A Psalm of Ryan After the Feb-Eleven Big Event

1All glory and honor to the Lord,

His favor is upon me,

His eyes are on me and against my enemies,

He caused my big event to run in perfect circle,

He withheld the rain from falling from its prison

No water touched the grounds of Marajo Tower

He restrained the mighty winds with His right Arm

And blew a gentle breeze to ease the place

The Lord answered the prayer of His servant,

His Mercy and Patience He has granted him,

Oh Lord How great your whole being,

Blessed are they who walk under your perfect grace

Triumphant is the event

Applauds of praises covered the star-lighted night

Joy has swarmed the gathering

Victory waved its banner at the center stage

The Lord of Host appointed angels to guard the place

From the basement to the roof deck, He secured the lot

For He has heard the cry of His servant

A pleading for the Blood, He responded with delight

God most High, the perfect Planner, provides,

He directed the minds of the head and those under her

He rebuked confusion and empowered anticipation

Master you are perfect, no detail escaped your holy Eye

Your Spirit has covered the place

He has inspired the heart of the performers

And He has brought peace and joy to those who watched

Such precious treasure, your Holy Spirit is

He guided the host, a sound mind He has gifted her

You enlightened the minds of the speakers

What perfect and great love

For your Heart brought tears to the eyes of your beloved

Oh mighty God, you are the joy of our hearts

You drew a smile to the face of those who aided

Regardless of the hunger and pain they have gone through

The joy and passion of serving you have blessed them

Such an event to behold, a wonderful memory

Once again, you moved like in the biblical times

For your Word is true, it is Light, it is Life

All creation will fade but your Word will always remain

With your embrace you gave warmth to the gathering

Such heart, such joy, such a holy night

Truly you are God, irreplaceable, undefeatable

Glory to the Most High God, Glory to Jesus His son.

2All praise and worship to the Lord, my God

Such a loving Father to me,

His love is pure and everlasting,

His discipline is straight, His judgment righteous.

An event I thought was for me,

Recognition and honor I sought

But none was given, no rewards

None at all but a few words of praise

What pride I had, as I walk through the gathering,

Seeking congratulatory words even from the founder

But none was given, no honor due

I was accredited not, No “I” at all

But I, the Lord’s prisoner, was reminded by His Spirit,

How I dedicated the book and the event

To the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David

The words I have kept for almost a year

For the Lord does not accept selfish sacrifices –

Sacrifices full of “I” never reach His holy throne

I was rebuked, my heart felt grief

it was the appointed night of selfless sacrifice

It was the night we have been waiting and praying for,

All will behold in the victory of the group in Christ,

The victory of “I” through Christ

It was the night, so I had to decide

With teary eyes, as I listen to the Lord’s Prayer,

I decided to step back, crucify the “I”

And behold, I saw two hands,

Mighty hands took the book of dreams in the spirit

Glory to the God of David, magnificent is He

He is the God of all, oh, how wonderful

He is the greatest artist, the inspiration of my soul

The Light in my head, the Peace in my mind

You have given your servant a blessing

So much that he cannot contain

The victory and the joy that comes from You

Overwhelming, unfathomable

God of perfect grace, such gratitude my heart feels

The hard work has paid off

Knowing that you have accepted this sacrifice

Thank you Abba Father, Thank you Jesus, Thank you Holy Spirit

I love you God with all my heart

Feb 21, 2011

The Fear of the Lord Ain’t A Phobia

To fear God is not, by any means, similar to a fear of snakes, or fear of insects or fear of ghosts. How can we have a personal relationship to someone whom we fear?

Imagine yourself with a boyfriend or girlfriend whom you know has the habit of eating human beings. How can you ever establish an intimate relationship with someone like that knowing that at any time you can be his/her lunch?

So ano ba talaga ang ibig sabihin ng pagkakaron ng takot sa Diyos? I’ll make it simple for you.

It just means you believe in His existence.

Again, when we speak of “believe”, it’s not the dead “believe” but the active “believe.”

You believe that there is Someone who is in total control of everything. You believe that you are living in the mercy of that Someone. That that Someone is all-knowing, all-seeing, all around. He knows everything you have done. He can see you everywhere you go.

You believe that there is Someone invisible who is always involved with the things that happen in your life. That you are not in total control of your life. That you need to submit in whatever He wants you to do.

You believe that you are not alone in your journey. That there is an invisible force that guides your way.

I believe this is the kind of fear that God wants us to have. Fear as in acknowledgment and submission to authority.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

When you truly believe in His existence, you will be wise enough to be careful with what you do or what you say. You will be wise enough not to go against Him or offend Him. You will be wise with your dealings. You will be wise to acknowledge that you cannot do everything on your own. You need that Someone.

And guess what. That Someone is willing to help. That Someone is named God whose name is Jesus.

Complete Meaning of Faithfulness

God told me that I have lived my whole life with an incomplete understanding of faith. Because I only thought having faith means believing. But not living out what I said I believed means I did not believe at all.

Truly, faith without action is dead.

During the past few weeks, God has been correcting me with my definition of faith. I will share with you what He taught me.

== Faithful ==

You are faithful not just because you believe but because you are living and walking what you believe and you do not stop until you achieve what you believe.

You are called faithful when you are doing something that you said you will do or when you are completing something that is required of you, big or small.

You are faithful when you are finishing something you have started.

If you cannot finish small tasks, how can you be faithful with bigger tasks?

Faithfulness is that which guarantees you will FINISH no matter what the circumstances are.

You are faithful if you do not stop doing what you need to do in order to attain what you believed you can attain.

You are faithful when you are firmly determined to pursue a seemingly impossible goal because you have faith that you will achieve it.

You are faithful when you keep moving forward because you have faith that somewhere beyond this big problem is a greener pasture.

==

The great people of the world were faithful people. But greater is he who is faithful to the Lord. So what does it truly mean to be faithful to the Lord?

==Faithfulness to the Lord==

You are faithful to the Lord if you fear Him because you believe in His existence. You are faithful if you are mindful of your ways because you believe that there is a God who will judge you.

You are faithful to the Lord if you continuously pray to Him for healing and deliverance because you believe that He is able and willing and that He hears you even though it seems He is too far away to hear your prayers.

You are faithful to the Lord if you do what He tells you to do like loving one another no matter how hard it is to do so. But because the Lord told you, you are faithful to obey His commands without question or doubt.

You are faithful to the Lord if you stop looking in the past and continue to move on because you believe that God has prepared better things for you.

You are faithful to the Lord if you do not complain on the hardships you are experiencing because you believe that God is faithful to give you His reward after passing through.

If you did complain, you immediately ask for forgiveness and repent because you believe that the Lord is faithful to forgive.

You are faithful to the Lord if you prepare yourself for His coming because you believe that He is coming any time soon. You would not want Him to see you not cleaning His House (your heart) when He arrives.

You are faithful to the Lord if you are determined to finish a task He has personally asked you to do.

You are faithful to the Lord if you do not stop praying out to Him for money, providence, job, favor, etc. because you believe that God wants to provide for you and is very much willing to give to you anything you need.

You are faithful to the Lord if you give your tithes to the Church because you love Him and you believe that He personally receives your heart-felt and cheerful giving.

==

And when you return to Him, even though you have not finished your task but you have the heart of completing it, He will come and greet you and hug you while saying

“Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Faithfulness cannot be measured by how much you have believed or by what you have achieved. There’s no need for faith if you already have what you seek for. There’s no need for faith if you are already face-to-face with God.

If you have noticed the underlined words are all in present (progressive) tense.

Faithfulness is measured by a person’s will and action to pursue what he believes in. Just as Jesus was faithful to complete the task given to Him by the Father, so are we in this world who are or will be faithful to complete the task given to us by Jesus.

Because you can never please the Lord without FAITH. You can never please the Lord if you are a quitter. The Lord is not a quitter. He is a faithful God. Once He said it, it is done.

Ever wonder why Jesus said “the harvest is plenty but the laborers are few.” And not

“the harvest is plenty but the believers are few.” He needs workers, not plain believers.

He needs believers in action. These are the genuine Christians. These are the Bride.

Love Life Is Not As Easy As It Seems

Tell me honestly, is it easy to truly love? Is it easy to have a love life? Is having love life really that simple?

You can only answer this if you have truly loved someone else and out of that love was a relationship. Mahirap when you poured out your heart to that other person and that other person doesn’t love you as much as you did or when that other person doesn’t seem to realize how much you love him or her. You’ve done everything for the other to love you back pero wala. Sobrang hirap kaya nun!

How about kung nagmamahalan kayong pareho? Or mag-asawa na kayo? Di ba mahirap pa rin? Because you have to settle your differences. Dahil meron kang mga bagay na pinaniniwalaang tama na hindi naman tama sa mata ng minamahal mo.

Kapag nagclash, siempre away yan. At dahil nga mahal niyo ang isa’t-isa, at ayaw niyong magkahiwalay, you will have to drag down your pride and change your belief system (even behavior) na tugma sa kapartner mo…or vice versa. You will even love the people your partner loves kahit gaano man kahirap sila mahalin (e.g manugang, kapatid, tiyuhin, etc.)

Dragging down your pride is hard. Ang pag-amin na mali ka ay hindi madali. Changing is hard. Kaya naman marami talagang taong mayayabang kasi napakadaling maging mayabang.

Kung iisipin mo, sino nga naman bang nagsabing madaling umibig? If you believe that it is easy to love and have a love life, it’s either you did not truly love at all or you’re just plain ___. Hindi madaling umibig at hindi madaling manatili sa pag-ibig.

Kaya magtataka ka…bakit gusto mo paring umibig? Why do we still want to love? Bakit tayo magpapaka-martyr sa pag-ibig?

Di ba even though it will be painful and hard, basta makasama lang natin yung isa na yun, mahagkan siya, mapasaya siya, solve na ta’yo. Yung marinig lang yung boses niya, parang pakiramdam mo kumpleto na ang araw mo.

Kung na-inlove ka na, magegets mo to. Medyo cheesy pero totoo naman.

Eto pa isang possible reason kung bakit mahirap umibig. Pano kung yung taong minamahal mo eh hindi gusto ng friends mo o ng pamilya mo? Pano kung yung minamahal mo eh tinutuksong “abnoy?” Pano kung yung minamahal mo eh mamamatay-tao dati? Pano kung yung mahal mong tao is someone the world really hates? Lalong mahirap.

There’s a saying “love conquers all.” What a wise saying it is because using the word ‘conquers’ means there are always things that will hinder love’s way, big or small.

So much for the intro! Let’s get to the main part. =p

I was reading my article entitled Simple Lang where I discussed how simple Christianity is. It is about simply loving Christ.

Sounds simple, right? Sounds good, right?

But as what I was pointing out in the intro, loving and living a love life are not as easy as people think they are.

Imagine yourself as a commoner woman who was suddenly married to a prince who is totally dedicated and loyal to his father king. You fear the king and you love the prince so much.

But now that you are undeniably a royalty by marriage all of a sudden, you have to fit in to the lifestyle of a royalty because this is where you belong now.

You have to be 100% dedicated to the prince. The whole country is looking at you, watching your every move and hearing your every word. Every wrong move you make will immediately be recognized and it will dishonor your prince, make the king angry and you certainly don’t want that to happen.

So many things will have to change. You can’t do ‘commoner’ stuff anymore. There will be so many do’s and don’ts. If before you don’t care about your country, now you will have to have a heart for your people. You will have to love what or who the prince loves regardless of how hard it will be to love them.

You do not have your own plans and dreams anymore. Your actions are not for yourself anymore but for your prince and for you kingdom. You have the duty of a wife and a princess.

Imagine that! It’s gonna be very hard because your world is new all of a sudden. But your fear for the king and your true love for the prince will help you endure, will help you keep going, will help you change.

This is like loving Christ. I am like the commoner woman and Jesus is the Prince of Peace who is absolutely dedicated to Abba Father, Creator of all. When I accepted Him as Lord and Savior, I suddenly became engaged to Jesus. And since I am already part of the Kingdom, I am now called a royalty (holy), I have to prepare myself and live a royal (holy) life since in the kingdom of Jesus’ Father, only royal (holy) people are allowed.

So many things have to be changed: my lifestyle, my words, behavior, mindset, and actions. I am not to do ‘commoner’ (heathen, gentile, ungodly) stuff anymore. I will have to love who the Prince of Peace loves (others: believers and unbelievers) no matter how hard it will be. I do not have my own dreams anymore. My actions are slowly becoming selfless. I now have the duty of a bride, a warrior, and a princess (someone of authority).

Dying to who I am here on earth is one of the hardest thing to do. Surrendering my plans and my dreams is also hard. Renewing of the mind is also not easy. Disciplining my body…lalo na.

But my love for Jesus has made me push through. My love for the Lord made me choose to be changed. This love, by the way, is not something that is of myself. It is from God, through His Spirit, that enables me to truly love Jesus. It is His Spirit that enables me to endure and helps me undergo the biggest changes in my life.

The Prince made it sure that I will be aided in this transition by sending the Holy Spirit who has become my best friend. The process is not instant unlike salvation. Jesus will take us from glory to glory. One step at a time.

It doesn’t mean I don’t sin anymore. The only time we won’t be able to sin is when we’re at heaven already.

But through the principles of forgiveness, the Blood, repentance and surrender (other things I learned), I am being cleansed of my sins every day. So when the time comes na darating na Siya, maaabutan niya akong malinis, blameless and still madly in love with Him.

So am I saying that being a Christian is hard?

If life is hard, then a Christian life is also hard. If life is full of tribulations, so is a Christian life. If you are a genuine Christian, your life and your Christian life is not really different but one and the same.

If I write today that “oh do not worry, Living a Christian life is very easy. You have God to back you up”, I will be lying. Una, God is not there to back you up or to fulfill your purpose or your will. Baliktad po. It is us who will fulfill His purpose and will.

If I say to you now that if you are a Christian, God’s promises (lahat yun) mapupunta sa’yo: blessings, healing, and deliverance. Sure yun! Promise ni God yun eh!

If I tell you consistently that a Christian life is about enjoying the promises of God tapos may nangyaring masama. Anu sa tingin mo mararamdaman mo? The time when you needed God’s miracle the most and it didn’t happen, what would you feel?

“Kala ko ba……?” Then magbabackslide ka na kasi wala namang nangyari eh. Parang nung nangyari sakin. I thought Christianity is all about enjoying life and God’s promises. Little did I know na this is just half true. Tapos nung may nangyaring masama, ayun, I blamed God. I almost shunned Christianity.

Kaya prankahan nalang. Life will still be hard kahit na Kristyano ka (or even harder). Ang kinaiba, if you know God’s intention for your life, and you love and trust your God, you will be able to face those hard times.

Ang kinaiba, kahit gaano kahirap ang pinagdadaanan mo, you know and believe that you will get through it.

Ano ba intention ni God? His intention is to change your character!!! Discipline you. Make you strong! NOT SPOILED! How does God change us? Through fire (tests and trials). Only iron sharpens iron. Only fire (tests, trials) can reveal our gold (our real beautiful and godly self). And God is desperate for your gold to be revealed!

What makes us hold on despite hardships? Faith. Hope. And the greatest is LOVE.

Now if loving and living a love life is not that easy, same with loving and living a love life with Christ. It’s honestly not that easy! Why? Your body will still dictate. Your mind will still want to dominate. Discipline is never easy (at least for me).

And the fact that you can’t see Jesus is an addition. Pero, that’s not an excuse. Kaya nga pinadala si Holy Spirit so that we won’t be orphans.

Yes, Christianity is simply loving Christ but it also means losing your very identity on earth which is not easy. If salvation was a choice we have to make, sanctification (renewing of mind) is also a choice to allow the Holy Spirit or not to work in our lives.

Even the princess in our example has the very choice to renew her ways or not. Choosing not to renew her ways, surrender her will and be transformed just means she does not truly love her prince.

Same with Christians! Do you love the Lord? Like, really?

If we don’t allow the Lord to work in our lives, to separate us from the world and sanctify us, it just means we love the world more than we love Jesus. It’s the harsh truth.

Eto pa, one thing that makes my love life with Jesus not that easy is the fact that the world hates the King whom I love. Parang teledrama, di ba? But it happens in real life. I can feel the oppositions starting from my family even. I need to overcome fear, shame to speak about Jesus to other people. It’s not easy.

Kaso it is the love I have for the Lord that keeps me pushing through. My love for Him (which is also from Him) enables me to take this path that not so many are willing to take. Bakit? Kasi nga mahirap!

Question. Did Jesus live an easy life on earth? Even though He is the Son of God, He too suffered from trials and tests on earth (even to the point of death). If He was not exempted, what more tayo!

Jesus did not die a horrible death for us so that we can have an easy Christian life. Jesus died on the cross so that we can be given the grace, the strength to endure the hardness of life. Na even though the world pushes us to sin, the grace of the Lord pulls us back to righteousness.

Truly, narrow is the road that leads to salvation. But once you discover the door to that narrow road, you will find that you will be walking in holiness without you struggling, without you getting tired and weary. There will be trials and tests, but there will always be victory. And victory that comes after hardship is more glorious than easily attained victory.

Do you know what that secret door is? It is true love for Jesus. True, intimate love. If you know how to truly love a person, then you would know how to truly love Jesus.

AND I DARE YOU! JUST LOVE JESUS CHRIST WITH ALL YOUR REPENTANT AND SURRENDERED HEART and your life will change significantly!

Love life may not be as easy as it seems……but it is worth it. Lalo na with Jesus, your Great Reward.