The Legacy

Instruction manuals are the very first thing we rely on when we get something new from the store in order to effectively use the product, handle new clothing, or even to assemble a piece of furniture.  It's the norm, otherwise we would just be guessing.  We would even go as far as wish our own children came with an instruction manual in frustration when they are difficult to handle.

What we fail to realize is that life did come with an instructional handbook.  Personally, I cannot imagine this world without the Bible.  Sure, there are people who go through life without even as much as opening the good Book.  But if it weren't for the Bible, how do we measure our moral compass, to know what is right or wrong? 

You see, good people are not just made.  Somewhere down the line, someone read the Bible and passed it down to their children in the form of discipline.  How do we know discipline if it weren't taught to us?  How do we know kindness if it weren't for the teachings in the Bible?  Better yet, why is the Bible the world's longest running national best seller of all time?

Folks, the Bible was not an accident. God had a plan, He doesn't make any mistakes.  He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  If you don't understand the significance of the Bible stories, God says it over and over again that His law, grace, blessing, mercy and love was, is, and will be available to ALL people.  The only thing He cannot manipulate is our Will.  Our Will is directed by our own decision.  But in order to make the right one, it has to line up with God's.  Ergo, instructional manual, ergo... BIBLE.  Something to think about.

Until my next rant... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

AROMATHERAPY - THE SMELL OF NEW RAIN

The smell of fresh new rain is so relaxing.  It reminds me of a fresh start.  I believe I am not the only loving thing that appreciates the smell of rain.  It is the smell of hope for every living creature from God that all the dirt is washed away and a new day is dawning, whenthe sun begins to shine.  All the living things on this earth is renewed much like our spirits, lives and hearts are renewed by the shed of Jesus' blood washing away our sins. 

Come to think of it, after Jesus died on the cross, it rained.

Until my next rant... Love one another!

WHAT IS MORE WEIRD? SPEAKING IN TONGUES OR HIPPO AS A BEAST OF BURDEN?

Is Speaking in Tongues weird?  For me at least, it was.  It’s weird as this hippo beast of burden! When I first heard someone in church speaking in tongues, I laughed.  I understood the power of words, I mean, the world was created from God’s words after all.

But to hear someone speaking in tongues so loudly was pretty strange for me, until…

A physically abusive relationship is one’s own personal hell.  When you live in hell on earth, you live with satan right up under your roof.  It is perhaps easy to empathize and even sympathize with someone going through constant hell but you never really understand the agony unless you become a player in someone’s reality.

Imagine yourself living with a man who works from home, you are the submissive helper, not by your own choice, but because you were TOLD it was being obedient to God.  You have maybe two days a week of good interactions and then out of nowhere, and without warning, you are taken for a harrowing ride.  All of a sudden the face changes.  A look of evil, dead eyes, booming voice spitting out irrational reasons why he is angry at you.  It could be as simple as watching football and all of a sudden turning the tv off believing that the reason for your interest in the game was for the purpose of watching men's derriere.  WHAA???

In the middle of one night around 2am, you are awakened by bedroom lights being turned on, covers being stripped off, being pulled to sit up.  Imagine your shock when you find yourself yelled at and scolded.  You beg for him to wait until the morning to discuss it after the kids are safe in school but there was no negotiating with a monster.

Yes, it happened.  I sat there praying inside for God to make it stop but it seemed the more I ignored his rants, the angrier he became.  When he did, his blue eyes got darker and darker until it was almost black, dead and cold.  It was at that point I knew there was going to be violence.  I’ve seen it before when I got kicked and then picked up like a rag doll and thrown out to the front lawn by big Brutus in the middle of a cold November night.

As he raised his large muscular hand I snapped a pointed finger about 1/2 an inch from his face and sternly said NO! “Don’t you raise your hand at me!”  I didn't know where that bravery came from, to be honest.  And out of nowhere, the words just spilled out of my mouth, words I’ve never heard before, words that was not my own Tagalog, not English, not Spanish… The words were weird, they were praying words, words that I knew only God could understand, the gift of the Holy Spirit and it came over me.  It spilled uncontrollably from my lips and it lasted for about 30 seconds.  satan with his hand mid-strike froze, like the salt statue in Sodom and Gomorrah.   During my speaking in tongues experience even I was shocked, but I felt victorious.  Slowly his eyes and face relaxed.  His hand fell to his side.  He turned and walked away, shut the light off and closed the door behind him.  The full armor of God was  there at that very moment protecting me!  I’m sold!  My faith is so strong today and I attribute part of that strength from this experience. 

Hell released from my life the day I left him.  I wasn’t sad, I was free!  I knew then I couldn’t be defeated, will never be alone because I always have God protecting me.  He is the constant in my life and I don’t depend on any flawed human before I depend on God.  This is my testimony and I share it with anyone who may be in that same situation I was in, and also never to doubt or sneer at anyone who speaks in tongues.  It is the gift of the Holy Spirit.  It is a language only you and God can understand, not another human and certainly not satan.

Please do not feel bad for me for that kind of experience.  It was unfortunate at the time but I am in a very good place currently and I thank God for those types of experiences and draw strength from it when needed.

Until my next rant… LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

WHAT TIME IS IT?

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Are you aware what time it is?  Not the time on your clocks but the time in history in which we live?

Thousands of years ago, God made decisions as told by the Old Testament prophets bringing into fruition to our current age.  As God made such decisions, we as well have to make a decision.

The Book of Revelation marks the full circle of God's decision where Israel is concerned.  Since 1948, the nation of Israel seemed dead after the holocaust but it slowly came back to life.  It was decided by God that the Jews will have a homecoming from all the corners of the earth upon which the nation will once again progress until it encompasses all other nations.  However,  the Jews will once again be blamed for the problems of the world, just as it was in the events before the Exodus.

Everyday we witness on the news as the whole world argues over what Israel's borders should be.

Furthermore, as we are already seeing today, life is seriously devalued.  Female children are sold to sex slavery, murders occurring everywhere confusing us how a life could just be snuffed out for the simplest little things, like never before. (Joel 3:3)

Finally, God has not forgotten His people, the Israelites.  They were the chosen ones and like a dartboard, Israel has always been targeted as far as history can record!  Fact is, God has spoken, and in His words, He will, at the end of days retaliate against any nation that attacks Israel. 

That being said, who cares?  Why is this significant?  It is crucial because our time has come.  We have a decision to make. A final one.  Do we believe in Jesus?  Do we believe that He came down from heaven as God in the flesh?  Do we believe that by His blood on the cross, His lashes, His suffering, that He has done that to save us from an eternity of fire, suffering, and pain?  Why do we deserve it, you ask?  Because of His Agape Love for us.  It's the kind of love that we, no matter how we try, will never understand.  So stop even trying and accept it as the most precious gift anyone has ever given us.   All we have to do is believe in Jesus.  Do you believe in Jesus?  It all boils down to that one important question.

Until my next rant... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

THE MIND'S BATTLEFIELD

(Artwork pen and ink derived from Van Gogh's Mourning Woman Seated on a Basket - 1883)


Do you realize that the biggest battle you fight is in your own mind?  In our current world situation where everyone is offended about everything,  the riots, the murders, and terrorist acts stem entirely from every one of those person’s mind?  Yes, we all have ideals and if those ideals are trampled on there is a battle happening in our brains triggering a reaction.  It is especially dangerous if the reaction is not ordained by God’s commandments and therefore, uncontrollable fleshly urges greatly influences such reaction then all hell breaks loose.  There is that innate need to be right.  It gives every human being a thrill to the senses when validation is doled out.  When one is passionate enough about it, damning all sensibility, a negative reaction therefore ensues.

Whatever problem you are facing today, right now, is not your problem per se.  It is the way you think about it.  The mind is a battlefield of good and evil.  You can never defeat a spiritual problem with a worldly weapon.  You will have to defeat it with a spiritual weapon.  You have to shut the outside world from your mind and your heart in order to fight it because the answer is not out in the world.  That’s where satan runs rampant and stirs you away from your heart when you speak with God.  satan feeds you with evil thoughts and if you allow him to do it, he will have a stronghold of your mind, and then you will start believing his lies.  You need to take root within you and demolish the stronghold and build a fortress around your thoughts. 

You may ask, how do I do that?  Here’s a trick.  When an evil thought comes into mind, or if you think that your problems are bigger than God’s promise to fix it, you need to immediately demolish that argument and take captive every thought to make it obedient to God by building a foundation of truth.  If it goes against the Word of God (the bible) and the truth, hold it at spearpoint, then demolish it with the Word of God, give the word authority over it and it WILL collapse! 

The power of God goes beyond human understanding, but you control the gates.  Don’t let worry in.  The Word of God is a mighty weapon, it is your armor (Ephesians 6:10-12).  satan can’t read your thoughts and God will not control your thoughts.  The Word of God reproduces life and eliminates error, because if you entertain and soak up this erroneous negative thoughts and not eliminate it, you will die of its toxicity and its bondage.  The armor of God will allow you to live your life spiritually healthy (Hebrews 4:11-12)  The Word of God is a double-edged sword, it kills the lie and cuts the cord, removes the error and allows healing to our lives and in the way we think.  The Bible reads you, not the other way around.  Why?  Because it has an abundant overflow of Jesus’ word, earthly and heavenly abundance!  Jesus died to set your mind free.  When a person doesn’t have Jesus in their lives, they are full of doubt when they read the Bible skewing the Word for their own reality!  Woe is them.

Pray simply, “Lord, I want you to be first, transform and renew my mind so that I may be obedient to your Word.  Break the chains of bondage to the lies and deceit that the enemy throws at me and replace them with thoughts of your promise of salvation.”  I hope you feel better.  satan will steal, kill and destroy but the blood shed for us by Jesus slays the enemy forever.

Until my next rant… “And this is His commandment:  We must believe in the name of His son, JESUS CHRIST, AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER, just as He commanded us.” 1 John 3:23