This may sound too religious for some, so, you are free to skip reading this. Pero sa lahat ng babasa, sana may ma-ishare ako ng kaunti sa inyo about my personal faith and relationship with the Creator. Thank you!
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11-02-14
Nakaka-miss.
Kanina, habang nakikinig ako ng message ng Pastor naming sa church, naisip ko ‘yung mga bagay na sobrang nami-miss ko sa sarili ko.
By the way, the sermon or message earlier was about Selflessness.
Naging illustration dito ‘yung young rich man in the bible, kung saan tinanong niya si Jesus kung anong mga bagay ang makakapag ligtas sa kanya. Jesus told him things that he had to do, isa na doon ‘yung ibigay niya ‘yung ari-arian niya to the poor. The young man walked away sad. Hindi niya kasi magawa iyon. Though hindi naman directly sinabi in the bible na tumanggi siyang gawin, pero it appears na nag-refuse talaga siya na gawin iyon.
Minsan kasi may mga worldly things tayo na masyado nating pinapahalagahan not knowing na kung kanino ba talaga galing ang lahat ng iyon.
As I mentioned earlier, I miss a lot of things about myself.
‘Yung faith and relationship ko with the Lord.
Naaalala ko dati ‘yung joy in His presence. ‘Yung exceeding joy na nararamdaman ko, tuwing magbabasa ako ng word niya, everytime I pray, everytime I serve him.
It’s not, I don’t enjoy doing it anymore.
Pero lately, these past few months, napansin kong nabawasan ‘yun. I became so engrossed with worldly matters. Unlike before, naging inconsistent na ‘yung daily devotion ko every morning, even my prayer. Minsan mas nauuna ko pang i-check ‘yung notifs ko sa mga social networking sites accounts ko kaysa sa i-check ‘yung message ni Lord para sa’kin in His scriptures. When I got too stressed-out in school, kasi masyado kong ina-absorb ‘yung worries and fears that I forgot to trust Him.
‘Yung ang dami kong demands unlike before na kahit sa maliit na bagay, I got to thank Him, ‘yung kahit sa maliit na bagay nakikita ko ‘yun lahat as blessings.
Ag daming realizations kanina.
Hindi ko napapansin na ang selfish ko pala. That I’m too full of myself, and God is becoming less in my life. Kaya mostly hindi ako satisfied, madalas malungkot ako, kasi in the wala sa center ng buhay ko ‘yung true source of joy.
During praise and worship, we sang Jesus at the Center by Israel Houghton. While singing, pina-remind sa’kin ni Lord ‘yung irregularities ko sa kanya. ‘Yung void sa puso ko – ‘yung reason nun.
And then yesterday (Saturday), I was browsing in Youtube, nang mapadpad ako sa isang kanta, I knew the artist dati pa, and it’s one of my favorite Christian artists – Watermark. The song was entitled, “The Purest Place” (check the multimedia link). Siguro nakailang ulit ako na pakinggan ‘yun. Sobrang ganda kasi. Sobrang na-touch ‘yung puso ko habang pinapakinggan ko ‘yun. Some of its lines goes,
Paint me with Your purity
That I’d attract Your majesty
The song tells that the purest place is in the presence of God. Without Him, hindi naman natin mararanasan ‘yung complete joy. He’s the perfecter of our faith and joy (Hebrews 12:2). Apart from Him, we are nothing.
Nami-miss ko ‘yung close relationship ko sa Kanya. But despite everything, lagi pa rin Siyang nandyan. ‘Yung love, favor, protection araw-araw talaga. Kaya sobrang overwhelmed ‘yung puso ko. That although I am full of myself, hindi ako nakakalimutan ng Panginoon. ‘Yung kahit hindi ko nabibigay sa Kanya ‘yung para sa Kanya, ‘yung kahit sobrang undeserving ko para sa mga binibigay Niya, He still gives it generously.
I was really blessed earlier at the service. Ang daming realizations na binigay sa’kin si Lord. And I want to share it here.
Totoo talagang it’s not about religion, it’s about relationship.
As our Pastor shared to us earlier, “Even the breath you are breathing today, galing ‘yan sa Panginoon.”
I remember reading it somewhere, a quote from Stephen King, na halos kapareho nang sinabi ng Pastor naming kanina, “If God gives you something you can do, why in God’s name wouldn’t you do it?”
Binigyan ako ng abilities, strength, relationships ni Lord, pero sinolo ko. Hindi ko pinahawak sa Lord. Hindi ko ginamit para sa Kanya. ‘Yung mas ginagamit ko pa siya sa makamundong bagay kaysa para ma-glorify Siya.
Kaya nga I posted something like this in here, I realize, God gave me this talent - to be able to write and share stories with people, bakit 'yung sumulat ako tungkol sa Kanya, hindi ko magawa. He gave me this talent, might as well use it to share to many people how faithful He is in my life.
God didn’t ask us things we can’t do. He was nailed in the cross for our sins, Siya ‘yung gumawa nun, kasi ayaw niya tayong mahirapan o masaktan. And that's a great example of Selflessness, that although He is blameless, He was still crucified. Simple lang naman ‘yung gusto niya.
A relationship with Him.
If we can devote our time to other things, or commit ourselves with other people, bakit sa Lord hindi natin magawa?
We can. Maybe we’re just too full of ourselves. God doesn’t want that.
The more we humble ourselves, the more He is glorified.
Remember that God gives more grace to the humble.
And that grace? As we all know, is an Amazing grace.