All I’ve Got

By Angelyn

I’m tired and restless. I feel like I’ve pushed myself way beyond what I thought I could. I’ve tried my best – yet it’s just not enough.

Until I remember you…

The works of my hands are futile. My thoughts and ideas are lame. Nothing seems to be right and everything inadequate. Giving up seems to be the best option, if not, the only option.

But I remember you…

I’ve let go of my passion. I abandoned my dreams. I clammed up when people misunderstand what I do. I held back the words I want to say. I closed my eyes when I couldn’t bear it anymore.

Then I remember you…

I feel I’m wiser now; choosing what to say and what to keep. I believe I’m more trusting now; less worried and anxious about tomorrow. I think I’m more patient now; understanding and giving him/her the benefit of the doubt.

Until I remember you…

I remember You; who made the world, sun, moon and stars; who is in-charge of everything I see, hear, smell, touch, think, say and imagine; who designed me-my purpose, my thoughts, my words, my works, my struggles, my pains, my joy, my relationships.

I remember my Maker, my Designer, my Orchestrator, my Redeemer, my Master. And I’m reminded that everything that happened to me came from You. All I’ve become is because of you and now, all I’ve got will be for You.

I remember you because you first remembered me…

“Taste and see the goodness of the Lord. How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!” - Psalm 34:8

Worth the Fork

By Arnel

“Keep you fork. The best is yet to come.” I’ve heard it a couple of times during messages to illustrate hopeful anticipation for what God has in store – as a chef tells his patron to wait for the dessert, which most people often refer to as the best part of the whole dining experience.

Author’s note: This was inspired by a conversation I had with a friend over lunch a couple of weeks ago.

Our Christian walk doesn’t necessarily make us immune to feelings of discouragement. Surely, there are situations that will throw us off and can potentially lead us to be sidetracked from following Christ. When things get tough and seemingly unbearable, that is when we are most likely to falter. We tend to believe the lie that we are not worth anything, even if we know that it is what it is – a lie.

Yes, we’re not immune to these things. We are, after all, still living in this world, along with its ways.

But though we are not immune, Christ’s love for us protects us from sinking and yielding from such discouragements, depression and feelings of self-pity.

We are heirs of God’s Kingdom. Romans 8:16-17 tells us, “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

Jesus saw us as someone worth saving. We are worth the precious blood of Christ, and by His blood we become part of the greatest family – His family.

We are God’s masterpiece, and He will bring us to completion. Philippians 1:6 tells us that God, who has started to work in us, will continue to work in us into Christ-likeness.

I’ve come to know about Ludwig Van Beethoven’s near obsessive editing in composing his musical scores from an article I read early in February. He was brutal in honing his ideas, and it showed in his manuscripts – including the recovered working score for a piano version of “Grosse Fuge,” or grand fugue. quoting the article:

“Groups of measures throughout the 80-page manuscript are furiously canceled out with cross-marks.  Remnants of red sealing wax, used to adhere long corrections to an already scuffed up page, remain like scars.  There are smudges where he rubbed away ink while it was still wet and abrasions where he erased notes with a needle.  Dated changes and omissions are scattered throughout the score, many of these markings dating to the final months before his death in 1827.” (1)

No matter how messed up we are, God is at work. And in the midst of the mess that is our life, a masterpiece only done by God’s hands will ultimately surface.

We are worth the fork. James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

The rejections we experience and the feelings of discouragement are part of building us up until we are complete, lacking in nothing – perfected by the One who is perfect. We are continually being perfected by the One who is not afraid to get His Hands dirty with the mess we have in our lives.

We have been told to keep our fork, but has it ever occurred to us that when God said “the best is yet to come”, He was referring to us? That we are being reserved for the one whom God has told to keep his/her fork? He is telling the other person to wait, because we are worth holding on to that fork.

Being ‘In Love’ and having an Emotional Need

By Sean

We are emotional creatures. Like it or not, whether you are a boy or a girl, you have emotional needs. And as emotional creatures, we do experience that ‘falling in love‘ state, don’t we?

This entry has been inspired by the book “The 5 Love Languages” by Dr. Gary Chapman and “Fit to be Tied” by Bill and Lynne Hybels. IPraise God for the wisdom that they give through their writing.

Cloud 9

There is a state in time when you are ‘in love’ and you set reason and logic to a secondary state. Your feelings and emotions get the upper hand. Suddenly a 1,200 peso bouquet of flowers seem so affordable in light of the girl you like. Suddenly the time you could have spent working on your thesis seem less important than spending time with that certain someone. Suddenly, everything else seems less of a priority compared to your relationship with that person.

Being ‘in love’ spells out an emotion that is so good – it keeps your emotional tank running in full. Unfortunately, this state of emotional being has a limited duration that, according to Dr. Gary Chapman in his book, ‘The 5 Love Languages’, lasts for 2 years at most.Time is something to take into account when you’re in this state of emotion.

I’m not saying that being ‘in love’ is bad. No it’s not. In fact, I find it a good and enjoyable state of an individual’s emotion. Though I do tell people to double-check their decision making when they are in this state.

When it’s over…

Again, being ‘in love’ lasts only for a certain duration. After which, you’ll find yourself back t who you were before being ‘in love’. Your reasoning and logic takes a stronger hold on you once more. You suddenly become more efficient with your time, finances, etcetera. That’s because being ‘in love’ is almost always an unconscious trigger. You don’t need to condition your mind to be ‘in love’ for you to be in that state – it just ‘happens’.

So being ‘out of love’ is also an unconscious trigger. It just happens. That’s just the way it is. I’m sure you’ve had your shares of being in and out of love. But what I really want to talk about is the awareness of that emotional need.

A need to know

Unlike the ‘in love’ state, the emotional need is constant. It is always there – from the time you were born, to the time that you pass away. Whether you have a relationship with a certain special someone or not, you have an emotional need. Everyone does.

You have to know how to fill your emotional need. Know what makes you tick. When that need is not met, you are in a dangerous state because you’ll settle for a quick fix (as I’ve mentioned in a previous post). Knowing what meets your emotional need will also help your future spouse fill it up.

In a husband/wife relationship, being aware of that need is vital. To meet your spouse’s emotional need is to invest in your marriage. That need exists whether or not you’re in or out of the ‘in love’ state. And when you’re talking about marriage, you’re tied together for good.

Focus on how you can meet that constant emotional need without the ‘in love’ state – so that you are able to fill your emotions consciously by yourself without having the need to involve another physical person in your life.

G.O.S.P.E.L

By Sean

A really nice video propaganda of our faith. It’s the whole message of the Bible summarized into a 5 minute video which I would like to share with you guys as it had been shared with me by Melchor Chan in Facebook. Watch it.

There’s not a religion in the world that doesn’t agree that something’s wrong with us.

God.Our.Sins.Paying.Everyone.Life

Roadmaps, Guides, and God’s Will

By Arnel

More often than not, when we travel to an unfamiliar place – whether it’s a new summer haven or a developing tourist spot, one of the first things we ask is directions on how to get there. We’d search for a roadmap and study it, so that when we decide to go, we wouldn’t be lost.

This is based on a devotion I shared over the weekend. Somehow, I was convicted to write it down to clear the points I’ve mentioned in the message and support them with scripture. For those who’ve heard the devotion, I hope this article would convey the points I wanted to bring across more clearly.

Somehow, we behave the same way when it comes to God’s Will. When God casts His vision, we would want to ask Him for full details. But God often reveals them step by step.

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve encountered two stories in the bible that fascinated me. One is in Mark 8:22-26 where Jesus performed a two-staged miracle in healing a blind man from Bethsaida. The other is from 2 Kings 2:1-11 where Elijah was taken up to heaven. I had the same question on both stories – why did God made the blind man and Elijah go through “checkpoints”? Why did He reveal His Will step by step? What was God’s point in doing so?

God wants us to know who He is. It is often hard to know God’s will in certain aspects of our lives, not because we don’t pray enough nor is it because He’s just messing up with our heads. All over scripture God tells us, “I am the Lord your God”. In our anxious moments to know what God has in store for us at the end of His Will He tells us, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). I believe that more than the destination, He wants us to know who He is – His omnipotence, His omnipresence, His omniscience, His joy, His peace, and His love.

Christ makes us ready, and often that takes time. Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us that there is a time for everything. It’s true that God casts His vision on us – but He reveals the steps to achieve that vision step by step. He told Abraham that he will be the father of all nations, but God didn’t tell Him right away that He will test his faith by asking him to sacrifice Isaac. He had a vision for Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, but it wasn’t until chapter 4 that opposition came.

Try doing this as an experiment. Go to a room with bright lights and stay there for a while, then suddenly turn off the lights. Notice that at that instant all you will see is pitch black, but give it time and slowly your eyes will adjust and you’ll start seeing. In the same way when you suddenly turn on the lights, you squint because the light is too much and your eyes aren’t ready for it, but in a few moments they will adjust and you will see things clearly.

Think of it the same way with God’s Will. 1 Corinthians 13:12 says “…Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

God wants us to trust Him. The notion of the unknown often gives way to trust in the One who truly knows. The bible tells us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). This involves trusting Him in situations where we will be inconvenienced, situations we don’t want to be in or situations we want to skip. We hold on to the promise that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

Instead of having a roadmap, wouldn’t be better to have someone who truly knows where we are supposed to go walk us there?