Glory Be

I was recently reflecting upon why we have to give glory to God. We often pray the Glory Be. The prayer opens with, "Glory Be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit."   In the Our Father, part of it proclaims, "for Thine is the Kingdom, the Power, and the glory."

 A speaker in a recent conference said that, "We give glory to God because we can't handle the glory." Glory is rightfully God's, but another reason  is that claiming the glory for ourselves will only nurture our pride.  And we know that pride is Satan's favorite weapon against us. We do not have the capacity to absorb the glory that the world impresses on us. We have to dispose of it immediately to God.

It is tempting to attribute our accomplishments to our hard work and dedication. We want to insist that we "earned it." It is easy to forget that it is God that we have to thank and that it is God that made our life's victories possible.  It is convenient to remember God in our need, but it is a struggle to attribute our success to Him.  We are tempted to save some for ourselves. In our solitude we savor some glory and linger in it.  Some of us can't get over the glory of our past achievements and endlessly rant about our present situation.  Let us take Paul's advice, "Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead (Phil 3:13)."

May we unburden ourselves of the heavy weight that glory brings and let us get on with the next command that God will give to us as His servants.

Full Armor of God

Download Full Armor of God mp3 file, CFC musical arrangement by MC band
Full Armor of God_lyrics

Be Made Clean

Now there was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where he was; and when he saw Jesus, he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said, "Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean." Luke 5:12

How do we physically cleanse ourselves? We take a bath, brush our teeth, cut our nails, clean our ears and all other bathroom rituals to rid us of yesterday's impurities.  Only yet to face another day that we will once again come into contact with the day's pollutants. Imagine not having to take a bath for 2 days, or even a week.  Surely, we will smell, and we'll probably ward off our friends and even risk losing our jobs or get suspended from school.

How often do we spiritually cleanse ourselves? I know of somebody who went back to confession after 10 years. It almost took two hours to finish.  It took a great deal of unburdening, repenting, forgiving, and healing.  Hatred consumed this person over the years, and was led to be far from the Lord because of shame and feeling of unworthiness. This person thought that the pain would just go away, without forgiving, without being cleansed spiritually. Like not having to take a bath for 10 years, our souls are compounded with the world's dirt and filth, and yes we will stink to the point that we are used to the smell. We ward off God's graces for our lives and suspend the blessings He has in store for us.

The mercy of God is greater than any of our sins. He forgives, but for us to come to the point of asking forgiveness, we have to go through the process of total humility, of letting go, of wishing God to make us clean.

"Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, "I do will it. Be made clean." And the leprosy left him immediately (Luke 5:13)."

Be Confident in the Lord

"Who is this but Joseph's son?" Luke 4:22

Even Jesus was not spared with criticisms and doubt.  We fear what other people will say about us and what we do.  But often times, the greatest critic and doubter of all is ourselves.

I remember when Mike and I wrote the song God is Enough back in 2003. I was very hesitant to teach it, in fear of the idea that it just came from us. That time, the excellent music of Darrel Evans and Hillsong were the standard Christian songs we used for worship. But one day, Mike, filled with the Holy Spirit, just taught it to a group of youth missionaries and the rest was history. God used the song powerfully in spite of who we are.

When in doubt, let us gain confidence in knowing that God wants to use our talents, knowledge, and even our life's stories for His purpose.  It doesn't matter what people say. What matters is what God has to say.  Be confident in the Lord.

First to Love

God taught us, showed us, how it is to love. To be first to love. This is love: not that we loved God but that he first loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:10)

 Much of the love we have rests on conditions.  Our thoughts would run like, "I'll forgive, if he says sorry first" or "When will she ever change?"  Often it is hard to be the initiator of love. If we indeed love, we must be first to be humble, we must be first to change.

The verse also emphasizes the value and importance of Christ's love for us over our love for Him.  We unconsciously want to glorify our acts of love for Him more than acknowledging His unfathomable love for us.  This comes out when we feel the need to be recognized and to be affirmed of our service.  We are to be content that we are doing this for Christ because He loved us first.

Quiet Time

Heard a simple but powerful homily from mass today.  The priest said, "We create noise using loud firecrackers during the new year so that the malas will go out of our lives, but Mary was quiet so that God can come in."

At the start of the year, we make it part of our resolution to be faithful to our prayer time.  But as weeks and months pass, we notice that we wane in our pledge.  As our work gets "noisier" at each day, we often forget to take time to be quiet and just be with God at the start of the day.

Lord, help us to be faithful like you. Amidst all your duties of preaching and healing people, you never failed to go back to the Father and spend time in quiet and seclusion just to be with Him.  Come into our lives oh God. Speak Lord, Your servant is listening.

Of Friendship and Bravery

Four brave men who do not know each other will not dare to attack a lion.  Four less brave, but knowing each other well, sure of their reliability and consequently of mutual aid, will attack resolutely.  There is the science of the organization of armies in a nutshell. (Colonel Charles Ardant Du Picq, 1821-70)

Facing the new year ahead, there will surely be great challenges.  Some problem encounters, as fearsome as lions. But these challenges, no matter the size, will be won with true friends by our side. We will become brave because, Jesus, our true and faithful friend, is with us.  He surrounds us with people, our friends, who will help fight our battles.

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you (John 15:15).


So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand (Isaiah 41:10).