Good Fruit

“Every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.” Matthew 7:17

What fruit am I bearing? Do I bear good fruit? If I don’t, Jesus says “I will be cut down and thrown into the fire”! 

I like reading about the saints, and also ordinary men and women who are known for their good fruit because then I am prodded to do the same. Sometimes in the busyness of life, we forget to serve others, to be generous, to be what God wants us to be. 

Almost all of us know Anne Frank from the diary she wrote, “The Diary of a Young Girl” which was published after she died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at age 15.

We can say Anne Frank is the fruit of her father, Otto Frank, the only one in their family to survive the brutal Nazi camps. After Anne’s books were published, many young men and women wrote Otto. He answered each and every one of those letters until he was too old to do it.

When Cara Wilson visited Otto after years of correspondence, she saw in his little study wall-to-wall notebooks bursting with letters. And Otto showed her a notebook filled with HER letters, starting from when she was 12 years old. Otto lost his family but he gained many sons and daughters through the years. There’s John Neiman who became a priest, Sumi from Japan, who signed herself, “Your daughter, Sumi”. Otto advised and encouraged them all to be brave, strong and hopeful like his daughter Anne. 

It does not matter if we are old or young, rich or poor, we can always bear good fruit for the Lord! I heard the story of a quadriplegic young girl. She would watch the news and every time she felt someone needed encouragement because of some disaster or accident, she would hold a stick in her mouth and type out a message on her computer to send out. She has helped many people in this way, and has found meaning in her situation. 

It is said that the Christian is the world’s Bible. We are ambassadors for Christ. We are His hands and feet here on earth. May the Lord enable us to exhibit the fruit of His Holy Spirit. 

Narrow Gate

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.” Matthew 7:13-14

Many, many years ago, before Korea was divided into North and South, a theological professor from Yale visited a country church in a rural Korean village. He had an interpreter with him. But when he began by saying, “All thought is divided into two categories, the concrete and the abstract,” the interpreter made a quick decision. 

The small congregation was composed of barefoot schoolboys and toothless grandmothers all eager to hear what this man from far away had to say. The interpreter began his own sermon, “Dear friends,” he said, “I have come all the way from America to tell you about the Lord Jesus Christ.” From that point on, the sermon was firmly in the interpreter’s hands (Samuel Moffet, Christianity Today [11/14/94], p. 55).

I am sure the Koreans profited more from the simple sharing of the interpreter rather than if the interpreter used the high falutin’ words of the esteemed theology professor from Yale. God is not distant and Jesus used stories that his listeners would be very familiar with, shepherds and sheep, vineyards, masters and workers, etc. In the gospel of St. Matthew, Jesus speaks of a narrow gate and another gate which is wide. We should choose to go through the narrow gate, not the gate which leads to destruction. The meaning is fairly simple. Fewer people will choose the narrow gate which is the way of Jesus, the way of humility, faith and eternal redemption. More people would rather live their life their own way, choosing worldly pleasures and relegating God on the side. 

Fearfully, Wonderfully Made

“Truly you have formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb. I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made; wonderful are your works.” Psalm 139:13-14

When Joshua was in my tummy, I felt a mixture of awe, anxiety, and peace. I was 38 years old, and it was my first time to carry a child in my womb, so of course I wanted to take the best care of my baby. I prayed and prayed, and God knew I had a mixture of excitement and fear, and He reassured me saying, “When you hold your child in your arms, you will know how much I love you.” 

When Joshua was born, I was not exactly prepared. Luigi and I thought we were just going for a check up. There were regular pains but not very painful, and when I reached my doctor’s clinic, the ladies waiting there said my tummy was too small, I couldn’t be in labor. My doctor arrived and after examining me, she sent me to the labor room. I delivered quickly, so fast there was no time for an aesthetic to be administered. 

When we see a little baby, don’t we think he or she is a masterpiece by our Creator? An extraordinary, precious, unique work of art, each one of them? How much more if we consider that we are all made of trillions and trillions of cells but we come from the division of just one itsy bitsy cell! 

Our brains are amazing! My little grandchild is not yet four but he is so talkative, and has a vivid imagination. The other day when asked, “What happens when we pollute the water?”, he answered, “CHOLERA!!!!!!” He examined my leg and told me if I had an open wound, bacteria would get in my body and I would need an antibiotic. His first word was “umbrella”, and we are constantly being surprised at how he can learn the meanings of words by context. 

And our skin is awesome! I am always thankful that our skin is made of such a miraculous material because I always manage to get my hands dirty with paints, and inks, and markers. And yet, we can wash it with soap and water, and it becomes as good as new. And how about our eyes, and nose, our eyelashes that keep dust away from our eyes, our philtrum (the medical indentation on top of our lip) which helps in the movement of our mouth? 

There are so many parts of our bodies we take for granted, but God did not. He was intentional in our bodies’ design, and if we researched, I am sure we would find so many amazing details to thank God for. 

Thank You Father for You created us to be a masterpiece of Your creation, Your crowning glory! 

We are Perishing!

I’ve been making more Floral Frogs which can be used to top ordinary bottles or mugs to transform them into decorative vases. 

I’ll have to find beautiful flowers instead of these leaves I picked from my garden! 

“Master, do you not care that we are perishing?” Mark 4:38

In this story we see how human Jesus was. He was exhausted after preaching to a multitude. I am sure we can relate if we’ve had to give a talk, seminar, lecture or workshop. Nowadays we have microphones, laptops, powerpoint, and projectors to help us. Jesus had none of that. He must have had to choose the location, by the sea, so His voice would be amplified as it traveled over the water. 

In the evening, after preaching, He asked that they go over to the other side on a boat, and He promptly fell asleep in weariness. He could not rest for long because a furious squall arose, and the waves broke over the boat, almost tilting it over. The experienced fishermen turned timid and woke Jesus, “Teacher, don’t You care that we are perishing? We’re going to drown!” 

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the raging sea, “Hush! Be still!”, and the waves and the wind obeyed Him. Many of us are like these fishermen. We go through life unmindful of what God does for us every single minute of the day. Then something happens, and we cry out, “Lord, do You not care what happens to me? Why are You allowing this? Why do You allow me and my family to suffer?” 

Many become atheists because they cannot believe a loving God allows suffering and pain. But many of us forget all God has done and is doing for us. A human Jesus came down, leaving His glory, to be able to speak to us, man to man. For three years He preached, healed, and gave us the unparalleled sign of His death and resurrection. He taught and did so much, the whole world would not be able to hold all the books if everything was written down (John 21:25). Shouldn’t we take the time to read, and understand His Words? His Words must be so important, crucial, significant, essential for us to learn and know if He sacrificed so much, exhausted Himself, drained His life, just so we would understand Him and know what is important to God! 

Making a Mess into a Masterpiece!

“Observe how the lilies of the field grow...” Matthew 6:28

This is one of the most beautiful and reassuring passages in the Bible. Just reading through Matthew 6:25-34 made me peaceful. We can see how God takes care of the birds, how beautiful they are, the wild flowers in the field that grow even without care. “They do not toil or spin, yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these!” Jesus goes on to say we should not be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. “Each day has enough troubles of its own.” 

Sometimes when we go through our Facebook feed or group chats, we can grow anxious. So many worrying things about our country. All the reports of the ubiquitous Chinese presence of military aged men in the provinces and in the metro, the corruption scandals, the ballooning debt, the poor showing of our students compared to our Asian neighbors when we used to be at the very top of the heap! The list is long and getting longer. We can say our country is in a big mess and can get messier still. Sigh. 

I used to do art workshops. I tell the participants to make a mess with the paints and mark makers. “The messier the better,” I would say with a smile on my face. And when they follow the instructions I give them, a masterpiece will emerge from the mess. 

Human beings are naturally mess makers. We can make a mighty mess of our lives even without meaning to! In the first reading for today, 2 Chronicles 24, the mighty prophet Zechariah told the people: “Why are you transgressing the Lord’s commands, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have abandoned the Lord, he has abandoned you.” 

God wants us to prosper, to live well, but we do not follow the good instructions He gives us. So our lives get messy. And like what happened to the Israelites again and again even up to now, our country gets into a big mess. 

There is only One who can save us. We can depend on Him to make a masterpiece out of our lives. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

Where is Your Treasure?

“Where your treasure is, there your heart is also." Matthew 6:21

Pastor Colin Smith likes to tell a parable about a man who was put into a dark pit. This man would have to stay there for only one week, and after that, he would never have to go back there again. The only instruction he was given was that during his waking hours he was to try to make a life and a future. So this man was lowered into the pit. It was dark, smelly and damp. He tries to feel around and his hand hits something sharp like glass and he curses because now he is hurt. He is afraid of moving. He gets depressed, and just keeps thinking of when he gets out and never going back in. How could he make a life and a future in here???? He just counts the days and nights eager to get free.

The last day comes and he is relieved that finally he is pulled out of the pit. He runs out in relief, but then he glances back, and his eyes open wide. The sign next to the pit read: "DIAMOND MINE". He just spent one week in a diamond mine and didn't get anything for his trouble!

In Isaiah 45:3, we discover these promises, “You will give us the treasures of darkness and the hoarded treasures in secret places, that we may know that it is You, O Lord, the God of Israel, who call us by our name." 

It is possible, if we have faith, to find that even in the darkest, hardest times of our lives, we will find the goodness of God. There are treasures to be found in whatever God allows us to undergo. He can bring light in the darkness, and even “provide for those who grieve …– to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of despair.” (Isaiah 61:3) 

We do not realize it most of the time, but God allows us to go into a dark pit of trials and challenges because there are diamonds to be mined there. Lessons that build our character, experiences that allow us to see God's grace and favor. Sometimes we can discover God's purpose, and enter into a place of confidence in God's love. Other times we just learn that relying on God in times when there is nothing else to depend on, gives us indescribable peace. Whenever we are led into a dark place, let us be sure not to leave empty-handed! 

When You Pray

I made two more Floral Frogs to make a collection. There was an additional one that turned out completely wrong 😵 

Below is a picture of what a Floral Frog is used for. You can put it on top of a bottle and you’ve got a centerpiece for a table! 

“When you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.” Matthew 6:6

Sometimes we do not have an inner room to shut out the world and pray. We can however, find someplace where we can be alone with God, where our “inner man” or in my case “inner woman” can be fed. 

Yesterday was the Feast Day of Saint Romuald of Ravenna. He is a very good example of a man who was vigilantly praying. As a 10th century nobleman, he fell victim to youth’s follies and temptations. Then he witnessed his father, Sergius, quarrel and kill a relative in a duel. Horrified, he retreated to a Benedictine monastery to do 40 days of penance. After that, he became a monk at the Basilica of Saint Apollinare but he found the rule there too lax. Eventually, he founded some hundred monasteries of his own. Beset by worldly temptations, he always turned to prayer and taught the monks to do the same. 

“Sit in your cell as in paradise. Put the whole world behind you and forget it. Watch your thoughts like a good fisherman watching for fish. The path you must follow is in the Psalms – never leave it...Better to pray one psalm with devotion and compunction than a hundred with distraction.” 

I used to have such a hard time praying and reading the Bible. Five minutes was torture. But if we persevere at five minutes every day, we will find five minutes is not enough. Fishing is a good analogy. With fishing, we have to be patient, because it seems like nothing is happening. And then whoosh! We get a surprise gift! So exciting!

Our Father

“Our Father...” Matthew 6:9

Jesus taught the disciples how to pray. The first Christians were taught this “secret prayer” after their baptism. Today, we can pray this anywhere, but we, unfortunately, take the words for granted. 

Our Father, Abba, You are my father, but not only my father, but father of all You have created in love. You want us to trust in You, to ask You for guidance, You are ever ready to succor and protect us. Help us to see our brothers and sisters with Your eyes, with kindness and forbearance. There are so many who are lost, Lord, and I know You want us to do what we can to bring them to know You, to bring them into Your fold. 

Our Father, thank You for excluding no one. We are all Your children, even those who reject You. Even those who openly go against Your will. You still continue to bless us with Your rain, sunshine, oxygen, healing. Thank You for Your gifts of being able to talk, walk, breathe, and use our minds. May we be perfect as You are perfect, may we “hit the mark”, and become exactly as You want us to be. May we love You and love our neighbors as You have taught. Until the day You bring us home to You, ABBA Father, amen.

The Quality of Mercy

“Have mercy on me, O God, in Your goodness; in the greatness of Your compassion wipe out my offense.” Psalm 51:3

In High School I had to memorize a portion of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, the part where Portia proclaims, “The quality of mercy is not strained; It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: ‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes the throned monarch better than his crown: His sceptre shows the force of temporal power...But mercy is above this sceptred sway; It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings, It is an attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God's when mercy seasons justice.” 

Here Portia, disguised as a lawyer, is telling the court that Mercy must be freely given. It should not be constrained or forced. When we show mercy we not only bless the recipient, but ourselves as well. And when a powerful man shows mercy, he becomes most like God. 

Indeed all of us have greatly sinned against God by rebelling against Him. We were created in His image and to be in effect, mirrors of His glory. When we sin, we smudge that mirror. Romans 3:23 says, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." 

But no matter how smudged and dirty, and even broken our mirror is, God in His mercy can restore it for us. So great is His compassion and love for us, that when we come to Him for restoration, He will remove our transgressions “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12). 

An Eye for an Eye

Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well.” Matthew 5:38-39

Jesus in His sermon on the mount was quoting from Exodus 21:24-25, which reads, “an eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise” . The proverb, “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” came from the Code of Hammurabi, a King of Babylon in 1792-1750BC. This code of justice prevented the escalation of violence, meaning that a person should not retaliate beyond the crime committed against him.

This is not the way of Jesus which is always the way of love and forgiveness. He says, “When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on the one who wants to borrow.” This is very difficult to do. Only by God's grace is this possible. 

Detective Steven McDonald worked in the New York City Police Department when he was shot in the face and throat by one of the teenage boys he was questioning. As a result, Steven was paralyzed from the neck down and confined to a wheelchair and breathing machine. 

He was interviewed by Johann Christoph Arnold who wrote Steven's story in his book, “Why Forgive?”. This is an excerpt from the book:

“Six months after I was shot, Patti Ann (his wife of a little over a year) gave birth to a baby boy. We named him Conor. To me, Conor's birth was like a message from God that I should live, and live differently. And it was clear to me that I had to respond to that message. I prayed that I would be changed, that the person I was would be replaced by something new.

That prayer was answered with a desire to forgive the young man who shot me. I wanted to free myself from all the negative, destructive emotions that his act of violence had unleashed in me: anger, bitterness, hatred, and other feelings. I needed to free myself from those emotions so that I could love my wife and our child and those around us.

Shortly after Conor's birth, we held a press conference. People wanted to know what I was thinking and how I was doing. That's when Patti Ann told everyone that I had forgiven Shavod Jones, the young man who tried to kill me.”

Steven wrote to Shavod while the teenager was in prison, and eventually Shavod called him and apologized. “I accepted his apology, and I told him I hoped he and I could work together in the future. I hoped that one day we might travel around the country together sharing how this act of violence had changed both our lives, and how it had given us an understanding of what is most important in life....I forgave Shavod because I believe the only thing worse than receiving a bullet in my spine would have been to nurture revenge in my heart. Such an attitude would have extended my injury to my soul, hurting my wife, son, and others even more. It’s bad enough that the physical effects are permanent, but at least I can choose to prevent spiritual injury.”

Thank God that very few of us will experience what Steven experienced. His superhuman act of forgiveness should show us that if we open our heart to God's grace, we too will be able to forgive those who have hurt us and set our lives on the road to freedom.

Walk By Faith

Do you know what Floral Frogs are? If you see this, will you know what it’s for? 

What I like most about this is you can re-use bottles that you might toss out, and make them a centerpiece for your table!

 “Walk by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7

"We live by believing, not by seeing." Do we believe God listens, even if sometimes our prayers are not answered the way we want? Do we even believe He exists at all, when there is cruelty and evil and unfairness that He allows? It would be so easy for God to destroy Hamas, pedophiles, drug traffickers, corrupt politicians….but then, where would He draw the line? There is a seed of evil in each one of us. Evil is anything opposed to God. He would have to destroy every last one of us!

I believe God has faith IN US! We can walk by faith, not by sight, if we follow His example. God acts as if each and every one of us is precious and worthy, even if what He sees is contrary to that. He loves us as if each one of us is capable of doing something great and wonderful for Him. He died for us, even when we were sinners, unredeemed. As His children, He planted an indestructible seed of faith in our eternal souls. Let us water that seed, nurture it, by prayer, by reading His Word, by being in relationship with people who also desire to obey and follow Him.

Let Your ‘Yes’ Mean ‘Yes’

“Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’” Matthew 5:37

That is simple enough, isn’t it? But when I was young, my mother, sisters and I attended a Bible Study every week. Then one night the teacher said that it was all right to say you were not home even if you were. He said, “You are only meaning you are not home for that person.” I sat there shaking my head, and the teacher called upon me to say something. Of course I said that he was wrong, and there was a short argument. I started crying and he asked me why I was crying. I answered that it was because he was my Bible teacher and he was teaching wrong things. Well, the Bible study group broke up after that. 

Today, people do not take their words seriously. A famous boxer promised that if he was elected Senator, he would not enter the ring again. And then he did. Many people deceive because of their love for money like Bernie Madoff, a former chairman of NASDAQ. He was an accomplished and respected expert in the financial field when he was found out to have perpetrated an elaborate lie about his investment firm. 

Another reason for lying is the desire for power. Perhaps the biggest liar of all time was Adolf Hitler who reasoned that everyone tells small lies but few have the temerity to tell colossal lies. He and his minister of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, were able to eliminate six million Jews by convincing the German people that the Jews were the enemies and the cause of all their country’s problems. 

It is so sad to hear a leader say that honesty should not be an issue in elections. “Lahat sila sinungaling, lahat ng tao sa mundong ito sinungaling,” she claimed (All of them lie. Everyone in this world is a liar.)  No wonder our country, our world is in such a big mess, if we cannot depend on the word of the people leading us! 

If we want to see change in the world, we have to be the change. We have to tell the truth, and we have to teach our children to tell the truth.

Be Stouthearted

“Wait for the Lord with courage; be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord.” Psalm 27:14

Yes, we all need to be strong and courageous for one thing is sure in our life, we will never escape challenges, trials and difficulties. God uses trials like a megaphone, calling our attention. He uses it like a furnace, purifying our character of impurities. 

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4) 

In the book, “Streams in the Desert”, I read of a legend about a German baron who stretched wires from tower to tower at his castle on the Rhine. He wanted the winds to convert them into an aeolian harp. As the soft breezes blew about the castle, no music was heard. But one night, a great storm broke and the baron’s castle was smite by the fury of the winds. As the tempest raged on, music from the aeolian harp filled the air. Sometimes God gives our hearts songs in the night and they are the sweetest songs we will ever sing, and the most beautiful God will hear.