Journey to God in Small Steps

     “Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. And the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as a stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the Sycamore of the Shephelah. And Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king’s traders would buy them from Kue for a price. They imported a chariot from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver, and a horse for 150. Likewise through them these were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.” 2 Chronicles 1:14-17   These verses today gave me valuable lessons on trading and sourcing: 1.       Solomon increased the supply of valuable goods. Gold and silver were needed for the palace and house of God. Cedar trees were also in demand. Solomon grew the supply of those three, turning them from rare goods, into plenty. This introduces the value of...

We all had been through many storms together and God has been faithful. From recovering from a global recession to transforming our nations and workplaces, God had brought us through. When we felt like the storms got us on our knees, God was with us. Right now, our faith needs to shine once more. We are the salt and  light  of the earth, the lamp in the darkness, wherever we came from. The God who saved us from many difficulties, whether personal, nationwide, corporately, and globally will come through. And we need our faith to rise more than ever. Just a month ago, during our leadership group, we were praying against COVID-19, and we believed that God has raised up modern-day Josephs of our time, people who would be able to come up with different solutions to save a  people  from perishing, to feed the hungry, and to preserve a generation from destruction. Many have already risen up and have acted with wisdom on the local levels. I continue to b...

I've been using a dual-purpose laptop for about a month or so. Though I know it has both a keyboard/trackpad interface and a touch screen display, I stuck to the keyboard/trackpad input as a primary means to get my work done. Just today, out of circumstance, I was reminded of its touch screen input. I now tried to use my hand to go around apps and websites and use the keyboard for typing. I realized "Wow, this laptop was really made for a touch screen interface. It is very sensitive to your press (even a light one) and it was a fast and accurate experience." I'm like "Whoah! I can use both to get my job done." The thing is I had to rediscover this laptop's features before I began to use it in a way that maximizes its benefits to me. So many times we don't realize that God has already given us everything we need in our Christian walk through His finished work on the cross, the Holy Spirit, and one more instrument He gave to us on earth, i...

Cyber attacks and cybersecurity have come at the forefront as this century's new crime concern. Hackers get into the system of an enterprise, government, or personal device and steal classified data, customer identifications such as personal and card information, and if they can, render systems corrupted or inoperable, causing dollars of money on lost data, operations and people's identities. Last year was such a year. And it caused people money, liability (in the form of lawsuits), unstable systems and more money  –  to in vest in more secure systems. The first message I believe from God on this situation is: " The thief  comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, A )" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">  and have it to the full ." John 10:10 The last month, in the midst of many good happenings in my life by the ...

World Watch prayer request - June 24, 2014 Hello! Please pray for the new UN climate agreement that is currently being negotiated by and with country leaders around the world. Why it matters: The new agreement will supersede the Kyoto Protocol and will set new targets for countries to reduce their emissions from 2020 and beyond. For reference, you may check this article written by The Christian Science Monitor: http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Global-Warming/2014/0621/Global-warming-Can-post-Kyoto-climate-pact-work-by-taking-a-different-tack Prayer points: * that they will have peaceful negotiation talks ** that country leaders be given wisdom to set targets and an implementation plan to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions *** that they will have unity, camaraderie and cooperation that is needed to achieve a binding agreement (to be signed in 2015) that will be beneficial for all countries. Stewardship of the Earth is our kingdom mandate " God blessed them a...

Yesterday, I watched the movie  Son of God directed by Christopher Spencer and featuring Diogo Morgado as Jesus and Roma Downey as Mary, the mother of Jesus. I'm just refreshed by the unique take that the writers took on Jesus life. It may not be intended to be a more scholarly take on His life but it succeeded in portraying Jesus as having walked on earth as a real man and still God's beloved Son. The Jesus in this story (I don't know if it was the intent) had a more youthful aura compared to a more mature presentation of Him in previous movies, which is actually not bad when you would think that He was a son, God's very own Son. He was vulnerable and prayed to an omnipotent Father. The portrayal of Jesus being God's Son was more elaborated for me by this new movie. The previous Jesus movie, the Passion of Christ , had a very successful take on Jesus' death. It was enough for someone to come out of a movie house repenting of sin because of the cost of His e...

I was reading Isaiah 51 during my time with the Lord this morning. From the text, it somehow answered the discussion my other brother and I were having last night. He was telling me about certain predictions concerning my country, the Philippines. I just told him about one Word that God the LORD gave three or four years ago that is coming true since then. It was the promise of God that He will shake what can be shaken. Haggai 2:6:  “ This is what the  Lord  Almighty says: ‘In a little while  I will once more shake the heavens and the earth,  the sea and the dry land.   I will shake all nations, and what is desired  by all nations will come, and I will fill this house  with glory, ’ says the  Lord  Almighty. " Hebrews 12: 26-27: " And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, "YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN."  This expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of ...

Several people have gone from this world to the next with us noticing. The recent devastation in Yolanda has claimed a 5,000+ death toll. A rail station crash from New York claimed four lives. Just last night, my brother told me that American actor Paul Walker died in a car crash on Saturday. The Washington Post made a lovely and very nostalgic album of notable deaths in 2013 . While I'm not particularly in joyful spirits to hear anyone's demise, the daily rate at which it happens this time can't seem to pass me by. While browsing The Washington Post's collection of pictures of people who died that made a mark in different fields - actors, authors, journalists, musicians, people from the world of sports, I wonder to myself what my own obituary would be like without making a death wish. But in the reality of it without wanting to sound depressing, is death one of life's philosophy questions? We may or may not have an opinion on death - philosophical or not - ...

Holy Week is here again. Just when I was about to prepare myself for a different trip, I realize it's suddenly here. For the Philippines' 80% Roman Catholics, this is a very important tradition to remind themselves of what Christ did, often told in the fourteen stations of the Cross that would depict each phase of Christ's suffering until his death. It often includes a Bisita Iglesia where people would go from church to church. People would include a passion story in their services. Streets will be filled with people who would go over the passion story together with walks, leaflets, and collective prayers. A prayer for Holy Week A prayer for people as they prepare and attend to their services to the Lord during this season. O Lord Jesus, we just thank You God for another opportunity to be one with you in your suffering and sacrifice. Lord I pray that You will open my eyes such that there will never be another Holy Week for me where I have learned about You more. Lor...

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 Malacañang presidential palace and told him to present his team and their mime pre...

I've seen a lot of highs and lows in 2012. I'm an avid reader of news thanks to the remarkable habit instilled to me by my bosses. I read news that shocked me and I read news that I shared in social media sites (including different versions of the stories from the perspectives of the people involved and notable ones from ordinary citizens and others). 2012 shocked, surprised, came and went. In all of it, probably one of the most that we had to deal with was the instability of some European nations at the first half of the year. It was a reality that none of us could have thought possible and a reality we wish would pass in the coming months or as soon as possible. Like many of the people in Europe, we knew reforms had to be made, not only in their countries but also in those that would be affected - the United States, China, the Philippines and the rest. While this blog is not meant to be an economic forecast  or an economic analysis of 2012, the European recession is to me ...

In marketing we learned that while positioning is establishing your place in the mind of the customer, repositioning on the other hand is adjusting the current positioning that the brand already has in the customer’s mind. Part of starting a new brand or a new product is to find its positioning but repositioning is an activity for brands, companies, names, etc. that already exist, whether the perception of them is good or bad that is in need of a positioning makeover. RH Bill may be a law but to the general public it is a service, a service or program that happens to be from the government that can also benefit from a good positioning or a repositioning. What is RH Bill’s positioning to the public lately? If it will be alright to share my views, RH Bill has an unclear positioning to the public as a result of clashes in opinions. The opinions are fine but if they are too opposing, once it gets to be implemented in the general public, it is going to be confusing. Some groups say...