Act 7:60 And kneeling down, he cried with a loud voice, Lord, do not lay this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
In this verse, the Lord is teaching us the right attitude to people who troubles us. To retaliate is the expected reaction of man; to pay back evil for evil – all at once.
We may not retaliate overtly, but oftentimes we fight back with our body language and in our minds. Cold shoulder is what we give them, together with a massive dose of evil thoughts. In our minds, murder is going on.
It requires a deep sense of maturity to entrust our offended heart to the Lord and let Him punish…
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One fine morning, I finally decided to clean my refrigerator that was screaming from overload. I procrastinated because defrosting is always messy and tedious. Surprisingly, I enjoyed every bit of it.
First, I began emptying the lower compartment while I waited for the ice in the freezer to soften a bit. While removing food items from the refrigerator, I realized that there were many foodstuff inside that reminded me of people who care for me. The bag of walnut reminded me of the thoughtfulness of my eldest sister who carried a load of it all the way from Oregon, USA as pasalubong. Thoughts of her joyful visit flashed in my mind. And while I was removing a bunch of “suman”,…
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When I was young, I dreaded the thought of having white hairs. For me it meant old age and eventually… death. But as I grow older, and get my share of white hairs that multiply by the day, my perspective about it changed. By the grace of God, I began to welcome those glistening white strands as part of the beautiful process of aging.
God’s great design and His gentle dealing with His people are evident in the process of aging. God’s wisdom dictates that the emergence of our white hairs be a slow and lengthy process. Initially, it appears as a permanent “highlight” of brownish shade just above the forehead. Soon it invades a wider part of…
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“And also women were following, who were accompanying Him out of Galilee, who watched the tomb, and how His body was placed. And they returned and they prepared spices and ointment. And they rested on the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” Luke 23:55-56
Observe the love of the women to Jesus which (seemingly) surpasses that of the disciples’. When Christ was on His way to Calvary, His disciples were nowhere to be found, probably watching from afar, afraid to be associated with Jesus. But these women were following every event in the crucifixion. They would not like to leave their eyes off Jesus. It was their deep affection that made them lingered. That is why they saw the tomb…
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“So teach us to number our days, so that we may bring to Thee a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12
We need to number our days because each day will pass and will never return. Every day, a drop falls from the bucket of life and we do now know how much more is left. Today could be the last drop… we just don’t know.
We number things because we want each item to be secured and counted. We value each single piece and don’t want to lose it. It is like a merchandise. When one item is lost or damaged the seller feels some regret because he knows he lost a portion of his profit.
If each day is of value,…
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“But the word about Him spread even more. And great crowds were coming to hear, and to be healed from their infirmities by Him. But He was drawing back in the wilderness, and praying.” Luke 5:15-16
In the midst of heavy work, in time of deep engagements, there must be a time to draw back and pray. Prayer is an integral part of our work, whatever it is. We need to be sustained by prayer. In the midst of the heaviness of a schedule, we need to pause and pray.
Christ deliberately left the pressing crowd, the adulation of people, the cry for help, the seeming immediacy of the moment and went to the wilderness – away from the crowd and…
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Motherhood is not for the faint-hearted. Because for it to be successful, it requires a great price – even the price of one’s ambition and dreams. It is a sad reality that countless women, young and old alike plunged into motherhood without a full knowledge of the responsibilities that go with it. They think of motherhood as something that can be learned along the way.
Many even think that motherhood can be relegated to the yaya or relatives. They can easily source out an unknown person from remote places and fully handed to her the care of her precious bundle of joy. This yaya, whom the values and character are hardly examined is given the power to influence the mind…
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All of us are mandated to work. It is God’s design that we bear much fruits and at the same time find joy and fulfillment in our respective calling. We want to excel in our calling, and the way to excellence is by the wise use of our time. All of us are given 24 hours and what differentiates successful and average people is the way they manage their time. For indeed “a person maybe multi-talented, possesses enormous intelligence and remarkable gift, but can waste them all because of the inability to manage his/her time.”
But before we can see the necessity of time management, we need to convinced of the importance of time. Time is our most precious possession,…
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“And He entered into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, He asked him to thrust out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the people out of the boat. And as He stopped speaking, He said to Simon, Launch out into the deep and let your nets down for a haul.
And answering, Simon said to Him, Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing. Yet at Your word I will let down the net.” Luke 5:3 -5
A lot of people gathered by the lake Gennesaret and were eager to hear Jesus speak. But there was a small problem. Jesus couldn’t be seen by the multitude. Jesus then asked Simon to thrust…
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Ang Krus ni Kristo
Isang lingo sa bawat taon, ang kalipunan ng mga Filipino ay nakatuon sa pag-alala sa Dios. Dito ipinagdiriwang ang pagkamatay at pagkabuhay na magmuli ni Kristo. Tinatawag itong Semana Santa o Holy Week. Ang Krus ni Kristo ay sentro sa okasyong ito.
Ang pagiging relihiyoso ng mga Filipino ay naipapamalas sa ganitong panahong. May mga nagsasadula ng gawang pagliligtas ni Kristo mula sa paglilitis hanggang sa Kanyang pagkabuhay na magmuli. Marami din ang nagpapabasa ng Pasyon. Ang Pasyon ay aklat na inilalahad ang pagkamatay at pagkabuhay ni Kristo sa malikhaing pagtutugma ng mga salita at binabasa ng pa-awit. Isa itong matanda nang tradisyon ng mga Filipino. At mayroon ding mga prusisyon at pag-aayuno, katulad ng hindi pagkain…
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