I Am My Wife's Husband

Someone once said when anger clouds your judgment, take time to remember who you are. They may affect but don't let them change you.

When I'm close to my point of breaking, I take time to remember I am my wife's husband. God gave her to me to be my life's partner - a constant reminder that I am special.

My wife is the reason I wake up happy every morning. She is why I believe every tomorrow is better than every today. I love her and I can't let anything stop me from doing so.

The heart of her husband safely trusts her;
So he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life. 

-Proverbs 31:11-12  (NKJV)

What You Did Not Know About "Turning The Other Cheek"

To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. (Luke 6:29, NKJV)

This is quite a popular passage from the Bible. I heard it many times in movies and songs. What amazes me is how people would stop at this verse and try to mock those who believe in it by testing if they will practice what they preach.

God is just. He will never let you experience anything beyond your endurance. When Jesus said those words, he did not stop there. That wasn't the dead end. In verse 31 of the same chapter, He said another popular line, "And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise." (NKJV)

The message of the Bible should not to be taken partly. It should be taken as a whole. So whenever our mind is telling us to test others if they will turn the other cheek if we strike them on one, let us ask ourselves first, "Would I want others do it to me?"

For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. (Galatians 5:13, NKJV)

God-Placed Location

Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

-Genesis 3:9 (NKJV)

How can this very small detail, Adam's location, ever be unknown to an all-knowing God?
To me He knew where he was. He was just reminding him, "I placed you here. Where did you go?"

Wherever God placed you, He expects you to be who you are - His child. Act like one. Let His instructions guide you and you will never go wrong.

Bloom where you are planted.

Take The First Step

Notice how 10-month old children carelessly try to stand up and start taking some steps. They are unafraid. Perhaps they are unaware of what might happen if they fall.

What about an adult watching that child trying to do things for the first time? S/He will try to grab the child if it is dangerous, lend a hand to make sure he gets what he wants without getting hurt, or comfort him when he gets hurt.

A child needs to learn how to stand up and walk as these are integral parts of  development and growing up. We, adults, specially parents, want to make sure they learn what they have to learn with the least possibility of getting hurt. We are always excited to see them achieve what is appropriate to their age and we rejoice when they do things in advance.

Our Father in heaven is just as excited to see us grow in our walk with Him. When He instructs us to do things, He provides what we need for us to be able to do it. The question is not "Will God enable us to do it?" but "Is our faith strong enough to take the first step"?

Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (NKJV) God has enabled us to do things by giving us the strength that we need to do it. Our faith can only be of help if it is directed to Him. "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:2, NKJV)

Know that when we do things under His will, just like a parent to his child who's just learning how to walk -

• He will move us out of danger
• He will guide us
• He will comfort us if we get hurt

because we need to grow. We need to elevate the way we look at the "what we can do WITH Him".

So go ahead and take the first step. Our Father is watching.

Love For All Seasons

So it's March 3. Almost half a week after February. Flowers given and received on "love month" are now withered (maybe not if you know tricks to make it last longer than the usual). What about those events organized by different groups just so they can accommodate people, mostly couples, looking for something to do that goes with what's "in" the season?

Love is not about a specific month or season. It is something anyone can talk about, express, give and receive any day of the year. Imagine a husband and a wife expressing their love only on February and forgetting about it on other months. No matter how special it is on the 14th day of this special month, it will never be enough to compensate with one's need for love throughout the year.

I remember my teacher in High School who asked us what Christmas is about. Surprisingly everything we said pointed to love - Christmas is a season of love. What we didn't expect was the next question she posed: "How then does Christmas differ from Valentine's day?"

The truth is, God designed love for everyone for all seasons.We celebrate love and we love because He first loved us. It is His love for mankind that caused Him to give His one and only son for our salvation. It is His love for us that caused Jesus to give us His grace and mercy.

Jesus loves you on February, on December, even on your birthday. He loves you when you're up and when you're down. He loves us regardless of the season. Any season is His season to love. As a matter of fact, the Bible declares that while we were still sinners, He loved us.

God is love and we should celebrate it everyday.

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

- Matthew 22:37-40

Just Like Her Dad

The Lord has blessed me and my wife with three lovely daughters. Everyday, seeing them having little parts of me - the way they sleep, the way they eat - gives me a higher level of joy. A classic one is when my twins pretend to be asleep on the couch or on our bed just so I will be forced to carry them to their own bed. I still have a clear memory of me doing that when I was young.

Our youngest, 10 months old, brings so much joy to us as to her Ate and Ditse (oldest and second older sister). Everytime someone compliments her beautiful eyebrows, lips and face, I feel an unexplainable sense of happiness.

I remember an instance when I brought her with me and while in a bus, somebody said, "Look at her. She's so cute." I responded, "Just like her dad." I use that line whenever a friend or even a stranger appreciates her beauty. I know it sounds a little braggy but I've heard more from proud parents and I understand them (now).

Not only am I a father but also a child. I sometimes wonder if I give my Father in heaven at least the same level of confidence that would cause Him to utter, "Just like his Dad," with the things I do and say.

"Did I make my heavenly father proud of what I did today?" I know it's never easy but being created in His own image is enough reason for me to try to be who He wants me to be.

I am a child of God. As a father of my daughters, I understand how good it is to have children who represent me (regardless if I see them or not) in a good way.

May we stay under His will as He generously gives us the grace and the privilege to be called His children. May it not hurt God everytime people say we are who we are, "Just like our Dad."

Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. 

-1 Corinthians 11:1

What Makes It Count

Serving God is about God, not the servant. No matter how good we think we are as Christians, God's grace is what makes it count for the Lord. It is all for Him, by Him and through Him.

Come to think of it. No participant of a singing contest will just sing for the sake of singing. He will try to know what the criteria for judging are and do his best to please the judges.

Same thing is true with serving God. When we do, we want to make sure that He is pleased. I believe that the best way to serve Him is to do so according to His ways - how He would want us to serve Him.

No straight thinking person would give his friend something they don't want. When  we give a gift we want to make sure that the person who will receive it will like it. When we serve God, we offer Him our worship. Therefore, when we offer our worship to God, we must do it according to His will.

May we not look highly to ourselves as if we don't need Jesus. It is only by God's grace that we are able to do what we do for Him.

Let us serve God in the way that He wants us to. After all it's about Him.

"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them - yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me."

- 1 Corinthians  15:10 (NIV)