Not done yet. I’m on a roll tonight.
Let me tell you a little more about Friday the 13th. As it was Friday, I needed to drive off in the morning, just before lunch, to talk to the kids during their weekly Chapel Time. I just have to say I’m still thankful to the teachers and the principal for their continued trust in me to share to these… well, these future leaders.
In my mind I was ready to talk to them about Psalm 139, and to tie it in with what we were talking about the last couple of times I stood before them; That is, we could trust in God, so far as to acknowledge Him in everything, because, as the Psalm goes, God is our mindful, present, precise and supportive Father. That was supposed to run for four Fridays, at least.
Something else happened right before I took the mic – or, well, I just observed that the kids weren’t so enthusiastic, and it took what seemed like too much effort from the teachers to get them to sing along to the worship YouTube lyric videos. And this was right after they read Psalm 100, which was handpicked by one of the other teachers, and goes as follows:
His Steadfast Love Endures Forever
A PSALM FOR GIVING THANKS.
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
I didn’t notice until I pulled it up here in OliveTree, that this was a ‘Psalm For GIving Thanks’. And that’s the overall point I meant to share last Friday. If you’re having trouble worshipping, if you’re having trouble entering His courts with praise, then you probably won’t go wrong entering His gates with thanksgiving – For, indeed, there’s a lot for us to be thankful for. Or, rather, there will always be more reasons for us to be thankful, than there are reasons for us to complain.
I told them about how Ann was confined with dengue. I had a show of hands, of who was noticing that they were especially targeted by mosquitos. I then said that those who didn’t raise their hands should be thankful they aren’t tormented by the little flying buggers, while the rest of us who ARE being feasted on should STILL be thankful that we don’t get dengue. Side note, right now, I’m thankful Ann is healed of dengue.
I told them about how I almost figured into an accident as my brakes could have completely failed down a sloped road. It’s that same day I – WE (that’s right, me and mom) – made our way home, but not without Manang Irene noticing black smoke just billowing out of my rear passenger side wheel. Later on it was determined that a failure in the bearings (deep inside the car’s tire structure) was what caused the entire thing to fail. I could have complained of a lot of things but I was just SO thankful – it wasn’t just me, but my Mom and I could have figured into an accident that evening.
So I’m sharing this, to all of us and not just the children – in the times we find ourselves having trouble praising God, let’s count our blessings – or, rather, let’s start thanking God.
Later on I had the following thoughts as I spent a significant part of the day writing, worshipping and walking:
Ignorance: I’m not afraid to die
Realizing all I’ve done and all done to me: I’d rather die.
Repentance: I am what I am by the grace of God
Really, without Christ, I could see how most of us could arrive at realizing, past ignorance. I’m noticing that as you grow older, you accumulate more memories, and as not all of them are pleasant, you accumulate more regrets. More respect for our folks who have lived more years ahead of us, because they have that much years’ worth of regrets to carry and face… and are still alive. Yes, whether they believe in Christ or not, the grace of God is a testified through the lives of our elders. Longevity is a testimony.
Honor the sacrifice by capitalizing on what it was done for.
I said in a previous post that I didn’t want to dishonor all that’s transpired from last week up until today, by just going back to living in comfort, as remnants of my old way of thinking would have me believe is ideal and optimal. No, just as how I now realize that the Cross of Christ revealed both the sheer hopelessness of our sin, and the infinite superiority of the grace of God, so these painful moments in our lives (which, to nobody’s surprise, involves relationships) help reveal the deeper implications of said hopelessness, and just how much more we do need the grace of God, how much more we need the salvation; or, our Living, Infinite, Eternal and Celestial (new adjective I’m using, thanks HolyName) Savior.
I mean, sure, I remember back in the day, oh, around 15 years ago in 2008 when we were in the States… the one thing that was pretty ‘hot’ among American churches (or, in 2 out of 2 churches we’ve been to in California and Colorado) was for a line of folks to go on stage with a cardboard ‘testimony’; On the first side they’d reveal something bad about themselves, before flipping to the other side, which shows the good they’re in now. For example, you had a guy flashing, say, ‘Robber and Gang Member’, before flipping to ‘Hustling for Jesus’… or something like that. I do remember that they served their part in testifying… but unfortunately I only noticed how they would go so deep. You wouldn’t see any of them with any more of what I call the deep-rooted stuff: Self Centeredness, Pride, Bitterness, and so on. Of course, I could be wrong (2 of 2, remember), but I brought that up only to say that though Christ set me free of the petty, I’m positive that I could trust Him with the deep; that is, curing that which is still a boy in this body which is more than old enough to be a man.
I guess longevity is also a testimony in that regard. But I’m not turning back or relenting any time soon. So much pain has been caused, and I intend to honor what was lost, by going deeper than I’m used to, just to turn a new leaf. And I do what I do, by the grace of God.
It’s not easy. After all,
There’s a difference between what you want to do and what you’re comfortable doing.
But hey. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Christ is with me; His rod and staff, they comfort me. Psalms 23:4
I thank God. There’s always a reason to give Him thanks, and I thank Him for you. Until the next post, God bless you.
JB's Personal Brain Defragmenter 
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