Turning My Day to a Happy Tuesday

Even when the morning looks bleak, it will not deadened my spirit. My day may not start the way I want it to be, it’s still a happy Tuesday. I take courage not to feel depressed nor lonesome, I choose to count the things that would make me happy. I look at the consequences of being a child of God. The perks of having a relationship is a result of how He values me more than what my circumstance calls out.

God can turn around what’s happening in my life in an instant. I am looking forward how He can change my situation. There can be brand new things as the former days fade away. I can learn to be ecstatic just the thought of it. How I feel is not dictated by what I see but what my faith can do as I believe that He is with me always. I trust the Lord that He will be with me at all times. Even when I’m in pain or discouragement sinks in, I choose to bawl it out until my sadness leaves me. Then I can get over it and not succumb anymore to desolation. I can try to keep calm and be at ease. I allow God take charge over my whole being and shake off anything that hinders my joy from taking place. And in advance, I can thank God wholeheartedly and say, “It’s going to be a happy day because my God already wiped away my tears and it’s a brand new day to declare His greatness and faithfulness. I feel alive because I can look forward to blessed day with breakthroughs ahead. And with that, I am truly grateful to my loving God.”

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:3-5 ESV)

Once Broken but Now Healed and Made Whole

Josh with arm sling due to broken collarbone

It has been three weeks since Josh, my five-year-old son, had a bad fall from a chair that resulted to a broken collar bone. The orthopedic doctor suggested that he should wear an arm sling and put a wraparound bandage to ensure that he will have limited movement and physical activity. He had a weekly check-up to monitor his progress.

Last Friday, after the doctor saw his latest X-Ray, he declared that the bones were healing just fine and now they have attached to each other. He also noticed that the bump seen on his skin where the collarbone was located was an indication that the bone was remodeling and became better in shape and there was a faint shade of the new bone growing that was seen in his X-Ray result.

It was really great news! The doctor declared that the two bones were attached to each other so he already removed the arm sling and the bandage. Josh was told that he could raise his arm and move it around. At first he was hesitant and did not want to do it since he was so used not to moving it. But we encouraged him that he can do it and with much determination, he finally did it little by little and higher and higher until he was confident that his collarbone was healed and he could do what the doctor told him to do. He knew he could trust and believe the words of the doctor that he was healed and he could raise his left arm, move it around,  and even do a high five.

Then it got me thinking. How many broken people do we have who were spiritually healed and saved by God and yet still acts as if they have not been forgiven? Still living their old sinful ways even if they have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Maybe because there were still mindsets that were stopping them that it’s impossible to let go and be changed by God. Just like my son, even if he was declared healed and yet still thought that his collar bone was broken so it took awhile for him to realize that he is now truly okay.

Sometimes we feel like we have been paralyzed by our past and haunted by our wrongdoings. No matter what we do, it was as if nothing happened even when we have set oiut to follow Jesus. We could not get out from the cage and still thinks that we could never get right with God. Or some people have been so used to being broken and don’t know the truth that we have been forgiven if we believe that Jesus is our savior. By God’s grace we could receive His forgiveness. If we only knew that by His great love He pardoned our sins by believing on what Jesus did for us on the cross. He redeemed us from the bondage of sin so that we can enjoy the freedom from sin and separation from God.

Be reminded that in Romans 6:6-7, 11 it says, “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Be in faith that God saved you and you have been healed and made whole. Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

He can simply change us if we CHOOSE TO HAVE FAITH IN GOD. When we allow Him to work in our hearts, then CHANGE IS POSSIBLE. He can turn someone who was broken to be made whole again. Are you willing to get out from your hopeless situation and receive the love and forgiveness of God? Coming clean to God is doable. Romans 10:9 encourages us that “if we confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” What a great promise from God. I hope you will take heed and take time to receive this wonderful gift of salvation. Are you willing to believe God and have the faith that healing can take place and you can be made whole again?

My prayer is that you need to constantly remind yourself that by God”s grace you have been saved and He has forgiven your sins. You can live a life of freedom and break free from your sins. You are so precious and valuable that God has given us the access to be called a child of God and he wants you to have an intimate relationship with God and enjoy your life here on earth.

Are We a Reflection of God?

My Papa and Me

I had a dream about my father and I was asking where I could get a mirror because the mirror I have was lost. And he told me that I could get them from his house. And when I went to his house, there were so many mirrors of different styles and sizes. I only chose two: one size that can reflect my face and the other one that I can see my entire body. Then I woke up.
Growing up, most of the time when I met someone and told that person my name, the reply I would get was, “Are you the daughter of Col. Julius Ovilla?” Or “You really look like your dad.” Don’t you think so?

This dream reminded me that our reflection should be based on who our God is. In Genesis 1:27 it says, “So God created mankind in his own image,in the image of God he created them;male and female he created them.” We are created to reflect who God is since we are His children. When we look at ourselves, do we see God?

As children of God, let’s devote our lifetime becoming like Him. Are we walking in love? Do we invest time knowing God and how much he loves us? So we can be a role model of what it means to be in love with God and also demonstrate His love to others. Remember, Ephesians 5:1-2 says, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Let’s evaluate ourselves and ask God, “are we becoming more like You or do we see You in our reflection?” If not, let’s draw closer to Him and ask Him to help us become the child that He desires us to be and be loving to others.

1 John 4:11-12 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

When Things Go Wrong, Do Something Right

There are days when out of the ordinary happen. There are things that the worst thing that you are trying to avoid take place. You missed your important appointment and lost your valuable client. You invested a large amount of money and it was gone with the wind. As much as possible you don’t want something bad happens to you or to your family and yet that rare phone call arrived and you heard your mother died. You lost a friend because of false accusation or hurtful words that were spoken and got unresolved. A wart appeared on your body and found its place at the sole of your foot where it became difficult for you to walk. An unusual accident happened when your face was hit by a flying tarpaulin.

Do you have the same scenario or something like that occurred to you? If not, then well and good. But for me, it’s real and it’s true. Those things I mentioned came to pass. I had stories of loss of a person, money, heartaches, pains, challenges and

It was really hard to accept you lost a client and received a speech from your boss what had gone wrong and what not to do next time. I learned a lot from that and through time because of God’s favour and sheer determination, our client came back and gave more investments.

My husband and I thought that if we invest some of our money, we could get the car that we want. For us it was a good decision and we decided together to do it. But after a few years when we were about to get our investment and decided to buy the car, the investment house was no longer in existence. We were stunned and we can’t accept what had gone wrong. But when we came to God and prayed to Him, a sense of peace and comfort just came to us. We still have a lot of possessions and more to celebrate beyond money. We still have God on our side, our family, a job, a rented place we can go home to and we could still eat. God is our provider and after a few months, a car was provided to us without paying any cent for it.

Death in the family is really hard to accept. Losing a loved one whom you cherished a lot got me into a depress mode. I appeared normal but deep inside I was hurting a lot. It took a really long time, about three years, for me to let go. I asked God to remove the sense of loss and put acceptance in my heart that He is the God who gives and takes away. After that, I got my act together.  I know that I still have a life and a purpose to pursue. My father remarried again and I have four more siblings that were added to my family.

I know I have cultivated great relationships with some people and so I thought we would end up being best friends forever. But, it became short-lived. We did not try to resolve or confront each other maybe because of pride and avoidance of conflict, we let go of each other. It is a fact that there will be people who will come to your life for a reason, for a season and for a lifetime. Because of miscommunication, they are not my friends of the latter. It was hard for me to keep appearing friendly and tried to hold a conversation or two, but I now something did not feel right. And in the end I bear the pain of choosing to let go and released the person in my life. Then by the grace of God, I learned to befriend others again and try to stick to those who have been my real and great friends through the years. I know that there will be still people who can accept me for all my good and bad sides and speak to my life. Although I am still hopeful that one day, we will cross our paths again and regain our relationship, be reconciled and still be friends for keeps.

One time I was talking to a friend and we happened to discuss on what to do with a wart that’s bothersome. He said that he got two and had them operated. Salicylic acid was no longer an option. So I told him about my case that the wart I had at the sole of my feet, where you put your weight on, was getting bigger and really painful for quite sometime and I had to lean on my husband sometimes when we are walking when the pain was unbearable. When I asked him how much it cost he said about P15,000-20,000. Wow, that’s a lot of money for just a wart! So I asked God’s help and prayed hard that I can receive a divine healing. After our midyear prayer and fasting this July, my miracle came. As if my wart was never there. No more bump. No more pain. Thank you God for your healing grace. Now, I am wart-free and I can walk properly.

I had an unusual accident during our dragon boat regatta competition at the bay walk area in Roxas Boulevard yesterday. I was hit by a flying tarpaulin. Can you imagine, of all people who were walking along the road, I was the chosen one? It was so windy yesterday that the tarpaulin’s rope got loosened, went flying and hit my face. I knew something slapped my face and I did not know that I was already bleeding. Good thing there were some paramedics who attended my case right away and provided first aid. I was so glad I was able to row and our women’s crew got to the finals and won 3rd-runner up. When I was thinking about the accident, that flying object could have hit my eyes and lose my sight or broke my nose and yet I only got a small scar in between my eyes and nose and a puffy right side of my face. I was really thankful to God for His divine protection and healing. If you see me now, I look like a battered wife or lost boxing match. Still, grateful to God for protecting my eyes. I know I will have a scar that I am proud of. It will serve as a testimony of God’s protection.

When I was reminiscing about these challenging times and unusual moments that I faced, all I can say is that the ONLY THING I DID RIGHT WAS I CAME TO GOD. I never took Him out of the picture. I know He will never leave me nor forsake me. He is a promise-keeping God who is always on time and never delayed. I don’t ever want to lose my faith and my hope in Him. Even when there were times I know I was not faithful, He is there always for me. I just have to keep reminding myself that He who began something good in me will bring it completion. I just have to learn to be patient and keep on coming to Him to know Him and have the confidence that help is on my way. I LET HIM TAKE CONTROL AND ASK FOR WISDOM WHAT TO DO RIGHT AND BEST and WAIT FOR HIM TO SHOWCASE HIS GLORY OVER MY SITUATION. I never doubt that I will and I can experience the breakthroughs and miracles in my life to demonstrate His power and His faithfulness.

I learned to hold on to His words. It says in Jeremiah 17:14, “Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.”

I PRAISE GOD BECAUSE HE IS REAL. I am in faith that nothing will be impossible for Him. Provision, protection, healing, restoration, etc are just some of the manifestation of who He is. I know there will be more challenging times and bad days to come but I AM SURE THAT GOD WILL ALWAYS BE WITH ME FROM THE DAY I WAS BORN UNTIL I DIE and VICTORY is sure to come over my situation. Keep the faith and let God do a miracle in your life. Hold on and pursue God.

 

Image source: http://hannastrategy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/prayer.jpg

 

:

Love is meant to be shared with someone

God is the author of LOVE. Love is not meant to be kept to yourself but has to be shared with someone. Then that’s one way you can show you have been loved by God and you can pay it forward. Have you told or showed someone today how much you love him or her? Never stop loving because as always love begets love. Happy loving!that

1 Thessalonians 4:9 “Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.”

Learn to believe even if it’s hard to believe

Oftentimes we need to be honest enough and realize that we have the tendency not to include God in our decisions. Our natural default is what we can do with our situation. We don’t come to God right away. We want to do it our own way and if something does not happen according to our plan, that’s when we are reminded we need to call on God. We forget to include Him in the picture. It is so easy to rely on our strength and do our own thing. And when we are pushed to the wall, that’s the only time we remember, “God, are you here with me?” We cry out to Him and say, “Lord, please help me.”

There are also instances when we think God is our genie. When we are troubled, we want quick results. When we are challenged, we want solutions right away. When we are in a dilemma, we want easy options. And when we don’t receive what we ask, we have our own “self-pity party”. God does not love me. I have a grave sin that is why he is not answering me. He does not want to do anything with me anymore.

But have we keenly thought and dug deep into our hearts why we don’t go to God? Is it because we are in doubt? Is there something that happened in the past that you were offended with Him and now you don’t want to hear anything about Him anymore? I want to let you know that it is okay to open our hearts and let Him know why are we doubting Him. Through the process, we begin to understand our situation and the root cause of our unbelief.

Is it because He did not give what you ask? Is it because your father left you and now you are putting the blame on God for not keeping your family together? Is it about your love life? Until now you don’t have the man or girl of your dreams and you gave up praying about it? Is it the elusive promotion that you feel like you have lost your opportunity somehow? You are trying your best to get out of debt and yet the bills keep filing up? You think you have been waiting long enough and to no avail no response from Him yet. You ask yourself, “When will I receive my breakthrough? How come my friend keeps getting all the good stuff and I don’t have any?”  These are good and valid questions that need answers. But have you asked yourself, how many times did God give you something that you did not ask?  Sometimes we neglect to be grateful to God for whatever He gives to us and for being present when we need Him. 

Maybe sometimes we ask too much or we are too demanding to God that we fail to be content with what we have. There will always be tension about being contented and asking for more. It all boils down to the motive of our hearts why we are asking God. Know that He is never intimidated with our prayers. He wants what is good, pleasing and perfect for us. It is good to have a self-check and really know the reason for asking it from God. Don’t ask out of selfishness but out of need and desire to have it for God to display his goodness and faithfulness. And God will give it according to His will, way and timing.

Here’s a story of a father who had a deaf-mute child and asked Jesus to heal his son. He was truthful enough to admit that he did not believe but by his faith he was able to see God’s miracle in his son’s life. Mark 9:23-24“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

Do you have the faith to believe in Him for greater and better things to have and happen in your life? Are you willing to persistently pray about it until you get it? Would you have the “mustard seed kind of faith” that can move mountains? It is really up to you. I encourage you to seek God more than His gifts. Go to Him because you want to have a relationship with Him. The more you get to know Him, the more you understand that He is a great father who will not withhold anything good to His child. He will do everything in His power to give what you dearly ask of Him.

How do you know if you are in faith? The initial result is – you are now praying to God and believing in Him that He has the power to give what you ask. You have renewed your mind about God’s character that He is the ultimate giver of all things. You  will definitely see tangible results. Wait for it. It will surely come. The idea is to sort out your thoughts and hold captive and throw away anything that caused you not to believe and begin to embrace the fullness of God and asking will not be a problem anymore.

Go to God and ask for forgiveness for anything that caused you to doubt him and for not believing in Him. Believe that He is the source of everything. He can provide whatever you need. May it be provision, healing, restoration of relationship, deliverance from sin, forgiveness from unhealthy talk, solution to unresolved conflict, etc. Don’t be afraid to come to Him. He will not reject nor fail you. All you have to do is to take that initial step and let Him know about yourself and your condition. It sounds so easy but we fail so many times in this area. Know thatHe is a God of so many chances. He will never accuse nor condemn you of your past. He sent his son Jesus so that we can have redemption from our sins. As you trust what Jesus did on the cross and have the faith to believe that you can get right with God again. That’s the great news. You can always can come to God. Take courage and do not be afraid. God’s help and His response is on its way. Remember, God is always on time, He is never late. It is normally us who don’t appear when we set up a meeting with Him. Please show up and you will never regret that you came to him.

It is not about IF GOD CAN but it is about Your FAITH in HIM THAT HE IS ABLE TO DO OR GIVE BEYOND WHAT YOU THINK.  All you have to do is BELIEVE then YOU CAN HAVE IT.

Photo source: jonahenry.com

Get into the Fashion of Righteousness

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bible teaches us that we can put on a new lifestyle in Christ and we can disregard our old-fashion way of how we carry our life. We need to always get into the wardrobe of righteousness and discard the coat of sins. In this way, let’s be a model for Christ whom others can follow a fashion trend.

In Ephesians 4:22-24 it says,  “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Painting from http://fineartamerica.com/featured/fashion-illustration-art-print-giorgio-armani-fall-2012-jennifer-purcell-.html