Fearless

If there's one thing that could hinder us from doing greater things, it's FEAR. We all have fears and we can all feel fear. It may be small things like fear of spiders, fear of falling, fear of crowded places, etc. Or the more serious ones like fear of insignificance, fear of failure, fear of being an outcast, and the like.

Sometimes, there are even opportunities that we fail to grab because of fear. There are so many "What if.." or "This/that might happen.." statements in our mind that it causes us to be paralyzed.

Now, it's normal to feel fear, but it's what we do despite our feeling that counts. Recently, I've listened to a few podcasts by Elevation Church's Pastor Steve Furtick and the part which struck me the most was this verse:

"...Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper." - 1 Kings 19:11-12 (NIV)

The Lord chose not to show His power in the form of a mighty wind, an earthquake, or in fire. He made His presence felt through a gentle whisper. He whispers, because He's CLOSE. He is with us all the time.

Why are we afraid when we have our most loving Father holding us and never letting go? Why are we running from certain situations that we need to face?

We may feel fear, but if we know that God is always with us, there's no need to be afraid.

UST Graduate Incident

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/300296/2-suspects-in-killing-of-ust-graduate-arrested

This is kind of a late blog entry about the news but anyway... HEHE. ^^;;

There was this news about a girl from UST who got raped and killed by a tricycle and another guy. I'm not so sure about how it all happened but yeah, you get the point (You can read the article above). Since I wasn't really watching television, I wasn't able to get the whole picture of the incident. All I heard was the cry of the mother on TV, telling the people that she would never forgive the men who killed her daughter. On the other hand, the two guys who killed the girl were crying endlessly and apologizing.

Upon hearing that, our househelper reacted by saying, "Dapat yung mga ganyan pinuputulan ng kamay para matuto." (English: "They should have cut the hands of those guys so that they'll learn.").

In my mind, I thought of the idea as "harsh".

But then, that comment made by our househelper kind of made me think more of God's grace. If cutting of people's sinful hands was already harsh for me, what more if it's God's wrath that'll be poured out on us because of what we did?

"..For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." - Romans 3:23-24 (NIV)

A lot of people just don't realize the consequences of their actions. NO ONE in this world is good. No one is right with God. We're all supposed to go to hell. That is the bad news a lot of people don't understand. They think that if they do good generally, they would go to heaven. And if they do really bad deeds (the major one's like stealing, killing, committing adultery, etc.), they'll go to hell.

That's not how things work. And again, quoting from the youth pastors in our church: "You will never appreciate the good news until you understand the bad news". Well, I already told you the bad news about hell, the good news is Jesus Christ!

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 6:23 (NIV)

I'm thankful for God's mercy, grace and for Jesus Christ who died on the cross for us. I'm thankful that He adopted me as His lovely daughter to spend eternity with Him in Heaven. I'm thankful for His great and indescribable love for me! ^^

"Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." - Lamentations 3:22-23 (NIV)

The Art of Skillful Romance

I was browsing through my personal notebook and saw my notes on wisdom and romance from the book, "Boy Meets Girl" by Joshua Harris. Just thought it would be nice to share this to others. ^^
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"Wisdom: the art of living skillfully in whatever actual condition we find ourselves." - Eugene Peterson

- A premature romantic relationship would only distract them (the girl and boy) from preparing for their future.
- Romance with wisdom = skillful romance

"Romantic love is the kite that catches the wind and tenaciously heads for the sky; wisdom is the string that tugs downward, holding it back." - Joshua Harris

- Long-lasting romance needs practical, common-sense wisdom that knows when to let the wind of feelings carry us higher and when to pull it back.

The Art of Skillful Romance:

1) Romance says, "I want it now!"; Wisdom urges patience.

"A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense." - Proverbs 19:11 (NIV)

- Wisdom calls us to slow down.
- We can be patient because we know that God is sovereign and that He is faithful. (Psalm 38:15)
- Patience is an expression of trust that God, the Master Chef, can serve  up an exquisite relationship.
- Time is God's way of keeping everything from happening all at once.

2) Romance says, "This is what I want and it's good for me."; Wisdom leads us to consider what's best for the other person.

"But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere." - James 3:17 (NIV)

- Matthew 25:40, Luke 6:31, 1 John 3:16
- Sincere, Christlike love for the man or woman you're in a relationship with is the natural growth of love for God.

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." - Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV)

- John 13:35
- We glorify God in our relationships when we put our needs aside and base our decisions on what serves the interests of the other person.

3) Romance says, "Enjoy the fantasy."; Wisdom calls us to base emotions and perceptions in reality.

"Desire without knowledge is not good— how much more will hasty feet miss the way!" - Proverbs 19:2 (NIV)

- "Emotion is a physical expression of how we perceive the status of something we value."
- Wisdom calls us to base feelings on accurate information, not on distortions.
- We want the true character of someone to win our hearts.

"The right time and age to start pursuing marriage will be different for each of us. But the one thing we should all have in common is waiting until romance can be guided by wisdom. Then we can experience the season of courtship at the RIGHT TIME and the RIGHT PACE with a CLEAR PURPOSE and a CLEAR HEAD. This is romance at its best." - Joshua Harris

I Kissed Dating Goodbye (book) - Joshua Harris

食べ物！食べ物！Food Trip!

もしもしレストランでミヤとジャスティーンと私

今日、ミヤとジャスティーンと言う私の友達に会った。でも、私たちの他の友達は行くことが出来ない。

とにかか、まだ楽しかった！私の友達に会ったから、私は嬉しい！(ﾟ∀ﾟ) 本当本当嬉しいいいい！喋ながら、私たちは色々レストランへ行った。私たちはレジースー・センターで一時から五時半まで止まった。

「ピーナット・バッター・Ｃｏ」と「Saints Alps」と「もしもし」と「セバースチャンス」に行った。私たちは会う時に、いつも食べるよ。食べることが好きです。(^o^)

フィリピン語でこのアクティビティは「Food trip」だよ。

Choco Mint Shake

たくやき

Red velvet Ice cream

鶏やたっくやきやアイスクリームや食べた。おいしかった！(＾∇＾)

飲み物は「ＳａｉｎｔＡｌｐｓ」と言うレストランから。

たくやきは「もしもし」と言うレストランから。

そして、赤いアイスクリームーは「セバースチャンス」と言うレストランからよ。

再び友達と会いたい～　今日、私は本当に嬉しい！(￣▽￣)

－－－－－－－｜｜－－－－－－－｜｜－－－－－－－｜｜

メモ：私は日本人じゃありません。私は日本語を練習しています。（笑）間違いならば、教えてください。ありがとうございます！(＾∇＾)

Be Still

Everything is instant now-a-days. Instant access to information, instant food, instant internet, instant payments, instant messaging, etc etc. Even instant girlfriend or boyfriend for some people. In just one click, what they want or what they need is already there. All thanks to technology.

But because of this fast-paced world, a lot of people grow impatient.

We struggle for things to get done quickly, in our way and in our time. Well, not everything good is done in a snap of a finger.

There's this saying that "God helps those who help themselves". That is not true at all. It does not boil down to us doing something to make things better and relying on our own willpower. Some people just have that "Hey God, since you're not doing anything, I'll already help you." attitude. Well, guess what? It shouldn't be up to us, but up to God.

"Just because you don't see anything happening doesn't mean God is not working."

God wants to help us in everything, all we have to do is to trust in Him. Not in ourselves, but in Him. Trust in His perfect timing, His will, His plans for you and every area of our lives.

Trusting in Him doesn't mean that we don't do anything, but we anticipate that He will do something great. If we have faith that He will help us in our studies, then study as much as we can still leaning on His grace and getting strength from Him. Faith and good deeds go hand in hand. (James 2:17)

We should stop struggling to do things our way and wait on Him.

Be STILL, and know HE is God. 

"He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”" - Psalm 46:10 (NIV)