Power outage. Switched to the notebook. Glad I did.
Time in the Word is never time wasted. Time spent intentionally reflecting on the words of the Maker of Time – this is time that has eternal value.
Bless the LORD, o my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the name of the LORD, now and forever.
Blessings, honor, and power unto the Holy One of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
All hail the power of Jesus’ name,
Let angels prostrate, fall!
Bring forth the royal diadem and crown Him Lord of all!
Blessings, glory, honor and power belong to Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
12 Who is the man that fears the LORD?
Him shall He teach in the way He chooses.
13 He himself shall dwell in prosperity,
And his descendants shall inherit the earth.
14 The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him,
And He will show them His covenant.
Psalm 25:12-14
…and in our day, and in this time in history, there is one Covenant that applies, one Covenant that matters: The New Covenant, in which Christ lay down His body in our place, shed His blood for the absolute forgiveness of our sins, and our complete and full reconciliation to God.
Through Christ, we have been fully reconciled, reunited with God, much so that we are absolutely adopted and now call the Creator our Father… we are absolutely grafted, branches fully reconciled to the Vine… our Savior, who produces fruit in us, and through us.
We have been fully cleansed; Yes, right now I claim this – It’s standing out today. I am completely forgiven of sin. I have been made white as snow. No longer am I naked – I am clothed with Christ, here and now, even as I write; I am clothed in righteousness.
Because of Christ, my heart is full.
Because of Christ, my soul prospers…
and I claim the promise of the Word, guaranteed by Christ:
I prosper, as my soul prospers.
My Mom abounds in health and strength, as her soul prospers.
My brothers and their families abound in power and favor… as their souls prosper.
No weapon formed against us prospers.
No curses said against us shall come to pass.
The tongues that curse us now speak blessings – they are ONLY allowed to speak blessings to us.
All lies bow before the Truth.
The Holy Spirit convicts all, to see the Way.
Sin, death, and the flesh bow before the Life.
Proverb 26: A reminder on the fool, the lazy, and the liar. The fool has lost his way, the lazy one lacks life, and the liar flees from the Truth.
5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
John 14:5-7
No one knows the Father, no one sees the Father except through Christ.
1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.1 John 3:1-3
We believe Christ is the Way. He is the only way to God, and through Christ alone are we able to run to God, knowing Him as our Father.
And with that said, Christ is the Truth – He is the Truth of God, our Father who loves us – Yes, through Christ alone can we know that the infinite, eternal Creator of all things seen and unseen is our loving Father.
Christ is God’s righteousness revealed – He became sin for us to be His righteousness, unto eternal life.
Christ is our Righteousness.
Christ is our Way, our Truth, our Life.
Through Christ our eyes have been opened to the Truth. Through Christ we have now known the Father.
Through Christ we have consequently known that we are Children – Sons and Daughters of our Father. And the more we take this in, the more we are purified – just as He is pure.
It causes me to pause and offer a sacrifice of praise – Thank You, thank You so much, Jesus! Thank You, God and Lord of all Creation, God of Heaven and Earth, Make of Time and Space – Thank You, FATHER!
You are our Father, good and gracious.
You are our Father, great and glorious.
Blessings, glory, honor and power to the Holy One of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob;
Blessings, glory, honor and power to our Abba Father!
Thank You, Father!
Thank You, Jesus!
Thank You, Holy Spirit!
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psalm 103:1-5
8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
Psalms 34:8
Jesus is the Bread of Life. We have come to Him; Therefore, we shall never hunger.
We believe in Him; therefore, we shall never thirst. (John 6:35)
He was the One bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace (beyond understanding) was upon Him. By Christ’s stripes, we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)
Jesus delivered our soul from death, destruction, and the pit; He delivered our feet from falling; Through Christ we walk before God in the light of Life. (Psalm116:8-9)
Praise the Lord, for He is good!
Glory to Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
For Jesus anoints our heads with oil, and our cups run over.
He poured out His Spirit upon us, that prophecy would be fulfilled, and that we proclaim the goodness of God. (Psalm 23, Acts 2)
Praise the Lord, for He is great!
Glory to Jesus Christ – Alpha and Omega, First and the Last, Beginning and End.
We overcome as He overcomes the world!
We overcome by the blood of Christ the Lamb, and by the word of our testimony!
Thank You, Lord!
Thank You, Father, Son, and Spirit!
All praise and glory to You, forever and ever!
Amen!
Rayner Teo / Having an edge:
In my early years of trading, I’ve tried all sorts of indicators like MACD, RSI, Stochastic, pivot points, Fibonacci, etc.
Then, I was told these are lagging tools and I need something “faster”.
So, I studied things like chart patterns, harmonic patterns, and candlestick patterns.
Next, I was told that these are “retail” stuff, and it’s not what professional traders use.
That’s when I dived into things like order flow, volume profile, and market profile.
Did it work?
Nope. I was still a losing trader.
But the funny thing is this…
• I’ve seen traders crush it with indicators.
• I’ve seen traders crush it with chart patterns.
• I’ve seen traders crush it with order flow.
Me? I used all of them and crushed… my account.
Why is that?!
Eventually… My breakthrough came when I read the book Market Wizards by Jack Schwager. I can’t remember the exact words, but it’s along these lines…
“Every successful trader I’ve interviewed has one thing in common. They have an edge in the markets. Without an edge, even the best risk management or psychology won’t save you.”
And that’s it! That was my aha moment!
That’s because when you know your edge, you can use different tools to extract a profit.
Now you might be wondering… “What is an edge?”
Let me explain… An edge (otherwise known as expectancy) is something you do repeatedly that yields a positive outcome.
For example, you toss a coin:
If it comes up heads = you win $2.
If it comes up tails = you lose $1.
In the long run, will you win or lose?
You’ll win. That’s because the size of your wins is larger than your losses. In other words, you have a positive edge (otherwise known as a positive expectancy).
Mathematically, an edge can be defined as follows…
E= (Winning % x Average Gain) – (Losing % x Average Loss)
Don’t worry, this isn’t rocket science because even a 12-year-old can understand it.
An example…
• Winning Rate: 70%
• Average Gain: $80
• Losing Rate: 30%
• Average Loss: $100
E = (0.7 × 80) – (0.3 × 100) = $26
This means you can expect to earn an average of $26 per trade. So after 100 trades, you can expect to earn around $26 × 100 = $2600.
Does it make sense?
Great!
Imagine you have an edge in the markets…
• You’ll start placing trades with confidence because the math is in your favour.
• You’ll know exactly why you’re making a profit instead of being at the mercy of the markets.
• You’ll never second-guess yourself because you have a trading system that tells you when exactly to buy & sell.
The best part?
You don’t even need to predict what the markets will do to make a profit because you have an edge!
Christ is our Edge. In His case, according to Romans 8:28: Jesus plus nothing equals everything.
Rayner points out that an edge is what keeps you in the positive no matter what happens – or, at least that’s how I see it. I like how he said that it’s an edge that keeps us dependent, or at the mercy of the markets.
From that point of view we could say that Christ is our edge – We are dependent on Him, and not at the mercy of circumstance.
Naval Ravikant & Eric Jorgenson / An updated (secular?) view on wealth and happiness
I spent a day with @naval.
We talked for hours about wealth, knowledge, and happiness.
As all wise people do, Naval changes his mind.
Its all in the updated audiobook of the Navalmanack (just released today) for its 5-year anniversary.
He made a few key updates on the principles of Wealth:
– Wealth isn’t just “assets that earn while you sleep”
– It is “the set of physical transformations you can affect”
– Knowledge is the ultimate driver of wealth
– Many problems are less about “Evil” than “Big”
– Good products have surprising reach. They create solutions the creator never imagined
– You can’t build judgment without experience
– Learn from the specific to the general, not the reverse
– No entrepreneur fears a new technology
– Software engineers are getting more leverage than ever
And a few new ideas on Happiness:
– Your memories are interpretations, not facts. You can change the interpretation to suit your needs.
– There are truly enlightened people all over the internet. – They’re very accessible. You can meet them and learn from them.
– Trying to be a happy person just reinforces the self. Realizing there is no self is the path to enlightenment.
– Acute unhappiness can be useful. Chronic unhappiness is an ego trip.
– There’s no worse way to signal status than to try to buy status
– Truth and love are the things we choose, even if they make our lives worse.
– You can create love whenever you want by giving it
– Stay healthy, get wealthy, seek truth, give love, create beauty.
September 27, 2025
From Psalm 27
For myself, my Mom, my brothers and their families; For my wife and children:
The Lord is our Light. The Lord is our Salvation.
We fear no-one, nor are we fully, continually afraid of anyone, or anything.
We declare that though the wicked would come against us to devour us and to eat our flesh, oh, amen: They stumble, and they fall.
I declare on the behalf of my beloved, and on mine: Though an enemy encamps against us, though they lay siege; Indeed, our hearts shall NOT fear.
Though war may rise against the Lardizabal family, no matter where we are… in this, we will be confident, in this, we ARE confident:
One thing we have desired, one thing placed in our hearts and one thing we are consistently reminded of by the finished work of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit:
We dwell in the house of the LORD, all the days of our lives. Yes, we are confident because through our Savior we behold the beauty of the LORD, and by the Spirit we inquire in His temple.
We continue to declare.
In our time of trouble, even now, the LORD our God hides us in His pavilion; He hides us in the secret place of His tabernacle, AND, at the same time, He sets us high above a rock.
For this reason I raise my head – I lift my head up above our enemies all around us.
For this reason, we give glory and praise to our God and Father, with sacrifices of joy and praises to the LORD Most High!
This is the edge that we have: That though we may find ourselves in danger and surrounded, our God and our Rock hides us in safety, but He also lifts us above our foes.
Working together with Psalm 23: He prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies; And not only are we anointed – see, we are lifted high above our enemies, and we sing praises and rejoice, knowing that even in their midst, in plain sight of those who call themselves our enemies… Halleluyah, our cup runs over!
All praise to God, all glory to His name! Through Christ, though all we may see is darkness, we have seen, are seeing, and will see the goodness of the LORD!
Thank You, Father, Son, and Spirit – You are with us. You minister to us, no matter what happens. Because of this, You ARE our Edge.
Thank You so much, Lord!
(Psalm 27 continued, beginning at verses 11-14)
LORD, You teach me Your Way, and you lead me in a smooth path.
I am relating this here and now, with what I’ve been seeing. Manong Ronald has come from being immobile and in great pain, to walking around using a chair, then a cane, and then a brace. Now, I’ve been talking with him and he’s been in high spirits
Last week I was fully concerned about my own Mom, much so that I had to call my brother so we could pray – last week, Mom was pretty down physically; She was always lying down, coughing, and her tummy was bloated for some reason. Now, as I’m waiting on her, I’m joyous in sharing that though she’s still coughing, she’s well rested and moving around the house – and in a little while, I’m driving her out to get vegetables.
Right now, I’m also rejoicing. Personally I am feeling the LORD, not only repairing bodies, by reprogramming my mind. Literally forgetting what lies behind and also being brought to keep my eyes on the prize, setting my heart and aligning it; Or, rather, celebrating the alignment of my heart and mind to Christ and the Holy Spirit.
I see the LORD working, at least in these three instance; Therefore, I am confident all the more to proclaim and declare the Word, especially for my brothers, and for their families:
(Psalm 27:12) That they shall not be delivered to the will of their adversaries; they shall not be delivered to the desires of these false witnesses who have risen against them.
And, indeed; ‘I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.‘
The Word remains… for all my concerns, plans and desires. By Christ and His Spirit, I shall (27:14) wait on the LORD, and I shall be of good courage, and He shall strengthen my heart.
Thank You so much, Jesus!
September 27, 2025. Again.
I’m thinking to myself… When I’m working every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, I’m in Washington. For 30 hours a week, I am not anywhere else, but Washington: helping riders, drivers, agents, fellow dispatchers, schedulers, partners, and managers.
…This is my mission field. I do not explicitly share the Gospel with them, but I give thanks to God because every text, every call, every report, every file, every click, every response and reaction is, in itself, a testimony.
That’s… one of the many masks I wear: The Dispatcher mask. Then there’s the Pastor mask, the Homeowner mask, the ‘Businessman’ mask… and NOW that I’m thinking about it, it’s not masks I’m wearing because masks imply covering my face. No, these are roles I have. That sounds more appropriate.
…And God forbid that I take one of these roles and call them my identity. No, the roles are a layer above (foundational) identity.
Even now I am reminded, that who I am beneath it all… even beneath my own name, I am primarily, first and foremost, Christ’s. To quote a tweet I had in the past:
So I’m not a Christian Igorot, nor am I a Christian Filipino. Not a Christian photographer, nor am I a Christian Online Worker.
I’m an Igorot-Filipino, frustrated Forex-trading, oligarch-wannabe Christian who happens to have initials JBL, likes landscapes and works online.
This was way back 2019. Yup. And now, thanks to recent wise counsel, I’m led to see that even if we weren’t factoring in the scam pandemic, things were different back then. Times were different back then.
…More importantly, I was different back then.
Apparently, having a surplus of cash as a fallback does a lot to your attitude. 2019 JB was richer; he was certainly thinner, and from the looks of things, he had his head up in the clouds a little higher back then, too.
Yeah, now that I’m thinking about it where I am… and at this time, almost 6 years since that (October) 2019 tweet, I can say that I wasn’t taking the altitude seriously.
What do I mean? Well, I was fully aware that the altitude money brings you gives you better views, in that you see more, and you see further… BUT apparently I was ignorant – not clueless, mind you, but ignorant – of the fact that the higher you are, the thinner the air gets.
I’m not going to go further into that… or should I?
Because, sure, I’m aware that having more ought to keep you dependent and trusting in the LORD, just as much as having less pushes you to the same dependence…
BUT I suppose I was talking about said dependence more than living it out.
I mean, like right now; Sure, I was writing back then, but now, and I’m not saying this to brag… Or, hell, I’ll just say it this way:
I freaking need God now, more than ever, and I give God the glory now, more than ever, because, lemme tell ya, (1) the stakes are absolutely higher now, more than ever, (2) I’m absolutely hopeless on my own now, more than ever, and, most of all (3) God – my FATHER, oh, I’ve seen Him so faithful to me and in all that concerns me, and all I’m concerned about.. now, more than ever!
Apparently in my case, I had the opportunity to see how everything is nothing… and I failed that, suffering, the consequence. No, I suppose I’m joining a good number of folks, my brothers and sisters in the Body, in saying that we needed to be brought to NOTHING before realizing Christ is EVERYTHING.
Halleluyah.
Halle-freaking-luyah.
(after a walk and more slacking off)
You gotta start it off like how Tyler Durden says it:
“You are not your job.
You are not the car you drive…
…You’re not your fucking khakis.”
And I’ll stop it there, only to keep the momentum.
I am not the all singing, all dancing crap of the world.
I am not my perspective, nor am I my opinion.
I am not my past conquests and victories, nor am I my past beautiful, memorable experiences.
I am not my past failures and regrets, nor am I the consequences of my choices, good and bad.
I am not my past… primarily.
I am not the fear of rejection, and this simultaneous dissatisfaction of where I stand regarding one particular person I still hold close to my heart.
I am not my fear and anxiety regarding the health of my Mom, my brothers and their families.
I am not the intimidation related to the upkeep, protection, and maintenance of this house.
I am not the stress and anxiety of my 30-hour a week job, with all its idle times and sudden nerve-wracking situations.
I am not the sympathy I receive in the uncommon times I open up about all of this stuff.
I am not the comfort that I seek and apparently prioritize.
These and all things concerning me do not define my identity.
Christ was born, died, rose again and ascended to heaven for me to believe, receive and live off of the promises and decrees of the Word.
I am NOT all these things I mentioned, nor am I what the world says I am.
I am the righteousness of God, in Christ Jesus. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
I am a new creation. Old things have passed away; Behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
The law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
Sin does not have dominion over me, for I am not under law, but under grace. I do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:2, 6:14, 8:1)
This Spirit who raised Christ from the dead has given life to our mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in us. By the Spirit we put to death the deeds of the body, and we live. (Romans 8:11,13)
There’s a lot to take in, a lot to declare. But in so far as current situations and circumstances go, I will say this. I will declare this, for this is who the Word says I am:
I am a temple of the Holy Spirit, bought at a price. I glorify God in my body and in my spirit, which are God’s. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
As mentioned, I am a new creation: All things have become new, and I no longer have any obligation to the flesh, nor does sin have any power or dominion over me.
I am in constant communion with Father, Son, and Spirit: ‘The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me, and HIs Word is on my tongue‘ (2 Samuel 23:2-3)
In every response and reaction, the Spirit responds and reacts with me. I speak as the Spirit speaks. I chat as the Holy Spirit chats with me. He causes all things to work for the good of the body of Christ.
Surely as He intercedes for me, surely as He speaks for me… He continues to faithfully convict us all, through words spoken, heard. thought or otherwise projected/communicated – that the hearts and minds of men and women would come to Christ (the goodness of God), and that God’s will would be done, on earth as in heaven.
See, there’s so much we can stretch out, FROM Christ and His finished work at the very specific core.
When we live from Christ, who is the Word of God, and as we flow from this grace and this glory… we send life, light and love naturally, effectively, effortlessly… powerfully.
We are not denying all that we see in this world, but we are also saying that we are not defined by circumstance. It is by the Word that we now live. Christ is the living Word that engulfs ALL that concerns us, and all we are concerned about.
16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.2 Corinthians 5:16-21
This is what we live from. This was the motivation for our seeking, the heart behind our schooling, and now the foundation of our sending.
James Odongo said 1.8 people are dying every second and we are encouraged to do the math. The Rapture can happen at any time. Current events, domestic and foreign, and even in our own personal lives – they all point towards Christ’s return. I’m not denying that.
Or maybe we aren’t even thinking about these things because we have enough problems in our own backyard. We’re having issues seeking, schooling, and sending on our own.
My friends, to close, I suppose I just want to say this:
We are not here to cast burdens of works upon you, nor are we here to condemn. We’re not here to make slaves. We are not in the slave-trade business.
We’re here to win souls. By the finished work of Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit alive in us, we’re here to testify to the Gospel of Christ, we’re here to speak the Word of God and to speak life, light and love into this wretched, dying world. We overcome by the blood of Jesus, and by the word of our testimony.
We are not here to send from the basis of fear.
We send from the same perfect love that saved us. We send from the Truth of God’s Son taking us from merely existing, to living true and eternal Life. We send from perfect love that casts out all fear.
Christ had compassion over us, so we have compassion for the lost, the oppressed, the marginalized, the sick, the widows and the orphans.
Christ had a heart for us, so we have a heart for the harvest.
Take stock in your relationship with Jesus
– Mom
Up next:
The Bottom Line
12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
1 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits. Hebrews 5:12 – 6:3
God bless us all. Amen.
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JB's Personal Brain Defragmenter 
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