Focus on the Bright Side

One new thing I have learned this week is about the happening in the Dark Ages. I have learned that no matter how dark and gloomy were the events happened at this point in history, light still prevailed. I could not take the brutal happenings and pitiful memories present within this period yet there were positive things that we can get from it. Just like the blood of the Christian martyrs had brought popularity in a wider scope. We may not appreciate the bad things at those times yet as time went by, God had let it occur for good and it was under His sovereign plan.

Reminiscing the past, I could tell that there were lots of painful experience I also have undertaken. During those times I tend to ask God what  was the matter and what was going on to my life. God just ignored my complaints on Him and He rather gave me a heartwarming answer. He reminded me that everything happens for a reason. All I need is just to trust Him because no matter how much I try to fully understand His plan for me I cannot. God wants me to focus on the bright side of every happening, circumstance, challenge or trial that I am going through knowing that He is the Master of my life.

To Have an Enduring Spirit

No matter how I escape from danger: there is, there was and there will always be. This week I have learned how very hard the life of Christians before yet they thrived despite such. I could not imagine how did they get through from the wrath of the world. One great thing that impacts me from their lives is to have an enduring spirit. This week I know a bit about the background of Origen especially on how he stood for what he believed in and he dared to die for his tremendous faith in Christ. I want to learn his courageous attitude, not being fearful of what lay ahead in spite of the threats of his life. He really died honoring Christ through his body and no matter how severe the punishment he had encountered, his being zealous for God still remained and never died down.

Before, as far as I could still remember, I was the naughty and stubborn 'Shiela' at home. I acted like a princess at home. I didn't like somebody bother me and if so I would yell at him or her. I talked back to my parents because I always thought to myself that I was right. But despite the hardness of my attitude before, there were so many scars and struggles of life I was bearing. I had a rare skin allergy and it has no cure because only my body could fight it and the medicine just helped me to prevent such skin disease yet not the remedy of it. I suffered such sickness way back when I was still five years old and still up to now. But this time, my skin disease is already mild and would attack me for only few times and not that too bad anymore. I asked God for the total healing of mine in regards but God didn't remove it fully. A certain time of my teenage years, God spoke to me with these Bible verses, “Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12: 7-10 NIV). I encountered these verses after I got truly saved and after the physical infirmity that struck me last 2006 and it was tuberculosis. I was not yet saved at that time. After I got healed of tuberculosis, I decided to accept Christ as my personal Lord and Savior by then. Along the way I have realized that being a Christian is not easy. Not all of your weaknesses will be gone especially that I am now still in my present body. To suffer for Christ is still hard for me this time even though I have met lots of lions already in my Christian walk. It still a problem for me currently to have a consistent enduring spirit yet I do have to have because God is already working in my life and I want to think and act out ways for me to be able to achieve it with God's help.

My first step to have an enduring spirit is through asking God's help. I know that I can't do it myself but I can because Christ is in me. I will ask for God's perseverance everyday especially presently that I am still a student. I desire that God will help me to endure and finish my college degree for His glory. Secondly, I will practice persevering. I should dare to face hard challenges or the 'lions' in my path. One of the lions I am facing presently is the upcoming result of our comprehensive exam that would probably be released next week. My utmost desire as a fourth year student is that everyone of us will pass and that no one will be left behind . I earnestly ask God to help me practice endurance especially these days and also few hours from now, Music Club will be having a presentation in the chapel and I am one of them. Hope that I can persevere including the other members as well. The last thing I am going to do to have an enduring spirit is to be disciplined in my quiet time with God no matter how busy my day is. My life verse says, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:13), therefore, I have no reason to depend on my strength alone because God is my Invisible Partner and apart from Him I am nothing, I have nothing and I can do nothing.

The Essence of Good Conflicts

This week I have learned the essence of good conflicts. Just like what had happened to early Christianity wherein there are lots of heretic beliefs emerged. Yet despite this, it made Christian doctrines to be clarified, well-polished, or well-scrutinized. For example, in regards with the issues of Trinity and the natures of Christ, various of interpretations aroused. The early Christian adherents were also tested of their faith and how they did stick to the Scriptures. It caused then lots of divisions of Christianity because of some theological doctrines. But then I can consider it that it was a good conflict because it weeded out fake God's followers who tried to contradict what God says in His trustworthy, inspired, inerrant and infallible Word.

Based on what I have learned, I can flashback the times in my life where I encountered good conflicts. I made conflicts with my siblings, parents, friends, teachers, classmates, schoolmates and even church mates before. Yet despite those conflicts, God used them for me to able to withstand criticisms from people especially this time that I am already a Christian. My life before even though I may consider it as mess yet God used the mess in my life for me to be captivated by His Message. God recycles me, from being a garbage to a new product. The conflicts in my life both in the past and the present were and are making me to be more dependent on Him and to acknowledge His matchless grace, wisdom and power.

To apply what I have learned, I want to look at the positive side in every conflict yet I have to put in mind that not all conflicts are beneficial. I will always seek God's help every time I will encounter a conflict and ask for His supervision what are the moves I am going to make. Furthermore, I can also ask help from my trusted Christian friends or my accountability partner to helping me find a solution to a certain conflict I am facing. Another thing is that when conflict arises I will choose to be proactive than reactive. I should meditate first what I am going to feel and act, considering also other people's welfare not only myself. Lastly, I should remain thankful to God for the conflict He let me face because I am fully convinced that it is one way of helping me to be more like him and to become the person He desired me to be.

God Has the Final Say

First, I have learned how God used Emperor Constantine mightily to propagate Christianity. God used Him to extend his kingdom in this temporal world. Even though we could not certainly tell if he became a Christian or not but what really matters most was that God worked through his life. He became somehow submissive to the will of God despite our ignorance whether he was saved or not. The essential thing I have learned in his life is that God can use evil people to bring out something good from them. God is in control over human affairs, both to believers and unbelievers.
Secondly, I have now an idea how the church progresses  by using the lives of Clement and Irenaeus. I have encountered their names before but this week I have learned an ample knowledge about themselves on how they became instruments of God to make Christianity not only to survive but to flourish as well. They contributed well enough to attack false teachings and to verify the books that must be included in the Bible. Before, I really thought that Clement and Irenaeus were just patrons of Roman Catholicism and they had not really contributed in church history but then I had found it wrong.
As I looked back to my life before, I could consider myself as a really judgmental person. I was very narrow-minded. As I look at myself now, I can say that there's a transformation happening in me. I am already more aware of myself  and try to stop my thoughts and mouth in judging people even though there are still times that I fail in this area. But this time, I want to be serious about this and I know that I can do it with God's help (Phil. 4:13). I want to be more willing and disciplined to think and speak what God wants me to. I will now be more considerate and understanding to others. Most of all, I must learn to have self-control and to ask God's help to attain this.
To put these things into practice, I will first pray to God for this and ask Him to look the people around me by using His lenses. Instead of judging them, better thank them for who they are and what they have. Another thing is that I have to include them in my prayers without grudges in my heart and if they need help from me then I will try my best to help them instead of retaliating them. Lastly, I will keep trying to myself that "God has the final say no matter what people say". The fact is that I can't please everybody and I should not get hurt if other people cannot able to understand myself but rather choose to accept them. There's a saying that really inspires me and it goes this way, 'It's better to understand than to be understood'. I will also live up this principle that says, "Think before you speak and act" and I am praying that I can truly apply this personally to my whole life with God's sovereign help.

An Athlete of Faith

         

The first thing that I have learned for this week's discussion is about the life of Ignatius of Antioch. He was called as the 'true athlete of faith'. He became an apostle bishop and martyr. He selflessly devoted his life to God. In fact, his body was fed to the beast because of his tremendous faith and it became the cause of his death. He really had a passionate love of sacrifice and a devotion to his duty to glorify God no matter what it takes. The second thing that added to my stock of knowledge is about the fact that church history can make us humble and grateful. Church history is a record of frailty and failures. It showed to us that God has been patient with us and faithful to His promises. Church history, as well, can disclose the things God has done for His people regardless of its incompleteness yet we can still somehow be filled with gratitude for God's faithfulness to get us here in this present time despite the wrath of the past. God has been always with us and would never ever leave us behind. He is always both the Good Man and Great God of all time.

What I need to change in the way I think is that with or without anyone besides me, I have nothing to fear when circumstance comes because God is with me. I remembered a statement from the book entitled 'When Women Walk Alone' that says, "A true test to find a woman's strength is when she is alone". It simply means that marriage is not everything but God is. People may judge a single lady yet they don't know that she has a Great Invisible Partner and that is no other than God. The book does not encourage singleness yet it motivates every woman to stay focus to God and not to be distracted by anything or anybody else here on this temporal earth. Marriage is okay but then if it makes you stay away from God then it is good for nothing. A woman should stay in love with Jesus regardless of her relationship status in life. Personally speaking, I really had a bad intention before why I wanted to marry and that was I don't like to be alone and to be bored to death in the future because I am a spinster and childless. That was a really selfish motivation but then I have realized that marriage is not about me. It's about God. It's not about my joy but His. It's not about my welfare but for God alone.

My first step to put this into practice is to pray unceasingly. I will pray specifically to God everyday that my love for Him will grow as the days, months, or years pass by. Secondly, I will make a commitment to God that whether I am single or not, I will always be loyal to make Him as the apple of my eye now and forever. The third step to take is to wait for the man God wants for me to be my lifetime partner (if He is willing) for a full-time service to the ministry He wants to entrust to both of us. But then if God wills that I will be single I will still wait that God will give me a woman, a friend or a sister in Christ or a group of people with whom I can serve God more effectively until the last day of my breath. Lastly, I will always pray to God that He will give me a submissive and willing heart to follow His will and trust His heart even though I may not understand. It's because I believe that it's all part of God's greater plan.

Later On I’ll Know..

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you

In every prayer of mine, with joy making request for you

Even until now and since the day I knew you

I’m confident that God will faithfully finish what He’s started in you.

I have you in my heart right from the start

When a friend told me your story that cut my heart

My feelings at that time cannot be described

Later on, compassion grows and love exalts.

How greatly I love you with the love of the Lord

God is my witness, how I was greatly troubled

Knowing that heart is deceitful, I kept trying to avoid

Later on, I realized my feelings for you should not be ignored.

The more I suppressed, the more my love for you increases

Seeing your pain physically and emotionally makes me distress

The only great help I could offer is to include you in my prayers

May God will extend more years to you if He wills.



Praying that your love for God will grow in knowledge and discernment

Even though your days here on earth run very swift

Never lose hope, fix your eyes on Jesus and don’t ever quit

Live your whole life fully committed to Christ and keep the faith.



Until this time I am confused if what kind of love I have for you,

Is this just an ordinary feeling or an extravagant longing?

To a simple man I knew and later on becomes a special man for me.

Only God knows if we are meant to be



Later on I’ll know if you are God’s will for me ...

-S.M.T.A.

(09/05/15)

Mahalin ang Diyos sa Salita at Kilos

  Sa aking mga kababata, mga kaibigan at mga kapatid kay Kristo, ako ay nasa inyong harapan upang ibahagi sa inyo ang isang gintong aral na aking natagpuan. Ito ay mula sa libro ni Juan 14:15 na ang sabi ay, “Kung iniibig ninyo ako, tutuparin ninyo ang aking mga itinuturo.” Galing sa bersikulong ito ay nakakuha ako ng isang mahalagang ideya na “Kung mahal natin ang Diyos, sundin natin ang Kanyang utos.” Ito ang pangunahing ideya na gusto kong ilahad at ipaliwanag sa inyo ngayong hapon. Ako’y umaasa din na sana’y ito’y itanim sa ating puso’t isipan.

May kasabihan tayong, “Action speaks louder than words” na kung ating isalin pa sa Tagalog ay “Ang gawa ay mas higit pa sa salita.” Ngunit, subalit, datapwat, bakit tayong mga tao ay halos puro na lamang mga salita, wala naman sa gawa, puro lamang tayo pangako ngunit palagi namang pinapako. Dito sa mundong ibabaw ay marami ang nasirang kinabukasan at pangako ang may kagagawan. Pangako nga ba talaga’y ginawa upang paasahin ang tao sa wala?

Ngunit sa kabilang banda, ating makikita sa Bibliya ang isang Magandang Balita na may Diyos tayo na hindi nakakalimot sa Kanyang pangako. Inalay Niya ang Kanyang anak upang maging kabayaran sa ating mga kasalanan. Siya nga ay Diyos sa salita man at sa kilos. Si Hesus na ating Diyos ay isang pinakamagandang ihemplo upang tayo’y maging isang Kristyano na maisasabuhay ang kaisipan na, “Kung mahal natin ang Diyos, sundin natin ang Kanyang utos.”

                                                                                                                   -S.M.T.A.