God’s Gift
Whenever you feel like you have less, simply stare around and you’ll see how much gift you have from God. On my way out, I saw this beautiful clouds outside and said to myself how awesome God is! We are so blessed here in Cal to have such a wonderful climate and views! You don’t get to see this so blue sky in Beijing!! Everything there is white, gloomy and real humid. If it were not for their culture, it may not be a nice place to visit. But, God is good.. He gives gifts to each one and they are blessed too, differently. But, for us here, let’s just enjoy and treasure what we have. I thank God for allowing me to be able to stop and cherish what my eyes can see and appreciate. I enjoy seeing the flowers bloom but since I can’t stop and smell the roses, He gave me the hills and the sky to stare at. Praise You Lord; I appreciate every gift you give me!!

Will sure come back for a picnic at Pismo Beach. This county is really blessed with so many great views. Thanks, KC for bringing me here!!!

We’re heading home to San Ramon. ‘Am gonna miss our daily scenery on our way to Cal Poly from Madonna. Really beautiful.. the entire town is really breath taking!!!

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?” The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment. (Matthew 8:5-13 NIV)

We always say this before our communion and am so touched to have seen the background story of it. A centurion is a commander in the Roman ancient times and I could imagine how the servant would do anything he says. Man with this authority humbled his heart before Jesus to ask for the healing of his servant amazed me, as well. In the prayer we say, ‘.. and my soul shall be healed’. In the story it was his servant whom he wanted healed. In the process of his request, his soul was also healed. Thus, the prayer says our soul will be healed even when we ask for someone else.

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said:
“Wake up, sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.” Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:1-20 NIV)

‘Am so amazed by reading this. I believe this is exactly what God wants us to be. If you want to be a servant of God, just follow these. It is so specific and so clear to me. Immorality or any kind of impurity is a form of idolatry that is why God hates it. Doing so, is also partnering with the devil.
Being in the light is also waking up. Leave our sins and raise from the dead. When you are in darkness, your soul is dead; you can’t have peace. Do not be fooled by Satan. God is with you; He will never abandon you anyway so don’t be lured by the enemy. You can stay away from the enemy if you constantly empower yourself with the Holy Spirit. When you are constantly embracing God by talking to Him and sharing His goodness to people, the devil stays away from you. You don’t even have to avoid him, which can be more difficult. It’s a lot easier when the devil avoids you because you are holy with God. You become shielded by God and this is empowering yourself. You become equipped with the supernatural power that Jesus Christ has just by simply not having the devil around you. Safeguard your turf everytime. When secured, you are empowered.
I never knew how it was to be empowered back then. I was advised to do that but I did not know how. I started by searching Christ and learning the scriptures. It made me equipped and eventually realized that by doing this, it protects me from Satan and that is how I got empowered. I feel it, I feel empowered everytime I share and talk about God. There is more power to it and it keeps the devil away. In Jesus’ name, I cast the devil out of here. Amen!

But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. I call God as my witness—and I stake my life on it—that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm. (2 Corinthians 1:18-24 NIV)

God’s promise is always a ‘Yes” to us. All we need to do is to have faith that He is working for our joy. Verse 22 is a confirmation of his faithfulness to us that He guarantees His promise.
When an ad says the product is guaranteed or your money back, we are convinced that the promise will comply. We believe and we purchase. This is what this verse is talking about. God Himself, the Almighty is saying He guarantees His promise will come to pass so we just got to BELIEVE and have FAITH. How else can we not trust when Him, the Lord God is the guarantor! Amen, in Jesus’ name, I praise you Lord, we love you!!!

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. (John 6:44 NIV)

This is part of the Gospel today, John 6:44-51. I enjoyed the sermon today at the Mission Church. He explained it very clearly. He said that when God draws us to come to Jesus, He actually was giving us His great gift so we can repent and search for Christ. Through Jesus, we can come towards Him and be united intimately with the Holy Trinity. We are not supposed to resent the gift, which most often is deceivably in the form of a disaster rather than a worldly present, but instead we should welcome it the way we are supposed to welcome the Holy Spirit into our hearts. By accepting our gift, we transform and become worthy of the rewards from Heaven.

It’s been a while since I last blogged. I remember now why. While in Texas, I attempted quite a few times and got impatient waiting for the small circle to stop rotating. It was like taking forever. Guess there’s a lot of us now blogging in Tumblr that’s why. My neice baptized a name for this small circle. In Manila, they often see this in most apps cause internet over there is super slow. She called this a washing machine. Funny, cause it really looks like a washing machine rotating clothes forever. Haha! Since then, my siblings would call it the same and we all will get that there is quite some delay due to slow internet.
Anyways, now am back to California. I’ve been to some places this year. Last Feb, I started my journey to Manila. There, I had bonding with my siblings in Palawan. It was super fun; totally enjoyed it. I found how God loves the Philippines. We are so blessed with so many natural resources considered wonders of the world. The Underground River totally smashed other natures in the world. I’d vote for it to be one of the wonders!
The following month, I went to San Antonio, Texas to visit my friends, Evelyn and Jess. Will show some pics later. Everything in Texas is huge. What’s nice about San Antonio is that they’re a developing city. Most establishments are very new. Houses are really cheap compared to California. It’s just super hot. It was in the 80-90’s degrees during Spring time! Got some heat rushes but I enjoyed my trip, as well. Got to experience living in such a wide space. I liked it!
‘Was so blessed to have such lovely friends; they made things so much easy for me :) There, I also discovered a very good preacher, Joel Osteen. I never enjoyed listening to one as much as I did with him. He is one of those that one should check out. I feel so uplifted whenever I listen to him. Will share here some of his videos later.
Now, am here in San Luis Obispo with KC. Been here only for a couple of days and I now feel like a resident here. Am now at Mc Donald’s here in Madonna and I remember blogging at one point about their Mc Donald’s here. I felt the same ambiance as I entered earlier. I guess it’s because it seems fancier here; they have this jazz music playing as I got in. There are lots of people today; the seniors as usual are gathered in one of the bigger tables. I imagine Lolo (my father-in-law) cause most of them are wearing caps. I wonder if they were used to wearing them when they were younger or, could it be that they are now covering their bald head. Haha! Will Lenn be the same when he gets older? Well, for me, maybe I’ll just wear my JLo hair more often! Haha!!

John 2:3-11 3 And by this we may be sure that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 He who says “I know him” but disobeys his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly love for God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him: 6 he who says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. 7 Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. 8 Yet I am writing you a new commandment, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 9 He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in the darkness still. 10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and in it there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But he who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

This is the first reading today. Indeed easy to reflect on but can be difficult to abide when things get tangled and conflict our human reasons. The readings are really precious as we go since it keeps us focused on God’s purpose for us and not on our worldly needs. It indeed should make our life easier and will give us joy, if and only if we do not conveniently insist to escape our problems, compromising God’s law. Loving one another is what is expected of us. Thus, we should not hate one who is lost and has lack of faith. When we do, we too still live in darkness and cannot continue to focus on Him on our way to His purpose for us.

Little Kids

Just got out of our Faith Formation class. Kids are really funny and so enjoyable to be with. We had Christmas pizza party and had games afterwards. Kids love games, activities and I think that is what’s keeping them together in class. You just can’t bore them. We had fun as well seeing them enjoying!

BTW, in the picture, the kids were trying to answer a question, ‘Who were the three kings who visited Jesus in Bethlehem?’. They could hardly remember so I gave them the 2 kings - Melchor and Balthazar. I then asked them who the third one is and still they can’t remember. I gave them another clue that it starts with a letter ‘G’. One then hurriedly yelled, ‘George!’. I said, ‘No!’. The other one then replied ‘Jesus!’. I said Jesus does not start with a letter G! Another one then raised his hand and asked, ‘God?’. I finally gave up and gave them the answer.. Haha, they’re really funny and I love them so much!!