Battles and the Warrior

Do you ever feel God is so distant?  That He orchestrates events to strengthen your character--from afar? Sitting holy and distant in His throne and looking on you as you fight your battles alone?  Our circumstances can be so difficult it is hard to believe God is with us. 

Beloved, that is a lie. Let me share with you 3 things that will shatter that lie.

1. God Himself is a warrior.  

• The Lord is a warrior.  The Lord is His Name. Exodus 15:3

2. God is the one fighting the battles for you.

1. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God Acts 5:38
2. He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 2 Kings 6:16
3. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. Exodus 14:14
4. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. 2 Chronicles 20:15
5. ...for the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory. Deut 20:4
6. Because the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and to give up your enemies before you Deut 23:14
7. It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. Deut 31:8
8. For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me. Psalm 18:39
9. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Luke 10:19
10. Through you we push down our foes; through your name we tread down those who rise up against us. Psalm 44:5
11. fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10
12. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4
13. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31
14. I will go before you and level the exalted place Isaiah 45:2
15. You shall not fear them, for it is the Lord your God who fights for you.’ Deut 3:22

3. In the heart of the Warrior is YOU.  Inspired by this blog

"That’s how much you mean to me!

That’s how much I love you!

I’d sell off the whole world to get you back,

trade the creation just for you."

- Isaiah 43:4 (MSG)

Things I should tell myself when I sin and can't get out

1. How I see things will change including God. Perspectives will be tainted, what I used to know will feel uncertain. But that does not mean God changed.

2. Some things are eternal, some are not. God is eternal, man is not. God's promise reverberates all over the universe, an irreversible divine seal that silences all heavens. Man's promise will sound hollow on earth's ground and can faint in time. So when you sin and you want to get right up by going back to His promises don't ever compare His intentions in His promises to a man's.

3. He calls me precious and beloved even in my ugliest state. No one would pick me up because of my filth. Only He would. Only He did. He loved me in my ugliest state, He can't love me more nor love me less.

4. I'm caught up in a battle of sin. But this is God's battle. And the battle's won 2000 years ago. Sin can entice me, touch me and delude me. But it can no longer enslave me.

5. There's no other hero. Who am I to think that someone else can save? Only God saves the day.

6. When I sin I'm so filled with guilt, the easiest route is to hide and stay away. I see Him as an all-flaming, powerful God ready to punish me. I'm afraid that God is gonna come after me. And my sin just keeps deluding me and keeps playing wrong pictures of God: The bible, sermons, Christian blogs and wisdom from spiritual family will suddenly feel contemptuous. They're gonna judge me. They're gonna command me to stop doing things I should not be doing. So I'm gonna hide out in my room. Not ready, hating myself, feeling like a failure. I would feel hopeless that I'm never gonna change. That Jesus picked the wrong girl to save, that He's gonna be humiliated because I'm not cross-material after all. But God's gonna come after me alright. As a loving, gentle, forgiving dad. He's gonna knock into my heart and He will be saying something like:

"Hey. You there? I brought you food. I'll be right here if you need me."

7. Stay the course. Even if you've been sinning, stay the course that leads to God. Even if it's just 30 seconds of prayer in your loveless and sinful state. Don't stop those prayers that consist only two words like, "help me." He's not gonna think to Himself "help your face." C'mom, you know your God better than that. And for all you know, help is on its way even before you uttered your prayers. You can't see it but because you belong to God, you're covered all along. Always have, always will.

8. So in my sinful state, He's not gonna demand I do great things and save myself. He's not gonna demand I change myself. He's not gonna accuse me that it's my fault for not memorizing His word. He'll be like  50FirstDates-- patient until I come to my senses and fall in love with Him again. In fact, He's more than that. He will be rewiring me while I sleep. Cleansing me even in those 30second prayers. He knows how the story will play out. He saved me. When you're saved, you're saved. There's not gonna be any twist or conflict that God overlooked.

9. Yes, absolutely He will deliver. Guaranteed He will renew your mind.

10. So get back up. Don't stay away from salvation. There's not gonna be guilt in His presence. Only love. Only grace.

11. God's love is a consuming fire. It's not gonna be in a passive state, standing on a corner waiting to be loved back. It will consume you. All of you. And you can never run away from that.

12. Finally, while you are overwhelmed with all these thoughts, look at the Cross. Don't be bored with the cross. Don't be unimpressed. Look at the cross long enough until you're "re-convinced" you are loved. If in your sinful state it's hard to appreciate the Cross, you believe it but the feeling is just not there, God will renew your mind anyway and when He does and you're back on your feet, still look at the Cross. It's because of that you were affirmed and reaffirmed.

A puddle of grasp of an ocean of love

I wasn't purchased 

with gold or silver. 

I was purchased 

by the blood 

of the Son of the Most High.

So much was paid 

for a worthless speck of dust 

like me.

And I thought 

the sea was too great, 

when what I'm looking at 

was just a tiny piece 

of the waters of the earth.

The same way I am overwhelmed 

with Your love 

I think already oh so big 

when, really, this is but 

a glimpse.

Keep it to yourself

Last night, I ended up sleeping on our couch because I was so tired.  My sister who got home in the middle of the night, loves to watch movies and that she did. Unfortunately, she chose to watch The Avengers.  The noise and bass made me toss and turn until I couldn't bear it any longer and was wide awake under the covers.  My sister didn't notice me because she was enjoying the movie. 

I vividly remember this strong force in me to not say a thing and just go inside the bedroom and continue my disrupted sleep there.  But the rotten attitude in me wanted to punish her with guilt by telling her accusingly what she put me through. 

And so I did. I told her. In an petulant and harsh manner because I was all ticked off. 

It set off an air of animosity on an early Monday morning. I ate my breakfast in silence and she prepared for bed in silence too.  



After I finished my breakfast, I put on my favorite series of all time, Scrubs, and was struck by the episode I randomly chose.




The episode was about four people who did something nice but had to pay for it.





1. JD asked his best friend Turk to spend time with him on Turk's day off.  Because of that Turk was not able to finish his pile of work he usually finishes on his off.

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2.  Cox who enjoys being feared by his subordinates makes his wife happy by going out on a couple's date with an intern.  This intern told his fellow interns about that night and how Cox was forced to be in a conversation with him. When Cox shows up at work the following day, the interns no longer fear him, and even boldly try to be in a conversation with him.  

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3. Carla runs interference for her boss whose dog died. Her tough boss did not want his staff to see him this vulnerable so Carla was tasked to talk to people on his behalf.  Unfortunately, his boss hardly said yes to any of the requests of his staff.  So Carla spent the whole day rejecting requests. When she took a lunch break and sat with her colleagues, they all stood up and moved to another table.  They all hated her. 

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In the middle of the episode, the narrator asked, "Was it worth it?"



This was answered by the fourth person in the story.  He donated half of his liver to his brother who was sick but it almost cost him his life.  

On the morning after the surgery, his surgeon visited him and asked:

Turk: Did your brother freak out when you told him you almost died?
Patient: I didn't tell Frank.  Look at him so happy. If he knew what I went through he'd feel terrible. Why would I wanna do that when I love him so much.



Needless to say, after watching the episode it reminded me of the incident with my sister this morning.  It made me realize that sometimes keeping it to yourself is more loving than some acts of kindness.  It's a small form of sacrifice. 


My rotten attitude stinks like hell and I wish I could get rid of it so I could be more loving because I want my life to be God-glorifying.  In Jesus, I never, ever feel God accusing me of my wrong attitude. Instead, I feel His fatherly love wanting to fix all the bad gunk in my heart. All I need to do is approach the Throne of grace because no matter how I try, I will never defeat the sinful nature in me on my own. 

Hero

This evening, our pastor quoted a sermon from Tim Keller which swept me off my feet.
His point is to tell people that the bible is not about us because you will find Jesus even in the Old Testament. But instead I was struck with who is this Jesus that we worship. That not only is He the true hero and the greatest but also because of how much love seeps out on each statement.

“Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.

Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out, not for our condemnation, but for acquittal.

Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void not knowing wither he went to create a new people of God.

Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up by his father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us. And when God said to Abraham, “Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me,” now we can look at God taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing him and say, “Now we know that you love us because you did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you love from us.”

Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserved, so we, like Jacob, only receives the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.

Jesus is the true and better Joseph who, at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his new power to save them.

Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.

Jesus is the true and better Rock of Moses who, struck with the rod of God’s justice, now gives us water in the desert.

Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer, who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends.

Jesus is the true and better David whose victory becomes his people’s victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.

Jesus is the true and better Esther who didn’t just risk leaving an earthly palace but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn’t just risk his life, but gave his life to save his people. Who didn’t just say if i perish, I perish it’s when I perish I’ll perish for them to save my people.

Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out into the storm so that we could be brought in.

Jesus is the real Rock of Moses, the real Passover Lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so the angel of death will pass over us.

He’s the true temple.

The true prophet

The true priest.

The true king.

The true sacrifice.

The true lamb.

The true light.

The true bread.

The Bible’s really not about you—it’s about him.”

Find the rest of the sermon here.

A glimpse at a gift

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That's exactly what it feels like.  




Today, it struck me (after getting out of the bathroom I had to pause from changing clothes and went to a spot where I cried and thanked Jesus repetitively) to realize how these specific prayers in the past are underway:


1. Prayer: My cousin ate Mitch and her family to be found by Christ and to know God for who He really is.


What's happening now: 
All the kids in their household were sent to a kids bible camp of CCF and they plan to do this again.  One of the teens wants to join Kids Church in teaching kids.




2. Prayer: Mocha to be delivered from her relationship with a same-sex friend


What's happening now: 
They broke up last week.  6 months ago when we were relaxing in a resort Mocha said that if she will pray to God her prayer would be, "Lord if You think this relationship is not right, take it away. But let it come from her not me because I can't leave her." And in February of this year her partner got attracted to a young girl and began building relationship in the last two months with that young girl while she's still with Mocha.




3. Prayer: Lord save my family. Let them enjoy Your glory while they are still on earth.


What's happening now: 
My youngest sister accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior last year. 
My older sister was awestruck in January of this year when what Jesus did on the cross sunk in and she is slowly but steadily getting to know more about God. 
My mom listens and participates in our discussions about God and I couldn't help but notice how she agrees with what's being taught in the church that we go to which was different from her church.
It is very, very difficult for me to honor my parents because of our dark past. But my perfect Father in heaven is enabling me, slowly but steadily, to honor my earthly parents.  When I was in high school i would tell the people I know that I don't have a mom because of this hatred for her.  A week ago I posted a picture of her that has her best angle in my facebook wall. People liked the picture. But beyond that picture where people cannot see was a startling reality that I love my mom and when before I was ashamed of her now I want to brag about her.




I am expectant, gleefully waiting to watch God bring supernatural levels of reconciliation in my family. 








Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 
-Romans 12:12

Desperate for a Christian friend

Yesterday, my youngest sister, Jen, was filing me in on her recent trip to Baguio (yes, her first time!) 

Invariably, the topic changed to God about how He has been so generous with us. We never tire of discussing happily how we have been playing church all our lives until God finally got our attention, our real attention.  


It was just me two years ago but God is so awesome to keep to yourself so I began to engage this young sissie of mine and lifted her up to God especially during our church's 7 days of prayer and fasting.  And now she's growing deeper in Christ. 


I looked at how I discipled her and thought to myself, it would be hard for our ate who lives abroad to hear too about this Jesus that saves and transforms lives since I am far from her. 


But of course I was looking at it the wrong way.  It's not me who will change my ate. It's God. I am only tasked to push against the rock, but only God can move it. 


I didn't realize that right away but I kept praying for her anyway. My specific prayer was that God would send Christian friends to my ate and to her husband who lives in Europe so that both of them would be encouraged to pursue God... that somehow having Christian friends they would be exposed to a lifestyle where there is a God and He is active even in the most mundane detail in their lives.


More than a year later, I never heard any excited news from my ate about meeting Christian friends.  There's a flat mate and a staffer at her work but neither was introducing Jesus to her. And I want a Christian friend for her!  I have been growing deeper in Christ through my small group that's why I was adamant in my prayer that ate will find one too.


In January of this year, I BBM'd my ate to join the annual prayer and fasting. I didn't expect her to agree but she did.  At the end of the 7-Day Fasting, my ate inundated my blackberry with messages about how amazing God is. Anyone can easily say how amazing God is especially if there's an answered prayer but then often it's the answered prayer that's amazing and not God. 


But when my ate sent a long message about how awesome Jesus is to take our sins and put them on Himself and take off His righteousness and put it on us, now that's the encounter!  It didn't sink in right away but when it did I found myself down on my knees in worship. What did?


Well, if you were reading the entire blog you would've noticed that what I specifically asked was for God to send Christian friends to my sissie so that she will hear about this Jesus.


Guess what? God didn't.  He didn't send even one Christian friend.




Because He sent Himself instead. 






Sooo amazing!!! 






Jesus is indeed in the business of healing lives, opening eyes and revealing Himself--the Only exceeding joy.

War

A tension is growing between the Philippines and China, first about Spratlys and now the Scarborough Shoal.

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It's not "trending" right now but I know that wars are real and it can happen anytime. 


So more than reading news about this island or shoal tug-of-war, I am reading a lot of stuff and topical posts about what the Bible has to say about wars.  


I would rather be unprepared practically for an attack and find myself scrambling for shelter amidst the bombs than be unprepared spiritually and find myself scattered inwardly and feel that the passion for the Gospel is eons away. 


I am not yet done reading and praying for it but I am going to post here snippets of what struck me from John Piper's post, "If Christ Predicted War, May Christians Pray for Peace?"




1. "We should pray that God's will be done on earth the way it's done in heaven by the perfectly holy angels (Matthew 6:10), not the way it's done on earth through the agency of sinful men."




2. "In fact, Paul teaches us to pray for peace among nations for the sake of the gospel. (1 Tim 2:1-4)"




3. "It is not our business to decide the sovereign purpose of God in ordaining that some wars happen."




4. "Our business is to pray that justice, peace, and the proclamation of the gospel prevail."




5. "Our business is to pray that the Christian church not be complicit in national affairs as if nation and church were one. Ours is to pray that the church be seen as aliens in the cause of Christ-exalting love and justice with no supreme allegiances to any nation."




6. "In such cases our prayers would be for the minimizing of misery and the speedy triumph of justice and the restraint of animosities and cruelties." 


(Notice the words MINIMIZING, SPEEDY and RESTRAINT. It's like we are not asking God to not make any wars happen..but we pray for mercy that it will be minimized, restrained and justice to be speedy.)


7. "So let us pray for the love and wisdom and courage and power and fruitfulness of the church of Jesus Christ around the world."


8. "Let us plead that she (the Church) would be distinct from all the nations and all the national and ethnic manifestations of pride. Let us plead that she would be a peace-making presence of salt and light everywhere. And that she would be unafraid to call every nation into question for the sake of justice and humility."




9. "And that Jesus Christ would be magnified as no national deity, but as Lord of lords and King of kings. And let us pray that all lords and all kings see this and humble themselves and make way for the Lord of glory."






Disclaimer: The whole point of this post may be altered here since these are just all excerpts. You can read the entire post here. 

When you have turned...

I was having daily dose of stuff from desiringgod.org when this single verse stopped me in my mental tracks.

"But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.  

And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." 

Luke 22:31

I paused long enough to gaze at the beauty of Jesus.  Life is distracting already as it is that's why I cherish these pauses. 


Fresh from my heart, without proofreading or editing, are some of the thoughts below that come to mind as I read and re-read that text.


1. Why, Jesus is the King of the universe! Why He isn't arrogant or sarcastic or power-tripping on Simon? Why doesn't He make sumbat?




2. Jesus is so humble!




3. "...And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." 


Oh those words! So loving! So patient! So forgiving!
Jesus knows Simon will deny Him in just a few hours. But why is He so gentle, so loving? If you read the first part of the text, Jesus says, "Simon, Simon, Satan demanded to have you...."  In the bible, whenever God calls a person by his/her name twice it's always in the context of a loving patience. Sort of like an endearment. 




4. Can't help but relate it to my own life. I'm only 27 years old. There are thousands of sins that I will do starting this very moment up to the day I draw my last breath. Who knows how terrible they may get? 




5. But God knows. He knows what will happen on each day of my life before it happens (Psalm 139:16) But why this so much love? Why be forgiven in advance? Why make the highest value of heavens enter this ugly world? 




6. So it shakes me to the core whenever this thought sinks in:  what kind of God He is.




7.  I look at the Cross and there I find the answer.

Easter breakfast 2012

We never celebrate Easter.  But yesterday I was talking to Van, my small group buddy, about how Christmas is celebrated worldwide because of the holiday and not necessarily because of Christ.  In fact, even atheists celebrate Christmas "just to participate in the season of giving" as one atheist blog says. 

The meaning of Easter, however, is actually the very essence of 

Christianity: Jesus' Resurrection.  

Yes, Jesus died for us but if He stayed dead, then all else is for naught.  So I told Van that when I start my own family I want to make sure that part of our family traditions would be to celebrate Easter with the same effort we celebrate Christmas.

After praying yesterday, so full I was with the joy of Jesus' Resurrection, I decided I couldn't wait any longer. I want to celebrate Easter with my loved-ones!

So I shopped after work yesterday and woke up at 3am this morning to start preparing breakfast for my family.  I want to invest in little activities that acknowledge God like this to build a relationship with my family...believing God that one day He will capture the hearts of my family so much that He is no longer a we-call-only-during-crisis-God.  But He will be acknowledged as the only source of our joy flowing to our lives, our jobs, relationships, etc.  

Oh Lord Jesus to have You as the exceeding joy!

Had fun cooking while singing and dancing along with worship songs.  My heart beats an extra beat whenever the story of  the Cross sinks in from the lyrics of the worship songs

My brother suggested I add choco syrup to my pancakes

This is the very reason why I put in so much effort into making this breakfast.  I want my entire family to gather together...to remember together what Jesus did for us.

Voila! Fruit of labor!

Hashbrowns

Corn muffins!

Jen and Anna "holding it"

Jen reading a verse from Luke when Jesus appeared to the apostles after His resurrection.

Nate leading the prayer in blessing the food

Papa leading the prayer in praising God and praying for the entire household.

Chow time!

Where, O Death, is your sting?

-1 Corinthians 15:55

What is the best thing that I have?

Listening to podcast: http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/no-condemnation-in-christ-jesus-part-1

Gems I got from this podcast:

1. When God's wrath fell on Jesus at the cross how did it condemn the sin of the world including mine?

IN Jesus....in God's eyes I was there IN Jesus.

2. I've got a Father in heaven whose approval of me is 10,000 times better.

3. So now I am free to die

                        free to serve

                        free to humble myself towards people

Hey, I have the best thing!

 Romans 8:1

4. I am free to lose my face, my prosperity, my job, my health, my pride, my position as long as I remember and live the covenant I have with God:

Romans 8:1

5. Through Jesus, the infinitely holy, flaming, powerful God is not my Judge...but my Father.