Fresh Beginnings

Goodbye 2017 and Hello 2018. Another year was given to you, another opportunities to live your life to the fullest and you can make sure that God will always be faithful along the way and He will always strengthen you to face the day. His blessing never runs out and His presence assures you His comfort whenever you pass some rocky roads in your journey. You sometimes stumble but His mercies never come to an end. His grace and peace will always cover His sons and daughters. His love is fresh every single morning you open your eyes, there was no time He did not think of you. He loves you so much even to the point of dying in the cross that you may have fresh beginnings from the unpleasant past.

´´Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.´´

-2 Corinthians 5:17

How was your 2017? Did the year been good to you? Or will you consider it your worst year? For sure, we all have some stories to share, lessons to keep, memories to reminsce and answered prayers. I encourage you to look back on how God’s been faithful to your life for the past year. A grateful heart is the antidote of a life that complains. It’s in our nature that we are thankful for the blessings we received but we can also be thankful for the circumstances that improves us to have a Christlike character. You can thank for the long line in the groceries that did test your patience. You can speak blessing to the driver that did swerved in front of you. Your bank account that running low but still God sustained you and your family for that day. You didn’t get what you prayed for but you end up your year healthy. Some disappointments but still you have friends and family to comfort you and you did stumble but there’s God who will still love you. Sometimes God worked on things we cannot see and He is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or imagine.

We did look back and now let’s look forward. Reading this article and welcoming 2018 is a miracle the mere fact that you’re alive and well. God is faithful in your past and God will be faithful in your future. His promise is sure so fill your lungs with air and your hearts with hope. Another year full of blessings as well as hardships and both are opportunities to trust God. A year without Jesus is a year without life. He is our prize as we continue to run the race until we cross the finish line and our prize is in us strengthening us and comforting us on every step we make. May we all include more of Christ this year and through that we can experience fresh beginnings.

God is Love

How many songs, poems and movies were created because people were in love? How many people shared stories about how broken they were because of love? How many people did amazing things because they were inspired? People often put love in a box, we often single it out and based it only on what we feel or what our eyes see. In some point in time we did had our own definition of love that originated from our experiences and circumstances. But Love stands on its own, it existed before time begun and will never change and will never be just based on our preferences nor how we see it should be. The Trinity explains how God is Love as C.S. Lewis quoted it in his book “Mere Christianity” – “God is Love” have no real meaning unless God contains at least two Persons. Love is something that one person has for another person. If God was a single person, then before the world was made, He was not love.

There are four Greek words for love and if we ponder about these will reference all to God’s love for us which we can imitate and apply it to our neighbors since we are all created in His image. (1) Agape – Unconditional; A type of love that does not know the word “buts”. The love that accepts the other face of our character and embrace us fully no matter how undesirable our nature. Christ exemplified this love by dying in the cross and did not wait for us to change. He died while we were still sinners. (2) Phileo – Friendship; we can’t stop people coming into our lives but we can choose people to be our friends. The greatest of friends will be ready to give up their lives for the sake of their dear friends. Any friend in mind who will be ready for this? For sure we knew someone who already did gave up His life in order for us to have one. (3) Storge – Family; A family will never forsake someone in the family but imagine a love that will ready to accept someone like a family though not related by blood. We are all adopted sons and daughters the moment we put our faith in Christ. God is our Father, a father that will always love and protect His child and will give peace and hope in every storm along the journey. (4) Eros – Romantic; A kind of love where everyone is obsessed about. It’s either will make people joyful or turn them in sorrow. As a church we are the bride and Jesus is our head. Every good marriage is founded on the trustworthy covenant of two individuals. God is not just love but also trustworthy.

“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

-John 3:8

We can’t brag about our love for God because we fail Him every single day but we can brag our love for us since His love never fails and His love is trustworthy.

In the Middle of Idle and Idol

God did work in the beginning of time. His word produced something out of nothing, that’s how powerful He is. He is the architect who designed the smallest unit of the universe and the massive stars and planets, He engineered mountains, seas and the skies. He had that green thumb that did care different plants and the painter that colors the rainbow. He set the laws of nature and organized His creation to coexist harmoniously with one another. During the weekdays He worked hard yet in every end of each day, He looked at His masterpiece and He enjoyed it saying that it was good.

Work is good. God Himself worked. Adam did too. It was part of our humanity and part of us cultivating some worthy contribution in this world no matter how small it is. Our story started in the garden and will end up in a city. A garden that’s not yet fully utilized and God gave us so much room of opportunities for the potential on what’s at hand. A city is composed of a diversified people who are living in a place where they become part of serving the society in their own way. Again, God invented work and it was a pleasurable thing until such time sin enters the world and it became tiresome, we toil only for a living. It became meaningless, fruitless and it reveals our idols but when we shift our perspective looking at the bigger picture, God gives us talents and gifts so we can do for one another what He wants to do for us and through us.

There will be point in time where we procrastinate, we became lazy, and ending up doing nothing. We are not in our rhythm as most people say it but being idle robs us the opportunity and time to serve others and also robs God the gifts that are meant to be used. It paralize the order of the cycle on how society supposed to function. Imagine a farmer that delays harvesting its crops, it also delays the delivery man’s work to deliver the products to the businessman who will have a low inventory and will increase its price due to increased demand in the market that will eventually cause some people to buy less which means to eat less that will somehow affect their health and affect their work.

It’s evident that our generation is workaholic and addictive of being busy, taking overtimes, skipping meals and refusing to have a day off. We have some valid and right reasons for this but we are not designed to work round the clock. We cannot have a meaningful life without work but we cannot make work the meaning of our life. It transforms into an idol that controls us and will take us away to what’s really important in life. Our bodies are with limitations and our time is short. For sure, we never heard of someone in his last breath wishing they had more time in the office. We all need Sabbath where we celebrete the goodness of God and goodness of life which is the product of work of each individual. It is a life-giving discipline from the curse of work.

God is glorified when we do our best in work and He is also glorified when we depend on the rest He is offering. Work.Rest.Repeat for the glory of God.

Pornography Steals Real Beauty

What your eyes see is what your heart stores.

You picked up your phone when everyone snores.

What makes your mind green?

The girl without clothes in your screen.

Respect, where have you been?

What’s happening? She’s just seventeen.

Pornography is a thief.

Robber of joy and replaced it with grief.

Pleased you for a while but end up distorting your mind.

Beauty fades and slowly making you blind.

When the flesh fantacies,

Can access anytime through a small device.

It all started with just a peek.

temptation push you hard when you are weak.

Feeding sexuality at the expense of other’s purity.

Stealing worth and blurring out the real beauty.

Women were used and they were abused.

Person or object? Now you are confused.

It objectifies them and that’s obvious.

Snooze. Scroll,click and now you have to choose.

Value can’t be seen once she’s naked.

Someone’s body is sacred.

Not for our desires, not just in bed

Not for everybody, it’s consecrated.

Sex is a wonderful thing.

It was invented by our wonderful King.

But before that make sure your finger has a ring.

One for you and one for the person you promised through joy and sufferings.

Jesus Wept

Are you familiar with the shortest verse in the bible? Hint, it’s just two words. You may want to read the title again in case you forget. Jesus Wept (John 11:35) is one of the famous and all time favorite of kids in Sunday School for their memory verse. The easiest to memorize, no sweat. I did picked that verse when I was a kid and I made it my life verse for a day.

A short verse that does not only narrates Jesus wept but tells something more about Him. When we will read the whole chapter 11 of John, we can see through it that Jesus was aware of Lazarus being sick but He intentionally delay His arrival for healing. For us, if our love ones is in peril we wish we could teleport or have wings to fly, we will do everything just to be by their side to help them ease the pain and our presence as a relief. Not for Jesus in this situation because He will do something amazing. Jesus turned water into wine, multiplied bread, walked on water, opened the eyes of the blind but here is something people have not seen before, resurrect the dead.

It’s been four days since Lazarus passed away. Jesus arrived but for Martha it’s too late, her brother is dead. They brought Jesus in Lazarus tomb and there He wept. Why would Jesus wept if He knows that He will bring him back to life? Why would He cry for someone He knows will be alive after a few seconds? Tears came out from the Giver of joy. It’s logical for us that we would feel relieve if we know what will happen in the future. Jesus is God, Jesus is divine and powerful but let’s not forget that Jesus is also 100% human. In his humanity, He feels what you feel, He is not exempt from the pains and sufferings of this world. If you are in the hardest road of life, He knows how you feel He’s been there. He is not just a compassionate God but a compassionate Human being.

Jesus wept because death is upon us and we can’t do something about it.

Jesus wept because death is our fate without Him. He loves us so much that He came down in this world to save us from greater peril.

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live”

-John 11:25

Reasonable Faith

If an intelligent man approach and ask you about your faith, what would you say to him? How would you respond? Are you ready for the questions he will throw at you about morality? How about some situations that bother most of the people who experienced evil in this world? About our freewill? About God’s existence? Or about our core beliefs such as atonement,communion, resurrection or grace. People questions a lot, we have questions ourselves. We are all theologians, some people might have bad theology some have good one. That’s why as Christians we must daily equip ourselves with God’s word, His truths and even historical evidences that support and substantiate the things we believe.

“But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect”

-1 Peter 3:15

We will never know the questions that will pass our ears, people’s doubts that need to be clarified, statements that need clear explanations. Like a student who will take a board exam, he will need to review all things he learned from the past and apply it in his work after. He might not know all the answers but he will give his best to pass. Are we setting aside time to review our reasons why we believe what we believe? We will never know as well the time of opportunity will come but when it does atleast we’re prepared. An opportunity to win people to Christ because our faith is reasonable enough for them to believe and our lives that verify the claims we are declaring.

Hope is what we communicate but we just don’t communicate, we tell them gospel truth with gentleness and respect. People will never put their faith in the Shepherd if they see that the sheep is hostile. We are not here to win over a debate but here obey what Christ commanded us, to make Him known. If people did not believe, we are still here to love them and pray for them.

If we are put in a trial because of being a Christian, are there enough evidence to defend our beliefs? Our reasons? Our life? The witnesses? A soldier will never leave his sword in the battlefield, He underwent extreme training to fight for his king and defend the kingdom.

What are You Thinking?

First thing in the morning, what are your thoughts? Before you eat your meal, what runs into your mind? What’s in your head before you go to sleep? One of the most common thing we always do is thinking. We all think but it’s up to us on how we do it. Some people think deep, some just enough, some don’t like it, others are part time philosophers while some can easily catch headache after some thoughts. According to the study about our brain, it can store up to atleast one petabyte. Do you ever wonder how large it is? Well, one petabyte is the same as 20 million four-drawer filing cabinets filled with text,13.3 years of HD-TV recordings, 4.7 billion books or 670 million web pages. So when we say our brain can’t hold information anymore it’s not because of our capacity but our physical limitation attached to it.

How human brain works is really fascinating. The information we put into it is the things it processed which affects our actions and ultimately our being. Poet Ralph Waldo Emerson quoted “Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.” True enough, what we constantly store in our mind eventually becomes us. If we always think that we are loved and valued then we tend to be more joyful and if we always put in our minds negative things it creates fear and even confidence that will take away our purpose and worth.

Paul had the most wonderful advise in the church of Philippi on how to put our minds in to good use.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”-Philippians 4:8

As a believers of Christ this is one discipline we should be constantly doing in every single day. Our world today can easily brainwash us on the things we see in TV, social media, the books we read, we hear on the news or what we hear from other people. Lies that become true for them, false convictions that become an honor, injustice in our society, corruption on our view of purity, unseen good deeds, mediocrity and failure to utter praise and encouragement. If things we think is not glorifying to the Lord then it should be better that we don’t entertain such thoughts.

So friends, What are you thinking?

Fear vs Faith

Are you familiar with the words Arachnophobia, Ophidiophobia, Acrophobia, Trypanophobia and Agoraphobia? Obviously by the suffix "phobia" we now have a clue that the given words are fear of something and they are. It's the fear of Spiders, snakes, heights, injections and being alone, repectively. These are the most common phobias we have today and there's a list of those words we never imagine exist. Let set aside those words we can't even spell or pronounce. We can be the bravest in our group but we all have atleast one fear. Some don't want to face what tomorrow brings, others might step back when things run out, some don't entertain failures, others cry out when they feel people is leaving them.

Fear is the big belly bully in our corridors that knocks us out when we are weak and takes away our peace. The loud siren that shouts at us until we become deaf of our hopes. The joy stealer, the confidence killer, the focus blinder and the faith shifter. Fear does not share room with anyone in our hearts. It will always be "either", it will never be a companion of a clear mind, BFF of confidence, roommate of mercy, wife of happiness. It will always be just him in our life if we let it so. The good thing is we can decide to let it leave in our hearts, it's not designed to permanently live in it.

“Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?”
-Matthew 8:26

Why would Jesus tell that to His disciples? Because it's true, it's what they have in their hands at that moment. It's what they kept in their hearts. Maybe it's good to reflect for some time about our trust issues to God when we are afraid. That we should remind ourselves that in every fear we are facing there's peace available in Christ Jesus. In the Gospel alone we can hear Him commant to "fear not".

"Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows." – Matt 10:31

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life," – Matt 6:25

"Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”- Matt 14:27

"Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."-Luke 12:2

"Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me." – John 14:1

Do you know that fears are afraid of two hands that prays, closed eyes that see and faith that resides in us? It will always be better to store God's promises in our hearts to remind us that fear is not welcome in our doorsteps. Let's stop fearing and start trusting.

Lowering our Tape Measures

According to 2017 Forbes list of richest man in the world, Bill Gates still holds the top spot four years in a row and 18 out of the past 23 years. He has a net worth of about $86 million dollars. If you ask me where will I spend that huge amount then I don’t know, probably it can even feed nations for years. Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president was named one in the 100 influencial people in the world. Imagine how the world respect the man who is running one of the biggest country, the Soviet Union and the most of the world is in awe with the power in his hands. One of the circulating magazine here in the Philippines list Nadine Lustre in top as the sexiest woman in the industry, but for me someone’s smile is the sexiest curve of his/her body.
The examples given above is just one of the many list we enumerate in terms of career, success, physical appearance, money we earn and other areas in life as long as it is quantiafiable and tangible. There were points in our lives we did measure something. We did use our invisible tape measure in what we see in other people. Our generation is so consumed in comparing ourselves with other people especially nowadays that we can see about anything in the internet, in the social media where people posts the things that they see will give them self worth and cause others to compare or desire others status.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
-Ephesians 2:10

We are God’s masterpiece, His work of art, His precious. We are valuable in His eyes. Let’s understand that we were all created unique, our DNAs have millions of codes to prove that we are all created different. We are all part of the big picture so let’s lower our tape measures for a while and reflect on this things. Our worth is not based on how much money we got in our pocket, not in our position in the company, not in the hundreds of medals hanging on the wall with our name in it, not in friends we have around us. Our worth is inherent in us because of Jesus taking our place in the cross that we may become new.We don’t need to do anything to earn God’s love, we are loved by Him. There’s no time He is never thinking of us, He is fond of us in every way. If we think others are more favoured in life than us, then think again to lower our tape measures and focus God’s measurement in you.

The Big Little Things

When I was a child I remember the moments where my mother was reminding me to put back the things I used on where I got them. Many times that thing happened, many things was misplaced, many questions “where” was asked but still my mother was never tired of reminding me that line “put things on where I got them”. And as I reflect on who am I right now, I believe I’m more organized person than who I’m before that’s because of the small talks my mother and I had growing up that built my character in this area of my life. I guess she never expected it to turn out that way, maybe for some time she lose hope of me changing but I guess her very simple advice had a great impact on my personality.

Have you ever been tired of doing things for people but never get some postive response from them? Are there moments in your life where in you were not recognize for the things you’ve done? Or did you even experienced people passing you and don’t recognize some of your efforts? This things might be an ordinary things for some but let’s be reminded that if people didn’t see the good things you’ve done, the heaven will always have eyes on you.

“Therefore, my beloved bretheren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord”
– 1 Corinthians 15:58

As a volunteer worker in the ministry, I always recall this verse whenever I got discouraged, tired, heavy hearted or downcast because our work will never be in vain for the Lord even how little it is and someday we will be rewarded for it. It can be arranging the chairs but God sees it, washing the dishes but God sees it, smiling for someone and God sees it, encouraging someone with small talks. We will also never know the impact that it will bring to the people we serve. A house can never be build with just one block, sometimes God used us in the very small thing for other people. One block for them to build them up.

Mother Teresa once said that “If you can’t feed a hundred, then feed one”
We have sometimes this mindset on being great is that we need to do some amazing stuff but everyone of us plays a role on a bigger picture. Remember the boy who generously shared his snacks to Jesus? Yes, people may see it little but Jesus did multiply it so that others may be blessed.

What small things we can do for people right now? A hug, a prayer, a smile?
We will never know the difference we make on the small things we do but nevertheless we do it because every big things came from the many small things.