Of Abundant Grace and Peace

May grace and peace be yours in abundance through knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.  2 Peter 1:2

Why do you know you have grace when you need it?

Is it because you possess the skills to accomplish a service? Is it because you are doing a ministry which you are considered an expert? Is it because you have the ample resources for the mission at hand? Is it because you have been there, done that? Is it because the mountain is not too much to climb?

Why do you know you have peace in your very heart?

Is it because you know you still have work tomorrow? Is it because you are healthy and you are still kicking and running? Is it because everything nowadays went well and going well? Is it because your bank account is fat as it seems? Is it because the economy is recovering as it should be?

End of questions.

Peter points to one thing why you have grace and peace -- knowledge of God and of Jesus.

When you know him, you know you can and you will do it by his grace. Though your skills maybe short or resources are scarce, you know you have grace because you know your God supplies your strength and wisdom to do so. Though the opposition of the service is great, his grace will be  immensely available for you, for you know your God will enable you. Though the days may follow the same route and may give you complacency, you know his grace will come to you by knowing him.

When you know him, you know you can close your eyes at night and sleep in peace like a babe and wake up revived like a young colt. In the midst of economic crisis, unemployment, family chaos or health issues, you have peace for he gives it to you by knowing him who calms the storm. Knowing your God, allows you to be still (Psalm 46:10). He brings you a table of feast in front of your enemies, that's why you know you will have peace by knowing him.

Other translation provides knowledge of God as experience with God. The more we experience him, the more we acknowledge his grace and his offering of peace. The more you spend your life with him, the more you tap into his grace and allow his presence to give you peace.

May you have the passion to know him. May your days be filled with experiencing our Almighty God. May you have grace and peace in abundance.

Sending Humans

When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Matthew 28:17

They saw the risen Jesus. They worshiped him. And then, they doubted.

That's what we read from Matthew.

And yet, also according to Matthew, Jesus approached these worshipers--doubters and sends them to go out to the whole world to make disciples out of men. Jesus further gives them the authority to baptize people in the name of the Holy Trinity plus the position to teach people regarding how to follow and love him. Most importantly, Jesus promised them of his presence until the end of time.

That's right.

Jesus sent doubters to the world to bring his life giving and life saving message. He is sending imperfect disciples to preach to imperfect people. He does not commission people who have no flaws, he sends men who are just like us, humans. He sends men, who even in their prayers, have doubts into their hearts yet they continue to lift their hearts to him. He sends men, who even in their time of worship, have worries in their minds and yet they rest in their ever dependable God.

God sends humans to humans. Imperfect to imperfect. Sinners to sinners. Doubters to doubters. So maybe they can empathize with them. So maybe they can accept them and love them. So maybe they can understand their situation for they are in their situation.

When you feel you are unfaithful to him to serve him in your church, read that verse again. When you feel your weakness pulls you before you are able to offer your time and skills for him, reflect on that verse again. When your imperfection or spiritual inadequacy prevents you in volunteering for a ministry, come back to that verse again. When a doubt or a sin blocks you to make disciples out of men, be encouraged by that verse.

God is not sending superheroes. He is sending humans.

What Would You Do?

He would have decreed their destruction, had not Moses, the chosen leader, withstood him in the breach to turn back his destroying anger. Psalm 106:23

There’s a catch in helping someone.

In ABC’s “What Would You Do?”, they had this featured experiment episode where a waiter drops, on the floor, the food he is about to serve to a certain nice couple. The people sitting near the couple, who saw what happened, informed the couple even before the waiter has gone back to the kitchen or to whatever he is about to do. These people are really helpful.

One twist is, how about when the partners are not nice but are mean customers to the waiter? The couple would belittle the waiter as he is getting  their orders. They would shout at him, even mock his job. They would call him unacceptable names. The people around the couple had mixed reactions when they saw the waiter dropped the food and served the food on the couple’s table. One woman informed the couple about it. But with an angry tone. She pointed out their abusive conduct towards the poor waiter and defended the food server. They repeated the experiment and no nearby person helped out in informing the mean couple about the dropped food.

So, its good to help good people but its not good to help bad people.

Moses did not see it this way.

As the Israelites turned their worship from God to a fashioned molten calf, God was about to destroy the former slaves. Psalm 106:20-22 exposes their actions, “They exchanged their glorious God for the image of a grass-eating bull. They forgot the God who saved them, who did great deeds in Egypt, Amazing deeds in the land of Ham, fearsome deeds at the Red Sea.” Before this, they were complaining about their situation in the desert and even compared it when they were Pharaoh’s slaves. Surely, these are bad people. Moses would have told God, “Lord, you are right, anyway these are bad people. They turned away from you. These are spoiled brats. Go ahead with your plan.”

However, Moses helped them. Moses prayed for them. He pleaded for God’s mercy on their behalf. And God listened to his intercession, “So the LORD relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people. “ Exodus 32:14.

You can be like Moses. May you look the way Moses looked. May you help the people who may not deserve to be helped. May you pray to God in behalf of the people who may be mean to you or to others. May you concretely practice concern for people who in one way or another have hurt you or are hurting someone.

Helping people is being blind. You don’t see who they are or they are not, you just help them.

Amnesia

Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you. Isaiah 49:15

It was a deliberate short-term amnesia.

I left my mother as I marched down to my high school graduation. I was one of the students getting honors and my mother came to march with me. I did not call her out that the entrance ceremony was about to begin. She made her dress by herself for this day. She prepared for my big day. She was proud of me but I guess I’m not of her. I marched down alone as my classmates held hands with their fathers or mothers.

I got the hardest scolding of my life after that. She was trembling with anger that I deliberately forgot about her. She was asking for explanation why I did what I did but I had no reason for my fault against her. And she has every reason to forget that I am her son.

But she did not. She continued to be my mother. She blessed me every day after that. She gave me life’s insights through her words and actions. She cared for me up until her last breath on her bed. She did not forget.

Just like God.

How many times you have deliberately have forgotten about him? When it is high time that you hold his hand, and declare he is with you, you turn your head to the other direction, clasp your own hand and forget to call his name. There were times, publicly, you have shunned association with this living God who loves you and cares for you.

Yet, this is the same God who stays with you and stays being your loving God. He is the same God who blesses your days and guides you to lead you to a prosperous life, a future and a hope. A God whose tender love gets you through the difficult times. A God who continues to remember his faithfulness in the midst of your unfaithfulness. A God who remembers to pull you out of the deep waters whenever you focus on the winds rather than on him. A God who will stand up for you and with you when people around you are about to stone you. He never forgets you. He will never forget you.

He got no amnesia.

You Come First

The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me." John 5:7

He was never first.

Every time he made strides to be the first one, someone beats him by a mile. His sickness has dragged him to the bottom of the pole. For thirty eight years, he was there. It might have encompassed his teens years where he was to be strong bodied and strong willed. It might have slowed his twenty something years where he must have been enjoying life as a bull, being a young man. Notice no wife was with him during this time, and this might have pulled his chances of marrying the woman who caught his heart since some best man won her heart over him because of his health.

Suddenly he comes first.

He comes first for Jesus. No lines to stand up to. No calling of rosters. What he can’t do, Jesus did. He can’t hop into the pool, the Source of living waters came to him. Remember, Jesus ask him if he wanted to get well, and get well he did. He did not need to line up like at the DMV or at the bank. His resume, which was filed down over the years, was not even looked up by Jesus.

This is what Jesus gives you. You line up to all these distractions or less noble things, yet he puts you on the top of his priority list. If you think he is ignoring you as you are in a tight hole in your life, think again. He will enable you. He will heal you. Jesus will go up to you and tells you, you matter to him. Tired of being at the last of the order? Weary of taking chances with zero possibilities? For him, no one comes second or third or at the cellar.

For Jesus, you come first.

Ripple

Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them. Luke 5:29

It's unstoppable and contagious.

Levi heard Jesus' invitation and followed him. He left his post. He left everything.

At the next scene, Luke tells us that Jesus and Levi having dinner. But they were not alone. They are with a large crowd of tax collectors and others. Imagine a large table for a large crowd.

Jesus called one sinful man. One sinful man who left everything for him. Next minute, a large crowd is eating with him. What is this?

It's like a tiny water drop in the ocean creating a wave, not just an ordinary wave, but a huge wave enough to put a liner in one direction. Like a puff in the wind developing into a typhoon ready to swarm and blow a city. It cascades. It rippled.

These large crowd may have heard about Jesus. News may have reach them about his teachings, his healing touch and his invitation. Or they heard about their long time colleague Levi just resigned, left everything and offered his life on earth in following Jesus. They may be curious on how a man like Levi gets an invitation despite his life as a public knowledge.

I say the large crowd heard both. They heard about the Master and the follower. They got hold of the invitation and the response, how Jesus welcomes a sinner and how a sinner can become a saint. They may have realized no sin can separate Jesus' love and the sinner.

May you be like Levi, hear and heed Jesus' call to follow and leave everything for him. Let the people hear about Jesus and your changed life. That you, who is like a tiny drop of water or a puff in the air, may create that huge wave and that gusty wind.

Let it ripple.

The Opening

And (immediately) the man's ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. Mark 7:35

He wanted his ears opened. His friends wanted his ears opened.

But they couldn’t do it.

What they couldn’t do, Jesus did.

We wonder why his friends have to bring in the guy. The guy can walk. He can wave his hands to Jesus to get his attention. Instead, his friends brought him to him. Maybe frustration has caught him. Not hearing people and being able to communicate is a hard thing to do, a hard life to live. His father wants to tell him he is there for him, yet he does not hear it. His mother tells him how much she loves him, all falling on closed ears. Try one day without talking and avoiding sound waves pass your ears.

Frustration. And he is not alone.

You have traveled that dead end. You got nowhere to go. It’s closed.

A health issue is lingering in your body for several years now. Doctors have the answers but your body does not respond.

Or unemployment is blocking all your plans for your family and children’s future. You have the resume’ but employment does not resume soon.

You got a ministry which hit a great road block. You look at your resources, you look at what you can do, and deep inside you know Jesus what will do.

Don’t fret in your corner. Come to the Opener. If you can’t, allow your friends to bring you to him. Open whatever is closed to him. Let Jesus touch you.

Experience Jesus. Experience the opening.

Enduring His Coming

But who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like the refiner's fire, or like the fuller's lye. Malachi 3:2

So, who will endure his coming?

Simeon. A man of the Holy Spirit. Righteous. Devout. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the holy Spirit was upon him (Luke 2:25). He came to the temple being led by the Holy Spirit to gaze upon his coming. Simeon's canticle still reverberates in the present times. His words to Mary prophesied the plan of salvation. And when he saw his coming, he blessed God.

Anna. She is 84 and she stays in the temple 24/7. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer (Luke 2:37). She praises her God non-stop. She exalts his name each second. She sings songs of God's glory each minute. And when she saw his coming, she gave thanks to God.

Can we endure his coming?

Yes. By being Simeon and Anna.

Doctor Luke's prescription covers it all. Righteousness. Devoted. Allowing the Holy Spirit be upon you. Proclaim God's salvation. Worship night and day. Prayers. Fasting. Bless and thank God.

Resolute

He was amazed at their lack of faith. He went around to the villages in the vicinity teaching. Mark 6:6

Speaking about being resolute.

Jesus was amazed, not on how people believed in him, but in the way these people lacked faith.

People who knew where he was from questioned him. "Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Mark 6:2b.

People who may know him more believed less. People who know his roots did not believe in his fruits. "Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him." Mark 6:3b.

And yet, Jesus did not waiver in his call to spread the word of God. He went around to the villages in the vicinity teaching. Mark 6:6b. After having an audience who are very discouraging, his courage to go around to teach is inspiring. For Jesus, no matter what happened in the past will not surely affect the present. For Jesus, the results of the past does not necessarily define the present. For Jesus, his response to the call is more important than the response of the people.

May we be like Jesus in being resolute.

After giving a talk to a classroom where students where inattentive and did not listen to you, you move on to the next. Even when the members of your church do not respond to the call to serve the poor, you still come and give your time. You are still in the race even when the persons who were with you from the beginning have stopped and bowed out. You continue to write and blog about Jesus and his offer of salvation even when the blog's hits are all time low.

Jesus is amazed at their lack of faith. You can amaze Jesus with your action of faith.

Keep on keeping on.

Be resolute.

Filling

Jesus told them, "Fill the jars with water." So they filled them to the brim. John 2:7
The jars are for wine, but they filled them with water.

These servers knew they are doing it the wrong way. If you are in a restaurant, it's like putting milk into those glass wine. However, Jesus tells them so. He told them to put the wrong substance inside the jars. And they did. And the wrong inside became the right inside.

Jesus made the wrong right.

When I was laid off from my job last year, everything was just wrong. As the only person working for our family, I can't classify this event being right. All seems to be going the wrong way. How will I feed my family? How can we meet our financial obligations? Being in this wrong situation took us to our knees.

And Jesus made the wrong right.

A day after that forgettable day, my current employer called me to arrange an interview in the coming week, and the rest is history or employment. Today, me and my wife look back and say to each other, "We are in a better place!"

Most of the time, Jesus tells you to fill the wine jars with water. It does not makes sense. It's just not right. It does not taste just like before. Volunteering for a college missions after graduation when you should get a job which pays you. Working everyday for a company where you commute a total of four hours back and forth which opened your career.  Speaking to college students in campus which trained you to speak for God in prayer meetings. You do it because he tells you. You go through it. And he goes through it with you. Thus the wrong becomes right.

Fill yourself with water when Jesus tells you. Surely, he will fill you with wine.

Non-Stop

...., but whoever endures to the end will be saved. Matthew 10:22

There is no stopping.

Family problems. Parents having marital issues. Parents getting into mid life crisis. Parents getting into unemployment. Kids getting expose to the culture of the outside world. Children thinking independent of their parents up to the point not obeying their old folks. Children have to be reminded daily of their significance even without performance.

Financial problems. Credit cards full. Savings don't save you. Only income is not enough to get you by. You wanted to help others but you can't even help yourself. You won't turn down a plea from a relative if you have more but you have less for yourself. You try to cut expenses but there is no portion to cut.

Natural and man-made calamities happen weekly, from month to month. Earthquakes rock nations and families. Typhoon takes away lives and properties. These shatter infrastructure and progress. Bombing hugs the headlines almost everyday. Life takes away lives. Humanity on the edge of a cliff.

There will always be something somewhere stopping someone.

Jesus tells us one direction,"..., but whoever endures to the end will be saved." Matthew 10:22. You are not promise of a smooth sailing ocean ride. The current will always be present. The tide will always give you nerves. They will not stop to stop you. They will not sit down and watch you go by them. If these will not stop in stopping you, you don't have to stop. Your life don't need postponement or cancellation because things happen.

Problems and concerns are non-stop, so be you.

Born Into A Battle

...and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:7

This king will be protected.

In the war on the chessboard. Every subordinate will make sure their king is standing. All strategies point to shielding this king whether the move is attacking or retreating. In this battle, they will sacrifice oneself for their king. They will go after their demise as long as their king sits on his throne. Not even sure if that will assure victory. This king who can only make one step at a time and that's all.

This King will protect.

In the war starting at the manger. For a short time, he will have shepherds and wise men as short time subordinates.  All strategies point to this King protecting his people up until his death on the cross. He will go after the enemy. Defeat sin by dying sinless. Defeat death by death. In this battle, the King lives, will die and will live for his people. A King whose love for his people is expressed by being one of them. He will claim back his people. He will emerge as victorious King. This King who can and who will make all steps in every place and in every time to bring you over to his kingdom.

This King is born to give abundance and unexplainable joy. Most importantly, he is born into a battle.

Unfamiliar

...and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:7

I woke up in an unfamiliar place.

Once a month, we go down to New Jersey to attend our community's prayer meeting. To cut cost on hotel, my family sleeps over a brother and sister's home before or after the meetings. We sleep in their comfortable basement yet every time I wake up in the morning, I get this unfamiliarity. I have to take my whole bag to the bathroom, which I don't do at home. I come up to their breakfast table wondering where will I get my tea or food which I usually and easily does in our kitchen back home. In all these unfamiliarity, I get to miss our home.

He woke up in an unfamiliar place.

Manger. Hays and horses. Lowly shepherds and wise men mixing it up. Teenage mother bearing him in her arms. Carpenter father looking with amazement. This is the first sight of Jesus' eyes. Unfamiliar.

He is King, now he is an infant. He is worshiped day and night, now he is in the middle of a dark cold night. He tells angels to come here and there, now he is dependent on his earthly parents. He has a Father who created the universe, the world, everything, now he has a father who creates something out of wood.

Let me tell you why he is in this unfamiliar place. For him to become familiar to you. He came to that unfamiliar place to come near to you for you to know him and love him. He came to that unfamiliar place for you to know how much he will go to express his love for you.

Wake up!

Lost Will Be Found

In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost. Matthew 18:14

It's a weird feeling.

Having your child being lost.

We were at a fast food and she was playing at the play place portion of the facility. Her mother went to the counter to get more food. I stayed to watch over our stuff. I thought she was still playing, she thought our child was with me. When my wife came back to our table, she asked for her. I looked at the play place, and she was not there. We went near it, to look inside and out, she is not there. Within this short time, our eyes wandered and she wandered. Couple of minutes passed, we found her just outside the food store. She may have assumed we have gone without her or she may have lost her way around the packed fast food.

You want to shout. You want to scream. You want to stay calm. There's a feeling of fear with sort of hysteric nature. There's this great rush of cold perspiration going through your veins out of your skin. One second, your child is with you. One second she is not. And when found, never to let her go astray again.

Does the Father feel the same way when one is lost and search for the lost one?

He leaves behind the other ninety-nine and goes further to shout and scream his or her name. Every step gives him fear he won't find him or her. Every step has every heart beating to worry where is he or she now? He goes and never come back until he or she is found. Look. It's not the will of the Father we get lost. We wander from our home. We go astray from his sight.

I know how the Father may have felt. So he does everything.

Everything including sending his only Son into the belly of Mary.

So the lost will be found.

A Strange Way to Save the World

And the angel said to her in reply, "The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God." Luke 1:35

Clark Kent is Superman. Peter Parker is Spiderman. Bruce Banner is the Hulk. Maria Mendoza is called Wonder Woman. I can go on and on and on.

These superheroes become extra-ordinary from ordinary. A journalist changing into a flying super strong man. A teenage guy becoming a high leaping, wall crawling protagonist. A physicist being magnified physically and turn into a high level humanoid.

An expected way to save the world. From ordinary to extra-ordinary. From zero to hero. From weak to strong. From needing a savior to being the savior.

When the angel announced to Mary on how God would save us, it was just the opposite.

A Son of God will be born on earth to save mankind. Yet, he will be born weak, a baby. He will be born out of a teenage mother, not a queen. He will have a carpenter, not a king, as a father. Ambiance of a manger smell will first go into his nose. Poor shepherds will be among his first visitors.

A strange way to save the world. From being God to being man. From being a majestic King to being an infant depending on his parents. From being strong to being weak. From being the Son of God to being a son of a wood worker.

There are things you don't understand on how God works, yet God works, all the time for your good. Your manger is his palace. His small arms holds your world. His baby breath gives life to you. His cries are the answer to your prayers.

God comes to save you. God will come to save you. But don't expect the same route.

Zebedee

...and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him. Matthew 4:22

He let them left him.

They were in the middle of their livelihood. They were helping him out feed the family. The sons were mending the nets with their father when they got the calling to mend the world. Without questions, the brothers followed Jesus. Without questions, Zebedee allowed his sons.

There is a great amount of stories written about the brothers but not about their father. Allowing his sons to leave him and live for Jesus is a sign of how this father knows God's plan for his sons. Letting his sons walk after Jesus and not after him is a symbol of his hands offering his sons to the Messiah. Right in the middle of their work, he moved his motivation behind God's work. A father recognizing the Father.

He is my Zebedee.

We were not a well to do family. I have one older sister working at that time. My older brother has taken over our family business from our father. Another older brother, who was expected to help out the family in a bigger way,  suddenly died. My father expected me to contribute to the family income as I garnered my college degree. However, before I graduated, I came to know Christ in a personal way. At the last year of my studies, I was actively serving in a college missions movement. As I was waiting for the board examination results, I volunteered to serve. After the results came in, I felt God's call to spend more time to work for the college movement. Postponing my entry to the secular world will be a difficulty for my family. I know I will have a hard time to get my father's nod on this.

I was cringing nervous as I spoke with him about my intentions to stay in the campus to work for the ministry. I expected him to raise objections. He has to. After all his hard work, after all these years, here I am telling him I will not be contributing to the family's sinking funds for I will be working for free for the movement. He has been waiting for this day for me to step up into the plate and swing my bat. After I gave my piece, he said yes. He allowed me to serve. He allowed me to follow. He let me leave him to love Him.

Behind a  disciple is a father who let him walk away from him and walk towards the Father. Behind a minister or a priest is a father who recognized the Father as the father of all. Behind a John and/or a James, is a father -- a Zebedee.

Don't Blink!

Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. Mark 13:33

You got YouTube.

So even if you missed the winning run for the inevitable touchdown, you can search for that video and play it again and again.

The killer shot. You watched from the beginning until the last one minute. But you have to go somewhere else. You had to leave the game. Your team won and you want to see how it went up. That's why YouTube is here for you.

You were thinking of your favorite TV show as you drove that night. You still want to get a glimpse of the end parts as you push that pedal but to no avail. YouTube saved it for you.

Can't get into this very important family affair? Ask your relatives to post it on YouTube. Not everything is captured but you will feel you are there already.

There is a rewind. There is a replay.

But not on this.

Jesus comes at a time we don't know. Nobody knows. Not even your pastor. Nobody will be able to record it. When he comes, it's unannounced. When he comes, you must be ready. You must be awake. There is no way you can replay it on YouTube for when you missed it, you missed it forever.

That's why Jesus admonishes us all. Be watchful! Be alert! Watch!

You can. Make him your Lord. Be his servant. Pray daily. Read his word everyday. Love and serve him. Be a man or a woman for others.

Open your eyes by opening your heart for him. Don't ever blink!

The Less Is Not The Least

...and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins. Luke 21:2

Luke paints a picture of less.

Poor. Widow. Two. Small. Coins.

If that is not a case of lack of something, I don't know what it is.

Poor is having not much. It is a state of need of enough or of more. Pockets are full of air. Bank account can't be counted.

Widow is having no company. No hands to hold but yours. No walks with somebody. No dinner with somebody. Sleeping all alone in a cold night.

Two small coins sound like not much in her purse. Even if these metals clash, no sound will be heard from a good distance. If you drop them in a collection box, even the dropper's ear might miss the fall.

Yet this less is not the least, for Jesus notices it.

How many times you retreated in giving because you have less? How many times you were prevented from helping because you have not much?

Does this sound familiar, "If only I have more money, more time, more resources, more skills then I can give." Luke's painting tells us this is a myth.

For even in times of less, you can bless. Even in times of not much, you can do much. Even in times of lack, you can give back.

For Jesus, for Luke, for the widow and for you...the less is not the least.

Hanging On His Words

...because all the people were hanging on his words. Luke 19:48

They hung on his words.
He said as long as he is running the company, he will take care of their family.
They just came from the Philippines to the United States and the boss came to their apartment to assure that the company or him will do whatever it takes for the family to hurdle this new start of life. He was thinking twice in pursuing his employment with them since the company was small and was given a salary not enough to feed the family and pay the rent of the apartment. This salary grade was even noted by the boss. From that day on, they hung on his words. From that night, the family held tight on his promise. He was getting calls from headhunters left and right, by email or by social media messages but turned them all down because he was hanging on his words.
After three years, he laid him off. Not because he was performing poorly, in fact he was not. The boss even repeated, what he always tells him, that he sees himself in the employee the way he worked hard for their company. For whatever reason he may have, which up to now he doesn't clearly understand, they hung on his words and his words let them down.

Life is full of these stories.

You heard him or her say, "Till death do us part.", yet now he or she is filing for a divorce. Your father told you he'll come to your school activity however up until the end you did not see his shadows. Or a girlfriend for a decade suddenly dumps you through text message. Or a friend who gave his words that when you need them most, he takes them back. You hung on their words and they let you down.

Any man's words will let you down at some point. And boy, isn't it comforting, Jesus is not only a man, but first and foremost -- he is God.

You can hang on his words. You can hold on to his promises. He says he'll die for you, he did. He says he will rise for you, his tomb is empty. He says his love is eternal, look at the cross. He says come out and walk on the water, focus your eyes on Peter. He says feed my sheep, offer your lunch. Everything works out for our good, wait and see. You can do all things through him who strengthens you, you can and no exceptions. He says, you'll get the job, you're now on your 8th month with the company. He says this, hang on to this. He says that, hang on to that.

He will not disappoint. He will never let you down. You hold tightly. He holds more tightly.

Hang on his words.

Hiding Myself

Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, 'Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter;so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.' Matthew 25:24-25

"Why wear a cap when you have a hair worth showing."

This was my barber asking me. He noticed I was almost always wearing this baseball cap. He also noted that by putting this on my head, my hair was at some point is being disfigured.

As I looked at the mirror, I think he is right. I have a hair for the world to see. So from that day on, if not really needed I decided not to wear a cap over my hiding my hair.

I also hid something for sometime now-- myself.

I made excuses not to write and update this blog. One major thing is that I am new to my work. In that case, I have to focus entirely on this career. I don't want to get laid off again. I wanted to perform above the expectations. Thus, this ministry has to go to the parking lot. Another reason is I want to give my time to my family. Because I'm spending more time at the office, it's only right to share some time to my family. And this is only right. However, I'm not so successful in this area. My body may be with them but not my mind and my heart -- I'm still thinking what will I do at work in the coming day or next week. Lastly, I thought I was too much of a sinner to write about him. I felt unworthy and I'm not wrong. But his call is to be faithful not be worthy.

Until, God gave me a "thud" through this parable.

Gifts from him should not be buried. Ministry from him should not be hidden. The call to share his word and work does not enter the storage room.

So, here I am. Showing up again.

With his grace by using his gifts, I'm coming out, from hiding myself.