[01-13-2017] Empty

            I have a big and happy family with all the techies and food that I can have. I have money to buy anything that I want or to spend on something that I don’t need. I have such a wonderful and caring person who affectionately loves me. But at some point, I feel empty.

            I have always wanted to be an Accountant; took the board examination twice but to no avail, I wasn’t able to pass it. At first, I thought that makes my being empty especially when I see my friends post about their adventures or hardships of being in that profession. But I continue with life.

            I started working to a company and felt happy. But all of a sudden, the job that I loved and enjoyed seemed to be empty and pointless, so I decided to resign because I can’t find the reason to continue working.

            I have my devotional with me every day but sometimes, I can’t have the willingness to continue and read but I need to because this is one of my resolution, to be closer to Christ. Until I decided to go to Church one Wednesday afternoon; and as I entered, I knew from then on that the feeling of emptiness is in my heart.

            I know that there are also others out there who feel incomplete in their life and I must say that it is God who is lacking in their lives. If they allow Christ to touch their heart with His mercy and compassion, then they will be made whole. Just like what I feel right now; being complete with Christ.

            

            Sharing to others about Jesus and showing them how He changed my life can be a good way for them to turn back to Jesus and seek His love; most especially those who are hurting and spiritual abused. We shouldn’t look at them with fear, but with compassion – displaying an attitude of mercy towards their needs.

[01-12-2017] Is Mary Really Right?

            We have 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 4 weeks in a month and 12 months in a year to spend with all the people that we love and cherish; and to give time for ourselves. But God only wants us to spend an hour at Church to listen to Him once a week. Now, that is not really a big favour, isn’t it?

            We are distracted by a lot of things right now. We have the social media sites wherein we spend almost all of our time with by just scrolling and hitting the like buttons on some not useful things posted on the site. It takes a lot of our time that we sometimes forget the most important thing, spending time with Jesus.

            I wake up early in the morning to have my devotional. It is a time of the day that I spend talking with Christ and listening to His sermon through the Bible. An hour everyday is not that hard to give to someone who gave up his whole life for me to save me from my sins.

            Being able to read through His words and reflecting on it allows me to realize the most important thing in my every single day and that is offering my time to Him and allowing Him to come into my being and be one with me for the moment of time.

            We have all the time that we can have to be able to spend on other things especially on things that we think are valuable to us; these things are not evil itself but these keeps us from doing the one things that we must be doing – spending time with Jesus.

            I might forget to have my devotional every day especially if I wake up a little late but that doesn’t stop me to find time to talk with him, it isn’t surprising because it is something that I wanted to do: listen to Jesus.

            When are you going to stop and spend time with Him?

[01-11-2017] Adopted

            I had to stay in another city which is far from my hometown for more than 5 months for a review, in relation to my major. I lived in a dormitory together with some of my classmates and gladly, new found friends.

            I always feel hesitant whenever I go together with my classmates in college because I felt that I don’t belong in their group. They have their own lives and are living a far different life than mine. I chose to stay at my room than to go out with them, not because I don’t like them, but because I can’t adjust to them.

            At some point in our lives, there are really moments when we feel like we do not belong to the group of people or even a circle of friends, because we can’t relate to them or we have some personal issues with some of them. I do not beg for their attention anyway because I am more comfortable with a few true friends.

            I also went to a church for Christians and from the moment that I entered their door, they never made me feel different or alone. I always have someone that I can talk to and during worship and praise; I really feel the sense of belongingness.

            Just as my life with Christ, I always feel that I am a true daughter of the Heavenly King despite the reality of being a sinner because He offers me forgiveness every single day of my life. Aside from that, He never fails to amaze me with his blessings which I never really asked for but was given to me.

            Being in Christ’s family is difficult because we have to be Christ-like; however, God still accepts me because He knows that I am doing my best to live a life away from destructive habits and always challenged to be an imitator of Christ.

            I may not belong to a group but I will always belong to Christ adoptive family.

[01-10-2017] Holy, Holy, Holy

Holy, Holy, Holy – January 10

            “Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are filled with your glory. Hosanna, hosanna on high!” Holiness isn’t something that we inherit from God just because we are created in his image and likeness; we only become holy in relationship to Christ.

            Jesus himself is the Holy One because He came down to earth to be one of us in order to save us from all the sins of the world despite knowing of his death. Being holy is a new person in God, it means that aside from the Trinity; God is still separate, another being, another form- in a different special kind of way.

            Even if he is different and special, God still showed us who he was through his love, mercy and forgiveness. Even if he is far greater than us all, he allowed us to know him and to acknowledge his existence in our life. He allowed us to be his sons and daughters/ brothers and sisters.

            During the time of leading the Jews out of Egypt, Moses wrote a song celebrating his holiness by saying, “Who is like you among the gods, O Lord – glorious in holiness, awesome in splendour, performing great wonders?” (Exodus 15:1-18).Truly God is holy because he is the only one true God who saved his people from deep slavery and leading them to the promise land.

            In the Bible, God’s holiness is the only word mentioned in triplicate; meaning it is with serious emphasis and his holiness is vitally important not only to Him but to each and every one of us because we are his family.

            Knowing the triplicate holiness of our dear God is a blessing I am most thankful to know about because I can lift up his power and to stress that our one Holy God is the most wonderful and without equal and I must declare to the whole world, “You alone are the Holy One; You alone are the Lord. You alone are the Most High with the Holy Spirit and the glory of God, the Father.”

[01-09-2016] Genuine Life

Genuine Life – January 9

            I always hear the quote, “YOLO : You only live once” and that is indeed really true especially because this life that we have is just one and we must live every day. But that doesn’t count the fact that we have to jump from a mountain high because YOLO! For me, YOLO is more on giving myself to God every single day.

            I remembered a sermon from our Priest saying, “Life’s problems are life’s source of beauty. Those painful experiences are actually the learning that God sends us. God never promised an easy journey in life but a sweet arrival in paradise.” Indeed, this is true because I experienced a lot of hardships in my life and things that I don’t want to look back at but as time passed by, those things are actually the reasons that I am strong today.

            I became a better person because of those wrecks and ruins in my life and those are also the reasons that I appreciate my existence here on earth especially because this life is given by God unto me and I should cherish it. It was God who gave me life and it should be for God that I am living my life.

            For me, life is not the whole life that I have but the life that I spend every single day with the people I care about. Life may get stuck at some point in time simply because God reminds us that we take life easy and slowly and with a good and joyful heart. If we allow God to enter into our life, we find ourselves further into what it means to be truly human and truly alive.

            Only God can give us the genuine life that we want because God alone is the life in us. “Just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by the same Spirit living within you,” (Romans 8:11)

[01-08-2017] Unplanned Changes

I’ve been working in a certain company for more than a year; I actually loved it because the tasks are piece of cake; however, things eventually changed since I started to get bored with all of my routine at the office.

            So I’ve decided to resign and find another job. I applied to some other companies for almost a month; giving my curriculum vitae and attending to their 5-minute interview. To include a debate-like interview. I waited patiently for the results but until now, I got no response from them.

            However, something unexpected happen around November and we all got really busy with the processing of our documents and all. I didn’t plan for it to happen right away but at some point, it seems like it was already planned by Him; that I resign and I do not get the job that I want in order to accept a greater blessing.

            Sometimes, we plan a lot of things in our life that we also forget to live for now. We tend to do everything we can for our future and for the sake of others that we forget to offer everything to God and allow him to direct our steps.

            God is the only provider who doesn’t let us know all His plans but gives to us in an unexpected time and unexpected manner that we can almost break down and cry. We feel like we’re lost with our plans and it’s not going according to what we want but as time goes by, we realise that we had created an even better scenario in our life.

            We can’t have everything that we want right there and then because God knows the exact timing to give it to us. We don’t need to feel discouraged and all because all of the things God made are part of allowing us to experience an even greater glory.

            They say, “When in doubt, wear red”, but for me, “When in doubt, let go and let God.” 

[01-07-2017] Loving Correction

Loving Correction – January 7

            I saw an animation at a certain website about a teacher. She started her class by writing equations on the whiteboard. She wrote, “9x1=7; 9x2=18; 9x3=27; 9x4=36 and 9x5=45”. Her class started to laugh then she asked them what was wrong. One of the students said, “Your first equation is wrong.”

            She kept silent for a while and asked her students, “Did you not notice the four other equations that I wrote were correct? Why did you just see that one equation that I wrote wrong?” And the class went utterly quiet. And she continued, “We tend to see flaws rather than the good things that people have. We criticise people for making mistakes or for doing actions that is not acceptable to us. Why don’t we acknowledge the good, as well?”

            Human as I am; I easily see people’s mistakes and I tend to continue noticing it but I don’t like it when people see my flaws; ironic, isn’t it? I am always tempted to judge a person without knowing the real reason behind his/her actions. I tend to forget the good side of the person.

            In this world full of people who ridicules others; we are not safe because even if we do a lot of perfectly acceptable things to the people dear to us-a single mistake can ruin everything; a single mistake can make them forget everything that you’ve done for them; a single mistake can even ruin a life-long relationship.

            “For you will be treated as you treat others”, (Matthew 7:12). There is nothing wrong in speaking our mind but we must first make sure that before we speak for others; we know their stories and the reasons behind their verve. We do not have the right to judge them or to speak to him of our judgement because the truth is; we don’t know all the facts and we can’t read their minds.

            Only God can is the perfect judge to people.

[01-06-2017] Discerning Truth

I do not have a lot of friends because I am actually hard to deal with. I have a frank and strong attitude towards other people but I believe that I am a good friend in my own simple ways. I can be a good friend but a bad enemy.

            I have friends in college and I had created a great bond with them because I consider them not just friends but sisters at heart. We’ve been together since first year college until we graduated. We had our review for the board examination and when it was a week before the examination, I was bombarded with the truth.

            A friend talked to me and told me that she doesn’t like me. She told me that I am overacting, moody and jealous. She told me a lot of negative things but it was too difficult to comprehend at that time, things were running into my head. It lasted for almost 30 minutes and when she stopped talking, I stood up and walked, she held my hand and from that moment, I wanted to break down and cry but I did not.

            Until now, I am still attached unto that time because I wasn’t able to ask her if she actually treated me as a friend, but I am afraid to ask and know the truth. It took her almost four years to tell me the truth. It made a mark in my existence and in my life. Thus, I have trust issues with people around me because of that event.

            Telling the truth is difficult because it takes a lot of guts and power to do so because we can never tell if how much pain we can cause to a person. I believe that from the very start, we must show who we are and what we truly feel to a person. We should reveal to them all the things that we need to hear.

            Let us not wait for that person to hear the truth from others; it is best when it is from our own mouth so that we can be sure to tell everything that we feel towards him/her. Being honest is complex but telling the truth can help us understand better of what’s in front of us. 

[01-05-2017] The First Witnesses

             When I started working in a service-oriented company; I have met a lot of people from all walks of life. I got a chance to talk and mingle with them and during that time, was I also able to see some differences to how people react or behave in certain instances.

            Some “rich” and “educated” people tend to be more impatient for their queue to be called; some of them cut others and some of them raise their voices when talking with the front liners. However, those who are average or below average know how to wait and calmly talk with us. It shows that some people tend to boast themselves just because they have more.

            It is important to treat people equally because we are all God’s creation. Despite the difference in status or income level, we are still His. We should give respect not because they need it but because it is what they deserve and whatever measure we use to others, will be measured back to us. If we disrespect others; we are also disrespecting ourselves. But if we throw kindness to them; they will throw us back the same kindness that we gave.

            When Jesus was born, God chose the shepherds to be his first visitors at the manger. And when Jesus died and risen from the dead, He showed himself to a woman who was once possessed by demons. It shows that God did not send His only begotten son here on earth for the rich – but most especially for the “poor”, “uneducated”, “uncultured” and “uncouth”.

            God reaches to us in ways that we cannot see; He puts people in our lives to help us acknowledge the different personalities of human creation and to equally give respect and appreciation. And most of all, to help us learn that God created man and woman with His great love and we should offer the same love to people around us by being Christ’s witnesses of salvation. 

[01-04-2017] Dead or Alive?

When I was in fourth year college around October, our department head decided to have an examination to determine if we should continue our major or not; for the last semester. It was against our will to think that it will be our last and studying our major for almost four years should be reason enough for us to graduate as Accountancy student; but they still had the exam. Sadly, I failed.

At that time, I rebelled to God because I prayed for it fervently and asked Him to help me with the exam but He did not (I thought). I got drunk almost every night and did not go home until morning. My mom and dad worried about me but I did not mind because all I thought about was that I am hurting badly and it’s all because of God.

But one day, a friend of mine asked me to come with her to her uncle’s home and join a devotional. I hesitated but she persisted that I needed it. So, I did. And from that day forward, I was quickened back to God and realised that I made a great mistake of blaming Him for whatever is happening in my life. I was once dead but am now alive with Him.

It was a life-changing experience for me that altered my whole-being. I started to go back to Church and worship Him. If trouble and problem comes, I earnestly pray to Him and when it does not happen according to what I want, it is okay because I know that His solutions are better than mine. I began to realise His presence in my life and I am grateful and thankful that even if I was separated from Him, I was born again through his mercy and unfailing love.

Until today, I will never forget that by receiving Jesus as my saviour and allowing him to touch my heart and empowering Him to avoid doing false acts against His will; I am renewed through Christ and the Holy Spirit.

[01-03-2017] Stand, Don't Fight!

            I am born and raised in a Catholic family with Catholic beliefs and traditions. We go to Church on Sundays and hear the mass together as one family. We pray graces before our meal and before going to bed. We have Santo Nino at home to keep us all away from harm. We have a lot of fiestas for our different Saints. That is our faith..

            But when I reached college, I joined a Christian family in their praise and worship, especially during my review at Iloilo City; my Mom was disappointed because she firmly believes that we are Catholic and we should stay as Catholics until the end. I followed.

            I always told myself that my religion will not save me but my belief and worship to God; and my relationship with the Almighty is the most important thing than what Church I go to. But to be honest, having been able to praise in Catholic and Born Again made my faith to God stronger.

            When I encounter people bash God and saying awful things about faith; I do not get angry, instead I listen to what they have to say then think about it. I keep myself silent not because I am afraid but because I respect his own belief. I do not have to say anything but I firmly grip to my own belief and I pray to God that in some ways, may that person encounter God in the most unexpected event to change him and his beliefs.

            I stand to my own faith and trust to God but listen to other people’s belief to their own system. I do not have to change the person; but rather, to change my attitude to the situation. If I argue with the person whose beliefs are different from mine, what will it benefit me? Nothing, it might just create chaos.

But if I pray to God for serenity in me, it helps me to clear my mind and to also show to that person that I am God’s planter and I live not to disagree but to understand.

[01-02-2016] How Can I Help You?

           “Ask and you shall receive”, that is from Matthew 7:7; and I held unto that for a very long time. I asked favour from God a lot of times; I mean, countless times. From the simplest things like food and to the most crucial and that is to wake up the next morning.

            During my first year college days, around September, I got really busy with pageant that I do not have time to study my lessons and sadly, it was examination week. The day of the examination came and I struggled too much with my major subject because I wasn’t able to answer any of it, I cried. And so, I asked God to help me pass my major examination the next time, and fortunately, I passed with flying colours.

            During our review, I always prayed to pass my board examination; that I want this because it will make everyone proud of me, but it still boils down to, “Your will be done Lord”. Unfortunately, I failed the examination but because of the event, my friends and my family still showered me praises and supported me. I did not pass the exam but I made them proud because I accepted the result and went on with life.

            Some prayer requests are not granted by God not because we don’t deserve it but because God is preparing something even better than what we asked for. At first, we feel disappointed but if look real closely; we will see that God is moving our life in unexpected twists and turns. The denial of our request helps us grow, be mature and be more prayerful to God.

            Even if I find it hard to look for the exact words to express my prayers, I know that God already knows what my heart desires and he is already preparing me for whatever the result may be. If things don’t go according to plan, I accept it, because I know that God is just busy writing the best story for me and no matter how hard we pray, if God says wait, it means, He has something better in mind.

[01-01-2017] One More Year

Nowadays, I got used to my life with all the gadgets and appliances that make life more convenient than ever. Everywhere I go I always have my techies with me because I want to – not because I need to. It seems like I am not truly living if I do not have all these with me.

If I reach to my bag, I can have access to a lot of things like face powder, lipstick, gums, keys, especially money. These things make my life really stable and fun but I do not worship these things because they are meant to be used and not to be loved.

Some people forget about the more important things in life like going to Church. They spend more time facing the computer and surfing the internet for the whole day. They prefer reading scandalous magazines or watching pornography than reading the Bible. They tend to spend more time with their friends while drinking, than being at home with the family and doing a devotional.

A lot of things tend to get our attention away from God and allowing the devil to overcome us. We allow ourselves to be controlled by our manly desires and our technological advancement that we forget our own God who truly created us.

God is the maker of heaven and earth. From the book of Genesis, we can read a truly wonderful art exhibition where we get to meet the real artist from the very beginning until now.

Yes, we can continue to have all of our gadgets and money to make our life more convenient, but life is not forget the one true Maker of us all and all that we have now. Without him, we are nothing. We will not have this earth where we live without him. We are not living if he did not create us.

May we worship our God this year and give our 2017 to Him only.