When Character is Lost, All is Lost

'When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.' This is a quote from Billy Graham that struck me this week. Billy Graham is such an inspiring and a passionate evangelist.  I am so overwhelmed with joy to know that he is still existing this time, continually living and walking with God. I have never met such a man before who has this courageous faith to preach the gospel ever since he was young until his 96-year of existence this time. I am so well-impressed how God used his life to be a great impact to the world. 

I love the quote from Billy because somehow I can able to relate. I experienced poverty, poorness in physical health and also once was lost in character. But then, I thank God that He transformed from the inside out and even until this time, He is still working on me to make me what I ought to be. I thank God for the new life I received from Him. I could still remember during the time, when I was still a new convert, I was too much on fire to render my service to Him. I made my very best effort to serve God with all my mind, heart, soul, and strength. I was very eager to evangelize my neighborhoods, classmates, relatives, friends, and acquaintances. Just like Billy, I really wanted to make an impact to the world.

Today, I wanted to pray to God to bring back the passion I had before reaching out the lost at this present time and prayerfully it will persist in coming days, months and years. After I will graduate in BTC, I want to apply what I have learned inside the missionary. I want to grab every opportunity, if God would nudge me, to share the gospel to anybody with the Spirit's leading. I desire to honor God all the days of my life. I love to be a reflector of the great Light wherever I go, to the places where the He leads me :).

Hard Work Pays Off

"Hard work for God ultimately pays off a great reward". I am so blessed with the lives of Charles Spurgeon and David Livingstone. I could see in their lives how they valued industry and this really manifested in their personal lives. David, at his young age, experienced to  work in a cotton factory while Spurgeon also came from a humble state, not being a degree holder, had spent so many time for personal studies without a formal education. Then, God never treated them as a garbage despite their status in life. God has honored their diligence and helped them to be the person that God wants them to be.

Not to brag about my being a studious student, I am thankful to God for putting me a desire to love learning. Ever since at my young age, I craved for knowledge and I put a great interest in it. I thanked God that since I became a Christian, I have learned not only to chase knowledge but to ask God's wisdom above all. Honestly speaking, I could say that I know a lot but truly I am too lazy to apply most of the great principles I have learned in life. It's not enough to say that you have an idea about something but in practically speaking, you just have less hands-on experience. I praise God for bringing me here at BTC because I have realized that to be a Christian is also to bear fruit and it can be seen through your works. In the Scriptures, we can find the sin of omission, "So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin" (James 4:17). Wisdom speaks louder than knowledge. It is dishonoring God if we just hide the light that is in us because He wants us to let the light shine to the world. How can a Christian influence the world if he or she doesn't act out what he or she knows or believes?

I am so very guilty to God even until this time that I am so poor in wisdom. Every time I see this weakness of mine, all the more I get closer to Him. What an encouragement to see the lives of my co-believers in Christ walking in wisdom. Yet in my case I should not pity myself and even being hard on myself, knowing that God is patient with me and He never gives up on me and He never will. I know that God gives chance to His children. I can choose the path of wisdom daily and I can't do it by myself. From this day forward, I want to be serious in praying to God to be more diligent in doing good for Him. It's because my works for Him will never be in vain. I want to encourage myself each day that I will not grow weary in doing good for at the proper time I will reap a harvest, if I don't give up (Gal. 6:9).

Godly Passion Compels to Action

"A godly passion leads to a compelling call to action". This is one of the great things I have learned this week. I am deeply  enthralled by the lives of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield on how they made a great influence in the Christendom. I am very well impressed about the works they have done so that the message of Christ would spread in a wider scope. They used their gifts, talents, skills, abilities and even their passions to become effective ministers of  Christ. I could not even imagine how they sacrificed their earthly ambitions for them to gain the ultimate treasure they cannot lose even though in return they would miss the gain they could not keep.

Way back to my childhood day, I had so may ambitions in life. I wanted to be singer, dancer, actress, and teacher. I wanted to acquire lots of money so that I could have all my needs and wants. I wanted also to help my  parents so that I could repay them for the good things they did to me. I was very highly ambitious way back then but all of a sudden God interrupted and He let me to stay focused to what His ambitions for me. I realized that accomplishments here on earth may be beneficial in a shorter span of time but it would never last. Instead of gaining  vast earthly possessions, God spoke to me that to pursue heavenly treasures could have an eternal impact. I could not even remember during my kindergarten, elementary, or even high school days to have dreamed to becoming a missionary. But within my college days, during my second year in a bible school, God impressed to my heart that He wanted me to be a missionary.

I am willing to be a missionary. No matter how hard it may be I would love to because I believe that God will always be on my side. he will not leave me nor forsake me. I experienced to be a short-term missionary and somehow and in some way, I tasted how to be such. Yes, it's not easy. For me, God's calling had never been easy but then I thank God that He had put a desire and passion to our hearts to serve Him whatever means regardless of the cost. I desire to follow God all the days of my life and I can't do it by my own willpower but through God's grace and His sovereign power alone. I will press on to the calling that God had put in me ever since the world began. I believe that what He had started in me, God will successfully finish it. Apart from Him, I am nothing, I have nothing and I can do nothing. To God be the glory!

No Longer Spectators But Catalysts

“Christians should not be spectators any longer but rather to be catalysts of the society for the better.” A true Christian must live what he believes and to thrive for whom he worships. It added to my learning about the life of Jonathan Edward. He made the best use of what he had for the glory of God. He didn't just sit back and relax on a couch, enjoying a comfortable while other Christians in his time were fighting for their faith. What I have learned from his life was his full devotion to God. He became one of the great philosophical theologians rooted in Reformed theology and one of the forerunners of the age of Protestant missionary expansion in the 19^th century. Jonathan was such a hardworking Christian and what he believes did not just remain in papers but he really showed them through his great works with God's help. A lot of people nowadays are measuring their success in life by the amount of things they acquire which they cannot keep instead of investing their days on earth to impact the world for Christ, the Savior of all men, that can never be lost.

In my 22 years of existence, I truly accepted Jesus Christ as my own personal Lord and Savior when I was 13 years old. During the time that I was still a new convert, I was so very passionate to serve God. But then there were lots of times when many days, months, and years had passed since I became a Christian, I experienced dryness in my spiritual life. Many times I tended to backslide because I just couldn't cope the sufferings I had experienced for being a bearer of the name of Christ. I did able to fought back to my parents at that time and I also went to the opposite way of where God wanted me to go. I could still remember the days when I challenged God if He was really real. I asked too many questions to Him knowing that my mind is too limited to understand His ways. I tried to do things with a minimal dependence on God and sometimes feared and doubted His will for me. Instead of being an agent of change to the world, I became an passive agent of Christ, not fully trusting Him and living for Him. Then one day God had struck me with these sticky statements, “Life is not about you. It's about God.” (from desiringgod.org article) I have realized then that I should not focus on my problems but on my purpose instead. I have to turn the camera lens away from me and face it to God.

Living as a Christian in this hostile world is too difficult. But then I ought to fear God rather than any other else. I have to show to the world that I have a tremendous God, so why live in doubts or fears? I can't but I can with God. I want to pursue God's calling for me and the dreams that He wants me to accomplish on earth. I want to be a cross-cultural missionary and build an international school with a mission agency having an ultimate goal for world evangelization through mobilizing and sending missionaries to both local and international areas where God leads. My dreams may seem impossible to reach but I have no reason to doubt because God will fight for my dreams as long as these are according to His sovereign will. I am willing to be mightily and effectively used by God for the furtherance of His kingdom. To Him be all the glory and praise!!!

Who You Are

"The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are" (Joseph Campbell). I can connect this quote to what I have learned this week especially in the life of the church historians named  John Wycliffe, Martin Luther and John Calvin. I so highly appreciate their great works in the church history. I could not imagine how did they able to show to the world their identity in Christ without compromising to ungodly standards even their lives had been put at stake. They had just exposed to the world what they got and they really stood in the gap for the sake of Christ. They made the best use of how God designed them in order to bring glory to His name.

I was guilty about not being true to oneself before. I was too shy enough to show the real 'me' in the image of Christ. When I was with my unbelieving friends, there were times that I became too shy to do good because of  fear of rejection. Even though I was already a Christian in my high school days yet studied in a Catholic school was pretty hard for me. My faith was really stretched out during those times. I could say that I was a lukewarm Christian at that time. As I looked back, it seemed like I just use my being a 'Christian' to gain respect from other people. Most of the people around me in my high school institution looked up to me and I could say that I was very proud to myself at that time, acting as a self-righteous person and doing things to please men. I tended to forgot that I didn't own anything because only God can rightfully claim what I have and even me, myself. Then after I gained the people's affirmation during high school, I held tightly to the honors and recognition I got from them through my own effort and  partly from God (what I acted before). Then suddenly after my high school career, God broke my heart into pieces and I experienced a devastating fall. I chose to keep the thing I can lose and  to lose the thing I can keep. It's because I neglected God's calling for me, He chastened me.

My life now in the seminary is far different from my high school days. I have learned in here that attitude matters more than achievements. Being a winner can be achieved through living a life pleasing to the One who gives it. Even though there are still times I fail because of my human frailties, I am proud of what God is continually working in me. To aim for excellence is not bad if you do it for God but doing it for self alone can lead to a great stumble. I thank God for always reminding to live a Christlike life. He always reminds me that life is not about me but it's about Him. Just like Calvin, Luther, and Wycliffe, they chose to value God more than people. They feared God in their lives and this caused them to be courageous enough to fight for the truth. This time, I am having lots of struggles. One of my struggles is to decide what I am going to do after BTC? There may be lots of opportunities but then my desire is to to choose to do the will of God for me. I don't like to fail Him again and even this time I am still constantly praying that He will show me His way. I want that my life radiates who I am and whose I  really am.

The Safest Place Ever

To be in a place where God puts you is the safest place ever knowing that God is your mighty deliverer despite the outer dangers. One thing I hated about Christianity is the fact that inevitably Christians would suffer. Why do God allow His children to suffer? How could a good God let his children to experience bad? These were some of the puzzling questions I had in mind when I was still a new convert. It's so hard for me to take in the truth that Christians must bear the mark of Christ and that as He suffered, His followers also will suffer. I kept on living within my comfort zone before fearing to go to my danger zone because of the doubts if I could ever endure. But then thank God that in the process of time, He is working on me to make me what I ought to be. I was reminded with the letter of Paul to Philippians in God's Word that talks about remaining to be joyful despite suffering. I have perceived then that the joy of Christians can be found in Christ and cannot be defined through the circumstances we have in this transient world. I have learned to trust God more and more each day of my life and to have a mindset that it's better to die for Christ's sake than to keep a life that is spiritually sick. I like the verse that says, "Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it" (Luke 17:33 ESV).

How I desire to give myself entirely to God. I am praying to be always willing to do hard things for God. I have lot of fears in my life that seem very hard to face and even may take one's life. But then I desire to imprint to my mind that nothing is too hard for God and I am rest assured and fully secured of Him. My godly decisions may seem foolish to the majority yet I believe that God is my company. I know that I can do all things through God's sovereign help (Phil. 4:13). I firmly assert that nothing can separate me from the love of Christ whether by life or by death. I just have to hold my peace in God - having peace of mind and heart - not letting myself be troubled neither be afraid. I may not know what future holds but I definitely know who holds the future. There's no reason to be afraid what this life may bring because God is the ultimate above all things :).

On the Right Track

One very important lesson I have learned this week is that God's will will always gravitate back to you. No matter how you try to escape from what the will of God is in your life, God's plan will always prevail. I have learned form the life of Ambrose how God led him in the path that he ought to follow. His journey was too long but at the end his life was being fully committed  to Christ. The good influence he had from his family had helped him to be a kind of Christian that God wants him to be.

I could still remember the time when I chose to follow my own will and not God's. During my  high school years, I really had a desire to study in a bible school after I graduate. But then when a certain family crisis had showed up, I didn't pursue my commitment to God at that time. I blamed God about the circumstances I had and instead of going to a bible school, I applied a scholarship in a secular school. I thought that God was happy anyway because I was a 2nd-rank passer out of about 300 scholarship takers. But then God stopped me and he didn't let me to study in a secular school. God hindered my plan and after a year, He touched my uncle's heart to support me in my studies in a bible school. I had really thought that I was just dreaming but it's really true and my heart had jumped off, at the moment I have heard that very good news.

At this time, as I can still remember that particular event in my life, it encourages me to keep holding on what God's calling for me is. Presently, I am struggling and it really feels like I am hard pressed on every side. There's a feeling inside me that I cannot able to push through anymore the dream God wants me to achieve. But then on the other side, God is shouting within me that I can do all things through Him who gives me strength (Phil. 4:13). This is my life verse and I really thank God for His presence and always helping me to remember that whatever things I am facing, I have to always run to Him because I am always His and He is always mine. Even though there may be times that I tend to stray away from a godly path, God is keeping me to go back into the right track. God always guides me every step of the way.