Called to be holy

It's 8:04pm and I'm at my office desk...I've reread the book of Romans in a matter of 2 hours...but it was when I was reading 1 Corinthians, a single line hit me...

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. (1 Corinthians 1: 25)

The words rang in my ears like Mufasa's earth-shaking rumbling voice when he reminded Simba, "Remember who you are."

I am called to remember who I was before I was called to be part of God's family.

Little by little, the "old" me took shape...formed a single word that described me as accruate as a mirror reflects an undeniable exactness of its subject ...

SINNER

I'd have a failing grade if the 10 Commandments were my score card.

And when I was in sin, life was full of hate, regret, deception, anger, lies...and it is not a good feeling...at the end of my day, when i go to sleep, there was an emptiness i felt...an emptiness I could not fill...

And as I remember who I was then...I remember as well who I am now...

SAVED

And life became fuller, it gained meaning...I was loved, I was forgiven, I was called for a greater purpose...to live my life reflecting God's glory. What a noble task.

And I accept.

Dinner & Fellowship with the Yaps Part 2

I just had to write it separately so I wouldn't muddle the messages....

Tonight, I learned a lot...

THE ONLY MEDIATOR
First, that it truly is in the Bible that we need no other way to reach our Father God...Jesus is the only way.

I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except thru Me. (John 14:6)

We know this verse but some may ask, like I used to, "Truly, is it just thru Jesus that we reach the Father? What about thru Mary his mother or the saints like Peter? Is there no value added when we ask for their help?"

Then we read thru this verse in the Bible and there it was...it made me blurt out, "It's all here! So, why do people still seek mediation from other people? It's here, as clear as black and white!"

For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5)

That is what the Book of Truth, the Book of Life clearly states...I'm not inventing this. Check it out yourself. This verse erased all my doubts...and I hope it does yours, dear reader.

Don't get me wrong, I do respect Mary and the lovers of God in the Bible. In fact, I admire Paul very much...his story and his letters have inspired me a lot. But, I do not pray to him. I do not ask him to intercede to the Father for me. He has the faith and passion worthy to be admired but he is not my God who I must devote prayer to. He is but a man with an undeniable passion for God. And I pray to God, exclusively to my Yahweh, the only Yahweh-Elohim in my life.

TEST GOD ON THIS
God asks us to tithe a designated amount...a tenth of our earnings...

People fear tithing, even if they know that the money is placed into good use like financing missions, supporting evangelic projects and the like.

Why do people fear? They don't believe that God will bless us abundantly in spite of the rather steep requirement from us to support His cause.

But here is the biggest surprise...

The Lord tells us not to test Him...I mean how can you subject the creator of the universe to a gamble? But it is only on the topic of tithing that God openly tells us to test His faithfulness.

In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse--the whole nation of you---because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me on this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. (Malachi 3:8-10)

Yup, there it is...he says TEST ME ON THIS. Do we dare test our God who has proven to be faithful to us in spite of our unfaithfulness? Do we date to test a God who does majestic and indescribable things? Do we doubt that he can do something as "easy" as make us recipients of his blessings?

Quite hard to tithe but we have a very strong promise to hold on to...the key here is to trust and have faith on the God who never fails us...and if we claim to be Christians, it shouldn't be a problem to do this.

I believe...I believe...therefore I give...

Dinner & Fellowship with the Yaps Part 1

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
(Hebrews 10:25)

Saul and I have just gotten back from our small group fellowship held at the home of James and Marissa Yap. Our hosts prepared a sumptuous meal of pasta and finger foods.

It has been such a long time since we last had a small group fellowship together. But tonight felt like we've never really stopped meeting...so much to talk about, so much to laugh about, so much to share...

I, for one, was blessed by this evening's gathering. I have been wanting to be part of a couple's small group for some time now...I have been enjoying a very passionate relationship with the Lord and my heart has been aching to share this passion with my husband. Saul has been a Christian for years now, even before I finally accepted Christ as my Lord and Saviour. But I couldn't help but actually desire to see him really accept God thru declaring it via prayer. Not in private, mind you, I wanted to see it and hear it in the flesh. I just felt that need to see it.

And tonight, the Almighty answered my prayer.

James and Marissa led us back to the basics of our Christian faith : God desires that we spend eternity with him and that we enjoy an abundant life, that man has a sin problem that separates us from that desire of God, that we should confess our sins with our hearts and repent and finally that we should accept Jesus, if we haven't.

And as James led us in the prayer, I prayed...but i couldn't help but sneak a peek at my loving husband to see if he was praying, if he was accepting Jesus once again in his life...

And he did...I saw his eyes closed and deep in prayer...I don't see him like this at church...at church he seems always distracted (but I know he is listening---he just has this uncanny ability to listen without needing to look like it). But tonight, with the company of people of great faith in the Almighty, my husband was still, his body relaxed and there he was, praying to God.

I knew that God heard my prayer...

Thanks God for putting up with my pettiness...

Thanks Max!

I just had to say thank you to Max Lucado for helping me build my relationship with Jesus thru your spectacular books and your invigorating podcasts. You've helped me see Jesus through the eyes of a "Christ-lover" and no longer thru the telescope of a "Pharisee".

I am grateful.

Waiting

How many of us have ever experienced disappointment?
Have people disappointed us?
Have the people closest to our hearts disappointed us?
Has God disappointed us?

The story of Lazarus not only teaches us that Jesus is God…It teaches us as well about the concept of IN HIS TIME. It’s not a new concept, we hear it all the time…but do we truly understand what it means and do we, as Christians, truly accept the message and live it?

Jesus was told that “Lord, the one you love is sick.” (John 11:3). And the Bible goes on saying “Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus.” (John 11:5). We would expect that Jesus would just rush and leave all behind for Lazarus and heal him. Lazarus was not just anybody. Jesus loved Lazarus. If Jesus could heal the lepers immediately, if only by His word the Centurion’s servant was healed long distance, when he healed Peter’s mother of a simple fever---why did He not come with urgency to the one he loved? The Bible says, “When he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.” (John 11:6).

Did we read that correctly, 2 more days?

Yes we did, Jesus waited for 2 more days.

No one loves to wait…we want everything NOW. But Jesus teaches us that WAITING IS NECESSARY, WAITING CANNOT BE SHORTENED, WAITING CANNOT BE BY-PASSED.

TIME, in Greek, can be identified in two ways:
When used as CHRONOS, it means it is time that is “literal”, “can be measured” --- in other words, it’s OUR TIME. KAIROS, on the other hand is used to describe “appointed time” and is used to describe God’s Time or HIS TIME.

There was a reason why Jesus waited….God had a purpose and when Jesus said “Let us go back to Judea.” (John 11:7), he intended not only to bring healing to Lazarus who was in Bethany, but also to the entire of Judea. And Jesus’ glory had to be seen…it was necessary for Lazarus to die for God’s glory to shine in Judea. In the same way, God is not only interested in you or me, he is interested in reaching others, reaching everyone as well…so he waited.

And when Martha and Mary waited, Jesus did not bring healing to Lazarus…he gave something more magnificent and more precious…Jesus resurrected Lazarus! Jesus was never late, not a second too early nor a split second too late….He arrived at the right time…IN GOD’s PERFECT TIME.

When Jesus arrived at Bethany, did Mary and Martha turn their backs to Jesus when he was “TOO LATE”? A resounding NO! They ran to him and met him even if he was far off.

Again I pose the questions:
How many of us have ever experienced disappointment?
Have people disappointed us?
Have the people closest to us disappointed us?
Has God disappointed us?

And I add another question:
When people and God disappoint us, do we run AWAY from Him or do we run TOWARD HIM?

We will continue to experience disappointments in life, more are yet to come. Let’s deal with it. Get over it. Forgive. Let’s move on.

And as we do so, let us turn to our Jesus and meet Him rather than run away from Him. Allow him to do greater miracles in our lives in ways we never thought he could do. Open our hearts to the Jesus who loves us and who will arrive at our rescue at the right time…in His time.

God bless and have a blessed Sunday!

New Manila, New Home

I've never dreamed of living in Quezon City...for me, that equated to being on another mountain. Surprises of all surprises, yup, we ended up here in Quezon City.

But all is not lost...in fact, all was a blessing. Saul and I found a small and cozy townhouse here in the quiet neighborhood of New Manila. It's a 2-storey 3-BR place, around 125sqm...very spacious especially since the family now is composed of myself, Saul, Nikki, Yaya Neneng, Kudos and Flower. Actually, Manang Elsa, our reliable househelp may actually decide to be a stay-in now.

Unpacking all the stuff we brought as well as cleaning and fixing the place was really a huge task! My ever-reliable daddy came over for almost 2 weeks to assist us in the carpentry, plumbing and other odd jobs Saul and I just didn't know how to set up or fix. Thanks to Daddy, our aircons were installed perfectly, our faucets don't leak, we have a working clothesline, all our doors have been reinforced with good locks etc. Daddy truly has talent and the skills not every man has. It's so comforting to know Daddy is always there to help us out.

It's a Thursday today and Saturday is the big day coz our little darling Nikki will be living with us again!

I can't help but feel nervous coz it's been some time since I've been a mom to Nikki. But I'm looking forward to spending the evenings with her.

I spent today cleaning Nikki's room and the master's bedroom. During the early evening, Saul and I set-up Nikki's room like a small playhouse so that Nikki would enjoy her personal space in the house more.

So tired...will call it a day...tomorrow will be another hectic day and we need to rest for that big Saturday bundle called NIKKI.

Looking Back at a Place We Called Home

Yup, we are 85% done with unpacking all our boxes and have settled beautifully in our home here in New Manila...but before I completely move on, allow me to share my fond memories in a place I called HOME for the past 3 years.

"Unit 12C Tower 3, Governor's Place Condominium, Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong"...this is our rehearsed and memorized dialogue whenever Saul and I order from McDo, KFC or Shakey's. It's a 34sqm studio unit but it had everything we needed : a place for the bed, a kitchen for our cooking utensils and appliances, a dining area that also served as our work area, a spacious bathroom, a few square meters for our TV and a view of busy Ortigas and Makati. We love it at Governor's Place. It was just a few kilometers away from Globe and Nestle, there was Cherry Foodarama that helped us keep within our grocery budgets, a Lavandera Ko laundromat just a few steps away, Megamall and Shangri-la Mall were an easy drive, Medical City was also just nearby...convenience and proximity plus safety was what made this place home.

Moving into Governor's Place was our first attempt (and might I say a successful one) to live independently from our parents. Our small family started out as just me and Saul then it extended to include Kudos, our lovable miniature daschund. When Nikki came into our lives, Unit 12C also embraced our baby into its small space but it was enough space to live happily. Then, seeing that Kudos was getting lonely given that we were so focused on our baby, we added Flower, a sweet and playful female mini daschund.

Now that Christmas is just around the corner, I can't help but remember the years that have gone that I would always find myself enjoying the firecracker display of SM Megamall from our small window. I love seeing the beautiful colors in the sky and I get enthralled by the BANG BANG BANGs.

I also miss the times when I could get off at work early and just walk down the garden lane of the condominium as the sun's light fades from the skies and I would just have thoughts of "Glad I'm home early." During the first year Kudos was with us, I would take walks with him in the garden area and just enjoy the quiet time.

When I think of Governor's Place, I also am reminded of the people who I crossed paths with : the security guards who knew us so well and assisted us at all times, the staff at the Lavandera Ko, the sales people at Babyland who helped me choose items for my baby, the people at Nail Care, the entire staff of the Governor's Place Administration, our neighbors who would sometimes call admin to complain about our barking pets...

When we go to office and get to pass by Shaw Boulevard, I am touched by the fact that the same guards who would guide our cars in and out of the condo and who would help fetch me a taxi when I commuted, would recognize our car pass by and wave at us.

I thank God for the gift of HOME in Governor's Place. I love that place and it will forever be a part of our lives.