April 20, 2024 – Written in Liwan, Tabuk, in between all that’s going on
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him, all creatures here below.
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!
Amen.
My God is a good God, and He is my Faithful Father, no matter where I may be – Bolinao, Cubao, or even here in Tabuk, where I feel most like a stranger in a strange land… Or, more like a stranger rediscovering his cultural roots.
I’m certainly enjoying my time here, if only for just that – discovering the culture I was born into, and getting to know more about my relatives here. They’ve certainly added value to me, but it still remains to be known if I actually added any value to them.
I don’t know, I’m just thankful. Just saying, it’s probably as simple as me seeing the great love of God through the family I was born into. I’m thankful, because apparently, not every family gets along as well as we do with each other. I pray that whatever value I did retain here does not merely remain with me, but is passed on – not just to the people here as a multiplier, but introduced to other people, down to the strangers we encounter along the way – one way, or the other.
They shone the light of the Lord upon me, even if they weren’t anywhere near being aware about it – In fact, I could imagine they had so much more in their minds… but I still saw and felt the grace of God coursing through them.
It leads me to pray – Oh, in these days to come, and especially as I turn 40, may I be a multiplier of the Light that shines in and through me.
If anyone was to ask me what I want in life right now, chalk that in – I want to shine Christ, unconsciously, but ever so deliberately, that those I encounter, yes, down to the most random of events – that even they would see Christ without fail.
May my Savior increase, even in my decrease.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him, all creatures here below.
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!
Amen.
He is just so good, and so good to me. So many years, so many mistakes, so many lessons, so many failures, so many heartaches, even as of late – But God… my Father LOVES me so much – through the years, mistakes, lessons, failures, and heartaches! For this, He truly IS worthy of all the praise, so worthy of all the glory, and I am so thankful!
April 26, 2024 – Written while waiting for a pizza, Camp 7, Baguio
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
His mercies never come to an end
They are new every morning, new every morning
Great is thy faithfulness, oh Lord
Great is thy faithfulness.
Indeed, at this time, and at this moment of turbulence, both coming from the outside and from within, I choose to write, and I choose to write about the goodness of God, with the hopes that as I write, and write more about it, I am led to repentance, just as the Word guarantees.
As I sing to myself of how God’s love is both steadfast and endless, I am hopeful – not for my external circumstances to change in an instant, but for my internal circuits to be rearranged and put where they are needed – Just as the Lord rigged me to be.
As I sing to myself of His mercies that are also just as endless, I am hopeful, not for immediate relief, but at least for a more meaningful peace – one not grasped by human reason, but one more trusted than understood.
I am thankful, that no matter where I am, and no matter what is going on, these two are constants: God’s steadfast and endless love, and God’s mercies that are fresh and new every single morning.
Yes, even in the moments where I dread to leave the bed, or more accurately, when I am too lazy to jump out of bed from the get go – even in those moments, God’s mercies are there, present, and new, and fresh. As I keep saying, the mercies for yesterday were for yesterday, great as they are – The mercies I have for today are just as great, and designated for today.
I am thankful, because the presence of chaos no longer causes me or leads me to doubt God’s providence; Rather, the chaos brings me to trusting in God’s absolute sovereignty even more. Everything, down to my breath, has an end – Not so, the faithfulness of God.
For the same faithfulness was with God’s only begotten Son, as far as 3 days after His body was brought into the grave. The faithfulness of God is, as the song goes, great, in the sense that even in death, and even when all our functions and perceptions are terminated or placed on hold… God’s faithfulness, which proclaims that He is for us, and not against us – That’s constant.
In so many words, I suppose I’m just saying that I am thankful that we can view all that God is, and as God is endless, so His love, mercy, and faithfulness are also endless – Endless, that is, beyond death. Endless, everlasting, beyond the grave.
God’s love was endless and everlasting, proven to be beyond the grave, sure as Christ rose from the dead. And there, I suppose, is another reason for us to give glory to Christ – For in His resurrection, we have cause to say that God’s love goes beyond the boundaries of death… and as such, it leads all who would believe, indeed, into the other side of the coin – eternal life.
Oh, in all that’s going on, from within, and from outside… I am just so thankful that I could just take the time to let out all my heart’s burdens, in the form of just praising the Lord. And it’s not something I do as a method – no, this is something I genuinely WANT to do – and I think I’m reminding MYSELF of that more than I’m projecting it to you. God forbid that you take all this as an act of religiosity.
No, these words are not piled together in an attempt for me to twist God’s conscience, or to get His attention…
April 27, 2024 – Here at home.
…all this is not FOR God’s love, but FROM it.
And as I put these notes together, I suppose all I could say is thankful – First, for the everlasting love of God as seen through outside (the family), and second, for the everlasting love of God as seen from within (as manifested in the faithfulness of God – a faithfulness beyond death, unto eternal life).
I recall how I’ve avoided socializing with family so many decades ago. I also remember how I’ve had no idea of God’s attitude towards me, how I’ve made assumptions of who He is on my own, and how I’ve internalized what other folks preached to me about who He was and how it concerns me.
We’ve come a long way.. and because of this, I have yet another reason to be thankful: For, see, we’ve established God’s faithfulness, love, and mercy that (1) goes beyond the grave, and (2) brings us into eternal life… now I’m realizing it also (3) not only stays, but thrives over years, and decades.
By His perfect love, we have no reason to stay in fear, even of the worst that we can imagine.
By His mercies, new every morning, we have proof that the life we have is not a mere one-time thing, but reason to celebrate Christ’s presence with us every single day.
Finally, by His great faithfulness, we can know that even within the confines of time, God brings us to grow – Just as He causes all things to work for our good.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him, all creatures here below.
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!
Amen.
Truly, to God be all the glory. May God bless us all.
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