Chosen Generation (Chris Tomlin)

Rich in God's Sight

What are we living for?

The question may seem aged over time for you. But when you look into it on a personal perspective, What is life to you really? What have we done to make our lives remarkably significant in our walk on earth? And the most defining of all, how do we identify ourselves here on earth?

Let's find answer in the light of the Bible:

Luke 12:13-21 (New International Version)

The Parable of the Rich Fool

 ¹³Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." ¹⁴Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" ¹⁵Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
 ¹⁶And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. ¹⁷He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
 ¹⁸"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '
 ²⁰"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
 ²¹"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."


>> Now if I have to ask you, "What are you lliving for?", what would be your answer?

I'd like to present to you an argument of life that has been an intricate design of man: The Desire For Wealth. No one will disagree with me when I say that wealth is not bad. In fact, all people need it and way too far, WANT it! Verse 13 describes the yearning of man for inheritance - to wealth for that matter. God did design us for something, and even if we haven't gone to a realization that Deutoronomy is right when it says that it is God who gave us the ability to produce wealth, we simply desire it for inexhaustive reasons.

Some may say that they are living for their family, to support them, provide for their needs, etc. Some may also say that they are living just to get by this life and die afterwards (Well, honest people will accept the fact of their inability to find meaning in life); others, too, may be plain to say that they live up for their dreams. There are plenty of profession helping out others: Nurses, Doctors, Philantrophies, Teachers, name it! But no matter how good your deeds and motives are, when Christ is not the center of it, you lost it's real essence!

Rich and good our "ground" may seem, it is futile if it's not lived for the glory of God! What is the "ground" you cling and attached yourself too tight? Your profession? Your money? Your title? Your position, power and influence? Do any of these depicts how we identify our life? Solomon had it all, but in Ecclesiastes he wrote, "Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly Meaningless!...the Conclusion of the Matter is this: Obey the Lord, and Serve Him Only."

We may have all we desire on earth, but for what it's worth if we gain the whole world yet lose our own Soul? Thanks for reading this blog but before I end this up, I want to leave you a question to ponder: "Are you rich in the sight of God or only in the sight of men?"

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Peace in the midst of trials

BARE. That's what I can say about the title of this discussion. BARE, PLAIN, but is the most SIGNIFICANT agendum anyone would love to have.

Monday, 23 August 2010, I officially started my first day at Divelink Resort Manila Sales Office as a part time Bookkeeper. I am still connected to Makansutra Asian Food Village though as a bookkeeper there (at Manila Ocean Park), just behind Quirino Grandstand where the hijacking of Chinese nationals happened. Since I am a part timer of Divelink, I have all the chances of visiting Makan for some important turn-over and other things to do which already piled up over the weekend and my absences.

Having no knowledge of the hijacking, I made a phone call to my co-employee from Manila Ocean Park accounting dep't. (who is to replace me at Makan). From her I learned of the incidence going on outside the company. I took it very lightly, thinking it was just a prank for me not to drop by. But I came to realize, she wouldn't just do that. And boom! It was real. Praise God I didn't proceed to MOP.

It is not everyday that we face this kind of tragedy though, but small or big it may seem to one's perspective, we face moments where our security is threatened - personal security or the country's line of defense.

Prophesy was already made, In 2 Timothy chapter 3 is says there, "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have NOTHING to do with THEM" ;

The incidence marked a stain of history in our dear country. As a Filipino, it left me the impression that even the most people we trust to bring us security, peace and justice can be the one giving us tragic times as this. Am not generalizing the entire policemen though, I couldn't be fair to them if I would! But am laying an argument that really, "EVIL LURKS IN A HUMAN HEART LIKE A VIPER IN ITS HOLE." We see that people can have the tendency to do things we never really imagine. That is why it is very important to be bathed and be borne in the Word of God, having an OLD SELF crucified with CHRIST.

I am now working at the sales office of a resort, and we can be affected by what happened. We cannot, however question the apprehensions of the other countries especially those Chinese people. Their government is only laying a norm of security to their people, like a hen covers her chicks under her wings. But security is never earned by being confined to a certain place. We can be secured even in the midst of battle. We can be at peace even if the whole world is raging against us.

Our PEACE, Our HOPE is under the shadow of the ALMIGHTY.

As Psalm 91 says,

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,

nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

If you make the Most High your dwelling — even the Lord, who is my refuge —

then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.

For he will command his angles concerning you to guard you in all your ways;

they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.  He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.  With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation. 

"JESUS SAVES!"

Walking down the Katigbak Pkwy in front of Quirino Grandstand yesterday, Friday, 8 October 2010, a certain crusade which was being organized caught my attention. I was about to visit Makansutra to finally do my clearance form the company. I changed my mind upon seeing the thick cloud covering the city and the wind blowing furiously that the dust it blown made me cough.

A considerable number of people were gathered at Quirino Grandstand. Women wearing Saya and men in long and short sleeves polo were over the place and still others were coming. I wonder who they were and from what sect they could be. Later did I know that these people were from Jesus Miracle Crusade.

"JESUS SAVES!" This powerful words caught my enthusiasm to stop and intently pay attention to the pictures posted on the wall of the grandstand. News like "Hostage freed in Mindanao" did an impact on me. I smiled at the thought. It was ironic tht the news and the words written above were there just in front of the very spot where the hostage taking last August 23 took the lives of Chinese nationals and the hostage taker himself.

Could this same words be in the heart of those families whose loved ones suffered the cruelty of death? Will the proclamation of God's saving grace int that crusade make them realize that indeed God is the God of miracles? We can't tell. While I delve at the thought, God impressed in me the verse in 1 Corinthians 1:18, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

I realize it's not for us to question why certain things happen so favorably to one and unfavorably to the others. For the Lord sends rain to both the righteous and the wicked.

All the way through, God again impressed in me the story of Daniel's friends; Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Daniel 3). The story tells that King Nebuchadnezzar put up a statue to which all shall bow down and worship upon hearing the sound of musical instruments. If anyone caught not doing as instructed shall be placed to a blazing furnace.

The three friends were caught not following the King's command and the news were brought to him. Nebuchadnezzar was furious and so summoned the three Godly men and commanded to bow down and worship the idol. When faced with the King's presence, they replied with courage: "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." And God did saved them!

Many times we faced with the temptations to compromise, to question God, to be bitter towards him. King Nebuchadnezzar appear in many forms. He could be our problems which we thought we cannot solve the right way and so we compromise (our tithes, relationships, etc.) He could play the role of our parents, relatives and friends questioning the very relationship we have with the Savior thus leading us to a lose heart and fall away. Or he could be the finger of the enemy poking at us whenever we make a mistake.

The attitude of the three friends made a big difference to the situations and it did touch the heart of the Lord. God saved them! There is promotion in our Faithfulness. When confronted with a problem, it should be our attitude that God is able to save us...and even if He doesn't, we will still stand upright! I love the line from Facing the Giant that says, "If we win, we'll praise God; and if we lose, we'll Praise God!" It doesn't change anything. Whether winning and losing, we'll Praise Him!

After all,
 "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:35-39

Looking through the Lens of Grace

"Is anything too hard for the Lord?" - Genesis 18:14a

The story goes when the Lord promised Abraham that he will be a Father of all nations and his wife Sarah will bear him a child. Sarah overheard from the three visitors that indeed she will conceive a child in her old age while Abraham had already been worn out.  She laughed at what she heard and so questioned in herself the ability of the Lord to make miracles.

Oftentimes we act like Sarah did. When faced with a promise from the Bible, we reckoned if such can ever happen to us with the situation at hand. We look at the promise with the eyes of the present situation. Whenever we do that, we limit the hands of the living God to do great and marvelous things into our lives and so frustrates ourselves.

"Is there anything too hard for the Lord?" Let us ask ourselves once more, "Is there?" The Bible tells us that the things of the past is written to teach us. They are written accounts of the goodness of the Lord to those He pleases to bless. May the lives of the characters in the Bible remind us that indeed God is the God who makes miracles and still doing miracles after miracles to our lives.

God's sustaining grace is never far from us. It's always just an arms-length. We only need to be still and trust Him while He's busy working out the details of our lives. This is not the time to hold everything with our bare hands and play superman. It's time to look into out lives through the lens of God's grace. As he said, "My Grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9

I'm Not Cool ..the coolest song ever!

Blessed to Bless

"I will make you into a great nation and I will BLESS you; I will make your name great and you will be a BLESSING. I will bless those you bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all people on earth will be blessed through you." - Genesis 12:2-3

You cannot give what you do not have. The principle stands true even when it comes to becoming a blessing to other people. God did not bless us just to satisfy our personal needs and wants. No, in all these, there is a purpose for being a blessed person. And if we desire to bless others, we must be connected to the source of blessing and experience the blessing Himself.

Moses wrote, "Choose Blessing!" Who else doesn't want to be blessed after all? Nobody wants suffering but most of us already experienced the fangs of starvation, the agony of torture and sickness, the demeaning of ones self  due to failures one after another. It's inevitable. But we can do something about it. As I mentioned, we only need to be connected to the source of blessing. It is only in His presence that we find true peace despite the raging seas crashing against our shore of comfort, love in the midst of havoc and conflict, hope in the middle of wilderness.

When God promised to bless Abram, He didn't just bless him but also destined him to be a blessing. However, looking into the promise, God didn't say you will be a blessing and I will bless you. It doesn't work vis-a-vis. The river do not go up to the falls, but the falls flow through the river and onto the vast ocean. Our lives are only instrument of God to release the blessing to other people.

The promise [of Blessing] comes by Faith (Romans 4:16) for without Faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrew 11:6). Receiving the promise is through pleasing God thru Faith. Had Abram did not believe in God to fulfill it, the promise could never materialize. Same as true with us. If we want to experience blessing, we must have faith and not doubt, believing that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him and He who promised is faithful (Heb. 10:23).

We may not have enough to share to others, but being faithful with the little that we have now can touch the heart of our Living God to bless us. I believe God blesses His people gradually. He doesn't just pour them all out on us because He wants to test us in the area of our faithfulness. We don't need to be a multimillionaire before we desire to serve Him. We don't need to have it all and got the whole world in our hands to extend a hand to others. For what profit for a man if he gains the whole yet forfeits his soul? The blessing is not a winner-takes-it-all kind of promise. God allows us to enjoy what we have now and exercise the passion to bless with it. Let us be reminded by the Proverb 30: 7-9, "Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD ?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God."

Therefore, let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. - Galatians 6:9