Pep Talk for Myself.

I've just realized how much I've been slacking lately - in my quiet time with God and sometimes even in school. I know that this is something that I need to fix and need God's guidance and wisdom in. I told Him I want to be DL and qualify for scholarship, but if I don't get my act together, I won't be able to. God is generous and He hears prayers, but I doubt God will give me something I don't deserve just because I asked. I need to rearrange my priorities. Education is much too important for me to just simply take it for granted. 

Oh self. Consider this your first warning. Push yourself more. Don't settle for mediocrity when you are more than capable of achieving greatness, when He can help you achieve greatness. You can do it.

The Musings of Photoboy: Will You Dance?

The Musings of Photoboy: Will You Dance?: "Will You Dance? by Michelle Zerda I lost my life. I stood leaning against the cold hard wall. My head throbbed and my body ached. My heavy..."

It's Your Love That Has Saved Me

"but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what the Father has commanded me" - John 14:31

Tonight, I used the discipling book that has been given to me as a material for my devotions. The first lesson for this module is not only knowing God's will, but seeking it with all that we are. When I was a kid, so much younger than I am now, every time that we're asked if we'd be willing to give up control over our lives to God I'd say yes. I wasn't sure if it was naivety or something else entirely, but I guess part of the reason why I said that instantaneously is because I was a kid. The biggest decision I've had to make then was to decide what I'd eat for lunch or dinner. So I thought then that decisions would be easy if they were always similar to the ones I have and might help me bail me out. :)

I guess, it has only been recently that I'v somehow gotten God's will - although perfect beyond comprehension is still difficult. I want to love God more, I want to follow him. Though I know that there shouldn't be any excuses, it's only that as though God's plan for us is to deliberately takes us out of our comfort zones. And it'll be scary - just not as scary as knowing. I suppose this is where faith and trust comes in. 

Those two are the first things we do when we accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior. And yet, those two are still one of the more difficult ones to do perfectly.

Following God's will involves humility, humility in knowing that we don't know the best, only God does. 

Ana Maria Ysabel Cerrer

BIRTHDAY GIRL :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY YSABEL :) Truly, truly hope you had a great time celebrating your birthday with us :) Kita mo naman, effor kami sa pagsuot ng shirt na iyan. :))

Us girls in our birthday uniform :)

May God bless you with so many more years to come, dear. You've been such a blessing to all of us already and we're so grateful for you. Continue to be the smart, beautiful and warm person that you are. We love you, Ysabel! :D

I Drown in Your Ocean of Grace

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Phil. 4:6-7 (NIV)

Although I have not finished going through the entire Bible, I would like to say that, for the mean time, Philippians is my favorite book. :) I would now like to take back what I've said the first time I read Philippians, that Paul's only putting up a brave front, that deep inside he's really suffering. Now I see and realize that he's not doing that just so he could mask his pain - whether or not he truly had any - but that Paul had an honest fondness for the Philippians. I see that now. I see how much he cares for them, how much he loves them. 

Considering the situation I'm in right now - and since I don't really know who's reading this blog, I shall not state just what kind of situation that is here - I really needed this. I want that peace, I want to feel as though my life makes sense again, that I'm still the same person my parents raised me to be. This is such a comfort for me. I guess it's the most basic and common things about our relationship with God that I forget the most - just pray. Talk and he'll listen, ask with thanksgiving and receive with a grateful heart. 

If for some reason, during a talk with a friend things seemed blurred to me, it's all so very clear now - distinct. I know exactly what I should do, and I pray I don't lose sight of it. I'd really like to think this is God answering me, talking to me; that it's not just me relying on my own again. I personally took this as Paul's reminder to me, "Whateveryou have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the GOD OF PEACE will be with you." (Phil. 4:9) 

I am very much encouraged by this, after feeling semi-lousy this afternoon. God, you truly are amazing. 

Heavenly Father, 

Thank You Lord for today, the first day of the second semester, of seeing my friends again and having that one special talk with Your beautiful daughter. I think I needed that, to realize it and to stop looking at things through rose tinted glasses. I've never been an addict and I don't want to start now. Father, just please be with me. I need Your counsel Lord, I need You. I need to rely on You, Lord. Father, I lift everything up to You, my concerns with this certain issue. Father may You always be in my every thought and may every decision I make may be considered Godly and have Your approval, Lord. Father, please never tire of reminding me that I've surrendered my life to You, and as such have completely given over the control of my life to You. Lord, just please let Your will work in my life, let me have the courage to confront my anxieties. 

I love you Lord. Never let me stop from falling deeper in love with You.

In Christ's Name,

Amen

Worthy

For some reason, I've taken to writing my thoughts on the Bible passages here on this blog - analyzing them as I did Dante's Inferno and Purgatorio. The only difference is, the Bible is the word of God and there really is just one answer for each passage. But, I took the tools I got from interpreting the first to canticles and using them to somehow understand God's love letter to humanity.

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ."

- Phil. 3:7 (NIV)

I don't know much about Paul, but I know that when he converted to Christianity, he had a lot to lose. He'd already made a name for himself. His fame - or notoriety - was in line. I mean, after persecuting all those churches, to suddenly becoming one of Christ's best warriors. That change of heart, I would assume, put his judgement into question. But knowing what's at stake and what's really important, I guess Paul didn't really give much thought to that anymore.

As for us, it's a matter of setting our priorities correctly and knowing that whatever losses we may have here on earth are in no comparison to the eternal gain we will have in heaven. Colossians 3:2 says, Set your minds on things above and not on earthly things. It's hard, especially since we're all very much susceptible to distractions and temptations. But it really is just a matter of remembering who our God is and just how much he's done for all of us. Having the knowledge that we do now of our God, everything we do hereafter should be a reaction or a response to his love. A reflection of how glorious he really is. 

And the best response would be to spread his good news, to be missionaries in our own little way. We know the options, the consequences - they don't. We should take it upon ourselves to do so, to set our goals on the things that Christ intended for us.

This is our response.

Humility to Unity

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves" - Phil. 2:3 (NIV)

A few weeks ago, when I was still in school for the first semester of my second year, our class tackled Dante's Inferno then Purgatorio. When I was fortunate enough to have had lunch with my professors for this class, I took the opportunity to ask them why Purgatory was structured in such a way that Dante and Virgil had to go through the terrace of the Proud. Fr. Soria said that it's because all the other sins stemmed from pride, that is you do all these other heinous things because you love yourself more than you do other people and God.

Christ, is the exact opposite.

Because he loved us all, he was willing to become human, be a servant to all and die on the cross. My favorite analogy of just how invaluable we truly are is that think of humans as ants and Christ as a human being. Upon seeing that the ants are about to face their demise, he decides to turn into an ant himself just so he could tell them of what's about to happen so that he could save them all; because he loved them. I know it seems silly but it has made the concept of our salvation just a little bit clearer. He humbled himself so that he could save us because he loves us, plain and simple.

What does that mean for us? 

I can't speak for everybody, but at least it's a reminder for myself to keep my ego in check. I mean, I may not voice my thoughts all the time, but when someone is better than me at something I truly love, in my head I've already judged them to be this entirely different I'm sure they're not. Or have plotted their demise, or something. Point is, I feel the resentment and even though I don't act on those bitter feelings, thinking about them is just as bad.

Basically, I guess what this passage is saying is that in order to be united, we need to humble ourselves and accept each other and respect each other. This is quite timely too. Especially since GCF is going through major transitions as of the moment. But, I should say that we're on our way to being a united Church once again, steps have already been made for this. The rest is up to God. :)

4 Loaded Words

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain"

-Philippians 1:21 (NIV)

They say that Philippians is one of the most joyous book in the Bible, and I guess anyone would think that too seeing the word 'rejoice' several times throughout the entire book. For me though, I'm not sure if I completely believe it. I guess I'm just skeptical of the fact that someone can find joy in being locked up in jail, chained and all. I mean no matter how close a person's relationship with God is, they're still human and are still susceptible to feeling anxiety and fear. Of course I have no real way of finding out what Paul truly felt during his time in prison, but I have a feeling that he was putting up a brave front for Timothy and the Philippians. Or I could be totally wrong and he was, in fact, quite happy during the time of his captivity. 

"Yes, and I will continue to rejoice..." -Phil. 1:18

"For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him." -Phil. 1:29

Like many, I've also asked myself why Paul would be joyful at such a time. Yes, I know it's part of the package when we agreed to be like Christ; that we'd all be persecuted and hated on by many just like him. But unlike Christ, we hurt and we have breakdowns, not saying that Christ wasn't human - because he became man - only that he had better control of his feelings. Or simply that he knew better that to think or act on his emotions. I suppose what Paul is showing us here is not just his great determination to be like his savior but a clear manifestation of his love for Christ. I kind of imagine him to be like: "Lord, I really hate it here and my situation really sucks but because I love you, I'm going to suck it up and make the most of this situation." That and he was saying how a lot of people are spreading the gospel with so many different motives as a reaction to his imprisonment. Seriously, talk about a flipping silver lining on a dark cloud. 

There are only so few people who can think of the brighter side of things during terrible predicaments and even fewer who can still think of the furtherance of God's kingdom during a challenge like this. I'm not even going to pretend that I'm one of those few. I'm not. I've been blessed enough to not have that many drastic experiences in my life. But even during the times that I consider to be pretty challenging, I know I'm not the most optimistic person out there, but I do have hope that things would be better. I suppose I've mostly rested on the assurance that my God is in control. 

I suppose, and hope, that that is what was going through Paul's mind at the time. That yes, it is an incredibly difficult time for him, but he's okay because God has got him covered. 

Not only that, Paul also doesn't fail to remind us to keep living by example; that since we've all accepted Christ to be our Lord and Savior, it is then a natural reaction to be like him. I mean come on, the man's in jail writing a letter to his disciple and he still manages to stay positive about a lot of things. THAT is living by example - especially for all of us, whether Christian or not, a student or not. One mistake or one lousy day doesn't mean it is the end of the world. Whether or not that keeps on happening, God will still love you. 

So then what does verse 21 mean? I suppose that means that if we truly want to be like our savior then nothing should hold us back or keep us from doing so. You don't follow Christ because there are perks or because you're afraid of eternal damnation. You follow him because you believe deep within your heart that without him, you will be lost forever; that nothing makes sense if he's not there to guide you and that it is so easy to just keep on sinning. 

We follow Christ because we believe in him and because we want to be like him. And we want to be like him because we are so deeply in love with him. 

Dear Lord, please help this child of yours to grow more deeply in love with you. Father, please guide me onto the path that you have laid out for me. May I follow that path with an open mind and open heart and with complete and utter obedience to your word. Grant me that happiness only you can give each time I spend time with you, Lord. 

In Christ's name,

Amen.

Oy, heavy heavy stuff

A friend and I agreed that we'd do devotions on the Book of Malachi together. Although he already warned me how heavy it was going to be, I wasn't quite prepared for the messages it contains. Already in chapter 1, God uses the word hate and says it again in chapter 2. I don't know, I guess it came as a shock for me as I've only ever known God to be loving, kind, faithful, merciful, forgiving and many more good attributes. I know he hates sin and evil, but I never quite thought that He'd hate Esau.

So I don't know the entire story. But based on what I know, Jacob was the one who wronged Esau. He was the one who stole Esau's inheritance then ran away from home when he found out that he has an extremely pissed older brother out to get him.I don't know. Maybe Lance Hahn is right and that we're too immature to fully understand God's reasons for doing things or for hating them. 

Man, I don't really know what to think or how exactly I feel about this. It's a bit a lot to take in, and I suppose it's shows just how much I still don't know about God. And my greatest fear right now is to be turned off by God. I mean I know the Israelites have done plenty of nasty, selfish and inconsiderate things. But right now, it just seems to me that God's a little... I don't even want to say it. I feel like I should scrub my brain clean just thinking about it and going there. 

Ugh. I wish God and I would just talk face to face.. Then again, maybe not so soon, I'd still like to do some things with my life. ahe. But I do want to talk to Him. Well, I guess maybe I should go and do it. :)

God bless everyone. :)