Grace Unlimited

I was reading this morning the first six chapters of Genesis in an attempt to take a coherent grasp of the beginning of creation up to the fall of man and their expulsion from the garden of Eden, up to the time when the Creator destroyed the creation through floodwaters because of man's wickedness.

From that first six chapters of Genesis we will see God at the center of it all, and man trying to make himself the center by virtue of his god-given free will and ability to think for himself. There are way too many themes and topic which can be taken from these six chapters, but for me, what stands out and screaming on the hallowed pages was about God's grace.

It was interesting to take note that even when God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden, God still had the compassion to "clothe them" (Gen. 3:21). God still looked out for their needs that He didn't destroy everything so that the two can still have something to eat and to make their shelter with. That despite their rebellion, God didn't destroy them right away but He gave them a chance to live. Every chapter after the fall we can see man having the chance to choose between offering to God or not; to choose whether to acknowledge Him as the Creator or not.

It was because of His grace why God accepted Abel's offering (Gen. 4); it was because of grace that God walked with Enoch and "took him away" (Gen. 5); it was certainly because of grace that God did not totally annihilate the human race when he spared Noah and his family from the great flood (Gen. 6-7).

Every single generation after the fall of man demonstrated God's grace to people; every single generation after Adam and Eve experienced grace and the chance to repent; every single chapter of God's word breathes His unlimited, unrestricted, eternal grace.

I know for a fact that my generation and the generations after me which will continue to seek God would experience this grace because that was how it has been since the beginning of time. We are all floating in limitless, living streams of amazing grace...

Been thinking about...

I've been thinking about you and me. About how it is like to call each other sweet endearments and sugarcoated terms such as honey bunch, sweetie pie, honey tart, cherry cake, sweet monay, buko roll, pandesal or whatever pastry-inspired label there is. Or maybe we could just call each other by name 'coz I guess nothing would be sweeter than you saying my name in that voice I'd like to hear every moment. But I wonder what your voice will be like? Will it be like a gentle, sweet voice that would tell me how blessed you are to have me inasmuch as I am blessed to have you, or will it be like a prompting, insistent voice that would remind me to take a bath daily or else you would kick me out of the house. Isn't it cute? But promise, I take a bath daily.

I've been thinking about you and me. About how it is like to hold your hands and sway it in public like what those pabebe kids do to celebrate a love shared between two hearts. Will it feel like holding the world in my hands, thinking that what I have at the moment is everything I need? For sure that would feel that way, minus the pabebe thing. I'm just romantic you know. I would hold your hands not just in public but even when it's just the two of us; I would hold your hands when you're feeling weak or wanting to put up a fight. And whenever you need cheering up, I guess I'd be there to give you a high five 'coz that would seem cool. Besides, it's cute. We could even play "Pula, Puti" if you want to. Loser would do the dishes. But since I love you, I'd do the dishes even if I won.

I've been thinking about you and me. About how it is like to spend breakfasts with you and have running conversations over coffee about serious things, crazy things, random things, and just about everything under the rising sun. I wonder where you stand on issues like gender equality, climate change, crime and corruption, hyper-grace theology, the prosperity gospel, Calvinism, the end-times, or whether Barney is really gay. Did Samson really love Delilah or will you say that Delilah's lyrics was too violent? Will you argue against me if I insist that the best president we never had is Jovito Salonga and Raul Rocco? What if you tell me that Gloria Arroyo's presidency was the best we had in recent years? Will I totally freak out--or just freak out? Would we agree on who has the best version of sisig: Ipay's, Dacoco's, or OJ's? I wonder how it is like to speak with someone of your own intelligence. I know I would be impressed. And by the way, I like my coffee cold and sweet.

I've been thinking about you and me. About how it is to spend every afternoon and every setting sun with you. Would you fall head-over-heels in love with the grand panorama that is the sunset like I do? How it is like to hold you near me and wrap my arms around you and whisper to your ears that it's now time to cook dinner you better get going--no really, I mean I would tell you how grand it is to spend such precious time with you and would describe to you how this specific moment was really in my dreams and prayers and now it has become a reality. You and me on a sunset splashed with amber and yellow and orange and, okay that was cheesy. But you, my beloved, would be the best answered prayer from above.

I've been thinking about what kind of books do you read? I wonder if you'd love my collection of Pulitzer-prize winning non-fiction and fiction that I've hunted and collected over the years. Or my collection of vintage Michael Crichton sci-fis and thrillers. Do you read comics too? I always loved Archie and Friends. Haha. I'd like to share your books and would love to listen to you talking about them. I wonder if I would ever get tired listening to your stories. And, I wonder what movie genre do you like. I'm not really into chick flicks or a Vice Ganda starrer but if you insists, I could watch them with you but with the side comments on how the film industry wastes a lot money producing movies that insult the Filipino intelligence and sensibility. Oopps. Yeah,or I could just keep my mouth shut. Hashtag cross-fingers. 

I've been thinking about you and me. About how it is like to share the story of our faith together, and to just appreciate the goodness of God in each of our lives. It would be so exciting to talk about how God put us together into His plans and have created a story which we could share to our children and the succeeding generations. It would be a great privilege to serve God with you, to partner with you in making disciples, and together help advance His Kingdom on earth. 

Beloved, my Warrior Princess, it would be a blessing to see your eyes flicker in true worship and jump up for joy before His presence. It would be so captivating to hear your passionate prayers and testimonies that would tear hearts apart. It would be a great delight to see your love for Christ overflow, and to see your passion for Him reach out more people. It would be a privilege to have you and honor you, my beloved.

But until then, I hope you would continue to run the race of faith and to fix your eyes on Jesus Christ. I hope you would remain truly passionate in leading people to Him, even as I am. And until prayers have been answered for both of us, I hope you would also soar higher, dive deeper, and grow stronger for the great God we are serving.

Until then, my Warrior Princess, let's go kick-ass!

Go for broke for the King

I'm now learning  to really appreciate God's story for my life. If I'd go back to the times that I was still soul searching and struggling whether to obey completely or to selectively submit to God's will, it seemed utterly insane I would honestly say. It was crazy. The call came at a time when I was suppose to focus on career and ambitions that would give me security in the future. It also came at a time when family responsibilities should be a primary concern. But still, it came. Relentlessly. And it demanded a lot. It demanded my dependence on a big salary, it demanded the opportunity for career advancement, it demanded the chance to literally travel and see the world, it demanded my own ambitions and advancement of the self.

It demanded that I must die to my self and carry my cross. It demanded that I should trust God's ambition for me. So I said yes. After a very long time of struggling and praying and seeking and questioning over and over. I have plans, I have ambitions, but God would reassure me that He has better plans and that they will prevail. I have to keep trusting and living by faith.

It is still a long way to go. But the journey's getting better and better. Each day is truly a miracle unfolding. You can't fling your life totally for God and expect Him to fail. He will be accountable. He will be faithful. He will not dishonor His promises. God will hold me up.

I'm floating on grace and love so real and endless that I couldn't return to what once was.

Postscripts and blind-spots

Life is a series of choices we make daily. And that the effect of these daily choices—small or big—might affect the entire outcome of our lives. A choice always has the possibility to destroy us, propel us forward, or make us stagnant. In the face of the many decisions we make in this multifaceted existence, it is seriously important to make the better ones—if not the right one.

Good decisions are a product of tested and guided perspectives of and about life. In order for us to make a wise decision, we would need to refer to many factors--such as the external and the internal--that operate in our lives. And since not everyone is gifted with the ability to naturally make the wisest decisions in an instant, we would be needing someone from the outside—a second or third person—to help us and guide us in our decision making. There will be times that we would be in need of someone to remind us of the things we might have overlooked. There are times when we would be in need of someone to correct us, rebuke us and get us to the right directions.

The thing is, people have blind spots. We don’t see everything in our lives. We are not omniscient; no matter how we try to control our lives or plan our futures or just try to be good with all that we do, there are things that we won’t process if we just rely on our own. Sometimes we need other people to help us process and negotiate the realities of life.

*Part of what I've submitted as a paper in one of my subjects in the university. Back to school mode. Again :)

The road is always open for the taking. (Photo from the net)