I was an Unbeliever

When you think you can't believe that there is a God..

A Devotional Study on Romans 8: 11-17

Let us read the passages:

"For the scripture says, " Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame."

  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing
  His riches on those who call on Him.
  "For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

  How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed?
  And how are they to believe in Him on whom they have not heard?
  And how are they to hear  without someone preaching?

  How are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those
  who preach the good news."

  But they have not all obeyed the gospel.
  For Isaiah says, " Lord, who has believed  what he has heard from us?"
  So faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ."

The issue of "believing " is a day to day issue. 

People tend to be antagonistic over almost anything he come across everyday which contradicts personal principle, belief and tradition, except for fashion and trends which subliminally has won our trust and confidence. These are material things.

Photo Credits to Jessie Jessie

How will I believe a God I don't see? 

How will I have faith...and what is faith anyway?

I am an unbeliever if I don't believe such stuff as faith?

How to answer these questions? I used to hold those questions in my mind, until I finally realized one day, that all that I learned, the knowledge and wisdom, the talents and abilities I acquired failed to help me win over my overlapping circumstances; that the more I pushed using what I know, the deeper I sank into the sinkhole I never dreamed will exist.  

Human nature dictates : " At the finality of things...we realize..."

To believe in God, we need to hear the gospel, or faith will not spring. Faith results from learning the gospel. We all heard the gospel in many forms, in many times but we sometimes choose not to believe. 

Scrutinize the gospel. Read it thoroughly. Study it yourself. Am sure you will understand it. Conquer the fear of reading it. It will change your life because you will get to know God through the gospel. Don't believe the lies that we have heard before, " nakakasira ng ulo yn." or, "baka lumampas ka sa langit."

"Walang lalampas sa langit, umabot nga eh may kundisyon pa. At talagang may predisposition na yun ng schizophrenia kaya nasira ang ulo."

Call on God when you want to hear or read His gospel,

and as it is stated, " those who call on Him will never be put to shame."

Faith is a spiritual action of the human mind. It can only grow through spiritual things like reading the gospel and understanding it. If we can activate our mind on positivity which experiences has established... we can activate our mind on faith which will make all positive things come to pass beyond what you expect because faith is greater than positivity. Faith can move the heavens, as the gospel said... positivity can only move your territory.  

Learning from the gospel is to know Jesus the Lord of all. And with and in Him, nothing is impossible.

Don't allow ourselves to come to the edge of life before we believe.

I am a believer. I trusted Jesus. I read the gospel. Since then on the promise " those who call on Him will never be put to shame." became ohh so true in my life...so I share it to all who don't believe and believe.

  

God Remembers You Always

Whatever you have done, wherever you may go.... God will never forget about you.
A Devotional Study on Isaiah 49:13-21, the Bible, NIV

Read by clicking the link:

Isaiah 49:13-26, NIV

In our waywardness,
In believing only to ourselves,
In rejecting the faith that God,
In rejecting Jesus,
In living on our own without needing help from anyone or even from God,
In our polytheistic belief,
In our non-theistic faith,
In our ruined and messed up lives....
In our loneliness,
In our sufferings,
In our failures,
In our sickness,
In our near death situation....


God sees all of the events in our lives,
He feels every feelings we have, whether pain, sorrow or happiness...
Yet, in His respect for our rights, He won't intrude, He won't insist, but He is forever waiting
on us to whisper a call to Him, and He will come to us.
He never leave, He never hides, He never ceases to look upon us and watch every step we make in life.


He said,
"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
  and have no compassion on the child that she has borne?
  Though she may forget,
  I will not forget you!
  See I have engraved you on the palms of my hands,
  Your walls are ever before Me." ( Isaiah 49:16-17a)

           


We are commanded to rejoice because God has never forgotten us. It might be confusing or difficult to understand that there is a god, and there is such a loving God, in spite of all the things we did--bad, worst or good, it doesn't matter to Him when you call His name.... He hears.


Because, He never forget us, when we call on HIm:
He will feed us.
He will protect us,
He will enable us to tell others also about His love and compassion.
He will display His mercy upon us.
He will lead us.
He will make "highways" on our mountain ranges... He will make things possible for us by providing opportunities  that we can use to work for our benefit.
He will nourish us spiritually.
He will comfort us.
He will make us victor against our enemies.


Are you thinking right now that God has forsaken you?
Stop that thinking..He never forget. Do not believe the lies that God is deaf, that He never exist.
God hears and He exists. There are so many people now who trusted God, are now able to live with a cool and peaceful heart.

Two Mindsets ...Two Way of Thinking

We were created with two mindsets. Which one dominates you?
A Devotional Study on Romans 8:1-8

All of us were born with two kinds of mindset, both operates simultaneously, but only one dominates, the other one in passivity. Whichever dominates, or whichever is passive is the common concern to all of us, because it certainly has some effects to our lifestyle.

Let us read in the passage below ( clik the link).

Book of Romans Chapter 8 verses 1- 11, NIV

The passage recognized that we humans were created with two kinds of mind sets, and the Bible devoted chapters in its three books, the books of Romans, Colossians and 2 Corinthians to discuss about the importance of having the right mind set to dominate our thinking. This right mindset not only pleases God, but also is beneficial to our existence. The right mindset influences our victories and downfall.

The first mindset is what the passage refers to, the carnal mind. The carnal or the " fleshly mind" or in short, the self mindset. It is the mindset that so directed to personal and material gain, achievement, performances, etc. In it are our choices and decisions without considering their spiritual implications upon us. The carnal mind is not only preoccupied with the self's  intentions and motives, it is also hunted upon by  negative thoughts and feelings specially the untrained mind. The carnal mind is susceptible to feelings of rejection, failures, self glory, pride, lust ( in any form), superiority as well as inferiority, any feelings that is not originally designed for us to feel. " Not originally designed for us to feel" connotes that we humans were created with all positive attributes. It is the inherent sin of our ancestors, Adam and Eve, that stained the DNA of the generations that followed them. 

Another thing to note in the passage is that, the carnal mind does not please God, nor it will ever please Him. Why? It is this kind of mind that thinks and act against His will . It even devised wickedness to usurp, blaspheme, contradict, and defy His lordship and commandments. This carnal mind in operation hinders us to see the very purpose of God for our lives. God in His lovingkindness wants to be in harmony with us, and to show us His wonderful plan and blessings. 

In contrast is the 2nd kind of mindset, the spiritual mindset, the mindset that seeks things that are heavenly. It thinks and operates according to God's will. It thinks things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely...

Read: Philippians 4:8

spiritual mind

This mindset can easily discern the will of God because of its focus. 

Let us not forget that the world that we live is has two overlapping dimensions operating simulteneously: the physical and the spiritual. Man is a spiritual being. That explains his hunger to seek religion, to seek about a god, to seek about spiritual matters. This objective if not guided will fall in the knowledge of evil, rather than godly.  

Will the One who created us seeks that which is evil for his creation? Absolutely No! It is His desire for us to His creation, to know His heart and mind for our good and excellent living. That's why, the Bible, His word, explicitly is telling us to develop in our brain the spiritual mindset. To harness and transform our carnal mind into a spiritual mind, and let it dominates our thinking style. It is this kind of thinking that brings peace and joy to our being, which is not influenced by emotions and material things but of the truth.The truth that sets us free. 

Developing a spiritual mindset is quite difficult specially if we have become used to our own way of thinking, but attainable. God won't instruct us to do something which is impossible for us to do. He knows our limitations. The carnal mind sets the limitations in our being. And God wants us to be free even in our thinking because He created our minds with limitless possibilities. And He knows that to set our minds free from the clutter of the carnal mindset will mean harmony, peace, joy and love for our being.

The first step is to truly seek God and establish a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ who is the way to God our Father in heaven. In this I can guide you by praying with me.

" Almighty God in heaven, I come to You, seeking You with all my heart .

  I recognize that I need You to fix my life. 

  I recognize the sin in me, and I repent from all of those sins that I've done.

  I won't do them anymore. I wanted a new and changed life and thinking.

  God forgive me. 

  I recognize that I cannot go to You by my own .

  I put my trust in You, Jesus to be my Lord and Savior.

  I ask You Jesus, to come to my life, to my heart, and save me.

  Heal my mind. Heal my spirit. bring me back to life.

  And help me to live for You. help me to know Your will and plan for me."

  Thank you Lord. 

  In Jesus name....my Lord and Savior, amen.

If you already have a relationship with God: enter into the next step:  nourish that relationship always, saturate your mind with His word. ... ask God's help to subdue your carnal mindset but you also need to take action. This initial action is the discipline of your emotions and reactions. 

We will deal with the discipline of emotions and reactions in the next blog posts.

" He that ruleth his spirit is better than he who taketh a city."-proverbs 16:32

Amazing Race to LET

Magdadrama lng po aq ng konti pra mag thank u! Dpat secret i2 eh, kc pra lng aqng athlete na ininterview sa tv na ang sabi, " Mayaman na aq sa karangalan, pro hindi sa pera." Aq, ang dialogue q- "Mayaman lng aq sa work experience." haha

E2 na ang drama:

Marami pong salamat sa mga nagpray pra sa akin. Higit sa lahat, di kayang ipahayag ng mga salita q lamang ang pasasalamat q sa Lord dhil He helped me through the examination. I emphasized the words "He helped me" dhil sa mga sumusunod na pangyayari.

1. 2 license exams ang dpat qng i-take - RPM and LET. Sa di maipaliwanag na kadahilanan na kinalimutan q ndn dhil di q ma-explain, I missed the RPM sked of exam.. So, LET nlng.

2. Sa katalinuhan q, I didn't noticed the Appointment Date of Filing for exam registration ng LET. In-short, ayaw tanggapin ng PRC ang application q, but blessing...20 pla kaming teachers na out-of-date of filling. Dhil natuwa sa galit ang PRC sa aming 20, ini engaged kmi sa mala amazing race na balik d2-balik doon, Robinsons' and PRC. Mag i stage na ng rally ang 19 sa aming grupo. Nanahimik lng aq. Iniintay pla aq ni Pat na sumama sa planned rally pra solid kming 20! Sabay sbi ni Pat sa akin na, " Ma, what happened? You've changed? Di kba bubunot ng tabak?" In reality, pagod na aq that time pra makasali sa sigawan..or malamang nagbago na nga aq. Hahaha..whatever!

Blessing ulit, huling balik nming 20 sa PRC, out of kahihiyan cguro, binaba kmi ng director , pinaakyat kmi sa opisina nya at cya mismo nag process ng applications nming 20! Magrereklamo sna ang mga nalampasan nming applicants pro cguro naawa ndn sa amin dhil pra kaming mga galing sa taniman ng gulayan sa Benguet! At 3pm, pasok lht ng applications nmin for exam. Nag-intayan ang grupo na pra bang pinagdikit na kmi ng glue dhil sa pangyayari.

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3.. 3 days b4 the exam lumabas ang room assignment... hanep, Values ang major q, pro inilipat aq sa Social Studies! Kya from now on, Social Studies na major q. Sapilitan tlga! Khit may alam aq, biglng palit ng major, ayy kalokah!

4. At ang math.... hahaha alam na! Hi-tech ang calculator q, aq lng ang nakakakita! hahaha

" Ma'am, ang bilis mo natapos ah?"

" Eh paano, mahirap magcompute kung di mo alam paano iko compute ang problem."

Oh, di ba himala? Sa aking mga junakiz na kasama q sa lahat ng i2. salamat sa supporta at pag-alalay skin sa amazing race at suportado ang lahat ng trip q.. borger na toh!!

The Effects of Our Bad Choices in the Past

How Our Wrong Choices Affects Us?
A Devotional Study on 1 Corinthians 10:1-15

I was watching a medical show on television, it was featuring ebola virus, SARS  and HIV, which the resource person stated that they were originally  transmitted to humans by eating monkey's meat. I heard and read about this fact from the internet and other magazines, but only this moment I thought of two things: One, was it poverty and famine that drove those people to eat monkey's meat? Second, if those meat were not eaten by the very first people responsible for transmitting the diseases, is the existence of these diseases a probable zero?


HIV Originated from Monkeys, not chimps


The show led me to think  about Adam and Eve:  What if Eve didn't eat the fruit of knowledge and instead disperse the Satan in the form of snake to leave her alone? What if Adam chose to be with his wife, Eve at that time? Perhaps, Eve would not be tempted?

Eve's choice to eat the fruit of knowledge and persuade her husband Adam to do the same, led to the fall of mankind, making all generations born after them sinners and predisposed to do evil more than good. The couple's choice led to their being driven from the garden of Eden, closing the door of heaven to all mankind. But their choices led God our Creator sent the Savior Jesus Christ, to save mankind from the consequences of our ancestors' wrong choices.

The Bible, Romans chapter 5 (NIV)

The choices we make always have effects to us and to the people surrounding us, even to the environment where we live. It is a law in nature called The Law of Cause and Effect.

Going back to the past before generations were born, the Bible, the early men made choices that impacted the generations to come, whether for good or for bad. The New Testament attested to this fact, as it discussed in the writings of Apostle Paul in ! Corinthians 10: 1-15. Paul exhorted the people to make right choices to reap good effects. To this I drew a table to clearly understand what Paul wants us to learn:


The Bible, 1 Corinthians 10:1-15

1. Desired Action: To Have  Something ---> Right : Ask, Work for it  -> Effect: pleases 

                                                                                 God. He will aid you to have what you desires.
                Wrong  :  Lust After things --> Effect: Displeases God, You hurt yourself & others.


          2. Desired Action: To worship --> Right : To God    --> Effect: blessings
                                                                Wrong: To idols  ---> Effect : calamities, plagues, perversions


          3. Desired Action : Sexual Intimacy ---> Right : Within Marriage --> Effect : love, harmony
                                                                                                                                      blessings
                                                                            Wrong: Outside Marriage ---> Effect: STD's,
                                                                                                          unhappiness, unwanted children


           4. Desired Action: Obey Christ ---> Right:  Obey & Follow ---> Effect: blessings
                                                                     Wrong: Tempt Christ ----> Effect: Death, plague


           5. Desired Action: To be Thankful ---> Right: Be thankful. Be grateful -->Effect: People will
                                                                                                                                  always care
                                                                     Wrong: Complain, Nag -->Effect: destruction



If only mankind has made right choices in the past, perhaps there's no global warming, no incurable diseases like HIV, ebola, SARS and the like. If only we made right choices in life, we avoid relationship failures, unwanted and unhappy children, depressions, and suicides. If only we used our knowledge to make right choices in the past, perhaps things are better today. This might be a euphoria-kinda-thought, but hard truth knocks hard. Now, we are living, with the past cannot be undone, lets make right choices, not out of emotions or principle but out of the context of what is truly right and good.

       
Finding it hard to make the right choices? God has promised that even before we make a step to choose, he assured us that His wisdom is available for us to seek, and in His omniscience, He knows the outcome of our actions...yet in His faithfulness to us, He reminds us not to copy or follow the wrong choices of the past. Enough is enough, but in case our frailty overtook us, Paul  said,
" No temptation has overtaken you except such is as common  to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." 1 Corinthians 10:13.



"To admit a weakness is the key to be stronger."