DAY 6 | Don't Settle

Joshua has been giving their inheritance to the tribes of Israel and was interrupted when the seven other tribes was not doing anything, not giving any reports about the land they’re about to occupy. Joshua rebuked them for settling for just enough. God has already given them the land, all they have to do is take possession of their part of the land but they’re not doing anything. They became quickly satisfied---Complacent. How many times have I been guilty for settling for second best just because I don’t feel like moving ahead, I felt satisfied already. As we say it “Nakakatamad naman” I remember this commercial on powdered detergents which says “Hindi pwede ang pwede na.”

And so Joshua had to give them instructions. People are really different. As I used to hear from my dad when he’s getting his nerves up because of lazy laborers “Kung hindi pupukpukin, hindi babaon.” Joshua had to push them to claim what’s theirs. Another thing that struck me is the casting of lots. I thought casting lots is kinda wayward---but in this context, casting lots is done in the presence of the Lord, believing that whatever the outcome would be, it is the Lord’s will. 

In contrast, Caleb’s outright confidence is so big and is anchored to the right point---God. Three times in the 14^th chapter of the book of Joshua was the word “wholeheartedly” mentioned, and Caleb, warrior as he is, showed no doubts about it. Since he followed/obeyed God ‘wholeheartedly’ he got his share of the land. 

And as the writer of the book of Hebrews wrote: let us not throw away our confidence because it will be richly rewarded. Perseverance is key to doing God’s will, and God, faithful as he is, will give us a reward for doing our part.

Day 6 talks about not to settle for anything less than the best. God has an intention to bless us and to make us prosperous. Consider Caleb’s confidence anchored in the Lord, though he was 85 years, 40 years after the promise has been said, and another 40 years before he was able to claim it. He didn’t lose hope. His faith and confidence was completely fastened to the right anchor. Whenever we got trials to pass, James is asking us to consider it a joy to be tested because perseverance yields the promise.

So Much

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle.

i just wish that he didn't trust me so much.

~ Mother Teresa

blessings come in many forms

somebody blessed our store.
i was at the store this afternoon visiting the operations.
and one of the pretty customers came in---we kinda have a 'connection'
she smiles, i smile.

and then suddenly someone came in. fair skinned lady, early 50's---she was smiling all the time.
she and the pretty customer who came in first knows each other. they spoke. but as the older lady step out, she touched the door of our store and prayed "Pagpalain mo po ang tindahan ito at ang lahat ng papasok dito..........*prayers* and as soon  as i heard it, i immediately said "Maraming Salamat po!" i always thank people. and to my surprise she ended her prayers with ".....in Jesus' name..Amen." Wow! Awesome! what could be better than a believer praying for another!
Thank you Jesus for that person. may you bless her always, prolong her days, sustain her needs...in Jesus' name...Amen!"

1M2L | Unselfish

Unselfish love. It’s what makes the world go round until now from the time God created it. Imagine a selfless and loving God giving us the privilege to live life to the full yet we throw punches on him but still loves us no matter what. He’s the very air that we breathe.

In my relationships right now, I consider my relationship with my parents the most important. My parents are not just my parents. They’re my business partners, although I run our company solely, they serve as members of the board. I get business and life advices from them. They’re my mentors. I could say that we’ve never been this closer. Although I don’t tell them anything especially the very personal stuff. But I love them and I know that they trust me. I feel so blessed every time I thank God for them, for being their son, for being in our family. 

Sad as it is in the movies, relationships are devastated by conflicts whether it is by accident, by fault or just by a simple misunderstanding.  Many solid relationships are ruined by these stumbling blocks. Root word: “Selfishness.” Because whatever the cause is, if we are quick to listen and to forgive, our relationships won’t get ruined. It’s Day 5 of our annual prayer and fasting for 2011, and I believe God is speaking to me to have a space in my heart for forgiveness. I have a history, and God knows this, of being easily angered. My temper shoots up easily….before and I learned to somewhat tone it down by seeking first to understand then be understood [from 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey]. But when am angered, am having a hard time to forget the things they did to hurt me. And unlike God, I don’t have the ability to erase the memories of those who hurt me as far as the East is from the West. That’s why I need God’s help to help me learn how to forgive. You’ll know you haven’t forgiven yet whenever you see the person or something that reminded you of that person and suddenly your mood flows to the other direction. As we say “Badtrip ‘pre!” 

But above all these selfishness and unforgiveness, God is giving us the privilege to repent…….and he is always ready to forgive. And as we ask for forgiveness, God also empowers us to love and to forgive others who did us wrong as well. If by our own abilities only, we will not be able to forgive. We need God’s help and grace to do it. We can love others not because we can but because he loved us first.

can't stop thinking about food

imagine mo 'to: maggigisa ka ng bawang sa butter; tapos magsasanggag ka ng rice; tapos lalagyan mo ng taba ng talangka at bagoong at paminta, siling labuyo at strips ng scrambled egg. tapos bibili ka ng sobrang malutong na crispy pata at sobrang mainit na bulalo pati na hot&spicy hipon kasama ang bottomless na napakalamig na nestea iced tea. sarap diba?! and i plan to eat these on Food Trip Feast Day Friday! 

Day 5. 2 more days. Keep holding on! \m/

the 4th Commandment

am trying to impose a day off [Sabbath] to my workforce---they didn't like it. they asked me, why?
i told them, because we all need a day off and besides the Lord rested on the 7th day.---they still didnt like it. they wanna work all day. but it's a decree i have to observe.

Eyes on God

We have to pray with our eyes on God,
not on our difficulties.
~ Oswald Chambers

DAY 5 | Without God

Joshua’s first military defeat after their conquest of Jericho. Why? Someone stole some expensive things from the plunder which violated an important covenant with God. God was angry since he promised Joshua that he will go with him and still some people would take it likely and commit things abominable to the Lord. And Joshua dared to ask God why he did it to them. We fail to realize that God’s nature of love and faithfulness won’t change. He won’t tempt us because only the devil does that. And in this scene, Joshua dared to ask God why he did it. God can’t change. God won’t change. Another reason of their failure would be going into battle without consulting God. How many times have I been guilty of such things?  In this scene, Joshua’s army got defeated by their enemies because he believed the spies he sent and went on his way without asking God’s direction.

It is obvious that God wants to get involved in every area of our lives. In this season of prayer and fasting, my hope and my prayer is that we may find a special place for him inside our hearts and let him direct our steps. It’s just that, when success comes, we tend to easily go on our own way forgetting about God.

Another obvious reason of their failure is the sin of one can cause misery to all. It’s funny how a concealed sin of an individual can affect the entire article of a nation. Look around. We may be living a harsh life because of someone else’s mistake. But God in his awesome mercy caused them to repent and restart again with a right standing with him. Let us make use of this time of prayer and fasting to repent and disown the things that hold us back.

Great thing, the Apostle Paul provided guidelines on how we can prevent ourselves from experiencing such. ¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 

 ¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. [Ephesians 6:10-18]

Devoid

He who is devoid of the power to forgive

is devoid of the power to love.

~Martin Luther King Jr.

1M2L | the 'F' word - Forgiveness

Forgiveness is not an option. Forgive as the Lord forgave you says Paul of Tarsus. Delaying forgiveness is like holding our breath.  “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold says Paul in his letter to the church in Ephesus [Eph4:26-27] I don’t really feel comfortable writing this thing about forgiveness. There are things am still bitter with. I don’t know, I just don’t know how to forget  face. As I go about this 30 days one month to live thing. I hope to learn how to forgive completely. If God can forgive, who am I not to? 

God says forgive for your own sake. Bitterness blocks the blessings. ~ when I read this. I need to forgive and to be forgiven. So Help Me God!

DAY 4 | Conquering Faith

Read Joshua 6 & 1 Samuel 17 and you’ll realize why this day is entitled “Conquering Faith” which by the way, I think is perfect! As Joshua and the people move forward to claim their Promised Land, Joshua did a strategic move to spy out the area---which every smart military leader would do. And as soon as they made up their mind to move ahead anyway, Jericho became their first subject. And so they marched around the city for 6 days. I can’t imagine how absurd it was. Marching around the walls of the city with trumpets blowing for 6 days. What would the residents inside the walled city think about the armies of Israel? Have they gone mad? What’s their gimmick this time?

My office is located by the main road and we could practically hear the very loud sounds of engines passing, especially the trikes. I could imagine how the people inside the walled city would react whenever they hear the loud trumpets passing. I think they were also extremely annoyed by the loud sounds. And ridiculous as it may seem, Joshua and the Army continued doing it for 6 days. People inside the city maybe making fun of them but it’s alright. Joshua’s purpose was clear. God’s orders were clear. And so they continued marching and on the seventh day, after the 7 circuit and loud shouts, the walls of Jericho collapsed and they seized the city----Conquering Faith. It’s good to point out that no matter how silly or ridiculous a thing maybe, if that order is from the Lord, it’ll be worth the risk. In your mind, you’ll be saying “You will feel guilty for laughing so hard!”

The same conquering spirit had David as he killed Goliath. David was the underdog but he killed Goliath because he realized that “the battle is the Lord’s.” every battle that we face is the Lord’s battle and he will cause us to win every time. One thing we do, we just need to be present in the battle field bringing with us not the weapons of this world but divine power to demolish strongholds [2Cor10:3-5]

No matter how many “Jerichos” may be standing in our way, it’s good to know that God gives wisdom without finding fault. We just need to ask him and be in faith, be present in the battle field and be one with God as these battles are his.

Bridge

He who cannot forgive others

destroys the bridge over which he himself must pass

~George Herbert

1M2L | Love Hurts

If I had only a month to live, I won’t tell anyone about it. but I’ll spend time with my mom in her office, my dad in his business, my bro and my grandmas at home. Then I’ll go visit the victory group for one last time then set up a portion of my will and testament to the missionaries I support. My shares of the company will be transferred to my dad.  I’d send a private message to my friends in facebook and in other social networks. I’d thank them for the relationship we’ve shared and if there was ever a time I have been a pain in the neck, I’d ask for forgiveness. Check out p.67 last question on Make It Count Moment: What keeps you from doing these? ---it’s weird to do these. 

God created us in his own image and likeness as relational beings. We’re not made to seclude ourselves in a faraway mountain and live with long white beards. It doesn’t just look good, it would suck not to have facebook on top of the mountain. You probably have to travel by foot, the nearest mall would be 4 hours away---man it sucks! That’s the reason why God provided a ‘helper’ suitable for us. We were made for relationship. To function as human beings is to relate with one another.

Love cant be bought. Love is like passion. It’s either you have it or you don’t. To love is to risk pain. We were once ask what the opposite of love is. Some say it’s indifference, some say it’s apathy. Close as they may seem to the opposite of love, the closest definition would still be “Selfishness.” Because if you don’t love, you don’t give [anything]. In ‘indifference’ you don’t seem to go the same way with love. With apathy, you don’t seem to care. With selfishness, you are just so self-contained. The greatest love ever known, that a father would risk his son’s life for the benefit of many. When we people love, it has limits. I for one observed myself to love and expect to be loved. God’s love, on the other hand, has no limits, no strings attached---He loves you. Period. And no one could ever take it away. 

So why are we acting the way we are acting? As the author put it: Our problem is not that we don’t love God enough, it is that we don’t understand how much he loves us. I believe once we understand this truth, we will have a new revelation of how we could live this life to the full by loving completely. Day 9---the heart of the matter is a matter of the heart.

Measure

The measure of a life, after all,
is not its duration
but its donation.
~ Corrie Ten Boom

Vanity

Vanity it is,
to wish to live long,
and to be careless to live well.
~Thomas A Kempis

DAY 3 | Who's the Boss?

Joshua’s first challenge as Israel’s new leader is to conquer Jericho and vast as it was, he needed reinforcement. We can assume that Joshua would have been praying so hard for triumph. But to his amazement, the Commander of the Army of the LORD [who is btw, God himself] appeared to his rescue. The Commander told him: “I am in charge! And I am here!” ---what a comfort to hear that. And to have someone in charge who’s gonna fight for you.

Previously God told him that as he was with Moses, he will be with Joshua. This is the point where God fulfilled his promise and he’s gonna fight for them. it’s safe to say at this point that in this life, it is never about us---it is about God who provides everything. Day 3---and God is telling who he is in our lives. The Boss. He calls the shots.

I admire Moses’ nerve to say to God’s face that he’s not gonna move a single step if God would not go with them. When I read that, I was like, “Oh man, how dare you say that to God.” But that’s the very essence why God wants to have a relationship with us. He wants us to include him in our daily lives. To tell him to his face whatever we feel. We are created for him. 

In this third day of prayer and fasting, let us live this life with God as our director who leads us to the right direction. Let us not be afraid because as God was with Moses, he will be with us. Day 3---Be sensitive to get our orders from the Boss.