GOD CARES

Our resources run out , our strength  wears out, we are weathered by life’s daily demands. In the end of the day we are exhausted. If we have come to a point of losing wit, we have a God who can extend it by comforting us with His intimate presence. God is our refuge and our resting place.- “Trust in God at all times, my people. Tell him all your troubles, for he is our refuge.“- Psalm 62:8  When we go weary, we are a prayer away to Him for solace. God is with us walking us through, we may not realize it or notice everyday of our activities. But He is patiently walking with us to protect us and stay with us as well. We only need to believe that God is working mightily just how He did during the times of the Old Testament- “but those of you who were faithful to the LORD your God are still alive today." - Deuteronomy 4:4   We just need to act upon our faith. No matter how complicated our circumstances appear before us, we can rely on our Father that he is able of help and getting us over the bridge of our difficulties. 

Having faith in the Lord is not a one way road, His faith is holding us to Him too-"O LORD, you are faithful to those who are faithful to you, and completely good to those who are perfect." -2 Samuel 22:26.  And even though, we fail, He remains faithful to His word, to us - “…you have been faithful, even though we have sinned "- Nehemiah 9:33. So our security is unbreakable and indefatigable. We have a God who never runs out of resources and never goes weary of loving us, providing for us, comforting us and working on us. - “I am the LORD, your savior; I am the one who created you. I am the LORD, the Creator of all things. I alone stretched out the heavens; when I made the earth, no one helped me.”- Isaiah 44:24

Cast Your Cares Upon Him...

Partial Obedience Is Disobedience

Partial Obedience Is Disobedience
 www.intouch.org.

Partial Obedience Is Disobedience


1 Samuel 15:1-23

When God calls you to do something specific, how do you respond? Now, most of us don't raise a fist at Him and yell, "I won't do it!" Instead, we usually struggle with the idea for a while. Sometimes we argue, telling Him all the reasons why it won't work. At other times, we'll begin to doubt we heard Him right and then deny that He's even called us. Or we could react like Jonah and simply run the other direction (Jonah 1:2-3).

However, there's another response that is often so subtle we don't even recognize it as disobedience. Substituting our plan for God's is a way to appear obedient and yet avoid doing what we don't like. That's how Saul responded to the Lord's command. In his eyes, saving a few animals to sacrifice to the Lord seemed like a better idea than God's.

Saul's sin seems obvious to us, but we're often unaware of the ways we make similar substitutions. Maybe God is calling you to serve in a particular way, but because you're afraid, you decide to serve in a less challenging area. Or perhaps you work extra hard on the job so the Lord won't notice you're neglecting your family. Sometimes we have so blended our plans with His that we cannot even tell the difference anymore.

What are you substituting for obedience in your life? By offering a "better" plan, are you quietly and subtly resisting God's call to live fully committed to Him? There's no way you can ever improve onHis plan for your life. Those who try to alter it live powerless lives, because partial obedience is disobedience.

The Test of Light

HOPE IN A STEADFAST LOVE

Lamentations 3:19-23

Good News Translation (GNT)

19   The thought of my pain, my homelessness, is bitter poison.

20    I think of it constantly, and my spirit is depressed.

21    Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing:

22    The Lord's unfailing love and mercy still continue,

23     Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise.

We all have concerns, past life taunted by frustrations and decisions we regret, all these when we recall bring depression to us. Our hearts start to ache whenever we thought of future lost because of mistakes in our past that we can no longer mend. A lump in our throat suddenly forms, hard to swallow, when we know to ourselves we are liable for those misses of life.

But God never missed showing His unfailing love to us. We may have failures that continue to haunt our memories, but we also have God who wants to refresh our minds with His infinite mercy. All we need to do is fill our minds and hearts with Him, and let His faithfulness wash away our sorrows, and turn our tears to joy… because there is hope every morning as long as we live,- “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; “- Lamentations 3:22-23, and His faithfulness is greater than our pain. – “…great is thy faithfulness.”- Lamentations 3:23

Infinite Goodness

PURGED AND FREED

     That moment we surrender our life to the Lord, everything becomes new within us." Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come." 2 Corinthians 5:16-18  The Lord cleanses our sins red as crimson into white as snow.  The blemish of my past overwhelms me with so much sadness whenever a flash back in my mind would cross once in a while, but I believe more in the healing power of my Lord and in His promise that He had blotted out that splotch of my shortcomings. No matter how worst our lifestyle was, or wretched our person may have been, God will transform us according to His glory and holiness. We won’t have to be guilty of our former sins as we live to testify for His mercy and grace, because God has dealt with our transgressions right that moment of our salvation. "For you, brethren, have been called to liberty;…." - (Galatians 5:13) If we experience the feeling of self reprisal, it is no longer necessary because God has accomplished for us already the purging part. We just need to trust Him, and live that liberating grace in us. “…only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another “- (Galatians 5:13)

Daily New Life

Daily New Life

Service
Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.  - 1 Peter 4:10

Finding a way to help others is an expression of faith. It shows that we believe in the sovereignty of God. We don’t’ have to wait until the pain in our life is gone, because we know God can use it for good.

Finding a way to help others requires that you ask two questions: What is God doing? and How can I get into the flow of his activity? When we ask these questions, ideas will come. And once we begin doing this, the ‘why is this happening’ question, which once seemed so important, becomes irrelevant.

The best answer to why is always what. When we stop asking, “Why has God allowed this?” And begin asking, “What does he want me to do with it?”, we’re ready for God to start his work in us, and that prepares us for service, and that prepares us for service.

“I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.” - Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

Greg Laurie Daily Devotions

Greg Laurie Daily Devotions



The Divine Register

Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord And who meditate on His name. - (Malachi 3:16)

The Bible clearly teaches that God has a book, which goes by a number of names. It is called the Book of Remembrance, which contains the names of those who fear the Lord and think on His name. Sometimes it is just called the Book. Other times, it is called the Book of Life, or the Lamb’s Book of Life. And according to Revelation 20, one day at the Great White Throne judgment, the books will be opened, and the dead will be judged by the things written in the books. A book also will be opened, which is the Book of Life. And whoever is not found written in the Book of Life will be cast into the lake of fire.

No Christian will be present at the Great White Throne Judgment; it is for nonbelievers only. Perhaps this is to demonstrate why they will face judgment. But the big issue is whether your name is in the book—the Book of Life. You might have your name on a church register but not on the divine register.

On one occasion, the disciples were excited because they were able to cast out demons by the power of God. But Jesus told them, “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20).

I know my name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. The follower of Christ need not fear for his or her salvation, because Jesus gives us this promise: “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” (Revelation 3:5).

Is your name in the Book of Life?

Worry No More...

   As our trust in the Lord continues to increase, anxiety comparably decreases.  Genuine faith in the Lord helps us understand that God is in full control of our circumstances, and using them for our own good likewise working out His will through us. Peace can be truly felt in our heart as a result of this constant progress of trust in God. Failures will always be there to try us as long as we live. Turn them over to the Lord in prayer and don’t allow self-condemnation  to weaken what has strongly established, and even if so happens don’t lose grip of your faith to spring back to Him.” Let your requests be made known to God” – Phil 4:6 –  and let Him deal with your anxiety. Yet this does not cover weakness alone but all our needs -⁷ And God's peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus. Phil 4:7 – and always do it  “with a thankful heart.”-Phil 4:6 

A COMMITMENT TO FOLLOW

  

 Following the Lord may require from us a commitment to maintain a testimony worthy of the calling. It may sound so taxing, most especially if giving up indulgences ensue such action.

   

   God is the perfecter of our faith, if we chose to follow Him, we will be provided with means and ability to accomplish His purpose for our lives.  He always respects our will, He won’t insist until we open up and allow ourselves to be a testimony for Him. However, going the opposite road may expose us consequently to a messed up life, because apart from the Lord there is no protection to cover us -Psalm 62:1 I wait patiently for God to save me; I depend on him alone, and “The Lord is the friend of those who obey him  and he affirms his covenant with them.”- Psalms 25:14

   Choosing to live a life dedicated to the Lord is not a burdensome disposition but liberating and rewarding. Leading a life of testimony of His goodness is neither heavy because as we walk through His will, the assurance of His presence with His grace and mercy shall stand by us.

COURAGE AND PATIENCE

Avoiding Accountability can be Dangerous...

A CONSTANT LOVE...

THE LORD OUR GOD

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH GETS GOING

THE TRUTH...

TRINITY'S WISH

We have nothing to lose if we believe in God.

Forgive One Another...

I am naturally a sensitive person, so I get hurt easily. I take offense deeply. I give sympathy so easily, but once felt slight offense I could hardly get over the pain in my heart. Oftentimes I sulk in my room, but once in a while I explode and get back at the person.

But I learned to live by His mercy and so rest in His grace whenever I get derogated. I seek His forgiveness to overwhelm me so that I may be able to pour out the same mercy toward the people who had inflicted pain in me.

Part of loving people regardless how they are to us is constant forgiveness. God is ever wise; He wants us to learn forgiveness for more than one reason that will all benefit us. Nurtured offense in our heart causes illness in our body, literally, holding grudge in our heart results in stress. We all know how stress could deteriorate our health little by little as it progresses rooting up in our immune system as much as in our emotions. The Lord wants to free us from silent fatal effect of stress. He wants us to experience fullness of joy that only He can impart to us. However if unforgiveness continues to dominate us, God would not be able to reach out to us hence His promise of healing could not operate in us as well. Moreover, resentment can overpower our way of thinking and thus direct our attitude, consequently adverse effect  shall exact a toll from our life , all the more causing us to slip away from the covering of God against difficulties.

So by forgiving we help ourselves first and foremost. Taunting of unfairness, of being violated may be dealt with by lifting up to the Lord and surrender our wound to Him for healing. By doing so, our protection will be secured in His faithful promise- Malachi 4:2 “But for you who obey me, my saving power will rise on you like the sun and bring healing like the sun's rays. You will be as free and happy as calves let out of a stall.”

Ref:

Hold a Grudge, Hurt Your Health

By: Vicki Santillano

Via http://www.divinecaroline.com/22188/80247-hold-grudge-hurt-health#ixzz277Y52o8L

The Poison of Unforgiveness

By Joyce Meyer

AUTUMN RAINS...

MOVE ON...

LOVE

I may be able to speak the languages

of human beings and even of angels,

but if I have no love,

 my speech is no more than

 a noisy gong or a clanging bell.

 I may have the gift of inspired preaching;

 I may have all knowledge and understand all secrets;

 I may have all the faith needed

 to move mountains—

but if I have no love, I am nothing.

 I may give away everything I have,

and even give up my body to be burned—

but if I have no love, this does me no good.

Love is patient and kind;

it is not jealous or conceited or proud;

 love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable;

 love does not keep a record of wrongs;

  love is not happy with evil,

but is happy with the truth.

 Love never gives up; and its faith, hope,

 and patience never fail.

Love is eternal.

 There are inspired messages, but they are temporary;

there are gifts of speaking in strange tongues,

 but they will cease;

there is knowledge, but it will pass.

 For our gifts of knowledge

and of inspired messages are only partial;

  but when what is perfect comes,

 then what is partial will disappear.

When I was a child,

 my speech, feelings, and thinking

were all those of a child;

now that I am an adult,

 I have no more use for childish ways.

 What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror;

then we shall see face-to-face.

What I know now is only partial;

 then it will be complete—

as complete as God's knowledge of me.

 Meanwhile these three remain:

faith, hope, and love;

and the greatest of these is love.

Seek His Will

In seeking His will we often think and act ahead of God. Presuming the good thought in mind could be what He wants for and from us. Then along the way when everything starts to crumble, slowly our zealousness towards God plummets into ebb. Disappointment would breech our reason, until it finally pelts the foundation of our faith in God. We are losing heart already.

Our capacity and failure to understand God’s ways are based on how we’d been influenced by our surroundings, by our environment and culture, by our natural limitation and weaknesses. God is good He will equip us if we only abide in obedience to Him -Baruch 3:14 Learn where understanding, strength, and insight are to be found. Then you will know where to find a long and full life, light to guide you, and peace. For this reason the Lord is encouraging us not to lean on our own understanding – Our knowledge is not enough to contain God’s wisdom. Our abilities are limited to sustain thereby presuming His will for us leads to failure. Another obvious reason it is not inspired by God himself and dependent only on how we thought it was.

If we fully yield ourselves to Him in humility and submission, then we are going to see through His heart and gain wisdom. (Daniel 2:21 -He controls the times and the seasons; he makes and unmakes kings; it is he who gives wisdom and understanding.) Abraham had some questions to the Lord when he first heard of God’s will for him. However when the Lord spoke of His promise to make him father to a great nation, (Genesis 18), Abraham willingly submitted to God in complete obedience, and this attitude paved the way towards fulfillment of God’s plan of salvation which we all enjoy nowadays and so on toward the time of existence.

We may be simple ordinary individuals, living a regular day to day routine. God waits for us to bring out in us potentials of carrying out for Him the will of His heart which brings blessing, healing and direction for life. (Daniel 10:12 Then he said, “Daniel, don't be afraid. God has heard your prayers ever since the first day you decided to humble yourself in order to gain understanding. I have come in answer to your prayer.)  We just need to stay still and listen to His commands, gear up on obeying them, restraining our minds from our own interpretation of what will unfold before us. Walk by faith and the Lord will do the rest as we live in His promise.

Obedience Gives Way to Understanding

WHO IS WISE

Blessings of Obedience Deuteronomy 28:1-14

28 “If you obey the Lord your God and faithfully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, he will make you greater than any other nation on earth. ² Obey the Lord your God and all these blessings will be yours:

³ “The Lord will bless your towns and your fields.

⁴ “The Lord will bless you with many children, with abundant crops, and with many cattle and sheep.

⁵ “The Lord will bless your grain crops and the food you prepare from them.

⁶ “The Lord will bless everything you do.

⁷ “The Lord will defeat your enemies when they attack you. They will attack from one direction, but they will run from you in all directions.

⁸ “The Lord your God will bless your work and fill your barns with grain. He will bless you in the land that he is giving you.

⁹ “If you obey the Lord your God and do everything he commands, he will make you his own people, as he has promised. ¹⁰ Then all the peoples on earth will see that the Lord has chosen you to be his own people, and they will be afraid of you. ¹¹ The Lord will give you many children, many cattle, and abundant crops in the land that he promised your ancestors to give you. ¹² He will send rain in season from his rich storehouse in the sky and bless all your work, so that you will lend to many nations, but you will not have to borrow from any. ¹³ The Lord your God will make you the leader among the nations and not a follower; you will always prosper and never fail if you obey faithfully all his commands that I am giving you today. ¹⁴ But you must never disobey them in any way or worship and serve other gods.

 

I am blessed and at the same time convicted with these passages while I was reading through them. Verse by verse as I imbibe them, a visual image of a certain country has started to form. This country has become a brother to the United Kingdom for centuries, and maintains special relation with Israel.

A blessed country that it is, its people excel in sports, education, discoveries, explorations, expeditions, sciences, arts and economy. -¹³ The Lord your God will make you the leader among the nations and not a follower; you will always prosper and never fail if you obey faithfully all his commands… “- Their constitution is basically wrapped up on Biblical principles. The framers of their constitution made Obedience as their basis - So much so that their currency note bears the name of God in it glorifying the Lord. It is no coincidence that their currency is the international basis for foreign exchange just to mention one of its economic influences globally. They do experience recession so many times, but getting back to their feet is inevitable, because blessings from the promise as stated in Deuteronomy sustain them. In 2050 they are forecasted as first among the 10 richest based on GDP. Their participation in world trade has significant impact on the cultures of many countries and territories. Their economic influence along with its long time ally has become the basis for progress and advancement of commerce, finance, technology and academics. ( Deu 28:1- he will make you greater than any other nation on earth. ² Obey the Lord your God and all these blessings will be yours: )

Collectively as big as a nation, this promise stands true and so for individuals. We can apply to ourselves this obedience then we can experience the same splendor of being blessed. Failures may always stand in our way, we just need to hold on to our faith because God understands our weaknesses and His mercy awaits us constantly for the forgiveness of our shortcomings. God wants us to continue in our determination to take on obedience so that He may do in return His promise of good life in His presence. God demands obedience from us, not merely for His glory but for our welfare as well.  He wanted us to avoid the miseries of His curse. May we be guided with God’s warning-  Deuteronomy 28:14 - But you must never disobey them in any way…, because if a promise entails obedience, curse ensues disobedience – Deuteronomy 28:15-68.

A Time for Everything

 There is a time for everything,

    and a season for every activity

 under the heavens:

     a time to be born and a time to die,

    a time to plant and a time to uproot,

     a time to kill and a time to heal,

    a time to tear down and a time to build,

     a time to weep and a time to laugh,

    a time to mourn and a time to dance,

     a time to scatter stones

 and a time to gather them,

    a time to embrace 

and a time to refrain from embracing,

     a time to search and a time to give up,

    

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

     a time to tear and a time to mend,

    a time to be silent and a time to speak,

     a time to love and a time to hate,

    a time for war and a time for peace.

What do workers gain from their toil? 

 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.

 He has made everything beautiful in its time. 

He has also set eternity in the human heart; 

yet no one can fathom

 what God has done from beginning to end

Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

God is Love

Fishers of Men

Be One in Christ

Like a Child

Enter the Narrow Gate

In our day to day life, when we thought of narrow, we tend to attach a negative connotation to it. Even at the moment I was writing this, once I ponder upon the word, negative feeling slowly crept into my heart.

We usually see narrow passages, holes and bridges in obstacle courses. They were purposely put there to make our journey through the course difficult. At stores, when we buy bottles, we shun from narrow necked ones, we choose instead the wider necked bottles for more convenient use and cleaning as well. When we travel in the city or metropolis, we avoid bottle necked routes to avoid delay and of course waste of fuel once stuck in traffic jams.

Probably those negative experiences with the word narrow caused us to prefer the word wide in general. When we hear wide, we seem to feel ease and the roominess of the word.

That is why when we come across the passage – Enter through narrow gate (Matthew 7:13-14) in the Bible, we can’t help but to feel quizzical. Not necessarily because we don’t want to obey God, but because we struggle with negative experience we grew to connect with the word.

In our relationship with the Lord, going through the narrow gate has an assurance of His promise. As the Bible says,” Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.” (Prov 3:5) We can separate ourselves from how we imbibed the word narrow, and then yield to God the rest of our journey. Surrendering to Him any negativism that had rooted up in us will alleviate our inhibition then gradually pave the road towards complete get over of the word.

At first, Abraham felt the same queer as we do (with the word narrow), when was offered by God to become a father of great nation. (Genesis 17:17) But his impartial obedience made him able to enter the narrow gate, trusting God that he would be walked through as promised. Although he rationalized how it would be possible considering his age and that of Sarah’s  he took God for His word and relied consistently on the power of God to prosper Him, which was when he left his homeland and headed to a place God led him to. (Gen 12:1-8)

As he journeyed with God, Abraham did not fail to worship and honor Him. His humble obedience gave way to progressive intimacy with the LORD. Hence, right decisions preceded his choices and therefore his life. This attitude of Abraham, rendered to him favors from God and (Gen. 18:18) good reputation so much so that kings were afraid of him (Gen. 20: 1-18)

Abraham is just like any other person of our times, dealing also with mundane concerns of life. And so as obedience was merited to him, it could be possible also to us. It’s going to be a start of a life intimate with the Lord and not afraid, neither hesitant to enter the narrow gate, where we can be sanctified by the Lord and enjoy the fullness of His glory.

Reference : 

CCF Chronicle Weekly Bulletin

BibleGateway: Books of Genesis, Gospel Of Matthew, Proverbs

Big thanks to Ms. Charie Pelaez for the photo

Hope

Behold, the eye of the LORD 

 is on those who fear him,

 on those who hope in his steadfast love,

Why are you cast down, O my soul,

 and why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,

 my salvation and my God.

Put no trust in extortion;

set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase,

set not your heart on them.

For the needy shall not always be forgotten,

  and the hope of the poor
   shall not perish forever.

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,

 for my hope is from him.

By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,

O God of our salvation,

the hope of all the ends of the earth

and of the farthest seas;

Let not those who hope in you be put to shame…,

O Lord GOD of hosts;

 let not those who seek you

 be brought to dishonor…

For you, O Lord, are my hope,

my trust, O LORD, from my youth.

… I will hope continually

will praise you yet more and more

Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice,

 because I have hoped in your word.

You are my hiding place and my shield;

 I hope in your word.

I rise before dawn and cry for help;

 I hope in your words.

Uphold me according to your promise,

 that I may live,and let me not be

 put to shame in my hope!

Source:
Bible: Psalms Psalm 9:18
Psalm 33:18
Psalm 62:5
Psalm 62:10
Psalm 65:5
Psalm 69:6
Psalm 71:5
Psalm 71:14
Psalm 119:74
Psalm 119:114
Psalm 119:116
Psalm 119:147
Bible Gateway : ESV

Kharole Bascara for the photo

Intimacy through Faith

And without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him. -Heb 11:6

In order to please God, we must have first a personal relationship with Him. The one that works and fueled by faith. The foundation of our relationship with the Lord is faith,  believing in what we don't really see nor we fully understand with our minds' capacity but it is believing in the Promise of God -Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen. For therein the elders had witness borne to them. By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which appear. ...Hebrews 11

This faith in us has to grow and transform us moment by moment into spiritual warriors ever ready against the whiles of the enemy. True faith is an active mode of stature, where there is progress in our testimony for the Lord. It would not necessarily a life free of error, we are but human after all, but a life of getting back to our feet to walk again every time we fall and hold on to the Lord because we live by His mercy and grace. For every hurt, offence, fears, frustrations, disappointments and doubts we encounter, we need to honestly open up to the Lord, if we need to cry out better do so, because God wants the natural person in us rather than making fronts and not acting in front of Him the real us. That masking might give an opportunity to the enemy to build as strong hold in us. Besides in committing our ways to Him, we will be given peace that cannot be affected by circumstances, and will enable us to fight our battles.  If we continue in transparency with the Lord, He will be able to reach out to us so much so we can confirm to Him without hesitation and we are going to receive His answer. We will not fail if we do His will -" If God is for us, who can be against us" - Romans 8:31

Once we are called by God, He will meet us, help us to know Him and  will reveal Himself to us. We won't be the one to do our transformation but Him. We just need to open up  to Him and empty ourselves of our head knowledge about us. Allow God to cleanse our minds because " every imagination of the thoughts of ( his)  heart was only evil continually" -Genesis 6:5


Acknowledgment:

I thank my friend Charie Pelaez for the photo

Ref: CCF Chronicle Weekly Bulletin
Bible: Book of Hebrews, Romans and Genesis (ASV)

Follow Me

Follow me ... a calling made by the Lord Jesus to one of His early disciples, Matthew known as Levi in Hebrew. Immediately he decided to leave behind his old life and followed Jesus.

No matter how marred the reputation of Matthew during his time, Jesus was not bothered at all to be associated with him, so much so He made Matthew one of His facilitators towards the accomplishment of His Messianic purpose, to heal the sick and bring salvation to the world. (Mark 2:17)

Throughout Matthew's experience in following Christ, he got to enjoy the grace of God. His mingling with the Lord rubbed on him the love of Christ for people. For so experiencing the glory of God, he gathered with him the other tax collectors and all together they had a close interaction with the Lord.

To follow the Lord, does require us a sacrifice. Just like Matthew when he left his job, we too have to choose to leave behind indulgences of life, to amend our dealings with other people, and to be able to give what we used to hold back from whom it is due.

Matthew realized his need of Jesus and made an impartial decision to follow Him. Because apart from the Savior, he knew eternal damnation awaits him. Just like any of us, Matthew needed the salvation and healing that can be found only in the person whom he had decided to follow- Jesus.

All the followers of the Lord way back in the times of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob down to the generation of Joshua, and over the ministry of the disciples, impacted the world with their focus in obeying God. They falter at times but did not stop there, they were so convicted in themselves in bringing about the salvation to the world.

We too can make that decision to follow Jesus and so impact the same glory just as His followers in the olden times, to our modern generation. Matthew did not stop just to enjoy salvation for himself alone, but as he grew in the love of the Lord he shared with his friends, the tax-collectors, the same salvation. So when we make the same decision, we also shall  develop that desire in our heart.

References:

CCF Chronicle -weekly Bulletin
Bible :Book of  Matthew 4 (NIV)- Jesus Calls His First Disciples
Bible: Book of  Mark 2 (NIV)
I Thank my sister Kharole for the image

Transformation

We plan... we think of strategies ... we scheme... these lines have only one goal as a theme that is to succeed in the end. Achievement is our common motivation to each endeavor we pursue. We persevere to stay on top of our career. We strive to excel in our fields.

But life can't be measured with how much we have gained, how far we have reached and how deep we have explored. Once a disaster even just for a moment can be strong enough to take away from us what we have gained or achieved. I am a go-getter myself. I did plan and achieved my goal. I put up a business once, it turned out successful. It gave me sense of pride because the fruit of my long time perseverance had finally materialized. I put all of myself to it. I learned everyday skills how to keep it going strong. Taking care of my customers personally was strictly observed and that made me feel soaring with gladness, because it spells success. However that business which I have grown to love was taken from me. Inconsiderate of how I felt about such transfer, it was taken from me. I felt so down trodden with such move of the one I thought I trusted enough to have better idea than getting from me what I had labored for ardently. That business is all I got as my source of self-esteem.

That day when it happened I asked God why He allowed it to happen. He knew all along my hardship and dedication I put in that business. Even up to now, I still don't get the direct answer to my question.  I felt deep disgust inside me - I loathe my own life; I will give full vent to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul - Job 10:1, This was how I really felt. For a while my heart became stupor because I didn't want to feel the pain.

But in the midst of my circumstance I still seek the will of God. I still ask for forgiveness for the grudge I felt. And He keeps comforting me with goodness. God will allow trials in our lives to make us stronger. He has to take away from us what occupied us the most to bare our SELF to Him so that He can sanctify us and make us better persons for Him, for in Him genuine abundance does exist. Abraham   had to undergo the test of losing his only son in order to gain children as big as a nation. Joseph has to be humbled for almost seven years in order to become fit to rule. Jacob learned the hard way when he was tricked by his father in law so he had to work   for seven years to marry his true love Rachel.

The lives of these men were impressed on me to realize how God deals with our attitude so that He may be able to produce the character He can rely on. God is so patiently working on me and He impressed on my questioning mind  the FRUITS OF THE SPIRITS - Galatians 5:22-23 - But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

I would not say I am perfectly healed now of the pain. but I am opening myself to the fruits of the spirit and allowing God to finish His work on me. Because just like what He wants for me, I want to be a person God wants me to be.



acknowledgement:
I thank my sister kharole for the image

Neither Hot Nor Cold

This is a state of condition when one loses zeal over something, a goal, career, studies or even relationship.

God detests this state of relationship with His people, that is why He is vehement in warning us to keep our fire aflame at all times, definitely not for His benefit but for us first and foremost. He never wanted us to fall short of the privilege of being blessed. He is a God that provides, heals and above all saves, to mention a few of His infinite abundant will for us.  And by all means in all ways He would like us to experience His presence even during our lowest moments. 

Lukewarmness puts us in a place away from His loving hands. This breaches the communication and understanding between us and the Lord. Although He is ever faithful to stay by us, our feeling of insecurity will little by little engulf us thereby progressing into another level of loneliness, seclusion deteriorating further to depression, losing grip on trust we had faithfully put in the Lord. 

Keeping ourselves on check with our relationship with the Lord will help us to avoid getting into a lukewarm state. If we in case fail Him, let it not pull you down, just believe in His word and promises that He is merciful and faithful to forgive us the moment we seek His forgiveness. Just like David who committed adultery, murder, treachery, he humbled himself before the Lord and did not let self condemnation blur his faith in the Lord. Against the pull of sadness of guilt because of his sins, he braced up himself towards the betterment of his relationship with the Lord. Not for a moment did he give in to coldness neither to lukewarmness in his relationship with the Lord. That is why when time of death came upon him, honor was never taken from his name.

May we be like David who despite failures, grave sins, did all to stay hot and burning for the Lord.


Acknowledgement:

I thank my friend Charie Pelaez for the image

Drifting

To drift as defined in the dictionary means  to be carried along by currents of air or water. No self initiated direction or resistance at all. Our minds drift, our plans and so our life as well. We slip into drifting state when we lose hope to move on, when our sense of self-esteem falls alarmingly low, and our faith in ourselves has turned wobbly. How we handle blows in our life usually stems toward this state of mind, depending on our will to fight the battle, to run our race and to beat a time, how long can we hold on to that reason which keeps us composed.

We become bitter, blaming people for our failures, sulking into our solitary room of our mind, and as we go further adrift, we began questioning God, why situation miserable as such has to happen to us. We begin to tell God we didn't choose to be on earth just to suffer frustrations, disappointments, rejections.

Yet no matter how deep and how far we'd gone adrift, there He is reaching out to us. Wanting us to know and experience His unconditional compassion and mercy so as that moment we turn our face back to Him, He could wipe the tears in our eyes and assure us of hope that only Him can give.

Learning from Him daily is our best defense against state of drift. Believing and yielding in His ways will keep us on track of good life. It may not be a bed of roses, but an assured life of winning the battle and finishing the race. Blows won't desist from hitting us, but hope won't dissipate before our eyes, just as long as we keep our eyes on Him, and stop looking at our inadequacies. We take the walk of faith and follow the path of obedience, and all shall be added unto us.

Assurance in God's Presence

We often grope for assurance of our security against circumstances that no one can take away from us. Probably the reason why we hedge ourselves with achievements thinking it will one way or the other secure us as a person. Wealth has been as old as time in being an apparent shelter from insecurity, and so is a successful career. Wealth, career and many more means of security are not bad at all or there should be no negativism attached to them.

However, these won't be able to provide to us the sense of security we would ever seek for. It's going to be a never ending search and struggle to find sense of security, until we fully acknowledge our limitations and relinquish to God our need of Him. This is the reassurance we need to realize as vital as our oxygen to our breath, as light to vision and as Vitamin D to our bones

It is good that we know God, but it makes a whole lot of difference if we practice His presence in our life. That deep joy in the midst of troubles can really give us that assurance of hope, that behind those dark clouds is the light of the sun to keep us guided in the path we are heading. In His presence, co-exist everything else we need to get assured at all times even the flow of the current is against us.


acknowledgement:

big thanks to my daughter pohla for the photo