Evil People
There are people who are immune to the truth or any act of love. 
They don't' care whether it is true or not. They don't care how much kindness you've shown; they're simply evil. And therefore, there’s no amount of motivation could move them.
Are there really evil people?
I have always believed that man is basically good; but we have to admit that there are people who are evil. They are congenital liars and are always in search for opportunities to spew destructive remarks towards others. They are selfish and always have negative interpretations of our goodness.
True, we have to 'love' our enemies, but it is also true they we don't have much time and energy for these people. There are a lot more others who are waiting for our generosity and kindness.
Jesus Himself warmed us against these people. "Don't throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you." ~ Matthew 7:6
I saw Christians who were eaten by their anger and frustrations simply because no matter how much kindness and motivation they invested in people, they saw no response at all. They slowly became what they hate.
"Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet.”~Matthew 10:14
Save your love for those who really need it...
You've loved us too much
But did not force us to love You in return;
Make us understand that even your Son was rejected.
Bless those people who rejected us;
But bless all the more those people
Who love us,
In Jesus' Name.
Amen...
Chinese Bamboo
I am very much enamored with anything Chinese: Chinese movies, Chinese food, Chinese girls... and most of all with Chinese bamboo.
Just in front of our gate before, there were bamboos towering over our two storey house. Those bamboos stood still even after a super typhoon came, uprooting the trees, flattening our houses to the ground and killing thousands of our people.
The secret of bamboo is in its character. It is pliant: when the wind blows, it does not resist; it dances with it. While some trees take pride in their unbendable strength, It bends and bows itself to heaven. Another secret of its staying power is that they grow in groups.
People who understood this survived storms in life with more grace and poise.
There are things in life that are given, constant. We can’t change them. And the only thing we can change is the way we look at them.
Once we see storms as a punishment of God, rather than an opportunity for change and growth, we are doomed for uprooting. A storm in life is a signal that something is not right and that we need to adjust. A storm in life is a sign that God wants to align us, and that we need to bend.
Like bamboos we need to bow down to Heaven and stay together with our love ones to survive to see the rainbows…
Dear God,
Help us to see Jesus
Walking behind the storms of our lives.
Give us the strength to bend
And stay together
As we wait for the rainbow of your Promise,
In Jesus Name.
Amen…
Simba Is Back
Lion King, the highest grossing 2D animated film of all time, moves me until now. Its story and music are still fresh in my mind. Even the name Simba awakens a sense of courage within me. There were three major reasons why Simba refused to take his rightful throne:
~ he forgot who he was,
~ he adopted a 'Hakuna Matata' mentality,
~ he was afraid to fail.
I met a lot of Simbas: they're people who have more to share, but chose to stay within their comfort zones. They're afraid to fail. They're afraid to be rejected. They're afraid to take responsibilities.
They chose to be spectators and commentators and ‘likers’ rather than actors or authors.
Seth Godin says, the world is in shortage of leaders. Tribes abound waiting for leaders.
Each of us is Simba. Each of us has his/her own tribe waiting to be inspired by us. They are waiting for you accept who you really are. They are waiting for you get out of your comfort zone and show to them what you are really made of. They are waiting for you to come back and lead them…
You are a child of God.
You are good.
You can bless.
You can heal.
You are an inspiration.
You can make a difference…
You are our King.
Remind us of who we really are,
And give us the courage to get out of our mediocrity,
To lead, to heal and inspire,
In Jesus’ Name.
Amen…
Backseat Drivers
Backseat drivers are passengers who think they are better than the driver. Wow! You must have encountered this kind of people. In fact, they are considered the worst nightmare of every real driver.
Most backseat drivers don't really know how to drive, but they will annoy you with instructions where to turn and when to hit the break. Backseat drivers control the real drivers. According to surveys, the worst backseat drivers are spouses and mothers. If you're lucky enough, you'll receive more than road sign lectures.
In our lives, backseat drivers abound too. These are the people who have the habits of controlling other people's lives. They 'know' what's good for you, and issue a prophesy of doom for those who don't follow them. These people are usually close to us: parents, friends, siblings and 'best' friends.
Life is a journey. It's a continuous learning. God allowed us to commit mistakes in order to learn. But sad to say some people won't allow us to commit mistakes. They take our rights to fall down once in a while.
The Father allowed His Son, Jesus, to fall down to give us the courage to get up. Mary, His Mother, did not hide while Jesus suffered; she actively suffered but believed as well that He will emerge victorious…
Who controls your life?
Whose lives do you control?
Who should take control of our lives?
In the journey we call life,
the safest thing to do
is to sit back and let Jesus take the driver's seat.
Father,
Forgive us for trying to control other people’s lives.
Give us the courage to hand over to You
The wheels of our lives,
In Jesus' Name.
Amen...
Demons Among Us
I watched several horror movies when I was a kid, but nothing beats EVIL DEAD :
it gave me fever.
We have several images of what a demon is. Some don't believe in it. But do you know why we call it demon?
The word demon literally means to divide, from Greek word daíesthai
. It divides us from one another.
Whenever there is division there is demon.
Whenever there is un-forgiveness there is demon.
Whenever there is hatred there is demon.
Whenever there is animosity there is demon.
Whenever there is disbelief there is demon.
That is the reason why Satan is sometimes happy with the Bible and the Koran: from time to time they create division rather than unity . Facebook and other social networks are supposed to unite humanity, but demons come in. I watched several religious and spiritual groups in Facebook being intruded by people who thought their belief is better than others. They create flames, they create division.
Jesus said "...that they may all be ONE, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me." John 17:21
I believe that when the time will come that we have to face God, He won't ask us what belief system we have. His question will be "Have you loved...?"
Father,
As we work our way towards unity.
Make us one
As we struggle to forgive and to accept
One another,
In Jesus’ Name.
Amen…
From Neverland and Beyond
What if there's really a Neverland where everybody could stay young forever?
How I wish. But since even Google map could not find it, let's talk about Peter Pan, the boy who refused to grow. It's a good story. I love it. I watched Hook more than ten times. Wow!
But I say, this is one of the stories that look good in books and in movies, but not in reality. Why?
White Magic
Black magic's objective is to harm. No, it's not related to any magic tricks your clowns in your birthday parties do. I am talking about people who literally perform some rituals complete in matter and form.
The literature of black magic is complex, but there is one thing that is easy to understand here: black magic is malevolent.
Malevolence comes from Latin words male = evil + volens = to wish. Malevolence, therefore, is wishing evil things to befall on other people. Wishing bad to happen to other people is always evil, and therefore un-Christian.
In one way or another, we are all black magic practitioners. We cast evil spells on others or on things once in while, in words, thoughts and actions. 'You moron.' 'Son of a b*tch.' 'Sh*t.' 'I wish you're dead.' Some said they don't really mean it. Fine. But the thing with malevolence is it always comes back to the one who casts it, or to the people close to the person who casts it. It’s the Law of the Universe.
The opposite of malevolence is benevolence. Bene = good, well. Benevolence is blessing other people and the things around you trough words, thoughts and actions. Your smile may not be returned by the person you smiled at, but the Law of the Universe sees to it that it comes back to you: the Universe smiles back at you.
Do you wish to be happy? You know what to do 
Grant us a benevolent heart
Brave and generous to bless both friends and enemies,
In Jesus Name. Amen…
What is Your Mantra?
Mantra could mean different things to different schools or people. In general, "A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that are considered capable of "creating transformation."
Some examples of mantra are the following:
From ignorance, lead me to truth;From darkness, lead me to light;
From death, lead me to immortality
Aum peace, peace, peace…
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus… maranâ' thâ', maranâ' thâ', maranâ' thâ'… Mantric texts are usually repeated during the course a session, or anytime to saturate the soul. Mantra may seem strange to some, or too mystical to others. The truth, however, is whether we are aware of it or not, we all have our individual mantras. And sad to say, some of them are destructive.
I met several really beautiful women who felt so insecure that they needed to go the beauty saloons almost everyday to fix their image. Obviously, their mantra is 'I AM UGLY, I AM UGLY, I AM UGLY.'
Several years ago, my mantra was 'I AM BAD. I AM NO GOOD. I AM WORTHLESS." Those were the scripts that kept repeating in my mind until one day somebody helped me changed them.
Mantras are powerful and transformative. Go deep within yourself and discover your own mantra. Is it positive? Does it make you a better person? Does it make you feel beautiful? Does it make you feel good about yourself and others? Does it make you feel loved? Does is make you closer to God?
Pick your own mantra.
Mine is "GOD LOVES ME :)"
You are the Word made flesh,
Saturate our souls with your love.
Amen…
The Facebook Ministry
Several years ago, some people feared that the internet was the work of Satan. Remember the ‘WWW’ scare? Some people said that the acronym ‘WWW’ was actually VI, VI, VI = 666.
Whahhhh! I almost believed it.
Sure, Satan has been using the internet to gather his legions by spreading pornographies and divisions, but the same so with what he does with money and even the Bible.
The internet today is the new battlefield, and in my experience, goodness is winning. People are eager to inspire other people. People always want to cheer up one another. People want to unite. People bring people to God in their own little ways. This is the Facebook experience.
I always believe that everybody could inspire anybody. Nobody has the monopoly of goodness. Everybody could be a blessing to others.
Hunt for a good post. Like it. Comment. Tweet it. Share it.
Is ‘WWW’ really VI,VI,VI? Let’s prove it wrong. Share and inspire… :)
Father,
Help us win this battle
Against the forces of Evil.
Clad us with the armor of your love,
And arm us with light of your Word,
In Jesus’ Name.
Amen…
Testicles And Promises
(Audio book version here )
As expected it drew mixed reactions from my audience when I told them that testicles and promises have a lot in common.
In olden times, specifically during the time of Abraham, a person was made to promise with his hand under the thigh, that is the testicles, of his master. (Genesis 24:2-9) Abraham's testicles were the sign of God's promise of descendants as many as the stars in heaven. (Genesis 15:5)
The words testicles and testimony share the same root word: testis. No wonder we have an English expression for a man who could not keep his promise: “he has no balls.”
A person who TESTIfies does not only offer facts for evidence; he offers HIMSELF as the body of evidence.
When we testify for Christ we don't only preach in words; we present ourselves as evidence of His love and healing. We are the evidence.
We praise you for your promises.
Help us to keep our promises
And make us genuine witnesses of your Son,
Jesus Christ.
Amen…
The Divine Portal
Nobody has seen God; but we could hear God.
This 'hearing' or 'listening' to God leans towards the spiritual dimension, thus, in the Bible we observe that those people who 'heard' God, were spiritual.
What does this mean? It means that among the five senses that we have, it's the sense of hearing that is more attuned to God. Our spiritual ear is a divine portal. It connects the sacred with the mundane.
Listening is a divine ministry. When we truly listen to our friend and loved ones the experience becomes mystical: we become one with them...
Speak to us, Father,
And make us listen to our loved ones
And to ourselves as well
With our hearts,
In Jesus’ Name.
Amen…
The Secured Person
One of my most important discoveries years ago:
the word 'listen' (and its variants) appeared thousand times more than the word 'love' in the Bible. Listen = 12, 158
Love = 1, 341
The Third Ear
Do you know that our hearts have ears? Yes, they do.
In fact, the saying "Listen with your heart" makes more sense when we think this way.
Kindly rollover your mouse on the word heart below
Obviously, our heart’s ear will only be activated once we take out the ‘H’ and the ‘T’.
‘H’ stands for HAZARDS and ‘T’ stands for TRAPS.
Prejudice is number one. We often judge people even before they open their lips. My first cousin Merly told me once that her colleague in the church abhorred me. I did not know the person and we did not even have any personal encounter. When I inquired why he hated me that much, I received no explanation at all.
Fear harms both ways.
We fear of being disliked.
We fear of being exposed.
We fear of being rejected.
We fear that the person in in front of us has more 'H's and 'T's reserved for us.
Laziness is a killer.
It is the Hitler of any communication.
True listening is active and therefore it takes efforts.
To a lazy person, building relationships is not worth his/her energy.
TRAPS
TRAPS are dangerous. A trap appears enticing and inviting in the surface but in reality it's an abyss waiting for its victim. Status quos, government and office positions, religious beliefs, gadgets that set us apart from others, could be traps. If these things prevent us from truly encountering the person in front of us, then they're traps.Listening with our hearts, therefore, is seeing the person in front of us as always new.
It means trusting the person in front of us that he/she thinks well of us.
It means taking every effort in knowing the other person more.
Listening with our hearts means relating with the person not because of what he/she has or has not;
It’s relating with the person as he/she is…
Amazing Senses
What's amazing with our senses is that they could be trained. Our ears, for example, could be trained to listen to different instruments in the orchestra all at the same time but could still be able to distinguish the violin and focus on it. The doctors' sense of touch is trained to detect weak pulse and alarming human temperature. The chef's taste buds could detect almost every ingredient there is in a dish. People living in slums could ignore the poignant smell of garbage around them. A spy's eyes could pin point a criminal in the crowd.
Yes, yes, yes, it's indeed amazing.
But, would it be more amazing
If we could train our eyes to seek only the good things in people around us?
If we could train our ears to listen only to the good things people say about others?
If we could train our lips and tongues to speak things people need to hear and would feel good about themselves?
If we could train our hands to touch each other the way Jesus did, to comfort and to heal?
If we could train our nose to breathe out and inhale the spirit of peace and affirmation instead of war and rejection?
If we could train our whole body to embrace our dear ones anytime of the day with love and forgiveness?
Yes, it's more amazing...
Success ~ by Ralph Waldo Emerson
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.