3 Powerful Bible verses in attaining holiness

If there are 3 bible verses I’ve learned to treasure and appreciate so much this year.
It would be these bible verses which has left deep marks in life on how TO BE victorious for Him.

Yes I mentioned in in my other blog that our faith without action is null and avoid. And that we have a role to play in living holy for Him. But I know you know for sure that doing it by OWN STRENGTH and WILL POWER is NOT enough. We need to stop wearing our “old eyeglasses” and start wearing Gospel lenses found in these 3 verse I’m going to share with you.

 

 

 
TO DO vs. TO BE
Firstly, 2 Corinthians 5:17 says,

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

This verse teaches us to stop condemning ourselves. Stop with our self-pity parties. If we have Christ as our Lord and Savior and have asked forgiveness of our sins.
Remember that you are Already forgiven. You’re Already cleansed.

In our moment or weakness and being tempted to sin. Our tendency is to start thinking of what’s on our TO DO list,

These are some examples,
I should read my bible more.
Pray kneeling down with teary eyes.
Talk with my mentors.
I have to put that anti-porn software on my computer.
Listen to my favorite worship song and sincerely sing my heart out for help.
Take a bath with Ice.

Now these things are not wrong and I do them myself too but when I reminded myself TO BE who you I am in the sight my God. That I am a new creation. The old has gone and Christ lives in me. That I’m free and that I am a child of God.

God doesn’t see us the way we see ourselves. When he sees us, he is delighted in us. He sees us holy and made clean not by our own wrong doings and meaningless effort but through the precious blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

GOD’s MERCY
Next is Romans 12:1-2.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of GOD’s MERCY, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will.

It’s very powerful for me because it takes my eyes off of myself but to who God is, His character. That in view of GOD’S MERCY and not on my own standards, other people’s opinion but on how God view of sin, how it hurts Him. I would find myself meditating on what he has done for me. That God’s will for me is good, pleasing and perfect. God hates the sin but he loves the sinner. Every time we sin, we are doing something God hates.

He has laid down his own life for me (PAST). That He is currently teaching me to trust and rely not on my own strength, will and abilities but on His power everyday (PRESENT) and that His plans for us is good, pleasing and perfect (FUTURE).

The GRACE of GOD
Another powerful verse I’d like to share with you is in Titus 2:11-12.

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,

Grace is God’s unmerited favor. I don’t deserved His love and forgiveness but He still chose to save me and allow me to experience His unconditional love.

Certain belief extremists have created this doctrine called “Grace-ism“. This doctrine made other believe that no matter what we’ve done God still loves us. That even if we continue sinning it’s OK because of the Grace of God. In my opinion, It’s a twisted and wrong understanding of God’s Amazing Grace.

The Grace of God is truly amazing just as how the popular described it. It’s “amazingness” (if there such a word) is not that it licensed me to sin more because I sincerely believe that the Lord will forgive me (I think I’m being selfish). Rather we will stop doing the things that he is not pleased with, things that hurts Him, Sin. The Grace of God is amazing because it liberates us. It sets us free. It enables us. It empowers us. It teaches us to say “No” to sin. It should stop us and not continue sinning. It’s by fully relying in His Grace we can have the victory over sin.

Now allow me to make an honest confession. A confession that up until now I still haven’t fully understood God’s grace.
I can’t contain. I can’t fully describe it.  I can’t fully comprehend how He has allowed a sinner like you and me experienced Him.

Now for that’s POWERFUL. It makes me cry. It overwhelms me.
And it would be  very difficult to just keep to myself.

JESUS you’re SO AMAZING!

related post : Struggling for Holiness?

Struggling for Holiness?

Are struggling for holiness too? I believe we aren’t to be called humans if we don’t. Without thoughts, words we say and act we commit. Why do we do not holiness experience it more in daily living? Why do so many Christians feel constantly defeated in their struggle with sin? Let me share excerpts my notes from the book “Pursuit of Holiness” by Jerry Bridges.

1.Our first problem is that our attitude towards sin is more self-centered than God-centered.

We are more concerned about our own “victory” over sin than we are about the fact that our sins grieve the heart of God.

We cannot tolerate failure in our struggle with sin chiefly because we are success-oriented, not because we know it is offensive to God.

We never see it aright until we see it as against God.-W.S. Plumer.

God want us to walk in obedience – not victory.
Obedience is oriented toward God; victory is oriented toward self. This is not to say that God doesn’t want us to experience victory, but rather to emphasize that victory is a byproduct of obedience.As we concentrate on living an obedient, holy life, we will certainly experience the joy of victory over sin.

2. Our second problem is that we have misunderstood “living by faith” (Galatians 2:20) to mean that no effort at holiness is required on our part. in fact, sometimes we have even suggested that any effort on our part is “of the flesh”.

The bible says, faith without action is dead. I strongly believe with this. Our faith in him should result not just NOUNS but VERBS. Verbs is testifies the integrity of Nouns. Christian needs personal exertion and work as well as faith. Thus, we have a personal responsibility for our walk of holiness. Now I’m not trying to sound like I’ve got it all already, I too am writing to myself with regards to this.

3. Our third problem is that we do not take some sin seriously. We have mentally categorized sins into that which is unacceptable and that which may be tolerated a bit.

Question here is, are we willing to call sin “sin” not because it is big or little, but because God’s law forbids it?

God does not require a perfect, sinless life to have fellowship with Him, But He does require that we be serious about holiness, that we grieve over sin in our lives instead of justifying it, and that we earnestly pursue holiness as a way of life.

related post : 3 Powerful Bible verses in attaining of holiness

Handling Criticism

        Never ever compare yourself to others. You don’t need to copy someone. You are unique , one of a kind and special in our Lord’s eyes. when it comes to this topic I would remember Charles Spurgeon. A key to his perseverance in preaching through adversity was that he had settled who he was and would not be paralyzed with external criticism or internal second-guessing.

“You are not defeated when you lose. You are defeated when you quit.” says P.Coelho

One of the great perils of living under continual criticism is that this is a constant call for you to be other than what you are. And, in fact, a humble saint always wants to be a better person than he is. Learn to love who God made you to be.But there is a great danger here of losing your bearings in a sea of self-doubt. Not knowing who you are. Not being able to say with Paul, “By the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Cor. 15:10 ). You have to know who you are in God’s eyes. (speaking to myself too).

Be yourself, dear brother, for, if you are not yourself, you cannot be anybody else; and so, you see, you must be nobody … Do not be a mere copyist, a borrower, a spoiler of other men’s notes. Say what God has said to you, and say it in your own way; and when it is so said, plead personally for the Lord’s blessing upon it”. – C. Spurgeon.

I’m grateful to God for my fiancée, she would always remind me not to compare myself to another. It’s either I’ll look down on someone being proud or Go the opposite road of self-pity or false humility. Stop living your life to please somebody. Live to please God.

Don’t just listen to anyone’s criticism. Choose people whom you could trust to speak truth into your life. You can be sure their criticism is out of their genuine concern for you. They will hugely affect and better your character, performance and the skills you need to work on. I’m sure you surround yourself with people like that. I so grateful that God has blessed us with great friends and mentors whom we can ask for help and wisdom especially during times of making tough or big decisions.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. (Ps.139:14) Grace of God liberates us from performing and trying to please others.

The Gift of Faith vs. the Grace of Faith.

taken from “George Mueller” by John Piper.

The difference between the gift and the grace of faith seems to me this.
According to the gift of faith I am able to do a thing, or believe that a thing will come to pass, the not doing of which, or the not believing of which, would not be sin; according to the grace of faith I am able to do a thing, or believe that a thing will come to pass, respecting which I have the word of God as the ground to rest upon, and, therefore, the not doing it, or the not believing it, would be sin.

For instance, the gift of faith would be needed to believe that a sick person should be restored again though there is no human probability: for there is no promise to that effect; the grace of faith is needed to believe that the Lord will give me the necessaries of life, if I first seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness: for there is a promise to that effect. Matthew 6:33 . (42)

Mueller did not think he had any biblical ground for being certain that God would spare his wife Mary. He admits that a few times in his life he was given “something like the gift (not grace) of faith so that unconditionally I could ask and look for an answer,” (43) but he did not have that rare gift in Mary’s case. And so he prayed for her healing conditionally–namely, if it would be good for them and for God’s glory. But most deeply he prayed that they would be satisfied in God whatever he did. And God did answer that prayer by helping Mueller believe Psalm 84:11.

No good thing will God withhold. God withheld no good thing from him, and he was satisfied with God’s sovereign will. All this, he says, “springs from taking God at his word, believing what he says.”

10 Signs You Are An Insecure Leader!

from: Perry Noble

#1 – You see people as working for you and not with you.

#2 – Everyone who pushes back on any of your ideas is automatically branded as disloyal.  (Because for you “ loyalty” is defined as, “loving everything I say and do!”)

#3 – Every time someone begins to say something good about someone else you always have to be the person who says, “yes, but what you don’t know about them is…” and from that point tear them down under the disguise of being concerned about them.

#4 – You get jealous when someone on your team receives any sort of public affirmation but you are not mentioned at all.  (Remember how Saul felt when it was said, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.”)

#5 – You cannot celebrate what God is doing in other churches.  (OR, you always critique instead of celebrating!)

#6 – You always believe someone on your staff is going to attempt a coup and try to take over your role as a leader.  (This leads to suspicion and distrust, which will destroy ANY team.)

#7 – You dismiss what God is doing in another ministry because it does not line up exactly with where you are theologically.

#8 – You lead through intimidation, always threatening to “fire someone” if things “don’t shape up around here.”

#9 – You really do like the fact that people on your staff are afraid of you.

#10 – You feel the need to prove yourself in every meeting you are in by seizing every opportunity you have to speak, believing that everything in the meeting is not going to be its absolute best until you have had your say about it.

Boss vs. Leader

What are the differences between a Boss and a Leader?

 

 

 

 

Is God unfair?

by: Christian Ongtangco

“I think life is really unfair! It’s so unfair, my colleague would work 8 hours while I would works 16 hours but I still get paid less than the others.”

You worked hard  in the company for years, but someone else get the promotion. You invested your money in funds your broker recommended, but they failed.You did your best to be a good parent, but your kids turned out no better than the children whose parents didn’t seem to care about them.

“I’ve been a good Christian, in fact I pray and never missed my daily devotions with the Lord but how come I don’t get blessed as my neighbor who doesn’t believe in God?”

Are these the question familiar to you? Have you ever asked them yourself?

I believe you’ve thought of it too. Life is unfair.If we take our measuring stick too often, We get mad, angry or envious because we think we deserve more than we’re getting from God.

Jesus spent a lot of His time explaining the grace of God to people. Grace is a foreign concept for most of us. I must for me personally, this is something big.

For most of us we operate by the law, standards, rewards, and punishment, so God’s Grace just doesn’t fit.  Looking at it in this perspective, Yes God is unfair. God’s goodness reach out to everybody: the good (if you claim you are) and the evil, the righteous and the unrighteous, you and your neighbor, your spouse and the person who got the promotion instead of you.

With  God, we have nothing to boast or to be proud of, not even our righteousness, good deeds or obedience. The Gospel reminds us that its only by His Amazing Grace, by it, He has promised those who obey him and will comfort those whose trust is in Him.”

God doesn’t have to send us a Savior through His one and only son Jesus Christ.

We all should be dead by now, but God with His unending love and amazing Grace , saved us and snatched us out of hopelessness, sin and death brought us out into a wonderful and abundant life, a relationship  with Him.Isn’t that unfair. Who are we that He is mindful of us, that He cares for us.

We have a choice either we can complain and feel sorry for ourselves, or we can be thankful that the God of such goodness is the One we love and serve. Comparison kills because it always leaves us wanting more, but thankfulness brings life.

Get connected with God

by Christian Ongtangco

I got up earlier this morning and the first thing I did was to check who is that person who sent me an sms 6:00 in the morning.

That reminded me of the many things I needed to do for the day, So, I started writing my to-do list and several other tasks assigned to me like sending sms messages, emails etc. I was excited and but so glad to be reminded that I haven’t even prayed or read my bible.

I told myself , yes, technology can be helpful yet can be really distracting most of the time.

I use my phone to read , send and quote bible scriptures I listen to podcast of my favorite preachers, and if I want to listen again with my pastors message the previous sunday also listen to audio bible and worship songs while walking on my way to work.

But then, with all the technology surrounding us, we can hear thousands of messages every day. And that’s where the term continuos partial attention was coined to describe the constant distractions of email, instant messaging, cellphone, and other devices. and this means continuously we’re paying partial attention.

We all want to connect and be connected. That’s what Social media are here for. We want to effectively scan for opportunity and optimize for the best opportunities, activities, and contacts, in any given moment.

Too often we value all received messages equally. in God’s word, though is more precious and valuable than any other messages sent to us. The psalmist describes the God’s message as “pure words” that are like silver processed “seven times” in the furnace. The number seven signifies completion and perfection throughout the Scriptures. although 8 means infinity in Chinese. Otherwise, This means, God’s word is absolutely perfect and in alignment with the character of God. It is the supreme measure of truth, and it imparts light and life to those who treasure it.

Have you been in this same situation?

When we read and hear God’s word, let’s sit up and take notice. If we don’t understand it, we need to dig deeper until we find out what it means, or it relevance in our “everyday life”.

Let’s be encouraged to ask if we don’t understand. And when God uses His word to redirect our steps, we are to say, ” Yes, Lord. I’m listening.” God’s word directs us along God’s path, and that way is perfect for us each day.

To know the will of God is the greatest knowledge, to do the will of God is the greatest achievement.”

Happy New You! Happy New Me!

Happy New Year and Happy New You and Me!

This is the time when a lot of people start writing plans, goals, dreams, resolutions, faith goals and stuff. I would like to share my personal prayer and devotion to you through this blog post for the this first day of this year.

This new year I pray for a new me, May the lord will keep on making me new in every areas of my life.

Bible says ” Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:The old has gone, the new is here! “- 2 Corinthians 5:17

He doesn’t mend, repair, fix or patch us up. He completely remakes us New on the inside.

And once we let go and let God be the Lord of our lives, the one who seats on throne of our hearts. We are actually letting him do his process of sanctification in our lives.

And don’t be surprised to see how God will cause your confidence in your own strength, will power, capabilities virtues and power wither away. You’ll find out how small and weak you really are apart from him. You’ll realize how lifeless our “old lives” was when we don’t have him yet. That apart from from Him we are really nothing.

Sad thing is that a lot of us still miss this, they still adhere to their old selves. and settle for less. They are already satisfied with their lives.

Let me quote  Oswald Chambers when he said, “We want to cling to our natural virtues while all the time God is trying to get us in contact with the life of Jesus Christ.”

This means its not just our character, quality, attribute, virtue, morality or some part of us that the Lord changes in us, God promised us not half nor partial, It is our WHOLE being which He promised to change as we allow him.

Ephesians 4:24 says “to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. “

He doesn’t just upgrade us nor transforms us to be better but rather, God changes us and makes us anew.

Because our natural virtues, could never even come close to what Jesus Christ wants. No natural love, no natural patience, no natural purity can ever come up to His demands. Apart from him, our efforts are really like filthy rags ….but nothing in his sight.

But as we bring every part of our lives into harmony with the new life that God has placed within us. Yes, it may not be instantaneously or overnight but as we keep allowing His hands to mold us, he will start showing the characteristics, the image and virtues of His son, our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.

May they see Jesus IN and through our lives.

Lord this is my prayer, this is our prayer, that every hour, day, week , month, and year you keep making us new. In Jesus name we pray, Amen!

Chosenness

This week I’ve finally proposed to the woman of my life and being “Engaged” is really a blessing. It feels like we’re in “cloud 9″ again (in our 8 months of being in a relationship). we’re so glad now that the Lord has brought us this far.

It was like when we we’re still lost and we don’t know him yet. We are not aware of His covenant and promises for us. The relationship we’ve entered after accepting the Lord Jesus in our lives. We now have our new identity, a new status, “Saved by Grace”.

He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness into a wonderful relationship with Him. He assures us and secures us not just with a promises but with a great covenant with Him bringing us into the greatest ride and journey of our lives that never ends. The greatest relationship we could ever have and enter in is to be that personal relationship with our dear Lord, Savior , Redeemer and Friend Jesus Christ.

Being chosen is one of the greatest feeling in life and at the same time being not chosen can be one of the hardest thing in life. I’ll never forget the many times I was not chosen. The times when I was still looking for my first job to get back to college. I’ve almost went to every fast-food restaurants in the mall near our house before and get dumped a lot of times. I wasn’t chosen to be a part of our Varsity club. My painting was not chosen to win an Art contest in our school. They picked somebody else and I was crushed. But that’s the way it works in our world, right?

To be chosen in this world almost always has to be in the expense of somebody else. Only one resume gets pulled from the stack. Only one employee gets the promotion. Only one athlete gets the MVP award. Only one girl is gonna get crowned home crowning queen. Only one student get the scholarship. Only one person is gonna get the engagement ring.

In our world’s social economy. To be chosen, means somebody else didn’t get chosen. Somebody wins while other people loose.

But its not that way with God. Here’s one of the coolest things about God. His love for Me does not come at Your expense. God’s plan for You does not come at my expense.

In God’s eyes, your chosenness, does not diminishes my life. rather it enriches my life and my life enriches yours and everybody else. So we don’t need to compete with each other. We can celebrate with each other because we are ALL chosen. We are ALL Dearly Loved by Him.

In this new life it doesn’t matter. if your a jew.

“In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.” - Col. 3:10

“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, ^…  for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” – Gal 3:26-28

In God’s eyes there are not ethnic class, It doesn’t matter whatever your gender is. How your physical appearance look like, your social standing, achievements and failures, your IQ, your talents, your bank accounts, your abilities , your surname or your looks.

None of that stuff matters with God. We are all chosen by God.

Even-though you may not be chosen by the world, you’re chosen by God.
Everybody can be chosen. Nobody can be rejected. With God there’s enough love for everybody.