Trust Issues

At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

-      John 12:16

You are not expected to understand everything that happens in your life at an instant. Jesus’ disciples thought Jesus was so mysterious that everything He said was a mystery but had deep meanings to it. But apart from that odd thought, they chose to believe Him and follow Him.

This may sound cliché but it’s part of the truth and it’s also part of the very understanding of God’s Grace. Life isn’t fair. But God is. There are things that happen in our life that we truly do not understand. Some things happen beyond our understanding or somehow unexpected, such things which seems to never been a part of our lives. In my instance, I failed my board exam. All throughout my 5-year college life, I always thought I’d nail it. I even dream on topping it. But I ended up failing. Now, God has put me in a foreign land to me. I always hated the idea of living here. But here I am now leaving my family, church, friends behind and facing something I am never sure would be the outcome. I admit that life here isn’t easy. I am expected to exert more effort in all things I did in Baguio. I know I can live independently, but the fact that I am never sure of my own plans in my stay here makes it even more difficult.

Yesterday, God revealed to me His purpose of my stay here. I will know Him better and experience Him in a different way. God wanted me to see a different side of His grace and I can never be thankful of this opportunity. But on the other hand, not knowing concrete plans can be very vexing. But God never fails on giving comfort.

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

-      John 14:1-3

Trust in God. It’s so easy to say. But what if your salary comes in short for your daily needs? What if your family back at home needs your support? What about those nights when you’re alone and just really want you friends to be there? What about your ministry in God? How are you supposed to serve Him in a foreign land where you are very much restricted?

        Practically, living independently can be very difficult. But just imagine life in the perspectives of Jesus’ disciples. They all had their own jobs, own family and own business before deciding to do God’s ministry. I’m not saying you do the same, leave school, leave work and just stay in church forever. No. God wants you to live out His glory. Show the world how His grace changed your life so that He can change others who see that as well.

        Evangelism isn’t always about doing cells or reporting every week the people you met or even setting quotas of how many people you will bring to church this week. The main goal of evangelism is showing off God’s glory. Thus, behind all these practical questions in life, you can then say that regardless of all these limitations, you have to serve God through your life.

Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going.

-      John 12:35

Where do I go now?

I’ve been constantly arguing with myself of my plans in life. How do get to align myself with God’s vision? How do I fix my eyes on Him? I’m not very sure if God has concretely answered that. But I’m pretty sure He talked to me on His word.

Put mud on your vision

“How then were your eyes opened?” they demanded. He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed. And then I could see.”

-John 9:10

                I am very sure I had my encounter with God in Baguio. I know the vision. I was doing the vision. I may not be the perfect leader in my church. I may not be the best spiritual mother my spiritual daughters could’ve had, but I know I was caught by the vision. Or was I?

                My pastor once said, “Being caught by the vision and catching the vision has a big difference”. It is very possible that I was doing the vision that I caught myself but didn’t catch me. I love God but I lacked love for people, thus I don’t love God enough. I had great encounters with the Lord back in Baguio, but now I believe the Lord has placed me in such a position that I needed to see the vision in a different way.

                Thus, I am blind.

I.                    How then were your eyes opened?

How do I find a clearer path to God’s vision in my life?

II.                  The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes.

You need to see a clearer view of why you weren’t caught by the vision in Baguio. You need to see how incomplete you are. You need to see all your imperfections. You need to see all the wrong things you did. You need to acknowledge all your compromises. You need to see all the things in this world that hindered you to see God in His most glorious appearance.

III.                He told me to go to Siloam and wash

You need to go out of your comfort zone and let God lead you to the way where you can wash off all these hindrances that keeps you from serving God the way you’re supposed to. Thus, Manila is not an accident.

IV.                So I went and washed. And then I could see.

I am now on my first month in my stay here in Manila and I’ve never been soi sure of going here. My heart is for Baguio but for God to truly conquer my heart, I need to leave that place for a while till I get to experience more of Hos glory in this foreign land. I need to wash off all the things that are not for me and see the true image of the Lord.

So what do you do now?

Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath.

-John 9:14

                Pastor Carlo preached about honoring your church last Sunday. I remember him saying, “You honor your church by protecting what you love. Thus we need to protect the church by protecting our testimonies.” I left Baguio for the exact reason of failing something I thought I already had. I know God planned that for me to be here for such a great purpose which I now understand. Coming to Manila means becoming the better me which happens to include making a professional Christian out of me. I always told myself that in all the works of my hands, I will glorify the name of the Lord. That includes my profession. I am going back to Baguio with a better version of me. I may leave my friends, my family, my daughters, even my pastors there but I know in the end, everything’s gonna be alright. I trust Him. (LOL, I just realized I was out of the topic.

                Technically, I will focus on the CPA me here first, but that doesn’t give me an excuse to have a mild commitment with God. In fact, this is a bigger challenge. I will commit my Sundays for Him. I do not know my schedule yet in my weekend class but I will not miss a service because God has already given me His word. He will give me His answer as to my span of time here in this town on the Sabbath.

I am the good Shepherd; I know my shepherd and my sheep know me.

-John 10:14

Day 22: Deuteronomy 19-28

Distraction of the Now

However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance do not leave alive anything that breathes.

-          Deut 20:16

I remember reading the same verses in the last 90 days of challenge and most of the highlight parts are from chapter 28 which talks about all the blessings and the opposite curses of each promise. But today the lord has shown me the root cause of disobedience, which is, the past.

                In the word the Lord was very particular about every nations that the Israelites were suppose to bring down on their way to possessing the whole land. He commanded them to kill anything that stands their way. Come to think of it, the thing from our past is the things that we should not just leave behind but for us to kill.

I remember the movie The Incredibles saying “The past distracts from the now”.  Our old self can be a distraction and a start of rebellion because if we truly are submitting to God, it has to be easy for us to submit to his laws and His leaders which He has assigned to us. Therefore I conclude that disobedience comes from our old self.

However, you may cut down trees that you know are not fruit trees and use them to build siege works until the city at war with you falls.

-          Deut 20:20

Nevertheless, we also need to understand that as we kill our past and all the distractions that will come our way, we don’t run away from it. There is a big difference between running away from it and killing it. Remember that it is through our experiences that we make our testimony out of.

Warning:

They shall say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a profligate and a drunkard.” Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and will be afraid.

-          Deut 21:20-21

Day 21: Deuteronomy 9-18

The Responsibility of Power

Understand then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are stiff-necked people.

-          Deuteronomy 9:6

To be called as Children of the Lord is a great privilege that comes with Royalty because He is after all the King of kings. But as what it was said in Spiderman, “Great power comes with great responsibility”. As leaders, we are not simply leading people but we are guidance to them. In fact we are only to be used by the Lord. Humility has to be evident to us when we know our real purpose.

1.     Servitude to God

Fear the Lord your God and serve Him. Hold fast to Him and take oaths in His name.

-          Deuteronomy 10:20

2.     Obedience comes with strength

Observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

-          Deuteronomy 11:8

3.     Set Priorities Straight

Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them.

-          Deuteronomy 11:16

4.     Kingdom Leadership not worldly sovereignty

The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.”

-          Deuteronomy 17:16

5.     Wisdom seeker in the Word

It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees.

-          Deuteronomy 17:19

Day 20: Deuteronomy 1-8

“You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites…”

-          Deuteronomy 1:6

It amazes me how much the Lord patiently gives us more and more opportunities to advance and grow spiritually. Truly the Lord has given us a fresh start from the beginning. He wanted to protect and bless us even in this world. But His grace doesn’t stop there. He wants each and every believer to advance and win this world over.

Level 1: The Mountain

                After the 40 years that the Israelites has been wondering around the desert and finally landing in the Mountain of Horeb, the Lord finally let them advance.

                Sometimes as Christians, we get to the point when we stay too long enough in one stage in our life that we became stagnant and thus we get bored of our life in Christ when in fact, living a life in Christ is more than exciting every day.

                This can be very complicated at times because the longer we stay in this mountain, the more we get comfortable, thus, driving then excitement and passion away. Thus, we get into level 2 J

Level 2: Break Camp

                Then we leave our comfort zone after the staggering boredom from that mountain. As a cell leader for more than 5 years now, I have stayed long enough in the mountain that now that I am handling more and more emerging leaders in my cell, I am feeling the challenge. My lifestyle in Christ is getting better because of the push of responsibility and the motivation of God’s victory.

Level 3: The Hill Country

                The stage of battle. Here’s the logic here. The Israelites took the chance to leave the mountain and thus leaving their comfort zone to advance with the knowledge that they will be fighting to conquest. Same as to this vision, I could have just stayed into becoming a church attender or just really a believer of Christ. But knowing God and loving Him more at the same time requires more to my title as a Christian. I need to be a disciple and a discipler. Thus, I need to enter into a battle not just for myself this time but for my cell, for my family, for my city and for my country.

Warning:

But the Lord said to me, “Tell them, ‘Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you. You will be defeated by your enemies.’”.

-          Deuteronomy 1:42

In all our actions, God’s commands must prevail. We cannot move according to our own will and preferences because our own decisions can be very dangerous that can lead us towards our own fall.

Promise:

See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore he would give to your fathers – to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – and to their descendants after them.

-          Deuteronomy 1:8

Day 19: Numbers 30-36

Dream like a 10-year-old

If we have found favor in your eyes,” they said, “let this land be given to your servants as our possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan.

-          Numbers 32:5

When we were in elementary, we were asked “What do you want to be when you grow up”. My answer to that evolved over the years. First I wanted to be:

a teacher,

then a singer,

a dancer,

an astronaut,

a writer,

a theater artist,

a theater director,

a traveler,

a chef,

the President of the Philippines,

the Chief Justice,

the Mayor of Baguio,

a Senator,

the Commissioner for COA,

the Dean of SABM,

a college professor,

a CPA lawyer,

and to be a CPA.

Of course I don’t plan on achieving all that (LOL). But if you can notice, my dreams change over time. First I was too general until I began dreaming bigger and more specific until, I became more specific. But another observation was, as I was becoming more specific, my dreams were diminishing. I wonder, if I became a CPA, what would be my next dream?

See, in our journey in life to success, we tend to land in a green pasture and we suddenly decide to stay there and not anticipate on a greener one.

Being a child of the Lord guarantees us that we can reach our dreams. We need to understand that sometimes, God puts us in a test where we can be too comfortable, where we can say that it is already enough. Nevertheless, we need to dream bigger than our present situation because God designed us to be the head and not the tail. Certainly, there is more to us than what we are now. We can’t settle for something we know is temporary.

The only key is, to stay in God’s side always.

Day 18: Numbers 22-29

Duties of a Leader of the Joshua Generation

To go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd

-          Numbers 27:17

I have been a cell leader for almost 5 years now and it is only tonight that I truly understood my duties to my cell members.

1.       Fighter: To Go Out

God chooses us to our cell members not because we are good leaders but because we were meant to be their leaders. Thus, we have to fight for our cell members, especially in prayer. We need to go out of our comfort zones so we can achieve that peak of our leadership and so they can also follow us. We need to go out and fight for our members outside our personal realms not just as disciples but as disciplers.

2.       Conqueror: Come in before them

Before we send people to the battle field, as leaders we first have to have more experiences than they do so we can strategize better. Thus, we can’t expect our members to conquer a deadlock in their life without us conquering ours. We first need to be fixed in heart to able to send our members. We have to enter a higher level of leadership and anointing before our members do. Otherwise, we don’t deserve to be their leader, better yet, they’d get promoted or be allocated to other leaders who do.

3.       Hero: One who will lead them out

Some cell members treat their cell leaders as their “angels”. Regardless of the fact that people are higher than angels, we have to get along with that thought. Remember that the Lord uses people to move in people’s lives. Thus, keep in mind that the Lord has given you that person, that cell member because he/she needs the Lord and the Lord has chosen you to be used in saving his life. We are God’s sidekick. God is the true Hero. Nevertheless, in action, we need to act like real heroes and never leave a member inside a deadlock.

4.       Official: And to Bring them in

In the vision, we do not resolve into just bringing people to church and teaching them to sing songs while they lift their hands during services.  We don’t stop when they become regular church attendees. We make them like us as we become like our leaders as well. As cell leaders we need to bring them in the battle that we’re on since we have been caught by the vision.

Promise:

The land is to be allotted to them as an inheritance based in the number of names. To a larger group give a larger inheritance and to a smaller group a smaller one; each is to receive its inheritance according to the number of those listed.

-          Numbers 26:53-54

Day 17: Numbers 14-21

Rebellion

COMMAND:

Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.

-          Numbers 14:9

I always wondered how much it was applicable in the vision of how rebellion works. Am I rebelling when I don’t ask for my leader’s permission for some of my actions even when I’m not doing anything wrong? Nevertheless, I admit that sometimes I am very clumsy about my opinion when people around me talk about negative things about my leader when I know they’re actually right. It is somehow clear in the Bible that when Moses went against the will of the Lord (Numbers 20:1-13), he was automatically denied of the promise land. Will I be denied as well of my “promise land” upon recognizing my leader’s abuse of authority?

Nevertheless, tonight I know my stand. I can never go against my leader when it comes to the vision and to the ministry that the Lord has given me. On the other hand, because Nanay Sophe is very close to my heart, I should keep on praying for her to be strengthened and be justly anointed as my leader and a leader of my church with a right heart.

Also, I have to keep in mind the distinction of people around me with God. Leaders are leaders. They are being used by God. When things get confusing, I also pray and consult the Word. All the time, that is.

PROMISE:

The Lord said to Moses,” Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you, with his whole army and his land….”

-          Numbers 21:34

WARNING:

“Aaron will be gathered to his people. He will not enter the land I give the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah.

-          Numbers 20:24

Day 16: Numbers 7-13

Views of the Vision

Mindsets are very important in making life decisions. Often, the Lord shows us or leads us to a way in our life which we often refer to as “Vision”. I believe, even non believers have visions. Visions are concrete pictures. They are inevitable and highly expected in the future. But what makes it a mere vision rather than being The Vision depends on the mindset of a person.

1.      The Positive View

Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

-        Numbers 13:30

In the journey of the Israelites to the Promise land, they arrived at a strategy to foresee the land before everyone else gets there. Result was, some of Moses’ men came in with reports. Thing is, they both saw the same thing, the same place, the same situation of the land. But they had different reports.

Optimism is a factor to a better life. Bt I believe, when a vision came from God, optimism has to be evident because note that everything that comes from the Lord is perfect and is meant to either save us or keep us safe in life. This is the beauty of grace.

2.      The Negative View

…we seem like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.

-        Numbers 13:33

On the other hand, of course some people would oppose those people with the right visions. I remember Pastor Arnold saying. “Ang kalaban ng mga may vision ay ang mga walang vision.” Up until now that rings a bell in my ear. Truly if you had the right vision you would believe and let other people believe this vision. Otherwise, if you didn’t have one or you got it completely wrong, you’d be the one destroying the whole community

The vision is already there. We just have to grab it and understand how perfect and able our God is.

Day 15: Numbers 1-6

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His Face Shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace”

-        Numbers 6:24

Day 14: Leviticus 21-27

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.

-        Leviticus 26:13

COMMAND:

Speak to the Israelites and say to them: “When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest.

-        Leviticus 23:10

~When you reach your dreams that I have planned for you to have, you must devote your first salary to the Kingdom of God and thus it will be your First fruit offering.

Speak to the Israelites and say to them: “When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the Lord.”

-        Leviticus 25:2

~When you reach your dreams that I have planned for you to have, you must still be consistent in your commitment to your ministry and your responsibility as a cell leader.

Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God. I am the Lord your God.

-        Leviticus 25:17

~Do not take advantage of the authority that will be given to you soon. Fear God with your license and power. He is your highest authority in life.

PROMISES:

I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and trees of the field their fruit.

-        Leviticus 26:4

~I will make sure that your investments in my kingdom will yield you more success

I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid.

-        Leviticus 26:6

~I will protect you from any dangers in this world

You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you.

-        Leviticus 26:7

~ You will be able to face all your troubles with me.

I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you.

-        Leviticus 26:9

~I will promote you in everything you will do and make you fruitful in your ministry.

You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new.

-        Leviticus 26:10

~I will give you more than enough of what you need

I will put my dwelling place among you and will not abhor you

-        Leviticus 26:11

~I will be with you always and never leave you behind

I will walk among you and be your God and you will be my people

-        Leviticus 26:12

~ I will walk among you and be your God and you will be my Jully J

WARNING:

If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over

-        Leviticus 26:18

Day 13: Leviticus 14-20

Past vs. Future

You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices.

-        Leviticus 18:3

PAST: You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live

               Before we have totally dedicated ourselves to God, sin has always been a part of our lifestyle in the past. It may be dominant or quiescent or we just never really recognized it until God corrected us in the present.

               Thing about following Christ is to really leave the past behind and to learn from it. In our journey of knowing and experiencing God’s grace in our everyday lives, we grasp that we’re also in a process of learning from our times of yore and leaving it behind. Thus, it must be clear that whatever is in the past must not be a part of our future.

               Otherwise, the past destroys our future.

FUTURE:  you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices.

               God will definitely put me in such a place that I have been preparing for years. In the present, God puts us in a training ground to put in order to us for our future, which He has flawlessly planned already. Thing is, the promise land isn’t always the end of every journey. Even if God did gives us what our heart desires, it doesn’t mean that the battle stops there. Sometimes, endings are the start of new beginnings. Thus, however authentic we are to God in the present, such authenticity must level up to that future.

               In the present, God is preparing us for enormity. And when we reach that greatness, we must then be able to face it as if it’s a new battle field. Nevertheless, we must always keep in heart that the Lord has given it to us and that He’ll never leave our side.

Day 12: Leviticus 5-13

The Form of the Offering

The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.

-        Leviticus 6:13

I have been trying to guess what these different offering God meant but the Lord has given me a broader view of offerings. First off, what is an offering? In the times of Moses, God specifically gave instructions about what and how these offerings are to be presented. I can just imagine myself bringing a dead cow in the church when I sin (LOL). But of course, since money has been invented in our generation, we have to see things monetarily. But more than that, the Lord have also specifically described the manner of offering.

1.      It must be clean

The Lord has enlisted a couple of animals that are allowed to be eaten and to be offered. As to our generation, how can money be clean? I interpreted it this way. The offering that we have to give must be ours. It must not be stolen, it must not be borrowed. It must come in plain for the Lord.

2.      It must be pure

The word “fat” and “blood” has been used in the passages for a couple of times. So how do we make our offerings pure? Simple, it is seen in our hearts, in our own intentions. We cannot give to the kingdom with an unwilling heart. We can’t give out of compromise, out of a condition for our own self. We must give for the fact that the Lord owns us, thus He owns everything we have.

3.      It must be slaughtered in front of the Lord

The people in the time of Moses could have just given their offerings dead already but why did God require it to be alive and be slaughtered in His presence? Because God knew what was gonna happen in our century. We must not hold a string towards our offerings. Sometimes people treat money as if it has life that it multiplies, it flies, and it disappears on its own. But we have to kill that perception for money. We must see it not as something we lost but we gained.

4.      It must be burned

Once the offerings are made in the Temple, the priests must burn them afterwards. Thus, when we give our offerings to the altar, we must then treat it as holy not as an expenditure.

Day 11: Exodus 36-40 and Leviticus 1-4

When too much becomes bad

Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more.

-        Exodus 36:6

Before I had many close friends and before I was given a ministry inside the church, people barely see me there. In fact, I’d only be seen in the center if its either Sunday or Friday, or for mentoring.  I didn’t like the idea of becoming a “tambay ng church” because not only that I hate idle time, i also hate going there for no reason and wait for not very important people. But then these past few months, the church has already been my second home. In fact, there is no day that I don’t go there even if we don’t count the Morning Prayer.

In other words, I have given much much of my time for the church, until it became wrong. People see me there every day now even when there’s nothing really that I should be doing there, at first I thought, “not that it’s a bad thing, right?”. But now God has revealed to me otherwise. I have given the church too much to the point that my time given there wasn’t useful anymore.

Command: Clear your purpose of making the church your second home

Warning: Too much can make you even more unproductive, thus can lead to destruction

Day 10: Exodus 29-35

Why is God a jealous God?

“Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold.”

-        Exodus 20:23

This character of our god has always been confusing for some Christians; in fact, even those who have strong faith can’t always briefly explain this matter.

God, being a jealous God, actually compliments his character as a loving and merciful God.  It might not be as accurate as I imagine it to be but we can just put it this way. God and the enemy may have had a treaty where a person who worships anyone should be subject to whom or what it worships.

See, when Satan was named as the “king of the world”, it meant, anything that can be against the Lord is his’. For example, money, which is the common source of worship for pagans, happened to be under the enemy’s dominion. Thus, without further explanation, anyone who worship’s money is subject to the enemy and not to God.

Be careful to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips.

-        Genesis 23:13

When God said that He was a jealous God, that meant He wanted you to be His’ and Him to be yours. It was actually an act of grace. Thus, with that thought, we must be very conscious of our priorities. Does God top it all? Is God always number 1 in your list or orders?

If we worship other people or things in this world other than Him, we deviate ourselves from god’s promises in life. But if we did receive God in our lives and prioritize Him over all, then, we receive His grace every day.

“Worship the Lord you god, and His blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry of be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.”

-        Exodus 23:25-26

Why God does require us of offerings when He owns everything?

“Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from each man whose heart prompts him to give.”

-        Exodus 25:1

God created this world, even man, of course God owns everything. Even our lives. But because of His love and Grace, He gave us possession of His creation. The best example for this is our own lives.

In business, anyone who created or innovated something is the presumed owner of such thing, unless it is further sold to someone else. God never sold His creation to anyone. Nevertheless, He appointed man to rule over His creation. But that didn’t mean we own them. We are merely the possessors. In more concrete term, we are just care takers of His creation.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

-        Genesis 2:15

In business law, we have this Disputable presumption that anyone who bears possession of a thing is the owner of the thing. But the beauty of law is seen here. This is only a Disputable presumption. Why? As my Law Reviewer said, the Law of State respects the Law of God. Thus, this being a disputable presumption, we therefore derive the fact that the possessor won’t necessarily be the owner.

Bottom line is, anything we have right now is not of our own ownership. We are merely possessors of it.

Now, to answer the question, why do God requires us to, as I may give it as a term, return to Him what he requires us to return? Does He need it? What will he do with it? Give it to the poor?

Answer:

God owns everything, He doesn’t need it. But we do. We need to give it to Him.

Why? Because He loves us.

How’s that a basis?

1.      To refrain ourselves from the warning of the above topic/question

2.      To make ourselves selfless and be more transparent and/or submissive to God

3.      To be even more blessed

Day 10: Exodus 29-35

Day 9: Exodus 20-28

Why is God a jealous God?

“Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold.”

-        Exodus 20:23

This character of our god has always been confusing for some Christians; in fact, even those who have strong faith can’t always briefly explain this matter.

God, being a jealous God, actually compliments his character as a loving and merciful God.  It might not be as accurate as I imagine it to be but we can just put it this way. God and the enemy may have had a treaty where a person who worships anyone should be subject to whom or what it worships.

See, when Satan was named as the “king of the world”, it meant, anything that can be against the Lord is his’. For example, money, which is the common source of worship for pagans, happened to be under the enemy’s dominion. Thus, without further explanation, anyone who worship’s money is subject to the enemy and not to God.

Be careful to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips.

-        Genesis 23:13

When God said that He was a jealous God, that meant He wanted you to be His’ and Him to be yours. It was actually an act of grace. Thus, with that thought, we must be very conscious of our priorities. Does God top it all? Is God always number 1 in your list or orders?

If we worship other people or things in this world other than Him, we deviate ourselves from god’s promises in life. But if we did receive God in our lives and prioritize Him over all, then, we receive His grace every day.

“Worship the Lord you god, and His blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry of be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.”

-        Exodus 23:25-26

Why God does require us of offerings when He owns everything?

“Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from each man whose heart prompts him to give.”

-        Exodus 25:1

God created this world, even man, of course God owns everything. Even our lives. But because of His love and Grace, He gave us possession of His creation. The best example for this is our own lives.

In business, anyone who created or innovated something is the presumed owner of such thing, unless it is further sold to someone else. God never sold His creation to anyone. Nevertheless, He appointed man to rule over His creation. But that didn’t mean we own them. We are merely the possessors. In more concrete term, we are just care takers of His creation.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

-        Genesis 2:15

In business law, we have this Disputable presumption that anyone who bears possession of a thing is the owner of the thing. But the beauty of law is seen here. This is only a Disputable presumption. Why? As my Law Reviewer said, the Law of State respects the Law of God. Thus, this being a disputable presumption, we therefore derive the fact that the possessor won’t necessarily be the owner.

Bottom line is, anything we have right now is not of our own ownership. We are merely possessors of it.

Now, to answer the question, why do God requires us to, as I may give it as a term, return to Him what he requires us to return? Does He need it? What will he do with it? Give it to the poor?

Answer:

God owns everything, He doesn’t need it. But we do. We need to give it to Him.

Why? Because He loves us.

How’s that a basis?

1.      To refrain ourselves from the warning of the above topic/question

2.      To make ourselves selfless and be more transparent and/or submissive to God

3.      To be even more blessed

Day 8: Exodus 11-19

PSP (Past Is Past)

                    In the last wave of the 90 days of challenge, I have been so disgusted by the way the Israelites were thinking and doing despite all the miracle God has been giving them every day in their journey, but then I thought, isn’t this a common mindset? See, Jesus has already saved us from our sins in the past and lets us experience His grace everyday but why is it that many Christians still turn their back from the church and their ministry? It is because of the hardships brought by this journey. But if we are going to broaden even more our way of thinking things through, we can see how naïve and ridiculously childish our minds can be. How can we turn our back to a beautiful future the Lord has already in stored for us? How can we go back to our dark past when we can just face these obstacles along with God?

Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, “Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians”? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert.

-        Exodus 14:12

                    Because as human beings, we get to be so imperfect that we tend to be selfish and insensitive before the Lord. There are times in our lives when we get to glorify ourselves and other things other than God. Thus, what happens in the end is unavoidable. We still turn to our past even when God gives us a brighter future. But of course this is not an excuse. Our incapability and imperfections can never be an excused. Why? Because God sent His Son, Jesus Christ in this world not just to save us from our sins but also to be our model on how we must live as disciples. So what did God tell us to do?

1.      TRUST GOD

Moses answered the people “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.

-        Exodus 14:13

A lot of obstacles may come our way during our lifetime as disciples. There will be temptations, there will be oppressions by this world but at the end of the line, we must always know in heart that the whole time, the Lord will deliver us to our own promise land.

He will help us be accepted by those people who reject our invitations.

He will give us hope even when this world rejects us.

He will accept us even when this world abandons us.

He will help us grow even when this world stops us.

He will protect us when the whole world is after us.

As the scripture says, “Anyone who trusts him will never be put to shame.”

-        Romans 10:11

2.    BE STILL

The Lord will fight for you; you only need to be still.

-        Exodus 14:14

We tend to be so anxious and panic most of the time when we are in trouble. Thing is, worry ends when faith begins. As a cell leader handling many young people in my group, every time I enter into slump in my personal life, I always tend to lose hope in my cell like I overwhelm my heart too much with my problems as turn away for some time from my responsibilities to these young girls. But that act alone is very much like an insult to God, not only that I didn’t trust Him, I also left out the responsibility He has entrusted to me.

God puts us in such a place, in such a situation which He knows we can handle, where such situation can mold us into becoming the better versions of our selves. And the best part of the whole battle that we are taking with the Lord is that, while we are working for Him, He fights for us. He never lets anything that brings us pain not be a part of our growth. He’d never contaminate our training as His children. Everything happens for a reason. Thus, any schemes of the enemy cannot affect us anymore because the Lord who created us protects us with His grace. That alone is our only and strongest weapon. Thus, we literally have no right to be afraid.

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry, “Abba , Father.”

-        Romans 8:15

3.    MOVE ON

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.”

-        Exodus 14:15

Note to self:

Carry on with what you’re doing with God. This ministry, this responsibility, this truth that God has given you is all you have for you to live a life of righteousness. There’s no point of going back and being a slave again. God created you to be free. And in truth there is freedom. Thus, you can never deviate yourself from it. Live as if you past is buried down to the deepest oceans where you can’t find it. Learn from your past but never live in it. Remember, you were made a new in the presence of God. And if you continue on this great work, unlike Moses who only had a glimpse of the promise land because of self righteousness, you will have your promise land as long as you trust in Him and go on with this journey. God loves you, thus, carry on. Move on already.

Day 7: Exodus 2-7

What insecurity does

The Lord said to him, “Who gave men his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

-        Exodus 4:11-12

Moses was so full of insecurities at first. In fact, he’s always been doubtful of himself of why the Lord has chosen him. Moses was glorifying his imperfections before serving the Lord.

I have always been praying to God about forming my 12, and now that the Lord has seen me prepared for this, He is already putting a lot of people in my cell. At first I was confident that I might be able to complete my 12 sooner but now that I have been becoming more insecure and more conscious of myself, I feel like I’m losing confidence as a cell leader.

I’m not as good as my other sisters. I’m not as anointed as my leader wanted me to be. I’m not always available to my ministry. I am not 100% committed as a church leader. Also, the different situations of my cell members have kept me thinking that I might not be able to handle them to the process.

This evening, my spiritual mother told me, “Anong meron kay Kuya Ji at kay David na wala ka?”. If only I concentrated much on what she said and I wasn’t feeling physically bad, I would have cried that time. I feel like I lost all the confidence I had since I started handling my UC cell members. But God revealed to me another thing tonight. My reason for my inconsistency about my UC cell members was their different situations. That which most of them have their own churches on Sundays, some made their Sundays their family and rest days but then I thought, I might have spoken the same things as Moses did. See, the Lord was the one who has given me these young people. It was not out of my own will or my own plan. I never really thought that someone like Rhieca would be my cell member who would even turn out to be a great soul winner.

God has chosen Moses to lead the Israelites because it was HIS plan. Moses never wanted to go back to Egypt anyway, but still God has chosen him. Same thing with me, God chose me for the lives of these young people. Thus if I doubt myself, I doubt God.

Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and cruel bondage.

-        Exodus 6:9

Discouragement is truly bondage. I plan on completing my 12 on these 90 days of challenge because I believe the Lord has great plans after I pass my board exam. I don’t WANT to complete my 12, I NEED to complete my 12 and nothing must stop me, not my insecurities, not my in capabilities, not other people, not even my own will because I believe that this is my destiny.

Day 6: Genesis 45-50 and Exodus 1

Baguio City, the promise land

But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by great deliverance

-        Genesis 45:7

I will be a CPA this October 2014. What happens next? Will I find a job here in Baguio where I can earn enough to pursue my studies in law? Won’t I need more experiences to qualify to that position that I want to earn enough for my family? What happens to my ministry after? Will I be able to serve God as I do now even when these things come to me?

I know not of His plans in my life but I am very excited about them. But one option has been ringing in my ear tonight. It might be necessary for me to move to some other place for awhile.

I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.

-        Genesis 46:4

At the start of Exodus, the Israelites multiplied in Egypt after many generations had passed Joseph’s death and his other brothers.  Did God plan the oppression that happened to the Israelites upon bringing them to Egypt?

So here’s what happen here. God planned the great famine that affected Canaan and so He made Joseph be in authority in Egypt to save the Israelites from this famine and adopt them. But their moving to another foreign land made them not only foreign to their own land (which was written in like, 3 books in the old testament regarding their journey back to the Promise land), but also, many generations of Israel has been greatly oppressed and harassed by the Egyptians. Come to think of it, Why did God allowed all these to happen?

1.     God  wanted to save the first generation

Why? Because if God left them in that famine in Jacob’s time, the Israelites wouldn’t survive it and die as one generation alone.

2.     God wanted the Israelites to multiply

… but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.

-        Exodus 1:7

If the Israelites were stuck in Canaan and did not move to Egypt, they would’ve not multiplied greatly in Egypt.

3.     God was molding His people to be strong in faith

But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.

-        Exodus 1:12

I’ve always wondered about God making the Israelites His chosen people. Why not the Asians? Or the Americans? Why of all people, the Israelites? Because this is the nation that has been tested by the Lord for many years in Exodus. Upon reading the rest of the chapters, we can really see how many times the Israelites has been tested in their faith. Some committed idolatry, some didn’t submit to God. In other words, God Himself oppressed the Israelites to make them strong. I believe that those who didn’t make it until the end were the ones who had issues with their faith. Moses (in the latter chapters) were even one of them.

In our generation today, indeed many were called but few were chosen. Why? Because although many of us call ourselves as “Christians” (Israelites), not all can finish the race, in fact, not all are in the race, in the battle, in the war. God showed us how He moved in the nation of Israel to show us how strong and prepared we have to be for the great tests of Faith that will come to us.

But God’s promise has always been there. He is with us and he will bring us to the Promise Land.