Merry, Merry Christmas to you!

By Sean

It’s been a long year! How time flies! As you all know, I started this blog around August of 2009. It wasn’t in the same domain name then. Now it’s December of 2010 – this blog is more than a year old! By God’s sovereign grace, He has used this blog so much to bless me and a lot of other people.

Praise God for another Christmas with you - my readers!

I praise God for all of you – my readers. You have all been a great encouragement to me. Without you, blogging would just not be the same. Thank you for your very, very kind words and your thankful and humble hearts. May you continue to seek God and gain wisdom. My prayers go out to you.

Writing has always been my passion since I was young. I never thought that God would lead me to become a blogger for His glory. I was even hesitant to buy the domain name h3sean.com and pay for it’s 1 gig hosting fee during the time. I was almost broke and had more or less 2,000 php left for myself.

But by faith, I told myself that 2,000 php is nothing compared to the number of people that I will bless with my writing. So I went ahead and bought h3sean.com – which I then entitled God and You.

Since then, God has blessed me with lots of readers (you guys) and with a business which found its roots with this blog. He has also blessed me with a wonderful woman with whom the first conversation I had was about this blog. It is just so amazing how God has blessed me to overflowing with just that little step of faith I took in blogging for Him and giving Him my last 2,000 php.

This is, by far, the most amazing Christmas I have ever had with God’s blessings in my life. I am just taken away by how God can really bless someone so undeserving as I.

This Christmas, I encourage you to do the same. You can never outgive God – so why not give to Him?

May you be blessed.

Merry Christmas!

Why you Feel Ashamed after Masturbation

By Sean

It’s such a taboo word for men and women alike. The word masturbation is generally avoided because of it’s secrecy and nature. When spoken out in public, it brings a hint of shame in you because it is such a private matter. And isn’t it such for all of us?

It is undeniable that we have appetites

This entry is inspired by my own struggles, experiences, and journey through manhood. By God’s grace and wisdom am I only able to share this with you. Also, check out the 6 Actionable steps to Overcome Pornography post.

Insatiable appetite

Our bodies are made to have certain appetites and cravings – which are all healthy for survival. We crave for food when we’re hungry. It’s a healthy appetite because we need food in order to have energy and in order to live. We crave for fun when we’re bored. It’s a healthy appetite because we need to regulate that energy we have to exercise our bodies and minds. We crave for sex and physical intimacy because we are designed by God for it in order to reproduce and enjoy it’s intimate pleasures.

These cravings and appetites are good and it is meant for our well-being. But it has been twisted and maliced for our destruction by the Devil. Our appetites have been turned on us by this consumer-driven world in which the mindset is “here”, “now”, “fast”, and “don’t deny me” – “me”, “me”, “me”.

You have to understand that the moment you let your appetite have it’s way in you, it becomes your god. And my oh my, how powerful that little god called appetite truly is.

It all starts in the mind

Appetite is triggered within the thought. Likewise self-control is also triggered within the thought. Only one of them can win.

“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” – 1 Peter 5:8

“It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable,  not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God” – 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5

Self-control starts with a choice. A choice to say no malice-driven appetite (which the Bible describes as the evil desires of youth) and to say yes to God’s promises and lifestyle.

“Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” – 2 Timothy 2:22

 

Your body is satisfied – just for a while

Yep, you got that right. Your body becomes satisfied after the act. It is fulfilled temporarily. But why the empty feeling? Because pleasure for pleasure’s sake is meaningless. And in the act of masturbation, your spirit is fully ashamed and broken.

There is a distortion that happens in you when your body and spirit disagree. You feel it – it manifests itself in emotions and then it tries to pierce your thoughts into pondering the question ‘why’.

There is a bond between your body and spirit that you cannot explain. It is this same connection that gives you the idea that there must be life after death and it is also this same connection that gives you the idea that there must be a Creator behind all the questions of life and the majesty and impossibility of the universe.

This bond is real.

Why is the shame after the act of masturbation so real? So ‘feel-able’ ?

It is because this is a sin that is directly related to your own body. Therefore it is directly related to your own spirit. Directly related to your own soul and emotions.

“Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body” – 1 Corinthians 6:18

The only question you have to honestly ask yourself is, do you feel it?

Then there must be some truth in what I’m saying.

Think about it.

If you want Bananas, don’t plant Mango seeds

By Sean

What you sow is what you will reap. In this life, whether you think you are planting seeds or not, it doesn’t matter – you are always planting seeds. And you sure as heck will someday reap ‘em.

This entry has been inspired by pastor Peter Tan-Chi as he spoke about sowing and reaping seeds in life at the B1G 6 retreat.

It ain’t rocket science

Everything we do in life has it’s consequences. Our actions ripple out to an effect. If you decide not to study and finish, you will not have a diploma. If you decide not to eat lunch, you will probably go hungry. If you pursue someone in the wrong time, you will probably undergo heartbreak.

This life is all about decisions – small and big. And those decisions that we make define our future. Those little decisions steer the direction of our lives and take us to the destination that we chose for ourselves.

Life is simply decisions made through the course of time. And those decisions ALWAYS have consequences. Not making a decision is in itself a decision and it will have its own consequences.

Planting seeds in another person’s life

Our world is made up of people. Unless you’re a monk with a vow of solitude, you probably are in the real world, mingling around with people every day.

People are an inevitable part of our lives – family, friends, strangers, etcetera. We are immersed in a very social world. Everyday we make choices and decisions that affect other people’s lives. We plant seeds.

These seeds that we plant in our lives and in other people’s lives are seeds that grow. Don’t think for a moment that you can get away from the fruit of the seeds you plant in your life – you won’t.

A different kind of seed

The seeds I’m talking about aren’t seeds that die. These are seeds that will bear fruit no matter what you do. Sooner or later the seeds you sow will grow and it will bear fruit and you will harvest the fruit whether you like it or not.

It’s just how life works.

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” – Galatians 6:7

Be careful which seed you plant in your life and in the lives of other people. If you plant Bananas, you will get bananas.

When you Surrender a Relationship…

By Sean

There are just times when you need to give up a relationship you’re holding on so dearly to. Some people tell me that it’s God who is asking them to surrender it. My response is “If it is God, don’t think about it.” Here’s why:

This entry has been inspired by a really good friend of mine who is going through a tough time in life with God. We talked over the phone and I remembered when it all happened to me. I guess this is one of the reasons why God had me go through a tough season in my life.

Real surrender means you’re dropping it – 100%

When you say that you ‘surrender’ it means you don’t hold on to anything – nada, zip, zero. It is completely letting go, leaving none for yourself. None. Not even a thought of it.

And yes it’s hard, perhaps impossible. Impossible without God’s help. It takes faith to be able to really surrender – just like how Abraham was able to surrender Isaac. He was able to give God 100% of his one and only son whom he utterly and deeply loved and held on to. His only true heir. And God blessed him for it.

Even though Isaac didn’t die and even if he was not sacrificed – he was already as good as dead to Abraham. He was already completely surrendered to God. He was given up. Abraham did not think about it anymore.

It takes faith

Surrendering is not easy. Letting go would always be difficult. It takes faith to give something  up to God completely. Abraham trusted God completely that’s why he was able to surrender completely.

There are times in our lives when we don’t trust God enough with a certain relationship we’re holding on so tightly to. We think God can never bring it back again. And we think that God isn’t able to write our love story as much as we are able to.

It is during these times when we want to be in control the most – especially when we fall into the trap of loving someone too much. It is also during these times when we find it most hard to surrender everything to God.

Questions we don’t need

When God asks us to surrender something to Him, suddenly we ask questions.

“Why did I have to go through that, Lord?”

“Why did You let me meet him/her in the first place?”

“What is happening? Isn’t him/her the one?”

Our minds are filled with questions. It’s natural – we are reasonable beings. We are moved to look for answers because of the questions that suddenly enter our hearts.

These questions are natural – but they are also dangerous. They are a gateway to vain thoughts and assumptions. Real surrender means letting go of everything – yes, even these questions.

You don’t need these questions. You need to trust God. When you’ve already given up everything, the proof that you have totally done so is peace. You have to have peace when you’ve got nothing to lose – not even answers to your questions.

God can write your love story

God is the author, designer and maker of our lives. He is the author of love and romance. He created everything. I totally believe that the best love story you can ever have has to be written by God. I know mine was – the proof of a God-written love story is the impossibility of it apart from Him.

A God-written love story must glorify Him and will reflect His mighty hand. It must bless other people in the sense that they realize it has to be God.

I truly, honestly believe that in order to let God write your love story, you must surrender everything to Him first.

And don’t think about it.