Father,
After about 22 Years, I finally understand why You put me here on this earth. I'm so sorry it took so long....
"But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain the resurrection from the dead." (Phil. 3:7-11)
People keep asking me what I want for my Birthday, well, here it is...
I want everyone that I know and love to finally cherish Jesus Christ above all things temporal in life... because He is the only One that eternally satisfies.
Only Christ can save you, and you can call Him Lord too, if you believe.
I love all of you so much...
"He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
Friday, November 6, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
it hurts.
When you're heart is in pain my brother, my heart also pains with yours...
Lord, we take your hand, even into the darkest of places, knowing that You are God.
Though the path may be dark and the way uncertain, we trust You. You will never misguide or lead us astray... so lead us to where You want us be.
As long as we are with You, it is heaven.
Lord, we take your hand, even into the darkest of places, knowing that You are God.
Though the path may be dark and the way uncertain, we trust You. You will never misguide or lead us astray... so lead us to where You want us be.
As long as we are with You, it is heaven.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Let me be honest...
A Confession...
A Lazy man does not roast his prey, But the precious possession of a man is diligence.
(Proverbs 12:27)
At the MDM conference, Pastor Ardavanis described how todays young boys and young men think they that are entitled to so much. They want want everything NOW, yet they do not know how to work for it. They loathe the idea of putting effort and labor into anything, especially when it comes to their future. He shed a great deal of light on this issue and while he as talking, I was definitely in wholehearted concurrence. As I was nodding along like a bobble head during the seminar, names began to quickly flood into my head as I recalled all the little boys in my life who needed to hear this and wake up from their "Peter Pan Syndrome." But during my great period of enlightenment, I may have forgotten one thing. I forgot to consider myself.
It seemed like a routine day. The cold finally had arrived so I put on my sweater, did my business, and went off to class. What I did not know is that my Father decided to teach me something.
It was directly after math class when I was hit by... a bus, figuratively speaking of course. It was a really big bus too. Goodness gracious, He truly knows how to wake up a sleep walker and resurrect a dead man. I felt hurt, my chest felt heavy, uncertainty arose, and I began to contemplate how I would get myself out of this mess. Of course, this situation was a gateway into many emotions, but I felt as though things were just not right. And yes, the number one question that naturally pops into the sinners head popped into mine: "Why God?"
But it seems as though spiritual maturity and experience had caused me to answer that question while I was posing it. The conference I attended was months ago, but as I was sulking in my misfortune, the truths that were presented in my mind at that seminar started ringing today like dusty dormant bells. And since this happened in my math class at 9:10 in the morning, I truly did "wake up."
Pun intended.
But seriously, complacency and laziness sounds like a high school cliché that everyone quotes left and right. It is used as an excuse because they don't want to take responsibility for their own shortcomings. We place the blame on laziness as if laziness put a huge gun to our heads and forced us to do its bidding. May we never ever do that!
I am the one responsible for the sins I have committed.
Instant gratification!
That is exactly what I wanted...
I found myself wanting without working. It is interesting hear the struggles of my very young brothers and sisters, whom I love so much, and have so much sympathy knowing I was in that same place. Yet, I find myself reverting back to the place of "lacking diligence" and desiring that instant gratification.
Before I attempt to assist, must I not work on myself? (Matt. 7:3)
I too wanted quick results without hard work. As if I was entitled to a promotion without doing anything to merit it. Do not get me wrong beloved, I am not referring to a works righteousness, but I am referring to people that desire only the "end" yet they have no desire to go through the "means" to that end.
I am struggling with deciding on several paths that the Lord may potentially lead me to. But I see now that I have been throwing in the towel and raising the white flag whenever things got rough. As if I deserved an easy route in life? I pray that the Lord gives me strength not to fold and give up in the tough times, but instead, may he guide me and help me to persevere towards the goal of righteousness.
May He help me to work hard till the end knowing that I will enter His rest in eternity.
If you're thinking that Micah Anglo is the hero in this story, guess again. I was hurting this morning, and I'm still feeling the repercussions of my actions as of late. There may be forgiveness of sins, but the consequences of sin may still leave a scar down the road in this present life.
However, we will praise Christ for crushing the power of sin and death! Although now, sin may be present, we know that it has no eternal effect on the children of God and it cannot separate us from the love of God. Those whom He justified, He also glorified! (Rom. 8:29)
It is unfortunate how we as children need to go through certain circumstances in order to learn a lesson. But we know that sometimes its necessary for us to experience these thing, so that we learn.
One thing puzzles me though.
I was almost instantly comforted by the fact that I understood that God is Sovereign.
Something tells me that theology works...
P.S. - I was also wounded by a dear friend today. Thank God for brothers.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
What Am I Suppose To Do?
It's a given, life is full of decisions to make.
How do I go about doing this? What school should I pick? Where should I eventually end up? What career should I pursue? What friends do I stay with? What do I look for in a spouse? Where do I fit in over here? What is my purpose in life?... What should I eat today?!?!?!
Decisions decisions.
Everyone is posed with different questions for different aspects of their life. I myself struggle with the last question every single day. But on a serious note, we all have questions that need answering and we all have decisions that need to be made, and fast! It seems as though everyone is rushing us to make these choices as ASAP. We are constantly pounded by comments, questions, and concerns from every direction.
So since we are in this hurried state, we find it difficult to make the "correct" judgment because our supposed "decisions on life" are being quickly demanded by the people around us as if we were in line at McDonald's.
The massive pressure builds and builds inside of us, and it seems as though there is nothing we can do to release it. We are in pain, we are hurting, and we are in agony.
The worry builds and we cry out, "What am I suppose to do?" You are at a loss for words because you are out of time and you are out of answers. Finally, when your body has slumped and you feel like your at an all time low, you start to wallow in your sadness and feel sorry for yourself. Or maybe anger arises because you are frustrated that nothing is going your way. Or maybe worry strikes because you just realized that the future is not in your control. When you have no control, the future is uncertain and if your spirit has no stability in truth, then you will surely give in to sorrow and unrest.
For those of you who have no knowledge of the Savior, you need to first understand that you are a sinner who has broken the standard of the bible. You have transgressed against the one true and living God, and it doesn't matter how good you think you are, you are still a sinner. But God Himself came down and dwelt among us in the flesh in the person of the eternal Son Jesus Christ and He changed the world forever. This God-man paid an atoning sacrifice for all of our sins past, present, and future so that those who repent of their sins and believe that He is Lord may have life eternal in heaven and will not be damned to hell. Your life needs to be conformed to the life that the God of the bible wants you have. This is the most important decision you will ever have to make for all of eternity, so before you focus on your posessions, boyfriend/girlfriend, or your schoolwork, you need to make sure your eternal soul is reconciled with the Holy Father in heaven who is ready to forgive and who has poured out His love for you in the form of His Son Jesus.
Yet for those of you who believe, I bet you constantly ask yourself, "What is the will of God for my life?" or "Lord, pleeease reveal your will to me, because I-just-don't-know."
On the other hand, you have believers who "think" they know what God's will is when in fact it is the total opposite of God's will for their life. This choice is usually made based on a certain experience or emotion. Typically, their sole foundation for making the decision is on their own "intuition" or idea on what they assume is God's will, when in fact, it is not.
For the believer, it is good to ask the question, "What is God's will for my life?" But we must understand the means in which we go about answering that question. A child of God must look to the Holy Scriptures when seeking to know the will of God in his or her life.
According to Dr. Mohler, here are 14 things we know about the will of God in our lives:
God's will is perfect and it is acceptable (meaning we are suppose to accept it). We can see that we know a whole deal about the will of God in our lives. But even if we still find ourselves in times of uncertainty, it is good. Why? Because, then, we will stay dependent on our sovereign God who controls all things. Instead of relying on our own selves who are weak and finite, we search the scriptures for answers the the difficult questions of life. Dependence on self and clinging to pride has even caused many to deny God's help and guidance. For some cases, their pride has denied God to help them even in their own salvation(which is impossible apart from God).
But for the Christian, he wouldn't settle for anything less than the will of God in his life.
Brethren, the will of God is not a puzzle and it is not a mystery. You must have the peace of God because the God of peace is in your life. We must not fret about the carnal(fleshly) aspects of life. If you follow Christ whole-heartedly, everything else will fall into place.
How do I go about doing this? What school should I pick? Where should I eventually end up? What career should I pursue? What friends do I stay with? What do I look for in a spouse? Where do I fit in over here? What is my purpose in life?... What should I eat today?!?!?!
Decisions decisions.
Everyone is posed with different questions for different aspects of their life. I myself struggle with the last question every single day. But on a serious note, we all have questions that need answering and we all have decisions that need to be made, and fast! It seems as though everyone is rushing us to make these choices as ASAP. We are constantly pounded by comments, questions, and concerns from every direction.
So since we are in this hurried state, we find it difficult to make the "correct" judgment because our supposed "decisions on life" are being quickly demanded by the people around us as if we were in line at McDonald's.
The massive pressure builds and builds inside of us, and it seems as though there is nothing we can do to release it. We are in pain, we are hurting, and we are in agony.
The worry builds and we cry out, "What am I suppose to do?" You are at a loss for words because you are out of time and you are out of answers. Finally, when your body has slumped and you feel like your at an all time low, you start to wallow in your sadness and feel sorry for yourself. Or maybe anger arises because you are frustrated that nothing is going your way. Or maybe worry strikes because you just realized that the future is not in your control. When you have no control, the future is uncertain and if your spirit has no stability in truth, then you will surely give in to sorrow and unrest.
For those of you who have no knowledge of the Savior, you need to first understand that you are a sinner who has broken the standard of the bible. You have transgressed against the one true and living God, and it doesn't matter how good you think you are, you are still a sinner. But God Himself came down and dwelt among us in the flesh in the person of the eternal Son Jesus Christ and He changed the world forever. This God-man paid an atoning sacrifice for all of our sins past, present, and future so that those who repent of their sins and believe that He is Lord may have life eternal in heaven and will not be damned to hell. Your life needs to be conformed to the life that the God of the bible wants you have. This is the most important decision you will ever have to make for all of eternity, so before you focus on your posessions, boyfriend/girlfriend, or your schoolwork, you need to make sure your eternal soul is reconciled with the Holy Father in heaven who is ready to forgive and who has poured out His love for you in the form of His Son Jesus.
Yet for those of you who believe, I bet you constantly ask yourself, "What is the will of God for my life?" or "Lord, pleeease reveal your will to me, because I-just-don't-know."
On the other hand, you have believers who "think" they know what God's will is when in fact it is the total opposite of God's will for their life. This choice is usually made based on a certain experience or emotion. Typically, their sole foundation for making the decision is on their own "intuition" or idea on what they assume is God's will, when in fact, it is not.
For the believer, it is good to ask the question, "What is God's will for my life?" But we must understand the means in which we go about answering that question. A child of God must look to the Holy Scriptures when seeking to know the will of God in his or her life.
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!
For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor?
Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again?
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 11:33-12:2
For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor?
Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again?
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 11:33-12:2
According to Dr. Mohler, here are 14 things we know about the will of God in our lives:
1) It was God's will for you to be born. (Who, where, when, for what purpose, and into any circumstance. No matter what cards you are dealt with, you were created for His glory) Psalm 139:13-14
2) It is the will of God that you would die. (For the wages of sin is death. These fleshly bodies are temporary and won't live forever due to the results of sin.) Romans 6:23 / Genesis 3:23-24
3) It is God's will that you are born male or female (It is not your "choice" or something you can change with surgery. And you cannot be "both," God has preordained that you should be either a male or a female) Genesis 1:27
4) It is God's will that we obey His Word. (Not only when we feel like it. But we hear His Word, receive it, and obey it. We should never try to rationalize our sin)
5) It is God's will that we follow law's authority. (He knows we need a structured law and He has given the sword to the Government. It is a gift from God to keep order so we should respect all authorities) Matthew 22:21 / Romans 13
6) It is God's will that you believe in Christ. (Mohler: "The Gospel is something to be obeyed")
7) It is God's will that you commit your life to Christ. (Discipleship. Not just a "half-fast" attitude, but an entire life submission to following Christ in every aspect of life.) Matt. 11:29-30
8) It is God's will that you do everything to the glory of God. (Every interest, activity, and thought. We can't have secular lives. And it can't just be "What looks good to me" but instead, what is pleasing in the sight of the Lord)
9) It is God's will that that you will be married or not. (Find a spouse, make disciples. Use marriage or singleness to glory of Christ) 1 Corinthians 7 / Genesis 2:18,24
10) It is God's will that you share the gospel. (Spread the good news of Christ! And don't ever spread a corrupted Gospel)
11) It is God's will that you be deeply committed to the local church. (Mohler: "there is no lone ranger Christianity." We are here to correct, encourage, and worship with our brethren in Christ, and that is a mandate by God Himself.)
12) It is God's will that you lead, serve, teach, and learn in the church. (It is essential to our spiritual growth and maturity)
13) We find God's will by doing it (God has revealed His written will for us, and it is our duty to obey it out of love for Him) Romans 12:1-2
14) God's will is good. (Even when we "think" it is bad, all of it works for our temporal good and eternal good) Romans 12:2
2) It is the will of God that you would die. (For the wages of sin is death. These fleshly bodies are temporary and won't live forever due to the results of sin.) Romans 6:23 / Genesis 3:23-24
3) It is God's will that you are born male or female (It is not your "choice" or something you can change with surgery. And you cannot be "both," God has preordained that you should be either a male or a female) Genesis 1:27
4) It is God's will that we obey His Word. (Not only when we feel like it. But we hear His Word, receive it, and obey it. We should never try to rationalize our sin)
5) It is God's will that we follow law's authority. (He knows we need a structured law and He has given the sword to the Government. It is a gift from God to keep order so we should respect all authorities) Matthew 22:21 / Romans 13
6) It is God's will that you believe in Christ. (Mohler: "The Gospel is something to be obeyed")
7) It is God's will that you commit your life to Christ. (Discipleship. Not just a "half-fast" attitude, but an entire life submission to following Christ in every aspect of life.) Matt. 11:29-30
8) It is God's will that you do everything to the glory of God. (Every interest, activity, and thought. We can't have secular lives. And it can't just be "What looks good to me" but instead, what is pleasing in the sight of the Lord)
9) It is God's will that that you will be married or not. (Find a spouse, make disciples. Use marriage or singleness to glory of Christ) 1 Corinthians 7 / Genesis 2:18,24
10) It is God's will that you share the gospel. (Spread the good news of Christ! And don't ever spread a corrupted Gospel)
11) It is God's will that you be deeply committed to the local church. (Mohler: "there is no lone ranger Christianity." We are here to correct, encourage, and worship with our brethren in Christ, and that is a mandate by God Himself.)
12) It is God's will that you lead, serve, teach, and learn in the church. (It is essential to our spiritual growth and maturity)
13) We find God's will by doing it (God has revealed His written will for us, and it is our duty to obey it out of love for Him) Romans 12:1-2
14) God's will is good. (Even when we "think" it is bad, all of it works for our temporal good and eternal good) Romans 12:2
God's will is perfect and it is acceptable (meaning we are suppose to accept it). We can see that we know a whole deal about the will of God in our lives. But even if we still find ourselves in times of uncertainty, it is good. Why? Because, then, we will stay dependent on our sovereign God who controls all things. Instead of relying on our own selves who are weak and finite, we search the scriptures for answers the the difficult questions of life. Dependence on self and clinging to pride has even caused many to deny God's help and guidance. For some cases, their pride has denied God to help them even in their own salvation(which is impossible apart from God).
But for the Christian, he wouldn't settle for anything less than the will of God in his life.
Brethren, the will of God is not a puzzle and it is not a mystery. You must have the peace of God because the God of peace is in your life. We must not fret about the carnal(fleshly) aspects of life. If you follow Christ whole-heartedly, everything else will fall into place.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Surrounded
This weekend I was reminded of how precious the Word of God is.
I had forgotten why sound preaching is essential to the life of the believer. Friday I was left speechless, after a wonderful sermon, when singing such marvelous truth about our Savior during our last song at Friday Bible Study.
O how wonderful it is to sing, in worship, the truths about Christ which are found in His mighty scriptures! To sing with confidence and joy knowing that what we are singing is TRUE!
It is just so good to be surrounded and encouraged by brethren who desire and pray for my well-being. Not in the physical sense, but for my eternal well-being. Meaning, my spiritual holiness. Having them encourage me to seek after righteousness and knowing that they are fighting alongside me can bring me to tears.
Beloved, find men like this. I cannot stress enough how important it is for your spiritual well-being. Which is much more important than any physical need you could ever have. You need to be surrounded by Godly people who love Christ enough to intercede on your behalf in prayer or lift you up in times of trouble with words of encouragement based on biblical truth.
My dear brothers and sister, there is nothing greater than that. Please... find these men.
I had forgotten why sound preaching is essential to the life of the believer. Friday I was left speechless, after a wonderful sermon, when singing such marvelous truth about our Savior during our last song at Friday Bible Study.
O how wonderful it is to sing, in worship, the truths about Christ which are found in His mighty scriptures! To sing with confidence and joy knowing that what we are singing is TRUE!
It is just so good to be surrounded and encouraged by brethren who desire and pray for my well-being. Not in the physical sense, but for my eternal well-being. Meaning, my spiritual holiness. Having them encourage me to seek after righteousness and knowing that they are fighting alongside me can bring me to tears.
Beloved, find men like this. I cannot stress enough how important it is for your spiritual well-being. Which is much more important than any physical need you could ever have. You need to be surrounded by Godly people who love Christ enough to intercede on your behalf in prayer or lift you up in times of trouble with words of encouragement based on biblical truth.
My dear brothers and sister, there is nothing greater than that. Please... find these men.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Set Your Heart to Study the Word of God
I have been encouraged this week...
To be honest, it was a week I was not really looking forward to. This is my last week of summer break and I thought I could use it to do some relaxing before getting back to the Fall semester. I was mistaken.
Of course, when there is work to be done, there is no time to be sitting around and indulging in whatever pleases the flesh. It is interesting, though, how we tend to make time for the things that have no eternal value and we set aside the things that we should be cherishing the most. I was guilty of that this week.
All in all, it was a very encouraging week. I was happy to see a lot of close friends and family sign up for LABTS. This is a bible school in Los Angeles that has literally changed my life. Of course, the credit is all due to our Father who, in His sovereignty, placed me into that wonderful school. A school where I am surrounded by like minded people who love Christ and where I sit under professors who desire to teach the scriptures to the best of their ability with all purity. You can see in their words and deeds that they labor for the sake of God's children and His glorification. They truly care.
My prayer as that my friends and family will grow in the knowledge of Christ and that this school will be used as a means of furthering the Lord's kingdom here on earth. I am so thankful for this school, and I hope that my friends and family will come to realize that there is no greater joy in life than knowing and serving our Savior.
My desire is for them to seek after You Lord, You and only You.
May their eyes be opened to what it means to do that with their whole heart.
To be honest, it was a week I was not really looking forward to. This is my last week of summer break and I thought I could use it to do some relaxing before getting back to the Fall semester. I was mistaken.
Of course, when there is work to be done, there is no time to be sitting around and indulging in whatever pleases the flesh. It is interesting, though, how we tend to make time for the things that have no eternal value and we set aside the things that we should be cherishing the most. I was guilty of that this week.
All in all, it was a very encouraging week. I was happy to see a lot of close friends and family sign up for LABTS. This is a bible school in Los Angeles that has literally changed my life. Of course, the credit is all due to our Father who, in His sovereignty, placed me into that wonderful school. A school where I am surrounded by like minded people who love Christ and where I sit under professors who desire to teach the scriptures to the best of their ability with all purity. You can see in their words and deeds that they labor for the sake of God's children and His glorification. They truly care.
My prayer as that my friends and family will grow in the knowledge of Christ and that this school will be used as a means of furthering the Lord's kingdom here on earth. I am so thankful for this school, and I hope that my friends and family will come to realize that there is no greater joy in life than knowing and serving our Savior.
My desire is for them to seek after You Lord, You and only You.
May their eyes be opened to what it means to do that with their whole heart.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
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