faithful because He is

I've always considered it a grace from the Lord to be somewhat free from strong attachments which may distract me from quickly responding to His promptings. In a lot of my decisions in the past since my renewed relationship with the Lord, I recognize that God's hand has always held my heart close to His through this grace.

A good friend of mine pointed my natural tendency of being like this once and realizing it for myself, I thanked God for it! I tried to examine deep in my heart on where this was rooted and I could not find anything else but this verse:

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end;

23 they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.

(Lamentations 3:22-23)

I am trusting that what lies ahead of me is according to God's plans, even in ways I cannot logically explain, because my God is faithful. Even just looking back at my life, at the many crossroads I've faced and the side trips I've taken, I look at this winding road and just see the hand of God. I see the hand of God directing my path in every step of the undiscerning ways I took and I see Him always directing me toward Him.

We can be trusting and faithful to the will of the Lord because our God is a God who is faithful in ways unimaginable and in ways beyond our rational mind.

This is a good reminder for all of us, even for me, when at times I find myself weak, beat down, and just fazed with so many things before me blocking my sight of the Hand that has always been there and the promise that it has always been leading me to.

Grace and an open heart

I'm glad a few of my good friends still bug me to write in this blog. No, this blog is not coterminous with Lent. Yes, I still continue to post my reflections, though not always in this medium. I understand not all are my friends in Facebook so here it goes! I have a few posts pending completion especially in conclusion to the Lenten season which started this blog. Yes, Happy Easter! (Rest assured, that Easter post is in the pipeline!)

Celebrating Easter, we rejoice in the greatness of our God reveling in His resurrection. We are grateful for His goodness for who are we that He laid down His Son's life for us? As the psalmist says, "What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? (Ps 8:4)"

Yet we continue to fall, all of us who celebrate His glory and wonders. Yet many still do not believe this as well.

What more do we need for us to believe? Even the angel of light saw the Lord in all His glory and fell. It is by His Grace that we are saved and it is by our hearts opened wide for His Grace that we will continue to be saved.

Grace and an open heart. These I pray for all of us today.

Majestic Tree by Jessica Bader

"You have believed because you have seen me.
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."
John 20:29

#YOLO

The word may be so-two-years-ago late but I just couldn't help it! I will not anymore attempt to describe and define the "battle cry of a generation," as a song says. It would be overkill; just look up all the materials online. Here are a few things, however, that were complemented by the 'wisdom' behind the word, in a different sense: 

1. We are meant for eternity. As a believer and follower of Christ, I hold fast to the truth that we are souls with bodies and not the other way around. We will die in the physical sense, but we will still live on and this is when we hope to see Him who made us. We only live once, but this life does not end with death for death was conquered.
2. The choice is ours. The kind of life we choose to lead now will have consequences that determine our future. Yes, there are consequences (as opposed to having none if our lives ended with death) and the consequences are real. We live only once and the kind of life we choose to follow will determine where we will be in the future - in the kingdom of light or in the kingdom of darkness. 
3. We have to take the leap. There is a trap we should be wary of, as Kierkegaard raised, when we spend too much time just thinking and defining our faith. As in the parable of the separation of goats and sheep (Mt 25:31-46), we are reminded that in the end, we are accountable not only for our wrongdoings, but also for the good we fail to do. With our faith and the Truth we accept, there has to be a sense of urgency and we have to take action. This aspect we can strongly borrow from YOLO where we should be compelled to throw ourselves and risk everything to tread the path we have chosen - hopefully the path of love!