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Have troubles or problems? Questions?
Maybe Kuya Ed can help. May tanong ka ba? Malay mo, baka may sagot si Kuya Ed. So, sige na…sulat na…
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November 22, 2011
Read: Psalm 107:31-43
31 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people
and praise him in the council of the elders.The purpose of worship is for God’s people to express praise and gratitude to God together as a community. Serving in Las Vegas, a 24/7 city and where many believers have work on Sundays, I know how hard it is to gather people for worship. But if we believe that every good thing comes from God and that employers are just channels of God’s provision, then we make sure we make time to “exalt him in the assembly of the people.”
Who you praise is who you please.
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November 21, 2011
Read: Exodus 31:1-5
1 Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— 4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 5to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts.
Reading the first part of this passage (vs. 1-3) without knowing its setting–which is building a tabernacle–may give one the impression that a high ranking leader, perhaps a king or a prophet, has been chosen by the LORD. But Bezalel son of Uri is not chosen for any of those high ranking positions. He’s chosen for his skill as an artist–a craftsman expert in designing works of art made of precious metals and stones.
Here’s what we learn from this: the Lord calls people he’s gifted with certain talents and abilities to use those gifts for his glory and honor. The person that uses God-given gifts to serve the Lord and the world is the happiest worker on earth!
Serve the Lord with his gifts and be a gift to the world.
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November 20, 2011
Read: Matthew 5:9,38-48
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.This part of The Beatitudes can easily be misunderstood in a certain way: that anyone who makes peace regardless of faith or despite the lack of it becomes and should be called a child of God. We need to be reminded that this as as well as the other beatitudes are teachings of Jesus addressed to those that originally followed him as well as all communities of faith that would later read Matthews’ gospel. Peacemaking serves to authenticate the faith of those that follow Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
So if we consider ourselves followers of Jesus, we need to ask ourselves if peacemaking is part what we do. If people treat us with contempt and hostility because of our faith in Jesus, do we respond in such a way that the peacemaker in us shows? If we do, then we truly are children of God and deserve to be called as such.
The Christian response to hostility is not retaliation but reconciliation.
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Read: Romans 5:12-19
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned…. 15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
Have you done something that you think was great but nobody seems to notice it? It hurts, right? Well, it’s normal to feel bad when your hard work is unnoticed. But even if what you’ve done is really not that great I think people should be more appreciative. Appreciate the efforts, at least.
But it seems that people are more quick to criticize than to appreciate. And that’s sad. It’s more sad when it comes to the work of God in Christ. God gave Jesus who died on the cross so that people may have eternal life. Those of us who received the gift of God because of what Jesus did on the cross ought to be appreciative of God’s work in him. How? By praising and giving to God the best form of appreciation: our life.
If you received eternal life you should say Thank you by giving your life.
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November 19, 2011
Read: Jonah 1
17 Now the LORD provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Kids love this story. Adults quarrel over whether or not the “huge fish” and Jonah’s experience in its belly was real. But that’s really beside the point. The point is that if you keep on running from the Lord or from what he tells you to do, then you deserve to be in some-stinking-belly-of-a-fish situation. If you are already in it, then do what Jonah did: pray, repent and obey God (see chapter 2).
Trust and obey for that is the best way.
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“The perceived battle between the executive and the judiciary on the case of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo worries some political analysts” (See in “Judiciary-executive battle worries analysts,” abs-cbnNEWS.com, Posted at 11/18/2011 11:16 PM | Updated as of 11/18/2011 11:16 PM)
Whether or not there is reason to worry about the GMA case, I’m beginning to wonder whether too much attention is given to these and other similar cases that tend to focus on problems of the past. I understand that these can serve as warnings to politicians that are only interested in filling their pockets while most of the people they profess to serve are barely surviving.
However, I feel that the government and other sectors interested in the development of the Philippine economy should divert people’s attention to solving the countries great economic problem. We all know that Philippine economy, for example, remains afloat because of the dollars being sent, especially by OFWs, to their families back home. From what I’ve gathered, almost three thousand Filipinos leave the country each day to work overseas, mainly in the Middle East.
Now, what if in the future things will change? What if there will be no more need for Pinoy workers overseas? What will happen to the economy? Is there any plan in place? If nothing is being done today about this potential problem, then the economy is in great danger, and should this bad scenario take place, Pinoys hard lives will even get harder.
As believers and Pinoys, what can we say and do to change things or, even better, make things happen?
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November 18, 2011
Read: Acts 17:19-31
“God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.”
What did God do so that people might seek him? God created everything and “he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.” But how do people respond? They create “gods” according to their own image and worship them.
Today’s graven images are not only the ones carved out of wood or stone but also those ideas of God that do not resemble the God the Bible reveals. Why do people become unnecessarily creative in their conceptualization of God? Perhaps because they do it apart from a vital relationship with Christ by whom the world will be judged.
To know God is to know Christ.
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Frank said, “I hate the song.”
November 17, 2011
Read: Matthew 4:18-22
19“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
That seems clear. But some people have come to Jesus not to follow him or to fish for people. They have come to Jesus because some preacher said doing so they can live their best life now!
Yeah, I know, Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). But I’ don’t think that a luxurious lifestyle–as in traveling in your own private jet–was what was in his mind when he said that. Although desiring and working to become rich is not necessarily wrong, using Jesus as a formula to become one is.
To come and follow Jesus, the Way, is to do it His way, not my way.
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November 16, 2011
Read: 1 John 2:18-27
24 As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is what he promised us—eternal life.
There was a young man who attended my Bible study and who said that whatever he did, even if it was a very bad thing, like killing, would not endanger his soul. He believed that because he “accepted” Christ, he was predestined to go to heaven.
Eternal life, however, is promised to genuine believers and not to counterfeit ones. The real ones are those that “remain in the Son and in the Father.”
Fakes won’t make it; but to the real ones the Lord will say, “Well done!”
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November 15, 2011
Read: Hebrews 5:12–6:2
You need milk, not solid food!
These are some offensive words to people who are supposed to be spiritual adults but in reality are still infants. With some people, I feel that my efforts have been in vain. But this passage brings me some comfort because it seems to show that if people do not grow it is not necessarily the teacher’s fault. Some people for some reason do not “move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity” (6:1).
If you want to grow, it’s really up to you.
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November 14, 2011
Read: Lamentations 3:25-33
31 For no one is cast off
by the Lord forever.This verse has been used as proof text for the belief that God will not abandon people in hell forever. But it’s context seems clear: it is meant for “those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him” (v. 25).
Do you feel like you’ve been cast off because of your disobedience to the Lord?Do not lose heart! Repent, return to the Lord and “wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD” (v. 26).
When we return to God’s fold, we may experience blessings untold.
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November 13, 2011
Read: 1 Peter 3:8-17
17 For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
Let’s get this straight: suffering for doing good is better than suffering for doing evil only if it is God’s will. The verse thus implies that suffering for doing good is not always God’s will. But if it is, then we are to be willing to go through suffering for such reveres Christ our Lord (v. 15). It’s tough, but like the beautiful cactus I took a picture of recently (see above), we can thrive and grow beautifully even in the hardest of places.
A faithful believer blooms even among stones.
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November 12, 2011
Read: Exodus 15:22-27
On this supposed-to-be memorable day, the Lord provided the much needed water for the Israelites who were trekking the desert to the promised land. But just a couple of chapters later, they seem to have forgotten what God had done for them: “…they grumbled against Moses” saying “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” (17:3)
When you’re tempted to complain today, remember what the Lord did yesterday.
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November 11, 2011Read: Romans 8:31-39
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What an expression of confident assurance! The believer in Christ enjoys security. However, such assurance is not meant to be abused. The proper response to the grace of God is not careless but careful living. We are to heed Apostle Paul’s advice: “…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Phil. 2:12-13).
Those for whom Christ died should “live… for him who died for them” (2 Cor. 5:15).
PENnED 