"A MATTER OF TALK OR POWER"

THE MESSAGE.....THE INVESTMENT....PART 2

2010-03-24T00:17:00.005+03:00

Now, how are we going to delight in the Lord so that our heart desires will be given to us? Are you interested to know?

Since we all know that God is the source of everything, therefore, we need to commit our ways to the Lord, Trust in Him and He will help us. (Psalm 37:5). Now if we are going to commit our ways to the Lord, we should rejoice. For how often we should rejoice by the way? As what the scripture says in Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! See, God wants us to rejoice all the time. Even in times of trouble or trials of various kinds or whatever situations you are in, you must have this kind of feeling of joy in your heart. For it is written in James 1:2 says: Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. Speaking of trials, Don't you know that if you remain faithful under trials, do you know what does it means to us? Jas 1:12 Happy are those who remain faithful under trials, because when they succeed in passing such a test, they will receive as their reward the life which God has promised to those who love him. And if we think we are passing such a test, what should be our attitude then? 1Co 10:13 Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps his promise, and he will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, he will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out.

Are we learning something from the verses we read? So rejoicing or delighting in the Lord will not end only on good things or good times that we have at present instead God wants us to rejoice in every occasions as in always. In order for you to do this, you must put your Trust in the Lord, even in various trials of different kinds, you should always rejoice, continue to remain faithful if you are under trials and remember that for such a test this is just temporary, for God will help us to give us a way out.

Let us pause here and ask God to help us and let us altogether recite this prayer: Father in heaven thru your son Jesus, we are forever grateful that you are faithful to your words. Help us to realize our weaknesses in us for we know that you are the God who is able to keep us not to continue from our weaknesses. Continue to renew our strength, for we claim that the joy of the Lord is our strength. Help us to do your will not as we will. Teach us to continue to delight in you for in so doing, you will give us the desire of our hearts. Trully Father, thru your son Jesus, we magnify your name, we lift your name on high, and we ask this in Jesus name we pray....Amen.

There are still many things that we should know in order for us to delight in the Lord, for we do not know, that even the way we act in our daily lives, will tell us if we are really delighting or not in the Lord. You want to find out? To be continued.......

THE MESSAGE......THE INVESTMENT

2010-01-30T23:33:00.004+03:00

We as people or as human being, we have many desires in our heart. We have many likes and dislikes. We have many things that we wanted. So we have the desires, likes, needs and wants. And in all humanity, we all know that the basic needs of man are the food, clothes and shelter. Of course, if you have the food and the food you are eating is of little nutrients, still you will become malnourish. If you do not have any home to be called as own, you are homeless. And if you do not have something to wear on your body, even a single shirt, you are shirtless.

Nobody in his right mind wanted to be deprived of these basic needs, that is why, we keep on imagining, dreaming, desiring and planning in our lives. In fact, we have this so-called short and long term planning.

Yes, because of the nature of having this lust of the eyes, and the lust of the flesh, we cannot avoid to continue desiring things. And after we desire, we plan, then we put it into action so that our dream will not end up as in impossible dream.

There is nothing wrong if we desire something or if we make our planning by ourselves. Since we have the education, skills, talent, knowledge, etc. And we are free to make use all these things.

You know, bro. Paul has said in 1Co. 6:12 about our being free of doing something. Let me quote this verse: “I am free to do all things; but not all things are wise. I am free to do all things; but I will not let myself come under the power of any.”

Since from the old testament in Proverbs 21:2, God has said something for us. Let us read this: Every way of a man seems right to himself, but the Lord is the tester of hearts. Let us read the example from the bible:

Luk 12:16 Then Jesus told them this parable: "There was once a rich man who had land which bore good crops.
Luk 12:17 He began to think to himself, 'I don't have a place to keep all my crops. What can I do?
Luk 12:18 This is what I will do,' he told himself; 'I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, where I will store the grain and all my other goods.
Luk 12:19 Then I will say to myself, Lucky man! You have all the good things you need for many years. Take life easy, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself !'
Luk 12:20 But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night you will have to give up your life; then who will get all these things you have kept for yourself ? ' "

So, what I am trying to point out here from the verses mentioned that God is reminding us that He is in full control of everything.

Now, we are entering a New Year. To others, they have a new year resolution. Some will renew their plans, strategies, etc. Others will continue to desire things that they did not get last year, or something that they failed to accomplish and they want it to happen this year.

Actually, we are forgetting something. We ourselves, make things harder for us. Since we know that even if we make plans for ourselves, still God’s purpose prevail. Let us see the evidence in Proverbs 19:21:

“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand. “

The best thing we can do to our desire is to obey what God wants us to do. Do you have any idea?

Let us read Psalm 37:4-5 (ESV) English Standard Version

Psa 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psa 37:5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.

In other version as in GNB (Good News Bible) says:

Psa 37:4 Seek your happiness in the LORD, and he will give you your heart's desire.
Psa 37:5 Give yourself to the LORD; trust in him, and he will help you;

Now, how are we going to delight in the Lord so that our heart desires will be given to us? Are you interested to know? To be continued…….

THE MESSAGE.....THE GIFT

2010-01-18T00:22:00.004+03:00

There are many occasions in our lives that we desire to receive gifts. For example, during Christening, Dedication, Baptism, Birthday, Wedding, Graduation, Anniversary or even on holidays, like Thanksgiving and the most popular of all is the Christmas Day.

Is there any one out there who does not want to receive gifts? You know, if we want something but then, we do not have any capacity to have that something, we desire that someone can give that something for us. Do you agree with me?

Let us think deeper, most of the time, what we desire really in our lives is something of material value, something that we can see and hold on. But once we received it, up to what extend that material gift benefited us? Of course, once we received a gift, we have gladness in our heart and most of the time, that is for our own sake. And once the gift that is of material value became old or out of fashion, damaged, etc. We loose interest on it and we desire a new one, until we become more and more obsessed of desiring material things.

We cannot deny to ourselves that we can stop desiring things around us. Because we have this so-called Lust of the eyes, Lust of the flesh. And mind you, the world is becoming more and more subjected to material things, taking into consideration the technology wise.

That is why, for you to be able to cope with this changing world, we become selfish, we think only of ourselves, even to the point we pulled down someone in the ladder just to be on top. Gaining material things, power, respect, etc. are the best we could give to ourselves as “GIFT’.

But don’t you know what the bible is telling us? Knowing what the advise of the bible will do good to us, probably, you will seek the heaven’s door. As it is written in Matthew 6:33 saying “But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you as well.”

If you do not know how to seek the Kingdom of God, of course, ASK God. In Matthew 7:7 says, ASK and it will be given to you; SEEK and you will find; KNOCK and the door will be opened for you.

Or let say, are you lacking wisdom on how to seek God? Well, in James 1:5 says, But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ASK God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him.

Speaking of gift, as I have said already, we all wanted to receive gifts. But what kind of gift that we really wanted to have? Are we going to satisfy ourselves to receive gift that is of material value only? That will last only for a short period of time and that only ourselves will only benefit from it.

In 1 Co. 12:31 is conveying a message for us to look into. Let me quote this verse. “But earnestly desire the higher gifts and I will show you a still more excellent way.” In other version, “But let your desires be turned to the more important things given by the Spirit. And now I am pointing out to you on even better way.”

So, there is a so-called, gifts from the Holy Spirit. Are you aware of these gifts or are you ignorant about these gifts?

You know, Bro. Paul has said in 1Co.12:1 saying: Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. And for your information in 1Co.12:4, says, Now, there are varieties of gifts, but the same spirit.

Do you know what are these varieties of gifts that we can receive if only we ASK God? To be continued……….cheers

CRYING IS GOOD? Part 2 (Last part)

2009-11-16T00:49:00.005+03:00

Before coming to America, I had a good paying job, at home, we have 2 household maids, so, I did not bother myself to wash the dishes. I love to take care of babies of my sister, but not to the point, I will clean the poh poh, when this happen, I rather call my sister or one of our housemaids.

I was so grateful that the cousin of my friend accepted us in her condo unit, she is married and with one 2 years old son. Since, were not paying rent at all, we did the household chores voluntarily and that includes, babysitting.

One day, I discovered that I am totally penniless, and yet months have passed, still I cannot find myself to have atleast a part time job, so that I will have money of my own. Am almost felt frustrated, and I cannot even decide to come home for I dont want to consider myself a losser. So, I continued to let the days past with the same routines.

There was one occasion that my friend decided to look for a job, he left his nephew to me to babysit while he will go to New York to find his luck. I babysat his nephew, gave food to eat, prepared milk and let him sleep. But the boy was really very active and played a lot. Then, I noticed, he made poh poh, of my God, I dont know what to do, for this is what I hate most. Since, I have no option, I did what I should do. Afterwards, I made him felt sleep. I also laid to bed beside him.

Then, I started to reminisce. I said to myself, what I am doing here, I had a better job back home, but because of this american dream, am encountering this kind of situation. The things that I am not doing back home, now, am doing them. I started to feel the sadness in my heart, then, I started to cry, yes, to many tears and with groan and I remember the promise of God, saying, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. " And i started to ask God, why did you bring me here in America? To have this kind of suffering? How I can land a job here, I have no legal working permit, I dont have any relatives here, now tell me, is this plan your telling me? And i kept crying...until I heard the phone was ringing, so, I immediately stood up and answered the phone, I did not even finish crying to God when the phone started to ring. Then the lady was on the other line and she was looking for my name, and I asked her, how come you knew my name? And she told me, remember, you met my friend when you were in the house of the lawyer and the lady told me that I was recommended by her friend since I have a good working experience and can learn new things faster. In short, she tried to offer me a job in her restaurant and to start as a kitchen helper. At first, I did not accept her offer, coz, I need to ask permission to my cousin's friend where I stayed. Since, the lady kept calling me, I accepted the offer to be a kitchen helper in her restaurant. Then, even in short period of time, I earned some extra money.

I remember when one of the characters in the bible, asked something to God, she cried a lot and beg to God to give her a son. Until the Lord remembers her prayer, then she was granted a son. Therefore, if we are really sincere in our prayers, humble ourself to God and reason with Him, I believe, because of His mercy endures forever, there is no doubt that in his proper time, He will answer us. God also requires us to reason with Him, in fact, in Isaiah 1:18, he said, "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 like crimson, they shall become like wool.

And the Lord continued to bless me and gave me more other extra works and I even tried different kinds of work, be it in the restaurant, insurance office, marketing office, manufacturing firm and the last was with the hospital. With that experienced, I thank God for He is really a loving God, merciful God and full of compasion. May the Lord God Jesus shows favor on you the way He did to me. Amen.....

AFRAID OF TYPHOON? Part 3 (Last part)

2009-11-15T23:50:00.002+03:00

I kept silent knowing that there is God who can deliver me from that storm. I prayed and asked for forgiveness for the sins I have done, like, ignored the news, watched bold shows at 42nd street, etc. I did not cover up my sins, I said to God, forgive me Lord, for I am stubborn, have mercy on me if I have little faith on you. Then, suddenly, I felt the mercy of God, I felt that I was clothed with braveness and I said to myself, why should I be afraid of, if really, Jesus was with me and I claimed his promise, if God is with me who can be against me and confessed that I have great faith to our God that He will deliver me from that storm.

So, I posed myself by positioning my umbrella, made it closer to my head, holding firmly for the wind was really very, very windy and taking into consideration the heavy rains too. I walked toward my house direction where its only one small block away from the intersection of the road. While walking, I noticed that the wind was becoming weaker and weaker, the leaves were like dried that someone was sweeping them away toward the direction I was heading and likewise, the rains also became weaker and weaker, until the rains and windy winds subsided and had a full stop. I was amazed that the storm was gone, so, what I did, I walked fast to reach my house. Then, when I was at the door and about to open it, the storm returned, windy winds, heavy rains came back, and I said to God, Lord thank you, am home now. And I remember the story in the bible wherein Jesus calm the storm.

After that unforgetable experience with the Lord, I made a testimony in our group service at home, how faithful our God is. There is a song goes like this......Be it unto me according to your word, according to your promises, I can stand secure, curve upon my heart, the truth that set me free, according to your word O Lord, be it unto me....

Therefore, readers, do not under estimate the God of Abraham, Jacob and Isaac, for He is the God of yesterday, today and tomorrow. Just like David, when he sinned to God, he did not cover up his sins, he acknowledged it and asked forgiveness to God. Always remember that our God is a forgiving God, a merciful God, a soveriegn God, and Almighty God. May the Lord God Jesus, bless you, give you peace and joy. Amen......

PRAYER REQUEST PORTION...Missing?

2009-10-19T02:00:00.001+03:00

Once again, from the email that came to my friends, one thing, I noticed, they all sent to me one request that came to one Lady in the Philippines asking for help how she could find her mother wherein nowhere to be found. Her mother left them to work for abroad to find a greener pasture for them. But in the long run, things became gloomy. Because, the mother has no way to be contacted or the oher way around. The Lady who asked for help also solicited the assistance of the proper authorities in the Philippines and also abroad, but until now no accurate information can be relied on. Hence, the Lady resulted to this passing of email to others.

Dear Lady,

In behalf of those who received your email, we all pray that all things will work for good. All we know that there is a God who controls the universe, our planet, the wind, etc. Just remember, the following verses below and try to meditate, how these verses will work miracles in our life if we focus our hope unto Jesus.

"Mat 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Act 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Joh 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Isa 50:2 Why, when I came, was there no man; why, when I called, was there no one to answer? Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver? Behold, by my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a desert; their fish stink for lack of water and die of thirst. "

Therefore, if in the past, you asked for help to other authorities, why not this time, ask the authority of Jesus to find favor in you that He may have mercy and compassion to you and to your mother. That everything will work for the good of those who loves Him.

God bless you,

dwitness

AFRAID OF TYPHOON? Part 2

2009-10-19T01:00:00.001+03:00

While inside the bus, I was frighten and thought of what will be my next move? When I looked at the window, really, it was zero visibility, I cannot even see the bus stop where I should make a stop. Of course, while at the bus, I did not forget to pray, and I began to prepare my umbrella because I could see a little bit the bus stop station where I should get off. This bus stop station was closed to a residential condominium, so what I did, the entrance door of the said condominium became my refuge and no one was there. Can you imagine, it was almost past midnight when I noticed.

Indeed, I was afraid how I can reach home at that time, thinking that the condominium is just a block away from my residence. But I cannot forced myself to go against the heavy rains and winds, because if I did, I might end up in a highway accident, coz, the wind could toss me towards the highway. I remained silent at that time, contemplating that, why I ignored the news.

Since, before this happen, I already attended some bible studies in our community in New Jersey, and I recalled that there was one instance in the Bible that some of the disciples of Christ were also at that same situation wherein they also encountered this typhoon or storm and they all became fritghten and they asked for help to Jesus where at the time where with them. When they woked up Jesus, he said to them, how little faith you have. Then Jesus calm the storm.

So when it came to my mind, it seems that Jesus spoke to me, telling me how little faith I have. So, why should I be afraid of, if really Jesus was with me. Then, what I did first.........to be continued

PRAYER REQUEST PORTION

2009-10-05T09:15:00.014+03:00

Dear all,

Just recently, i received a prayer request from my personal email and came from one of our brothers, asking us to pray for his sister in the province who has suffered from mild stroke and still experiencing some dizziness. And our brother is scheduled to visit his sister in the province.

Dear Brother,

In behalf of our readers, we agree in prayer with you that you may see your sister in good health and that you may travel safely. Let me quote some passages in the bible, and try to get the message from the verses below:

"Mat 9:28 When Jesus had gone indoors, the two blind men came to him, and he asked them, "Do you believe that I can heal you?" "Yes, sir!" they answered.

Mat 9:29 Then Jesus touched their eyes and said, "Let it happen, then, just as you believe!"--- "

Therefore, if you believe that there is nothing impossible to God, then let it be done according to your faith.

Sincerely yours,

dwitness

AFRAID OF TYPHOON?

2009-10-03T09:15:00.010+03:00

Long time ago when I was in New Jersey, USA, I used to rent a room and had a part time job in New York. During my stay there, i noticed that the weather forcast is good for one week, therefore, you can plan your activities or what have you. So, let say, i watched the news on Monday, and as part of the announcement, there will be a typhoon coming to New Jersey by Friday of that week. But i did not bother it.

When Friday came, i went on a normal routine and brought along with me my umbrella and reported for work in New York. In the afternoon of that Friday, my friend passed by to my work place and invited me to stroll in the city since it was his birthday. So i accepted his invitation and we roamed in the city. Since we want to experiment what this Apple City stored for us, we visited some establishment along the 42nd Street, New York that showed some nude photos on their entrance door for us to find out exactly what was going on inside.

After strolling the city and it was already 11:00 in the evening, we decided to part ways, my friend went home to his apartment in New York, while me, i took a bus that enroute to New Jersey . While on the bus, and we were already in the area of New Jersey, the typhoon came with heavy rains and winds that was almost zero visibility on the road. To be continued....

CRYING IS GOOD?

2009-09-29T01:10:00.007+03:00

I know it is not good for a man to cry, but there are men who really cry, not just crying, but they really cried out loud. But there are those who believe that crying is good for our health. Do you agree?

We know it is not appropriate for a man to cry in public, that is why there are men that they hide themselves when they cry. Are you lonesome? How often you cry?

Usually, people cry when they are in big or deep trouble. They are not only crying, they really cried aloud asking for help. Do you have this kind of experience?

Well, let me tell you my experience on this. When i travelled to New York, USA, the only person i knew was my friend who joined me to this trip to USA. When we reached the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, we stayed at the Holiday Inn Hotel, from there, my friend started to call his relatives in New York and in New Jersey. So far, his relative in New Jersey responded to him and we moved on the following day to his cousin in New Jersey.

We were fetched at the subway station at Journal Square, New Jersey, we visited the Liberty Park, we visited also a Filipino restaurant near the area where we also had our lunch. In short, we were allowed to stay for a while in his cousin's apartment.

During our stay at my friend's house, there were occasions that we were invited to attend gatherings at the park where they can meet their fellow townmates and have some chatting. There were times that we tried to look for some part time job just to give us some sort of extra income to add to our pocket money that we brought. But it gave us a hard time to have one. To be continued

PRAYER GRANTED

2009-09-29T00:10:00.003+03:00

It was really a nice experience to travel in a long distance. Am not fond to travel by airplane because, i have fear of hights and i always feel dizzy and always suffer from motion sickness. So most of the time, i bring with me some medicine for this kind of motion sickness or dizziness.

It was one Sunday morning in the first week of May, 1995 when i started to travel from Manila to Tokyo then to New York, USA. I travelled with my friend with the said flight and it was a long trip going there to New York. We arrived at the Apple City airport almost 6 o'clock in the afternoon but then the sunlight was still high because Summer was approaching.

Since it was my first trip to New York, i dont want to experience to be deported just because of some documentation problem or fail to pass the immigration clearance at the airport, because someone told me that it is not a guarantee that when you landed at the airport it will give you a guaranteed clearance, therefore, i need to subject myself for immigration clearance, so what i did, i prayed that there should be no more interview on my part. What happen next, my friend who was standing in front of me was asked to move to another lane, so he was separated from where we lined up. When i reached the immigration officer, i gave my passport and other related documents and the immigration officer did not even asked me what was the purpose of my visit nor how long should i stay, although, before landing, i filled up a form and mentioned those things. So i was so happy that my prayer was granted that no more interview was done for me while my friend was complaining to me that he was asked so many questions before he was approved by the immigration officer. My secret? Pray without ceasing. Because, from the time we landed at the airport and all the way to the immigration counter, i kept praying that i should be delivered from any interview at all and it really happen. To God be the glory.

SICKNESS DISAPPEARED

2009-09-28T02:00:00.002+03:00

God is good? Yes, God is always good, all the time? God is good. Not only that, God is always at work for those who love him. I was then involved in a christian church when this sickness affected others. There was some sort of sickness wherein the virus will not be easily stopped until all the members of the family has suffered to it. Influenza is one of the common sickness that will not leave the house until all are infected with it. Another one is sore eyes. Because these kind of sicknesses can be easily transferred to one person to another by means of air, close contact with sick person, etc.

My life in New Jersey was like living in the Philippines, because, i found a room with my fellow countrymen and the house was situated in a Filipino community. It is close to the church, just a walking distance from our place.

There was one occasion that were having a Sunday gathering in our house. I have noticed that for the past few days, almost all my fellow room mates have suffered from this sickness called influenza, and someone told me that this kind of sickness will not leave the house until all the members have infected by this sickness. Upon hearing this kind of spirit ( wherein the Bible says, test the spirit) i rebuked that spirit, and saying in Jesus name, i will not be infected and let this sickness be gone in this house. Indeed, there is power in the name of Jesus, really God is good, because, that sickness disappeared in our place and to God be the glory, he never allowed that sickness to infect me. So, the next time around that someone has said this kind of spirit, rebuke it in the name of Jesus, so that you will not be infected. Believe that there is nothing impossible to God.

HOW IT HAPPENS

2009-09-27T00:12:00.002+03:00

One day, long time ago, my mother was about to deliver me and my father was with her in the hospital, because that time, not all hospitals were equipped for some sensitive delivery and so my father decided to transfer my mother to another hospital as my mother was suffering from some kind of seizure, one of the nurses in the emergency room gave my father some stick saying that if in case that my mother will encounter this seizure my father has to put this stick to my mother's mouth so that she will not gnash her teeth and to avoid damaging her tongue. And the time has come while along the way travelling to another hospital my mother experienced the seizure and my father has remembered the instruction of one of the nurses in the emergency room, so he did as what was instructed to him and my mother gave birth to me and that is why I was born in this world and I was not placed in an incubator or intensive care unit and my parents were happy to know that I do not have some sort of any deformities or some kind of traces that I was not in good shape.

As the years past, when i was at the elementary level, I became a side kick of my polio brother, he was older than me by 3 years, we both started schooling from elementary up to high school. And because of this situation, I used to carry his bag with full of books and other things. And most of the time, we have to take a long walk before we reached our school. So can you imagine my hardship in the hands of my polio brother. But you know, there was on many occasions that we had a fight, but this was true and common to all brothers.

When I looked back at my elementary age, there was one occasion when I was bumped by a bicycle, I was ranning towards him, so what happen, the guy who bumped me was the one who felt down while me has no pain nor scratch on my body, thinking that I was only just a small boy. Yes, am still young when I witnessed how my father and I almost met a car accident, the feeling was, I have no feeling at all, it seems that if you are really in near death experience, you will have no feelings, just like, you are waiting to be slaughtered, waiting what is to come, we escaped the valley of death.

I did not finish my elementary in one school because we moved to another area or location, so it follows that I need to transfer my elementary and that was the time I was in grade 4 when this thing happen. The reason of our transfer was the house and lot were sold and these properties were inherited by my mother from her parents. Because my father needed the money to support his bar review in order for him to become a full pledge lawyer and my mother agreed to sell the said house and lot and that was the reason we moved to another place and rented an apartment instead that was close to the school. To be continued