Dear Warrior Princess

It is raining today as I write this. I can see from the open door of our office the heavy threads of rain, like a grey curtain that extends indefinitely up to the somber morning sky. I can see the constant splattering of water, droplets of rain turning into even smaller droplets as they hit the ground. The sound and the smell of which makes you go back in time, into a certain moment  where the world is at the tips of your fingers and childhood dreams and reality is one and everything is possible. I don't know if it's really the rain that triggered this hyper-romanticize piece of ramblings, or if it's my soul's deep longing for you at this point where it seemed like millions of years already since I started waiting and praying for you. I guess it's the latter. But didn't I wait for so long already? 

You know, the rain would always either impair my thinking and reasoning or it would give clarity to my sense of being--the kind of which makes you bare your true self, your inmost thoughts, your unadulterated emotions. And since I am still thinking clearly right now, I supposed, there's no other conclusion but to say I am dearly missing you already, my Warrior Princess. But I'm not getting ahead of myself, lest I make the same mistake again. I'm not getting ahead of God in His story for my life. My heart have learned to be steadfast, trusting in the Lord and in His timing.

I can only anticipate you, my Warrior Princess, in my prayers and personal time with the Lord. I know that the best way into your heart is to ask it from God, our great Lord whom I believe we both love and serve. I promise to constantly hear from God as He leads me in the right direction. By His unfailing grace, I would not allow my heart to take chances on us, but to prayerfully give to God all anxieties and worries that are part of the waiting season. If there would be times that waiting becomes tougher than it should be, I will bring the battle on my knees and just be still, believing that as I keep on praying God is working. Whether I see Him or not, God is moving.

Like the rain that is due in its season, so I will be--I will be waiting patiently but pursuing prayerfully. I will pursue you in God, but I will pursue God above all. I will seek you persistently in between, but I will seek God first of all. I will dream about you with big dreams about us, but I will dream for God even more. I will strive to honor you in my prayers and I will live to honor God in all matters. I will love you even now as I wait, and I will love God more with all heart, soul, mind and strength. And I know you will, too.

My beloved, know that I am looking forward to that day when we would be able to finally tell each of our stories of seeking, searching and serving God, without fear and doubts. And how wonderful it would be to see the dots in each of our lives finally find connection in the story called "the rest of our life together". But again, until then, my Warrior Princess. I'll see you there.

Waiting with great delight,
Your Warrior Prince

When God says 'wait'

Have you come to a point where you have questioned God's schedule for your life? Have you thought that maybe God is so busy with things other than your desires and feelings? Looking back, I can specifically point out areas in my life that went out of control just because of my inability and unwillingness to wait. There have been those times when I acted out of impulse only to end up miserable and chasing after the wrong things. What if I waited a little bit more? Would that change a thing?

There's so much wisdom in God's word in Psalm 130:5 which says "wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope." Waiting is God's process of teaching us to hope in Him even if life doesn't make sense at the moment. Even though God would love to show us His great plans for our life all at once, He will not do that because as a Father, He wants us to respond out of love to Him and not because of what He can do for us. We should trust Him one day at a time, in each step, in every heartbeat. When we wait on God, we trust Him that He knows what He is doing and He's never late. That's why we can hope. That's why we can be at rest knowing that behind the scenes, even when we don't see Him, God is working.

The human heart is the most deceitful of all. No doubt about that. It is the source of all frustrations, hurts, and misery because it is evil. And it is in waiting on God that we can get rid of our heart's promptings. When we wait on God, we allow ourselves to focus on His good promises, and on the process of getting there. The last thing we want to happen to our life is to miss God's best just because we want to get ahead of God. He wants us to wait because God wants us to appreciate the beauty of living by faith.

So, that next time you see God flashing the yellow light, proceed with caution, slow down. Wait. And most of all, pray and pursue His words more than anything.

"but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." -Isaiah 40:31

Remorseful or repentant?

After Judas betrayed Jesus in exchange for thirty pieces of silver, we can read in Matthew 27:3 that he was "seized with remorse" (NIV), "remorseful" (NKJV), and "regretted what had happened" (ISV). That's an interesting word right there--remorse! Dictionaries define remorse as a feeling of deep regret or guilt. When taken into spiritual context, remorse does not necessarily reflect a "repentant heart" (Psalm 51:17), and "godly sorrow" (2 Corinthians 7:10). That's why remorse was not enough to spare Judas from his sorrows that led him to take away his own life. And why do we even talk about a traitor and regret his decisions?

You see, many of the disciples of Jesus at the time of His crucifixion betrayed Him. One by one they started to disassociate themselves with Jesus at the moment of His arrest. The most famous "traitor" of them all aside from Judas is of course, Peter, one of His most trusted and closest disciples. Peter denied His Lord three times, at different instances, with increasing intensity. He also consciously and deliberately denied his Rabbi. But unlike Judas, Peter was not only regretful, he was repentant. He was overcome with godly sorrow and wept bitterly (Matthew 26:75).

The rest of the disciples also was seemingly absent during the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. They were not there to fight for and stand with Jesus. They were overcome with fear for their own life. Just like Judas they had personal concerns when matters came to worst. But again, unlike Judas, all of them later repented as testified by their willingness to stay in one place even before the resurrection day. At the time of resurrection, Jesus sought to restore Peter and the rest of the disciples who remained. Jesus was there to extend His grace and redemption despite their betrayal.

How about Judas? Well, he was not restored simply because he wasn't there anymore. In fact, he too, had the opportunity to be restored upon seeing that he had made a mistake by betraying 'innocent blood". He had the chance to return to the disciples and repent over what was done, but he did not. He went his way and took matters in his own hands...and into the grave.

The bottomline? Repent, don't just regret! "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death." (2 Corinthians 7:10)

The beauty in our silence

"We need to pay heed to the many silences in our lives.... each silence has a character of its own. ~Kent Nerburn, "The Eloquence of Silence," Small Graces: The Quiet Gifts of Everyday Life, 1998

 Life could just get too noisy at times that the essential things get blocked out from human ears. Too much noise--those that distract a person to hear from the inside--could endanger our connection to our inner self and thus render us vulnerable to external tensions of the world. There will be times that silence is the only respite amid the confusion around. Silence is intimidating because of its capacity to make you feel alone, or worst, unaccepted. And many try to veer away from that. But when accepted as a friend who can understand unconditionally, silence becomes power in its own way. It can help you process things without tensions--only internal, and that's a good thing, too--and it can allow you to think without restrictions. Silence, in itself, is power.

"Silence is a source of great strength."  ~Lao Tzu

Stand alone

A true warrior does not compromise the truth. He courageously stands for the good stuff even if no one stands with him. He is never afraid of the crowd because the crowd does not define him but his beliefs.

Transformed to transform

Change must first begin within a person. A warrior knows that before he can change the world, he must first be changed. He must first be broken into little pieces and be made whole again from the inside out--a restructuring that is non-negotiable so that only what is essential will remain.

A warrior is transformed to transform.

Two things

Bravery and Courage. 

These two are a warrior's code of living. A true warrior never ceases to be brave even when circumstances are against him. He goes beyond his fear or timidity for he knows that he is made with sterner stuff.

He takes courage even in the face of great difficulty because he knows that the battle is the Lord's, not his. He believes that even a great army cannot trample on his mission because the mission has already been accomplished long before when the King said "it is finished"--a warrior only needs to act upon this victory.

We are an army marching to the battlefield on behalf of the Great King's victory.

No way but up!

A true warrior believes that growing up and going up is the only place to go. A warrior is not content with what he has, but he uses what he has to go further, to soar higher, and to dive deeper. Courage, dear warriors!

Faith is a verb!

Have you ever wondered why it's so hard to progress from faith to actually living by it? You see, when faith is just a concept in the head and not a practice of the hand, we tend to discredit the fact that faith should move a person into action. 

And when we don't realize that faith is actually a matter of action and not just of intuition, that it's a matter of practice and not just a hypothesis, that it is doctrine converting itself into discipline--when faith is not like this, then we will remain to be what other people label Christians as apathetic, or worse, delusional. 

We don't want that. So it's now time to walk the talk. And though it couldn't be more true that what it already is, the Gospel gets more real when it gets into people being transformed in real life. When theology meets real life and the message is passed clearly that it's all about hope and the possibility of being new, that's when faith brings impact.

Faith is a verb. And in the Christian language, there's no such thing as passive verb.

A Warrior And His Defeats

It's never going to be easy. A warrior's commitment is not just to win one battle--it is a series of battles that will be fought in many different battlefields. There will be battles that require less attention than necessary, and there will be those that require everything that is necessary for victory. There will be those battles that will confront us when we are most unprepared--but the warrior's task is to embrace it with courage and dignity no matter the cost.

And battles will cost something. It's always been that way. Defeats will cost hope, confidence, strength, and testimony. Defeats will intimidate us, shake us, and slow us down. But it will also give important lessons, valuable experiences, and big opportunities for growth. To a warrior, defeats are meant to strengthen his resolve and enrich his spirit. Defeats of different scope and magnitude will always push a warrior to seek for truth and clarity, they will lead him to innovate, recreate all for the sake of redemption. Defeats make him a better warrior. 

Defeats are never the end. They are the beginning of something you can do again this time better. Fight!

Questions

Could it be that the reason why we give so little of our life to the One Who gave so much of His is that we have seen so little, heard so little, learned so little, and experienced so little?

Have we experienced so little grace and so little love and so little forgiveness that we still remain cold and stagnant and just hiding behind religious routines and labels, not really embracing this relationship with a Savior with honest commitment and devotion?

What if His love becomes so real in our lives that we can see Him, hear Him, feel Him, and experience Him and He demands that we abandon our all just to follow Him? Will we take the risk and be reckless for Him?

Will we?

Crush your walls!

God could have allowed His people to crush the walls on that first day at Jericho. He could have allowed them to cross over this city without difficulty and give them an easy pass from their enemy. But He did not.

God restrained until the seventh day because He wanted something more than victory for His people. Just like before, He wanted His people to trust Him, His ways, His means, His timing. God wanted them to put their confidence in Him alone--not on their army, not on their strategy.

In the end, what has broken down the walls that blocked them on the way to the Promised Land is their own faith in the power of God; what has brought the walls crumbling down was their submission to God; what has made them cross past the ruins was their own obedience to a miracle-working, sea-parting, wall-breaking, all-knowing God.‪

*Reflections on ‎Joshua 6‬‬. Part of what I shared during the regular Midyear Youth Fellowship in our Church.

What remains

Life is a series of trade-offs. Many are the times that we will make critical decisions that would define our directions. But remember that these decisions would also describe our devotion. What way to take? What compromise to make? Life is not a game of chances. It is an endless series of choosing and risking and deciding. It matters what risks are you willing to dive into. Are you risking for what will matter?

Therefore, be willing to let go of the things that wear you out and drag you down. Know how to play your part in the bargain. But remember, the only nonnegotiable aspect of the deal is our spiritual values and ministry. You have to ground yourself on what is eternal because in the end, this is what remains.

*Inspired by a conversation with Kuya James Dela Cruz, one of my Bible study leaders and spiritual mentors. It pays to learn from the experts.

Take glorious risks! (Photo from the net)

What destiny demands

Obedience is the price I pay for destiny. And every act of faith is a step towards it. Will I stay, or will I leave? I must realize that destiny has its own place. And I must be willing to let God lead so that I won't miss it. 

*Notes on Genesis 26‬.

Don't make decisions when you're hungry

People are faced with the reality of making decisions on a daily basis. From waking up to laying down, thousands of both petty and significant decisions must be made. Some decisions are generated automatically out of the routines of life and some decisions are so important that they have to be well thought-out. In terms of the most significant ones, I must realize that the decisions I make today affects the rest of my life.

The story of Esau in Genesis chapter 25 illustrates the tragedy of letting our human instincts dictate our ability to decide. When our emotions overcome reason, that's when we decide based on what is tangible at the moment. When our most pressing human needs take over our ability to process our desire for satisfaction, that's when we allow ourselves to make tragic compromises. Esau focused on his hunger and therefore compromised what is eternal.

Decisions out of impulse are dangerous. Do not compromise eternity for something that only looks good at the moment. If I will not be careful enough to guard my heart, my human tendencies will decide for me and it may want something other than God. ‪

*Reflections on Genesis chapter 25‬.

To eternal things! (Photo from the net)

Siya na nga ba?

We're part of that generation that is conditioned to want the immediate, to desire the instant, to have it all right here, right now. We're part of that generation that is so accustomed to having everything at just the click of the keyboard or at the snap of the fingers.

We are Generation NOW, and that is our curse. 

Ngayon na nagkalat na ang instant sa mundo (i.e, instant noodles, instant coffee, instant ulam, instant food) parang napakahirap ng maghintay. We're becoming a fast food planet. We think that we are getting left behind kaya naman may tendency na tayo ay magmadali. Uso pa ba ang patience sa mundo? And yet, in all of our rushing, and running and impatience, do we really know what exactly are we rushing for? Bakit nga ba hindi tayo makapaghintay?

Relationship? Oo, yun nga ang tinutukoy ko. Let's get directly to the point. If you you're dreaming for a relationship that will make you excited to wake up every morning without regretting why you woke up with that person beside you, then wait. If you want a relationship that will last--the one that will make you believe na may forever--then wait. If you're desiring for a relationship--not the fairy tale kind but the real thing, then learn to wait.

If you want a relationship that will not compromise your faith and your beliefs, then wait. And if you are a Christian who loves God, then pray for someone who has the same love for God. If you are a godly man who honors the Lord, pursue someone who honors Him. If you are a godly woman who seeks after God's heart, then wait and pray for a man that seeks after His heart. Ganun lang dapat, para happy.

We can learn many things about the love story of Isaac and Rebekah. That it is God who authors a relationship. It is God who confirms His will even for a partner. Yes, si Lord ang writer ng love story mo. Kaya matuto kang maghintay. You can always trust God's timing.

Until the moment God says "she's the one", nothing else will ever make sense. Every person that you would try to pursue and every love that you would try to chase to make your life complete will just be very, very much less than what God already had in mind. 

Gentlemen, she's worth praying for. Awesome ladies, you're worth pursuing for.

*Reflections on Genesis 24.

The best time

God is the God of perfect timing. His purposes is neither affected by the earth's rotation nor its revolution. He is not contained in any man-made idea of space and time--He holds space and time altogether. I must realize that God's timing is always right and that I can trust Him every passing minute and every step of the way because what I see at the moment is nothing compared to what He sees in view of eternity.

He is neither dependent on any circumstance nor on human limitation. God is God no matter the circumstance and no matter the trial. He has been there before and He is always before us. God was, God is, and God always will be.

*Reflections on Genesis 21

God of the Extremes

God specializes in going to the extremes. He did not wait that long to fulfill His promises just because He can't; but He waited for the perfect time when Abraham and Sarah could depend on nothing and no one else but God. 

God waited for the time when all chances were over for the promise to be fulfilled. God waited until all logical possibilities were eliminated. God waited until what remained were only hope and faith. 

And God has to remove first what was humanly possible so that we won't be mistaken about which is truly the work of God when it happens. God has to remove first our confidence to man-made strategies so we can really say that He is the God of miracles. God has to remove first our confidence in the things that we try to hold on to so that we would lay hold on the grace of God alone. God has to take away all our possibilities so that we can believe in Him as the God who can do the impossible.

Faith is oftentimes like that. It is going to the extremes. It is going to what is illogical. It is going against the tide of human reason. It is defying all common sense because faith now becomes the new definition of reality and everything I know about faith in God has now become the only truth.

The point of waiting in faith is that we're not waiting in vain. But we're waiting for a God who has never fail ever since He authored the beginning of time. In case He fails today, it will be the first time ever in the history of eternity. But that won't happen. Because God will come through. As He always has.

*Reflections on Genesis 18. I am doing a daily devotional on the Book of Genesis, and it really pays to again go back to the beginning to see God's wonderful work throughout all eternity past.

Live like you mean it! (Photo from the net)

The non-negotiable of God's Will

Do it God's way! (Photo from the net)

If you want God's perfect WILL, you have to do it God's WAY. God's will and God's ways are not mutually exclusive. They must always go together. Anything done outside the ways and strategies of God is just human work and can not stand in eternity. Anything done outside the truth of God's Word and God's timing is not only crazy but dangerous.

Oftentimes, we have the tendency to insist on doing things our own way because we think we already figured this out and that this is how it should be done because it appeals to our logic and common sense. Because this is the reasonable way to do it. I do not say that logic and faith don't go together very well. They actually complement one another; or better yet, in the eternal view of things, faith and reason actually mean the same thing! Because to a believer faith is reasonable, faith is logical, faith is as good as common sense. When we start to live our lives in faith, we now recognize that faith really is as solid as common sense.

So I must learn to live out in faith, because it will make me trust in God's ways. And God's ways are not burdensome, they are not there to keep me from enjoying life--they are there to make me enjoy life in the way that it should be. I must control my tendency to trust in my own ways until following God's way will be as natural to me as breathing.

*My reflections on Genesis 17. I am currently doing a daily devotional on the Book of Genesis, and it really pays to again go back to the beginning to see God's wonderful work since eternity past.

Live looking up

Faith is not just something you watch in the movies like the pop culture setter "God's Not Dead" or the biography-inspired flick "Faith Like Potatoes". Faith is not just something you listen to no matter how many Christian albums from different Christian bands you have in your mp3 player or iPod playlists. Faith is not just about the religious books you read, it's not even about the bible itself but on the One whose Words are being contained on its pages.

Faith is about a person. Faith is about Christ.

Knowing where your faith is grounded to is pretty much important in determining whether this faith is really worth it. People have the tendency to depend on someone for affirmation, beliefs, values, confidence and even a sense of wholeness. We're relational beings. And in matters of faith, we get relational with the wrong things and persons. So we get disappointed when promises are not fulfilled, we get pained when expectations are not met, we get discouraged when situations get tough. These happen when we put our confidence--and faith--on ephemeral things and flawed people like you and me.

But the person of Christ is the fulfillment of a great promise in itself. He is our firm foundation where we can stand and never be shaken. His person is our source of faith, our eternal confidence. When we focus on Jesus Christ our faith gets confirmed by His character and through the promises He has made.

That's why the scriptures says that we are running a race for Someone who has already gone ahead of us; Someone who already finished the race Himself. Our task now is to keep running with endurance and live looking up and "fixing our eyes on Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of our faith..." (Hebrews 12:2)

Live looking up!