The Unknown God

“What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you.” Acts 17:23

There were many shrines in Athens, some dedicated to Aphrodite, goddess of beauty and love, the handsome Apollo, god of healing and arts, Ares, god of war and violence, Artemis, virgin goddess of the hunt and animals, and many many others. Paul said he looked carefully at the shrines, no doubt they were artistically executed, but he noticed one in particular. It was inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God’. “What you worship in ignorance, this is what I am proclaiming to you,” he told the Athenians in the Areopagus, or ‘Ares’ Hill’ a place where people congregated. Some people like Dionysius and Damaris responded and believed. Others scoffed when Paul started talking about the resurrection of the dead. 

Many of us pick and choose what we like from the Bible. When I was in U.P. High School, the Gideon Bible Society gave each of us in our class a cute red Bible. We had to promise to read it. I very eagerly started to read, and continued to read, until I reached this verse, “Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” That is from the Gospel of John 12:25. 

After reading that verse which I heartily disagreed with because I loved my life, I stopped reading the Bible for several years. Many people like me, and like the people of Athens, want to make our own god. We want a god conformed to our own image of what God should be. We did not want the truth, we wanted to make our own truth. Happily when I was older I decided after several Life in the Spirit Seminars that I wanted to know God, really know Him, not my own version of God or my preference of what God should be. The “unknown God” honored my desire and my zeal to know Him. He spoke and made Himself available and I loved Him as my first love. 

How inconceivable that the God of the Universe, the earth and sea and sky, would stoop down to our level and meet us where we are! He WANTS us to know Him! If we just open up a space for Him in our hearts and lives, He will come in and sit with us and keep His promises! 

Show Us the Path to Life

“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Acts 16:30

Paul and Silas were imprisoned, and when they started singing to the Lord and worshipping Him, a severe earthquake opened the prison doors and their chains broke open. The jailer who was instructed to guard them well, almost killed himself when he thought they had escaped. Paul and Silas said, “Do no harm to yourself; we are all here.” Trembling with fear, the jailer rushed in to the innermost cell he had placed them, and asked, “What must I do to be saved?”

I was listening to someone on TEDx Talks, a lady preacher who claimed to have heard God speak to her in a fast food joint. Most of what she said I agreed with, about how God will speak to us if we ask questions, wait and listen. What I didn’t agree with is she put Christianity on par with other religions and beliefs. She was being politically correct, and she probably would not have been invited to speak in that venue if she was not of that confidence. 

We either believe Jesus is God or we don’t. If we believe He is God, then we must believe His message, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: NO MAN cometh unto the Father, but by me”. (John 14:5) In Acts 4:12, the Apostle Peter said of Jesus, "Salvation is found in NO ONE ELSE, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." 

We either believe these claims from Jesus or not. Some may say this is too narrow-minded and mean spirited, even intolerant. Is it? Jesus revealed to us a loving God, a God who wants a personal relationship with us, who wants to “show us the path to life, fullness of joys”, who calls us to repentance so we can be saved. Is there any other faith that reveals God to us like that? 

I think God has a perfect plan for mankind. We were created in love. Just because we cannot understand His plan, and perhaps think we have a better, more equitable way, does not make it ‘false news’. The better response is to obey Him and spread the gospel, because it is of eternal importance for us and for others we can reach. We can leave all those we have no access to, the millions who have not heard the gospel, to a loving God who knows much more than we do, and who cares much more than we ever could. 

Sing a New Song

“Sing to the Lord a new song...” Psalm 149:1

The Jews for most of their history have been exiled, persecuted, and have suffered greatly. But in spite of all the pressures of living in a foreign land for years and years, they managed to maintain their language, culture, identity and spirit. When the temple was destroyed and Jerusalem pillaged, the focus of their worship transferred from the temple to their faith communities. That was when the Torah was rediscovered and read afresh.

I can say I also live in exile, in a foreign land. I am, after all, a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20). And like the Jews, with their songs of lamentation, I complain about this strange land I live in. The world as I know it is changing too fast, and I can’t say it’s for the better! Terrorists are hailed as heroes and freedom fighters. The people who are looked up to, switch their husbands or wives like they change their cars. Politicians lie with audacity and have no compunction to steal from the hungry and the homeless. There are apps and sites that promote adultery. People who are against abortion are insulted and even put in jail! Women jiggle and parade on the red carpet and on stage in next to nothing! Unscrupulous caregivers prey on the elderly and sick and steal their hard earned money with all sorts of scams. No, I do not feel like I belong!

Yet I can still sing new songs to the Lord! For His mercies are new every morning! And I know behind every dark shadow, there is a light shining...even in the remotest region of the world! I just need to trust that God is working even when I don’t see it. He keeps His promises, and I wait in faith, and journey with all the other pilgrims, to my promised land!

Remain in My Love

“Remain in my love.” John 15:9

In my other Bible, this verse reads, “Abide in my love.” The Greek word “meno” which translates to abide means to stay or continue on. In John 1:38-39, two disciples who were curious about Jesus asked Him where He was staying. Jesus’ answer was that they should “meno” with Him. 

I can imagine Jesus saying the same to us. Stay with Me, learn from Me, walk with Me, remain in My light, don’t stray away. “I have told you this so that my joy might be in you, and your joy might be complete.” (John 15:11) When someone we love is about to pass away, we want to be by his side to listen to his words. For weeks, I was recording my father’s stories as he lay in his sick bed. Almost anything he said was important to me, because I knew he could leave us at any time. A few days before he died, I even transcribed what he said, even when it did not make sense. 

How much more important, life-changing, crucial it is, for us to take Jesus’ words seriously! I believe it is a matter of life and death for us to understand and obey what Jesus said. It is not reasonable for younger people to say, “I will take my faith more seriously when I am older. I still want to enjoy my life, have fun, do things my way.” It is like we are frittering the best years of our life away if we do not start making Jesus our best friend! He has so much to offer us! There is so much more of the “best” life we can experience if we connect, depend, continue on and remain in His love and presence! 

The Heavens Declare the Glory of God

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims His handiwork.” Psalm 19:2

Few can deny the existence of God when faced with His majestic creations in nature. All over the world, there are still places where we can see His raw masterpieces that have been in existence for thousands and thousands of years. 

I just finished illustrating a Christmas design. It took me 12 hours drawing three kids in shepherd costumes and a cat peeking through a Christmas tree. It gave me such satisfaction seeing the finished product. And this is such a puny accomplishment compared to God’s geothermal geysers in Iceland, salt covered deserts in Bolivia, majestic mountain glaciers in Switzerland, marble caves in Patagonia and the nebulae 7,000 light years away from the earth. We can’t see most the wonders of the universe with our naked eye, BUT we do not have to look far to see God’s sublime work. Our eyes are composed of trillions and trillions of cells. 

Dr. Ming Wang, an eye doctor and scientist with a resume a mile long, was an atheist until he was confronted with the magnificence of the human eye. Dr. Stanley Hand was one of his mentors and pointed out to him that if a pile of scrap iron cannot assemble itself into a car, how can the eye with all its complexity not have a designer? Dr. Wang slowly but surely established his faith in God as creator and chief architect of the universe and all that is in it. It is wonderful to hear or read his testimony. The more he studied the human eye, the more he believed in our God who saves.

Few Friends

“If the world hates you, realize it hated me first….If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” John 15:18-21

During mass early this morning, Fr. Mark Renacia of the Our Lady of Consolation Parish had a very fitting homily to illustrate this heartbreaking reminder of Jesus. Fr. Mark shared about the time he was able to visit the Basilica of St. Teresa in Avila, Spain. Inside the Basilca, they preserved the room where Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada was born. There is also a prayer room where she spent hours in prayer and it was in this little chapel that St. Teresa received the vision of the crucified Christ. 

Fr. Mark explained that in the 1500s there were so many abuses and malpractices in the Church and Teresa saw the need for change. She started with her own Carmelite congregation and it was very difficult for her. Little by little she tried to expand that reformation. The process was not easy for her. Her superior wanted to expel her from the congregation and she had clashes with priests and Bishops. In the midst of this terrible crisis, she spent hours praying, complaining, and asking God why she was experiencing persecution, so much pain, when she was only doing this for the His  Church, for His people. For Him. The Lord appeared to her in a vision of the crucified Christ, water and blood pouring out of Him.

Father Mark said that Jesus spoke to St. Teresa saying something like, “Teresa, when I was on earth, I gave everything, my whole life for the salvation of the world, and you know what, I did not receive anything in return except this cross. This one is my only trophy, this one is my only precious treasure, and I share this with those who are closest to my heart. I share this with those I consider to be my true friends. And you are my friend.” St. Teresa responded, “Lord, no wonder then you have very few friends. Tienes pocos amigos. Because to be your friend means to carry the cross with you and to die on the cross with you.”

It is true as Father Mark concluded, as Christians we do not fully belong to this world, our values contradict those that the world holds important. If we stand up for what God has taught us and wants us to proclaim, we should be prepared for persecution which “leads us to the long and winding road to Calvary”. But “no mind has ever imagined the glory that awaits us!” Thank you Father Mark for your inspiring homily”

Remain in My Love

“Remain in My love.” John 15:9

I was 38 years old when Joshua was in my womb. I was so anxious, I just kept praying and praying. God in His mercy and love, spoke to my heart, and said, “You will know how much I love you, when you hold your child in your arms.” This reassured me immensely. True to His Word, when I held Josh in my arms for the first time, I knew His perfect love.

The whole Bible is about God’s love for us. It’s all about how He calls an imperfect people to have a relationship with Him- an intimate loving relationship with a God who gave His all to save us and claim us for His very own. Our destiny is to love Him and to allow Him to love us!

A Christian apologist said that to love is to treat a person with intrinsic worth, not only when they serve your purpose. I can’t imagine God needing me to do anything for Him. I am sure there are other people who could do a better job for Him! But He fashioned me, He “formed my inmost being; He knit me in my mother’s womb.” (Psalm 139:13)

The Lord is the One who gives me my worth. He is the One who gives each of us our worth, by loving us! Only in our Christian faith is love pre-existent within the Trinity, which means love precedes our very existence. This is the example we must follow. We have to love as God loves us. 

Thank you Lord for Your love which is simply amazing!!!!

Help My Unbelief!

“He did not work many MIGHTY DEEDS there because of their lack of faith.” Matthew 13:58

I'm sure it's not that Jesus couldn't do the mighty deeds! It's more that his hometown people's lack of faith, their unbelief, did not leave room for God to work.

Sometimes we are like the people of Jesus' hometown. We grew up believing in Jesus. We know the stories in the Bible. We have been Christians all our lives. We go to our churches, our small groups. We pray, we talk to Him, talk about Him.

But miracles happen to other people-Africans, Muslims, drug dealers, people who don't know Jesus!

And so we need to pray like the father of the boy who was healed, “Lord, I do believe Help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:25) God will meet us where we are!

Do Not Let Your Hearts Be Troubled

“Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” John 14:27

My sisters and I once went to experience an Ion Cell Cleanse when the center was newly opened and the owner treated us to a 30 minute footbath each. According to Dr. Jaime Galvez-Tan, whose achievements are a mile long, this can help flush away the toxins accumulated from bad eating habits, lack of exercise and stress. At that time, my family certainly needed to detoxify after the hard journey we had together when my dad was sick and eventually left us. 

After 30 minutes, the clean water in the foot bath looked worse than sewage water, and became a mix of dark brown, orange, green, and black sludge!!! Which only meant we had so much poison in our liver, gall bladder, joints, etc.! 

In Acts 14:21, Paul told the disciples in Antioch, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.” It is so true that each of us has our own bag of troubles that we, according to Paul, need to carry. We can help each other, encourage and support each other, but ultimately, we each have our own cross to bear. Jesus reassures us in John 14:27 that He leaves us peace. It is not the peace we can find in worldly things, or in the absence of war, or stress, or a quarrelsome person. Jesus’ peace can be found even in the midst of suffering, and war, and deprivation. It is the peace of Easter, the peace of victory. 

We can only have this peace if Jesus, the resurrected Lord, is real for us, is our friend day in and day out, through thick and thin, and in between. He is our very own Ion Cell Cleanse who can rid us of all the poison, anxiousness and sin in our hearts. 

He Will Teach You Everything

“The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name – He will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” John 14:26

It seems amazing to me that the Lord’s chosen disciples who were with Him day and night could not understand what He was teaching them and preparing them for. There are so many passages where it says they could not comprehend what Jesus was talking about. Perhaps they were all scratching their heads in confusion!

What hope is there for us then? The difference is He has given us His Holy Spirit. I looked up what His Spirit does for us. In Acts 1:8, Jesus promised that when He leaves, the Holy Spirit will come and the disciples will receive power. There are verses in Romans which tell us that the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress and can pray for us. (8:26) Jesus assured His followers that if we love Him and obey Him, we will be given an Advocate, Helper, Comforter, and Counselor, who will never leave us, and will guide us into all truth. (John 14:15-15) The Holy Spirit can also speak in our defense if we are ever caught in a tight place in our work for Him. 

There is no limit to what we can understand if we tap into the power of Jesus’ Spirit! So we should not have any doubts. It is the enemy that sows doubts. Jesus came to do one thing, and He finished it. When He left earth, He sent His Spirit of life, truth and love. That is why nothing is impossible to us. We need only to believe. 

We can see what Jesus’ disciples did after He left them. A bunch of doubters and cowards turned into staunch defenders of the Gospel. Most of them ended up as martyrs for the faith. Today, we are able to do so much more, to reach more people than they ever did. We just need to use His Power, and tap into the gifts of His Spirit! 

The True Vine

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine grower.” John 15:1

Henry Francis Lyte wrote the hymn, “Abide with Me”. Some verses go: “Abide with me! Fast falls the eventide, the darkness deepens: Lord, with me abide! When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, O abide with me! 

“Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day; Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away; Change and decay in all around I see: O thou who changest not, abide with me!”

Yes, all around may change and decay, but our God changes not. He is always there when we need Him. Nick Charles was a handsome man with a gorgeous mop of hair. He had been a playboy and enjoyed himself before he turned his life over to Jesus, and started peppering his conversations with “God bless you!” From his first job of cleaning rat feces on the floor, he became CNN’s first sportscaster. He got married to his third wife Cory who brought him closer to God, and had a little girl named Giovanna when he found out he had cancer of the bladder. He went the full round of chemo until his hair fell off. When the pain became so unbearable and he was so miserable, he prayed, “God, I’ve had enough. I don’t want to say goodbye to my family, but if it’s time, take me home.” 

What happened was a light shone in the corner of the room, and a figure that could only be Christ, sat beside him on the bed. He said, “Nick, I’m going to call you home but not tonight. Just hang in there.” 

When Nick Charles died, CNN wanted to make a feature about him but couldn’t figure out what to do with the story about Jesus Christ visiting Nick and comforting him, even though it profoundly affected many of the producers and staff. They finally did mention it in passing in the news. 

At the time Nick needed Jesus, He came in a way that profoundly helped Nick. We can be sure if we abide in the true vine, He will come in all sorts of ways when we need Him. 

Pilgrim Journey

“Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” John 14:8

My sister and her husband went on a pilgrimage through the Camino de Santiago twice! The Way of St. James, as it is known in English, is a huge network of pilgrims' ways that leads to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain. Tradition has it that the remains of Saint James the Great are buried there.

The scallop shell, found on the shores of Galicia, came to symbolize the way, and can be found in hundreds of posts and signs along the Camino as one walks or bikes along the trails. The pilgrims look for the shell printed in yellow on a blue background to know for certain they have not lost their way.

We may not know it, but we are each on a pilgrimage. We may be comfortable where we are but we do not belong here. We are all taking our own route to our forever home. So we should also look for signs along the way, to make sure we are not lost. Just as Philip asked Jesus, “Master, show us the Father,” we too should be looking for our Father along the way. Jesus answered Philip, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”

Along the Camino de Santiago, the scallop shell, or the Vieira, is the sign the pilgrims look for. In our pilgrim journey, we should always look to Jesus. Those who walk the Camino also carry the shell along with them on their journey. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24)

I am reminded of Steve Green’s beautiful song which goes: 

“We're pilgrims on the journey of the narrow road

And those who've gone before us line the way

Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary

Their lives a stirring testament to 

God's sustaining grace

Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses

Let us run the race not only for the prize

But as those who've gone before us

Let us leave to those behind us

The heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives”

The only way we will leave a heritage of faithfulness, is by looking to Jesus and following Him.

God’s Tapestry

“Do not let your hearts be troubled.” John 14:1

What is peace? Is it the absence of conflict, of war, of trials?  That is the world’s definition perhaps.  But Jesus’ gift of peace is not “as the world gives”.   I sometimes think that if only I had more faith, if I lived by faith, I would be free of problems, trials and challenges.  But of all the people who lived on earth, is it not true that Jesus had the perfect faith?  Was He ever free of trials and pain?  What He had was peace, and that is what He wants to give us.

In Acts 14, after Paul was stoned by Jews from Antioch and Iconium, Paul and Barnabas encouraged the disciples, saying, “We must undergo many trials if we are to enter into the reign of God.”  There is no escape from the stresses and strains of life.  It is part of the warp and weft of the tapestry God is weaving.  I like to think of God weaving.

I can see only the underside, with all its knots, and the mess of thread with discordant colors.  But all will be revealed at the end, when we will see how beautiful and intricate our tapestry will be.  Much more beautiful than those glorious ones found in the Louvre.  And longer than the Apocalypse tapestry which runs 100 meters and depicts scenes from the Book of Revelation!

Today when we think of art, we think of painting and sculpture most of the time. Hardly do we think of tapestries which were the most valued form of art during the medieval ages.  But from the time of Adam to the present, God’s masterpieces have always been man and his life.  And just as beautiful art needs contrasts of dark and light, our life needs times of sorrow, pain and challenges to bring out the gold threads!  God knows this and wants to give us the gift of peace, the same peace that wrapped around Jesus during His life.  So let us not be troubled by our trials. Let us just abide in Him who is our peace, and let Him do His marvelous weaving work in us!

The Devil is a Roaring Lion

“Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that your brothers and sisters throughout the world undergo the same sufferings.” 1 Peter 5:8-9

Not many people believe in the devil today, and that is exactly what this wily enemy wants. He wants us to scoff, “What? The devil? That fictional character our parents used to scare us with?” The more he is hidden in the dark, the more powerful he is. That is where he thrives, in darkness. He likes to manipulate our thoughts, and win in the battle for our minds. 

I read this true story of a man who got stuck in a refrigerator car when all his factory mates went home to celebrate a birthday. He got frantic while pounding on the walls because he believed the refrigerator car was plugged in and he would freeze to death. When he was found the next day, sure enough, the hospital report concluded he died from freezing. The odd thing was the refrigerator car was not even connected to the power supply.

The mind is a powerful thing and the devil knows how to manipulate it. I remember when my late brother-in-law, Jing, used to tell me that thoughts are like a mad dog. If you let it just roam free, it will go all over the place and can wreak destruction. We have to rein it in right away, and keep the leash tight. If we are anxious, depressed, or confused, we should not let our minds wander into places that will makes us even more morose. The Bible says, “Finally, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)

Trust Me

"Whoever puts faith in me believes not so much in me as in Him who sent me..." John 12:44

In another version, we read, "If you trust me, you are really trusting God who sent me." Jesus continues with the words, "Whoever looks on me is seeing Him who sent me." 

It's difficult to trust and believe in someone we do not see or hear. But in Malachi 3:10, God says, "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. TEST ME IN THIS and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it."

If we can test Him in our giving of tithes, we can also prove Him when it comes to His other promises. There are warnings in the Bible that we should not test God like the Pharisees did. They wanted to look for a way to trip Jesus up with His answers. But a lot of God's commands come with promises attached to them, and when we obey, it's like putting money in the bank. Obedience brings blessing. 

Father, I pray that I may nurture my little mustard seed of faith. I want to be like Peter who obeyed You when You told him to put out into the deep. Even when he had been fishing all night and caught nothing, Peter obeyed, and was rewarded with abundance.