Holy Spirit

Are we filled with Holy Spirit?

When we were baptized with water, we were also  baptized by the Holy Spirit as we accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior. As we commit ourselves to Jesus Christ, we dwell on His words from the scriptures and be faithful on His promises. We follow Him and equip ourselves with His messages by meditating on His words day and night. We should always be filled by the presence of the Holy Spirit. 

In Ephesians 5:18, Paul reminded the believers in Ephesus not to be full of themselves with liquor that will make their lives miserable, but instead they were told to focus on God and be filled with the Spirit.

When people have problems, they dwell on worldy answers to drink alcohol to forget their problems. Aside from that, people drink to socialize and make friends by joining parties and drink all night until they are drunk. Some fell to addiction and can't control themselves anymore. How can we turn that longing of something to drink to our desire to be filled with Holy Spirit?

Read, study, listen and share the gospel. Be filled with the good messages from God in the scriptures and apply in our daily lives. Lets be full with God's lessons from the bible so we will never be hungry and we can always share what we have to others. Our source of truth is infinite. So let's grab this opportunity to praise and worship the Lord,  everyday in our lives. Let us welcome the Holy Spirit!!!

Sound of Silence

There are times that I want to be alone but it is also lonely all by yourself. Its my first time to live alone and to be far away from my family. As I decided to study here in Korea for 3 years, I know the consequences that it will take...loneliness. I struggled during the first few months of my stay here. I cannot just talk to my family everytime because I have a room mate and our room is small and I dont want to disturb anybody. I make it to call my family once a day. 

I decided to live alone outside the university dormitory to concentrate and be able to call my family anytime I want. I also want to have privacy in using the bathrooms rather than sharing it in the dormitories. I also want to cook my own food because I am tired of heating food in the microwave and spending too much eating outside. I am also not comfortable in switching dormitories during vacation. I preferred to have my own space and rest at my own time. I was alone and no one to talk to.

I struggled alone here in Korea. I handled my problems alone. When I have no more money to buy food, I just manage what's left. In the midst of hunger and desperation and when I was on the brink of depression, I lied facing the floor and wept. I prayed to God to deliver me from this suffering and ask for His provisions. In the midst of silence in my room being alone, I heard a loud noise deep within me , a sound of shouting, crying for help. But in that loudness from my heart,  I heard the whisper of the Lord. "Jen,  do not worry about what you will eat..." I dwell on the words from Jesus' in Matthew 6:25:

“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?

Matthew 6:25 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.6.25.NLT

I am reminded that God is real. He always make the impossible possible. I just need to put my faith and trust unto him. I prayed and trust for his provisions, and He answered through my classmate who transfered money so I can buy groceries. The Holy Spirit can make marvelous things if you believe, there will be miracles.

Elijah also heard the whisper of God in the midst of war and chaos in 1Kings 19:12. He heard the sound of a whisper and he was saved. God called him and he answered and he was delivered from the hands of the enemy.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,even if we hear noises in our surroundings and we get distracted by all these disturbances, remember that we can always find peace and quiteness with the Lord. Focus, concentrate and listen to His call, submit to Him all your worries and cares and He will deliver you from it. The Sound of Silence is a Whisper of Hope from God. Always find peace in this noisy world in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Humble

Are you proud of yourself? Do you boast your accomplishment? How can you humble yourself?

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we always have something to boast with our academic accomplishments, career and financial success. But are we honoring God whenever we receive such? Are we relying on ourselves because we can do it alone?

When we prayed for success, we asked God for His blessings and guidance. He was there when we needed Him, but why do we forget about Him when we already get what we wanted? Let us learn how Jesus humbled himself to become human and be like us. He became a slave to redeem us from our sins. Paul wrote a letter to the Philippians in chapter 2 verse 7.

Jesus took the humble position of being a servant of God and became human in His likeness. We can be like Him by humbling ourselves whenever we are being ridiculed as Christians. To continue sharing the gospel, even if others mocked you. 

We should have the mindset of Christ in order to have a Christ-like attitude. How can we do that? Equip yourself everyday with the words from the bible. Enrich yourself with lessons from the scripture because what you read and listen to, will be put inside your heart and mind and transcends to your thoughts, feelings and actions. To have the best output, we need to have excellent inputs in our  system physically, mentally, psychologically and spiritually. Read lessons about humility and it will be exemplified in your actions.

Confess

When I was 10 years old, I witnessed how my parents were fighting because of my mom's infidelity. One day mom and I went to watch a movie and when we arrived at the cinema, I saw our neighbors, my friend and his dad at that place. All the while I thought it was a coincident but I noticed that they were acting as a couple. They were closed together and his arm was on my mom's shoulder. I was so confused and my friend also didnt react to it because she was also a kid like me. Several months after that, when I was sleeping in our room a guy entered it I smelled cigarette smoke and when I opened the lights, it was our neighbor, my friend's dad, and he hurriedly went out. 

After that incident, my mom talked to me that I should not tell my dad about what I saw, if I dont want them to separate. She told me to conceal the truth from my father. When I was alone, I was crying and I was very afraid that my mom and dad will separate because I dont want to have a broken family. I did not know what to do. My heart was so heavy and I just want to confess to someone. I want to go to church and confess my sins to the priest so that the burden of secret that I have will be released.

I thought that going in to the confession room and confessing your sins to the priest is the only way that God will forgive you for the iniquities you committed. When I became an evangelical christian, I found out that you can confess your sins directly to God through prayer. We are not perfect, we commit sins and we should always be transparent in everything that we have committed. In Proverbs 28:13, it is very clear that if we do not tell the truth about our sins then we will not prosper, but if you honestly confess your sins, God will give you mercy.

After that incident, I went to the priest but there was no conviction or cleansing of my sins. I was not able to feel redeemed and at peace. When the truth was revealed to my father and our neighbor's wife, it was chaos. My mom was slapped in the face by that woman and I saw my mom cried and my dad forgave her. I heard my dad said when my mom was crying, "I forgave you and will accept you and forget what happened here."  When my mom and dad reconciled, I was relieved. The fruit of their reconciliation is the birth of my only brother. When I was kid, I was praying to have a sibling because I was jealous with my neighbors that they have a sister and brother because from 1 to 10 years old, I was the only child. But when I was 11 years old, my brother came to the world. A new life was unfolded when my brother came to the world, I was very happy to finally have a sibling and it is also a new beginning for my parents to start a new life together and to move forward and forget the past.

This experience is a testament that if you confess your sins you will receive mercy from God. God forgives you if you confess and commit to not do it again. If God forgives, who are we not to forgive others who hurt us. Confession and Reconciliation will give us peace. All glory and honor to God!

Regrets to Assets

One of my biggest regrets in life was when I dissapointed my parents. In 2008, they have heard the bad news from me. I became pregnant and soon married at a young age of 22. I just graduated college in 2007 and just 1 year after graduation, my life changed forever. I was not able to help my parents to buy their own house, treat them in restaurants, travel in different places and spending more time with them to take care of them. A lot of precious time were lost because my time was focused on taking care of my own family. 

Eventhough I was not able to be the daughter that they expected me to be, I can still mend their broken hearts. I am still alive and I can do something for them. I can make up for the time that was lost. I will pray for them and share the gospel. 

In making up to my parents is also what Manasseh did to humble himself before God and ask for his forgiveness and he was made king again (2 Chronicles 33:12).

I will serve and honor my parents and to give back what they have done to me when I was young. They have sacrificed a lot for me for my education at a private school and later on until college. I did not have much money when I was a student, but I pursued and its time to give back to them. 

Regrets cannot be taken back its already done. You may hurt your loved ones or you did not soens more time with them. But you can always create new memories of love, kindness, compassion and perservance to the ones you have hurt. As long as we are alive and dedicate our lives to God, we can do a lot of things because nothing is impossoble with Him! Let us turn our regrets to assets! To God be the glory and honor!

Mission

I am starting to rekindle the fire of my Christian life here in South Korea. I was baptized in 2017 and accepted God as my Lord and Savior in an evangelical church in Davao City. I was introduced to how Christians should live and its great mission of sharing the gospel to all nations (Matthew 28:19).

I had my discipleship group led by my discipler who made the one on one sharing with me about Jesus. We started to every weekend to talk about our experiences and walk with God and the scriptures that we can learn from. Given our busy schedules, we gradually loose our time to meet every week and eventually our discipleship group stopped. During the pandemic 2020 until 2022, I was not in contact with them anymore. Eventhough we are not together to share the gospel, I was still studying the word of God alone. During those times that I need spiritual support in the pandemic, I felt abandoned by my discipleship leader and I was hesistant to join another group because it requires that both husband and wives should be there. My husband is not yet ready to join a group but I keep on praying that one day, that God will reveal to him his mission in life with Christ.

In August 2022, I went here to South Korea to pursue my doctoral degree. I was still attending a different church service online every Sunday and doing my daily devotionals to have a quiet time with the Lord. Service after service, the pastors always say that I should connect to a discipleship group. I tried to click the link and filled-out my information last January 2023. That month I prayed to God for a disciple group, even if its online, here in South Korea. Two months later, God answered and I received an email from a discipleship leader and invited me to attend their weekly meeting.

I was happy that finally I have a discipleship group and Christian family that I can share with my problems and my walk with Christ. Every meeting that we have is an opportunity to learn about the message and be transform with works of Jesus Christ. I am now ready to take this mission of being a Christian to share the gospel to my family, community and to the world. I am a work in progress and I may not know everything but God is there to equip and empower us to do our great mission. 

If we have the desire to know about Christ, distance and physical presence is not required, whenever and wherever we are, we can read, learn and share the gospel. In this digital age, online platform is an opportunity to share the gospel to every nation. That is my mission in life and I will do it one step at a time.

Transformation

My life before being a Christian, I have struggled emotionally and felt helpless. I was stressed at work and struggled financially. When I am in shortage in money, I borrow and loan from banks, used credit cards, which ended up to be a cycle of financial distress. During those times of challenges, I only relied on myself and what I can do to solve money issues. These problems was also the source of arguments with my husband and we ended up fighting and arguing. At that time, I felt that I was only the one carrying the burden of obligations to my family and he is not contributing because he always have irregular source of income due to unstable jobs (contractual). I felt that he is not working hard and doing his part to the family. Our life was miserable full of negativities.

But my life was transformed when I accepted God as my Lord and Savior in 2017. A person shared the gospel to me and I was able to go to a church regularly and even volunteered in the kids ministry and I brought my kids with me. In that year, that was the time that I discovered the teachings of Jesus Christ about submitting to your husband and trusting God for his provisions (Matthew 6:25) and do not worry because He will provide even before you ask.

My habits and lifestyle also changed. I am excited to wake up in the morning, having my quiet time with the Lord and have my daily devotions. I wrote down my notes about the scripture daily and during church services. I was overjoyed and overwhelmed on what God can do to our lives. I was transformed by the Holy Spirit. This was also a change in my mindset and perspective in life. 

Whenever I encounter problems, I pray and ask God for guidance to deliver me from this predicament. When I face rejections and failures, I accepted it and trusted God that it is not yet time for me to pursue that thing because He has prepared something greater in His perfect time. Indeed, I was patient to wait for my time and eventually it resulted to overflowing blessings. I just waited and trusted God and I had no amount of doubts in my heart. I felt that I am destined for something better.

We should always be thankful for God's wonderful deeds and blessings to us (Psalm 107:8). We are a work in progress and we are transformed everyday by the greatness of God's grace. To God be all the glory and honor! Amen!

Do it Everyday

Do we pray after waking up and before bedtime? Are we honoring God in everything that we do everyday?

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, praising and worshiping God is not just in church, we should honor Him at home, at work, in school or at our community. It means that whenever and wherever we are we should honor God in doing our chores, jobs, studies, businesses and volunteer works. Our duty as Christians is not limited only in church because we need to embody and show to non-believers how a true follower of Christ consistently act in different settings.

We should show kindness, compassion, perseverance, love, happiness and joy in everything that we do. Having gentleness in our character transcend to our physical wellbeing and we can attract people to worship the Lord. 

In Colossians 3:17, Paul reminded the church people of Colossae to do things all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our walk with the Lord is not limited, it is infinite and cross-cutting. We can serve Him through the people and communities we serve. Serving them with passion is like serving the Lord with all our hearts and minds. Our Christ-like character is not just during church service, the real test of our Christianity is to go out to the world and spread the gospel. 

Let's do it everyday!

My first meeting with the Council of ASEAN Professors in Korea (CAPK)

I am privileged to be part of the core group meeting of the Council of ASEAN Professors in Korea (CAPK) last July 13, 2023. The President of CAPK, Joeffrey Calimag, is also a Filipino and Professor at the University of Ulsan, South Korea. I am honored to be the Chair of the Political Economy and Social Development Issues Committee.  I am excited about our future activities this year.

Purpose

I read a book "Start with Why" by Simon Sinek. Its an inspirational piece because he wrote about successful people, companies and communities, who are certain about their purpose of why they are doing it. He emphasized that for us to have a successful life our why should be the center and anything else will follow, your how? what? and when? Its about how to dig deep in our hearts on why are we doing this and what is our main purpose.

We can also relate this on how King Solomon ask God for wisdom to govern his people. He has written most of the passages in the book of Proverbs. In Proverbs 20:5, the scripture clearly depicts how we can draw out something from our inner self, our main purpose in life, and how we can accomplish that goal. We should dig deeper on what's inside our hearts.

In our journey in Christian life, there some confusions, hesitations and doubts if he can walk to the right path. To have a sense of direction, we need to uncover what's in our hearts and dig deeper in our souls to control our minds on why we are doing it, and map out our plans on how we can do it step by step. 

Know your why, focus on your purpose and dig deeper to draw insights from your heart like the deep waters.

Responsibility

Living a Christian Life is a challenge, we are always tempted on committing sins because we are imperfect humans. But when we commit sin, we should take full responsbility to our actions and repent right away. Although this is a cycle of sin, repentance, confession and forgiveness, we should commit ourselves to change our character one day at a time. There will always be consequences from our actions.

In Paul's letter to the Romans in 2:5-6, he called them for their stubbornness and unrepentant heart for they are storing up wrath against themselves. They were commiting sin and did not repent. Paul reminded them that there will be a time of judgment, where they will have to repay for the sins they have committed.

As Christians, lets us walk with Christ everyday. Read his words, listen to preachings and apply it in our daily lives. We may stumble sometimes and commit sins, but let us quickly repent and move forward to become a better version of ourselves. It takes a village to change a person. Go to church, find a community of Christians and learn from each other. Its never to late because God has always a perfect time for everything. Be a Responsible Christian! Together let us honor God and share the gospel to everyone!

Wash

I prefer to wash my car at a service center than cleaning it myself. Since, I am busy I dont want to exert effort and use that time to do other productive things while waiting. I can't let my car get dirty and muddy without washing it immediately. In contrast, my husband wants to clean the car by himself because he can save money from paying the carwash boys. But whatever preference we have, car washing by ourselves and others, we are guaranteed that the final result is having a squeaky clean and shiny car. 

Washing also reflects cleansing our hearts and minds. We are born sinners and we commit iniquities everyday but through confession of sins and accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord, who sacrificed Himself in the cross to save us. By nature, we are sinful but we can always walk at the right path with God's direction and guidance. 

In Psalm 51:7, David confess his sins and ask for God's forgiveness because of committing adultery to Bathsheba and crime against her husband, Uriah. Even if he was the King, he is not perfect and fall short sometimes. He confessed his sins and ask God to wash him, to cleanse until he will be white as snow.

We feel dirty and not worthy if we commit sins. But if we keep our minds and hearts to God, though reading and listening to His words from the bible, we are always connected to Him and we are reminded to live a Christian life and avoid committing sins that will dishonor Him. Let's stay connected by praising and worshiping God everyday!

Builder

I like to think of an idea, build a research or project concept and implement it. I had this unexplainable feeling of satisfaction everytime my idea is put into life. I like to conceptualize events like seminars, conferences, trainings and social gatherings in our school where faculty, students and staff participate. I may build something out from inspiration based on my experience and knowledge on events management. But the real builder of things is God.

In Hebrews 3:4, it says:

We may build an idea, a structure, a house or a car, but we owe our knowledge and skills to the one who made us, God. We may be born by our parents but our existence is not an accident because it was all planned by God, our master builder. 

Into the light

I was living in the dark when I found out I was pregnant at twenty-two years old. I was so depressed and I did not know how to tell my parents. I just graduated last year and had my first job and earned a salary to help my family. Every night, I cried and I felt that I do not have a future anymore, my career was ruined and I cannot help my family anymore because I have a family to feed. Even in this circumstance, my dad did not scold me or got angry with me, he accepted me, my boyfriend and the child in my womb. My dad wants me to get married and live in his house. 

In this lowest point of my life, I lift up to God all my worries and cares. Instead of indulging in fear, worry and stressed of being a young mom and wife, I came to God for guidance and direction. He keeps me going despite all the challenges financially, emotionally and spiritually. He provided the light, a chance to make my life better for me and my family. 

In John 3:21, it says that if we live by the truth we will come to the light. After all those experiences, I dwell on God's promise and trusted Him. I prayed, read His words and apply it in my life. It was not easy but I manage to live by his grace through faith.

It is never too late to find the light and do not let yourself stay in the dark. We can make our lives better if we dedicate our lives to Jesus Christ. Do it now!

Glory

I remember crying at my room alone because I was hurt by the words said by my boss. My boss said I am dumb  and my husband is unemployed and the I heard other hurtful words just to dampen my spirit. My supervisor always utter hurtful words to criticize me and that also let me question myself about my capabilities. I felt worthless, no talent and no expertise at all. I suffered for many years and I was stressed and always depressed when going to work. I thought of resigning but I said to myself this suffering is just short because I believe that the future will be different. 

We suffer from failures, rejections, criticisms, financial struggles, emotional battles, loneliness, judgement and the list goes on. As we walk with God, it is not a smooth road that we travel because our faith will always be tested and we learn from it and gain strenght that will make us more resilient and persevered to whats coming. We are always prepared for battle because we put the armour of God in our hearts, mind, body and soul.

When I feel down and giving up, I dwell on the words of Paul in Romans 8:18:

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." - Romans 8:18 NIV

https://romans.bible/romans-8-18

Our suffering is short and not comparable to God's promise of salvation. These hardships are just temporary, we can make ourselves better, bolder and stronger for God gives us strength from His messages from the scripture.

Unschooled

My parents did not finish high school but they were able to work hard and put up their own business. Their earnings provided for my education at a private school during my elementary years. Some of our neighbors told them to put me in a public school where they could not spend much but they insisted and let me graduate with honors at the University of Mindanao.

I am grateful for my parents' sacrifice for my education. They are maybe unschooled but they are skilled and determined to work hard in order for me to finish school. I am now taking my Doctoral degree in South Korea and a permanent faculty at a state university in the Philippines. I am humbled by their hard work and I am indebted to them of who I am today.

My parents were like the disciples of Jesus, Peter and John, who were unschooled, ordinary men, but became the great preachers of the gospel. In Acts 4:13, they have showed courage and determination to follow Jesus Christ even if they are not educated. They were fishermen who dedicated their lives to serve the people (fishers of men). 

 

We may not know everything but if we dedicate ourselves to our dreams , we can make it. If we put ourselves in their shoes we realize that every thing will be possible to those who believe. We should never lose hope, we can do all things because Christ always strengthens us.

Bread

I remember when I have only 20,000 won left in my allowance here in South Korea. This amount is dedicated to my food for 30 days and this is equivalent to 800 pesos in the Philippines. As strange as it may seem, this is the first time in my life that I experienced food deprivation but I do not consider myself poor. Its just that I made some wrong financial decisions that left me with nothing. All of my allowance was sent to my family in the Philippines to pay for my loans, tuition fees of my kids and their daily expenses. Its hard for I have expenses here in Korea and I also pay the expenses in the Philippines. I really wanted to save so I can have something when I return to the Philippines. 

In those times of financial struggles, the only thing that I bought for me to survive is bread. This bread kept me alive just like how the Israelites were able to survive in the dessert and God provided them with manna. God provided for them in their long journey toward the promise land. In Exodus 16:15, Moses told them that those are bread to eat.

Despite the hardships and struggles that we face, we can survive with God's grace. Let us keep our faith in the Lor our great provider.

Conformity

We are surrounded by worldly things today. Social media, movies, gadgets and luxury items. These have become a status symbol a ticket to win a crowd, to belong with the elite and to be validated by others. But what is more important , is it how people see us or how God sees us and accept us? 

In Romans 12:2, Paul reminded that we do not need to conform to the pattern of the worl, but be transformed by the renewing of yoir mind.

Paul's message was clear, we do not need to please them. We should focus our attention on what pleases God not how people wants us to be. We should follow him, honor him and follow his teachings from the bible. Lets give thanks to Him everyday of our lives.

Ultimate Sacrifice

In communion, we remember the sacrifice of Jesus Christ through his death on the cross. He saved us from dying for our sins. Jesus Christ is our bridge to God. Let us honor Him and share the gospel.

Love your neighbor

Do you get along with everyone? Is it hard to adjust to someone with a different attitude? How can you love them even in their difficult attitude?

Love one another. Its a common phrase everbody utters but it is difficult to handle. We cannot please everybody and neither does people like us as what they want us to be. People have different personalities and if extremes collide there will be chaos. 

I remember my terrible boss before that no matter how hard I remember all of her instructions and follow it, it was never enough because she still gets angry when she is not in the mood. She is the only person who had hurt me the most in my life. She has uttered hurtful words which shattered my emotions and affected me emotionally and psychologically and I cannot work properly because it distracts me. 

Eventhough I was hurt and she has awful personality, I still respect her as our boss and second mother. I fully understand where she is coming from because she is lonely and no one showed her love when she was a child. God reminds us to be patient to difficult people. To love our neighbors even if its difficult. We should not hold grudges against them and not seek revenge. This is what Leviticus 19:18 says.

No matter how hard it is to adapt to different types of people. Be patient and love them as yourself even if its difficult. Do not take revenge even if they hurt you. Spread love and kindness everyday.

Trials

Do you worry a lot when you face trials? Its a normal feeling because we are uncertain on what lies ahead. But how can you put your trust in the Lord and release all your worries and cares to Him?

In the message written in James 1:12, it says:

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

James 1:12 NIV

https://james.bible/james-1-12

This scripture reminds us that we should not lose hope when we encounter problems rather we use this to give us strenght to endure all the hardships we faced. If we trust God, everything will be put into place.