I trust in God

Everytime we celebrate the new year Feng shui experts and fortune tellers are always seen on most TV programs giving their predictions about what to expect in the coming year. And this year according to Feng Shui is my lucky year, somehow I would like to grab the chance and make the most out of it, anyway they always say that there’s no harm in following their advice as long as we take them positively. So to start with there are some small business opportunity that I am considering this year. Last month I met a businessman who’s starting a new business and he said he needs help on some technical aspects of their project. He said if I could help them he’s willing to get my services as a part time chemist. They are also open to the idea of having me as business partner. For me it’s a great opportunity! For 15 years I’ve been waiting for a career move and now the chance has come for me to prove myself. If it's indeed my lucky year then i should not let this chance to pass. :)

But of course I don't just rely on pure luck, only God knows what our future is. And everything that I have in mind right now all my future plans, I completely lay them all before Him. I still pray to God for His wisdom and guidance in all aspects of my life.

Proverbs 3:5,6 - "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."

Jeremiah 29:11- “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Walk by Faith

Everyday i received devotional mail from The Vine, while reading i thought of sharing this inspirational message they sent me today. It's about walking by faith.

Walking by faith is not easy. When you make up your mind to trust God the odds are usually stacked against you. Remember Noah? When he built the ark there had never been rain! And the outcome isn't always what you expect. Walking by faith doesn't mean your problems suddenly evaporate. Sometimes faith doesn't change your circumstances, it changes you by giving you the tenacity to hang in there when the cheque doesn't come in the mail, the doctor says, "It's malignant," your spouse asks for a divorce, the children are running riot, or the place you've worked in for 30 years closes its doors. Faith gives you the fortitude to endure these things, confident that God is working on your behalf. "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for" (Hebrews 11:1-2 NIV).

So, walking by faith means: (1) trusting in the faithfulness of God; (2) following in the footsteps of ordinary people who did extraordinary things; (3) using your faith, because it's the currency of Heaven. When the Bible says, "The just shall live by faith" (Hebrews 10:38), it doesn't mean little sporadic bursts. No, it's talking about a lifestyle! Anybody can go the first few rounds in the ring; it's when you're knocked down in the ninth that you need the faith to get back up and keep fighting. When the plane you're flying on encounters turbulence you don't throw away your ticket or bail out, you sit still and trust the pilot.

So discount your circumstances, dethrone your doubts, and start walking by faith!

Image from google.com

Put on hold

I'm sure you've had it happen to you. You call the appliance store and ask for the service department. "Can you hold? a cheerful voice asks, and before you know it you're hearing music. Every so often a taped message assures you that your call will be answered. You wait and wait. You think, if you have driven over there you've been back by now! You feel forgotten and that nobody cares.

Sometimes it seems that God has put us on hold. We pray and pray about a matter of extreme importance, but nothing happens. Nothing! This could be how Hannah felt when she was asking for a baby. In the old testament childlessness was a curse in her day. To make it worse, her husband's other wife ridiculed her mercilessly. Hannah wanted desperately to give her husband a child. She prayed out of deep pain and bitterness. Yet year after year she did not conceive.

How can we reconcile the apparent silence of God to our repeated prayers? Remember that God's wisdom surpasses our own. What we're asking for might harm us. We can't see the whole picture. Our timing is not God's timing.When God puts you "on hold," don't grumble. You can entrust your most cherished longings and desires to Him, and then patiently wait for Him to answer.

So when God puts you on hold don't "hang up"!

Happy weekend everyone! God bless..

My heart's strength

It's Monday! start of another stressful week for this working mom. And to prepare for this battle got to have some words of inspirations from God's Words.


Psalm 73:21-26

"When my strength was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant. I was brute beast before you. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And Earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

Today's scripture teaches us to be grateful for the trials that can strengthen our faith. For the child of God, great stress can develop great faith and reveal God's great grace. It is when we feel the "stress of the storm" that we learn the strength of our "anchor".

Wishing you all a blessed week! straight from my heart,

Grateful for the thorns

It’s another long weekend for me because it's nonworking holiday on Monday here in the Philippines. I’ll be away from my computer and will not be able to blog and hop and drop for two days. Anyway before I’ll have my vacation i want to leave this post something to ponder upon :)

Sometimes to give thanks in every situation in our lives is very difficult. When our bodies are wracked by pain, or we have just learned that we are sick and there’s no cure, or we have lost our job, or a marriage or cherished relationship has been broken, we don’t feel grateful. But we can learn to thank God because He gives us strength when we feel weak. That is why apostle Paul could say in 2 Cor. 12:10, “I take pleasure in infirmities…in distress for Christ’s sake.” And as believers we can be grateful that through such experiences God is accomplishing what is best for us. Even through suffering God is working for our good.

As we surrender ourselves to the Lord remember that He is working in everything to accomplish our ultimate good, we can thank Him even when we are pierced by “thorns.”

Want to share this inspirational song, one of my favorites: The Warrior is a Child and Do I Trust You by Twila Paris.

God bless everyone, happy weekend!

Are You Being Tested?

When you were a child, do you remember being irritated whenever your favorite television programme was interrupted for 30 seconds by a test of the Emergency Broadcast System?

Those emergency system tests are a lot like the trials that come into our lives. They're unscheduled, usually unwelcome interruptions, and they always seem to come at the worst possible time. But unlike the test patterns on television, life's trials don't last for 30 seconds and then disappear. No, they can last for days, weeks, even years. And the exact reason for them may never be completely clear to us. Trials can make us feel helpless, but we do have control over one vital element of a trial - how we respond to it. Understand this: trials are indispensable to our Spiritual growth. In fact, we cannot grow as we should without them, as much as we might wish we could. It's your test that leads to your testimony!

Every detail works to your advantage and to God's glory.

2 Corinthians 4:15

Prayer for today: Lord, I can't tell what this day holds for me. If it be calm, I'm thankful. But if a whirlwind strikes, may I have the strength to reach out and grasp Your hand. Amen

Call on Him

The Bible tells us that God Almighty Himself, with arms open wide, is welcoming His people into a life of prayer. Prayer is an invitation into God's boundlessness. God is saying, "Come experience My limitless Self." Jeremiah 33:3 says, "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." That's an invitation into God's limitless being. When you begin to pray, you move into eternity.

“Cast your cares on the LORD
and he will sustain you;
he will never let the righteous fall.” Psalm 55:22
Let us all pray for the victims of typhoon Frank, especially those people died in MV Princess of the Stars, and lift up their survivors of this tragic incident.

The Storms of Life

You seem to turn the calendar pages with more and more frequency, and the storms of life may feel as if they rise ever higher. Newscasts and periodicals are little more than accounts of disasters and horrors.
There are hurricanes in several regions, mudslides in others, and even volcanoes. earthquakes strike almost daily in diverse places, coming so often that if the Richter Scale doesn't read six or higher, we no longer pay attention.

Those events occur in the realm beyond man's control. In places man can influence, it's even worse. Our courts, prisons, hospital, and schools testify of our struggles, and many feel they've nowhere to turn, no hope to clutch.

But from the book of Psalms we'll find hope. Psalm 46:1-3 says, "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its water roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging."

God is as near as a bended knee. He loves a humble and contrite spirit, and he has promised never to forsake you. When the storms of life rage, remember your only real refuge. He is always there standing on the firmest ground, offering the ultimate life preserver in His Son, Jesus Christ. All efforts except those performed in the shadow of Calvary are in vain.

"Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I wll be exalted in the earth."--Psalm 46:10

The Measure of Our Worth

Last week i received a text message from a high school friend. She said we have a class reunion in one of our classmates' house. At first i was excited, i decided to come because i haven't seen them for a long time. But the next day I've changed my mind, i felt i'm not ready to face them. I know most of them are successful now in their careers and businesses. Me? I'm just an ordinary employee working 9-10 hours a day in the office and an extended hours at home.

This morning in my devotion, i realized i was wrong. I have measured my value with the wrong standards! God doesn't think more or less of us based on our job, our bank account, our home. Our worth and dignity are rooted in the fact that God created us and that His Son died for us. What's important to Him is our degree of trust and our service done for His sake.

"Many who are first will be last, and the last first." --Matt. 19:30

Answered prayer

I was praying for God's blessing and financial help. Today i got the good news! My boss finally granted my request to have a gas allowance. Though it isn't that big still this will lessen my burden a little.

But what makes me really glad is knowing that God hears and answers my prayer. Thank you Jesus for this blessing! :)




"God encourages us to prayer, not only by the certainty of the answer, but also by the generosity of the promise, and the bounty of the Giver."

What God Can Do With "57 Cents"

A sobbing little girl stood near a small church from which she had
been turned away because it was "too crowded."
"I can't go to Sunday School," she sobbed to the pastor as he walked by.
Seeing her shabby, unkempt appearance, the pastor guessed the reason and, taking her by the hand, took her inside and found a place for her in the Sunday school class. The child was so happy that they found room for her, and she went to bed that night thinking of the children who have no place to worship Jesus.
Some two years later, this child lay dead in one of the poor tenement buildings. Her parents called for the kindhearted pastor who had befriended their daughter to handle the final arrangements.
As her poor little body was being moved, a worn and crumpled red purse was found which seemed to have been rummaged from some trash dump.
Inside was found 57 cents and a note, scribbled in childish handwriting, which read: "This is to help build the little church bigger so more children can go to Sunday School."
For two years she had saved for this offering of love.
When the pastor tearfully read that note, he knew instantly what he would do. Carrying this note and the cracked, red pocketbook to the pulpit, he told the story of her unselfish love and devotion.
He challenged his deacons to get busy and raise enough money for the larger building.
But the story does not end there...
A newspaper learned of the story and published it. It was read by a wealthy realtor who offered them a parcel of land worth many thousands.
When told that the church could not pay so much, he offered to sell it to the little church for 57 cents.
Church members made large donations. Checks came from far and wide.
Within five years the little girl's gift had increased to $250,000.00--a huge sum for that time (near the turn of the century). Her unselfish love had paid large dividends.
When you are! in the city of Philadelphia, look up Temple Baptist Church, with a seating capacity of 3,300. And be sure to visit Temple University, where thousands of students are educated.
Have a look, too, at the Good Samaritan Hospital and at a Sunday School building which houses hundreds of beautiful children, built so that no child in the area will ever need to be left outside during Sunday School time.
In one of the rooms of this building may be seen the picture of the sweet face of the little girl whose 57 cents, so sacrificially saved, made such remarkable history. Alongside of it is a portrait of her kind pastor, Dr. Russel H. Conwell, author of the book, "Acres of Diamonds"

This is a true story, which goes to show WHAT GOD CAN DO WITH 57 CENTS.

Source:Inspirationallane

Marriage Troubles

I have an online friend, she's Ruby and today her blog post is about her marriage problem. I felt the pain in her heart after reading her story maybe because I'm a wife and a mother too. In times like this whenever i experience the same one thing i do is to browse on my favorite Christian sites and read encouraging stories that will lift my spirit up.

And today i want to share what I've searched at CBN. I share this not just to Ruby but to all women who are in the same situation.


Marriage Troubles? Don't Give Up!By Belinda ElliottCBN.com Daily Life Producer

CBN.com – Dr. Gary Rosberg and his wife, Barbara, are familiar with the troubles that can plague a marriage. As marriage coaches who host a call-in radio show, the Rosbergs take calls every day from people who are experiencing marital problems.
Regardless of what the problem is in the relationship, the Rosbergs said, the true issue is usually a matter of the heart.
“The question may be:

• 'Why did my husband commit adultery?'
• 'Why does my wife pay more attention to the kids than me?'
• 'Why is somebody using the internet inappropriately?'
• 'Why does somebody hide money?' or
• 'Why has somebody given up on spiritual intimacy in our marriage?'"

"But all of those issues ultimately draw down to the condition of the heart," Gary said.
When spouses harden their heart against their mate, they begin to disconnect or push each other away, the marriage coaches said. When this continues for months or years, often the couple decides that the relationship will no longer work.
But the Rosbergs encourage couples: don’t be so quick to throw in the towel.
They offer several steps that are essential to repairing a broken marriage.
#1- Don’t Give Up!
It is never easy to face marital problems and deal with the pain and wounds that have been inflicted. But if couples are willing to stay and tough it out, Gary said, research has shown that they can usually restore the marriage and be happier than before.
“Those kind of hurts, those fears, those betrayals, those conflicts -- whatever those things are -- they are all valid, and they break our hearts,” he said. “I’ve done 25,000 hours of marriage counseling, so I’m very tuned in to the reality of that pain. Yet here is what you find. When people stay, invariably they get to the other side of it and become happy in their marriages.”
He points to research where couples were surveyed about the happiness of their marriage over five years. Eighty-five percent of the couples who reported being in either an "unhappy marriage" or a "very unhappy marriage," that stayed in the relationship, five years later reported being either "happy" or "very happy".
“Now that is secular research,” Gary said. “Imagine the power of the Holy Spirit in the midst of that.”
#2- Surrender the relationship to God.
The first step to improving the relationship is for the couple to surrender themselves and their marriage to God.
“We have to choose to humble ourselves first before God, and then secondly, seek a restorative plan in the marriage that honors God, honors our mate, and puts the relationship above whatever issue we are going through in the marriage,” Barbara said.
#3-Offer forgiveness to your spouse.
Often there are offenses that both spouses need to be willing to forgive, the couple said.
They identify four steps of forgiveness that include confession, sorrow, repentance, and ultimately the restoration of the relationship.
The process, which they refer to as “closing the loop,” is not always easy.
It can be easy to say, “I forgive you,” Gary said, but there needs to be more discussion if the couple intends to really put the issue behind them.
What did the person do? How did it affect his or her spouse? Is the person truly sorry? Does he or she want to restore the relationship?
“When those four parts are there, the relationships begin to heal,” Gary said.
If these issues are not addressed, the result can be an “open” or unresolved conflict that can eventually evolve into anger and resentment that one spouse harbors against the other.
Since every spouse will eventually hurt his or her partner in some way, it is important that couples master these steps of forgiving love. When forgiving love is exercised these loops, or opportunities for bitterness to grow, are closed and the relationship becomes more secure.
#4-Connect spiritually with your spouse.
Another important step to improving a troubled marriage is for the couple to pursue spiritual intimacy together.
“Spiritual intimacy connects two hearts as well as two spirits,” Gary said. “Often when the horizontal relationship is clogged, it is reflecting that the vertical relationship is messed up. So what we coach people on is when a husband is walking with Christ, when a wife is walking with Christ, it is out of the overflow of that spiritual intimacy with Jesus that the horizontal relationship will connect.”
The best way to connect spiritually is to pray together, he said. Many times couples feel insecure about praying with each other so they avoid it.
“We coach guys to go home and take your wife’s hand, sit down, tell her, ‘I’m not really good at this, but I love you. I’m committed to you. Let’s just do this,’” Gary said.
#5-Seek help and support as you work through marital problems.
Scripture warns, “Pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” (Ecc. 4:10). This idea applies to marriages too, Gary said. Often, they see marriages end because couples have no one to support and encourage them as they work through problems.
The support of a marriage counselor, or another married couple serving as their mentors, can help a couple repair the relationship.
“Imagine if a guy falls down and another guy picks him up,” Gary said, “and another gal picks up his wife, and they say, ‘We’ll fight for your marriage with you.’ That’s what Barb and I have given our lives to.”
In addition to pursuing counseling, couples can find principles to repair their marriage in one of the Rosbergs’ books, Healing the Hurt in Your Marriage.
#6-Pray for your spouse.
The Rosbergs encourage couples to take their 30-day challenge.
At the same time each day, find a place where you can be alone and pray for your spouse.
“Tell God how frustrated you are,” Barbara said. “Tell God your hurts. If you’re angry, He knows it. Get it out of your system. Just get it off your chest. Talk to the Lord and then ask, ‘Father, how do I pray for my spouse? How do I understand where we are at?’”
The important thing, she said, is giving God the marriage and seeking His ways to restore the relationship.
“Pray in such a fashion for the next 30 days,” she said, “and watch God begin to restore your heart, restore your marriage, and set you both on your feet and walking places you thought you’d never walk together again.”
“We believe that if you just stay and then you open up your heart to the restorative work of the Holy Spirit of God, that relationship has got great hope,” Gary said. “The biggest mistake is that people cut and run. The culture says cut and run. What we want to say is stay.”

Daily inspirational messages

I have a churchmate who sends daily inspirational messages to me through text. My inbox is always full because I just can't delete her messages. So I thought of posting them here before emptying my inbox.


PART I

"...give thanks in all circumstances..." --1Thes.5:18

The strongest tree in the forest is not the one that is protected from storm and hidden from the sun. It is the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for it's existence against the winds, rains and the scorching sun. Be THANKFUL for any circumstances we have... GOD allows it to make us better and stronger.

"It is more blessed to give than to receive"- Acts 20:35

When God takes something away from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely emptying your hand for you to receive something better.

"...and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." - Hebrew 12:1

Everyday a deer awakens knowing it must outrun the fastest lion or be hunted to death. Everyday too, a lion awakens knowing it must outrun the slowest deer or starve to death. In this lifetime, it does not matter whether we are a deer or a lion. When the sun arises we should be running at our best.

"We love Him because He first loved us."- 1John4:19

God brings us into this world from NOTHING, but to Him we mean SOMETHING, so He wants to share with us EVERYTHING, because He loves us more than ANYTHING!

Is there something you've been praying about for a long time? Never give up! With God all things are possible. --FAITH is the atmosphere in which hope and joy fluorish. If God has promised to do certain thing, it will be done because,

"He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it."--1Thes.5:24

God stooped down from heavens to rescue us from sin, and He continues to extend His hand to you each day to soothe your damaged emotions, your frayed nerves, your broken dreams, your heartaches. "But He seems so distant, so remote, so detached at times" you say. You may feel that way, it isn't the truth! God said..

"Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you." --Heb13:5

Do you believe you can change God's mind in praying earnestly? -Then you must know two important things about Him. Read and find out men of God who experienced how they changed the mind of God through faith and prayer. His CHARACTER-Exodus 32-34 and His WILL-James 5:17-18

"For nothing is impossible with God"--Luke 1:37

A Mother's Influence

Direct your children onto the right path.
Proverbs 22:6 NLT

When Harry and Ada Mae Day brought their first child Sandra home from the hospital, it was to a tiny ranch house without running water, electricity, or a school within driving distance. But they refused to let their surroundings limit them. His father's death had kept Harry from attending Stanford University, but he never lost hope that his daughter would study there. Ada Mae subscribed to educational newspapers and magazines, home-schooled her daughter and later sent her to the best boarding schools in America. One summer the entire family climbed to the dome of every state capitol west of the Mississippi! Sandra did attend Stanford, then law school, and eventually became the first woman Supreme Court justice in America. The day she was sworn in she donned her robes and took her place among the other justices. Then she locked eyes with her family, and the tears began.

Solomon said, "Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it" (Proverbs 22:6 NLT). What made Sandra Day O'Connor successful? Intelligence and ambition undoubtedly played a part. But much of the credit goes to a determined little woman sitting in a four-room clay house reading to her daughter for hour upon hour, and to parents who climbed the stairways of capitol domes alongside their children.

Chuck Swindoll says, "As significant as political, military, educational or religious figures may be, none compare to the impact made by mothers. Their words are never fully forgotten, their touch leaves an indelible impression… the memory of their presence lasts a lifetime. I ask you, who else has that kind of influence?"



The Word for Today from The Vine

Knowing And Doing God's Will

I have an email subscription of The Word for Today from The Vine. It's a daily devotional mail which I'm truly grateful to receive everyday because it's really a great source of spiritual strength for me. Today I was inspired by the story of a woman who willingly followed God's will and purpose in her life. It is about knowing and doing God's will. Here it goes:


"I am sending you." -- John 20:21 NIV

Gladys Aylward was just a simple woman who did what she believed God called her to do. During the 1930s she left her home in England and sailed to China. Here she opened a home for orphaned children who'd been left to starve or wander the streets until the government placed them in wretched warehouses. She'd read the Scripture, "If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed… The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs" (Isaiah 58:10-11 NIV). When the Japanese invaded China, Gladys was forced to flee. She ended up trekking through the Chinese countryside for 12 days with 100 children in her care. In the face of extreme difficulty and danger she devoted her life to becoming a mother to each of them. Years later when she was publicly honoured, she explained her amazing work like this: "I did not choose this. I was led into it by God. I'm not really more interested in children than I am in other people. But God gave me to understand that this is what He wanted me to do - so I did it!"

Jesus said, "As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you" (John 20:21 NIV). The mission Jesus had while on earth, is now our mission. "All of us must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the One who sent Me, for there is little time left" (John 9:4 TLB).

William James said, "The best use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it." Only the Kingdom of God is going to last; everything else will eventually perish. To fulfill your kingdom-purpose here on earth is to have lived well, and lived successfully!

************

When I escaped death after the vehicular accident, I believe in myself that I still have unfinished business here on earth and that God has something for me to do. Whatever it may be I pray to God for His guidance and wisdom for me to know His will and have the courage and ability to do His will for His glory.