even in our worse state except our Savior Jesus Christ! He's the only constant being in this world.

I'm so glad that God is working in my life right now. I can't ask for more. I know I'm still going to face a lot of sufferings, heartaches, disappointment, & persecution in this world, but I also know that as long as I'm with Jesus, everything worth it. That everything I've done for Him will be rewarded in the coming days.

Today I surrender everything to Him. Today I'am God's servant...

Nothing is impossible

She really did it! Amazing! That was the first few words that I uttered after seeing her transformation. I'm not really a fan of her, but she truly deserves some "kudos" . if you're wondering who am I talking about, she's Jennifer Hudson. I can still remember her as the huge, African-American lady from the movie with Beyonce (I forgot the title, I'll update this after I remembers it). I never really thought that she'll turn up to be like this. I thought she's not conscious about her weight, 'coz she seems to be contented with the way she looks. Given the fact that people were able to embrace her despite of her weight.

She really motivates all of us not to loose hope, that we can change for the better. That nothing is impossible if we put our mind & heart on the things that we want to accomplish. If this lady was able to do it, so are we.

It is the same with our faith with Jesus. If we put all our heart & mind only to Him, nothing is impossible. Everything is possible with Christ. It is by faith that we are saved. It is through Jesus' love for mankind that He was able to endure the biggest challenge in His life.

God can give us everything that our heart's desire. We just have to believe in His power. We cannot survive this life without Him. He is all we need.

Moving on...

Its been 3 months since the break-up and I'm still single, but happy.. Alone, but not empty.

Some of my friends said that the effect of the break-up brings out the best in me. I'm really glad to hear that. At least I could say that there was something good out of the bad things that happened (I just remembered, the Bible also says that God can bring something good out of the bad situations that we face. Now I can really attest to that). It made me realize that indeed, I can be happy even though I'am single.

I still sometimes feel the need of having someone by my side. Someone that will watch over me, someone that will make me feel special. Someone that will make me feel loved.... Sometimes I feel empty too. Specially whenever I see couple. I used to be like them. I used to be happy with my loved one. I sometimes feel mad whenever I imagine my ex and his new girlfriend having a good time. I'm feeling the bitterness growing inside of me.

But, whenever I read the Bible and pray to God, I know He's watching over me. I know that He loves me. Whenever I listen to my ipod (I have a lot of worship songs on it), I can't help but be moved with the songs. I feel God's love through the songs. I envy those people who can do things such as singing, to bring people closer to God. To bring glory to God. I know I shouldn't be jealous to whatever talent they have, well maybe I'm just overwhelmed with their talents. I sometimes wish I'm like them. But like what Rick Warren said, each of us has been given a gift (talent) by God. It's just up to us to know what it is, and how to make use of it.

Sometimes, I feel like I'm still the same girl, like nothing has changed. I'm still the same girl who can make mistakes, who can bring sadness to my family & God. But whenever I remember what Jesus has said, "Whoever starts to plow, but keeps on looking back, is of no use to the Kingdom of God" I try not to make stupid decisions anymore. I try not to do things for the sake of dealing with my friends. Things that I will regret in the future. Actions that will displease God.

I'm not yet totally over with my previous relationship. I know there will come a time that I'll miss everything that we used to do. Moments that will make me remember of him. I can't really say that I depend God completely, I know I should, but part of me is still lost. And I'm constantly praying to God to show His mercy and grace to me, and to bring me back to Him.

I know Jesus is someone who I can really depend on. He's the only one I have. And even though this time is still difficult for me to get through, one day, you'll just see me smiling and writing about my glory days..

I kissed dating goodbye.. for now...

"When God knows you're ready for the responsibility of commitment, He'll reveal the right person under the right circumstances. " - Joshua Harris

Have you read the book by Joshua Harris entitled "I Kissed Dating Goodbye"? Well if yes, that's good, I should assume by now that you know what's with that book. I hope that you were able to take some of Joshua Harri's points of view seriously.

For those who have not yet read the book, it's totally different from the typical feel good book -about dating and being in a relationship- that tells us the do's and don'ts in a relationship. Well, it does tell us some of the things that we shouldn't be doing when it comes to dating or relationship, but in a Christian way......... Christian?! Yes!

Did I catch your attention now? (I hope you're not raising your eyebrow right at this moment)

I never imagine myself entertaining this kind of thought. Christian dating, meaning, no sex, no physical intimacy. Focusing yourself or the relationship solely to please God. I think I can never, and will never do that.. Well, that's before...

Before I embrace God's word, His salvation and love, I thought that being kind, honest, loving, faithful, patient and some other good virtues are enough to please God when you're in a relationship. I never thought that being physically intimate with your partner would hurt God and would make me commit sin. Well it does!

Little do we know, the simple physical contact between two person can cause a fusion of unexpected emotions. Emotions that could lead to something that we could not control. We thought it is because of love.. Well, it's not, not really..

I have done a lot of crazy stuff before. I just couldn't imagine I did all of those things because I was INLOVE. I thought I was.. I thought it was the right thing.. I feel sick whenever I remember those things I did in the past. I hated myself because of that.. I regretted those times that I fall to the pit of temptation and lust. If I could just only turn back time.. But I guess, like everything that's going on with my life right now, everything happens for a very good reason.

It's not wrong to be in love and to be passionate with your partner. God told us to love one another. He encourages us to look after the other. But what is wrong is, when you put yourselves as the center of the relationship instead of God. If your priority was to please yourself and your partner by doing your "intimate" stuff instead of doing things which is pleasing to God.

I failed to do that when I was still in a relationship. All my past relationships are not pleasing to God. It was totally wrong. I used to lie to my parents. I used to skip work just for the heck of love. It's crazy. Really. I never thought that I'm already doing a terrible mistake. All i know, way back then was, I wanted to be with my guy, I wanted to please him, and I wanted to spend all of my time with him.. Even the time I should be spending with God was taken away because of my selfishness and ignorance.

After my recent break-up, my point of view in life has changed. My friend (Badet) told me once that "Hindi mo kailangan ng guy/bf para maging masaya" (You don't need someone just to be happy). At first I thought its not true. Of course I need someone! Everybody does. Someone that will make me feel special again. Someone that will love me.

But then again, the more I look for someone, the more I feel depressed, frustrated, and alone.

I talked to my friend, I asked her to pray for me. She told me to read the Bible. To seek God, Jesus.

I started attending Sunday mass at Victory Christian Fellowship (Galleria). Ever since then, my emptiness has gone. God had replaced the loneliness with joy! I'am alone, single, but I don't feel empty. That's different. And it's amazing. I admit, I still feel pain, I'm still missing the person, the feeling, anger sometimes is still there, but God is so amazing that He replaces all of those with joy and a different kind of love.

I made a decision not to date or be in a relationship for a year. Or until God says that I'm ready.

It may sound weird, you might even say that I can't make it. But I know I can.. I'm also aware that temptations will still be around the corner, and that I may feel lonely and empty at some time, but as long as I'm holding to the promises of the Lord which is more truthful and realistic than the promises I heard before from my past relationships, I know I won't feel sad or alone.

I will never look back. I will never go back to my old ways.. I promise God that from this day forward, I will be His servant and that I will honor Him in all my actions including my relationship.