It Is Tiring To Be Tired

Stop procrastinating, there is so much you can do and so many people in need. Do something worthwhile with your life. Enough of thinking it is time for action.

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Isang Pagpupugay sa Watawat

Nakakatawa minsang isipin na kahit saan ako mapunta sa labas ng bansa, dala-dala ko palagi ang nakatiklop (sa tamang paraan) na watawat ng Pilipinas. Naalala ko noong isang taon, ito ay winagayway ko sa loob ng akong kuwarto bilang pag-gunita sa mga Araw ng Watawat.

Para sa akin, napakalaking simbolo ng watawat hindi lamang sa ating kasarinlan kundi sa ating pagka-Pilipino. Habang ito’y nakawagayway parang kumbaga’y ang aking kaluluwa’y lumilipad na walang nakatali. Malayang-malaya! Ito ako, Pilipino, magpakailanman!

Sa kahit anong unos na pinagdadaanan ng bansa, nagpupunyagi pa rin ako sa kadakila-an ng ating lahi. Noon, ngayon at bukas: isang bansa, isang diwa!

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God is Good

We exclaim, “God is good all the time”. He indeed is! In our lives He is good and yet when we look at others suffering in the hospitals and agonizing in pain and when we see others emotionally down and out, we ask, how can a good God have these faithful ones suffer? We may not know the entire reason for everything but one thing is for sure, God is good and if He is good in your life, you ought to be good and to do good to others so they too can exclaim, “God is good”. The goodness of the Lord will be experienced by others who are suffering, through your goodness.

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Seeking Gods Will

When we start actively seeking His will in our lives, especially at crossroads, which is normal in any journey, He is up for something greater.

Honoring God is not just recognizing but accepting His blessing and graces to you... you are blessed now where you are... so start from there, don’t feel uneasy that you are actively discerning now... its God stirring your heart to seek for something more, because isn’t it we are a work in progress always? So enjoy this journey of yours, be honest with yourself and then FLY HIGH!

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Confidence on our Own

With the latest external threats of our sovereignty, the country is again filled up with opinions from left to right. With allies not supporting the stand of the country as we expect them to be, the Philippines found itself more alone and vulnerable. This must be a wake up call to all. We must work together, build up our economy and when we criticize, we will proactively do but not out to destroy our fellow countrymen. A country disunited is the worst defense against the enemy.

We must at last, look within ourselves and say, we can do it! We can be self-reliant; we can be at par and even greater than any country in the world. We have the best resource, our people! We must stand up and be confident with what we have. Let us focus on what we can develop further, enhance our positive values and bury the foul attitudes that we have as a nation. This is the best defense that we can have. We can never be forever dependent. We need to stand up as a nation and move forward as one. We can and we will!

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God of Order

God is a God of order. The creation story is a story of orderliness. Order allows the message to be clearly proclaimed and effectively passed on. We need a sense of order if we are to be effective in our mission. There can be no message sent in chaos. Effective missionaries have sense of order. 

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Find Your Mission

Mission: going out somewhere beyond ourselves reaching out to someone with Jesus and for Jesus.

There is something about mission that makes me always excited. Mission allows me to go to different places. I love going places, it reenergizes me, it brings me new perspective and with it, new realizations and affirmations. Meeting new people, listening to their stories and hearing about Gods goodness in a world full of Godlessness is a breath of fresh air. The chance of sharing mine as well is a different experience that is beyond explanation.

Thank God for the gift of mission. Mission gives me life. If each of us will only find our specific mission, we will not just find true joy and fulfillment in life, we will in fact make other people find them too thereby making a difference in the lives of others. Without mission there is no life. Live life by finding your Godly mission! 

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Use Your Mind

We have heard a lot of people complaining about so many things in life. They would say, “I have so many things to do, I am doing this, I am doing that and I have no more time for myself. I am working 7 days a week, I have my service, and I have my siblings and parents to spend time with, add to that I also have a relationship I entered into. Were will I be?”

Well in the first, you have to realize that it was you who in the first place decided to be in that situation. It sounded like you have no choice, but you do have a choice, the Lord said, "Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves,” Matthew 10:16. It means, use your mind! That’s why you have a brain. The Lord did not gave you brain for nothing. You have to use it. Stop blaming God for whatever happens in your life all the time, because most of the things we experience are because of our decisions, or most correctly stated, our indecisions. We blame God and others except ourselves. We have problems and are suffering because:

1.    We did not think, weigh and discern things before acting on it. We just go because it was good at the moment, but we don’t live for a moment, we live everyday and we suffer from the consequences of a not so thought out decisions.

2.    We think only of ourselves and what good it can do for us. But mind you, whether we like it or not, we live with other people, so better yet include them in weighing in your decisions. The way to happiness is when we start thinking of what is good for others more than ourselves.

3.   We are coward in deciding.  Where the wind blows, off we go. We let the wind decide where it will bring us. The problem with this kind of mentality is that we are at the mercy of the unknown, which is actually scarier than what is known.

4.    We are lazy to move ahead. We already know what is right, but we just keep on procrastinating and ended up waking up one morning missing already years of our lives.

5.  We decide but not discern. Decision without God is forecasting while decision with God is discernment. When you decide without God then you are like just forecasting weather, when are the next storm, snow, earthquake and other natural calamities in life? But just like forecasting you are sure errors are more, than the correct ones. Decision with God is like allowing God to take the driver seat in your life or allowing a pilot fly the plane instead of you. You decide but with an experts advice.

Most of our present conditions that we don’t like, or most of the situations we are into that we hate are actually but products of not using properly the gifts the Lord has giving us. He has given as a mind to think and decide with God. So come on, use your mind, be smart, God made you to be smart! He did not give you a brain for nothing! Use it! 

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Regaining Strength

Acts 9:1-20 tells the story when Saint Paul was blinded on the road to Damascus and was on his way to an amazing conversion. He did not eat any food nor drink for 3 days until his sight was fully restored. He was baptized and after taking some food and regaining his strength, he began preaching that Jesus is the Son of God.

Saint Paul was weakened because his strength came not from Jesus. When he started eating the spiritual food and start accepting that Jesus is the Son of God, he started regaining his strength. This strength never faltered nor vanished to the end of his days. Our strength is in the Lord and we are only strong in Him and with Him.

Lord, You are the bread of life that allowed Saint Paul to regain strength after 3 days without eating. May we like him, blind and weak, find the courage to stand up, so that when we reopen our eyes we will see with the eyes of faith and when we regain our strength we will find our strength in You. Amen. 

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Not About Us

When we start having the mindset that God dwells in us, we will start to understand that we are to live like Christ. Living like Christ is living for others. Living for others means all things we do, we do to make a difference in the lives of other people. It has never been only about us, it is about God in us.  It has never been just about our emotions and feelings, that when we are hurt or in pain because of others we surrender. We go beyond it and ask, what can I do to lead the other to Christ? In doing so, we in fact gain more because by giving ourselves we received back a thousand fold.

For God it is all about us and for us it is all about Him. When this exchange of selflessness ripples through humanity, there will be no one in need because everyone thinks of the other first before themselves. 

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The First to Recognize

 John 21:1-14

“Cast down the net”, a stranger told the disciples around dawn, upon learning that they’d been fishing all night long without a catch. When they did, they were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. The disciple whom Jesus loved, John, recognized, “It is the Lord.” 

Personal closeness to someone makes us know the person in a deeper way that even in the cover of darkness, a voice and a gesture is enough to recognize the person. John the beloved closeness to Jesus allowed him to recognize him even in his tired eyes. Upon encountering a miracle: catching large number of fish after a catchless night, he recognized it could only be the Lord who can do such thing.

Personal relationship with Jesus is important in order for us to recognize Him in every situation we are in. Isn’t it affirming that He chose to show himself at dawn, when the disciples were at there lowest moment? No catch all night long, they were wearied, tired and frustrated. He is there in our difficulties and trials. He is a God with us. The challenge is for us to recognize Him in those situations and the only way for us to be familiar with His ways to know Him deeper.

Lord, grant us the grace to strive to know you deeper in a more personal way so we can recognize you in whatever situation we may be. Amen.

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Holy Silence

God speaks loudest in silence. Sharing to you some thoughts of the beauty and immeasurable blessings you receive in silence.

Holy Silence

O Holy Silence

Voice Beautiful

Language unknown

O Real Presence

Mysterious warmth

Sweet embrace

O Intimate Essence

Thoughts revealer

Question quencher

O Unneeded Explanation

Mind resting

Heart understanding

O Holy Inspirer

Courage starter

Desires affirming

 

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Everyday is a Miracle

The blessing of growing older is the growing awareness of the miracle called life. We have always looked for miracles. We look for unusual signs of the skies or look for uncommon movements of the oceans, we look for it in the mountains and seas and yet we forget that we are a miracle ourselves.

Life is a miracle! The fact that we are alive is a miracle in itself. Things taken for granted I now deliberately appreciate. Things because they are always there we somehow just set aside such as breathing, waking up another day, good health, ability to walk, capacity to eat and appreciate the tastes of the foods, and many more. The entirety of myself standing and living now is miracle. Every time I wake up I thank the Lord for letting me live another day, allowing me to wake up again complete and well. Everyday that we are still here on this earth is a miracle.

Recognizing miracles is being grateful to the creator. So today, as you O Lord added another year in my life, I am forever grateful, for life and health, for family and mission, thank you. Amen.

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Mission is Never Easy

Mission is never easy but if it is a call, being easy is no longer a question. Difficulties become but a challenge and everything is pure joy. Pure joy does not exclude difficulties; it is precisely in this situation that it is discovered in its purest form. If your call is mission and you follow its path, you will never be on the wrong road.

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Finding

You don’t have to go anywhere to find God; He will find you where you are.

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Flirting with Pain

 

I have encountered so many young people crying and in pain for no other reason than being in a relationship that is not officially in relationship. What is common now is what we call “mutual understanding” wherein a man and a woman come into a common understanding (not necessarily verbalized) that they both like each other. They can engage into dating and other things, that usually come along in a courtship. They can even do what normally is done when you are into an official relationship already.

At first glance it is good, of course how can it not be, when both parties are enjoying and seem to have mutual affection with each other? Well, there is no problem until such time misunderstanding comes and feelings seem to fade away by either of the two. The other will start being cold and falter in their regular dates and even phone calls become lesser. Schedules become suddenly busy, when in fact in the beginning of the “not so official relationship” it was not. The other person will start wondering what is wrong but could not get enough answers. So it ended badly just as it started shady. From wondering to wandering from one guy to another usually follows, because its human nature to feel loved and needed and yet these hurts continue like a cycle until you felt spent out.

Uncommitted Relationship

The problem with “mutual understanding” relationship is there is no accountability to whatever each one will do to the other. You can easily get out of the relationship because there’s no commitment. Relationship without commitment is like flying without wings, you will surely fall hard! When we go on a relationship whose boundary is not well defined, it will surely lead to confusion and hurts. Mutual understanding is flirting with pain because there is no clarity of purpose, purity of intention and integrity of words.

Obviously hurts, pains and feeling of unworthiness follow if it does not work out because you cannot go after the other; there is no commitment in the first place. Even those who are in a committed relationship that doesn’t work out, still hurts how much more for a relationship without one?

Pains caused by uncommitted relationship such as mutual understanding are actually unnecessary pains, because what causes pains is the lack of clarity between two parties. This lack of clarity leads to assumptions. Assumptions such as, the other has the same affection as you do and that the other, respect, honors and love as you do. We settle for the “silence” and just let the joy we experience go on until it is no more. We asks, why am I hurting? Why is she/he so bad? Why did she/he leave me? What’s wrong with me?

Well, there is nothing wrong with you, but with your decisions yes. And there is nothing wrong with you only the kind of relationship you have chosen. You definitely deserved to be treated more than that. You are special and meant to be pursued. Don’t cheapen yourself. Don’t cheapen love.

The Unsure Route

Brothers sometimes love to go on fishing mode and be non-committal. They would say, I can’t handle this anymore, “I can’t stop this feeling any longer” I have to tell her, and he will tell the sister, “I like you but I am not yet prepared.” Yes, we heard it right! “Like” but not prepared! In the first place why would you tell the sister that you like her, if you are not ready to pursue her? This is a very selfish act, because what you are doing is just passing on the burden to the sister. You just want to let out your feelings without being responsible for it. The sister will end up confuse as to what your real intentions are. You like her yes, but pursuing her not sure. What kind of man are you? And then you will lead her into you and drop her like a hot potato when you realize after that you are not ready. You are walking on the road you are not sure of and worst, you are bringing her along with you.

If you are courting, the presumption is you are ready for a relationship. How can you pursue someone if you are not even sure about yourself? How can you make a relationship work when you don’t even know how to make yourself work? Before you even courted you should have weigh all things, prayed and discerned about it.

Conversation such as, “I really like her kuya.” And months after, “Kuya, I realized I am not prepared and that’s she’s not the one for me.” Come on, be a man! It’s totally unfair for the woman, because it’s for the sister to say yes or no, and before she even can say it, you already stop. Be responsible and accountable to you words.

Planning to enter into a relationship should have:

1. Clarity – intention should be clearly stated and boundary between friendship and intimacy cleared out.

2. Purity – In stating the intention it should be because we have the purest intent of pursuing someone in love, honor and respect.

3. Integrity – We must be able to back up what we say by our actions. And be man enough to accept the outcome, be it yes or no.

Self Control is a mark of a real man. “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Tim 1:7. Don’t cause pain; don’t flirt with it. Playing with emotions is a lethal game. Nothing can compensate real love. If we want to know it better, we might as well start reading the gospel of Christ who is love Himself instead of relying on self-help guide into relationship. There is a freer, happier and surer way of love. Follow Him!

go deeper... read What is Courting for a Fulltime Worker and Real Love Waits

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Creation and the Creator

The more we take deeper and know about ourselves the more we know the one who created us. In us are the imprints of the one who created us.

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