Matthew 20:25-28 But Jesus called them to him and said,"You that the rulers of the Genetiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant and whoever would be first among you must be your slave even as the Son of Man came not be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

In today's verse, I was made to reflect about the roles I play in my life. I am a brother, a son, a software engineer, and a friend. But, which of these roles do I play as a servant? I don't think any... I think I've been selfish thinking about myself and I have disregarded other people.

The article today is saying that, Jesus reproved the disciples cases of "big-shot-itis" and went to tell them that if they were to be His authentic followers, they would have to pursue serving as a life goal. In fact, He noted that those who would be considered great in His kingdom would be those who served. God wants his followers who are willing to play the small, unaffirmed part. As for those who He has given visibility and clout, He's looking to see whether or not they manager their leadership from a servant perspective. (It is interesting to reflect on how to lead with a servant perspective, isn't it?)

After all, God was willing to serve us stooping low enough to experience painful humiliation and injustice of a cross. The thought that some things are beneath us, that we deserve better, or that we really should be served instead of serving denies the very essence of Jesus and our identity in Him. If we're striving to be Christ-like, no task is too small, no venue too unnoticed, no legitimate sacrifice too great. Because He served, we gladly live to sere. And we do it all the way home to heaven whether anyone notices or not -- knowing all the while that Jesus notices and will say to us when we arrive, "Well done, good and faithful servant"

It's time for me to slowly try to move to the servant's perspective. How do you become a servant and a leader at the same time? That's a greater challenge. Jesus showed us an example, I hope I can put that kind of leadership in action when it's my turn to lead people.

1 Peter 1:6-7 ...you have been grieved by various trials so that the tested genuineness of your faith -- more precious than gold that perishes through it is tested by fire -- may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation.

Trials are faith's testing ground. Keep this in mind. Trials are faith's testing ground.

The article today reminds us that believing and following God is not a guarantee that our life will be perfect. But it is a guarantee that there will be someone to help us when we're in the midst of trials. Someone we call call on to, if we are faithful enough to believe that He will be able to deliver us from our pains.

Some people go to church expecting that visiting the church will solve their financial problem, or their health, and relationship problems. That is not entirely true. Especially in the Philippines where a lot of people are Catholics it is not unusual to see people walking on their knees towards the altar to offer that as a sacrifice for God to grant their wish. I think sacrifices are a good way to show God that you really need Him but it does not guarantee an immediate answer. We should look at trials as test of faith. How far can we go while sticking to God's plan? How far could we go while keeping our eyes focus on Him, knowing that He sees the bigger picture and He knows what's best for us?

What are the results of trial? Which part do you think you belong?
1. Praise. I express worship to God even in the midst of trial.
2. Glory. I experience the presence of God no matter what I'm facing.
3. Honor. I elevate God above all things.

For me, I think my faith is young and I am just learning to praise God in the midst of trials. I hope He will continue to bless me and change me to experience Him and elevate Him above all things in my life.

Keeping in mind that trials are ways to test our faith, we should be conscious on how we deal with them. Don't give up, don't lose hope, don't be nervous, pray what you'll do, pray for guidance, pray that you learn what God wants to teach you. Enjoy the storm and God will eventually bless you and guide you through it. You'll realize after that, the storm was a good thing that happened. It helped you become a better person, a person closer to God.

I hope when judgement comes, I will be able to face God and tell Him all the trials I've faced like what I do during job interviews. I hope I will be able to show Him my trials resume and explain to Him my behavior, my reaction, and how I dealt with it. I hope I can look at His face and tell Him proudly, that God, I hope you can be proud of me, that I faced these trials trusting in you. I hope you feel that the gift of life that you've given me did not go to waste because I was able to do something in my life.

Revelation 4:9-10 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever.

What is the throne room perspective? It's the opposite of "I-can-do-it-on-my-own" perspective.

The center of all existence is God upon His throne. Everything else of existence is accurately described only in its relationship to the throne of God. Our troubles today stems from our natural self-centeredness. We tend to make ourselves god, we seek power and we have a secret lust for omnipotence. We tend to see ourselves the center of the universe and describe all other components in reference to us rather than God.

We might deny we've ever had a desire to be God, but how often we take immediate responsibility for handling most of the problems on our midst. Read my blog on Spiritual Surgery, it reminds us of our prayers and how God responds to it. For a snippet, do you remember praying for God to give your courage or for you to trust in Him more? But when he gives your problems, why do you solve it on your own? Ask God for help, that's the beauty of being a Christian, God is always there to help. (A side step, another beauty of being a Christian, is that we know who to thank for blessings and small miracles in our daily lives -- God.)

So, from now on...the article today suggests that picture the greatest challenges we have in our lives, and stamp the words "before the throne" on each one. The heart of prayer is moving those very kinds of challenges from the insecurities, and uncertainties of earth to the throne of God. Only then can they be vied with dependable accuracy and boundless hope.

Does my thought-life prove that I view everything in relation to myself or in relation to God? What problems have I been trying to solve on my own?

I hope you answer this questions in your mind and pray that eventually you can let go of these problems and entrust them to God.

Warning: What you'll read below is non-sense and exagerrated ramblings about some small issues.

It's seems weird for a company to sell company branded stuff to their employees. I am not talking about fashion/clothing companies here, of course I don't expect Nike employees not to wear Nike or Columbia employees not to wear Columbia jackets. But for some companies for example, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Sun, or other companies that are not related to manufacturing ID straps, Rubik's cube, or whatever, why are they selling these stuffs to their employees? I cannot see the logic of buying an ID strap from my company and showing it of to everybody. It's just like spending money just to say "Hey! I am working for ______ company!" It's weird.

My friend told me that one possible reason for this is that there is no free lunch. Yup, I believe that. But doesn't the company see that if they just give the ID strap away they build employee's loyalty to the company? It's a cheap price to pay. Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem in shelling out a few bucks to buy company stuff but I won't spend even a cent if I think it is not worth it. What's the logic behind spending money just to tell the world that you work for ______ company? Shouldn't it be the other way around? Shouldn't be the company be proud that we're working for it? I think this should be the case because without the employees, any company will fail to exist -- that's for sure!

Well, I think this world is just somewhat very logical but at some point you need also need to be illogical. No wonder why some people just say... "CRAZY WORLD".

Mark 6:37 But he answered them, "You give them something to eat." And said to him, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?"

Praise God for "just enough" provision as well as abundance.

The story about Jesus feeding thousands with just a few loaves of bread and a few pieces of fish is a symbol on how God can use our inadequacies to serve his purpose. The article here looks at this story not as a miracle of how Jesus fed thousands of people but how God turned inadequacy around and make it a miracle.

This story gives us more reason to trust in God because we know that even if we don't think we're not perfect, or we don't find anything special that we can do. Just being open to God will enable Him to use our deficiencies and lack of capability and talents to help others. He knows how to find the best in us, that even ourselves don't know yet. Trust God your life, your talents, your problems, he will provide for you.

Why do we have to share the gospel now? Because Jesus will come very soon, we'll never know the exact time but we know it is soon. From a previous message by Paul Tanchi, he mentioned something really true... sharing the gospel is one thing we cannot do when we are already in heaven. We can continue obeying the commandments, talking to God, loving Him, but sharing the gospel? We don't need to! Everybody in heaven knows about it! This is why I need to share the Gospel now, while it matters.

This poem in last Sunday's message is very touching to me and this gave a reason on why I should share the gospel to everyone I know. Although I know it is not my responsibility to force people to believe in God, and in Jesus, I believe I have been called to testify and share the gospel to everyone I know. It is my responsibility to tell people about Jesus and let them know the way to eternal life.

My friend, I stand in judgment now,
And feel that you're to blame somehow,
On earth I walked with you by day,
And never did you show the way.
You knew the Lord in truth and glory,
But never did you tell the story,
My knowledge then was very dim,
You could have led me safe to Him.
Though we lived together here on earth,
You never told me of the second birth;
And now I stand this day condemned,
Because you failed to mention Him,
You taught me many things, that's true.
I called you my friend and trusted you,
But I learn now that it's too late,
And you could have kept me from this fate;
We walked by day and talked by night,
And yet you showed me not the light.
You let me live and love and die,
You knew I'd never live on high;
Yes I called you friend in life,
And trusted you through my joy and strife,
And yet on coming to this dreadful end,
I cannot now call you my friend.

Imagine your friend saying this to you. You loved your friend but you failed to share the gospel to him. You teach him how to do business, how to find a girlfriend, how to treat people, and everything in life, but you missed one thing very important -- teaching them the way to eternal life --Jesus Christ.

I don't want to make this mistake and I hope I will be sharing to more people this year.

Going back to the message, today's main message is about sharing the gospel like Jesus.

Jesus said, go therefore and make disciples of all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Teach them all of the commands.

We have experienced forgiveness and eternal life and it is our responsibility to share this to our love ones. We are the representatives and we have to show people that we are changed. If you read my blog often, you will remember that I blogged something about Credible Christianity which is about making ourselves a model of what Christian life is like.

Jesus said, we need to make disciples. In CCF, we are always taught to MAKE COMMITTED FOLLOWERS OF JESUS. Not just a follower, but COMMITTED.

Pastor Peter introduced the CPR to share the Gospel like Jesus

1. Compassion for people.
We need not only to feel what other people is feeling but we need to do something about it. Compassion is different from concern, concern you just do something about it but you don't feel anything, you just think you have to do something because it is right. It is also not sympathy, because sympathy is just feeling what the other person is feeling. Compassion comes when we know what the other person is feeling, we were able to put ourselves in their shoe and we do something about other people's situation. We show them how Christ loves them through our actions.

2. Pray for workers.
We need to work to make believers, but we have to train them to become committed followers and work for God. It might mean that we have to go out of our comfort zones to evangelize and share the gospel.

3. Release for harvest.
Lastly, when we're ready we should release ourselves and harvest. Share the gospel to more people. Don't hold on too long, or it might be too late. Like a fruit that's ready for harvest but left on the tree gets bad or eaten by rats.

The key in this CPR I believe is being compassionate. So how do we become compassionate? We need to spend time with people, we need to listen to their stories, we have to love them!

God is at work today, Jesus will come back soon and it will be the final harvest time. I hope, I will be able to be part of this harvest time when Christians ascend to heaven with Jesus to spend time with our creator in a paradise very very near to the God who has truly been with us and loved us no matter what.

Pray that you'll be able to save someone's life and bring them close to God.

So, this is how it feels to cook! I think it feels great. :) I love my own food. hahaha.

Well...anyway, I bought some beef yesterday and put it inside my freezer. Unfortunately, the refrigerator is not working and the meat went bad. Crazy!!!! I just wasted my money to buy beef that will eventually go bad. What's worse is that I did not realize that it was bad until I chopped all the other ingredients to cook Afritada, carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, and opened a can of tomato sauce. So just not to waste the other ingredients, I had to go back the market and buy beef again. It was 8 in the evening and the only part left on the table is the shin ( I don't know what this is) and its just 1/4 kilo. damn. Nevertheless, I bought it.

I also bought some mushrooms because I realized that I haven't been eating vegetables during this weekend. Everything turned out great in the end... I like my Afritada.

I also cooked some mushrooms.... so this is dinner.

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world."

We all have access to redemption. Nothing we have done is too great for His blood to cover. We don't necessarily have to give our physical life, but at the cross we must abandon our sins, secrets, habits, and ways of spiritual death. What we bring to the Redeemer's feet, He will wipe clean. He makes all things new.

We all need redemption and have access to it.

I think the point of this article is that, there's nothing bad enough that Jesus' blood cannot wipe away. People might consider some things unforgivable but we can never understand the broadness of God's mercy and sincerity of His Love for us. Just imagine, that God has been continuously and constantly waiting for us even if we have sinned against Him consciously. He's willing to take us back, forgive our sins, make us new again. Imagine how much better can life be when you follow Jesus, and do what He wants. I can testify that it feels good to love someone who you know loves you back with more than what you gave Him.

So... it's weekend and we decided to experiment again and cook our own food. Luckily... the food is delicious. Here are some snapshots...

Chicken adobo and hardboiled eggs for lunch...

It's just maybe 20RMB for a very delicious and stomach filling meal. By the way, thanks to She Uy for the help in cooking adobo! I forgot to put pepper but nonetheless it tasted very good.

And for dinner... I cooked shrimp in 2 different ways.

First, I just used ginger and salt and second, I used ginger, vinegar and sugar.

I'm satisfied with what I ate today and it did not cost me a fortune.

YUMMMYYY!!!!! Food is really great!

James 4:1-3 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is is not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and you do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

Did you know that there are some things that we do that we knowingly or unknowingly push God out of our lives? Worse is that, we push Him out of the most private part of our lives -- our hearts.

The article says that the root problem of this is our pride. We always say I want it, I deserve it, I will have it, I don't care what it costs, what it takes, and who gets hurt.

Pride is God-Repellent

But remember.... James 4:6 says that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Have you seen the big contrast between how God treats those who are proud or those who show humility.

Whatever we're facing today, God wants to help us. We just need to ask Him to. Like all the previous messages/articles, God is always patiently waiting for us to seek His help. He is tirelessly on our side. He never falters in meeting our needs. He always has more grace to give. His resources are never depleted. His patience is never exhausted. His initiative never slows. His generosity knows no limit.

With all these in mind, are we going to stick with our pride that we can do anything by ourselves? or should we submit our problems, our goals, our dreams to God and let Him guide us to where we should go.

I think the lesson in this article is that, we need to let go of our pride when we choose to believe in God. It is not because we should not respect ourselves but because it hinders us from completely giving up our trust in God. Our pride lets us think that we're human and we can handle things on our own -- but in reality we can't.

Humility recognizes the sufficiency of Jesus and the peril of pride.

Mark 3:5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.

Do we usually fail to see the miracle of Jesus' presence with me? How was He concerned with more than making miracles?

I believe today's article is about being open to God's miracle and being more aware and thankful for it. During the days of the Bible, the Sabbath day is strictly observed. There's no way anybody can work so, when Jesus performed a miracle healing a person with a problem with his hand, the Pharisees raised an eyebrow, thinking that Jesus violated the "No Work during Sabbath day" rule.

Are we like that? Do we blind ourselves with the semantics of this world? Are we too preoccupied with things that does not matter? We should open ourselves to the Lord because this is the only way that He can come into your life. This is the only way that we see the small miracles God perform everyday for sinful people like us.

I believe that God can only perform miracles if we let Him. Trust in the Lord in whatever you do, you'll see how much He loves you. Even if things are not going correctly today, trust the Lord's ways of preparing you to be a better person for the future. He sees the bigger picture. We can only recognize miracles if we open our hearts to find it.

Today, I feel sick and the weather is a little bit cold at night (maybe 7 or 8 degrees Celsius). Anyway, our company has basketball games every Thursday and that's the only chance I could do free exercise. The gym in Shanghai is a bit expensive compared to the other expenses here so I'd rather not.

Anyway, even if I'm feeling weird tonight, I decided to play with my colleagues and after that went to a restaurant to eat dinner. I was totally exhausted when I arrived home. Normally, when I get home, I read my daily devotion right away, pray about it and think how it affects or how it should affect and change my life but today I am just too tired. I lied down in bed, turned of the lights and prepared to sleep.

Luckily, I turned my laptop on and went to see the statistics of my blog. I have 17 views today. So that's great! A maximum of 17 people might have been touched by God's word but what struck me the most is that someone left a comment for me.

She thanked me for writing the blogs because I was able to touch her. I really appreciate that comment. I don't have any words to say how much I appreciate it. I felt like, wow, God, you really know how to cheer me up and find the second wind in me even if I feel sick and I feel tired. It feels like my body was filled with energy and I was able to read my devotion and I was able to continue on writing this blog.

My prayer tonight will definitely include thanking God for being able to touch someone through His word and for also the comment left in my blog. God knows I need inspiration at the right moment. He knows exactly when and what I need.

Goodnight everyone. Second wind is gone, I feel so tired. I have to sleep.

Ephesians 6:16-17 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.

The goal in a Christian life is to become Christ-like but we are often under attack from temptations. Our friends might want to go to places where we should not go, or the society might be telling us to do things that is totally against the Bible. Satan does not appear to us as Satan. We'll never follow Him. He's ugly and we immediately know that there's a bad consequence together with it if we followed an ugly creature like him. So, what will Satan do? He tells us what he wants through the world -- friends, relatives, other people, magazine, internet, etc. This way we are blinded and he can do anything with us, He can put doubts on our faith and bring us away from God.

This is why we need the shield of Faith. The warrior's goal is to extinguish any oncoming dart with his shield to stop all potential damage such as stunning, bruising, or wounding. When the warrior's shield was down, the other pieces of armor were vulnerable.

In all circumstances take up the shield of faith.

John 6:68-69 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life and we have believed and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.

To follow Jesus means paying the price, and the price is incremental. He takes us to deeper levels of commitment and each time there's a cost. So when the bill comes due, don't procrastinate. Don't hide it. Write the check.

I think that this really speaks to me. When you really decide to follow Jesus, it becomes more difficult as it goes. First, its just about believing in Him and admitting that you're imperfect and you need Him. The next steps are more difficult... It's a taxing challenge to become Christ-like, to share the gospel, and to make Him play a bigger part in your life... Finally, I think it is really difficult to put Him first on everything you do. But I firmly believe that this is what about being a Christian is all about. Continue being better Christian everyday, growing closer to Christ.

Commitment to Jesus requires that we pay the price.

This month... CCF has been talking about sharing the gospel with other people. This is what I found on the internet while trying to find how to share the gospel to non-believers. I find it very meaningful and cute. (http://www.christiananswers.net/evangelism/methods/home.html)

1 Peter 2:1-3 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like new born infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation -- if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

The article today reminds that we should treat the word of God as a meal that we should not forget to eat. If we hunger ourselves too long, we will forget how it feels to be full and we'll be used to the feeling and the life without God. This just means that we should always feed our souls as often as we feed our body.

Do you think you're doing that? I'll feed my soul this year by trying to finish the Bible this year and continue reading Our Daily Journey as a guide.

It's God's Word -- get into it!

Philippians 3:7-8 Whatever gain I Had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

I really like the message and assurance the Bible gives us. From Genesis until the Revelations, the theme is the same... God loves us, He is merciful, righteous, faithful to this promise. This article is about living our lives and recognizing Jesus is the most important purpose of our lives.

This article goes by saying... learning more about ourselves is not always a pleasant experience. Introspection often compounds our insecurities and doubts. But spending life with Jesus is of such great value. In fact, spending time to get to know Jesus is of such great value! These are the reason why..

1. Trying to discover your self-worth? It helps you discover your self-worth. Why? You are too valuable for Him that He died for you.

2. Plagued by failure and guilt? It frees us from failure and guilt. Why? He does what no one else will or can do for you. He forgives and forgets, kills the fattened calf as heaven rejoices, and clothes you with the best robes of His righteousness.

3. Searching for significance? It helps you find your significance. You are His child. There is no greater significance that that!

4. Are you trying to figure out your life and wondering if there is any purpose for you taking up space on this planet? you have a very important purpose in Him The mystery is unraveled in Him as He lead you to live for His glory and to reflect the reality of His character.

Self is forever inadequate to satisfy our souls, and it is inept to solve the restless searching of our hearts. But until we learn that lesson, we will continue to discover the trouble with self-focused living is that it is never resolved. Just when you think you know all about yourself, you'll do something that surprises and disappoints you.

Life must be about more than getting to know ourselves. In fact, if we're determined to spend a great deal of time preoccupied with ourselves, life is bound to bore you to tears. None of us is that special.

In what ways have I been focusing too much on myself? What leads to unhealthy introspection? How can I learned to fix my eyes on Jesus instead of myself?

Self is always inadequate to satisfy the soul. Let God satisfy you. You'll see what marvelous things He can do. He's changed a lot in my life, I hope you can also let Him change yours.

So... after staying in my house for a month, I cooked my own dinner tonight.

Just plain beef with soy sauce, pepper, and fried using butter. It really tastes good and smells good as well. Yummy! (Of course, I love my own cooking.) The other dishes are tomatoes with sugar and simmered potatoes. Here are some pictures. :)

and finally....

Well... after the dinner... I had to wash the dishes which is the worse part of cooking on my own. It doesn't matter though, I have all the time in the world. So, this is what they call independent single life.

Hebrews 13:20-21 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ.

A shepherd is a leader. How he leads means everything to his flock. A shepherd walks ahead of his sheep and the herd of sheep follows Him - he doesn't follow them. That way, if danger is up ahead he faces it first before the sheep have to.

The Lord, Jesus Christ is our shepherd. Jesus is out in front of us today. Are you worried about the future? He already knows the future. That's why your future is secure. He's leading you. Are you worried about something that will happen in 5 days? He's already days ahead of you. He knows what's coming and He's already preparing you for it. He's out in front with exactly the right solutions you need. When you begin to grasp that God is in control because He is ahead of us, protecting us, loving us, your fears and concerns will subside. The Shepherd, Jesus is making the way.

What is Jesus asking me to do with Him today?

Jesus is out front -- there's no need to look back.

Galatians 6:7-9 Do not be deceived: god is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Today's article is a reminder that whatever we do today does not stop today. Today is an investment for tomorrow. If we put our time on useless things, we can't expect sowing anything useful in the future. The article is saying that, we cannot just blame everything bad that happens on someone or something other than ourselves.

We have to reflect on what we have been planting all along. Are those things really the things that matter? Is money worth the relationship with people and our time with friends? Have we been planting too many seeds on worldly things that we forgot about God and the essential role He should be playing in our lives.

This does not tell us that its too late to change if we have planted the wrong seeds. It reassures us that life is just like farming, there's nothing we can do about what's already planted but we can still begin today to plant the right choices and anticipate a  better harvest in the weeks, months, and years ahead. Pray about what you should be planting, God will surely find a way to tell you. He knows where we should be headed and if we are sincere in letting Him change our lives, nothing is impossible with Him. Let God guide us in planting the right seeds and investing our lives on something worthwhile.