Of Pain

Found this among my facebook messages. It's part of a rather long and preachy message I sent to a friend on May 28, 2010 during my grandmother's wake.

i think that pain is a wonderful mechanism designed by God for life on earth. imagine what life is like for someone who has leprosy or whatever disease that causes the victim to not feel pain. makatamak sya ug tunok or masunog sya or masamaran sya, dili niya ma-feel. how could he protect/defend himself? how would he know that something's wrong?

pain, i think, is one of the best indicators of disorder, of malfunction. pain tells us when we are straying from the good path.

i think of heaven as [a] place devoid of pain because then, pain would not be necessary. but for here and for now, where we co-exist with evil forces, we need pain to tell us that something is wrong and needs to be corrected.

we also need pain to mark our mistakes, the places we should not go back to, the things we should not do again. they come with our mistakes, and they come with lessons. lessons to make us better people and to lead us to better places.

and pain keeps us on our toes - vigilant and ready. remember the dark ages? the church then was way purer because persecution stirred people's hearts and minds, and has thus purged the people. pain reminds us that we cannot, for one moment, relax.

as much as this world is concerned, there is more to fear from the absence of pain than from its presence.

Still true.

Walk with God... to Work

The two hours I spent walking to work this morning gave me lots of time to think of reasons why walking to work is good:
   
     1. Saves me money (about PhP800 a month)
     2. Puts my legs to work, thus preparing them for more work (i.e. overnight mission trips to remote areas that cannot be reached by cars or even motorcycles)
     3. Improves my breathing
     4. Allows me time alone with God

How I manage that fourth one is by listening to a sermon that I saved earlier on my smartphone. Today it was "Tools for Perfection" by Pastor Patrick Herbert of the Gilead Institute of America and the International Association of Free Seventh-day Adventists. The message was too wonderful to keep to myself, so I'm sharing the highlights here for you.

The world today has been deluded into believing that humans can't be perfect. This is altogether contrary to Bible teaching which expressly asks us in Matthew 5:48, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." This is Jesus asking us to perfect and we know He would never ask us to do something that is impossible for us to do. All the Lord's biddings are enablings.

He didn't say the road to perfection would be easy, but He promises to be there to give us all the help we need to make it. He gives us tools:

1. Laws. The Ten Commandments. "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." Psalm 19:7. To convert = change = transform. We can be like God, not in power, but in character. The laws have been provided to bring us back into the image and likeness of God.

2. Affliction. "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy."  1 Peter 4:12. Hardships, trials, temptations, difficulties are tools in the hands of God. Jesus learned obedience and perfection "by the things that He suffered." Hebrews 5:8,9. Afflictions help us realize our need for God and draw us closer to Him.

3. Work. Both our evangelistic effort and the performance of daily duties. "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Matthew 16:24. Do your work with all your might as if doing it for God, take it up even if you don't like it. Deny yourself. Jesus was a Prince in heaven, but He worked at Joseph's carpentry shop many years. Adam and Eve were given work after they sinned because it was a way back to God. Work not just for yourself, but for the salvation of others as well.

4. Sanctuary. The church. Jesus wanted His children to be united under one name. "Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we [are]." John 17:11. Jesus wants His children to be together, to work together. "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some [is]; but exhorting [one another]: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." Hebrews 10:25. The church is to be a means for us to be exhorted and corrected, that we may be edified to perfection.  

5. Study. "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15. When you begin to study, you begin to understand the things that God reveals to you on a very personal level. So make time for study. 

6. Obedience. "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land." Isaiah 1:19. Canaan on earth and Canaan in heaven requires the same thing: willing obedience. We have to do what we believe to be right. What you know could kill you or save you, depending on what you do with it. Ask the Lord for help to be obedient. Without the Spirit, it is impossible to obey.  

7. Prayer. "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed [is] willing, but the flesh [is] weak." Matthew 26:41. Praying is communion with God. By constant beholding we are changed.

There you have them. Seven tools. Seven - the Lord's number for perfection and completeness. And for Seventh-day Adventists, did you notice? the first letters of these seven tools form the acronym LAWS-SOP. Every tool we need God has provided. And when we begin to use and apply them, God will have a people prepared to meet Jesus when He returns.

If you want to hear the entire sermon, just leave a comment below with your email address and I'll get the sermon across to you. :)

Meanwhile, the walk also gave me opportunity to see the wonders of God's creation in the flowers along the way.

have a happy weekend! :-)

Raise the Standard High

People running to and fro

Not really knowing where to go

Just living from day to day

With no guide to lead the way

  

To  the left or to the right

People strive for earthly heights

Blind to the end this world will meet

Or to heaven - the promise sweet

Pain and pleasure this world will lend

No, Do not bow, Do not blend

Lift high Christ who died

Live up to His standards high

Tell the world, let them know

Christ in you, to them show

By your words, by your deeds

Plant the truth as precious seeds

Dare to share, be not shy

Raise the standard high

Raise your voice in loud a cry

Raise God's standards high

10.27.2012

Wholly Thine

I would be, dear Savior, wholly Thine;
Teach me how, teach me how;
I would do Thy will, O Lord, not mine;
Help me, help me now.

Refrain

Wholly Thine, wholly Thine,
Wholly Thine, this is my vow;
Wholly Thine, wholly Thine,
Wholly Thine, O Lord, just now.

What is worldly pleasure, wealth or fame,
Without Thee, without Thee?
I will leave them all for Thy dear Name,
This my wealth shall be.

Refrain

As I cast earth’s transient joys behind,
Come Thou near, come Thou near;
In Thy presence all in all I find,
’Tis my comfort here.

Refrain

words and music by Franklin E. Belden, 1886

listen to a midi of this song and others through here.

This Battle Is Not Mine

 THIS BATTLE IS NOT MINE

Everyday I struggle to be free
Everyday I face the enemy
Alone I fight all sorrow and all pain
Knowing no victory nor gain.

I had strength and wisdom all my own
I wondered why no battle I won
I thought I can make it all alone
But now I know I have been wrong.

Sometimes I think He asks too much of me
If I must overcome constantly.
But now I'm sure each battle can be won
For I am never once alone.

God sends His angels to rally by my side.
He is my Captain, my Comrade, and my Guide.
I may be weak, but He is strong.
I dare not trust my own.
He's made it known,
This battle is not mine to fight alone.

-o-

This was written at a time when I was feeling utterly depressed and helpless. I was pressured to do what was right and I tried. But it was really hard to overcome myself. Then I realized that the reason everything was so hard to do was that I was doing it alone. God is my strength, and I could not rely on myself even for a single moment. He is telling me, "You are never alone, I am with you. The sooner you get that through your head, the better."