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Showing posts from February, 2013

Faith and Obedience

Faith and obedience go hand-in-hand. One, faith is the anchor that results in obedience. " See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a  sinful ,  unbelieving  heart that turns away from the living God. " (Hebrews 3:12)  The book of Hebrews was written for Christians. Paul was talking to those among the spiritual family.  Some authors I've read before claim that unbelief is the mother of all sins, referring to the time the first woman Eve was tempted and the result was disobedience. Hence, the fall of man.  “ Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’? , ” the tempter asked the woman. He was questioning Eve about what God said.  From there, he fed the doubt that was beginning.  “ You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.   “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,  knowing good and evil. ” The rest is history. Without faith, it is impossible to please God (

The Purpose of Storms

Storms. Lord no please. Haha. My self would say that. " No Lord. Take me through the quiet waters. Take me to the mountains, even the hills. Anything Lord, just not the storms. Please =) " I still hear myself say that sometimes even though I know better what the purpose of storms are somehow. 1. I think storms clarify our vision. When pushed comes to shove, we remember what's more important. We don't try to dangle on the volume of the activity but we press toward what matters more. At recession times, we cut back a little. Present limitations remind us not to go after everything but the one thing - direction, plan, strategies - that will work. Life's storms have a way of pruning out what's not important. It zooms our vision to the eternal. During my last church service, I was having trouble staying in church. Tired. Worn out. Ministry did not satisfy me. The people will not either. I was worn out that day. But when I sat there, I was reminded again

How Much Do You Love Me?

Valentine's Day is not over yet. People need to be assured that they are loved beyond the day and beyond the month of February. Such is the case of my life. Where to start? We had our meeting last Sunday for the short-term missions that we will be doing soon . As an exhortation, we were asked to do the work out of God's love. My friend and co-worker Liv Funtanar from Victory Christian Fellowship U-Belt asked the group to close their eyes and ask God to reveal how much He loves us. Liv asked the question to God two weeks ago and said that God showed His nail marks on His hands and had Liv feel it. "I love you this much." I was surprised to receive a vision from God too. In my vision, God showed me the whole world covered in gold. And He said to me, "You are worth more than all that." " YOU ARE WORTH MORE THAN ALL THAT " http://endtimesrevelations.wordpress.com Then God showed me a staircase that I climbed leading to His throne. He sh

For The Love of Ferrero

Yesterday was our small group's first bonding for the year. My sisters Elaine, Karyll and I had a sumptuous dinner at Mom and Tina's, a bakery joint in Makati City. Aside from the well-prepared and fresh food that we ate, it was a time of getting to know one another more. My friend, who was heading this session, asked us to bring our favorite chocolates prior to the event. I brought a Ferrero Rocher! "Why is Ferrero your favorite chocolate?" I love Ferrero because it is so unique of chocolates. It is very distinctive. And I like that! Chocolates are in a way unique - they come in very unique packages. My favorite happens not only to look good but it tastes great as well. When I was younger I would be so excited to eat one but I take my time eating it. I would start with the choco nuts layer. Then when I finished that, I will move on to the wafer layer. Then I will start on the milk chocolate. And then finally, the nut underneath it all.  That was how I trea

Giving that Honors God

One of my favorite stories in the Bible on giving is in Mark 12:41-44. It is just two short paragraphs. It is the story of a poor widow who threw in a "few small copper coins, worth only a few cents" to the Temple offerings. I love the story because it emphasized that giving is not just an external issue but an internal one. What did the woman have that pleased God? 1. Faith The woman gave out of faith. "...she in her poverty, put in everything." (verse 44). Her circumstances did not stop her from believing the God of the provision -- Jehovah Jireh, "The Lord is My Provider." The woman gave out of her faith in the Lord and not in her abilities. How do we know this? Read verse 43 and 44 again. " Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said,  “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.   They all gave out of their wealth ; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on. ” Th

A Foreign Missionary's Role in EDSA

I loved the happenings of EDSA People Power Revolution. Worldwide publications reported how the Filipino people ousted a powerful dictator peacefully. And while we heard of the reports of the event in the eyes of the media, I would like to share to you today something that happened behind the scenes. A story that God saw because He started it. It mattered. It mattered to this country. It mattered to our people. It mattered for eternity. The story I am to share is the story of how God spoke to some of the main characters of the People Power Revolution through a foreign missionary who had stayed in the country during his time of continuing to bless our people with the gospel and the love of Jesus Christ. Here's an account of his story as published in his book Following Jesus *: First message: The year was 1982. God told Ross Tooley to contact the leader of the Catholic charismatic group at the MalacaƱang presidential palace and told him to present his team and their mime pre

Feedback We Can Trust

I want you to know God wants you to succeed in life and in relationships. God has amazing plans specifically for you, plans to prosper you not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. But there is a catch. We have to do it God's way, God's direction and God's timing. Suppose I tell you that the first account of people conducting research in the Bible was in the book of Numbers. The situation: After decades of being in the desert, the Lord commanded the Israelites to survey the land of Canaan. It was the promised land that God had said they would inhabit and inherit. According to the Lord, the land was flowing with milk and honey. The problem was this was no ordinary takeover. There were people already inhabiting the land. These were the Canaanites, an idolatrous and godless people in their time. Moses sent 12 leaders, one for every tribe in Israel. These were his research questions . He said, " Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country.

The Inevitable Choice

I was watching one of these soap operas yesterday entitled, Kailangan Ko'y Ikaw (English means I Need You ). In the story, one of the leading women, played by media personality Kris Aquino as Roxanne Manrique, makes a conviction to finally decide to fight for the man that she loves. However, father, played by acting veteran Tirso Cruz III, with his bias against the man and with something to hide continues to forbid the relationship. The leading man, played by actor Robin Padilla, was misunderstood in his intentions with two sisters, Roxanne Manrique and the younger sister, Ruth Manrique. It interests me to watch this series not only because of the people the make up the cast but also because there's a moving conflict and consistency among the characters' personalities from the very beginning. It's very easy to see firsthand who the characters are and what he or she is like. It's just so interesting. Anyhow, as you know this is not an entertainment blog of that