saved the bible way

It’s amazing how God’s followers go out their way to spread the good news and Jesus’ love. It reminds me of the apostles especially Paul who actively goes to places God leads him to and preach God’s words.

This morning as I was trying to breathe fresh air outside the house I saw two small pieces of paper wrapped together and inserted in between the grills of our gate. I got it and the bold words in the front page reads: SAVED THE BIBLE WAY!

It’s from one of those church groups who continually and persistently go to houses and leave leaflets of stories and reminders of God’s words. I am personally guilty of ignoring these sheets of papers as if the novels by Sidney Sheldon or other acclaimed authors are more important than two short pages containing God’s words.

Last night, I slept at 3 am just to finish a truly page-turning novel. But guilt struck my heart and before I am about to rest my eyes and call it a night/day, I immediately read the Bible. How could I spend the entire day reading a 500-page thick novel but cannot even patiently read a half-page chapter in the Bible? That’s not only a common problem of mine but many of us suffer from this unfortunate fate. We are easily attracted into reading Paolo Coelho, or the latest installment of Harry Potter books, or even the childish Archie comics. But we cannot spare a little of our time into reading the most important book that could SAVE us. The only book that could give us answers to the great but beautiful mystery that is God and Jesus Christ.

I hope I(we) can solve this problem fast before God says it’s too late, child.

Inside the leaflet reads: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” -Romans 10:13

genesis

I’m glad to report that I have finished the Book of Genesis today. It is quite an accomplishment for me. I always feel that it’s a significant accomplishment if I finish a novel, a book or any kind of reading. But this day was an extra special accomplishment since it was a book in the Bible that I have finished reading.

I started reading it around the third week of May this year. I did not really rush into reading it. I wanted to savor every chapter, every words, every page, and every characters in it. As I wake up I read the little blue bible because I have not yet finished reading it, and at night I read the new Bible given me. There were times that I just wake up in the middle of the night, at dawn some other times, with bad dreams, and because I am afraid to sleep, I read it until I get sleepy again. It was wonderful as I have good sleep afterwards.

In Genesis, I learned about Noah, the ark, the people whom God said Noah should bring along with him inside the ark to be saved from the great flood which blotted the earth from all living things ungodly in the sight of God; God’s covenant of never again to flood the earth to wipe out man; Abram, later called Abraham by God, his wife Sarai, later named Sarah by God which means “princess” in Hebrew; Isaac who fathered Jacob who thereafter fathered Joseph, all three being loved by God.

Again, I thank my friend for giving me this Bible. It’s such a blessing being able to read the old testament for the first time.

loved even before born

As I was checking and cleaning up my email from old messages, I came across this one. It’s a very lovely message. For me it’s one of the many reminders of God’s love towards his children, who continually commit sins but are continually being forgiven. God is indeed best described as the Forgiving Father.

Loved

By Micca Campbell

“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord who has compassion on you.” -Isaiah 54:10 (NIV)

Devotion:

“Mom, when did you first begin to love me?” asked my youngest son. I was quite surprised by his question and had to ponder if for a moment. Then, I replied. “I first loved you when dad and I began to talk about having a baby.” Parker reacted with confusion. “But that was way before I was born.”

“That’s right.” I said. “Then, when I carried you in my tummy, my love for you grew stronger.”

“It did?” he questioned with wonder. “Yes it did, and when you were born and placed in my arms, I loved you even more!”

“Did your love for me rub off a little the first time I did something wrong?”

“Not a chance! There is nothing you could ever do that would make me stop loving you.” I reassured him. With a big smile on his face, he leaped into my arms and hugged me tight.

As I considered our conversation, I realized that as a child of God I’ve had those same questions. “When did you first love me, Lord?”

“Long before you were ever born I determined to love you.” God whispered to my heart.

“Well, what about the bad things I do. Do they make you love me less?” I asked.

“Not a chance! No sin is strong enough to deter my love for you.” God reassured me. I smiled and whispered back. “I love you, too, Lord.”

You may be wondering how God could love you despite the wrong things you’ve done. It’s simple. God sent Jesus, His Son, to earth to save those who were trapped in sin. When we tell God we are sorry for our sins and accept Christ’s death on the cross as payment for our wrongdoings, then there is no longer anything between you and God.

God’s love is hard to comprehend. It has no beginning and no end, and it’s greater than our sin. Therefore, there is nothing you and I can do that will separate us from God’s love. He has loved you and me from the beginning and His love remains forever consistent and committed no matter what.

a perfect gift

I received the most perfect gift! It’s a HOLY BIBLE! It even came from a most perfect friend.

My close friend promised to give me a bible after learning that I only have the new testament in the small blue bible version. I was really excited about it until I actually had it in my hands. I became even more excited. I can now read for myself the stories in the old testament. I usually go dumbfounded whenever friends in school, or just about anywhere talk about the popular stories from the old testament. I cannot personally relate to them. Unfortunately, I was not exposed to it when I was growing up. But I hear about it so I just sew the stories together until I establish in my mind what the stories are all about. But it is really different if I read it firsthand. I want to read the words by myself and have my own interpretation of the messages it conveys. I am not up to the fact that I can tell the whole world that I have finished reading the most important book written. I am up for the blessings, insights, wisdoms that comes with truly knowing the Lord God and Jesus Christ.

God, I pray that as I read and understand every single words in the Bible, I learn more and more about you. I pray that I understand the messages you want to share with me. I pray that I continue to thirst for each and every verse in it.

The Prodigal Eagle and The Loving Tree

Here’s a story I fell in love with as I read the book Yayee 2 of Fr. JJ Jesena SJ. It talks about the love of the Lord which knows no boundaries, no restrictions, no limitations.

One day, a teen-age girl was taking a walk with her Mom, when all of a sudden she said, “You know, Mommy, if I could only change myself, I would like to be an EAGLE … so I could fly … and go far, far, away.”

Then the mother said, “My dear, if you would change yourself into an EAGLE, so you could fly, and go far away … then … I only want to be a TREE … only a TREE … so you would always have a HOME, so you would always have a HOME to come home to…

As the author, Fr. Juni, interpreted it, you and I – we are all like the teenage girl who longs to be an eagle and fly far away. Away to taste freedom. To choose whatever we want and become unbridled, and become wild. To be liberated from the care and comforts of our parents, from God. God is like the Tree, who only wants to be a tree, so that we will always have a Home to come home to.

This only shows how awesome God’s love is.. He forgives and forgets our ugly pasts, our wrongs, if only we come back to his loving arms. To admit that we have sinned. And to ask for forgiveness, for another pardon, another chance.

But human as we are we keep wasting the second, third, nth chances the Lord gives. We climb back to the Tree, but again and again we fall.

Oh Lord, I pray that You do not lose patience in us. That every time we fall You would be there to catch us until the time that we fall no more. Until the time that we finally rest in the nest of your tree.

Inflicted with fear

“When you’re afraid of what’s ahead, remember God is near; He will give you strength and joy and hope and calm your fear.” -Sper

Trying To Regain Your Trust

I have been feeling empty lately. The same feeling I usually have when I have been hurting many people through the petty quarrels I have with them. I am easy at snapping back at them with harsh words whenever they doubt my motives or intentions. I have realized that the more I hurt other people the more I hurt myself and consequently, creates distress, guilt and loneliness in my heart.

Almost always the solution for the emptiness I experience is the words and wisdom of the Lord. However, even as I have come to know this I still fall prey to the bait of laziness. I keep making excuses not to read the bible even knowing fully well that these excuses are unjustifiable.

Lately, I have been trying to make time to read the bible and other uplifting books that would nourish and appease my empty heart. I am trying to regain God’s trust in me by thirsting and craving for His good news.

God, may you inspire me always with your words of wisdom that I may crave and long for them always. May these wonders fill my heart and soul.

Created On His Good Pleasure

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. – Ephesians 2:10

Eric Liddell was an Olympic runner from Britain who won a gold medal in the 1924 Paris Olympics. He was a man who had a deep commitment to the Lord and had future plans of being a missionary. In the meantime, he knew God had given him a special gift to run, and he often said, “I feel God’s pleasure when I run.”

He spent years training for the Olympics. He passed each hurdle and qualified for the Olympics. Finally, the day came for him to run in the games that were held in France. There was only one problem. One of his running events was held on Sunday. Liddell refused to run on Sunday, believing it dishonored the Lord’s Sabbath. He held to his convictions and brought great persecution on himself. He made a decision that even if it meant losing his opportunity to compete, he would not run. God’s laws were greater than man’s applause. Just when the circumstances seemed hopeless, another situation arose that allowed Liddell to run on a different day.

So often this is the case in the spiritual realm. God tests our hearts to see if we will remain faithful to Him at the cost of something important to us. Once He knows where our loyalty lies, He opens a new door that meets the desires of our hearts.

God takes pleasure in seeing His creation used for His glory. Liddell understood why he was made to run; he used his gift of running to bring pleasure to his Creator. Later, Eric Liddell went on to serve God on the mission field.

Does your life work bring pleasure to the Lord? Do you understand that God instilled certain gifts and talents in you so that He might find pleasure in His creation of you? Take pleasure in the gifts God has given to you this day. And let His glory shine through you.

Of Pure Heart

WHO IS PURE OF HEART? Only those who have surrendered their hearts completely to Jesus that he may reign in them alone. Only those whose hearts are undefiled by their own evil—and by their own virtues too.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer The Cost of Discipleship

 

NOW when [people] attempt to live a double life spiritually, that is, to appear pure on the outside but are not pure in the heart, they are anything but blessed. Their conflicting loyalties make them wretched, confused, tense. And having to keep their eyes on two masters at once makes them cross-eyed, and their vision is so blurred that neither image is clear. Clarence Jordan, Sermon on the Mount

 

OPPOSING PURITY of heart is lust of any kind—for wealth, for recognition, for vengeance, for sexual access to others—whether indulged through action or imagination.
Jim Forest, The Ladder of the Beatitudes

 

My aunt has been religiously sending good news messages to my email as well as to her other contacts. I take it as a sign that the Lord wants me to read these messages and to let me know that He has not deserted me in spite of all my shortcomings. I always appreciate it whenever the Lord continues to make me feel that He is always present in my life despite the many mistakes, wrong decisions, u-turns I have made.

 

When I read this message I cannot stop nodding in agreement. I have been trying to change my ways, my deeds but always fall back to my old ways – vain, worldy, short tempered, and evil of all sorts. But as always the Lord never fails to reassure me that I can still change trough His many signs.

On Religion

We have to take religion seriously. Religion is not a part-time thing. It is not a weekend religion. It is not something that you do when you have free time. It is a full time commitment.

 I heard this from a friend’s youtube post. Indeed, it is very true. Religion is not a light switch that can be put on and off whenever we want. I often tell myself that my faith should not be for mere convenience. I cannot just open the bible whenever I like. I cannot just pray whenever its time to do so such as when I wake up, or before eating, or before going to sleep. Worshipping is not only during Sundays or Saturdays. Praying is not just speaking in verbatim the prayers we have learned from our parents.

Praying, Worshiping, Faith, Religion is a serious matter.  Our eternal life will depend on how we took these things seriously in our lifetime.