Do not be anxious

Do you worry about your finances? What will I eat and drink? How can I pay my bills? Are you tired of this never ending cycle of worries? Where can we find comfort in these troubling times?

I struggled financially to provide for myself and my family. I always think about how can we survive for the whole month and the next months to come. To succumb these worries, I prayed to God and ask for His provisions. Miraculously, a friend called and offered to lend me money. God works in ways you least expected. He uses people to support and help us in times of need.

In Philippians 4:6-7 (NASB 1995), Paul says, "Be anxious for nothings, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Lets always stay connected with the word of God. We can find peace in His loving arms if we dwell on His promises. Lets not worry about tomorrow. Because our Lord God already took care of it. Your faith in God should be greater that your worries.

Do not be anxious about everything!

 

Overcome the world

 

In a world of negativities and hardships, it is hard to stay calm and focus on things that matters most. How can we find peace in such a destitute environment?

We can always choose peace, love and joy in our hearts. We only need to connect to our living God. In John 16:33, Jesus says: "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart!"

Happiness is a choice. We can always choose to look at the good side of everything. Neglect the negative things surrounding you. Positivity should overpower the negativities in our thoughts, feelings and actions. How do we do this?

The solution is Jesus Christ!!! We can always dwell in the house of the Lord. He is always in our midst. He is always ready to listen, to comfort us and guide us in our decisions. It is never too late, we can always change to be a better version of ourselves everyday.

Together, let us overcome the world! Take heart!

Turn weakness into strength

Do you feel that you are not good enough? Do you compare yourself to others? How can you turn weaknesses into strengths? 

I remember myself when I am not confident to speak in front of a lot of people. I am insecure and not fluent enough to render impromptu speeches. Aside from that, I am not a good writer, and I cannot organize my thoughts. However, it did not stop me. I want to enhance my speaking skills and join the Toastmasters club in June 2019. Surprisingly, I gain confidence in speaking. I learn the proper ways to communicate with the audience. I have turned my weakness into a strength. For I believe that if your desire for success is greater than your fear of failure, then everything is possible. 

All things are possible through Him who gives us strength. In Ephesians 2:8-9 it says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." Salvation is free; we just need to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We do not need to always seek good works because we are not working for God; God is working on us. 

In 2 Corinthians 12:9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me. This verse clearly reminds us that if we think we do not have the ability or talent, God's grace is enough. Even if you think you are weak in this aspect, you can turn it into strength. Just like how I honed my speaking skills and practiced it regularly. I was able to transform my weakness into strength. 

Good imitation

 

Kids often mimic what adults say or do. We are their role models. Whatever they see and hear, they tend to imitate it unconsciously.  However, not all things that we do as adults are worth-imitating for. We do things that are not good. Seldom do we model good deeds to our children. How can we plant good seeds and bear good fruits?

If we plant seeds on good soil, it will sprout and grow relentlessly  and eventually bear good fruits. Just like seeds in the garden, our time with God, by reading his words from the bible, serves as our investment to the kingdom of heaven. If we are connected with God's words, we are always reminded to do good things and embody His character. We can imitate easily what is good and resist evil doings.

In 3 John 1:11 (NIV), it says:

"Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God."

John clearly reminded us that the good things we do is from God and the evil ones are not from God. As we walk in the path of righteousness,  let us always embody the life of Jesus Christ and accept Him as our Lord and Savior. Let us resist temptation and control ourselves to always do the good things. 

Be a good imitator of God!

L.O.V.E. Love One another and Value Each other.....

Who do you run to when you have problems? Do you have a friend who is always there in times of need?

A true friend is there when you are at the lowest point of your life. A true friend is honest to give you real feedback even if it hurts. A real friend will never leave you. A real friend will love and accept you on who you are.

Proverbs 17:17 NIV

[17] A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.

https://bible.com/bible/111/pro.17.17.NIV

As what the verse says, a friend will love you and when you face problems a friend will step up for you. Value your friendships and nourish it. Spend time with your friends regularly. Talk about your success, failures and other problems. Be emphatic when listening to their problems. Give advice and pray for them. Always check them if they are okay. Your only gift to them is spending genuine time with them.

Lets value one another! Keep your friendships alive!  Remember to L.O.V.E.

Love

One another and

Value

Each other

REST... Restore your Energy to Serve The Lord!

Are you busy? Do you have time with the Lord? How can you set aside time for yourself?

I've been working on my dissertation for months. I will finish late and eventually woke up late the next morning. I arrived at the office late in the afternoon and go home at dawn. I also worked everyday until Sunday. I felt that I will be bored during Sundays anyways and I want to spend it the office. This habit has been going for months. And I told myself, is this the routine that I want for the rest of my life? How can I have proper discipline with my time and enjoy God's rest?

Today's verse at Hebrews 4:10,  says:

"Anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their works, just as God did from His."

In this verse, I am reminded of  God's rest when He created the world and us in six days, and rested at the seventh day. Stephen Covey's 7th habit is to "Sharpen the Saw", which means we need to take a rest to restore our energy and be ready for the work the next day. 

Rest is very important to renew our mind, heart, body and soul. Just like cars that needs fuel to work and will not move and the oil tank is empty, we as humans also need to rest to gain energy again to work for the whole week. Let us set aside time to rest in God's arms and cradle us to his divine kingdom forever.

Remember to take a REST... Restore your Energy to Serve The Lord!

Steadfast Minds

Did you know that whatever we visualize in our minds will reflect our emotions and actions? Having happy thoughts influence our positive attitude. In contrast,  pessimistic mindsets result to stress and frustration. With these daily struggles, how can we align our mind to our heart and body? 

Prophet Isaiah in his book 26:3, emphasize the importance of keeping our mind at ease, it says:

"You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you." 

- Isaiah 26:3 (NIV)

The solution to our predicaments is to focus on improving our thinking. Our thoughts is the most powerful tool in our lives. It can either make or break us. How can we achieve perfect peace? Let our minds be consistently thinking about God. Put God as the center of your thoughts, and reflect on His teachings, meditate on it and apply it. 

The formula is:

God's thoughts + steadfastness = Peaceful Mind & Heart -----> leading to a Christ-like character

How we visualize our future will influence our feelings and then our actions. There is great power in the way we think. So, let us think about godly thoughts every second, every minute and every hour of the day. With this habit, we can change our feelings and emotions into positive ones. Finally, this will transcend in our daily actions and reflect in our character as a person.

Feed your mind with God's word everyday by reading the bible.

Salvation to all

Are you easily swayed by the majority? Tempted to worldly pleasures? Cannot control yourself? How can we live a life away from sin?

Man, in his human nature, is sinful. We are created with vulnerabilities to commit sin. The only way for us to prevent from sinning is to live a Godly live through accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Jesus is our divine bridge to get closer to our Creator. 

In Titus 2:11-12, it says "For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people it teaches us to say "no" to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.  In this verse, we are offered a once and a lifetime opportunity to accept God's salvation for it is free. The scripture emphasize the influence of this blessing in transforming our lives to become a better version of ourselves. It is through accepting God as our Lord and Savior that we are free from the bondage of sin and live in a christian way.

Together, lets keep moving forward, we can do this! Live your life with Jesus Christ!

Blessing over evil

Do you take revenge when someone hurt you? How can you control yourself from anger? 

In 1 Peter 3:9, it says "Do not repay evil for evil, bless, for to this you were called." This verse clearly emphasize the importance of staying calm despite attack of your foes. Hence, it encourages us to chose kindness over retaliation, humility over pride, silence over retaliation and blessing over cursing.

It is not easy to control our emotions and feelings. But we can always equip ourselves with God's teaching and apply it in our daily lives. We have a choice and we can only control ourselves not others. Choose kindness over evil.