Why I Love/You Love

Today, my girlfriend and I are celebrating our 14^th monthsary.

Fantastic 1 year and 2 months!

Some of you might say, “Oh wala yan! Kami 3 years na.” Or “Kami 7 years na.” Or “Simula high school, kami na. Hanggang ngayon na nagtatrabaho na, kami pa din.”

I salute you. I admire you. You’re such an inspiration.

But my story is different. Can I share it with you?

Back when I was a child, I was attracted to only one person in our school. She was good looking and cute. And I was not. (Now, I understand you if you won’t agree with me.)

I was very thin that if I was assigned to tie the ropes of the flag after our flag ceremony, all the students standing and lined-up were astonished of what they perceived as David Copperfield’s magic trick. Everytime I would stand sideways at the back of the flag pole, I was so thin I would vanish into thin air.

Then I became a teen ager and my attraction (we called it “crush”) to girls would increase in number but my self-confidence does not.

In college? Same thing. Some people say, “hanggang tingin ka nalang.” And they were right.

But I discovered one valuable truth.

In my later years in College, I happen to have attended a prayer meeting called The Feast. The experience was so amazing that I kept attending almost every week.

I experienced the Love of God.

Fast forward, I met this lovely woman who is my co-celebrant today.

How did that happen?  What changed? How can someone like me who was not cute (deliberately italicized the word “was”) can have a gorgeous, wonderful, fantastic, lovely girlfriend?

In 1 John 4:19, it says “We love because He first loved us.”

I began to receive the love of God. And because God loves me, I began to love myself more. And I was able to share that love with my girlfriend until today.

The good news is, God never ceases to love me. He never ceases to love you.

Friends, receive the love of God.

Receive the Very Best Miracle

Right after graduation in college, I remember I prayed the most important prayer of the decade. I was 19 years old then.

I asked, “Lord, please give me a girlfriend now. I have been focused on studying for the past years, following my parents’ advice. I believe I deserve a girlfriend who’s beautiful, kind and will love me unconditionally. I really need a girlfriend now, Lord.”

So I started to browse my list of the people I met that I have a crush on.

I started to date a nurse, a former miss university, a freshman student, and countless more I can’t remember. (Fine! One more only.)

But it didn’t turn out the way I prayed and the way I planned.

I couldn’t find the qualities I was looking for.

Until this “one more” came into my life. I thought she was the one. She is beautiful and kind. So I kept on praying and claiming to God, “Lord, thank you for answering my prayer, for my future girlfriend.”

I was happy that finally my dream is in my hands now.

But I was wrong.

I asked the Lord, “Why? I thought You want the best for me? She is the best person for me that I’ve come to know so far. I’m now turning 23 Lord. Kindly reconsider? She is really the answer to my prayer.”

GOD’S VERSION

Sometimes, in our immaturity, we insist our own version of a miracle, our own details, and our own specifics.

And it’s very important to pray with specifics. You need to pray with details. But you don’t insist on them. You only insist on one thing, that God give you the best version of your miracle. And sometimes that best version will not come right away.

Sometimes God’s time is not our time. And God’s way of blessing is not the way that we thought.

ANSWERED PRAYER

After 4 years of praying, looking and searching, just a few days after my 23^rd birthday, my dream came true. I have found a girlfriend who’s beautiful, kind and loves me unconditionally. But most of all, she loves Jesus more than I do. And that’s very important for me.

RECEIVE THE VERY BEST MIRACLE

Some of you were praying for something for sometime now and it is as though God is not hearing you. It is as though God is not minding your prayer. I want you to never give up. Don’t give up the dream that God has planted in your heart.

If you’re praying for something right now and you feel so discouraged, I’ve got some encouragement for you. Maybe you’re praying for the wrong version of the dream that He has placed in your heart. The right version is coming but you’ve got to trust in God.

The rain of God for your life will come. Be ready for His surprise.

Receive the very best miracle that you need.

Your friend,

Kevin

Try to Remind Yourself to Always be Humble

Today I’m going to talk about humility. It is a word that you can always google on the web. Probably, you’ve heard it many times before in your Christian Living subject when you were in elementary.

But I believe it is a virtue that can be fully understood when experienced a downfall, a setback, a tragedy, a defeat, a temporary failure.

Let me tell you my story.

More than two years ago, I helped my brother (let’s call him John) put up a Pharmacy. To give you a little of my background, I’m a registered pharmacist. And I learned how to run a pharmacy business from my eldest brother (let’s call him Lloyd), who has pharmacies.

When I started, I would often ask advice about accounting from John and business acumen from Lloyd.

I learned fast.

Suddenly, I felt I was the smartest guy in the world and nothing can stop me. Sometimes I dream I wear a red cape and underwear over my pants.

It didn’t take long and the business was thriving and earning a lot of profit. I dominated the market.

Instantly, I was able to buy a car.

I was energetic, enthusiastic and invincible man.

Because I was experiencing success, most of the unsolicited advice I receive from John and Lloyd, I just ignore them. I said to myself, “Hey! I’m on top of the mountain, I don’t need your advice, and I already know these things you’re telling me.”

I never thought of losing. It is almost impossible for me.

And then something happened. Lex Luthor came into the picture.  A group of doctors entered the competition. They lowered their prices to the floor. Sometimes I think they even dug the soil, I can’t even compete anymore.

Almost two years of operations. I closed the pharmacy.

I lost my car.

It was a painful period of my life.

I failed.

I was shocked! I never saw it from a distance. I said to myself, “I was supposed to be superman here!”

Friends, why did I tell you that story?

To remind you.

Are you starting out? A business. A career.

Or are you at the peak of that business or career?

Let me have a word for you: “Try to remind yourself to always be humble.”

After that incident, I pray often. I talk to God and ask Him what He was trying to tell me. All of a sudden, I’m desperate for His attention. And He tells me that same message I’m sharing with you.

Let us be reminded to always be humble.

Praying for you,

Kevin

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. - Matthew 23:12