No Ordinary Day

If there’s one thing I learned about last year that I believe God is still teaching me today, it’s learning to live to please God and not men.

The cost of following Jesus is high. It’s life for life. Anyone who wants to follow Him must deny himself and take up his cross daily. And sometimes, taking up our cross means choosing Jesus over the convenience of being accepted by everyone.

Don’t get me wrong. Getting along with others is not at all bad. In fact, God wants His people to make it their ambition to be at peace with everyone. But being at peace with people does not necessarily mean you have to seek their approval or please them to the point of compromising your character.

As a believer and follower of Christ, we need to understand that our ultimate goal and purpose here on earth is to please God, to worship Him and to love Him above all things and to love other people the way He loved us.

But because we are still living in this broken world, God allows us to experience things and meet people who will test our devotion to Him. I believe I’m at a point where God gives me the opportunity to practice and apply this truth to my life but sadly, I’m not faring well because I’m still holding on to my well-preserved image of being liked by everyone instead of being hated because I chose to follow Jesus.

A few months ago, I saw this passage during my quiet time. These are the Words of Jesus from the Book of Matthew:

“Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.  But whoever disown me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven. Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.  For I have come to turn
‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.  Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 10:32)

The passage caught my attention because I never thought about it before. I know that Jesus came to earth to bring peace but how come  He’s saying now that he did not come to bring peace but to turn people against each other?

My insights on what Jesus meant when he said these in this passage is this: It’s true that Jesus came on earth to bring peace to everyone. But His ultimate purpose was to offer salvation to everyone by putting our Faith and Trust in Him. The Gospel He’s preaching is this: ‘repent for the Kingdom of God is  near.‘ The offer is open to all but since He knows the heart and mind of every person, He also know that not everyone will believe Him and so accept His offer. And because of that,  He knows those who are his and who are not. So those who want to come to Him, He welcomed them, those whose hearts are not right, he rebuke and let them go their own ways but still, He waited patiently for them to come back (e.g. the rich young ruler).

My point is, it’s true that we can’t please everybody. Even Jesus wasn’t able to please everybody and that’s why he was put to death right? The Bible is full of account how Jesus deal with religious Pharisees who are seemingly interested to listen to Him but deep down in their hearts they are only looking for grounds so they can prove Him guilty of the sin He had never commited.

This was also confirmed to me when our Pastor told us in one of his Sunday message that it’s ok if some people won’t like you because of your devotion to God. It’s either they will be drawn to you because their hearts are right and will also desire the same kind of relationship you have with God or they will resist you because of their own selfishness and pride and because they believe the lie that they can’t change. The best way to deal with the second type of course is to pray for them and ask God to change their hearts.

Once we made that decision and lifetime commitment to follow Jesus, expect that there will be persecution and it may come in different form. They may laugh at you and even mock you but it’s ok. Persecution may sometimes come even from our own friends and family. They may even hate us because we chose God over them. But what Christ wants us to do is to obey Him completely and endure all the hurtful words we hear. He wants us to take a step of faith and trust Him that He will take care of whatever we’ve left behind for Him. And of course, He wants us to forgive those people who have hurt us because of their lack of understanding of our choices.

I’d like to share this antidote for people pleasing I learned from Pastor Rick Warren last year and still trying to apply in my life this year. I believe that life will be a lot easier when we learn to accept this truth. As what Rick Warren has said,

“There’s only one person in the universe who knows you completely, who accepts you unconditionally and who knows the purpose you were created for: JESUS CHRIST. You need to get to know Him and make sure that His opinion of you matters more than anybody else.”

At the end of the day, it’s always between you and God.

I found this geeky post again from my old blog. I want to relive it so I thought of sharing this again. 🙂
Also, to those who are not from the Philippines, sorry for the language because I’ve written it in Filipino.

The Coconut is not a nut
(posted on my old blog on July 12, 2010)

Last week, dahil sa isang kaibigan, biglaan akong naimbita na maging “resouce speaker” kuno para sa investigatory project ng mga grade 2 pupils sa isang school sa Quezon City. At dahil yung mismong Director na ng school ang nagpadala ng invitation sa akin, napilitan akong mag-file ng leave sa aking trabaho para lang mapaunlakan ang nasabing imbitasyon kahit na wala naman talaga akong masyadong alam tungkol sa mga halaman na ituturo ko maliban sa scientific name at family name nito at ilang mga bagay na napulot ko tungkol sa coconut nung nasa kolehiyo pa ako. At ang masuwerteng halaman na ipapakilala ko— tinatawag ng ilan na tree of life, ang Coconut. Kalakip ng invitation na pinadala sa akin ay ang mga tanong ng mga batang tuturuan ko tungkol sa coconut na dapat kong sagutin sa aking lecture. Hindi na rin bago sa akin ang pagbabahagi ng konti kong kaalaman sa iba pero nung makita ko na ang mga tanong ng mga bata, bigla naman daw akong nataranta kasi hindi ko din alam ang mga sagot.  Pressure din kasi kailangan mo talagang ibigay sa kanila ang pinakaprecise na sagot hangga’t maari dahil hindi mo sila pwedeng idisappoint lalo na sinabi sa invitation letter, “hope you can enlighten these children by answering these questions blah blah blah”. Oh, ha patay na talaga kelangan may enlightenment na mangyari pagkatapos ng lecture ko. Buti na lang may google at wikipedia na pwede kong pagkunan ng sagot sa mga tanong nila. Ilan sa mga tanong nila:

• Bakit tumtubo sa coconut tree ang coconut?
• Who made the first buko pie?
• Why is the coconut juice in coconuts?
• Who discovered the coconut?
• Sinong unang nagtanim ng coconut tree?
• Sinong unang tumikim ng buko?
• Why is coconut hard to break?
• Why do monkeys like coconut milk?
• Why is coconut called coconut?
• Bakit kung nasa puno green ang coconut, kung nasa baba brown na
• Why is it white inside a coconut?
• Can a coconut be gigantic?
• How does a coconut feel like?
• Can a coconut be stuck on a tree for 1000 years?
• Can animals eat/drink coconuts?
• Can you survive if you’re stranded on an island with only coconuts?

Kung tutuusin mababaw lang ang mga tanong pero syempre dahil gusto ko din naman silang may matutunan sa ikukuwento ko, nageffort pa rin ako para maghanap ng sagot sa mga tanong nila. At mas lalong mahirap para sa akin, na hindi naman talaga teacher, ay kung paano ipapaliwanag sa kanila ang mga bagay tungkol sa niyog sa pinakasimpleng paraan na hindi mawawala yung totoong sense ng information..

Gaya nang nabanggit ko kanina, may ilang bagay na akong alam tungkol sa coconut o niyog, dahil na rin sa ilang biology at botany subjects na kinuha ko nung high school at college days ko. Ilan sa mga ito ay:

• Botanically, ang fruit ng coconut ay hindi “nut” but a ‘drupe’. Ang drupe, ayon sa aming Botany 1 ay type ng prutas na characterized by “any fruit with a soft, fleshy part (mesocarp) (bunot or coconut husk) covered by a skinlike outer layer (exocarp, or epicarp) (outer layer ng nyog) and surrounding an inner stone (endocarp) (bao) that contains the seed” vs. sa mga nuts na described as “An indehiscent, hard-shelled, one-loculated, one-seeded fruit, such as an acorn or hazelnut”. Para mas madali nyong maintidihan ano nga ba ang hitsura ng “true nut”, example nito ay yung bunga ng pili na iisa lang ang bahay at buto.
• Ang coconut ay may scientifc name na Cocos nucifera, and belongs to family Arecaceae or Palm Family. Taliwas sa alam ng karamihan, mali din ang term na “coconut tree” kasi botanically speaking, hindi naman talaga classified as tree ang puno ng coconut dahil ito ay isang monocot at wala itong secondary growth na isa sa mga identifying characteristics ng mga trees.
• Hindi pwedeng ma-stuck ang isang bunga ng niyog sa taas ng puno for 1000 years kasi part ng life cycle ng niyog, gaya ng ibang halaman, na kusang malalaglag ang mga bunga nito sa lupa once matured na. Ito ay tinatawag din na abscission sa science dahil na rin sa plant hormone naethylene.
  
• Ang tubig sa loob ng coconut ay tinatawag din na liquid endocarp at kusang nawawala pag mature na ang prutas nito.
• ang coconut ay isa sa mga pinakauseful na plant sa buong mundo dahil lahat ng parte nito ay useful. Mula sa isang laruan gawa sa dahon nito (ginagawa naming bola o kya torotot ito nung aking kabataan) hanggang sa isang mabisang gamot galing sa ugat nito ay pwedeng maging gamit ng niyog.

Sa aking pagreresearch bilang paghahanda sa pagpapanggap ko na isang “coconut expert” eto ang ilan sa mga natutunan ko tungkol sa coconut na hindi ko naman talaga alam dati:

• Ang coconut ay mula sa salitang “cocos” na isang Portuguese term sa “grinning face”. Sa ibang literature ang “cocos” daw ay Portuguese term ng monkey. anuman ang tunay na meaning ng cocos, tinawag syang coconut dahil sa resemblance ng bao sa isang mukha ng tao o pwede na ding unggoy (pansinin ang tatlong butas sa bao na mukhang mata at bibig).
• Ang origin ng coconut ay debatable pa rin hanggang ngaun. May nagsasabi na galing daw ito ng south asia, ang iba naman ay nagsasabi na meron na daw nito sa New Zealand base na din sa mga fossil records nila. Ang sigurado, mga Portuguese ang unang nakadiskubre ng prutas nito at sila ang dahilan bakit kumalat na ito sa buong mundo.
• Ang coconut ay largest known seed. kailangan mong itanim ang buong prutas nito para tumubo.
• Ang sikat na coconut palace ngaun (ang bahay na hinihiling na maging tirahan  ni Vice Pres.  Binay ) ay gawa sa materials na galing sa coconut kaya siya tinawag na coconut palace.

Dahil wala din akong ibang choice kundi panindigan ang pagpapanggap ko, tumuloy na ako sa school matapos ang kalahating araw na paghahanda ko ng presentation at ilan lang yan sa mga bagay na naibahagi ko sa mga bata. Mas lalo pa akong naloka nang pagpasok ko eh may isang batang sumigaw ng “oh, that’s the coconut expert!”. Di tulad ng inaasahan ko nung una, hindi ako nakaramdam ng kaba nang mag-umpisa na akong magkuwento sa mga bata ng ilang bagay na nalalaman ko tungkol sa coconut dahil nakakatuwa silang turuan. Nakakabilib ang pagiging bibo nila magtanong.Nag enjoy talaga akong sagutin ang tanong nila sa abot ng aking makakaya kahit na paulit-ulit lang ang tanong. Natuwa pa ako dahil pagkatapos nung lecture ko,  yung isang batang makulit habang nagtuturo ako ay lumapit sa akin at niyakap ako sabay sabi na “teacher, are we going to see you again?”.

Hindi talaga ko napagod kahit may kakulitan sila dahil ang sarap pala talaga sa feeling na maging isang teacher lalo na kung matatalinong bata ang tuturuan mo. Sulit talaga ang pag-absent ko sa trabaho para dun dahil bukod sa hindi lang sila ang natuto kasi pati ako ay may natutunan din sa paghahandang ginawa ko, masarap din  talaga sa feeling  magshare ng knowldge at tulungan ang mga bata na maenlighten sila sa mga tanong na tumatakbo sa murang isip nila. Isa yon sa kakaibang experience na naranasan ko sa aking semi-monotonous na work-life.

While I was walking on my way to office this morning, I was having this conversation with God in my head about how challenging my life is lately especially in terms of my finances. Then I started bargaining with God and told Him ‘Lord, if only you would give me a new job with higher salary,  I’m sure I’ll be out of this mess.’ In the middle of my silent monologue with God, I suddenly remembered a certain moment when I was also worrying about money and God unexpectedly provided for me from literally out of nowhere. So I changed the course of my thoughts and told God again, ‘ ok, Lord, I’m sorry. I’ll stop now. I’m not going to ask for a new job again because I know You will provide for me.”

And guess what?! At around 5pm this afternoon, an officemate approached me and handed me some cash, to my surprise! The cash was an honorarium to the service I rendered to one of our office project. Isn’t it so awesome?! God has once again proven Himself faithful. The Lord truly knows what I need even before I ask it from Him. So, to God be the glory! 😀

If there’s one thing that I believe played a great role to my conversion, it’s music. Thanks to my friend and roommate back in college, I was introduced to Christian songs and artists like Hillsong, Switchfoot, Casting Crowns and of course, Relient K. Whenever she’s in our room, she will start playing Christians songs and will sometimes explain the meaning of the songs to me. It was also from her that I learned to be careful with the kind of songs I’m listening to. I told her once that I’m not usually particular with the lyrics of the song, as long as the melody will make me feel happy, so she corrected me by telling me that I have to be careful with the songs I’m listening to because it can influence my way of thinking.

Since then, I learned to be mindful of both the lyrics and the melody before making any judgment whether I like a particular song or not. This mindset was eventually reinforced when I became a Christian, so I’ve decided to listen more to music with meaningful lyrics and melody and try to avoid listening to “senseless” music. What have I gain from that decision? It has helped me grow in my walk with Christ.

So now,  I will share to you some of my Lifesong because whenever I’m feeling down, worried,  in doubt or even happy, these songs never fail to minister to me:

1. I Am Nothing by Ginny Owens. Whenever I listen to this song, I am always reminded of the truth that “If I do not love, I am nothing.” It speaks of the biblical truth that everything we do, for God and for other people, should be motivated by love. Otherwise, when our works go through the testing in fire, it will burn up and thus will not count.

2. If You Want Me To by Ginny Owens.  Just listen to the song and try to understand the lyrics and you’ll know why I like it. This song has also helped me calm down before, when my flight to Manila was so shaky that I started to get worried that our plane will crash. I just sang the line “I’m clinging to the promise you’re not through with me yet”  and believed that I’ll come home safe because God is still not through with me.

3. Grace by Laura Story. I discovered this song last year. It reminds me of the truth that no matter how many times I fall, God will always be there to pick me up as long as I remain and abide in His love.

4. The Voice of Truth by Casting Crowns. This is actually my lifesong at the moment. Because of frustrations and disappointments in life, sometimes we forget that we are more than conquerors in Christ. Refuse to listen to the lies that the enemy is telling and believe in God’s word instead.

5. I Am by Ginny Owens. I consider this song as my “Personal Ministry Song”. It reminds me of the truth that God uses ordinary people to accomplish great things for Him, so I know He can use me too. 🙂

So there. How about you? what’s your life song?