The King’s Kids

“Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax. Give that to them for Me and for you.” Matthew 17:27

This story about Jesus and Peter does not appear anywhere else in the Bible, just in Matthew. When Jesus and His disciples reached Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” Peter quickly answered yes but I have a feeling he did not really know the answer, and just wanted to defend Jesus. The temple tax was collected from Jewish males over 20 years old, for the maintenance of the Temple. This started during the time of Moses when God told him to collect this tax in Exodus 30:13-16. 

When Peter went back to Jesus, Jesus already knew what was in Peter’s mind. He asked, “From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax? From their children or FOREIGNERS?” Peter answered, “Foreigners.” “So,” Jesus concluded, “the king’s children are exempt. But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax. Give that to them for me and for you.” 

Jesus became man to pay the price for our redemption. Only He can pay the price because He is sinless. He can stand before His Father and pay for our transgressions. Today we, the king’s children, are NOT FOREIGNERS, and we are exempt from paying the price of our sin, eternal damnation, because Jesus paid for us on the cross.

Where Your Treasure Is

“For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” Luke 12:34

I sometimes watch TV shows about hoarders. They have houses full of clothes, sweaters, jackets, shoes, bags, multiple appliances, some they have never even used. There are piles on their beds, stairways, teetering cabinets. All the tables and shelves are littered with figurines, and decor collected years ago. I watch in fascination thinking I could be this person! I have a tendency to collect stuff, and I hate throwing away anything that I could reuse, or repurpose. 

Mayo Clinic describes the hoarding disorder as a persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions because of a perceived need to save them.

Can this disorder be rooted in childhood, with the obsession to collect Barbies or Matchbox cars? There are some who get their confidence from a pretty dress, or nice shoes. Perhaps we feel more liked or popular when we have many possessions, a big house and a fancy car. It is so sad if these material things are our treasures, because Jesus says that where our treasure is, there our heart will be also. 

What if instead of amassing things that we can never bring with us when we die, we make an effort to invest in treasure in heaven? We can think of ways to do God’s work, and love God’s people. That can be our collection. 

Saint Lawrence is one of my favorite saints. When asked by the Prefect of Rome to turn over the treasures of the Church, Lawrence went throughout the city and gathered together the poor, the lame, the blind, the sick. Then he presented them to the greedy Prefect. "Here are the Church's treasure!" he announced. The Prefect was not amused and the saint was roasted over an iron grill!

We need not follow Saint Lawrence to buy stocks in heaven, but we should remember that if we use our time, talent and money to bring people to God, we are investing in what God values most!

Insider Information

"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; LISTEN TO HIM." Luke 9:35

In a letter he wrote shortly before his death, Saint Peter reminisces about when he Himself witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus. He writes that, “we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have seen His majestic splendor with our own eyes. And He received honor and glory from God the Father when God’s glorious, majestic voice called down from heaven, ‘This is my beloved Son. I am fully pleased with Him.’ We ourselves heard the voice when we were there with Him on the holy mountain.” 

Saint Peter continues, “Because of that, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. Pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a light shining in a dark place...” 

This awesome experience made an incredible impact on the lives of Peter, James and John.  They each saw a glimpse of the glory beyond the cross. It was INSIDER INFORMATION and Saint Peter is telling us that, “We were EYEWITNESSES of His majesty! WE OURSELVES HEARD this voice from heaven!!! You HAVE to be attentive to this message!"

How urgent can that be? The message was so compelling that Saint Peter wanted to spread the message far and wide until he was martyred in Rome in the year 64 AD. Saint Peter said “Pay attention to what the prophets wrote.” Why? Saint Augustine said, “The New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New.” There is so much INSIDER INFORMATION not only in the New Testament, but also in the Old. 

Are we searching for it? Are we paying attention? Are we listening? 

Mercies in Disguise

Yesterday was the blessing of the Museo ng Pag-Asa and office of the Angat Buhay NGO. My brother Robert was finally able to meet with VP Leni and she was able to thank him for all his contributions to the campaign. 

Behind them is the digital mural Robert designed. Below is the welcome mural he painted for two days on-site. It was difficult for him because he’s not in the best of health. Dealing with his colon cancer is a constant struggle, but he remains so productive and generous. 

“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 16:24-25

This is the very Bible passage that made me stop reading my Bible in High School. I could not for the life of me understand why Jesus required us to deny ourselves and take up our cross. I was always praying that God treat me gently. I did not like any trials and I would constantly pray God protect me from them. 

My friend wrote this today on his Facebook wall: 

May this be your prayer today: "I'd rather go through tough times with God than good times without Him." He alone matters.

Then someone commented, “Not so bad naman sana.”

The thing is God’s highest desire is to bring us home to heaven. He will do anything, even to allowing that His Son be crucified so we can be with Him one day. But obviously we can’t enter heaven with greedy, selfish hearts. He has to do something about that. And that is where the cross comes in. It’s all for our highest good. God wants us to be molded and transformed to be citizens of heaven with good character, people of honor. After all, we’re going to be Royalty, sons and daughters of the King of Kings! That’s why He uses other people, like husbands, wives, office mates, relatives, etc. to “sandpaper” us. That’s why He allows circumstances like sickness, quarrels, the bad economy, etc. to prune us. 

And that is why one of my favorite songs is “Blessings” from Laura Story (https://youtu.be/ICnct8THNag): 

We pray for blessings

We pray for peace

Comfort for family, protection while we sleep

We pray for healing, for prosperity

We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

And all the while, You hear each spoken need

Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops?

What if Your healing comes through tears?

What if a thousand sleepless nights

Are what it takes to know You're near?

And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom

Your voice to hear

And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near

We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love

As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

And all the while, You hear each desperate plea

And long that we'd have faith to believe

'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops?

What if Your healing comes through tears?

And what if the thousand sleepless nights

Are what it takes to know You're near?

And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?

When friends betray us

And when darkness seems to win

We know that pain reminds this heart

That this is not, this is not our home

It's not our home

'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops?

What if Your healing comes through tears?

And what if the thousand sleepless nights

Are what it takes to know You're near?

What if my greatest disappointments

Or the aching of this life

Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy

And what if trials of this life

The rain, the storms, the hardest nights

Are Your mercies in disguise?

Who Do You Say I Am?

Yesterday, my brother Robert finished the mural at the Angat Buhay office, the Museo ng Pag-Asa. They will be inaugurating it today. Isn’t it beauuuutiful? 

He also designed this but this is a digital sticker. It’s good Robert did not faint. He was so tired after painting the mural! 

Below is a picture of Robert with Marian Pastor Roces, the museum design director with TOYM artist and his wife. 

“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Matthew 16:15

Many people insist that Jesus never claimed to be God, but He did. Jesus said, "I and the Father are one," and, "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father." He also said, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” When Moses encountered Yahweh in the burning bush in the 3rd chapter of Exodus, Moses asked what he was to answer the Israelites when they ask what God has sent him to them. We read in verse 14 this answer: And God said unto Moses, I AM That I AM: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. (KJV) 

The disciples may have been simple men, but they recognized the name, I AM. 

C.S. Lewis, who was once a professor at Cambridge University wrote: “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the son of God: or else a madman or something worse.” 

In other words, we were not given the choice by Jesus to say he was a good man, a great teacher or anything of that sort. He is either who He says He is, God, or He is crazy or a very evil man. 

Who is He to you? If He is a mad man or an evil person, we do not need to do anything more but resign him to the dust heap of history. But if He is God! If He is God, we have to go through the Bible with a fine tooth comb and find out all there is about Him that is important to our very existence, and to our life in the world to come!  And change the very fiber of our lives to live the way our Maker desires us to live! 

Grace in the Desert

Thus says the Lord: “The people that escaped the sword ​have found favor and grace in the desert.” Jeremiah 31:2

We naturally stay away from the desert, a barren, dry place with hostile living conditions. But sometimes, we have no choice, for God chooses to bring us to a place  where we would rather not be. If we fight it and complain, we will learn nothing but despair and bitterness. But if we choose to accept God’s will, try to listen to what He wants to say to us, then we will find favor and grace. I speak from experience because God in His wisdom has taken me to deserts at different points in my life. Some things I have learned repeatedly is that He will meet us where we are, He will enable us, and He will not give us more than we can bear. I also know that His Word is powerful. As Paul wrote to the Hebrews (4:12): “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

When we go through the desert, we have to depend on God, rely on Him for consolation and strength. We can say we are stripped bare, and that is the best place to be honest with God and with ourselves. I think God is very creative with the crosses He gives us to bear. I can truly say I prefer my cross to other peoples’, only because I trust Him who is my Maker. He knows me better than I know myself. 

There is my favorite story of a little boy trailing behind his father in a supermarket. He is carrying a basket of purchases as his father adds to it steadily. A woman looking at them asks the little boy in concern, “Isn’t that too heavy for you?” “Oh, no,” the little boy answers confidently, “My father knows exactly how much I can carry.” 

Take Courage!

“Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Matthew 14:27

When my son Josh was about 10 months old, he was so brave, he wanted to start walking. I was too scared to let him walk on his own, but my sister Peggy, would allow him to teeter on his own two little feet while holding one arm out to catch him, and one hand in front of him with a bauble he wanted to get a hold of. I watched in anticipation and trepidation as Josh put out one tiny foot after another, wobbling, but with a big big smile on his face at this new adventure of walking. After that, he would eagerly run-walk across a room while his babysitter would be ready to catch him should he fall.

The disciples had many exciting adventures with Jesus. In the 14th chapter of Matthew, we read about when they were on a storm tossed boat at night, the wind and the waves lashing at them. The disciples saw a man walking on the strong waves and became terrified because they thought it was a ghost. Imagine how Jesus would have appeared to them, with the storm wreaking a havoc of his garments flying in the wind. His voice rose above the howling of the wind, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water,” and Jesus answered, “Come.”

Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus, but when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Many times, we are caught in a situation like this. We feel we are sinking, drowning even. We call out to the Lord, “Save us!” My prayers during this pandemic were populated with the words, “Lord Jesus, have mercy on us!” Although it seems the situation is better now, our country continues to flounder in rough seas.

Although these are times that try men’s souls, these are also times when we can grow our faith. Like my son, we need to trust in those “saving arms” that watch out for us while we teeter and wobble. There is a God who is watching, He will catch us, He will save us. He will not allow us to drown. On the contrary, He wants us to look forward to new adventures with Him, as we trust in Him and learn of Him and His ways. 

Hem Our Days in Prayer

“Bring them here to me.” Matthew 14:18

The story of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes is one of our favorites and has been told so many times. We see Jesus who feels compassion for the crowd, and asks His disciples not to send them away, but to “give them some food yourselves.” They are overwhelmed because all they have is five loaves and two fishes. 

Many times we have felt our own lack of resources, and been frustrated and overwhelmed as well. What do we do? Do we only turn to God as a last resort? Shouldn’t we go to Him first? When we wake up in the morning, do we present to Him whatever we have in our hands? It may not even be five loaves and two fishes. It may be one loaf. It may be ten minutes before we have to rush with our morning routine to get to work on time. It may be a smile on our weary face and a prayer as we greet our patients, because we barely got any sleep during night shift. It may be a grateful list of thank yous for ordinary days with no mishaps or disasters. Or it could even be a whispered ‘please be with me today’. Whatever we bring to God, He will multiply, and use to bless others. 

We need God beside us. The poem “Invictus” which many people have memorized, goes like this:

“It matters not how strait the gate,  

How charged with punishments the scroll,  

I am the master of my fate:  

I am the captain of my soul.”

It was written by William Ernest Henley. Many people want to feel invincible, but it’s just not possible. When the British author’s six year old daughter got sick, he started to realize that no, he was not master or captain of his life. When she died, he was heartbroken and completely lost his bravado. 

Billy Graham said, “In the morning, prayer is the key that opens to us the treasures of God’s mercies and blessings; in the evening, it is the key that shuts us up under His protection and safeguard.” So let us always hem our days, our families, our country in prayer, knowing Jesus always welcomes our prayers and offerings to Him. 

Rich in God

“Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” Luke 12:15

We can learn a lot from true stories and the story I just heard was told by a Filipino who immigrated to California, set up a nice business selling Filipino merchandise. He earned enough to have two houses, several cars, too many fancy clothes and shoes he did not need and some he did not use even once. His wife was always traveling, and hardly ever home, his kids had graduated and moved to other states. So he finally decided to sell everything and just take care of his mom. He also started feeding about 100 people a day. I think it’s great that he figured out what would make him happy, feel useful and be a blessing to others before he was too old to do anything about it. 

Contrast that to what happened to Brazilian mining and refining magnate Eike Batista. He was worth about $35 billion in 2012. He was the seventh richest man in the world. BUT, and it is a big BUT, his oil company OGX became bankrupt a year after. As his business took a nosedive and collapsed, all sorts of anomalies were exposed. Much of the magnate’s profit came from bribing corrupt officials. In July 2018, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison. 

Another person who thought that wealth is the be-all of life is the celebrated Elizabeth Holmes. She came out in all the leading magazines because of the revolutionary work she was doing as the CEO of Theranos, a start up. Even Forbes named her the youngest and wealthiest female entrepreneur in the U.S, with a net worth of  $4.5 billion. In 2016, all was revealed, and Theranos’ blood tests which was supposed to change the face of health care, turned out to be a massive fraud! She had to pay a $500,000 fine, return her shares, and her net worth went down to zero. There’s a possibility she may end up in prison for up to 20 years and is scheduled to be sentenced in October 2022.

From Jesus’ parable we can glean this lesson: “‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.”

Truth Cannot be Killed

"At a birthday celebration for Herod, the daughter of Herodias performed a dance and delighted Herod so much that he swore to give her whatever she might ask for." 

Matthew 14: 6-7

This is such an absurd scenario that sometimes I think no one could be that stupid! Imagine if you will, our president enjoying the dance of a young girl and promising under oath to give her anything up to half of our country. She runs to her mother and instead of asking for wealth or power OR half the country, she asks for the head of a poor itinerant preacher!

I can't help but relate this story to a book written by Mackenzie Phillips, the daughter of John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas (a well known singing group in the 60s). John Phillips had more money and fame and foolish friends than he knew what to do with. He threw it all away on drugs, women and wild parties and brought his young daughter for a ride with him. She had her first high at 10 years old and brought cocaine to school in fifth grade!

Maybe Herod was high on drugs. Maybe all of them at that party were on acid! Drugs are one way to escape the truth. Killing the messenger another! I guess by nature, we want to silence the still small voice, our conscience, when we want to continue to keep doing the wrong things. It gets easier every time we do wrong. Until we can't hear the truth anymore because of the cacophony of noise, the pollution of sin that kills it.

In our world today, no one wants to hear the word sin. Even televangelists shy away from saying it for fear they'd lose their audience. Hopefully, we won't get our heads chopped off for telling the truth today. But I can't help feeling we’re getting there! It’s easy to shut the truth out by turning to all the feel good programs on TV and nice messages on facebook. And many people prefer to get their news in sound bites from Tiktok or bloggers with no accountability about what is true or not. 

Herod had John the Baptist killed for telling him and his “wife” Herodias the truth. BUT THE TRUTH CANNOT BE KILLED. It cannot be silenced even if the messenger is done away with. Eventually, all the filth, the lies, the sins, the corruption will be exposed. 

Lord, may we always live in the light. May we always desire to listen to our conscience and be guided by You. May we never accept the lies and half truths that make sin acceptable and palatable in the world today. 

One Thing

“One thing only is required..." Luke 10:42

 

Growing up, having guests in our home was a big thing and stressed my mother out. In contrast, my husband is quite comfortable to have guests visit even when we had no food. I remember when we were newly married, my husband brought someone home to share a meal with us. I was aghast because there was little to serve. What I remember was serving potato bread and little else. Luigi was confident enough to know our guest came for the company and not the meal. 

In the amusing story of Martha and Mary, we see how different the sisters were from each other. Martha was the one stressed out, preparing the meal for Jesus and His disciples. I can certainly relate to her! Obviously Jesus and the disciples were hungry and tired after walking all day, and were in need of sustenance. Mary, obviously the younger sister, sat at Jesus' feet, enrapt at what Jesus was saying. Perhaps Martha had been giving subtle signals to Mary to help her which Mary ignored, and then finally, she turns to Jesus. "Lord, doesn't it seem unfair to You that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me!" 

Uh oh! She lets her frustration and resentment show but she does not get the response she expects. Jesus gently rebukes her and I can see His kind eyes as He says, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and upset about many things; only one thing is required. Mary has chosen the better portion and she shall not be deprived of it." 

Lord, may I always choose the better portion. May I not be distracted from the many things and concerns of this world. May I get to know You and Your heart, and sit at Your feet like Mary, eager to learn what You want to teach me!

The Master Artisan

“Indeed, like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.” 

Jeremiah 18:6

When we went to Hanoi, we went to Bat Trang, a pottery village well known for making beautiful clay pots and figurines. Their clay was amazingly so soft and pliable I couldn't resist asking for some. But before the clay could get that way, it underwent several stages of softening, sifting and refining. So it is with us.

 

We are clay in the Master Potter's hand, and He is going to make of us the best masterpiece! That's why we go through so much in life! When the clay is finally soft and pliable, the potter puts it on a wheel which goes round and round. Don't you feel sometimes that we go through the same trials again and again? God allows it so we learn whatever it is He wants us to learn! God uses all the circumstances in our life. 

Nothing is ever put to waste. It can be painful, just as all the pinching and scraping and carving is to the clay if it could feel. But a Master artisan ALWAYS loves his clay. 

He is never harsh with his clay. His mind is fully on the clay, coaxing the clay, lovingly caressing it, working with its innate qualities, prodding forms out of it that are beautiful, one of a kind and unique.

And then, comes the big thing. The clay pot is put into the kiln! But this is necessary to harden the clay, or it won't retain its shape and cannot be used. Not an ounce of pain in our life is in vain. God wants to use us. That's why He gave us gifts and talents- so we can be a blessing to others! And we can help build His Kingdom on earth! 

But we are not only useful to Him. He wants to make us beautiful too. Just as the Master artisan paints and glazes his creations, and puts his name on them, so too our God makes us beautiful and calls us His own!

Yes Lord, create something beautiful out of the muck, the mess, the sin in my life!

Pearl of Great Price

“When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.” 

Matthew 13:46

The two most expensive pearls in the whole world were found off the island of Palawan here in the Philippines. One, the “Pearl of Allah”, sometimes called the Pearl of Lao Tze, is valued at $35 million and was found in 1934. A more recent find, about 16 years ago, is yet to be named. A fisherman found it inside a giant clam. It is huge, more than 2 feet long, and 1 foot wide and weighs 75 pounds! The fisherman hid it under his bed, his house burned down, and the pearl survived. The pearl is valued at an amazing 100 million dollars! 

Even if I sold all I had, I could not buy that pearl! And what in the world would I do with it? I cannot think of anything that I would sell everything I have, in order to possess! 

Jesus gave all He had, even His very life for something He considered His pearl of great price. Mankind. Are we worth it? He must have seen beyond the surface because when I look around me, when I read the news, and the comments on Facebook, it seems like people are getting worse every day! 

I remember going to a pearl farm in Hanoi several years ago. The guide showed us these ugly, mud encrusted shells. We had to dig into all that muck to find the pearl. I know Jesus sees the pearl in us, encased in sin and the mud of our own selfishness. He was willing to give up His glory, His power, to be crucified by the very men He came to save, just so He could ransom us from our hopeless state. We too should try to see our brothers and sisters as pearls of great price. How do we bring ourselves out of the muck? There is only one way, and Jesus is that way, the truth and the life. 

Thank You Lord! I cannot imagine what You went through to save us! 

God Made a Way

“He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom. The weeds are the children of the Evil One, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil.” Matthew 13:37-39

The world is God’s garden and we can read in Genesis that He made this world absolutely awesome and beautiful. “And God saw that it was good.” This verse is repeated several times when He was creating the stars, vegetation, and living creatures. Even when He created mankind, He repeated, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31) Good. So where does evil come into the world? Well, from the story of the first people, Adam and Eve, we see how because when God made us in His image, He also gave us the most incredible gift of free will. And just like Adam and Eve, we can choose to follow God’s best for us, or we can follow the opposite, which is what Eve was enticed to do. Out of all the good trees in the garden, she had to eat from the exact tree that God told them not to eat!

Adam was told clearly, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” (Genesis 2:16) Nāḥāš which is Hebrew for snake or serpent is the creature representing the forces against man and God, and it was this creature who invited Eve to consider eating the fruit from the tree of good and evil. “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5)

And today, that same wily creature keeps bothering us and tempting us to disobey God, to think we know best for ourselves, to put ourselves first, to make our own rules, and make idols of man made desires. But we know that even if this world is dark and makes us weary most of the time with all the quarrels and toxicity, goodness will prevail because God made a way even where there is no way. Let us hold fast to the Lord, the Lamb of God, who ransomed us from the grave. 

Whoever Wishes to be Great

“Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant.” Matthew 20:26

Does this make any sense?

How can anybody who wants to be great apply to be a servant? Quite absurd in the world’s way of thinking! But no one can doubt that Jesus was great except perhaps some perverse people. And Jesus had the heart of a servant. A servant is not a slave by any means because a slave has to serve his master involuntarily most of the time. But a person with a servant heart has a purpose and a gift. And as St. Peter said in 1 Peter 4:10, “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.” 

I was impressed with the story of an usher. We do not know his name like many servants in history but God knows His name! In November 1934, two young boys came into a tent where a revival meeting was going on. The place was full, so they turned to leave. But an usher saw them, put his big arms around them and said, “I'll find you seats, boys! Follow me!" He led them to two seats with the choir. 

That was the night that one of the boys, Billy Graham, gave his life to Christ, after listening to the preaching of Mordecai Ham. What if the usher was more interested in ogling some giggling girls? What if he was daydreaming? What if he was seething with some imagined insult? 

How many times have I concentrated on myself and what I think I am entitled to,  rather than being present in the moment doing the job I am supposed to do?  If I value Jesus as my treasure, my heart will be in the right place of serving the people He loves. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). Lord, forgive me. Teach me to be a servant like you. 

Ask and You Shall Receive

‘So I say to you: Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him.’  Luke 11:9-10

Like most people, I lift up many prayers to God, mostly for healing, for I know many who are sick. I also pray for our Church, our country, people who are unjustly incarcerated, the terrible war in Ukraine, the persecutions happening in China, Afghanistan, Nigeria, etc. etc. The list is so absurdly long. Some of my prayers have not been answered in the way I want them to be answered. So this verse found in Luke 11 needs an explanation. It reads that the one who asks ALWAYS receives, the one who knocks will ALWAYS have the door opened to him. 

We know that God is good, and we can trust Him. But sometimes we question why He does not answer our prayers? He promised, after all! Does the answer to prayer depend on our heart, or does it depend on God’s heart? In Exodus chapters 7-12, we read the story of the ten plagues inflicted on Egypt because the Pharaoh did not let the Jews go free. In Exodus 7:13 and repeated in many other verses, we read, “Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard”. In Ex 9:12, it says, “But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh…”. I would say that was not fair at all if God hardened the heart of Pharaoh so as to show His power and thus inflict suffering on untold numbers. But first before we become too adamant about that, let us compare God to the sun. 

“Let it never be forgotten that, although we may do nothing about the Word we hear, the Word will do something to us. The same sun melts ice and hardens clay, and the Word of God humbles or hardens the human heart” (Vance Havner). It is certainly true that the Gospel can bring people down to their knees in repentance but can also make another dig his heels to do the opposite of what God wants, can make us stubborn and resentful even. So when we pray, we need to pray with a grateful and open heart, ready to accept God’s will, trusting that He will answer in the best time and place and circumstance. When we start with that premise, I have no doubt we will see God work in His mercy, infinite wisdom and power. 

What Wolf Will You Feed?

‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?’ Matthew 13:27

In “Anawim Way”, I read that the field in this parable is our heart, and the wheat is anything that comes from the Lord and leads us closer to Him. The weeds therefore are that which brings us farther and farther away from Him. Both the wheat and weeds can be found in the field of our heart.

This leads me to an old Cherokee story about an Indian chief teaching his grandson about life. He told the boy that there is a struggle inside each one of us between two wolves. The dark wolf is evil, full of anger, greed, arrogance, guilt, fear, lies, resentment, revenge, intolerance and unforgiveness. Then there is the white wolf who is good, kind, compassionate, generous, a peacemaker, hopeful, truthful, full of faith and empathy.

Worried, the little boy asked his grandpa which wolf will win. The old Cherokee patted the boy on the head and answered, “The one you feed.” 

Every day, we have the chance to feed these wolves. We are confronted by choices and decisions that we may find trivial, but actually will define our life in the long run. This truth has been put into words by so many. Mahatma Gandhi said, “Your beliefs become your thoughts, Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions, Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny.” And Sean Covey, the writer of so many best selling books on habits and decisions, wrote, “We become what we repeatedly do.”

Let us fill our minds with the truth and teachings from Jesus, and constantly drink from the source of living water. Let us not allow anger, envy, or any negative emotion dwell in our hearts. Is there anyone we have not forgiven? Take the time to pray for that gift, to be set free from the shackles of unforgiveness. Are we angry, anxious, hopeless? Let us discipline ourselves to fill our minds with gratefulness. Let us feed the “wolf in us” we want to win!