Being Busy

I'm in the middle of a very busy week. We had a music ministry workshop for CFC and the family ministries, attended the International Kids Village with my family, transferred office, transferring home, and preparing for my Canada trip (whew).  But I praise God, for I am busy for my service to God and my family.

We can be busy about many things.  But who are we busy for?  There are two kinds of busy:

Being Under Satan's Yoke (i heard this from someone before). Busyness that leads us away from God and breaks down our relationships, specially with our family.

Being Under (the) Spirit's Yearning. The Lord yearns, desires for us to serve and worship with the time, talent, and treasures we have. His yearning, should also be our yearning. Being busy for the Lord, gives us no more time to sin. They say, "Idle hands are the devil's workshop." To a great degree, this saying is true. We often sin when we have nothing better to do.

Let us then devote our strength and time to the things that merit the Eternal. We can be easily lured to the temporary because the results are immediate. Let us follow the yearning of the Spirit to actively build God's Kingdom and fortify our relationships with our friends and family.

One Year of Blogging

May 3, 2011


My blog is 1 year old today. I find great joy in writing for the Lord. Literary was never one of my strong suits, but the call to share God to others gave me the courage to write.

I was just trying to discover a way where I can do mission online. I wanted to reach whom I physically couldn't. I checked my stats for a year of blogging, and here's the result:


I had 9,100 visits from 5,226 unique visitors from 110 countries. These visitors viewed 16,254 pages of the blog.  Thank you God for using this simple tool on the internet to share your Word.

Blogging has taught me:

To Yield. Writing a reflection allows me to let go and yield to God's word.  Dictionary.com defines yield as to give up, as to superior power or authority. Through writing,  I am able to surrender to Him and overcome the human tendency to hold back, control, and be independent. With God, we can only yield for His power to manifest in our lives.

To be Bold. One of my weaknesses is to be hesitant for fear of judgment. But what I realized is that God gives us a spirit of boldness through His power and not a spirit of timidity. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7).  And so I dare explore cyberspace, knowing there are millions of souls there seeking God in their lives. And if by being bold, I am able to bring one person to Christ, then it would have been all worth it.

To Reach out. The act of reaching out requires straining ourselves so that others may be victorious in Christ. Like a runner about to cross the finish line. Writing takes time and energy. Above the daily work loads, there seems to be no time to blog. But it is exactly why it is a form of service, because of the element of sacrifice. Reaching out also means to reach in to myself first (prayer and reflection) so I can reach out to others.

Thank you Lord for the giving me the grace to yield, to be bold, and to reach out. A year of blogging all for Your glory, all for Your Word.

Eliminating Garbage

We are now in the exciting process of transferring to a new office location. Every department is readying themselves. Throwing away old useless files, scanning and digitally archiving documents, leaving old furniture, sorting, cleaning, and packing. The idea is to transfer with the least amount of stuff possible.
When we decide to 'transfer' to the Lord, we leave everything behind. We leave our hurts, fears, and failures. We embrace the new life that Jesus has in store for us. We throw away all the useless things that lead us far from Him. St Paul declared, "For His sake I have thrown everything away; I consider it all as mere garbage, so that I may gain Christ...(Phil. 3:8)."
What are we to do to eliminate the garbage in our life?
1. Sort out sin from your conscience.
When sin is embedded in our lives, we tend to condition our consciences that the sin we do is justifiable. Thoughts like, "Everyone is doing it anyway" or "If I don't get caught, then there's no harm done" are our attempts to justify our sins. What we should do is call sin a sin. Let us sort sin out of our consciences, and identify them for what they really are, the devil's schemes.
2. After sorting, throw away the garbage that is sin. Simply said, confess your sins to a priest. The Sacrament of Reconciliation, through God's grace, absolves from our sins. We are cleansed from the garbage in our hearts. " Create in me a clean heart O God (Psalm 51:10)."
3. After throwing away our sinfulness, we then put order in our lives by putting Christ first. When we prioritize Christ, all else follows. " But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Mt. 6:33)." By putting Christ first, through prayer, we are tapping on His power to create miracles in our lives. Even in seemingly hopeless situations, we are brought to His perspective and submission to His will. This gives us genuine hope and wisdom that situates our lives in proper order.
It's time to do some sorting of our conscience, cleansing from sin , and putting our lives in order for Christ. Let us eliminate and leave the garbage of evil in our lives and transfer permanently to Christ Jesus, our true home.

Winning Our Battles Within

I came across the song, "Sunday Bloody Sunday" by U2.  In my grade school years, I always woke up with U2 songs being played by my brothers while preparing for school.  I love it's beat and the passionate way Bono sang it.  So, I researched some facts about the song. Here's what I got from songfacts.com.
There are two Bloody Sundays in Irish history. The first was in 1920 when British troops fired into the crowd at a football match in Dublin in retaliation for the killing of British undercover agents. The second was on January 30, 1972, when British paratroopers killed 13 Irish citizens at a civil rights protest in Derry, Northern Ireland. The song is more about the second Bloody Sunday. 


The song reflects on the reality of war and conflict in our world.  It expresses the longing for peace and unity. I particularly like the part when this stanza is sang:


 "How long must we sing this song? How long? How long? Cause tonight we can be as one, tonight." 


What are the battles that rage within us? Are there conflicts between our faith and in our personal integrity?  How long must we endure our internal conflicts, when we can decide to be one with Christ?"


It's almost Easter Sunday.  I look forward to the celebration of victory over sin won by Christ through His resurrection. According to more of the facts about the song, "Bono was trying to contrast the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre with Easter Sunday, a peaceful day Protestants and Catholics both celebrate (songfacts.com)."  He cites at the last stanza of the song, "The real battle just begun to claim the victory Jesus won.."


Three things we can do to win our internal battles:

1. Surrender to God all your weaknesses.

     Surrendering means giving up our pride, our reasoning, our excuses for sin.  We admit our failures and we declare to God that we need Him to heal us.  Going to confession is a concrete step of surrendering.

2. Submit to His Love

      Know that God's Love is greater than anything we can imagine. Yes, greater than our sins.  We may feel unworthy of His love, but He urges us to accept it and be transformed by it.

3. Seek Support from a Community or a Friend who loves Christ 

      The devil continues to distract and lure us into these battles.  An act of humility would be to confide to someone who can guide and mentor us in our life as a follower of Christ.  Having a community will give us encouragement and wisdom to win over temptations and sin.

Let us acknowledge God's power over sin. Jesus conquered death to show us that in Him we will win and gain new life.  He will make us strong and we shall rise victorious with Him in resurrection.

God Prepares Us For Our Life's Challenges

Finally had time to catch on with some sports activities. Thanks to my household. It's just that since I haven't really had a "real" exercise in the past months, i woke up with a sore body, hardly being able to move. I had muscle pains in places I never knew would ache. It would even hurt when I laugh.

Remembering the passion of Christ, I could just imagine the pain our Lord went through. What was even more difficult was that He knew exactly what He will be going through.  The prayer at Gethsemane must have been excruciating for Him.  Yet, despite of the knowledge of what He will suffer, He still went on with it, telling His angels not to help Him and telling God, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34)."

When I reflect on the pains that I have gone through in my life, emotionally, physically, and spiritually, I think nothing can compare with the sufferings of our Lord.  We are even spared of the knowledge of our future sufferings and sacrifices.  God prepares us for our life's challenges and won't give us what we can't bear to overcome.  He helps us to go from strength to strength by enduring every problem that comes our way.

Lord, may we not forget Your great love for us, made evident by every wound and every drop of blood you gave for our sake.  We love you so and we pray that our life's sufferings and sacrifices may lead us closer to You. Amen.