Who is My Mother, My Brother?

“Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.” Matthew 12:49-50

Jesus was speaking to crowds when someone interrupted him to say, “Your mother and brothers are outside. They want to speak to you.” Jesus answered, “Who is my  mother and who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand towards his disciples, He said, “Behold, my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother!” 

I can picture Jesus expansively holding out his arms to emphasize how He has extended the circle of His family to include all those who do the will of his Father. This shows us how important it is to know the Father’s will and pleasure because we certainly want to be counted as Jesus’ family. 

Before the wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, Meghan had to learn how to be a good member of the Royal Family. She had to learn how to dress, especially for official functions. They told her about dress length, not using dark nail polish, not showing too much leg, no plunging necklines, she had to smile all the time, not show her impatience or boredom. No Facebook, no Instagram. She had to quit her job in Suits. I am sure she had to give up a lot of things. She also had to learn about who to curtsey to and who not to. If you think that is easy, it’s not. She has to curtsey to Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice, but not if Prince Harry is in the room, when they would have to curtsey to her!

In a way, we are like that too. It says in the Bible, that God’s ways are different than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than ours. We need to learn how to be a good member of His family. One thing God wants is that we will belong in His Kingdom and that’s why He gave us the amazing book, the Bible. In it we see how we can become a member of His family. We can also read the fascinating stories of other members of OUR family through the ages! 

Thank You Lord, for making a way for us to be a part of Your eternal, victorious,  Royal household where there is no place for deceit only truth, no hate only love, no violence only peace. 

Fear Not!

"Fear not! Stand your ground and you will see the victory the Lord will win for you today...The Lord Himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still." Exodus 13:13-14

It is very difficult to keep still, to be patient, and trust in the Lord. We would rather do something NOW, right this minute, decide NOW. Proceeding with my own plans NOW is more comfortable than waiting on the Lord. 

After graduation, most of my son's classmates had jobs already. One of his best friends started working the very next day after their Commencement Exercises. Although Josh had several job offers, he waited and prayed. Like I always do, I also prayed for him. He told me that all the good start ups had their offices in BGC. That was too far! With the traffic, it would easily take him more than 6 hours a day just to get there and back! And parking fees would be enormous! 

I told Josh that nothing is impossible with the Lord! We just waited and prayed. One day he received an email. He got a job offer from a start up with great investors behind it, in line with what he really wanted to work on, free parking in the office, flexible time, casual clothes, offices in Mandaluyong (soon in Quezon City). All his boxes were ticked! All his mother's boxes were ticked and more! It turned out he did not even have to go to the office! He worked from home! So almost nothing changed with the onset of the pandemic. He just continued to do his work from the safety of his own bedroom. God is good! 

Thank You Lord, that when we wait on You, You work on our behalf! Thank You for Your favor! 

Send Me!

“I will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them so that they need no longer fear and tremble; and none shall be missing, says the Lord.” Jeremiah 23:4

We are badly in need of shepherds today, don’t you think? We have lost our way. We need revival in our land. In the world. In the 1700s, John Wesley, the preacher who formed the Methodist Christian denomination of which my father was a part of, at first did not seem like a man who would spark a revival. But eventually he believed the world was his parish and he never slowed down. He traveled 4,000 miles annually and preached about 40,000 sermons in his lifetime. His meetings were full of spiritual fervor. His secret was that he would spend hours on his knees in prayer every day.

In 1940, a group of theology students went on a tour of England with Professor Edwin Orr, an author of several books about evangelical revivals. One of their stops was Epworth Rectory, once the home of John Wesley. After bringing the students around the first floor, they went to Wesley’s bedroom. There on the carpet next to the bed, Prof. Orr pointed out two worn spots where the great reformer knelt every day interceding for the wind of the Holy Spirit to sweep through England and spread to the United States. 

As the students were piling into the bus, the Professor counted and noticed one was missing. He went quickly inside and eventually found one young man in John Wesley’s bedroom. His knees were planted on the same spots where Wesley had fervently prayed. The student was repeatedly asking the Lord, “Do it again, Lord! Do it again… and would you do it again with me!” Professor Orr placed his hand on the student’s shoulder and said they were all waiting for him on the bus. The student slowly got up and joined the others on the bus. What do you know? God did it again through that young man…. Billy Graham! 

Do we want the winds of revival to sweep across our nation? It starts with us on our knees! “Here I am, Lord! Send me!”

So Much Treasure

“The time the children of Israel had stayed in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years.” Exodus 12:40

Although the Exodus and the Passover recounted in the Torah is central to Jewish belief, many consider it just a legend or even a fairytale with no basis in fact. Many Biblical scholars and archaeologists argue about different issues of this part of Jewish history, but many of them agree that it did occur in one form or another. 

I like “digging” around for archaeological evidence, listening to YouTube videos of archaeological finds and reading about proof of the Hebrews sojourn in Egypt. One clue was found in diggings uncovered by the University of Chicago in the 1930s which showed the remains of a complete house characteristic of Israelite dwellings in Western Thebes, Egypt. Then in the book, “Unearthing the Bible “ by Titus Kennedy, the author wrote, “Hieroglyphic inscriptions mentioning the ‘land of the nomads of YHWH’ were discovered on the walls of two New Kingdom Egyptian temples and a temple pillar in Sudan. Currently, these are the earliest known texts that contain the name YHWH (Yahweh), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible.” 

Then there is the Sphinx Dream Stele. “Scholars consider this text to demonstrate that Thutmose IV was not the natural heir to the throne,” Kennedy writes, “but the death of his older brother, the firstborn and original heir, allowed him to eventually become pharaoh…Thutmose IV had an older brother named Amenhotep who was the heir, but he mysteriously disappeared or died.” Was Amenhotep the first born who perished with all the Egyptian first born sons in Exodus 12:29? 

I personally choose to believe that God reveals Himself through the many different stories in the Bible. We can see the Exodus as a foreshadowing of the resurrection and salvation of Jesus- His saving us from the slavery from the bondage of sin bringing us to the promised land of freedom and rest. Again as in so many narratives of the Bible, the New Testament is concealed in the Old, and the Old Testament is revealed and fulfilled in the New, as St. Augustine said. 

Moses prefigured Christ just as the manna prefigured the Eucharist. In the 430 years the Hebrews were toiling and suffering in Egypt, it may have seemed as if God was not hearing their prayers. But it just took one day for God to save and free them from this bondage. The same is true whatever hardship we are experiencing right now. It is so easy for God to save us with His mighty hand. We just need to put our full trust in His love and mercy. So much treasure to dig up in God’s Word! 

Mercy

"I desire MERCY, not sacrifice." Matthew 12:7

It's hard to balance discipline and mercy when people do wrong, because we always want to teach a lesson about consequences of their actions.

If they intentionally disobey rules, or are dishonest, we want to mete out a justifiable punishment. We sometimes fear if we’re too soft, they won't learn the lesson and they'll do it again. But how about God?

“The wages of sin is death," (Romans 6:3) shows death is what we deserve for sinning! And yet the verse continues, “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." That is pure mercy, pure grace, and pure sacrifice for us!

And so when deciding on the consequence, it is always best to temper it with mercy, to bear witness to the truth of God's own love and unbelievable mercy! 

Wounded

“Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me, your souls will find rest.” Matthew 11:28-29

Who is not heavy laden, burdened by the cares of this world, weary from all the uncertainty and confusion surrounding us during this pandemic? It may be commuting safely to and from work now that restrictions have eased, balancing decisions of how to sustain a business, or discerning how best to give the kids a good education. The hardest challenge would be stressful relationships, not enough money to pay debts or a debilitating sickness. Yes, life is hard. Period. 

Jesus invited us to take His yoke upon our shoulders and learn from Him. How do we do this? There is nothing we would like more than to shed our heavy load and put it on His shoulders, but instead He asks us to take His yoke on ours! 

One bible verse is particularly apt- "Faithful are the wounds of a friend..." Psalm 27:6. I can't help but relate this to grafting. Why does God allow us to get wounded, heavily burdened? Perhaps it is the only way we can grow, and bloom and bear fruit. He is the vine and we are the branches. We are supposed to abide in Him, attach ourselves to Him, remain in Him, "No branch can bear fruit by itself." In grafting, the tissues of one plant are inserted into the tissues of another so that the two sets of vascular tissues are joined together. The "vine" contains the desired genes to be duplicated in the branch! But we can't get connected without the wounds on both the vine and the branch!

When God allows hardship to enter our life, we are invited to join with Him, to take His yoke on our shoulders. To be one with Him, to have a covenant relationship with Him who is the source of life, strength, and joy. Indeed, we may find that taking His yoke on our shoulders would be the best way to lessen our burdens! 

Like a Child

 "You have hidden these things from the wise...and revealed them to the childlike." Matthew 11:25

My husband Luigi is very popular with children. When kids see him, they run to him, eager to play, wanting to be hugged tight. What is it about children that delighted God? Jesus said in Luke 18:6, "Let the children come to me, do not stop them from approaching me for the Kingdom belongs to such as these." If only we could be more like little children and run to Him who loves us!

Sometimes we hide from Him because we feel guilty, or because we disagreed with something we read in the Bible, or because we think we have all the time in the world. We think God can wait.

But children, they don't like waiting, do they? Perhaps that's why God wants us to be like kids. Children are eager. They are persistent. They are teachable. They are waiting to be amazed, they want to be amazed. When was the last time we were amazed at what God has done? When was the last time we read something in the Bible and our heart leapt? If we are more childlike, less dependent on our own thinking, God will reveal the treasures in His Kingdom that He hides from those who are wise in their own eyes! 

Lord, may I be like a child, dependent on You! Eager to be fed from the Master's hand!

Harden Not Your Hearts

“If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” Psalm 95:8

It would be so easy if we heard God’s voice every morning and just had to follow what He said. We would be successful, have the perfect family, security for the future and know with absolute certainty we were going to heaven. Life would be simple, and we wouldn’t be confused about our priorities and busy ourselves about things that had no value. True? Maybe not. There is nothing easy about obedience. 

God wants to speak to us, and if we read His Word every morning, and keep quiet enough to hear Him, we may get His heart for those He loves. If we want this enough, usually God will oblige. 

One day in 2007, when Christine Caine, an evangelist and speaker, was in the Thessaloniki airport in Greece, she saw many handmade posters of missing girls. She found out that these young girls were trafficked and some sold on an auction block like slaves. She heard God tell her to help. “But God,” she argued, “I just gave birth! But I’m a woman! But I’m an Australian who lives so far from here...” Her buts were a mile long. God knew all those buts. He also knew that in 2008, Christine with all her buts would obey and start the A21 Campaign with her husband Nick, and would be instrumental in rescuing babies from pedophile rings, and young girls and women from sexual trafficking. Their crucial work continues and just last month, A21 freed 26 people from Cambodia, Greece and Bulgaria from sex and labor trafficking.

Christine studies the Word, listens to God, and obeys. First it was the little things. How about us, do we listen and obey the little things God instructs us? Let us not harden our hearts so God can put His dreams into our hearts.

Finding Life

“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” 

Matthew 10:39

This verse is very significant for me because when I was in UP High School, a group of people from Gideons International dropped by with cute little red Bibles for each of the students. They spoke a little about the Bible, and then we had to promise to read the Bible every day if we wanted to get a Bible from them. The Bible was so cute, and I wanted one, and to this day, I still have that Bible with markings on the pages. So I know that I stopped reading the Bible when I read those words of Jesus, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” In John 12:25, the verse reads, “Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

To a young girl in love with life, what would those words about the cross, and finding life if you lose it, and losing your life for Jesus’ sake mean? Not very much! I believe that Jesus intentionally did not speak in plain and simple language because one has to spend time seeking for layers of meanings. If one really wants to know the truth which is a priceless treasure, we need to read the Bible every day, pray about it, and like Mary, “ponder it in our heart”. St. Luke writes in 2:19,  “Mary treasured all these words (rhemata = acts of utterance) and pondered them in her heart.” The mother of Jesus was a very young peasant girl and she did not understand what was happening to her either. After all the mystery of the Incarnation never happened before or since. So she protected the words of the angel in her heart, not her mind, where it can get lost in all the meanderings of logic and cynicism, but in her heart, where God can give clarity and meaning. 

In the morning when I pray and read the Bible, I just like to think of the words I read just sitting and finding a place in my heart. I need not fully understand it. But I know that God’s word is “alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.”  (Hebrews 4:12) So let’s not worry, if we do not understand what we read all the time. Just trust God to reveal to us what He wants to reveal in His perfect time. 

Take Nothing for the Journey

“Take nothing for the journey..." Mark 6:8

My family knows that when I travel I make such a fuss about packing. The earlier I start packing, the more I bring. If I am going to a cold place, I think twice, thrice, four times about how many jackets, sweaters, blankets, thermal underwear to bring. I always pack so much, because I bring art materials, or a sewing kit, or both. But I'm not the only one who brings odd stuff on a journey. My brother once brought out some cheese and a cheese grater when we went to Coron. 

When Jesus sent the disciples on a mission to proclaim the good news, He told them to take nothing for the journey except a walking stick. No food, no traveling bag, no money. The disciples couldn't depend on anything but what they learned from listening to Jesus, and asking Him questions. Obviously, Jesus thought they were ready or He would not have sent them out to be laughed at or ridiculed. They passed the test because verse 12 and 13 says “they preached repentance. The Twelve drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.”

We should try Jesus' way sometimes. I don't really mean going off without anything at all, but without the baggage of needing to wait for the right time to talk to others about faith and how God is just waiting for us to approach Him. Wherever we go, there are so many hurting people in the world, needing to hear about our Savior who cares, and who loves us enough to die for us. We are all called to be missionaries. 

Pope Francis in a 2015 Spiritual Reflection tells us: “It is Baptism that makes us missionaries. A baptized person who does not feel the need to proclaim the Gospel, to proclaim Jesus, is not a good Christian.”

All the Hairs on our Head are Counted

"Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's knowledge. Even all the hairs on your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." Matthew 10:29-31

 When I was young, maybe about 11 or 12 years old, I remember staring at this plaque on our wall which read, "God is love". It was crudely made as I had made it myself from built up cardboard covered in gesso. While staring at it, God spoke to my heart saying, "Yes, I am love." And from then till now, I never doubted it.

I think it was one of my foundational experiences. Because I knew God loved me, I grew up confident in that love. It did not matter if people rejected me, hurt me, laughed at me, judged me, thought me weird (of this, there were many!). Everything was OK, because, Hey! God loves me!

If we are not confident of God's love, we can search for signs, take note of it, and thank God for it.

Somebody gave me a chocolate bar, yey! God loves me! Somebody encouraged me, somebody paid me a visit, God answered a small or a big prayer, Yey! God loves me!

I found a lost thing, I have money to pay for something I really really want, the coffee smells great, I have time to draw, Yey!!! God loves me!!!

If we are more conscious of the small things God does for us, we won't doubt His BIG love! 

Do Not Worry

“...do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say.” Matthew 10:19

Every day I read my Bible, read Anawim or some other meditation book, and write down what I feel God is telling me. I used to paint on journals, then on my Bibles, and now on my iPad. I’ve done this for years. It was in 2006 when I started embellishing my journals to help me remember the Bible verses. Then in 2009, I started putting my meditations on my blog. I felt God wanted me to share His Word with others, and it was as if He had trained me for it, in the years I would just write and write on my innumerable journals. Sometimes I wonder why I do it, but then as long as He gives me the words, I know God wants me to do it. I believe whatever the task God gives, He will supply what we need to accomplish it. 

Although I read a lot, I have a difficulty remembering what I’ve read or who wrote it. Google is my best friend because I just search something like “lady who lost her arm in war” or something like that, to remember a particular story with relevance to what I want to say. What Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 10 holds true for me. I need never fear what I am to speak, or write. He provides magnificently. And if He doesn’t, that’s all right too. He has another plan. 

I remember when I was inviting a friend to Bible study, and she asked me a question about the Bible. I could not answer, even if I felt it was an easy question. Anyway, the very next day, she asked the same question of a stranger who was at the right place at the right time. The stranger turned out to be a Pastor and he was able to answer the question to my friend’s satisfaction. My friend who was a nominal Catholic converted and became evangelical. I believe that was and is God’s plan for her. She homeschooled her children and became really active in church in the States. 

Sometimes we do not embark on something because we are anxious we cannot do it. We need to be confident that if it’s something God wants us to do, He will be right there with us. If it’s something God wants to happen, we need to make ourselves available. Let us offer whatever measly “loaves and fishes” we have so we can be a part of God’s plans, whatever they are! 

Without Cost

“Give as freely as you have received.” 

Matthew 10:8

Jesus sends out the twelve apostles with instructions to announce that the Kingdom of heaven is at hand, that the Kingdom is very near. As Jesus has freely given this good news of salvation and fullness of life, they were to give the same without cost to anyone who would listen. 

In July 2017, a funny incident occurred. Funny to most people but not to the man it happened to. The man was fixing an electronic lock in a Bank of America branch in Corpus Christi, Texas, when the door slammed shut and he was trapped inside the room of the ATM machine. He had left his phone in his truck so he resorted to sending SOS notes through the receipt slot. “Please help. I’m stuck in here and don’t have my phone. Please call my boss at 210- - -“ Everyone who withdrew money laughed and thought it was a great prank, until someone took it seriously and called the police for help. 

There are people all around us sending out invisible SOS notes. Sometimes they hide behind a door of nonchalance, odd humor, even irritability. Do we try to reach out and give what we have received from God without cost, or do we walk away? We live in a world that is full of broken, hurting people, especially now, during this seemingly endless pandemic. God can use us, as broken vessels ourselves, to heal the broken hearted, to bind their wounds. It may just take a listening ear, a Facebook comment saying we are praying, a food package, or a virtual hug. We may never know that our prayers, our encouragement, a positive word, was a gift at the right time to a person in need. Sometimes the best way to heal our brokenness and our neediness is to reach out to others and give whatever we can. 

Amazing Bible!

“But Joseph concealed his own identity from them and spoke sternly to them.” Genesis 42:7a

I like reading all sorts of books. I love “Pride and Prejudice” and all of Jane Austen’s books because I like reading about other times and diverse places. I just finished two of Daniel Silva’s excellent suspense thrillers. The author created quite a complicated protagonist who is a Jewish intelligence agent, assassin and art restorer. Too unputdownable! Now I am reading “A Woman of No Importance”, a true account of Virginia Hall, a glamorous American spy who changed the course of World War II. 

Whatever kind of story one likes to read, we may find it in the Bible. But the difference between the Bible and other books is we can see the mind of God through the Bible even if it is written by many authors. There is a common thread binding the books in spite of the fact that about forty individuals were inspired to put pen to paper or dictate what they wanted to set down. The books of the Bible were written over the course of about 1500 years by prophets, priests, shepherds, a physician, fisherman, tent maker, a king and even a tax collector! 

God used them all to share His love and His plan for all of us. And the proof that God was the inspiration behind the books is the “New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New” as Saint Augustine once observed. Indeed the key to fully understanding the Bible is to see how Jesus and His mission has been prefigured in many of the stories of the Old Testament, just like in the story of Joseph from Genesis chapter 37 to 50.

Joseph the dreamer foreshadows Christ our Messiah. Both Jesus and Joseph were beloved sons, sent on a mission, rejected, conspired against and sold. Just as Jesus was stripped of his clothes, Joseph’s many colored coat was taken from him. Both Jesus and Joseph were falsely accused and suffered for the sins of others. Jesus was put into a tomb and resurrected. Joseph was put into a pit and then pulled out. Joseph saved Egypt and the surrounding areas from famine. Jesus is redeemer of the world. The list goes on. But my favorite similarity is that Joseph was with two criminals in prison, one of whom was executed, the other set free. Wasn’t Jesus crucified between two criminals? Only one was saved. 

Father, thank You for Your Word. You made sure we would see Your movement in history, in Your God ordained foreshadowing of Your divine plan. When we read the Bible not only do we read about someone who changed the course of World War II, but we read about Jesus Your Son, who can change the course of our lives!

Moved with Compassion

“My heart is moved with pity..." Mt. 9:36

We are all made in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:27), and I do believe that we have some of His character. After all, we are "created to be like God, truly righteous and holy." (Ephesians 4:24). We can see this instinctual compassion in a child who cries in empathy when her playmate is hurt, or who takes pity on a wounded kitten. My sister’s grandchild cried when he saw my husband’s hair being cut! 

As we grow older, we try to protect ourselves from pain and distress and get immune to the faces of need we see around us. It takes a lot for me to give money to a beggar

because I think of syndicates, and I remind myself that giving money just encourages begging, or allows street children to buy rugby to sniff. I much prefer buying them food but it is not always convenient to stop what I am doing to do so. 

 In Matthew 15:32, Jesus is confronted with a great crowd who had been following him for three days. He said, "They have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, for fear they may collapse on the way." A practical concern. How about me? Do I naturally feel compassion for the woman and child sleeping on rags and filthy cardboard on the sidewalk? Do I want to do something for the man languishing in jail for a crime he did not commit? How about a street child in danger of being preyed upon by unscrupulous men?

 Even if I do not feel "moved to pity" like Jesus, if I want to be like Him, I can start with a small action of mercy. Just like being happy starts with smiling. Charles Darwin said , "The free expression by outward signs of an emotion intensifies it." And William James notes that if someone does not express an emotion, then he has not felt that emotion at all. And Shakespeare famously said that giving mercy blesses the one who gives it and the one who receives it. 

God is rich in mercy (Eph. 2:4), and if we want to be the same as our Father, we don't have to wait till we feel compassion, we can just DO IT! Mercy is as mercy does! Jesus wants us to see one another through the eyes of compassion He has for us. 

Your Faith Has Saved You

“Courage, daughter!  Your faith has saved you.” Matthew 9:22

The story of this woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years can be very discouraging. She spent everything she had for doctors and medicine and she was not getting better. In fact she was getting worse! I know so many people who have been sick a long time. In fact I am one of them! I have Thalassemia, a genetic blood disorder caused when the body doesn’t make enough hemoglobin, an important part of red blood cells. It may have triggered all the calcified emboli in my lungs. One and 1/2 years after my open heart surgery to remove it, I am still breathless, and still need healing for my lungs. 

Sometimes I feel like that veiled woman in a crowd in search ofJesus. "If only I can get close to Him. If only I had enough faith." This woman was very fortunate in that she managed to touch Jesus' garments and she was healed instantly. In the 5th chapter of Mark, we read more of this woman’s story. Jesus looked around at the crowd surrounding Him, and asked, "Who touched me?" What is important to me is that Jesus looked for her. For 12 years, perhaps she was feeling neglected by God, insignificant. How many times do we pray, "Do you care, God? Do You know what I am going through?" This is what our enemy wants, that we think God does not care, God does not know what we are going through. In this battle of the mind, we need to fight for the truth.

God does care. We matter to Him. Every single one of us. We are loved. That is what we want to know in our heart. "Who touched me?" is the cry of a God who wants to connect with us. Faith is our connection. "Daughter, your faith has healed you," Jesus said. And so with us. Our faith that whatever we go through, whether 12 years or not, whether it is about healing, or broken relationships, or lack of money or whatever, God walks with us. God is there, loving us whatever we are going through. He will never allow things to happen to us that is not good for our character. That will not make us bloom. In the next story of Jairus and his daughter, Jesus says, "Do not be afraid. just trust me."

Yes Lord, I trust You. You will work everything in my life for my good, because You love me, and I love You! (Romans 8:28)

Our Eyes on the Lord

“As the eyes of a maid are on the hands of her mistress, So are our eyes on the Lord, our God, till He have pity on us.” Psalm 123:2

God is moving, and if we are to be unbeaten, undefeated by the unfolding circumstances in the world, we have to keep our eyes on Him, just like a maid keeps her eyes on the hands of her mistress. I have a helper in my house named Lucy. She has been with me for more than twenty-five years, before my son was born. She anticipates what I need. If I move towards the electric fan, she is there before me to turn it on. At ten o’clock, and three o’clock, she appears with merienda. Without me having to instruct her, she takes care of me and makes sure I am comfortable. I appreciate her so much! 

The picture of a maid and her mistress in Psalm 123, shows us how we are to be discerning of God’s will and pleasure. As servants of God we are fully reliant on Him. During these times of trouble and uncertainty, we should fix our gaze on Him so we can find our peace and stability. Only He can get us through this. Not our intelligence, our wealth, our power, our fame, our resources if we have them. Could we ever have conceived of a worldwide pandemic that could overturn the whole world? The world is broken, bleeding, and is in need of more than bandages and soothing words. We need a Savior, and we need Him now. The first day Jesus began His ministry, He started out by reading from the Book of Isaiah “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.” (Is. 61:1) 

What good news was Jesus talking about back then? Is it anything to do with us? It has everything to do with us! He was talking about His mission, why He came to earth, to free us, to free our hearts, to free us from the shackles of our enemy! He came to ransom and save us, and turn our devastated lives into victorious, praise- filled lives. All we have to do is focus our eyes on Him, not to attend to all the messed-up cacophony happening in the world. He will get us through all the noise. That is what He promised, and He is a promise-keeping God! “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:57)

Believing is Seeing

 "Do not persist in your unbelief, but believe." 

John 20:27

Never was a man more disparaged for his doubt than Thomas!  He will forever be known as "doubting Thomas"! But Thomas did not merely have doubts, he plainly, adamantly, did not believe. "I will NEVER believe," he insisted, "without probing the nail prints in His hands, without putting my finger in the nail marks and my hand into His side." If you think about it, all the disciples would have been the same. It's just that they were there when Jesus appeared to them, even if they had locked the door.  They saw for themselves that He was risen from the dead.  He showed them His hands and His side.

In John 20:29, Jesus urges us to make a leap of faith. "Blessed are they who have not seen and have believed."  There are times I think, "Why do I believe?" To a non-believer, the Bible can be a bunch of made up, absurd stories! I decided a long time ago that yes, Jesus, You are God, and I will follow You.  Because of that leap of faith, I have been blessed. Now I know without a shadow of a doubt, like Thomas, like the other disciples, like Paul who tried to destroy the followers of Jesus, that He is alive, He is God, and He holds the key. Instead of “seeing is believing”, I know that “believing is seeing”! 

Follow Me

"Follow me." Matthew 9:9

Jesus saw Matthew the tax collector sitting at the customs post and He said, "Follow me."

Tax collectors were the most despised people in Jesus' day. They collaborated with the Romans and were considered traitors. Today, here in the Philippines, the Bureau of Internal Revenue is considered one of the most corrupt departments in government. We had a problem with the BIR and one of the agents told our accountant, “It's so easy for your problem to go away!" insinuating that if we gave him bribe money, he would help us!

Wasn’t it amazing that Jesus chose Matthew! He knew without a doubt that this man was a sinner! And it was in spite of that that Jesus picked him out of the crowd and made him part of the chosen Twelve! God’s ways are certainly different from ours. Jesus told the protesting Pharisees, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do." The Pharisees did not realize that they were 'sick' too! All they wanted to do was observe Jesus, criticize Him, and catch Him doing wrong.

Lord, may I not be like the Pharisees. May I realize that I need You! Thank You that in Your extraordinary mercy and grace, You allow me to be part of Your team, the Chosen ones! You know I am a sinner, yet You picked me, just like You picked Matthew. May I follow You and learn from You!

God Himself Will Provide

“God Himself will provide the sheep for the burnt offering.” Genesis 22:8

The story of Abraham and his willingness to sacrifice Isaac has many levels of meaning. It foreshadows God’s generosity to sacrifice His only Son on the cross that we might be saved. 

Today, my take on this focuses on obedience, our willingness to follow God’s laws and His teachings. We have to follow even if we do not understand, even if we do not know the future, even if there does not seem to be anything in it for us. 

One time my husband got together with a group of his classmates because a friend from the US arrived, a guy who works in the biggest car dealership there. He was asked, “Who was the most famous person you sold a car to?” Then he told the story that one day a man arrived at their showroom. He described him looking like a “taong grasa”, a beggar, unkempt, and all the other salesmen kept to their seats. He was the only one who chose to approach and entertain the man while he looked at the cars. Then the man asked for a particular model, and though it was on hold, my husband’s  classmate did the paperwork to free it so it could be sold. They then took the car out for a test run. While they were on the road, Luigi’s classmate asked, “What do you do?” The man said he was a director of movies. When they got back to the showroom, the man said he would buy the car and he paid cash, not installment. All the other salesmen were astonished! It turned out that that man was the director of the smash hit, SpiderMan! 

God teaches us many things. One of them is that we should respect and love people the way He does. We should not pick and choose and discriminate. We should not play favorites. After all, He died for each one of us, the wicked, the righteous, the rich, the “taong grasa”, the meek, the one who runs rough shod over our feelings, the stupid, the blind, the one who spreads fake news, even the murderer. God Himself will provide the sacrifice that needs to be offered for all our sin.