In this time that we talk of this year being a Year of Revelations, I’ve observed something – rather, a form of these revelations that seems consistent, even if we’re barely into this year. It’s a Year of Revelations, and these Revelations include but are not limited to what I call Cycles.
In our church circles where I serve, we’re quick to be as Don Moen – meaning, when I say, “God is Good”, the congregation does not hesitate to say “All the time”, and, the inverse is true: When I say “All the time”, they say “God is Good!”; It’s the same thing about so many other things.
We saw it in our worship – rather, the musical portion of our Sunday service yesterday. Our team chose to sing Tagalog songs, and I couldn’t help but point something out, particularly in the verse of one song which states:
(Habang buhay) Papupurihan ka
(Habang buhay) Maglilingkod sa’yo
(Habang buhay) Pag-ibig ko sa’yo’y iaalay
Or (roughly) translated:
(All my life) I’ll praise You
(All my life) I’ll serve You
(All my life) I’ll offer my love to You
I had the congregation consider, it’s because God commended (praised) us forever and beyond the confines of life and time that we’re able to praise Him all our lives.
It’s because Christ served us forever by way of His commitment to us – signed on the cross, confirmed at His resurrection – that we are able to serve Him all our lives.
Finally, it’s because God loves us with an everlasting love (again, signed and confirmed by Jesus Christ) that we are willing and able to give our love to Him, all our lives.
But the inverse is also true. When we praise Him, when we serve Him, and when we offer our love to Him, we recall and pay homage to the Truth of how He commends us, serves us, and loves us…
…and the cycle continues.
I’ve had to point this out because I observed a prayer made by one of the singers of the team, as the worship proper was coming to an end. In Tagalog, she expressed how she (and we) were all willing to praise and glorify God, ‘Kahit wala kaming gana’(even when we have no motivation, have low morale, etc.)
It was no accident that my own Mom was called to exhort for the Holy Communion portion of the service, immediately following worship. Out of so many insights she shared, she pointed out that Christ mentioned that we do what’s done in remembrance to Him. And I just went ahead and put those two together.
We remember the finished work of Christ, and we are stirred to worship.
Consequently, we worship, no matter what state we find ourselves in, and we are brought to remember the finished work of Christ.
…and the cycle continues.
An elder who was called to exhort for the Giving portion of the service talked about the fires in LA (which I forgot to jokingly mention was actually the 83rd province of the Philippines due to the number of our kababayans living there). She mentioned something that really was true – everything we own, everything we are can disappear in an instant. She proceeded to encourage us by saying that the mere breaths that we take are reasons to give thanks to God… and when we give thanks, we are able to give.
As a response I mentioned two things: First, Mel Gibson’s response to his own Malibu mansion being totally destroyed by the fire (while he was in an interview with Joe Rogan) – I don’t know the exact words he said but he mentioned that in a flash, all his ‘stuff’ (as the late great George Carlin mentioned in one of his many skits) was gone… But, he saw it as a burden being lifted off of his shoulders.
At this point I mentioned something I kept saying as a motivation for giving. I asked: Do we give because we are blessed to give, or do we give to be blessed?
I was slightly thankful to the congregation because they mostly mentioned the former (validating my efforts of telling them exactly that), but I told them that it was really both, when you think about it: You’re blessed to give, but when you DO give, you ARE blessed – with space to move and think, at the very least.
You give to be blessed, and you’re blessed to give.
Another cycle.
I continued spending my time on the pulpit sharing some of my brother’s words as he spoke during his retirement ceremony, which happened as Sunday approached. Apparently a lesson from Stephen Covey (writer of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) impacted the way he operated in the many years he served in the military.
Perhaps by way of testing and analysis, it was brought to his attention that he met Covey’s standards to have ‘Emotional Maturity’, or a balance between courage and consideration. To quote my brother, “Leaders who are high in courage but low in consideration get their people in minor car accidents.” My brother also mentioned, “leadership is getting people to want to do what needs to be done.” And now that I’m writing about it, I see how this is a lesson brought on by said emotional maturity – it does get people to be more efficient and effective in their own tasks.
Finally, he mentioned some values he learned from our parents:
Respect – You gotta give respect to earn respect.
Teamwork – All the accolades point to a group effort.
Self-Discipline – Cutting corners and taking shortcuts isn’t going to work.
Responsibility / Accountability – Own up to your actions and stick to your plans.
After a quick prayer, I reminded all within the sound of my voice, of the prevalent theme of the year… in form of yet another cycle:
Trust leads to Revelations.
Revelation reinforces Trust.
After placing too much thought on my own analysis on the topic, I was gently reminded, by way of revelation… actually, to trust in the Word. What does the Lord tell us about revelations? What does His Word say?
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6
For the longest time I kept saying ‘He will establish our thoughts and direct our steps’; Looking at this verse, I was reminded that I needed to make sure that this claim I kept on making was actually part of Scripture… and we have found it in the following verses:
‘Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established‘
Proverbs 16:3 (KJV)
‘A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.’
Proverbs 16:9 (NKJV)
And as we keep going down Proverbs 3:
7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.8 It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.
Proverbs 3:7-8
What does it mean to trust the Lord? It is not to be wise in your eyes, it is to fear the Lord and to turn away from evil. It is also to recognize that it is the Lord that is wise, and therefore, to turn to Him.
Take note, this is not to say that we take our own wisdom out of the equation. No, we’re saying that trusting in the Lord is merely for us to prioritize Him and His Wisdom.
Notice something else – we Trust in the Lord, and not only do we receive Revelations, but Healing and Refreshment.
3 “The former things I declared of old; they went out from my mouth, and I announced them; then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.
4 Because I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass,
5 I declared them to you from of old, before they came to pass I announced them to you, lest you should say, My idol did them, my carved image and my metal image commanded them.’
6 “You have heard; now see all this; and will you not declare it? From this time forth I announce to you new things, hidden things that you have not known.
Isaiah 48:3-6
2 “Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it—the LORD is his name:
3 Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.
Jeremiah 33:2-3
Trust in the Lord by calling out to Him – and He is faithful to tell us great (sukdulan) and hidden things that we have not known.
At around this time I told the congregation about the church that Andrew (my brother from another mother) was going to in Dubai. Simply put, they mentioned that their church was going to go through a year of Glory and Grace. They quoted Psalm 84:11 in the NKJV, but I pulled it up in context:
10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory;
No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You!
Psalm 84:10-12 (NKJV)
First of all, I took this time to pull up Isaiah 28:16-17, which I believe will be our own verse for this year: “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’ And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plumb line; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”
Verse 16 talks of our trusting in the Lord, and verse 17 contains the revelations to expect…
And I will make justice the line (God’s glory being our line, our direction)
righteousness the plumb line (God’s glory being our standard)
hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters (Truth) will overwhelm the shelter.
And did you notice verse 12? Verse 11 was a revelation, but verse 12 mentions trust! Trust precedes Revelations, but here we see that Revelations confirm and validate our Trust in the Lord!
In closing I mentioned how, through these years, we’ve been going through famine, of both the body and mind: Nutritious food is going away, and poison masked as food is overflowing. Truth is being silenced, and lies are overflowing.
This is precisely why we continue to engage in the cycle:
Trust leads to Revelations.
Revelation reinforces Trust.
Before praying for everyone, I encouraged them to take a look at the prayer points I placed on the newsletter:
We thank God…
- for He has made His glory our direction. We will move towards His glory, and from His glory.
- for He has made His grace our standard. We make decisions and considerations based on how Christ loved us and gave everything for us.
- for through Christ, He has swept away all the lies – the distractions, the half-truths, the confusion, the anxiety, the misdirection.
- for through Christ, He fills us and overwhelms us with the Truth: revelations, realizations, reminders.
We thank God, and trust Him.
We trust God, and thank Him.
We flow in Revelations!
Indeed, we thank God for continuing to be with us… as we’ve transitioned, whether we like it or not, from the Holiday season right back into ‘reality’. We thank God for His faithfulness – apparently it does not matter whether it is the very start of the end of the year, He still works as our Direction, our Standard – the One who sweeps the lies away, and overflows us with revelations.
Indeed, He deserves all glory and praise. We thank Him today, and acknowledge Him in all we have in store for us this week.
Until the next post, I pray that He continues to bless us, greatly and mightily.
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