Rewind

Just the other night, my cousin Danyl and I played Madden ’11 up until sunrise. It brought back old memories when I used to beat his ass in this game. Well, he won this time but the score was tight. Given the fact that I had no practice at all for years, it was an expected result. LOL. Anyway, I noticed and was quite amazed on the added feature of the game called, “REWIND”. It’s an option that allows you to rewind your last plays if in any case you’re not satisfied with them – giving a better chance for you to change or improve your game. Then it made me think for a second that it would be better if we can also have the ability to rewind things in real life, so we can make things better or perhaps, right in our own perception. I just recently experienced a setback in my life, and the feeling sucks. I truly believe in the saying that everything happens for a reason, that’s why I have always been ready for whatever. However, who likes failures? Who loves disappointments? Even though I already knew what to do, there’s still something inside of me that made me feel depressed. But then, I never let it eat me. I went back to my purpose – to live to please God… not myself; not others, only Him. These things have to happen. I have to experience pain, guilt, regret, disappointments, and failures – in order for me to understand how life works.

I pray that the God of peace will give you everything you need so you can do what He wants. – Hebrews 13:20

Life is not easy; it is a chock-full of challenges. You cannot do it on your own, so let Him take over for He knows what’s in store for you. No matter how vague your future may be, always remember that you are destined for greatness. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. God is in control… always in control.

Jesus Christ is the most exciting person who ever lived…

Jesus Christ is the most exciting person who ever lived…

Norman Vincent Peale

            “…The most lovable man who ever walked the earth, the greatest brain that ever entered into human history, and the most incredible personality who ever came among us.” said Mr. Peale. Now, how would you feel if He shared a little bit of Him to you? This is the last part of my series 9 Fruits and I am delightful to receive positive feedbacks from most of my readers. I just want to grab this opportunity to thank you guys for reading my posts. You guys are my motivation. Your flattering comments fuel me to continue making better posts in the future. These past few days have been oh-so splendid for me; every day I felt like God was really blessing me with all the unexpected incidents that have happened. All of my problems suddenly evaporated right in front of my eyes leaving me in state of shock. That’s why I’m so inspired right now; I’m so excited I want to finish this thing right away, for there are more things that I want to share with you guys aside from this.

Faithfulness

For we live by believing and not by seeing. - 2 Corinthians 5:7

Do you believe in God, do you believe that God and Christ are with you and that They will help you? Do you believe in yourself and in life? Belief in a few basic realities is the important factor in building faith. When a desire is soul deep, when it is longing in depth, all of the inner forces of your nature conspire to bring about the realization of the desire. But when what you want is superficial, it remains as a frustration, for there is no gathering of inner power to achieve it. If with all your heart is the principle of attainment. If with all of yourself you want a strong faith, one that can move mountains, overcome the impossibilities and stand up to all; difficulties and lead you into the basic joys of this life, you can have it (Faith Builders: Guidepost by Norman Vincent Peale). Faith is a fight against disbelief and a struggle against doubt. I remember my instructor Sonny Laylo. He was the one who introduced me to Christ. That was way back when I was in Grade Four. My parents thought of entering me in a private Martial Arts lessons and Sir Sonny was referred to us by my Ninang Volet. Then it all started there. He taught me not only martial arts, but also things about God. I can still remember that moment when he said, “Will you accept God with all your heart?”

“Yes, I will.” I replied.

“Well then, from this day onwards, you are now a child of God; you have been resurrected and now you’re saved.”

            To tell you the truth, I never really understood what happened back then, but that has been one of my experiences that I couldn’t forget. Probably it was because it gave me the belief that I will be saved when that time comes. Faith was there. Even though I have no idea what was happening; I still believed in the thought that I will be saved. Sir sonny made me believe. No, I guess it was me all along. For up until now, I still have that faith in God.

Gentleness

Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. - Philippians 4:5

            Gentleness is the value and quality of character. To be gentle, in its most basic sense, is to be mild, calm, and tender. Being gentle is like being kind and good; however, it focuses on the attitude and outlook of an individual to life. I believe being gentle is a good start of everything. You can have peace by being gentle; be loved by being gentle; be trusted by being gentle. Elaine is arguably the gentlest person I’ve ever met. For me, she’s as gentle as the wind. For one, I have never seen her get mad or even say foul words, ever. Moreover, for all the years that I’ve been with her, she never got mad at me, ever. She was so gentle she didn’t even say anything when we decided to end things between us back then. She’s not capable of hurting anybody, and I really admire her for that. That’s why she’s so loved by many. Such quality is really something to be envious of. Not only will other people love and gravitate towards you more if you learn how to walk in this quality – but you will be at much more peace since you won’t always have to be fighting and striving with others when trying to help them out. Surround yourself with gentle people, and you will certainly have a peaceful and tranquil life.

Self-control

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given to you when Jesus Christ is revealed. - 1 Peter 1:13

            We all live in a self-centered and materialistic world today. Many of us have a very weak sense of control – ruled by earthly desires rather than by the Holy Spirit. If you do not have God’s self-control operating through you – you will have very little victory over such things as bad tempers, judgmental and critical spirits, an unforgiving spirit, and vices such as smoking and alcohol abuse. Self-control is Discipline; and when I hear anything about discipline, I can only think of 3 words – Rodel Recinto Malaluan. He is the epitome of self-control. I have always been proud of my father. He was a naval officer. As I can remember, he entered Military School at a young age of 17. He told me numerous stories about his experiences there; unfortunately, forgot most of them. LOL. We know how it works in military academies. He told me one must have a good sense of discipline, for it is the key for survival. I experienced quite like this when I entered MP (Military Police) back in High School. I can still remember shouting out loud words such as, “What you see, what you hear, when you leave, leave it here!” and “Sa, wa, lo, pat, ma, nim, to, lo, yam, pu!” That was one of the highlights of my career. LOL. But I am proud to say that good sense of discipline made me excel and become one of the top candidates to be the Head of our squad. This specific quality is one of the major keys in being able to get any kind of victory over some of the lusts and desires of our flesh.

            These 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit not only have the ability to help you change, transform and sanctify you, but also have the ability to touch all those around you. If the Holy Spirit starts to release His quality of love into your personality, but you start refusing to walk and operate in that love in your words and actions to others – then He will start to pull it back from you after a reasonable length of time (http://www.bible-knowledge.com). Just a piece of advice, let the Holy Spirit flow voluntarily into your life and expect to see miraculous things coming. Whew! I'm almost done, but I felt kind of sad for I am now on my closing statement; nevertheless, I hope I gave justice to all these 9 fruits and wish you learned something from them. Good night! Always remember, God is with you!

Testimony: Gifts of the Holy Spirit are for free and are very powerful.

Life Lesson: Believe.

Godly Passion: Faith can move mountains.

Good News: Love will show you everything.

Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid.

Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid.

-          Basil King

Today was but an ordinary day for me, though I only procrastinated the whole day. Later in the evening, I had a dinner with my relatives at Mano-Mano celebrating the death anniversary of my Uncle Taba. It was great; tons of foods were served and I really enjoyed the company of my cousins. I was like, “Suliiit!” because of the satisfaction brought by foods and laughs. When we got home, I thought of reading this one booklet that I supposedly have read just this morning. It’s a Guideposts booklet by Norman Vincent Peale entitled Confidence. Actually there are lots of Guideposts booklets here; I just decided to randomly pick one to read each day.

Guideposts by Norman Vincent Peale

This one's very inspiring. In fact, it even inspired me to write a blog right now.  It is dedicated to motivate people to achieve their maximum personal and spiritual potential. What made me love this booklet was it shares the author’s experiences in life and delivers the Good News, just like what I do in my blog. Let me share you some of the points depicted from this booklet.

CONVICTION

I will be with you. I will not leave you or forget you. – Joshua 1:5

                Since God created you, it is given that he has confidence in you. It has been my experience that people do not break down because they are defeated, but because they think they are. They do not believe in their own possibilities. You need to trust in the abilities that God has given you. Why shouldn’t you believe in yourself? You are a child of God; therefore, you have within you the great powers of God. Remember God’s promise that He will never leave you alone nor forget you. When you truly believe this, you are on your way to confident living. You do not have to fight your battles alone. God is at your side. He will stand by you and protect you for all of your life.

POSSIBILITY

The Lord is my light and the one who saves me. – Psalm 27:1

                Never mind your circumstances. Listen to these lines from the poet, William Wordsworth: “Trailing clouds of glory do we come from God, who is our home.” This means you! You are a child of God, and there is greatness within you. You can be confident that the Lord is the strength of your life. DARE TO BE WHAT GOD CREATED YOU BE. Dare to be what you dream to be. Dare to be the finest you can be. God is your Father, and He has great hopes for you.

FAITH

With God’s power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine. – Ephesians 3:20

                You are going to have setbacks and defeats; sometimes, like the stock market, you will have an extended “dip” in your fortunes. Do not let this defeat you. Instead, plant in your mind pictures of accomplishment, achievement and personal fulfillment. Fill your conversations with words of faith and optimism, until faith and positive thinking become a part of your life. Don’t let your down times get the better of you, for good times will surely come. Surrender your discouragement to God and then surrender yourself to Him. Lose yourself to Him, become part of Him. He is strength, and He believes in you. If you have His love in your heart, nothing can defeat you.

STRENGTH

I can do all things through Christ, because he gives me strength. – Philippians 4:13

                I once met a gentleman who told me that he’d heard me preach at a service that changed his life. The verse that carried my visitor from depression to dynamic optimism is: “I can do all things through Christ, because he gives me strength.” When he left the church on that transforming day, he walked up the Fifth Avenue repeating those words. Block after block after block he repeated them. He repeated them on the plane taking him home. And then he lived with them day by day. “This verse,” he told me, “built up my confidence and changed my life.” He found out that the words on the Bible are the truth: the truth about God and truth about man. And the truth in just one Bible verse set this man free. Take these words to heart, and they will do the same for you.

                These are just half of the points I've depicted from the booklet. I will continue remaining half on my next post. For the mean time, let us focus on 4 of the 8 major points emphasized on boosting Confidence in life: Conviction, Possibility, Faith and Strength. As you can see, God showed us everything He can for us to know that He loves us. He promises, stays with us, believes in us, and gives us strength. I believe Confidence is not inherited, and it cannot be learned just by one sitting. It takes time; and with every war that you encounter, have at least 8 of these characteristics in your arsenal and you will never lose. Remember! It must be 8 out of the 8 characteristics in boosting your confidence. Do not settle for less. It is a start.

Testimony: I started believing in Him, and then everything just went right.

Life Lesson: We are God’s most precious creation.

Godly Passion: Believe in Conviction, Faith, Possibilities and Strength.

Good News: Bring joy to the world; Inspire.