Don't focus on the line - Pursue God's heart

This entry is inspired by the message I’m preparing for March 20, 2010 to be given in Jzone Alabang 4:00pm for the ‘Signs of the times’ series.

I’m sure all of us have encountered the word ‘rapture’ at least once in our lives. The word means ‘to be instantly caught up’. The word is found in the Bible:

“Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:17

We have already established that we are near the time when this event called the Rapture will occur in the series we’re going through in CCF – “Signs of the Times”. But let us review all of the ‘big signs’ that has been revealed to us by current events happening in real-time in our world today.

1: The rebirth of Israel in May 1948

For two thousand years there is no country in the whole Earth named Israel. Prophesied by Ezekiel, this has come to pass during our generation.

2: The rise of Russia and other nations against Israel

Russia and Iran has recently created an alliance in terms of military ties and has set their eyes against Israel. For centuries they have been enemies and their interests with each other has never been more than detrimental.

3: Revived Rome

The EU which has once currency – the Euro. They are composed of 10 nations – the 10 toes of the mixed iron and clay feet of the statue in Daniel’s dream. Their symbols and brands carry images described from revelations.

4: Earthquakes

Need I say more?

Coincidence? How can you conclude that it is when it is 100% aligned with the prophecies in the Bible concerning the end times?

“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?” – Numbers 23:19

The rapture is real and we have heard so many messages about it already that I would not focus on what will happen but what HAS to happen in our lives now that we know and are filled with the knowledge of this coming event.

We have to realize that now more than ever we know that we are at the hands of the living God.

And if He so chooses, He can snuff the life out of us in a whim. Who can be safe from His wrath? Who can hide from His anger? Only His hand is keeping you safe. Only His will keeps you alive and only His love stays the breath of life in your being.

We have to realize that the times are changing and God will be mightily involved in the affairs of the world now more than ever. Live your life with that in mind. Change your heart and may your desire be for Him – to pursue His heart. Because when push comes to shove and life shakes you then you realize that this world is just an illusion – a facade marred by the sins of mankind and the evil in the hearts of men.

The reality of it all will become clear when Christ returns to take us with Him in that glorious day. Only in that day will your two eyes see what is real – the kingdom of God.

So don’t focus on the line.

Don’t focus on are you going to heaven or hell – for Christianity isn’t about going to heaven or hell. It’s about a relationship. Pursue God’s heart. Know Him for Christ can tell you that He doesn’t know you for you did not have that relationship with Him.

Again we come to the point where we come back to your communication with God which is your quiet time. Your quiet time, which is your time to read the Bible and pray is your time of communication with God. And without communication, a relationship will not grow. So talk to Him. For Christianity, again, is about a relationship –  your relationship with God

Forget the line. Sometimes we focus on it too much that if we are on the safe side we stop looking for God and just paste our eyes on the line to make sure we’re safe and that we’re going to heaven!

How can you face your Lord when all you did was look and make sure you’re on the right side of the line? And when you’re facing the line, you’re surely facing the other side rather than facing towards God and His heart – you’re gonna be thoroughly tempted about what you’re facing. You’re not moving in any way towards Him. But you’re stagnant. Sooner or later you’ll find yourself stepping over with one toe, then with one foot, then half your body, next thing you know, the line’s far behind you and God is nowhere in sight.

Be careful and keep watch for this is the time when you have to pursue God’s heart with utmost intensity. Thirst and pant for Him as David did. Revel in His majesty for even the heavens declare it before us.

Do not focus on the line. Focus on God.

My challenge to you dear readers

Live your life knowing that we’ll be caught up soon with Him. Don’t focus on what you don’t have to do, set your eyes on what you have to do. Christianity can be a religion with a set of rules and traditions or it can be a relationship of love with a person who died for you and is coming to take you away with Him to paradise.

The Wedding Olympics: doesn't it look absurd to you?

This entry has been inspired by the Single life that I’m living and the urge to marry. It is also inspired by the book “When God Writes Your Love Story” by Eric and Leslie Ludy.

“Listen, kid. A gold medal is a wonderful thing. But if you aren’t enough without it, believe me, you’ll never be enough with it.” – The coach in the movie ‘Cool Runnings’

It’s not something to set your eyes on

Sometimes we make it the goal of our lives to get settled and rich and to have a nice, secure job and start a family. It becomes a big milestone in our lives. Getting married and settling down has become more of a goal in our lives than we think. And oftentimes this goal we have overshadows our bigger vision of living for God or serving Him and shining our light for Him in this dark, dreary world.

Yes finding a spouse is important and getting married and settling down is outright desirable and very exciting. It’s just that we shouldn’t set our eyes on it so much so that we make God’s plan for us a fallback net to catch us when we lose in the Wedding Olympics.

The gold medal will never make us enough

It was never meant to make us enough. Getting married and settling down is great! It is a wonderful thing. But once you make it your end-goal, hoping that it would make you ‘enough’, you are dead wrong. You will only be disappointed when you find out that once you get there, it isn’t enough for you.

Only Christ can make you enough

If you aren’t enough now without a spouse, do you think getting married will satisfy that? Do you think a wedding can make you ‘enough’? I don’t think so. Just look at all the divorces taking place. A marriage is never meant to make you enough or complete. It is meant for companionship in life, not for filling up that longing for eternity and purpose in you.

So before you pray and seek God’s plan for your life in the aspect of marriage, do your best to abide in Him and develop your relationship with Him. Make yourself ‘enough’ now in Christ so that even when you get into marriage, you would already have been enough in the first place – and in that sense, you can help your spouse become ‘enough’ if he or she isn’t already so. But I would, of course, advise that you look for someone who is also already ‘enough’ by him or herself. Be wise in all of your decisions and lift them all up in prayer to God.

There were grade 6 students and high 4 students. I remember when I was in their shoes. Those were years ago. How time flies!

I handled grade 6 students. They’re so cute and bubbly!

Me and my grade 6 group with atchi Joy

I talked on the panel discussion. Answered some questions – the ones which I think we also asked when we were in our highschool and gradeschool years.

It was a fun and quite relaxing weekend for me. I spent most of my free-time sleeping. Haha! Iba talaga pag tumatanda na!

Had so much fun with the teachers, the teens and the young ones during the retreat. I’m still proud that I graduated from MHCS – during the retreat I can see the hard work on laying the foundation of Christ in the students.

And I just have to say: Twice was I thought out to be a highschool graduating student together with all the High-4 youths. O diba?

I praise God for the school. Keep up the good work teachers! You are the mentors of the next generation! And thank you for all your life you’ve invested in us!

Until next year!

Previous post: Top 5 reasons why you should not worry

These entries have been strongly inspired by Harold J. Sala’s book: “Making Your Emotions Work for You”

Xanax and friends can only help you so much

Worry can kill. That’s the whole point of this blog entry. It can sap the joy out of you, it can inject stress to your bones and it practically spells out D-E-A-T-H. Literally.

Let’s take a look at some of the anti-worry medicines that science has produced today:

Alprazolam Intensol
Alzapam
Ativan
BuSpar
Centrax
Equanil
Inderal
Inderal-LA
Inderide [CD]
Inderide LA [CD]
Ipran
Klonopin
Lexapro ( Lexaprotm )
Libritabs
Librium
Lipoxide
Loraz
Lorazepam Intensol
Luvox
Meprospan
Miltown
Neuramate
Novo-Alprazol
Romazicon
Paxil
Paxipam
Serax
T-Quil
Tranxene
Tranxene – SD
Tranxene T
Valium
Valrelease
Versed
Xanax

Source: http://psyweb.com/Drughtm/jsp/menus/benzo.jsp

Hmmmmm…. Yeah. Worry can kill you.

All of these drugs for worry? Even if you take one capsule of each of these each day, your liver would suffer and your blood would spell “Xanax-and-friends” all over.

Well, God has a cure for worry. I just want to share it with you guys.

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

Anxiety = Worry

Just one medicine for it – prayer. It’s God’s medicine. And it sure as heaven works! How? I cannot explain because it “transcends all understanding” but it’s there. The peace of God is there. You just have to talk to Him about your worries and concerns and He will help you through. BELIEVE IT.

This entry has been inspired by the message of Ravi Zacharias “What is worthwhile under the sun”

meaninglessness comes from being weary of pleasure

Pain and pleasure are two very common things we experience in life. Everyone from great to small has had their share of pain and pleasure. I believe both need to exist for life to be, in a sense, in balance.

If you find honey, eat just enough–too much of it, and you will vomit. – Proverbs 25:16

Now, you have to understand, pleasure is a good thing – it is created by God for us to enjoy and feel. It is something that God has intended for our lives in order for us to feel His hand and hear His voice. It is something God wants us to experience in this World that He has called “good”.

Then why do the people who “get there” claim that life is indeed meaningless? Indeed even Solomon in all his glory found “everything under the sun” (which means outside of God) to be meaningless. I’ve found Ravi Zacharias’ explanation of it (from G.K. Chesterton) astounding. He said:

“Meaninglessness does not come from being weary of pain. Meaninglessness comes from being weary of pleasure. When you have exhausted that last dream and you find it leaves you barren or empty”

I was stunned. Indeed it is when you have exhausted all pleasure and dreams that you find it leaves you empty that meaninglessness seems to take over your thoughts.

And we have to realize and learn from these men who have made it to the top, that everything under the sun and apart from God – is indeed meaningless. Only He is big enough to fill our longing for meaning in life. Pleasure can never replace His purposes.

This entry has been inspired by my relationship with a very special someone whom I have learned and gained wisdom with. And with people who’s lives I have observed and reflected with God’s Word.

This entry is also a continuation of the previous entry: I know I loved you before I met you

Experience is not the best teacher - God is

So I’ve heard…

A girl once told me that she prefers someone who’s experienced in handling a relationship – because he would be more mature as a leader and partner. In all honesty, that made me feel like I’m going to be terrible in one because I have never been in a romantic relationship before.

In essence, what she’s telling me is that she prefers someone who has indulged himself in a romantic relationship and who has learned from trial and error. She’s telling me she wants a man who’s had a give and take of himself with another woman – and has come out a more mature man after he has broke up with his girl. Hmmm…

While I would not disagree that a more mature man is the better choice, I would have to say that there’s another way in becoming the best person you can be.

Experience only knows so much

Experience is a great teacher, don’t you agree? But it’s not the best one. The best teacher would be the One who knows EVERYTHING about life. Experience only knows things through trial and error. It can only know so much. God knows things because HE CREATED THEM. Let me be painfully blunt with you. GOD IS THE BEST TEACHER. And He teaches through the Bible. It is the manual of life – it is GOD’S WORD. I can never stress that enough!

I believe that you can be the best person to handle a relationship through knowing God and reading His word. You can be the best leader in handling a relationship if you let God lead you in life. You can be the best lover when you have known the best lover in life!

I totally disagree with “I want an experienced person because he/she is more mature” thing. No, you don’t have to go through ‘experience’ to be the best person for your future partner.

I’ve seen it

I know for a fact that even if you have no experience at all, you can be the best partner for your special someone through knowing God – gaining wisdom and maturity in and through His Word. And I’ve seen it personally – I am a first-hand witness to love stories that claims the bride and groom to be each other’s firsts.

Do you believe that God can give you that maturity and wisdom through Him – even without the experience of going through a relationship and, of course, a breakup?

I know I do. I believe it with all my heart.

Experience is a good teacher but it’s not the best. God will always be the best teacher – it’s just a matter of knowing Him.

This entry has been inspired by my mentors: pastor Dennis Sy and pastor LA Mumar and has been re-inspired by the book “When God Writes Your Love Story” written by Eric and Leslie Ludy.

To my future wife: I loved you before I met you

You may say I’m a dreamer

We start out as dreamers. As young men and women who seek out that perfect and passionate love story in our book called life. We love to read and re-read that chapter of story books, we love to watch love stories that make us feel, we love to listen to other people’s love lives and we often wonder what our own would be like.

A love story we can call our own

Everybody wants a love story that they can call their own. Everyone wants to share their lives with their special other. It is all built-in by God in our hearts and souls to desire to love and be loved. We are beings who seek love and who seek to give love. And at some point in our lives, we tend to jump-start our love story with the opposite sex without thinking of the cost or consequences. Can we handle it? Is it the right time? What does God say about it?

“Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.” – Proverbs 24:27

God says that you have to be prepared before you build a home. Building a home requires counting the cost, preparing your fields and finishing your work. Often times we neglect work and we seek relationships even before we have prepared ourselves for building a home. We dive in to relationships when the Bible clearly indicates that you are not yet ready.

But this doesn’t mean that you have NO LOVE LIFE while you are yet preparing yourself. In fact, the very opposite is true. Your love life starts the moment you desire for one.

There is a love life before love life

You see, keeping yourself for the one whom God has kept and ordained for you is not a small thing. If you believe that God is keeping you for marriage then it most probably means that He has someone in store for you and that person is most probably alive and walking this planet as you are. Even if you have not met that person, it doesn’t mean you cannot love him/her now. In fact, you can love him/her by consecrating yourself and keeping yourself pure and set apart for that person – so that when the time comes and God puts you together, you can tell that person “I know I loved you before I met you. Because I’ve kept myself for you.”

And as a young man, hearing that for the first time from my mentors, I knew I wanted that. Don’t you?

I know for a fact that right now I’m loving my future wife because I’m keeping myself for her through the grace of God. So that when the time comes I know that I can claim her hand and tell her that I loved her even before I met her. I encourage you, young men and women to start loving your future spouse right now. In the same way that God loved us even yet while we were still unformed – He saw us and our unformed body and said “I am willing to die for you.”

It’s yours to give or keep

You are a treasure that you can give away or keep. Wouldn’t you want your future spouse to have that treasure in full? Whenever you enter a relationship and give yourself away, you are giving another person the keys to that treasure chest and that person will take anything he or she can get in order to fill his or her own chests with you and at the same time, you’re getting from that person’s treasure chest too!

In the end, your treasure chest will not be filled by your own treasure, but by treasures from your past relationships – treasures that will only hurt your future spouse because it is not his or hers completely.

I encourage you, young men and women, to make the decision to love your special someone now. It is a choice – it won’t happen just because.

The radius of the magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Chile

We are living in the last days and as it is said in the Word of God, which is the Bible, that there will be Earthquakes, wars and rumors of wars and series of disasters that will plague the Earth. This is merely the beginning of the ‘birth pains’ that Jesus Christ has talked about. We have to prepare ourselves. Lives will be taken, families broken, cities laid waste and the Word of God will come to fulfillment.

These are the days that Jesus prophesied about – the days where disaster will be everywhere and life will change. It will never be as it used to. People who are living in the safety of their homes, unexpectant of the events that will unfold will be surprised and taken in shock when these disasters overtake them or their loved ones.

We were warned. These things WILL happen.

“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?” – Numbers 23:19

God has ordained and decreed it even before this age has come. Jesus Christ prophesied it 2000 years ago and we know that His words are true. I want everyone to know that there is Salvation through all of this. Accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior in a prayer of the heart and you will be saved.

“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” – Romans 10:9-10

I invite you to do this. It cannot be any simpler than that. Believe it. It is something that is personal – between you and God. No one can make that decision for you.

This entry has been strongly inspired by Harold J. Sala’s book: “Making Your Emotions Work for You”

There are so many things we can worry about nowadays

Reason number 1: Worrying is a sin

The Bible explicitly says that worrying is sin because it’s telling God that He can’t handle the problems of your life. It’s having no faith in Him who created you and ordained your days while you were still unformed.

“I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important that food, and the body more important than clothes?” – Matthew 6:25

It is more of a command from Jesus to tell us not to worry. Because God’s hand is in everything.

“Look at the birds of the air they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” – Matthew 6:26

The birds do not worry. Why? Because they know that God will provide for them. They know that God’s hand is in everything. If they are that much cared for by our God, how much more do you think does He care for you and me? We who are worth more than many birds?

I love this verse: “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?” – Numbers 23:19

If we worry, we are calling God a liar. Plain, simple and explicit. Can it get any more blunt than that?

Reason number 2: Worry eats you up physically

The worry business is booming. Just look at all the drugs and meds popping up and being formulated by chemists and doctors today. There are a lot – from sleeping pills, to anti-anxiety pills, to illegal drugs (I am led to think they’re for worry because they’re usually used to forget problems) to computer games, and all other kinds of stuff that make you forget your problems and let you sleep at night.

Worry is something that eats you up physically. It gives you ulcer due to the anxiety stress. It creates high blood pressure in your veins. It is something that will physically affect you in a way that you don’t want to be affected. Worry is a killer.

“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” – Matthew 6:27

Reason number 3: Worry makes you unproductive

Worrying cripples your ability to move and take action. It lets your mind linger to the things that are unnecessary (and often unreal) that the things you have to take care of are left for granted. It will eat up your thoughts. Instead of taking action and planning on how to solve your problem, it will take up the form of ‘what-if’s’ and ‘should have’s’.

Reason number 4: Worry magnifies the problem

Problems are problems. The very nature of us humans is to try and solve them. There will always be problems in life. Bliss is non-existent in a lifetime on Earth. Worry is, by nature, a magnifying glass – for problems. Instead of taking the problem as it is and making the right plans and taking the right steps of action, worrying makes the problem bigger than it is and makes us think and re-think of our course of action to the point that we give up.

Reason number 5: Worrying is useless

What will happen will happen. Often times we can do something about it. Worrying does  nothing about anything and is, in the end, useless. So why worry?

Been through a lot lately. I haven’t been posting all that frequent as you might have noticed. Been busy with fixing stuff for work like my NBI clearance, TIN, SSS, etc. It’s amazing how many things you need to do to get employed. This post is inspired by my relationship with a very special someone with whom I have learned with and gained wisdom with.

Getting too close can make you lose focus

It all starts when you lose focus

As you all know I’ve been pursuing someone. Now, even if I blog about love and emotions, it doesn’t mean I’m exempt from committing the same mistakes that I talk about avoiding. In fact, I know that I am very prone to those same mistakes even if I haven’t really been into a serious relationship with the opposite sex before. And within this time of my pursuit of this certain lady’s heart, I know that I’ve committed this mistake – I lost my focus.

My eyes turned from God to her and somehow I knew, I won’t get away with it. God wanted my attention back. I felt the difference – I wasn’t able to blog much because ‘it’ was not there. I did not crave for wisdom as much as I did before. I did not have that certain intensity in prayer as before. I lost my focus on Him and focused too much on my pursuit and love for this lady.

It gets dangerous

When you focus on the person and love him/her too much then you tend to push your friends, family, work, and all of the other things, aside. When you push those things, which are physical and you have physical relationship with, aside, how much more do you think will you be able to shove God away together with all of them?

Focusing on the person too much and loving him/her too much without focus on God anymore will invite the lies of the Devil in your relationship. It will invite worry, possessiveness, insecurity, jealousy, and will ultimately make your relationship a hindrance to God. Why? Because you’ve lost focus on the One who is in control of your life – therefore you’ve lost your trust that He allows all things to happen in a relationship.

The tendency is, you will want to be in control when you put God out of the picture or when you shove Him aside. And being in-control makes you vulnerable to all the things I’ve mentioned earlier (worry, insecurity, jealousy, etc.)

You need to step back to see the whole picture - This image is a courtesy of that special someone

It’s like a picture

When you’re too near a picture and you’re too focused, you don’t see the beauty of it. In fact, it becomes blurry when your eyes get too near. It’s the same with a relationship. You can’t get too focused and too near with your man/woman because it doesn’t let you see the beauty of it – it only makes things blurry because you can’t see God anymore.

How do we deal with it?

Just like getting too near a picture makes your vision blurry, you have to step back to see the beauty of it again. Step back in your relationship. Step back in your focus and love for your man/woman and ask God to take control again. Find Him again because you’ve lost sight of Him. Loosen your relationship to make room for God. It’s all about glorifying Him through your relationship – and if He’s out of the picture, how will that happen? God wants in, and unless He’s in, the picture will never turn into a masterpiece.

This is my blog entry for Nuffnang’s contest – “Life In Taborea: The World Of Runes Of Magic”.

I've always pictured myself as a vagabond

For the people who really know me – you know that I’m a gamer in every way. I guess it has developed in my blood as I was born in the age of family computer. Street fighter was my dreamland back then when I was a kid. My mind wandered every time I would play a game. Runes of Magic is an MMORPG game – an online game which has the essence of Tolkien’s Lord of The Rings story and characters (actually almost all MMORPG games derive their characters and creatures from Tolkien’s imagination – just read ‘The Silmarillion’ and you’ll see it all there)

As a boy I knew that there was something wild in me – I could feel it. We men are wild at heart and we cannot deny it. If I was given a chance to live in The World of Runes of Magic, I would surely picture myself to be the vagabond who is wandering here and there with no real purpose. A vagabond who knows deep inside that he has much to give because he has kept much.

I am not any great warrior with extraordinary skills, nor a steadfast knight. I am not a skillful archer who’s aim is true, nor a wizard who’s knowledge is overflowing. I am but a simple man – a wanderer who’s aspirations in life is to find that special person with whom he can share the adventures of his life with. I am no great dreamer. But I do have dreams – and those dreams are meant to be dreamt with her beside me.

My sword is my virtue and my shield is my faith. My will to fight is my lady whom I have set out for. When all the other dreamers and adventurers with me are out there to set out on their own for fortune and fame, I set out for love – to love and to be loved.

I would picture myself to be a romantic. I know that there is someone out there just for me and I am wandering the fields, the mountains, the plains and the seas in hopes of someday having that fateful encounter with her and sharing my life’s adventure with that lovely lady.

My adventure in The World of Runes of Magic is but a simple one. I am a wanderer for my bride whom I have kept myself for. And for whom I am fighting to make the known World become a better place.

I find it still quite an escape for me to let my imagination loose sometimes. This is one of those rare moments.

So to all my readers: Enjoy. =) This is the only time you’ll see that childhood side of me.

Valentines day has passed me by without posting an entry for it. Sorry about that, I had to settle some things. I’ve been really busy – so many things to do and take care of. But no matter, here’s my entry for this season’s day for hearts and lovers.

It's not about the chocolates and flowers...

Know yourself

The day for hearts starts with the mind. Knowing yourself is knowing how to be in control of three things:

1. Know about your heart – Your emotions.

Emotion is a very powerful thing designed by God to be in us for us to do things with passion and with fullness of heart. King David was a very emotional man. And in fact, he is said to be a man after God’s own heart. His emotions can be powerfully seen in his poems and songs written in the book of psalms. But what else did he have aside from powerful emotions?

He had control over it. David was mindful over his emotions. He was wise over his feelings. In the end, it’s not how emotional you are as a person or as a lover – it’s how mindful you are over your emotions that matters. David knew when to be emotional and he knew how to direct it and use it for the glory of God.

Are you in control? Emotions can be very selfish. It’s a double-edged sword. You have to know how to wield it or it will cut you up.

2. Know about your thoughts – Your mindset. Everything starts in the mind. Your thoughts will be the starter of every decision you make. You have to know what your thoughts are composed of. Are you looking into a long-term relationship? In short, are you considering marriage? What is your goal? What is your vision?

You have to know it. Without having a vision or goal set in your thoughts, you are prone to compromise and could, in the end, lead to decisions you might regret.

3. Know about your will – Your decision.

You have to know about what you’ve decided on. You have to know your decision. Is he/she the one you want to spend the rest of your life with? It’s not about emotions or feelings. It’s about your decision and choice.

Know what real love is

Love, love love. It is arguably the most abused word with the most definitions available to mankind. The meaning changes and varies as time passes by and as generations come and go. In our generation it is apparently likened to a feeling or to sex. We have so many definitions for love in this world that we are often left confused. What’s the real, unchanging definition for love anyway?

There is a perfect embodiment of love that has never changed through history – and it is found in the person of God. God is love. In order to know what real love is, you have to know God. How do you get to know Him? Read the Bible. Know the Person who is personified as love to know real love.

So…

In the end, it’s not about the chocolates and flowers. Being the best valentine is being the best of yourself for you to best love your valentine. Know about love – what it really is in order for you to know how to really love.

Is there such a thing as Karma in the Bible?

God is an angry God as my previous entry has pointed out. He judges us for what our hearts contain. But He is also a loving God and He forgives us of our sins through the death of His son Jesus Christ on the cross. So where am I getting at?

When you forgive someone it means you know that the person has offended you and yet you do not count your will or desire to get even with him or her. God said that when He forgives us, He forgets our iniquities which means that He does not count it against us anymore. When something bad happens to us, we sometimes tend to think that God is punishing us for something wrong we’ve done before. And it’s normal right? We were brought up with the concept of Karma in our minds that we think it’s God’s punishment whenever something bad happens in our lives.

What’s the truth behind it? Is this ‘punishment’ or ‘Karma’ real? Is it in line with the Bible?

1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

So what does this verse mean? It means that God has put it all away. Meaning if something bad happens in your life it’s not because of something wrong you’ve done in the past. It has nothing to do with it because God has forgiven you when you asked Him and confessed your sins to Him.

‘Karma’ and ‘punishment’ is not what we think it is – it is God’s discipline to us not because of anything we’ve done wrong but because He loves us too much to let us stay just the way we are. Troubles, problems and trials in life happens because that’s when we depend on God the most. It is God’s way of disciplining us to mold us to become more like Christ.

C.S. Lewis once said that “pain is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world” it’s the same as trials in our lives is God’s discipline to our character. Don’t think of it as punishment or as a sort of ‘Karma’ Every trial and burden and pain happens for a reason -  because God let it. And His purpose is to mold you to become more like Him in order for you to glorify Him by living a light that shows His character to other people.

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Me in Hong Kong Disneyland!

Didn’t have time to make much articles during that time though and been busy minding SEO when I got back. Hope I can write an entry soon! I’m currently reading “The love of God” by John McArthur and “How to make your emotions work for you” By Harold Sala. I’m also re-reading “Not even a hint” By Joshua Harris – I’ll be discussing it with my dgroup tomorrow (Saturday) after Jzone Alabang.

It’s been quite a while and I’m excited for my next post! God is moving in my life right now and I’m witnessing how He’s really showing me the way. I can’t see everything, but that’s where trust and faith comes in. Pray for me please.

Hope to hear more from you, my readers. Thank you for all your support, readership and thirst for wisdom. I hope and pray may you always want to know God more.