AWESPIRING GOD

OF MISCARRIAGES AND MIRACLES

noreply@blogger.com (The Artissionary) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 04:58:00 +0000

By Ana Celina D. Aboganda from my Facebook Notes published on February 4, 2011
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001667541359&ref=hpbday#!/note.php?note_id=151471368240153

Nothing can ever ease the pain of separation.

Like a whirlwind, "everything happened so fast." There was barely time to rejoice. The day that we saw our tiny baby in the ultrasound monitor and felt the rush when the doctor showed us the signs of his/her heartbeat, was the same day s/he left my body.

For the next two days I did nothing but talk to God, wrestle with Him, and plead to let me keep my baby.

This morning, before going to the doctor where we eventually learned that what we feared did happen, I told God that after losing my parents, losing our child would really hurt so much. In short I was saying, "Please not this time, Lord. Not this time."

I knew I was praying to a God Whose love is steadfast. Who healed the sick with just a Word. Who raised people from the dead. Surely miracles such as the one I was asking is so easy for Him to perform.

Now why did God say "No"?

I would like to be able to say that I understand. That I know that something good will come out of it. That I am strong and unshaken. But the truth is, I am grieving and I'm not even concerned about "the light at the end of the tunnel."

Still every time Jesus turns to ask me, "Nina, will this hardship cause you to leave Me?" All I can do is echo Peter's words in John 6: 68-69 "Lord, to whom shall I go? You have the words of eternal life, and I have believed, and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God." No matter how tough it gets, there's no better place to be than with Jesus. And even if I will never understand, I know that God's will in our lives is always always ALWAYS motivated by His perfect love.

Even after experiencing the loss of my parents, I am still not used to the pain of separation. To think I only had a "relationship" with my baby for 5 weeks...

But as I write this I am reminded that the worst separation is that of separation from God for eternity. No matter how one may get used to living his/her life on Earth separated from God, once the separation is made permanent in death, nothing will ever ease that pain.

Thank you to all those who rejoiced when you learned about my pregnancy. How we pray soooo much that the celebration could have lasted longer...

I pray, for what it's worth, you would celebrate with us in eternity by checking out the Jesus we have come to believe. Not for His miracles, or even for the blessings, or prayers that were answered. Not even for His promises of an abundant life. But for His love that motivated Him to come down on Earth, live the life of a man, experience the hurts we all have and more, and die a gruesome death on the Cross. All just so we won't suffer the pain of being separated from Him.

Certainly, committing to Him won't guarantee a life of joyful bliss. But it guarantees LIFE---meaningful and eternal.

THIS IS MY LIFE

noreply@blogger.com (The Artissionary) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 04:50:00 +0000

by Ana Celina D. Aboganda from my Facebook Notes last February 16, 2011; http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001667541359&ref=hpbday#!/note.php?note_id=154400081280615

It was the wee hours of the morning, I felt nauseous and sick. I kept thinking whether or not I should get back to work. There was a strong temptation to just stay curled up in bed, "shielded" from the outside world.

But the three verses that have always been directing my life kept coming back to me. More and more I have come to realize that God is giving me the opportunity to experience, live out, and understand these verses in my life...

Acts 20:24

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace.

Mark 12:30

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'

Luke 14:33

In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

I kept hearing the lie that I needed to get my feelings in order first before I move on. But God keeps saying to me that to love Him is not just about what my heart and soul feels. I am also to love Him with all my mind and strength. Despite the feelings.

The Holy Spirit kept reminding me "Consider your life worth nothing to you, Nins, if only to testify to the Gospel of God's grace." It was because of that grace that I was able to prepare to go back to work.As if God was affirming me, I immediately received a text from Mela, one of our student volunteers in Miriam, that her professor scheduled us to share the Gospel with her class the next day! Though I've experienced many classroom evangelisms and get excited in each one, this was particularly special because this was a first in Miriam!ü

We went and spoke to that class with the goal of blessing their hearts, but God faithfully blessed our hearts, as well, seeing Him work in and through us. I was inspired to see the ladies from the Miriam Team serve out of the overflow of God's love despite the trials and hurts they themselves were experiencing. The professor also encouraged and comforted me in the hurts I was feeling after the miscarriage.

Today was filled with opportunities to share the Gospel---to an entire class and to individual students. As I sat in the campus corridors, this overwhelming feeling of joy and peace enveloped me. I was exactly where God wanted me to be, doing exactly what He wants me to do. Suddenly, the tears that flowed for days have finally dried. I now know, the blessings do not define my life... It is sharing Jesus Christ. That gives me life.

This year God's theme for me has been about counting the cost of being His disciple.

I have learned, salvation is free and discipleship is costly. But hearing Jesus say "well done" is priceless.

Children of GOD

noreply@blogger.com (The Artissionary) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 23:36:00 +0000

Luke 9:48

“Then He said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes this little child in My Name welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me welcomes the One who sent Me. For he who is least among you all—he is the greatest.’”

When I was a kid, I enjoyed playing, drawing, watching television, etc. This was all I desire during that time. What a naïve thing to desire, but I can say, I was the innocence in me that led me to these petty hobbies. Looking at kids, their desires are not the same as we old people have.

I remember when I got a little bit older, I had a crush with this girl and started to court her. I was just a teenager (*teenage relationships is not a thing in the Philippines, the outside world just presented it to us) and because of this desire of mine to have somebody to love (romantically) I did the stupidest of things.

Did you notice, my desires were a bit different when I was still so young as a boy and when I entered adolescence?

Jesus is telling the disciples, “Whoever receives this little child…” Anyone who accepts this child, receive it as if he were to be like a child—welcomes Jesus, which transcends welcoming God, the Father. Simply, Jesus is telling us to be just like this child—innocent, humble and easy to itself. He should desire the little things and not think about the big things—where is my seat of honor, where is my grand reception… This is not what God wants—He wants humility, just like what Jesus exemplified as He was obedient to the cross.

Ask yourselves then, “ako ba’y parang bata sa mata ng Dios?” “Am I humble, easy to myself and quiet in the eyes of people?”

Pray that God teaches us to be just like a CHILD.

The Path of a Prayer Warrior

noreply@blogger.com (The Artissionary) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 01:35:00 +0000

I was able to be given an opportunity or a privilege by God to speak about "Prayer" in my home church. I'd like you to study with me, what God has impressed upon me how to be "A Prayer Warrior!"

Note: Sorry for the serious face, I was so stiff, I was having a serious stage fright hahahaha! But God gave me strength to speak, praise God!

The One Crucified

noreply@blogger.com (Sunrise) — Tue, 05 May 2009 02:29:00 +0000

Luke 23: 26
As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.

This specific event in the passion of Jesus always puzzled me. It struck me as a detail of great significance, but I couldn't really grasp what it meant. Until one conversation with Yuklid in the bus. It was after the high school camp and he was sharing with me how he was touched after watching that very same scene in the movie, Passion of the Christ.

I've always wondered why Simon had to carry the cross, and why Jesus allowed it. Though technically He didn't ask for it, I wondered why Jesus let someone "help" Him with what was supposed to be His sacrifice?

In this season of my life, I find myself asking essentially the same question. I know that Jesus' cross is enough for me and is all that I need, but why do I still find myself wanting? The cross is Jesus' complete expression of His love, but why doesn't it help with my pain? Why don't I feel like He's loving me?

What Jesus said in " Luke 14:27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. " comes to mind every time.

Why do I still have to carry a cross? It's too heavy.

Yux said something important that hit me (obvious as it may be, I missed it) when we carry our cross, all we see is the cross we're carrying and forget that Christ is also right there.

I was too focused on my cross. I didn't realize that though I am carrying my cross for a time, at the end of the day, Jesus is still the One crucified and not me.

Just A.S.K.

noreply@blogger.com (The Artissionary) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 01:08:00 +0000

"How to ask, seek and knock."

Matthew 7:7-8
⁷"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Just ASK! We forget to ask because (1) We are busy with so many things like trying to look for answers outside the Will of God, (2) We don't want to bother God because maybe, just maybe, He'd be angry at us for waking Him up early in the morning just to ask for help, and (3) We have forgotten that our God makes everything possible, even if it's humanly impossible.

We box God into our own context, or experience, or even meaning, that our relationship with God as Father has become distorted. For example, we ask God for something and not get it -- we get angry with God and think of Him as a Father who really doesn't care. Do you sometimes receive a "No" answer from God to your prayers? Well, surely, there is nothing wrong with God, maybe there is something wrong with the request you have (read James 4:2-3). God wants to hear from you, He wants to bless you "but" since He is our Father, "He knows what's best for us." Who are we to say that we know what's best when the One who created us in our mothers' womb knows the purpose of our very existence.

Another type of boxing God in this A.S.K. context is this: we seek, but we seek the wrong things. We seek for ways to answer our problems not letting God interfere. We let God interfere when all our resources are gone. Wouldn't it best if right after a "need" we go immediately to our Father? But we tend to forget this, that the Creator has everything that we need. We just need to seek Him first. (read Matthew 6:33)

Seek (in greek means) "to seek [in order to find out] by thinking, meditating, reasoning, to enquire into"

Isaiah 1:18-19, God says ...¹⁸ "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. ¹⁹ If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land;

Do you seek God earnestly? Do you really want Him? God invites you to reason with Him, talk to Him like human, tell Him what you feel.

Learn to knock. Whenever I go home, I always knock when I don't have the keys to the house. If I need to pee, I knock rapidly because I need to call the attention of the people inside the house. Isn't prayer the same thing? The only box that we have here is that, we only pray when we need to ask God a favor which so many times turns out to be a very big favor. We need to knock on God's not only when you need it but every day, hour, minute. He is a Father, not an earthly Father but your Father most High! He is concerned about you and what you're going through. He wants to know what you are feeling, and He wants you to wait on Him. Even if you're waiting for so long, wait for him.

I just want to end the devotional with this story: After a couple of months in my first job in an advertising firm, I was put in a team that advertised liquor. The liquor was called this "devils" name, and I was having a hard time really advertising that brand. It was the hardest time because God led me to resign. I turned to human answers and it didn't supply any good solutions, so I what did I do? Ask, seek, and knock. I resigned after a struggle with God but right after that He showed me why it was it was the right response for me to do. I earned more after than that first job.

So are you really A.S.K.ing? Learn and ask God how to ask, seek and knock.

God bless!

What does God desire?

noreply@blogger.com (The Artissionary) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 02:20:00 +0000

Hosea 6:6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
and acknowledgment of God
rather than burnt offerings.

I like how NASB says it, "For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.- (Hos 6:6)"

Its God saying that what's important to Him is loyalty and knowledge of God than sacrifice or burnt offerings, the inward actions than the outward visible actions.

What's in your heart? Is it genuine, is it real? Many acts disguise themselves as forfeit service because of the unwillingness of the heart of God's people to see the real meaning of loyalty to God and having the knowledge of God. They forfeit their sacrifice because in the first place their hearts are not yielded to God. We just do it for the sake of duty and not because we love God.

God is not saying He does not want you to serve in ministry or to stop doing anything for Him, in fact it is His command for you to serve Him. What He wants is for us to focus more on the fundamentals of faith, that we believers would live in love with Him (which is internal), than just live out of our duty to sacrifice or burn offerings for Him (which is external). He is asking for loyalty and knowledge of Him because these acts are saying that, "God, its all about you."

Have you've been busy serving than surrending your heart, your life to God?

COMING SOON: "God, our boss: How to work and still glorify God."

noreply@blogger.com (The Artissionary) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 03:19:00 +0000

Who's Disappointed?

noreply@blogger.com (Sunrise) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:39:00 +0000

Thanks to "St.Francis Square radio," I have a new LSS (or Last Song Syndrome) today:

"Do you know what it feels like loving someone that's in a rush to throw you away?"

Actually, that's the only line that stuck to me. After Googling it, I discovered that it's a song by Enrique Iglesias... and that I don't know the melody of the next lines. Haha!

But as I was singing this line again and again at the office and on my way home (torturing and embarrassing Yux with matching dance steps in public), I realized how this line can very likely be a tune that Jesus is singing. And to Enrique Iglesias Jesus might say, "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do know what it feels like."

I have been reading a book by one of my favorite authors, Philip Yancey, called DISAPPOINTMENT WITH GOD. Truth be told, God is exposing my heart lately and has revealed "offensive ways" in me: I have been disappointed with Him and I am too weak to be ok. And I realize it's because I don't know Him well enough.

What struck me about the book, so far, is the reality that God is, in fact, an emotional, hurting, angry, grieving, forgiving Lover... desperately inlove but holy...

As the author puts it,

"But the prophets, and especially Hosea, communicate one message above all others: God is the betrayed one. It was Israel, not God, who had gone a-whoring. The prophets of Israel had expressed a profound disappointment in God, accusing him of acting aloof, unconcerned, silent. But when God spoke, he poured out emotions pent up for centuries. And he, not Israel, was the truly disappointed party." (pp. 95)

The first parts of the book discuss the dilemma of how when God spoke audibly and acted tangibly in behalf of His people (first parts of the Old Testament), the people still ended up forsaking Him, ignoring Him, or feeling more distant from Him because of His holiness (begging that God would not speak to them directly). And so God resolved to use His Word through the prophets to speak on His behalf. Still nothing. They wouldn't listen, and they preferred to hear only "good prophecies." Finally, to bridge the gap and express His ultimate love, His holiness and His Word became flesh: Jesus... Still, people rejected Him because He wasn't how they assumed a king or a Son of God should be.

I'm not yet done with the book, but it's giving me a whole new perspective on God. And on myself and how I've been treating my Heavenly Father and Holy Lover.

Several quotes keep coming back to my memory: "God's love is settled on the Cross." No matter what happens and what God allows in my life, He has given the ultimate expression of His love through Jesus and His death on the Cross. Also, "What hurts God most is not our Sin, but it's when we doubt that He loves us." *sigh*

God's WILL of Fortune

noreply@blogger.com (Sunrise) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:39:00 +0000

Joshua 1:8 (New International Version)

Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Don't we all want to know the future? Sometimes, I do. Life will be less stressful if I just knew what God plans to do with my life. If only God would write in black and white in the Bible what will specifically happen about my job, my relationships, my heart's desires.

But He doesn't.

It's not like I want to know everything. But there are some things that are just too important to me and it matters that I know what God will do about it. When my dad was sick, I wanted to know if it was God's will for him to be healed or to die. When my boyfriend and I were separated and agreed to temporarily cut off communications in order for us to focus on God, I ended up focusing on finding out whether or not God wants us to eventually get back together.

Well I read in the Bible one night that Jesus healed a paralyzed man so I truly believed it was His promise that He would heal my dad. He didn't.

I kept on reading and reading God's Word to find out His opinion about me getting back together with my boyfriend. Nothing. One day I felt that maybe He was telling me one thing, the next day I try to confirm it but there's nothing. I had no peace. I only ended up being frustrated and quit reading the Bible for a while because "He's not speaking to me, anyway."

Knowing God's will can be quite--for lack of a better term--tricky in this world of ask Google, "'What to Do?' for Dummies," Oprah Winfreys and Dr. Phils. There's so much noise on the Planet that it's difficult to hear an invisible God.

Working full time with youth, I've seen young people like me have a hard time understanding God's will. Saying things like "God told me..." and "God wants me to..." carelessly and too often.

I have read good materials about discerning God's will like Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby, and they've helped me a lot in making God-glorifying, major decisions in my life. But these are more for making big decisions and not about finding out what God will be doing in your future. What I learned recently is that finding God's will for your life should be less about you and more about God.

"But isn't the fact that I want to know God's will make it all about Him?" you ask. Maybe. But is it really?

'Cause if it were, then you wouldn't be frustrated with Him. You wouldn't get angry. You wouldn't close your Bible, stick it in a shelf, and give God the silent treatment. You wouldn't say that "God is not speaking."

2 Timothy 3:16 states that "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness," Too often we use the Bible as though it were a prophecy book not about Jesus or His return, but about us and the details of our lives.

While it is true that the details of your life and the things that are important to you matter to God, the Bible is not about you. It's about Jesus, God's plan for salvation, and God's principles to help you grow towards Christlikeness. Paul didn't say that the "Scripture is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, training, and fortune telling."

So I've learned that the Bible is not so I can try to figure out what God wants me to eat for lunch, what He plans to do with my prayers, or what exactly is He cooking up for my future. If it's a "Yes," then He'll do it. He won't if it's a "No." Why do I keep on wanting to find out in advance what He will eventually reveal?

I should read the Bible to find out more about Him, His character, His love, His pleasures, His plans to prosper and not harm me, and His desire for me to become more like Jesus.

I've read before that more than you or anyone in the entire universe, God wants to reveal to you His will. It is not some kind of game to Him that He would keep His will a secret and wait 'til you figure it out.

Besides, God's ultimate will is already clear: that we all become more like His Son, Jesus. The Bible is full of principles, commands and directions toward that goal. And if we meditate on God's Word day and night, then we will be able to carefully make decisions that will please Him and bless us. (Joshua 1:8) Let's not make our time of meditation in God's Word be about us. His Word and our lives are all about Him.

Temptation

noreply@blogger.com (The Artissionary) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 02:06:00 +0000

THE GOD WHO DIED FOR YOU

noreply@blogger.com (The Artissionary) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:42:00 +0000

Well I just noticed, I have this knack of making gospel songs using secular tunes -- I'll just share it with you so that you can sing it in God's point of view. God bless!

Listen to the original song here!

The Man Who Cant Be Moved - The Script

Intro - G--F#/D--C--

G F#/D
Going back to the hill where I first saw you,
Am C
Gonna stay on the cross, I’m pinned, no, I'm not gonna move,
G F#/D
Got some words above me, I’m the King of the Jews,
Am C
Remember how you bruised me, when you lied about your school,
G F#/D
Some try to hand me kingdoms Satan doesn’t understand,
Am C
I'm not... tempted, I am a God who’ll die for His friends,
G F#/D
I know it makes no sense, but I’m not of this world,
Am C
How can you know me when you’re more focused on this world.

G D
Cos if one day you wake up and find that you’re missing me,
Am C
And your heart starts to wonder where on this earth I can be,
G D
Thinking maybe you'd come back here to the place that we'd meet,
Am C D
And you'd see me waiting for you on the hill (to) eternity.

G D
So I'm not moving...
Am C
I'm not moving.

G F#/D
Satan says son, do what you want here,
Am C
I said how long will you waste your time, a day, a month, a year,
G F#/D
But I will stand my ground even if it pains or crows,
Am C
If you change your mind this is the place where you can go.

G D
Cos if one day you wake up and find that you’re missing me,
Am C
And your heart starts to wonder where on this earth I can be,
G D
Thinking maybe you'd come back here to the place that we'd meet,
Am C D
And you'd see me waiting for you on the hill (to) eternity.

G D
So I'm not moving...
Am C
I'm not moving.
G D
So I'm not moving...
Am C
I'm not moving.
G D
So I'm not moving...
Am C
I'm not moving.

Em Am
People talk about the guy
C
Whos waiting on the world...

Oohoohwoo

Em Am
There’s a big hole in his hand
C
And another in his foot...

Hmmmm

Em D
Maybe you’ll be thinking how I waited for the world,
Am C D
And maybe you won't mean to but check me on my book,
Em D
And you'll come running to the cross...
Am
Coz you'll know it is for you

I'm the God who died for you
C
I'm the God who died for you...

G D
Cos if one day you wake up and find that you’re missing me,
Am C
And your heart starts to wonder where on this earth I can be,
G D
Thinking maybe you'd come back here to the place that we'd meet,
Am C D
And you'd see me waiting for you on the hill (to) eternity.

G D
So I'm not moving...
Am C
I'm not moving.

G D
So I'm not moving...
Am C
I'm not moving.

G D
So I'm not moving...
Am C
I'm not moving.

G F#/D
Going back to the hill where I first saw you,
Am C
Gonna stay on the cross, I’m pinned, no, I'm not gonna move

Faith

noreply@blogger.com (The Artissionary) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 06:00:00 +0000

PRINCIPLE #1: Those who have faith will follow God's commands, it will always be acted upon. A passive response to God's commands is literally "NO FAITH" at all.

PRINCIPLE #2: Subjection to SENSUALITY is "COUNTERFEIT HAPPINESS" - Panandaliang saya. You are looking for satisfaction from something else instead of God because you haven't experienced that GOD is ENOUGH.

PRINCIPLE #3: Faith pleases God.

PRINCIPLE #4: Faith is an action word. You don't just say you have faith and not do anything about it. You do something about it.

PRINCIPLE #5: ...

Today and Now

noreply@blogger.com (The Artissionary) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 04:32:00 +0000

7 So, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, . . ." - Hebrews 3:7-8a

Every morning I wake up I pull myself up from bed, try to stand, try to walk, try to push myself to that cold water and do my morning routine, just to go to work. I walk outside get a change for my 100 bucks, buying C2 or Zesto + crackers then I'm off to my trip. I stop at an overpass, try to look down, when temptation comes through billboards and the like, I have victories, and I have losses.

And this is the beginning of what you call, a trip to the world.

Hard as it is, every morning is a trip that few of us will try to travel seriously. And similarly, every evening trip will be the same as morning. Temptation, by observation, starts at the weakest time, the idlest, and the unprepared time of life. It is when we are not awake conciously that we are tempted strongly. It is when we are in a confused state that we start to think distortedly.

Yet God says, "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts..." Considering my travel, before everything else, I would read God's Word just for a fresh start for a new day, yet tempation in the morning and evening, will be ready to ruin me.

Sabi nga sa bible, "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8)

Now, obey. Today, do not harden your hearts. That is the message of God every morning and every evening. If you hear Him, do not harden your heart. If you listened, do not change focus.

"Today, if you hear His voice do not harden your hearts.."

Illustration of Faith: Abraham

noreply@blogger.com (The Artissionary) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 04:36:00 +0000

Romans 4:16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.

Have you ever wonder why salvation is free? Have you ever wonder why faith is all we need? Many people try to disprove everyday, this fact that salvation or the saving of our souls by the forgiveness of our sins through CHRIST death is the only way. That's why people do so many things to suffice the payment of their sins. But who can pay it? Who is qualified enough to pay it? No one! Because no one is righteous.

We give to charity, we pray, we read the bible, we attend Sunday worship, but none of these will forgive you of your sins. How can charity, prayer, reading the bible, Sunday worship tell you that you are forgiven? Are they God, to say speak out knowledge? No practice can forgive you! No movement can forgive you! But only Jesus Christ who forgiven our sins on the cross.

How can we be forgiven? By believing that Jesus died on the cross for us and on the third day He rose again. Now who forgave us? Jesus. What is the difference? Jesus, is God. Charity is not.

So don't think that by doing things -- you are being forgiven. Jesus Christ answered your forgiveness by your faith in Him. And this is grace -- "undeserved, unmerited favor." This is grace because He didn't need to see you act obediently to forgive you. This is grace because He didn't wait to see you change for the good to forgive you. He died for us while we are sinners.

Like Abraham, He did not wait for the day of Isaac's birth to proclaim Abraham's righteous. Because Abraham's righteousness, is by faith, by believing. As it is written "the promise comes by faith."

Now, what is works then? It is the result of your faith in Jesus Christ.

OneTimeBlind: The Stool

noreply@blogger.com (The Artissionary) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 13:47:00 +0000

GodTube "New Year's Reflection"

noreply@blogger.com (The Artissionary) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 13:34:00 +0000

Repentance by Oswald Chambers

noreply@blogger.com (The Artissionary) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 05:27:00 +0000

December 7, 2008

Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation . . . —2 Corinthians 7:10

Conviction of sin is best described in the words:

My sins, my sins, my Savior,
How sad on Thee they fall.

Conviction of sin is one of the most uncommon things that ever happens to a person. It is the beginning of an understanding of God. Jesus Christ said that when the Holy Spirit came He would convict people of sin (see John 16:8 ). And when the Holy Spirit stirs a person’s conscience and brings him into the presence of God, it is not that person’s relationship with others that bothers him but his relationship with God— "Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight . . ." ( Psalm 51:4 ). The wonders of conviction of sin, forgiveness, and holiness are so interwoven that it is only the forgiven person who is truly holy. He proves he is forgiven by being the opposite of what he was previously, by the grace of God. Repentance always brings a person to the point of saying, "I have sinned." The surest sign that God is at work in his life is when he says that and means it. Anything less is simply sorrow for having made foolish mistakes— a reflex action caused by self-disgust.

The entrance into the kingdom of God is through the sharp, sudden pains of repentance colliding with man’s respectable "goodness." Then the Holy Spirit, who produces these struggles, begins the formation of the Son of God in the person’s life (see Galatians 4:19 ). This new life will reveal itself in conscious repentance followed by unconscious holiness, never the other way around. The foundation of Christianity is repentance. Strictly speaking, a person cannot repent when he chooses— repentance is a gift of God. The old Puritans used to pray for "the gift of tears." If you ever cease to understand the value of repentance, you allow yourself to remain in sin. Examine yourself to see if you have forgotten how to be truly repentant.

http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/my-utmost-for-his-highest/12/07/devotion.aspx?year=2008

The Distraction of Contempt by Oswald Chambers

noreply@blogger.com (The Artissionary) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 03:55:00 +0000

Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt —Psalm 123:3

What we must beware of is not damage to our belief in God but damage to our Christian disposition or state of mind. "Take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously" ( Malachi 2:16 ). Our state of mind is powerful in its effects. It can be the enemy that penetrates right into our soul and distracts our mind from God. There are certain attitudes we should never dare to indulge. If we do, we will find they have distracted us from faith in God. Until we get back into a quiet mood before Him, our faith is of no value, and our confidence in the flesh and in human ingenuity is what rules our lives.

Beware of "the cares of this world . . ." ( Mark 4:19 ). They are the very things that produce the wrong attitudes in our soul. It is incredible what enormous power there is in simple things to distract our attention away from God. Refuse to be swamped by "the cares of this world."

Another thing that distracts us is our passion for vindication. St. Augustine prayed, "O Lord, deliver me from this lust of always vindicating myself." Such a need for constant vindication destroys our soul’s faith in God. Don’t say, "I must explain myself," or, "I must get people to understand." Our Lord never explained anything— He left the misunderstandings or misconceptions of others to correct themselves.

When we discern that other people are not growing spiritually and allow that discernment to turn to criticism, we block our fellowship with God. God never gives us discernment so that we may criticize, but that we may intercede.

Faith or Experience? by Oswald Chambers

noreply@blogger.com (The Artissionary) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:22:00 +0000

. . . the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me —Galatians 2:20

We should battle through our moods, feelings, and emotions into absolute devotion to the Lord Jesus. We must break out of our own little world of experience into abandoned devotion to Him. Think who the New Testament says Jesus Christ is, and then think of the despicable meagerness of the miserable faith we exhibit by saying, "I haven’t had this experience or that experience"! Think what faith in Jesus Christ claims and provides— He can present us faultless before the throne of God, inexpressibly pure, absolutely righteous, and profoundly justified. Stand in absolute adoring faith "in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God— and righteousness and sanctification and redemption . . ." ( 1 Corinthians 1:30 ). How dare we talk of making a sacrifice for the Son of God! We are saved from hell and total destruction, and then we talk about making sacrifices!

We must continually focus and firmly place our faith in Jesus Christ— not a "prayer meeting" Jesus Christ, or a "book" Jesus Christ, but the New Testament Jesus Christ, who is God Incarnate, and who ought to strike us dead at His feet. Our faith must be in the One from whom our salvation springs. Jesus Christ wants our absolute, unrestrained devotion to Himself. We can never experience Jesus Christ, or selfishly bind Him in the confines of our own hearts. Our faith must be built on strong determined confidence in Him.

It is because of our trusting in experience that we see the steadfast impatience of the Holy Spirit against unbelief. All of our fears are sinful, and we create our own fears by refusing to nourish ourselves in our faith. How can anyone who is identified with Jesus Christ suffer from doubt or fear! Our lives should be an absolute hymn of praise resulting from perfect, irrepressible, triumphant belief.

Everybody sees, not just God

noreply@blogger.com (The Artissionary) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:41:00 +0000

(* This will be a heavy read, but I know this is the truth. And I'm not just telling you the truth but also reminding myself this truth by writing it here. May God remind us that "Everybody sees, not just God." )

"Who believes that God can see everything?"
(everybody raises their hands)

"Who believes that you can see what God also sees?"
(some of them raised their hands)
"Well we're just talking about sight, we're not yet in the unseen category."

"Now, who believes you can see what man's heart is?"
"There's that limitation we have!"

And with that intro, I say, "yes, we truly are limited." Limited in what we see. We don't see the thoughts of man unless, put into action. We don't see the desires of the heart unless it overflows. It is written, "out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks."

But many times, when we say limitation, it sounds negative. When we are limited, we think we are handicapped. I say no, there's no handicap. I say, we have all that we need by the grace that God has extended to us. Yet this is not the point that I was about to stress.

"Everybody sees, not just God."

Matthew 6:1
"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them."What I am talking about is the opposite. "Be careful to do your 'acts of unrighteousness' before men, trying not to be seen by them."

And there are so many stories of Christians being commented as, "Pareho lang pala, e" (the comment meant, "Christians and the outside world are just the same, they do the same things"). Ask one of my Christian brother, and he'd have the same conviction. We are not careful with our actions, actually, the wrong thing about it is that, we are acting like non-believers.

I, for one, have the share of this. Many of the fellow Christians I have encountered may see me as someone, proud. In Filipino, "mayabang." If I was proud, I will say, "that's what they think, I'll respect that, but this is who I am so I don't care." Some take the Word beyond its context, "Why don't they look at the plank in their own eye?"

A humble person, respects the comment and improves. Many don't think it worthwhile to do this, yet the bible teaches this.

Romans 14:15-21
15If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. 16Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. 17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. 19Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.

If somebody falls or stumbles because of what they see Christians do, "that act is not according to the Word," you are at fault, you are not acting "in love."

"Everybody sees, not just God."

Some believers, think it right to believe that they are above the law, or they just don't know the verse. But we are not above the law of God, we are under it. We are under God, only children, but never close to being God, having no power or authority to say that people cannot judge us like that. They can and they will. It is true that we are like in a procession, wherein, we are staging ourselves for mockery, criticism, and pre-judgements. And we can't slip out of it, people have eyes, they see what they see, even what they want to see they see.

Unfair? Not really. But in this case, showing ourselves as carnal Christians, is unfair TO God. Let's be true, let's be real. If we call ourselves "Christians", let's act like one, even me.

James 1:22-25
22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

Do it! And saying "Just do it?" will be all wrong. In this case, don't take calculated risk, do what is according to the Word of God. Listen and do.

God bless bros!

Fellowship in the Gospel by Oswald Chambers

noreply@blogger.com (The Artissionary) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 07:02:00 +0000

. . . fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ . . . —1 Thessalonians 3:2

After sanctification, it is difficult to state what your purpose in life is, because God has moved you into His purpose through the Holy Spirit. He is using you now for His purposes throughout the world as He used His Son for the purpose of our salvation. If you seek great things for yourself, thinking, "God has called me for this and for that," you barricade God from using you. As long as you maintain your own personal interests and ambitions, you cannot be completely aligned or identified with God’s interests. This can only be accomplished by giving up all of your personal plans once and for all, and by allowing God to take you directly into His purpose for the world. Your understanding of your ways must also be surrendered, because they are now the ways of the Lord.

I must learn that the purpose of my life belongs to God, not me. God is using me from His great personal perspective, and all He asks of me is that I trust Him. I should never say, "Lord, this causes me such heartache." To talk that way makes me a stumbling block. When I stop telling God what I want, He can freely work His will in me without any hindrance. He can crush me, exalt me, or do anything else He chooses. He simply asks me to have absolute faith in Him and His goodness. Self-pity is of the devil, and if I wallow in it I cannot be used by God for His purpose in the world. Doing this creates for me my own cozy "world within the world," and God will not be allowed to move me from it because of my fear of being "frost-bitten."

The Undetected Sacredness of Circumstances by Oswald Chambers

noreply@blogger.com (The Artissionary) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 05:24:00 +0000

We know that all things work together for good to those who love God . . . —Romans 8:28

The circumstances of a saint’s life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you can’t understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God brings you to places, among people, and into certain conditions to accomplish a definite purpose through the intercession of the Spirit in you. Never put yourself in front of your circumstances and say, "I’m going to be my own providence here; I will watch this closely, or protect myself from that." All your circumstances are in the hand of God, and therefore you don’t ever have to think they are unnatural or unique. Your part in intercessory prayer is not to agonize over how to intercede, but to use the everyday circumstances and people God puts around you by His providence to bring them before His throne, and to allow the Spirit in you the opportunity to intercede for them. In this way God is going to touch the whole world with His saints.

Am I making the Holy Spirit’s work difficult by being vague and unsure, or by trying to do His work for Him? I must do the human side of intercession— utilizing the circumstances in which I find myself and the people who surround me. I must keep my conscious life as a sacred place for the Holy Spirit. Then as I lift different ones to God through prayer, the Holy Spirit intercedes for them.

Your intercessions can never be mine, and my intercessions can never be yours, ". . . but the Spirit Himself makes intercession" in each of our lives ( Romans 8:26 ). And without that intercession, the lives of others would be left in poverty and in ruin.

Moving Forward

noreply@blogger.com (The Artissionary) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:00:00 +0000

I noticed that many bloggers noticed that it took them long before they write again. I think I have so many of it, so for the interest of those who read my blog, here I go again...

I noticed that I haven't written for quite some time now. I think it has been a cycle of my walk with the Lord. Sometimes, I'm okay, sometimes I just fail to live a Christian life. Yet, here I go again trying to get back that old flame, which I know has burned strongly for God.

For 8 months now, after my reconciliation with my girlfriend, I have been in the verge of deterioration. Spiritually, I have been food for the devils and the satans and in the same way have feasted alongside them. This time, I woke up from that deep sleep and has realized that I have been down. Together with my brothers, I'm again regaining that strength and zealousness to pursue what is right and glorifying for God.

So for the 8 months, it was good to have met you! I have learned so many things, and will continue to learn until I die.

Today, I'm renewed! To God be all the glory!

Thanks to God, my father, who woke me everyday to experience a new start in life.

Thanks to my beloved, Nina, Vic Gan, Marco Baylon, D12 Sundays -- Lawrence and Chris, DGroup Saturdays -- Gian, JanAce, Gab, Jino, Zikki, Josh Arg, Josh Bui, 3rd Josh, Vit, Leon, River, Nicolas, Christian, Butch, Justin, Paul, JP Mogatas, JP Villaraza, (pati yung ibang nawawala, hinahanap ko kayo!), BSMAK peeps, Alvin Lagamon, Fers Chua, Avy, Pam, Sheryl, Joshua, Velia, Rey, Julius, Daniel Cortez, Jonathan Fenix, Francis Pena, at lahat ng tumulong lalo na si Tito Ito, Pastor Peter, Pastor Ryan, atbp!

Does God feel our pain?

noreply@blogger.com (The Artissionary) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 01:35:00 +0000

One Sunday morning during my eight-month hospitalization with Guillain-Barr syndrome in 1984-85 they offered to take me to the hospital chapel service. I was in ICU at the time, extensively paralyzed and unable to even breathe on my own. Somehow they got me into a high-backed wheelchair and disconnected from the mechanical respirator. Nurse Julie accompanied me, periodically pumping air into my lungs from an ambu bag as we slowly proceeded to the little chapel on Second Floor.

I don't remember what the sermon was about that morning. I don't recall the name of the chaplain. What I do clearly recollect is the long, loud, rhythmic, exhaling whine of the ambu bag every time that I was given a breath. I also remember feeling uncomfortable, anxious, and an increasing desire to get back to my bed. That's about all that I remember—until the service reached its closing hymn. Then, suddenly, I recall being totally overwhelmed with emotion as the group began singing, "Does Jesus care when my heart is pained too deeply for mirth and song; As the burdens press, and the cares distress, and the way grows weary and long?"

Author Daryl Witmer in front of the church he pastors

As a minister, I had led my congregations in that song for years. But never did the words of Frank Graeff's hymn connect with me as they did that Sunday morning at Eastern Maine Medical Center. Hot tears coursed down my cheeks and onto my hospital johnny as I listened to them sing the refrain: "O yes, He cares—I know He cares! His heart is touched with my grief; When the days are weary, the long nights dreary, I know my Savior cares. He cares."

Those simple lyrics responded to the very core of the issue with which I had been struggling for weeks, and the truth they conveyed was far more therapeutic than all the medicine in the place.

"But we do see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings."
—Hebrews 2:9-10, NASB

"The other gods were strong; but Thou wast weak; They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne; But to our wounds only God's wounds can speak, And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone."
—Edward Shillito in the poem "Jesus of the Scars"

"Frequently it is when we are crushed and devastated that the cross speaks most powerfully to us. The wounds of Christ then become Christ's credentials. The world mocks, but we are assured of God's love by Christ's wounds."
—D. A. Carson in "How Long, O Lord?"

"By itself suffering does no good. But when we see it as the thing between God and us, it has meaning. Wedged in the crux—the cross—suffering becomes a transaction. The cross is a place of transaction. It is the place where power happens between God and us."
—Joni Eareckson Tada in "When God Weeps: Why Our Sufferings Matter to the Almighty"

No one has suffered more than our Father in heaven. No one has paid more dearly for the allowance of sin into the world. No one has so continuously grieved over the pain of a race gone bad. No one has suffered like the One who paid for our sin in the crucified body of His own Son. No one has suffered more than the One who, when He stretched out His arms and died, showed us how much He loved us. It is this God who, in drawing us to Himself, asks us to trust Him when we are suffering and when our own loved ones cry out in our presence (I Peter 2:21; 3:18; 4:1).
—RBC's "Our Daily Bread"

"In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of the Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. But each time, after a while I have had to look away. And in imagination I have turned instead to the lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in God-forsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside His immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in the light of His. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we stamp another mark, the cross which symbolizes divine suffering."
—John R.W. Stott in "The Cross of Christ"

"For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted."
—Hebrews 2:18, NASB

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-aiia/god-pain.html