BIRTHDAY GIFT

I turned 63 the moment the clock struck 12:00 last midnight.

But unlike in Walt Disney's animated movie Cinderella—where a fairy godmother poof-poofed a "salagadoola mechicka boola bibbidi-bobbidi-boo" magic—no spooky moment transpired.

I was just wide awake—probably ingested too much caffeine the day before, so old acid reflux started to pester.  

Too, I could not shake off this new book concept. It started to brew weeks back when, with my friend Grace, a storyline started to emerge. It percolated loudly last night, with characters and plots and subplots taking shape as I typed away into the wee hours. 

Voila, my fifth book was born! 

I've done just a few measly pages, but I'm putting my faith on the line, believing Jesus will be faithful to stitch it all together as I heed His wisdom while I write.

Thank you Lord. What a way to start my special day. With only a few hours left to sleep—to get up at 5:30 am because today is my usual teaching day—I prayed, "Make me sleep, Lord. Make it so good I'd have supernatural strength to last me the entire day."

Yey, it really felt like I snoozed a hundred years when the alarm went off. New strength, new grace, new blessings. New morning! God indeed is faithful. This inspite of my once in a while catatonic faith and self-doubts. 

Psalm 45, my marked Psalm for today. Verse 1: "My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the King; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer." 

A voice inside popped, "That's my birthday gift for you." 

Wham! It hit me like a thundercloud. What more affirmation did I need? He alone enables. It too was a rebuke. From the very start of my writing gigs, I've always nursed this seeming inadequacy—"I am not good enough."

But now I see it! It is His noble theme—His Word alone—which moved my heart to dream and share His Word to a generation that's more motivated by a gimme-gimme attitude and a lust for carnal and short-lived pleasures. It has never been about my skills. 

That's the reason I started writing in 2008. A fiery theme continued to burn in my heart. "Tell these young people I have a purpose for their lives." So I penned my first book to let my students know God's great plan to prosper them.

So is this 63 year old grandma slowing down? Well, not in the words department; especially since verse 2 of Psalm 45 reads: "You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace, since God has blessed you forever." In the same way the Father anointed Jesus, so am I anointed to write with grace; and in excellence. 

Jesus has my back covered, even when I'm 63, and forever. 

HOY GISING!

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Are you dead, or alive? Just making sure: Pulse? Check. Heartbeat? Check. The rest of you? Check and double check!

So, if we're alive and kicking, why does the bible refer to us as either dead or asleep ? Ephesians 5:14 ― “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

"Hoy Gising!" (Awake!)  was Pastor Paul Chase's recent teaching. He was speaking of course of our being dead to our sins, as written in Ephesians 2:5; and how Jesus gives us life if we put our faith in Him ― believing His Word and following His example.

Come to think of it, many go to bed meditating on their supposedly unsolvable or hopeless situations:

"My debts are sky-high? How do I escape?"

"How could I cover up my work boo-boos? My job is in danger!"

"What if I've been targeted in my company's the next round of retrenchments?"

"What if my diagnosis is cancer and I only have a few months?"

Replaying scenarios like these in your mind will surely deprive you of sleep, even making you wish you were dead or wouldn't wake up to a new day ― to escape from this sinkhole.

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But Lamentations 3:22-23 says, "The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness."

Morning always brings with it new grace, new mercy, new blessings; but one needs to get up!

"Don't allow your bed to be your place of surrender," says Pastor Paul. "Get out of your sleepy mode. If you make decisions out of a foggy mind and emotion, you're bound to stumble."

Waking up makes one sober-minded, wise, sensible, intelligent, says  Ephsesians 5:15-16. "Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil."

Sure, you feel your circumstances chomping you up alive. I have a lot of those episodes myself; and I'd always been tempted to put my hands up, "I give up! I'm outa here!"  

Still, I cling to His promise not to allow me to be tempted beyond my capacity to endure, and that He will always give me a way out. 

  

His solution is coming! And it's wisdom that's wiser than any peace broker or psychiatrist or bank officer can offer. Only be wise and humble and dependent on Him.

Be assured: Jesus has everything in control. He is the Lord, ain't He? He too has engraved you in the palm of His mighty, powerful Hand!

"These things I have spoken to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

Resolve to wake and stand up tomorrow seeking after Him who died in your place so that you may have life. 

NO DEPOSIT LEADS TO PANIC

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Was there ever a time you checked your ATM or bank account and found almost nothing there? 

I did, recently; discovering to my dismay that my monthly pension from SSS has stopped, leaving me with just a balance of 44 pesos and 50 cents. 

"You should have come to us a year after receiving your pension," said the bank officer. 

Apparently, SSS just wants to make sure I'm still alive and my money does not get into the hands of someone mining my death for profit. And I didn't know that.

It was pretty scary --- knowing you have money in the bank then discover you've got nothing, zilch! I nearly panicked. To a retiree, pension money is sustenance. 

Someone should have made a deposit but I missed my bank appointment and that did it for me. All is well, of course, because the bank helped settle the matter with SSS.

Panic is what I experience too when, too lazy or busy to read the bible, I face my daily challenges with my own grit and power. 

It's a no-brainer: If you meditate on His Word before starting your day, you're better prepared to handle situations and issues fighting for your attention. 

It's so easy to give in to temptation --- be arrogant, prideful, resentful, hateful, angry, judgmental, depressed, etc. --- if the Gospel is not richly deposited in our hearts. 

Ephesians 6 says that His Word --- fashioned as our belt of truth --- enables us to stand firm to face the enemy. No weapon formed against us shall prosper if we allow ourselves to be covered by the full armor of God! 

But this happens only if we renew our minds daily with His Word. The mind of Christ rescues us from needless panic or fear.  

So don't let your heart account go kaput. Daily kneel before God. Be refreshed by His Word because He promised to let the truth set you free.