Tag: Gospel

Daily Ponder #006

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La tierra està llena de su gran amor, enseñame tu decretas.

I have been working on my Spanish language for a while now, I’ve been using a bilingual bible that has both Spanish and English.

En english, “ The earth is filled with your love, Lord, teach me your decrees.” Psalms 119:64

So I kept this thought as I go through the day, wander on it’s implications. It started to help me recognize and acknowledge the very presence of God. I was looking at city view from my window, acknowledge that God’s great love is for this city, not just for the city, but for the nations of the world and all the people in it.

While all of this are happening, There was a sense of asking God for an experience of this love. While my head knows this lines well, the emotional part of me yearns for the experience. I don’t know how God will meet me there but I am excited for how He will meet me in this request.

The truth about this Love of God….

The truth: we are not really lovable or acceptable before him if not for the gospel. Yes God is Love, but He is also a God of Justice. He punishes and does not tolerate sins, and we the human race sins and has that inner tendency to deviant from His standards and we will never be able to satisfy the justice of forgiveness, so in our behalf Jesus who is innocent and free of sin took the place of humanity. The wrath of punishment and justice was taken upon, He died and rose again on the third day, offering salvation and forgiveness who those who repents and believe in Him as Lord and Savior. Now in Christ we have that love and forgiveness. And so much more.

We need to recognize that love of God for us, making a way for all of us to be recipients of love and forgiveness.

If you don’t have Jesus yet in your heart, let me help you know him more, what He has done. Let me be a help to grow an inch closer to Him. Connect with me.

The truth that needs to be reaffirm daily.

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For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV

The Bible teaches us, we are not only saved by grace, but also living life by grace, every day of our lives. This so important yet so little understood or practice by christians.

Saved by grace, living life by grace .

The sound good faulty motto: “God helps those who helps themselves.” This is actually transactional.

It sounds and looks like this; if I try harder to be good maybe God will bless me more, and change myself maybe God will be gracious to me. If only I can commit more in serving the church, in giving, disciple more people, evangelize more, do good more with some help with God.

Remember what the apostle Paul said; “ But by the grace of God I am what I am”.

The truth that needs to be reaffirmed daily is this,

My daily relationship with God is base of the merit of Christ instead of my own performance.

God’s transforming grace liberates us from the daily performance mentality and sets us to faith place alone on Jesus Christ.

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

2 Peter 2:18 ESV

May we learn to pray 2 Peter 2:18 in the journey of our lives, May we grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus.

This writen entry is from a book I am reading at the moment titled “ Transforming Grace by Jerry Bridges. These are my take home notes, from the preface portion. There are more from the book itself.

Gratefully offended daily

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Offense is one of  life’s inescapable reality, whether  we like it or not it will come our way. We all had our taste of offense whether we may be the cause or the receiving end. But how can I be grateful when the offense happens daily? How do you handle it? or take it?

As I was reading and reflecting on the lines of Isaiah 59:22

“but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”

These lines speaks so powerfully of what separates me from my creator, SIN, that causes me to be independent from God. This reminded me that deep in my core, I am truly a sinner and nothing of it deserves God’s goodness and grace. That, by faith alone in Jesus and His finish work, we can only be save and nothing else. That we can have rich and have satisfying life. That forgiveness is made available and true freedom can be attained at the cross. That is the gospel!

Daily, I need to seek God, pray and read the bible and remind myself that only Jesus can save me, nor ultimately satisfy and give me fulfilment. My good works have no value, but only the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. My great representative in fulfilling the law that I can never fulfill. This is where the daily offense happen.

The truth is the gospel is offensive because..

  1.  It tells us we are not capable of saving ourselves.
  2.  It tells us that we need a Savior, more capable and powerful than us.
  3.  It tells us that we are foolish like a sheep that needs a shepherd.
  4.  It tell us that on our own, we will never amount to anything.
  5.  It tells us that human intellect is limited.

and a lot more reasons to be offended.

And yet I chose to embrace all this everyday. The truth is God’s truth is offensive. Our response is either humility and embrace Jesus in our life or be led away by pride, independence and arrogance.

God’s truth is offensive yet worth embracing and worth rejoicing. We will never know how wonderful the good news is unless we fully understand how really awful the bad news is. We need a Savior in the name of Jesus Christ.

For that I am truly grateful to the core. And I don’t know with you, with what you choose. But I pray that you may consider the truth and respond in humility, acknowledging that salvation, freedom and joy can only come from Jesus Christ.

“The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me.” – Tim Keller

 

Changed life| Christiane Bulawan

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“I thought I was doing the right thing. I found joy and fulfilment in having same sex relationship and immorality. I didn’t care what people would say. I was happy with myself and my choices even if I was being bullied and being taken advantage of.  All I cared was finding love and being loved specially by handsome good looking men.

But then the love and care that I was looking for was not enough. There was deep loneliness and emptiness that I could not explain. I thought I was living the life as it should be then I found myself in search for the real meaning and purpose of my being.

I rejected the idea of  attending Youth Service in Victory Ortigas where I was invited. I came once and thought I already knew God and that was enough. I was constantly being invited and I would always make my academic busyness as an excuse.

After a year, I invited myself and showed up in the Youth Service. While I was standing up during the worship time I felt the presence of the Lord for the first time. I felt complete, cared and forgiven. After the service, a campus missionary approached me and connected me to a Victory Group and to a person who led me to grow more in my relationship with God. I did not hesitate, for deep within I wanted a change in my life.

It was during the one 2 one discipleship I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. My  desires for flesh was still there and so were my struggles. As I continued my journey for my personal relationship with Jesus, slowly I found myself turning away from my old ways and God gave me new desires in my heart that honor Him.  

Cristiane in the middle after his water baptism.

 I finally found the love that I was looking for. Truly, only God can satisfy the deepest desires of my heart and I am grateful that He replaced those ungodly desires and continues to replace it with what pleases Him. His love is so compelling that I started to share the Gospel to my schoolmates and even to those who bullied me.  The same Gospel that transformed me is the same Gospel that I am sharing to them; the message that brings salvation, hope and forgiveness that can be found in Jesus Christ. Indeed, the change has come in my life and it can happen to anyone!”

– Christiane Bulawan; changed by the love of Christ!

Christiane is now one of our Youth leaders in Arellano University – Pasig. Recently, he made a post on facebook status.
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“I don’t want to be called ‘sis’, ‘gay’ or  ‘bhesty’. Because that is not the identity God gave me. I want to be called ‘bro’ or by my real name. The old has gone, the new has come.” – Cristiane Bulawan