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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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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.
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My friends over at recently introduced me to a video clip which featured a speaker named, Rob Bell… and ever since I got to watch my very first video of a series of his talks, I was immediately hooked.
Rob Bell produces these short 10-11 minute videos (18 clips to be exact) that talk about God and faith in a manner that isn’t boring and completely cuts through the heart. It is presented in a way that doesn’t intimidate non-practicing Christians/Catholics using a “story-telling” approach.
I encourage you to watch this short video clip entitled, “Rain”. Give it a chance to speak to you… all you need to do is offer a little of your time to watch and listen… it’ll only take up 10 minutes of your day… and it might just be one of the most meaningful 10 minutes you’ve ever spent watching something.
This video is as wonderful as it is powerful in its simplicity.
Here is how this particular clip (”Rain”) is introduced:
Things don’t always work out the way we want them to, or the way we think they will. Sometimes we don’t even see it coming. We get hit with some form of pain out of nowhere leaving us feeling desperate and helpless. That’s the way life is. Still, it makes us wonder how God can let these things happen to us. How God can just stand by and watch us suffer. Where is God when it really hurts? Maybe God is actually closer to us than we think. Maybe it’s when we’re in these situations, where everything seems to be falling apart, that God gets an opportunity to remind us of how much he really loves us.
Enjoy the clip…
You can also visit for more about Rob Bell and his other clips.
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Fellowship and Community, to me, can be likened to an intense blazing fire… while it’s people are the flame’s embers. It is vital that we, the members of community, stay within that fire… it is what keeps our hearts burning for God.
No one can maintain such an intense zeal all by his/her lonesome… a person needs to belong to a fellowship… a group of individuals gathered for the same purpose.
You feed off of one another… you share experiences… you lift each other up.
Take away an ember from the fire and the ember’s glow diminishes slowly… similar to a person taken away from community and fellowship for long stretches of time.
In order to maintain that zeal and enthusiasm, one needs to be part of active community worship and service.
I thank the Lord that I found my family at . My KG (Koinonia Group) buddies in “Disciple 1″ have always been there for me as we all have for one another. I always look forward to our gatherings and actively participate in sharing and discussions. It brings me great great joy to praise and worship the Lord every day!
I enjoy prayer time… I love talking about God… I look forward to Sunday Mass every week. It’s the most wonderful feeling I have ever experienced.
Looking back now, I seem to wonder how I survived not belonging and actively participating in any community in the past.
All I know now is that, I am never going back to my old life…
I found God… in a very personal way… and boy, does it feel great!
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Just heard from a friend over at that another member of ours, , is still in the hospital going through a grueling series of chemotherapy. He’s been there for almost a month now and there is still no word as to when or how much longer he has to stay there.
I may not know how it feels to undergo such a painful procedure… but my wife and I had a friend once who had leukemia, the very same condition Lex currently has… and we’ve seen how she suffered which in turn affected everyone around her greatly…
So, right now… I’d like to offer a prayer for my friend knowing that God is the Lord of infinite possibilities.
I ask that you, my readers, friends, even strangers… to please spend some time with me by reading the prayer below…
Dear Lord,
You know my friend so much better than I do. You know his sickness and his need. You also know his heart. Lord, I ask you to be with my friend now, working in his life. Let Your will be done in my friend’s life.
If there is a sin that needs to be confessed and forgiven, Lord, please help him to see his need and confess.
Lord, I pray for my friend because Your Word says I should pray for His healing. I believe You hear this earnest prayer from my heart and that it is powerful because of Your promise. I have faith in You to heal my friend, but I also trust in the plan you have for my friend’s life.
Lord, I don’t always understand Your ways, and why my friend has to suffer, but I trust You now. May You be glorified in my friend’s life and also in mine. In Jesus name, I pray…
Amen.
To those who spent a little time in prayer with me… thank you and may the Lord bless your lives as well.
