I'm sorry!

How my day went...

I woke up the usual time, and got a major blessing to start my day right. There is this provision that I was expecting for a few more days, but it came in much, much earlier! It came in first thing in the morning...TODAY!!! So I praise God for that! :)

Next thing I know is that my online account has been already updated and hmmm...some checks I wrote finally cleared and some purchases I made had been reflected already...but still, praise God for how He has been providing for me all this time!

Then, I got into my devotion and the Lord's message was loud and clear...it has been a message that He has continually impressed on my heart at the beginning of the year, and He continually exhorts me with it, and it is this message:

All things are possible through Christ, but without Him, we cannot do anything.

Today's message is about repentance (you can read my other entry). When we are experiencing extreme difficulty and it seems that there's no way out, maybe, the Lord is just calling our attention and needs for us to repent, and He will prove that no matter how impossible your situation may seem, all things are possible through Him!

Next...I went on to watch my shows, ate lunch, and then watched my new favorite, Reba!

And then I had to go to Chino Hills...

Went home, went online, and here I am writing another entry today.

I've been sick for some days now, like, sick really bad, that's why I know I should be resting...but this internet thing is just so addictive! Hehe or say this blog thing. So I know I should be asleep by now, but I just couldn't resist it! I'm sorry!

Good night! :D

God is Callling

In Genesis 35, we see that Jacob with all his household returns to Bethel, the place where the Lord appeared to him. Before they start moving though, he does some "spiritual housecleaning" ordering his people to leave any idols before they proceed with their journey.

The beautiful thing about having a relationship with the Lord is that we have a God who is willing and able to forgive us of our faults, we just need to humble ourselves, admit our mistakes, and ask for forgiveness, and we just need to do some spiritual housecleaning. And as soon as we repent with our sins, the Lord channels His blessings through our lives, some of which as we can see with Jacob's life in today's scripture reading:

1. RENEWAL - God appeared a second time to Jacob, and told him that from now on his name will become Israel. Note that his old name Jacob, sounds like the Hebrew word for deceiver. The Lord changes his name to Israel which meant "God fights" or God will fight for Him.

2. GLORY, HONOR, AND POWER - In verse 11, the Lord says to Jacob, "You will become a great nation, even many nations. Kings will be among your descendants." The Lord promises that He will bring greatness to his nation and that his descendants will be in the seats of glory, honor, and power.

3. PROVISION AND ABUNDANCE - In verse 12, the Lord promises that He will give Jacob the land that He gave his descendants.

If we repent of our sins, if we do some spiritual housecleaning, the Lord is more than willing and able to channel all these very same things in our lives.

I do not intend to lead people though into thinking that the only reason why they should repent of their sins is for the Lord to give them renewal, glory, honor, and power, and provision and abundance. Let us remember that we have a God who is perfect and who deserves perfection, and that is the very reason why we come clean when we sin and repent, that He may cleanse us from our sins.

One thing that strikes me the most though is maybe there is some area in your life that you're struggling with...there is a certain feeling of guilt on your part and you just feel bothered and uncomfortable, maybe because of a broken relationship or something that you have done. It could probably be that you dream of being in a place of prestige, or in a position of power someday, and you seem so far from that dream and it seems impossible to get there. Or simply, there are necessities in your life that you just can't find a way to make ends meet. Maybe these things haven't flown into our lives yet because we still haven't done some spiritual housecleaning and haven't repented for our sins.

Let us examine our lives and look at the areas where we need to be humble and repent on. It is not that the Lord intentionally wants to punish us and give us hardships, but sometimes, in our own stubborness, in our own numbness and insensitivity to His promptings, maybe the difficulties (could be guilt, struggles, emptiness, sickness, tragedy, etc.) in our lives is His way of reminding us that all the things that we ever ask for are things that we can only have through Him. And it starts with a relationship with Him. A relationship where we can be humble and where we repent, and He is always there to forgive.

Are there any hardships in your life right now? Better check your spiritual phones. Maybe God is calling.

Random Thoughts

It's really late here but I don't feel like sleeping...

1. I accidentally broke my favorite church DVD. Shucks.

2. I finally found my Ipod. I thought I left it at Dom's car, but apparently, it was just right at our own car. Yey!

3. I've been looking through schools since I might need to finish my B.S. in
Accounting. U.C. Irvine doesn't offer an accounting degree though. Shucks. Good thing is that they offer it at Cal State Fullerton or Cal Poly Pomona. Yey!

4. We didn't play badminton today, we might play next saturday though.

5. My room is still a mess (as always).

6. I should remember it's mom's birthday on Thursday (Wednesday here).

7. Tita Tess called me today to check how am I doing.

8. We watched my super ex-girlfriend or whatever that movie is, it's not that good, at least I got to eat pizza. Yey!

9. It's still freezing cold as of today.

10. Tomorrow is again a free day for our church devotional. No assigned scripture reading for the day (well it would have been the Sunday sermon but we already went to the Saturday night service, which by the way, is where the really cool people go to :D). And so I do hope the Lord will speak to me powerfully tomorrow despite this (as He has done last week) and I'm looking forward to another Sabbath day in my faith journey.

:D

Nothingness...

Praise God for when we have nothing, it is then that we realize that the Lord is everything and that He is all that we need. When we feel empty and there is a void in us, we realize that He is more than enough and He is more than we can ask for.

:D

All Yours

(For today's reference, you can go to http://www.marinerschurch.org/ and look for today's message by Pastor Bruce Nelson about the Alabaster Jar)

The Lord owns everything in this world. He owns our lives, the food that we eat, the people that we love, the talents that we have, the money that we earn...In fact, He owns not only the whole world or the whole universe but all of creation belongs to God.

When we recognize that everything belongs to Him, generosity comes in easier. It would be easier to let go of our possessions knowing that they are not ours but the Lord's, and He has given it to us with the intention of blessing other people. He simply uses us as stewards, He blesses us that we may bless other people. It is also easier for us to share ourselves with others: our time, our talents, and everything that the Lord has blessed us with.

It is a common understanding that when we recognize that God owns everything, it always touches our lives in light of generosity and giving and charity. There is one thing though that I realized as I reflect upon today's message at church.

It is also best that we recognize that the Lord owns everything in light of our needs. Everyday we just pray for the Lord's provision...we pray that He will provide us money, or that job, or that car, or whatever needs we have for each day. Sometimes it seems that the Lord has hidden from us or has abandoned us; there are times that we so badly need His provision, and yet our prayers seem unanswered.

We must recognize though that that money you've been praying for...the Lord owns that money. Or the job that you've been praying for, the Lord is the one who owns that company where you've found a job you wanted or needed. How about that car? The Lord is the dealer of that car and the keys are in His hands.

Whatever your needs are, always know that the Lord owns everything, and we must be thankful for this because He who owns everything is generous and abundant, and is someone who is just willing to bless us according to His faithfulness and not ours.

Sometimes our prayers seem unanswered. Sometimes we feel that that package of provision and blessing that the Lord has in store for us was shipped and sent some place else or went to the hands of another.

But always remember that the Lord is FOREVER FAITHFUL and He is never early, and never late. And at that moment that we are left with nothing and there is just so much that we need, we can always pray this prayer...

"Lord, I know all these things that I need and I've been praying for, I know they are ALL YOURS, and I just trust Your timing and Your sovereign will for me, that in Your right time all things will fall into place, and all things will work out for Your greater glory."

The Return of Sinigang na Cute

Sinigang na cute is back!

This is an offshoot from my 2 previous blogs:

sinigangnacute.blogspot.com
barbecuechickenburger.blogspot.com

I started with the first blog as a requirement in my pop culture class...got the hang of it went on with a second blog.

Now, I'm back with a third one! And I hope this will last longer than the previous ones... :D

I've really wanted to go back to blogging for sometime now...although I just couldn't find the time. Now it's all different. I just have so much time to spare!!! And so here I am.

Aside from that, there is a second and third reason why I have this blog...

#2: I've been into a great faith journey for the past year or 2...and I've always looked forward to putting in my thoughts and emotions into my blog.

#3: We're starting on a new journal at church called Destinations. I've started with it recently...and I thought I'd be more attentive to my devotions (i.e. try and look back at my previous journal entries and reflect on them, see how I've changed from that time I put in one entry to the present...things of that sort) if I put them here.

So it is with great pleasure that I invite you to join me on my faith journey.

:D