I was thinking of writing about the lessons I learned in 2014 but God is always full of surprises so I have to put that post off and share the best gift I received this year, instead.
Ever since I came to know Jesus, it has always been my prayer that my entire family would come to know Him and accept Him as their personal Lord and Savior as well. I grew up in a family of a devout follower of the most prominent religion in our country so leaving this religion behind to follow Jesus is a new thing for my family. Though my family, especially my parents, are not opposed of me changing ‘religion’ (and I’m really, really thankful to God for that), it really pains me to know that I go to church to worship God alone. But like what my spiritual mother always tells me, the blessings of our obedience to Christ will always extend to our immediate families, even to the entire clan and the future generations to come. So I claimed the Lord’s promise in Acts 16:31: Believe in Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.
For four years I’ve been praying for my family, specially my parents, that God would finally open up their hearts so they would accept Christ and that they would come to know the truth. I tried to share to them the gospel once but I didn’t get a positive response from them. So after four years of praying, I praise God that He finally answered one of my prayers.
So yesterday, I had this meaningful conversation with my parents, especially my father, about God, and based from what he is saying, I am sure that my father has finally opened up his heart to Jesus. I am not sure of the story of how he got to know Christ but I am really really happy that he is now starting to read the bible.
So as of this writing, I am still teary-eyed because of this great joy. This is the best gift that I ever received this year. So friends, please continue to help me to pray for the salvation of my entire family. I’m still not sure about my mother but I know that Jesus will also open up her heart soon. I am also holding on to God’s promise that He will not take the life of my grandparents back without having the assurance of their salvation.
I’d like to celebrate this day by simply thanking You for the wonderful gift of salvation you have given us. Thank you also for the gift of eternal life. Thank you that You are my peace and the source of my joy. You are more than enough for me.
For those who are feeling alone and lonely in this time of the year, I pray that you give them comfort. I pray that You show Yourself to them and make them realize that you are the reason for this season. Shower them with your steadfast love and make their heart open up to you.
As I’ve mentioned in my previous post, music is one of the things that I believe is very essential in my Christian life. Since 2014 is a sort of a year of roller coaster of emotions for me, music has played a great role in keeping me sane. So for this post, I’d like to share some of the music that God has somehow used to minister to me and encouraged me during my bad days. As what the leader in our church said before, praise and worship songs are prayers with melody so some of them have become my own prayer.
1. Help Me Find It by Sidewalk Prophets
Every word from this song speaks truth to me and it has become my own prayer during the later part of the year.
If there’s a road I should walk Help me find it If I need to be still Give me peace for the moment Whatever Your will Whatever Your will Can you help me find it Can you help me find it
2. Finish Last by Stellar Kart
This song reminds me of my life purpose, that is, to live a life pleasing to God by loving Him and loving others. It also reminds me of one of the biblical truth that has somehow become my life verse: “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36)
I want to finish last Last in the world’s eyes No matter what I do I will be first in your eyes
3. Beautiful Times by Owl City
I am not really a fan of Owl City before but because of the constant promotion of a friend and a sister in Christ who is a fan, I got curious. So I tried to explore Owl City and I discovered this song. The lyrics is a little bit sad but it gave me a lot of encouragement. 🙂
I fought all through the night Oh, oh, but I made it alive The sun’s starting to rise Oh, oh, these are beautiful times This fight of my life is so hard, so hard, so hard But I’m gonna survive Oh, oh, these are beautiful times
4. Refiner’s Fire by Brian Doerksen
I love the simplicity and the message of humility from this song. This song has become the constant prayer of my heart. It also reminds me of the truth that apart from Christ, I am nothing and self – improvement program is useless if it’s not done with the power of the Holy Spirit. If I want to become more Christ-like in character and in ministry, I need to involve the Holy Spirit more in my life and ask Him, first and foremost, to change my heart. “Create in me a pure heart, O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)
Refiner’s fire My heart’s one desire Is to be holy Set apart for You, Lord I choose to be holy Set apart for You, my Master Ready to do Your will
5. Count your Blessings
I’ve learned about this song from our Pastor during his message for our church’s Thanksgiving Day celebration last July. I was so down and discouraged that time so listening to this song has really gave me comfort. The song has also inspired me to make counting my blessings a daily exercise.
Count your blessings, name them one by one, Count your blessings, see what God hath done! Count your blessings, name them one by one, *Count your many blessings, see what God hath done. [*And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.]
6. My Own Little World by Matthew West
I randomly came across with this song one morning but the lyrics got stucked with me the whole year. The song had really made me feel guilty of how am I currently living my life of indifference. One of my comfort zones is spending time and doing things alone and the song has somehow challenged me to go out of my own world and try to reach out to other people.
In my own little world it hardly ever rains I’ve never gone hungry, always felt safe I got some money in my pocket, shoes on my feet In my own little world: population — me
I try to stay awake during Sunday morning church I throw a twenty in the plate but I never give ’til it hurts And I turn off the news when I don’t like what I see It’s easy to do when its population — me
7. Love Has a Way by The Brilliance
This song was shared to me by a friend last Christmas and I honestly find the song very sad because of the lyrics. I never thought that the song would speak true to me until the 2nd half of the year and true enough, (God’s) Love has its own way of finding and redeeming us.
I can’t find a video and audio online so I’ll just share the and lyrics here.
Wake up each morning all alone And you don’t have the strength to face it Cause when the sun goes down it’s cold You don’t know if your heart will make it Keep on holding on
Love has a way of finding us Just when you think that all is lost So if you feel like giving up No love is never too far
So everyone you know is fake Their petty games, oh you can’t take it And so you push them all the way When you know you Are just as guilty as the others Keep on holding on
Love has a way of finding us Just when you think that all is lost So if you feel like giving up No love is never too far off
Give a little love (love, love) Give a little love Give a little love (love, love) Give a little love Yeah give a little love (love, love, love, love) Love
Tragedy remains alive I don’t know why I don’t know why But in this darkness there’s a light If we hold each other tight We’ll make it through in a little while
Love has a way of finding us Just when you think that all is lost So if you feel like giving up No love is never too far off
Give a little love (love, love) Give a little love Give a little love (love, love) Give a little love Yeah give a little love (love, love, love, love) Love Yeah give a little love (love, love, love, love) Love Yeah
Update: I made another lyrics video for this!
8. My Heart, Your Home
This song is also the prayer of my heart. I want the Lord Jesus to become my all and all.
Come and make my heart Your home. Come and be everything I am and all I know. Search me through and through ’till my heart becomes a home for You. A home for You, Lord. A home for You, Lord. Let everything I do open up, A door for You to come through, And that my heart would be a place where You want to be.
9. (There’s Gotta Be) More to Life by Stacie Orrico
Although I’ve heard this song a lot of times before, I never paid attention to its lyrics so I didn’t know that the song has a very powerful message. Also, I didn’t know that Stacie Orrico is a Christian. The song is actually a reminder for me of what the Teacher from Ecclesiastes says: “Every thing is vanity and chasing after the wind.” Only Jesus can satisfy the deepest longing in our hearts.
There’s gotta be more to life Than chasing down every temporary high to satisfy me ‘Cause the more that I’m Tripping out thinking there must be more to life Well it’s life, but I’m sure there’s gotta be more Than wanting more
10. Blessed be Your Name by Matt Redman
I don’t know why but sometime this year, I’ve played this song almost every day. There’s really something in this song that really makes me feel happy. Maybe because it’s really good to praise and bless the Name of the Lord. 🙂
Every blessing You pour out I’ll turn back to praise When the darkness closes in Lord, Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be Your name Blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be Your glorious name
Okay, here’s the part two of my quotable quotes for 2014. Some of them may not be a direct quotation but I’m sure these are the words that have somehow influenced my way of thinking and my attitude towards things as well as the way I view myself. Others are things I discovered about myself based from the perception of others.
Don’t compare people, they are different individuals.
The opposite of love is not hate but indifference.
ISTP ka kasi. Kaya pala uptight ka.
Because I knew you, I have been changed for good.
Alam mo Cary, ang gusto ng guys sa babae ay self confidence.
Me: may confidence naman ako ah, wala nga lang self.
Ikaw eh, may sariling mundo ka kasi.
Strong-willed ka pa. Kelangan pang ma-break yan.
I don’t care about what other think about me because even if they know things about me, they will not know the real me.
These are some of the words of wisdom and the things I’ve learned about myself. These are combination of what I’ve heard from my friends and words I uttered myself this year that I think I want to bring with me in 2015:
‘We don’t feel old every year naman because we grow everyday’
‘Ayusin ang motive, saka na ang malisya.’
‘Balance is the key.’
‘Ok lang na nalate ka, at least may nainspire ka.’
‘E kasi Cary, pag may nagkukuwento sayo, wala kang reaksyon. Luging-lugi sila sayo.’ 😀
‘Cary, hindi ka ba napapagod magbasa? Me: E kasi pag nagbabasa ko, iniisip ko ung binabasa ko, pag tumigil naman ako, iisipin ko pa rin ang nabasa ko.
Ma-flatter na lang sya noh!
These are just a few. I’ll think about the others later.
During my Quiet Time this morning, I can’t help thinking about a friend who I know is hurting deep inside but I don’t know how to reach him/her out. But because I believe in the power of prayer and because I believe it’s the best and surest way to help my friend, I just uttered a simple prayer to God and asked Him to take care of my friend’s needs. I also know that no matter how many encouraging words I say to this person, it’s not enough to remove all the pains and hurt he/she’s feeling right now (see, I’m trying not to reveal my friend’s identity so I’m not going to tell whether my friend is a she or a he, just in case she/he’s reading this. :D). But I know someone who can heal all his/her hurts and that’s Jesus. I want to tell my friend that all he/she needs is Jesus but I don’t have the opportunity to tell it to him/her, for now. So friends, please help me pray for my dear friend. And if you think you are also hurting, please claim this prayer as my prayer for you as well.
Dear Lord Jesus, I know that you love this friend of mine very much. You also know how much I love and care for this friend so I’m lifting him/her to you. I know that I can’t do anything to change his/her heart, or even heal his/her broken heart so please take care of my friend and be his/her comfort. I also pray that You reveal Yourself to my friend so that he/she would be able to accept You as his/her personal Lord and Savior, and accept the free gift of salvation you are offering to everyone. This I pray, in Your sweet name, amen.
I also thought of sharing this song to my friend because every word in this song speaks about the truth in my friend’s circumstances.
About 6 months ago, I decided to put up this blog for the purpose of putting my insights and thoughts about the Lord’s goodness into writing and sharing my experience and journey with Him, to others. I’ve also shared that I don’t consider myself a writer so I’m not really sure if I will be able to write more often. But praise the Lord, who is the source of all wisdom and grace, I was able to write more often than I’ve expected. I was also able to write posts that I can’t believe I am capable of writing about. I believe this is because I know that I’m broken inside because of life’s disappointments and frustrations, and writing has become my outlet. And the Lord is with me all the way so I was still able to find good in the situation and create something out of it. So what have I learned from this writing stint so far? The Lord can use our unpleasant experiences to create a wonderful story that will also give hope to others.
Hi! It took me a while to write something about this post because I really can’t think of a moment when I was so full of joy for realizing the blessings of being single.
Thank God because that joyous ‘moment’ happened a few Sundays ago when we celebrated the birthday of my two girls from the children’s cell group I’m leading. Because I forgot to bring gifts for them, we decided to just eat out somewhere to celebrate.
As I spend time with these kids during our celebration, I found out that the mom of one of the birthday celebrators is just about my age. Unfortunately, their mom is no longer living with them because she already has another family. When l learned about this, I felt a little sadness and pity for my girls because at an early age, they have to suffer and experience the brokenness of this world. At the same time, I felt a little privileged because I was somehow able to give joy to these children by sharing my life to them.
It is during the moment like this that I am really grateful that I’m still single. Because I’m single, I am able to do things that I really want and at the same time to serve others. I’m not saying that I won’t be able to do this anymore when I get married. But as what Paul has said in the bible, married women have divided priorities. They need to manage and balance their time in order that they would be able to serve both their families and God.
I also realized that I’m blessed because God did not allow me to suffer the consequences of failed romantic relationships such as heartaches. He also did not allow other people to suffer because of me or because of failed relationships as in the case of my spiritual children. Of course I’m not judging their mom for leaving them. I’m sure she has reasons and I’m sure it’s not really easy for her to be separated from her own flesh and blood.
As for me, I just need to be thankful that I have an undivided time and energy to spend for the advancement of God’s kingdom and for sharing His love.
Today is the first day of the last month of the year. It’s the time of the year again when people here in our country become more stressed because of the Christmas rush. As for me, December is usually my most favorite month of the year, simply because I really love Christmas celebration.
However, I don’t know why but unlike the previous years, I don’t feel excited about Christmas this time. I know I should not feel this way because it’s the birth of our Savior we’re celebrating right?
But because of a number of new and unfamiliar experiences of frustrations and disappointments I had this year, I just simply want this year to end so that I can start anew next year.
One of the new and unfamiliar things that I’ve experienced this year (though I’m not sure if it’s the most accurate word to use) is betrayal. As someone who is a SanPhleg by personality type, it is really easy for me to get along with all kinds of people. I know when to act prim and proper or when to act giddy and crazy according to the type of people I’m spending time with. I can be quiet, loud, crazy, and even mean, specially when I’m with my closest friends. Because I can be patient, friendly and nice with everyone, it’s also easy for me to trust people and accept them for who they are without judgment.
This year is a year of testing of my character though because God has brought me into a situation where my patience and love for other people were tested. God has shown me the other side of this broken world and introduced me to people who are now, to my own definition, unloveable simply because they’ve hurt me. These people are the people who I thought will never do anything wrong to me but they did, so I felt betrayed. And because of this feeling of betrayal, it’s really hard for me to trust and love them again. But as a follower of Christ, I know that I am called to love. I know that the proper response to people who have hurt me is to love them still because love covers a multitude of sin. How to do this, however, is really a struggle for me.
Whenever I need guidance and affirmation whether I’m loving people the right way or not, I always go back to the Biblical definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13. The description of Apostle Paul on love in this passage has become my checklist.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
What strikes me the most from this passage is the truth that love Keeps No Record of Wrong. As a representative of Christ, it is rightful to really forgive those who have hurt me and forget what they’ve done. Honestly, I really don’t know how to do this. I know that it’s really beyond my capacity.
So dear friends, because I want to end this year right, please help me by praying for me to overcome my struggle. Please pray that God will help me forget all the hurt and enable me to have a renewed relationship with the people I’ve hurt and hurt me. Pray for me also to become more open with my feelings, online and offline alike so that I would be able to avoid misunderstanding.
No Ordinary Day 