Do You Suffer for Love?

Do you have a partner? A girlfriend or a spouse?

Do you suffer tailing her in the mall when she goes shopping and you carry all the shopping bags?

Do you suffer when she enters a store, picks up two items and asks you “Which one is better? What do you think?” And in your mind you want to say, “Buy both. Let’s go home!” But decided not to and tells her your preference?

Do you have a child? Or three small naughty children that appears to be 27 kids because of the noise and mess and chaos they do in your house? Do you suffer being a parent for them?

I believe that it is sweet, beautiful and lovely suffering.

But it is not suffering for suffering’s sake.

It is suffering for the sake of love.

You still go with her to the mall and accompany her because you are with the woman of your dreams.

You take care of your children because they are your jewel, your prince and your princess. You suffer because of your love for them.

Confession, I don’t have a father. I do but I never saw him. He went outside the country to work when I was one year old. And he never came back. Thankfully, my mom was there. He took care of us, six children. Do you think she suffered? You bet! And I believe that we are who we are now because there’s this mother who suffered being a father and mother for us because she loves us. (Thank you, ma!)

And right now, as the Holy Week approaches, we remember how Jesus has suffered and died for us on a cross.

Jesus died in the Calvary as a common criminal but He never committed a crime. He never committed a sin. Yet He died on a cross.

The King of all kings. The God who created the heavens and the earth. The one who made you and me, died on the cross.

Why?

He could have made a decision to save you “You’re saved.” That’s it!

But God is a God who wants to convince you that He loves you. He wants to express and manifest His love for you. He wanted to show it so that you will have no doubt whatsoever that you are important to Him.

Friends, accept that love from Jesus.

You are worth suffering for.

The Art of Enjoying Life

I am writing this article in front of the house early this morning.

I’m telling you, it is sooo wonderful just to sit here and be mesmerized by the green leaves and blooming flowers with beautiful background music from real, flying, singing birds.

No car noise. No people passing by the street (still in their dreamland).

Just nature.

I loved it!

I am recapturing the ability to enjoy every moment of my life. At no cost! (Well, except for my coffee and doughnut.)

You know, we are losing the art of enjoying life.

We have so many issues. We have so many burdens. We were thinking so many things. We have so many worries.

We are losing the art of enjoying life.

And my word for you is this, learn to relax.

It was Brother Bo who said, “Yes you’ve got problems. Yes you’ve got struggles. Yes you’ve got things running around your mind. But you know what? God wants to teach you that a big part of your life is joy and peace and love. Sure there are problems but your blessings outnumber your problems and you need to learn how to enjoy your life.”

For the past two weeks I had two consecutive weekend vacations with two different groups of people.

Two weeks ago, I went to a resort in Batangas with my college friends and stayed there for a night. They had this beautiful restaurant with a panoramic view of Taal Lake and Taal Volcano. Believe me, it is world class. And we were there talking and laughing and eating and laughing and teasing and… have I mentioned laughing? with the beautiful view of Taal in front of us.

I had fun.

Taste and See

In Psalms 34:8 says, Taste and see that the Lord is good.

How many of you know that the Lord is good?

You know what? It’s not enough just to know about it. It’s not enough just to read about it. You’ve got to taste it. You’ve got to savor it. You’ve got to feel and experience it. You’ve got to enjoy the goodness of God.

Last week, we were in Nagsasa Cove in Zambales, a remote area with no electricity and with no cellular network coverage. Now you know what that means. No facebook, no twitter and no instagram.

I can hear you. “Whaaatt??”

Yes, you read it right. But I enjoyed the adventure with my new friends most of them I just met during the trip. They were happy people. They’re so much fun to be with that when they tell a story or a joke and you can’t relate to it, you will still laugh after. Because their laugh beats SARS, Meningococcemia and H1N1 combined. It is so contagious.

When it was time to cook, I volunteered for the fire. They were amazed on how I was able to create a fire in less than a minute. (ssshh, I brought a match). And I learned that the tagalog word for creating a fire with wood is “magparikit.” (I am getting ahead of my story)

What am I saying?

Just Enjoy.

How many of you wanna recapture that? The ability to smell the flowers even on a busy day? How many of you walked on the beach barefoot and allow the sand to go through your toes? How many of you can seat on a chair looking at a beautiful view of nature just looking and enjoying life?

Friends, God loves it when you’re having fun. When you’re enjoying life, He loves it.

I recalled what brother Bo said during one of his talks, “Some people have this wrong notion that when they’re happy, when they’re glad, they feel guilty that they’re having too much fun and too much happiness. That’s not true. God loves you so much.”

Learn to relax.

Recapture the art of enjoying life!

How?

Be grateful.

Have a joyful summer.

Choose To Be Happy

You know me as a positive person promoting and writing good stuff. But can I confess with you?

One morning, while writing and revising my dreams in my Dream Notebook I felt happy and excited but then tempted to be frustrated. I was tempted to think that my best life is still a long way off. I’ve got so many plans and wonder how I can get there?

Thankfully I remembered the reasons why I have dreamed and wrote them in the first place. One is: To Be Happy!

Poof! Suddenly I realized my best life starts today! I don’t have to wait for everything to be perfectly straightened out in my family or with my work, business or for all my problems to be solved. I don’t have to forgo happiness until I lose weight (okay, in my case until I gain weight), break an unhealthy habit, or accomplish all my goals. No, God wants me to be happy right where I am, right now.

Pastor and motivational author and speaker Joel Osteen said, “Happiness is a choice. When you get up in the morning, you can choose to be happy and enjoy that day, or you can choose to be unhappy and go around with a sour attitude. It’s up to you. If you make the mistake of allowing your circumstances to dictate your happiness, then you risk missing out on God’s abundant life.”

                You may be going through tough times, all of which give you good reason to be unhappy or upset. But being unhappy won’t change anything for the better. Being negative and sour isn’t going to improve anything either. You might as well choose to be happy and enjoy your life!

                 Osteen believed that to do so, we must stop fretting about the future and live one day at a time.

                It’s good to have a big-picture outlook, to set goals, to establish budgets and make plans. I’m doing these things. But I’m learning to not live in the future because I’ll never enjoy the present in the way God wants me to.

                Learn to enjoy your family, your friends, your health, your work. Enjoy everything in your life. “Happiness is a decision you make, not an emotion you feel.” Certainly there are times in all of our lives when bad things happen, or things don’t turn out as we had hoped. But that’s when we must make a decision that we’re going to be happy in spite of our circumstances.

                In one of his talks, Bo Sanchez said, “In your path towards your happiness, things pop up. Things block. You know what those things are? LIFE. Life comes up. And you need to learn how to enjoy every step of the journey.”

                Maybe you wish you were more handsome or more beautiful, more gifted and talented. You may wish you’d been born with a lot more in your favor. But you can’t let those superficial things steal your happiness.

                Friends, learn to be happy in spite of your circumstances. Have a grateful attitude.

Choose to be happy! :)

You Are Worthy

Since the start of the month of February, people are talking about the coming Valentine’s Day. Almost every establishment I went to have decorations with either a red balloon or a heart shape posted on their wall, or the combination of these.

You can also feel this season of love in the web. Netizens have their way of expressing their excitement and enthusiasm on this much awaited February 14 and post it on twitter, instagram or facebook.

Some are happily married. Some are happy with their boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. Some are happy being single. By the way, not all single are happy being single: some singles are looking for a partner; and some are emotionally unstable single who have not been able to move on from their past relationship.

I don’t know what status are you right now. I don’t know where you’ve come from. But whatever you’re going through right now, understand that you are valuable, you are worthy.

Our value is intrinsic. It is not something you and I have earned; indeed we cannot earn it. God built value into us when He created us. That means you can stop obsessing about all your faults and give yourself a break.

Some people are always putting themselves down. “I’m so slow.” “I’m unattractive. Look at my height; look at my nose?” “How can I live? My boyfriend dumped me.” “I was rejected by the woman I’m courting, maybe she’s right; I look like a toad.”

Don’t be so hard on yourself!

The Scripture says we are God’s workmanship. The word workmanship implies that you are not yet a finished product; you are a “work in process.” Certainly, there may be some things in your life that you aren’t happy about; you may have some habits you need to break. But remember, God is not finished with you. Whether you realize it or not, right now God is moving you onward toward greater things.

Imagine that I’m handing you a new, crisp one-thousand-peso bill. Would you want it? Probably so! Suppose I crumpled it up so it wasn’t quite as good-looking as it was. Would you still want it? Sure! But what if I took it out in the parking lot, threw it on the ground and stomped on it until the bill was barely perceptible? Would you still want it?

Of course. Why? Because it is still valuable despite the rough treatment it has experienced.

That’s the way God sees each one of us. Sometimes we feel like that one-thousand-peso-bill, all crumpled and soiled. But just as that one-thousand-peso-bill still has value, we do too! In fact, we will never, ever lose our value.

Our value has been placed in us by God and nobody can take it away from us.

Friend, no matter what you go through in life, no matter how many disappointments you suffer, your value in God’s eyes always remain the same. He will never give up on you so don’t give up on yourself.

Develop a Prosperous Mind-set

There’s this young man in the Old Testament by the name of Bosh.

Okay, it’s Mephibosheth (can we just call him Bosh?). He was the grandson of King Saul and the son of Jonathan.  You may recall that Saul’s son, Jonathan, and David were best friends. They actually entered into a covenant relationship, similar to the ancient covenant of being “blood brothers.” That means whatever one had, it belonged to the other. Moreover, in the covenant relationship, if something were to happen to one of these two men, the remaining “brother” would be obliged to take care of the other’s family.

King Saul and Jonathan were killed in the battle on the same day, and when word got back to the palace, a servant grabbed Bosh, Jonathan’s little son picked him up, and took off running. Going out of Jerusalem in such haste the servant tripped and fell while carrying the child. Bosh became crippled as a result of the fall. The servant transported Jonathan’s son all the way to a city called Lodebar, one of the most poverty-stricken, desolate cities in that entire region. That is where Bosh, grandson of the king, lived almost his entire life. Think about that. He was the grandson of the king, yet he was living in those terrible conditions.

David succeeded Saul as king, and years later, long after Saul and Jonathan were memories in the minds of most people, David asked his staff the question in 2 Samuel  9:1 “Is there anyone left from the house of Saul that I could show kindness to for Jonathan’s sake?” Remember, that was part of the covenant Jonathan and David had entered.

One of David’s staff members replied, “Yes, David. Jonathan has a son that’s still alive, but he’s crippled. He lives in Lodebar.

David said, “Go get him and bring him to the palace.”

When Bosh arrived, he was no doubt fearful.

But David said to him, “Don’t be afraid. I’m going to show kindness to you because of your father, Jonathan. I’m going to give you back all the land that once belonged to your grandfather Saul. And from this day forward, you will eat at my table as though you are one of my sons.”

David treated Bosh as royalty. After all, he was the grandson of the king. And David was in a covenant relationship with father.

Bosh’s life was transformed instantly – that’s the good news – but think of all the years that he lived in that dirty city of Lodebar. All the while, he knew he was royalty. Beyond that, it was commonly known that David and Jonathan were in a covenant relationship. Based on that alone Bosh knew he had rights.

Why didn’t he just go into the palace and say, “King David, I’m Jonathan’s son. I’m living in poverty down in Lodebar, and I know that I’m made for more than that. I’m here to claim what belongs to me through my father’s covenant relationship with you.”

Why did Bosh settle for mediocrity? We catch a clue from his initial response to David. When David told him that he was going to take care of him, the Bible says, “Bosh bowed his head low and he said. ‘Who am I that you notice such a dead dog like me?”

Do you see his self-image? He saw himself as defeated, as a loser, as a dead dog.

Yes, he was the grandson of the king, but his image of himself kept him from receiving the privileges that rightfully belonged to him.

Why did I share you that story? Because for once in our lives, if not many times, we do the same thing. Confession, I was like Bosh. I saw myself as a dead dog. My self image was so contrary to the way God sees me that I miss out on God’s best. Thankfully I’m thinking and seeing a new perspective. I’m learning to see myself as what God sees me. And God sees us as champions.

Friends, start stepping up to the dinner table. Start enjoying God’s blessings for you. Develop a prosperous mind-set, seeing yourself as the royalty God made you to be.