TWO FORCES

Galatians 5:17 

The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.

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Why do you shake when you are at the peak of defending your rights to someone who is not willing to listen but you choose to be gentle and control your emotions? Why do you struggle? Why is it the more you don't want to engage in, the more its enticement and your desire to do something bad becomes strong? Why? Why? Why? That's what we usually ask to ourselves?

Struggle rises when your spirit's will clashes you flesh's. That's the reason why you feel the tremor. When you know you gotta lot to say, but you realize that the other side is not willing to give in, and you choose to calm down and find a right time to settle the issue, sometimes you cry because your body can't take it in. It is said than done. But, 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, "Each time he said, 'My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.' So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me."


You need Jesus. We need Jesus. When you realize that Jesus is the best example you have to follow, that thought penetrates your heart and empowers your body and soul to react.

VALUE

We appreciate the value of something when we lost it.

OBEDIENCE in FAITH

 "You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.” Luke 1:45

Prior to what Elizabeth said to Mary, the angel of God appeared to Mary to tell the message about bearing the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

Why did Elizabeth tell that Mary is blessed? How did she become blessed?

The answer is... BELIEVING. Sounds easy, doesn't it? But let's have a look at the different angles of the situation.

If you were Mary, how would you believe?

These are the angles of doubt:
1. She's a virgin.
2. What would people say to her if this news spreads out to public?
3. It's impossible to get pregnant without the natural process.

Why hadn't these things crossed Mary's mind? The reason is... she didn't look at herself. She looked at God. She lent her ears to God's voice. She didn't question God's capability unlike Zachariah that caused him to be muted until the birth of his son, John the baptist.

Mary became blessed and she walked through it. She bore the child for several months without complaining or doubting God's promise.

See? Blessing started from Mary's FAITH and she nourished it with OBEDIENCE.

So, we see here the application of what James 2:17 says, "So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless."

Therefore, we are blessed the moment we believe and trust God's words. But we are encouraged as well to continually live by it. As what Galatians 6:9 says "So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up."

HIS THOUGHTS

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!
Psalm 139:17

The reason why we feel alone, abandoned, neglected, and hopeless is that we think no one remembers us or even think about us. But we are totally wrong with that. Everyone may opt to leave us, but God assures us of His faithfulness. Others may tend to forget us but Jesus always recalls His love for us.

So, then, I learn not to care anymore who remembers me or not. In God, I'm one-hundred percent sure of remembrance. 

Whoever reads this, I know that there are times that you worry about being recognized by others but no matter how neglectful the world is, God sees us and cares about us.

God will remember how much you love Him. He will always remember how much you labor for His glory.  

TIME

When you decide to submit something to God, DON'T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN.

When everything seems to be okay and smooth, BE ALERT.

When your prayer is answered, BE CAUTIOUS.


When you started to feel the burning desire in your heart for God, BE STILL.

When you say 'yes' to God, STAND FIRM.

When you desire to dig deeper into His Love, STAY AFLOAT ON THE TRUTH.

When things become clear to you, REMAIN HUMBLE and BE WATCHFUL.


Satan will never stay silent. If God knows when to act in times of our troubles, Satan knows when to ruin us in times when feel safe and strong. God is perfect in timing. So as Satan finds perfect time for his evil schemes.


What amazes me is that, though Satan finds the right time to destroy us, God is not reckless to let him do something to us. Every act Satan does is in God's control. God is still the One who holds the Time. Even the time of Satan to attack us is the perfect time for God to HELP us, DELIVER us, COMFORT us, and HEAL us.


When Satan torments you with guilt, that's the time when God lets you know how vast His love is in spite of these deficiencies.


When Satan puts doubts in your mind, that's the time when God acts to let you see the truth of His deliverance.


When Satan discourages you with insecurities, that's when God lets you see how He wonderfully made you.


When Satan provokes you to ruin your life, that's when God open the doors of hope.

When life turns upside down, that's when you have to kneel down and pray to God.

There's no one who can do great things but God. Jesus is the One who can deliver us all.


Praise be to the Deliverer of my soul!




PS: This is just a memory from my other blog site learningagenda.blogspot.com (November 2017).

MY REAL HOME

I don't want leave you

I don't want to go on my way

I don't want to break your heart

and see your tears again

I know that when I left that day

You didn't want to say goodbye

'Coz you want me to stay

I thought it'd easier without you

I thought i'd happier when I left you

But when things went wrong,

my life turns into a sad song

then I thought of you

Going back home

was the least I can do

I was ashamed 

I looked so ugly

What if I didn't leave you

What if I just stayed?

From a distance,

I saw you running to me

You hugged, kissed embraced me

Without a word, your love held me

in a silence, I felt your grace

It's good to be back

to my real home

GOOD

Every after God's creation, 

He said "It was good."

Indeed, He made us with delight. 

THE SCARS OF LOVE

 John 20:24-25

One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came.

They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”
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In every wound, there must have a scar after its recovery. It can easily disappear when it's just a shallow one. But the deeper the wound is, the more the scar becomes visible and leaves a permanent mark.

There is a Filipino saying, "Napatawad mo na ang isang tao pero nagkalamat na ang relasyon." I don't know if this is the real meaning of that, but as I hear those people who say this, it seems like they mean to say that they forgive but the pain of the person's offense still remains. Well, I just realized that it's impossible. This is not what real forgiveness is.

Comparing our hatred to someone to wounds, WOUNDS can never be called SCAR when it is not yet HEALED. So forgiveness with remembrance of pain is not real forgiveness. Maybe, until now, you are still wounded. And by remembering your hatred, you let your wound becomes deeper and deeper until it cuts your life.

Let's take a look at Jesus. He is the perfect example of WOUNDS and SCARS. He was wounded by our HATES, INSULTS and REJECTIONS. But he chose to put them into the grave of FORGIVENESS, leaving behind all the bad things we have done to Him. He let himself be healed through TIME. And when He rose again, restoration and healing come forth. Did the scars fade away? No. The disciples saw and one of them actually touched them. After that, did Jesus complain about the things he had been through? No. He instead gave a lot of encouragements to them before he left.

You know what excites me so much? Even when God sees the SCARS on His body, he remembers not the pain we have caused Him but the LOVE he has rendered to us. His love for us OUTWEIGHED the HATRED we deserve from Him.

WORRILESS GRATEFUL HEART

Philippians 4:6 (NLT)

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

We must learn to appreciate God for His goodness. Sometimes, worries come from 

an ungrateful heart.

PLEASANTLY TOGETHER

Psalm 133:1

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!



If there's something that pleases the Lord, that is to see His people not only working together but it is said, "...DWELLING TOGETHER IN UNITY!" God wants us to be in harmony as always.






If there's anything that divides us, makes a gap among us, that is NOT from God. He wants us to be intact with our relationship with each other.


We may be DIFFERENT from each other but as a BODY of CHRIST, Jesus wants us to serve our purpose with one another. Of course, we can never do this on our own but with Jesus Christ as the HEAD of the BODY.




In conclusion, God's desire is to BRING people TOGETHER and not to HATE each other. That's something we can learn from this.