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Christmas eve is tonight… we are spending our Christmas with our community which is actually probably the BEST way to celebrate the coming of the Savior.
My prayers for everyone is that they may reflect and remember (and for some, ultimately realize) the true and ONLY meaning of Christmas Day.
It’s isn’t about the shopping, the revelry, the parties, the vacation… none of that really matters. May we all come to know that the greatest gift we could ever continuously receive during this special day is to be constantly reminded that Jesus Christ came down to Earth to save us from sin and to reconcile us with the Lord.
So, rejoice and be glad… Christ has come for you and me. May He be at the center of our lives and the true reason of our celebration during this glorious occasion!
To everyone… A Blessed CHRISTmas and a Christ-filled New Year!
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.
- John 3:16
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I’m looking forward to attending Elim’s “Pathways: An Encounter With God renewal seminar” this Saturday at Balanga, Bataan. The Pathways is a weekend renewal seminar for all who want to come to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
This seminar includes talks, sessions and spiritual exercises that are all geared towards making you come to know and love Our Lord.
My wife and I will be spending the weekend together and at the same time spending it with the Lord. Praise God for this special “time out”.
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My wife is going through a tough time at work. I just found out earlier this evening when she phoned me.
I feel for her… but what can we REALLY do, right? The only thing we have total control over is OURSELVES. Everything else that we don’t have dominance over should be turned over to the Lord through prayer.
I immediately told my wife to pray. To pray and to praise the Lord like she’s never done before. These are the best times to surrender everything to God and to prove to the Lord how faithful we are to Him.
Always and in all ways, we should praise the Lord. Not just in times of victories and triumphs… but all the more so during moments of despair and uncertainty.
Give thanks and praise to God for dire times such as these, for we are given another opportunity to demonstrate our strong faith.
No trial has come to you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it.
- 1 Corinthians 10:13
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I was talking to my wife over dinner before taking her to work… and I somehow noticed that no matter what our topic of conversations start out with, we always end up talking about the Lord… isn’t that great?!
We always manage to unconsciously find means to relate and incorporate even our simplest of small talks to God.
She even mentioned last night that whenever I start talking about the Lord and express how I am so much in awe of His presence, my eyes suddenly light up and it’s as if I am a crazed person… desperately in love.
What a wonderful way to be…! Crazily in love with the Lord!
Praise God for this feeling.
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Yesterday, I had the most pleasant surprise from my little boy, Ralph. It wasn’t so much what he did, but what he said.
During one of our usual simple family conversations in the living room, he excused himself and announced that he was about to commence his private prayer with the Lord and asked that we don’t disturb him for the time being…
Then he continued on to say that the day before that, he already offered 2 songs to God. I asked him, “2 songs?”… “Yes”, he replied. I inquired again, “What do you mean you offered 2 songs to the Lord?”… “I sung 2 songs by myself during my private prayer time yesterday and offered it to Him.”, he smartly answered.
Wow! That was all I could say during that moment. Imagine that… a little boy offering 2 songs to the Lord, which I never taught him to do. I never thought he’d actually think of doing something like that… but I’m very pleased with how he has seriously engaged on his prayer time.
The Lord delights in worship… in song and dance… very much, in fact.
My little kid has made me very proud of what he has done… imagine how much more the Lord in heaven listening to every tune that his breath lets out which comes from his pure heart. This is a child who knows nothing about quietly singing to God and yet he thought of offering 2 songs to Him.
My wife actually snuck up on him during his prayer time to actually see how he does it… Ralph sits on the bed and prays intently, eyes closed, starts with thanksgiving and talks to the Lord about his concerns and shortcomings and asks for forgiveness… then he starts singing… it has been a regular thing for him already. He offers songs everyday during his time with God.
I’m so proud of my boy! Praise God for Ralph… May God bless him forever…
A psalm of thanksgiving. Shout joyfully to the LORD, all you lands; worship the LORD with cries of gladness; come before him with joyful song. Know that the LORD is God, our maker to whom we belong, whosepeople we are, God’s well-tended flock. Enter the temple gates with praise, its courts with thanksgiving. Give thanks to God, bless his name; good indeed is the LORD, Whose love endures forever, whose faithfulness lasts through every age.
- Psalms 100 : 1 - 5
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Yesterday, during my private time with the Lord in the prayer room, I distinctly heard Him instruct me to bring my wife inside and ask her to join me…
So that’s just what I did. As soon as I finished, I called her in and asked her to pray with me. It was one of those times when you hear God and you just follow without asking any questions… I’m sure the Lord knew that my wife needed prayer during that particular moment.
I guided her all throughout… we started with praise and worship, then proceeded in thanksgiving and supplication.
I led the prayer aloud and a few short minutes later, as I was talking to the Lord, she started crying… and crying… I could hear her sniffles again and again…
Something struck her. The Holy Spirit must’ve overwhelmed her… tears were just flowing out non-stop. So I started praying in tongues and laid my hand on her. It just felt so surreal.
God knows. He just does. Isn’t it great?!
Praise God for opening my heart and allowing me to hear him clearly now more than ever.
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Just a short post… I’m still experiencing a “spiritual high”, so to speak… Why you ask? Well, because my prayer time has considerably improved… in terms of quantity and quality.
When I first started out before, I used to spend some 5 minutes in prayer when I wake up and a few short prayers here and there throughout the day whenever possible.
Now, I still have some prayers spread out through the day… some are more intimate than others… there are moments when I also go into simple silent public prayers…
But what has really improved the most is my private time with the Lord. Whenever I wake up… I make sure that I’m totally up and about so as to be confident that I won’t accidentally doze off during prayer. Then I spend quality time praying and meditating in a specially designated room…
Surprisingly, I noticed that the duration of my prayers recently have lasted a good 30 minutes per session. At times, I pray out loud… on other occasions, it’s a mix of prayer and silently listening for the Lord to speak to my heart.
It’s such a wonderful feeling. Refreshing and overwhelming. I pray for daily anointment. This is very important, indeed. It’s one thing to live and speak the Good News to others and share your personal spiritual victories… but it’s another thing to speak it with the “anointing” of the Holy Spirit within you. It makes all the difference.
(Hmmm… this turned out to be a longer post than I thought…! Hehe!)
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I just realized as I reflected… ever since I really started regular worship and daily prayer, I started to feel a heavier burden towards my surroundings, towards people who are underprivileged and in dire need of the Lord.
I knew that a deeper faith in God would bring about a more sensitive and greater consciousness within me… but only recently did I realize one of the reasons why this has happened…
I went into quiet contemplation and reflected on some of the chapters of the book I read entitled, ““, which talks about effective prayer. And I learned that a prayer that comes from a painful heart is easily heard by God hence making it more powerful.
The pain I am experiencing is a “spiritual reality”… it is actually brought about by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit allows the pain and sorrow to overwhelm me so that I can channel all of it through prayer… thus creating a powerful prayer to the Lord for those in urgent need of God.
Wonderful, isn’t it? The pain is a gift… because it serves a greater purpose.
Praise God for these revelations.
