ACCESS

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Picture this:

From your limousine, you hurtle down and push your way towards the airport gate as your hand nervously fiddles through your Ferragamo bag.

"Ticket?" asks the guard. "No ticket, no entry," he stares at you coldly while the public address system announces, flight so and so has departed. And you scream the scariest of screams.

A bad dream, huh?

But could there be a worse nightmare than this: when your soul departs from your mortal body, reach eternity's gate and you're told, "Sorry, your name's not listed here."

Admit it. We think we could manipulate our way to heaven in much the same way that we use money to buy a first class airline ticket to a dream destination.

But the Bible is clear. We could not bribe our way to heaven; yes, not even with our good works!

"On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty good works in your name?" And then I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness." Matthew 7:22

God loves it when we do good. Yet, first things first. Numero uno requirement:

Belong to His family. Sonship must be first be established before we can prove by our actions that we are genuinely His.

"But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in His name." John 1:12

Why would Jesus insist, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me," if He didn't value our Father-son relationship with Him?

He's the only means through whom access to God is possible! The only ticket to your eternal destination.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so no one would boast." Ephesians 2:8-9

Now this might be a hard pill to swallow, especially if you're way in deep as far as being morally upright and helping others are concerned.

But take it from Jesus. Charity, if motivated by your desire to outweigh your bad deeds with good—is hypocrisy. Good deeds, if they're just meant for show-and-tell, or for praise release, or to preserve your cool image, or have your name inscribed in church pews, are stinkers as far as He's concerned.

Isaiah 64:6 says our righteous acts are like filthy rugs to Him.

Most everyone believes in Jesus. In mind, yes. But genuine faith in Jesus is this: Repenting and totally surrendering yourself to Him to be your Savior and Lord. Then our good works are done out of love, as a form of thanksgiving for His grace, and to glorify His name.

Come on, Jesus died for you and me; paid a high price to ransom our soul from death or eternal separation from Him. Until our hearts are stamped with Jesus's blood, our ticket to His kingdom is a fake. Invalid. Inadmissible. Even if you do a world of good.

But there's more. His grace through Jesus, gives you access to every good His kingdom has to offer.

You want peace in the middle of turmoil? His is a peace which surpasses understanding. He settles your heart because you're planted on the Rock of our salvation.

In fear of sickness or violent people lurking around? His grace surrounds you like a shield. And not to forget, His angels encamp around you.

And in the midst of sorrow or pain, I can have joy in my innermost because this I know:

He who paid the price for my sin and saved me from hell, will guide me wherever I turn—though darkness, intimidating characters, pestilence and dark days lurk around.

THE SCIENCE OF EVERYTHING

Image credit: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/

We're all currently awash in an ocean of scientific data and health advisories regarding Covid-19. 

Some of them have panned out to be genuine; many proven fake. 

                                 

But we're a bit more cautious now. Ignore the fakes. Consider the credible. Too, find out their source. Quacks or the real deal?

Doctors, epidemiologists, scientists (or whatever “ists” they've added to their titles) we're prone to believe.

And they deserve credit, having spent years investigating the whys and wherefores of what's hidden from our totally pedestrian minds. They intimately know bacteria, virus, and every nano particle inhabiting our guts or lungs or heart or brain or nerves.

Come to think of it, without the science, medicines and inventions concocted by these awesome minds, where would we all be?

Yet, we may have looked at all these awesomeness from the wrong side of the coin.

Before anyone has figured out the physics, the cosmology, the physiology, the biology, the immunology ---or whatever “logy” of things---Someone had it all pat!

These data have been there from eternity waiting to be uncovered.

This Someone has so designed our bodies so that doctors---upon learning the whats and whyfores of our complicated make-up---can sytematically study, conduct experiments and resolve our health issues.

Psalm 139:13&14 “For You created my inmost being... knit me together in my mother's womb... I am fearfully and wonderfully made...”

Thousands of years after this psalm was written, scientists today tell us that each person is made up of 10 trillion cells, with our DNA stretching 744 million miles---woundable to the moon and back 1,500 times. Wow!

Jesus Himself created us, so He knows us inside and out.

1Corinthians 8:6 “... there is one God the Father, from whom all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”

John 1:3 “All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.”

God made sure the science behind His beautiful creation made sense---for future generations of those who would dare explore the complexity of the human body, even its defenses against pathogens.

Thank God for scientists, doctors and researchers who help us see what incredible creations we really are.

My puny mind understands very little of my physiological make up---how to deal with this pesky virus, avoid heart disease or cancer, or why I need to stay away from sugar to remain healthy.

But to doctors and scientists, God has poured out wisdom so vast and profound. They're the ones who figure out for us things we could hardly fathom about our health and the universe around us.

However, they too are created beings; and their science, if based on faulty premises, may easily be debunked. History is full of trashed scientific assumptions.

So where does our hope and help come from? We look to The One who made us.

He created the universe and the earth with the full backing of heaven's glory. Couldn't He too provide the solution to this pandemic? He had from from the beginning of time put together the equation, the calculus and the algorithm of everything under the sun and even those around it.

So let's put our trust on the Originator of life. Because from Him too will come the wisdom to reverse our seemingly helpless trajectory as human beings.

He has long possessed the science of everything, figured out everything that can be figured out even before we knew we'd encounter them.

May our doctors, scientists, leaders look to Him for wisdom.

May our sheltering days end.

And may everyone look to Jesus for freedom, not only from disease, but too, for the salvation of their souls.

STUCK

Image credit:
https://www.nytimes.coml

Netflix, if you search hard enough, can be a treasure trove of inspiring real-life stories.

For two nights, we've been glued to “Unorthodox,” a four-episode series about Esty, a young Jewish woman trapped in an arranged marriage which she tried to escape.

It was inspired by the memoirs of Deborah Feldman who left her ultra-conservative Hasidic community in Williamsburg, New York, to build a new life in Berlin. 

Hasid per Wikipedia means pietist or piety. Hasidists are ulra-conservative Jews who are extremely devoted to observing the law and its letter. 

The story was an eye-opener, to say the least---that in this age, a group of people still adheres to whatever Moses and those after him who imposed rule-upon-rule-upon-rule on their people.

We applaud those who observe Mosaic law. But could anyone, really?

This contemporary Hasidic community thought they were doing just that. As the story unfolded, we follow an innocent young woman weighed down by layers of do’s and don’t’s, and rituals and forms:

First, the arranged marriage. Imagine getting hitched with someone you'd never met.

Image credit: https://www.womenshealthmag.com/life

Second, the pressure to procreate. Marital sex without love or pleasure, and for the mere purpose of producing an heir could be punishing.

Third, women treated as subordinate to men. Esty practically didn't have a life---forbidden to sing or play the piano or follow any of her passions, because “women simply were not allowed to”. But she did it in secret anyway, and found her voice in Berlin..

In short, a culture of rules without heart. If we search hard enough, we'll discover many more tribes or cultures with even more abusive or stringent demands than these; with women and children mostly at risk.

And isn't it strange that in our day and age, we still find people stuck in ways which value rites or forms—-even cruel practices---more highly than love, compassion and respect.

I can't judge if this movie's producers were biased. But this we're sure of:

God knew we could not follow the law in its entirety. That's why Jesus came---that grace and truth be ours (John 1:7); and the law be etched in our own hearts and minds (Hebrews 10:16---not decreed by man, but with the help of His Word (the bible) and His Spirit in us.

That's why we can do good, love, be patient and self-controlled, kind, faithful, gentle; and most of all experience His peace (Galatians 5:22-23)---none of which can be taken away from us despite difficult situations; and against such, there is no law!

I pray the real Esty would know this---that freedom is found in Christ alone, because physical freedom is not freedom at all unless one's soul is saved from sin which in itself is entanglement. 

Prayer: O God, help me to understand that real freedom is found only in Christ. Help me to understand your Word. Plant it in my heart and mind, that I may follow and obey you and no longer be trapped by what others expect of us. Save me and rule over my life from now on. In Jesus' mighty name.

CRYSTAL CLEAR

When you realize how fragile life is, 
It all becomes crystal clear:
You are not in control.
It's really not yours to own. 

Though you fight, scream, claw, beg.
Even if you will it, pay to prolong it. 
In a snap, just like that, 
Bleep flattens, breath sits still.  
Once alive, now a corpse.
So true, we're dust to dust!

You may be the healthiest hunk.
The most gorgeous babe.
The busiest bee alive.
Smartest, richest, most disruptive problem-buster.
Even the most compassionate, heroic, ever serving dude.
Yet with a sneeze or a drool or a touch
Succumb! 
To a good-for-nothing infuriating virus.

Yes, a virus! 
Lowliest of the lowliest 
In the totem pole of pestilences.
Microbial yet deadly and deadlier still.
Sneezed, inhaled, touched, transferred 
From one unsuspecting human to another.

We who once thought ourselves masters of our fate,
Now at a loss for answers. 
Mighty, in control, able---now locking horns 
With a rampaging, conquering,
Knee-bending, microscopic beast.

But now we finally see it, 
As we hunker down, 
Gnaw at our fingernails
To wait wait wait wait,
Life is not what or how we perceive it.

We've never owned it.
We're someone else's!
The one who formed dust
And breathed upon it breath,
He gives and takes away. 

Yet see it all His way, 
Be amazed and be at ease.
At peace, comforted.
Because your Owner:
He's Creator, Master, Lord over all.
His name is Jesus Christ, Savior! 
Call Him, embrace Him, 
Trust Him with your very will and live!
He will respond.

Because He's not man that He should lie. 

He's the only Name
With power to reverse 
Our downward deadly course.
Make our feet stand on solid ground.
Unlike the slimy pit we waddle on,
Slippery, leading us down below. 

Jesus, the name to trust.
Immanuel, God with us.
Name above all names.
Above everything that's been named.
Above every pretender to His throne. 
Be it covid, cancer, lack, addiction, riches or fame.

And you know what? 
Life as we've lived it,
It's temporary anyway. 
Breath ceases, yet where He is,
Life sprouts anew. 

Free from decay, pain, hunger, cares.
Clothed in glory, our heavenly tent.
Because there, Our Lord Jesus reigns.
And with Him forever we'll be! 

IT SHOULDN'T COME TO THIS

But it has! When a mother—because she's either a nurse or a doctor—could not hold or hug or kiss her baby and isolate herself from her family even in her own home, because she happens to have tested or treated patients for Covid-19.

This I could not wrap my my mind around. A real heart-breaker.

So heed the warnings, people. Isolation. Social distancing. Strengthen your immune system. Don't be stupid thinking this pesky virus won't hit you. No more lives or relationships should be sacrificed in the altar of this disease which has already killed thousands —some of them you and I know—all over the world.

Apart from doing what we can the best way we can, what are we to do?

Our eyes are on you, Lord. You said, "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. (2 Chro. 7:13-16)

Jesus, you said a time is coming when people will no longer worship in temples made by man. You came in the flesh to save us; sent us the Holy Spirit to dwell in us so we can worship you in Spirit and in truth.

If you and I are indeed "His people," I beg you, let's humble ourselves before Him.

It has come to this, Lord. Forgive us for our self-sufficiency and arrogance. Take control of our lives. And see us through all these. Jesus our eyes are on you.

WHEN PANIC SETS IN

I drove myself to the pharmacy. Coming out of it, I could not find my car in the parking lot. Walking back and forth and not finding it, I panicked.

Then I woke up. An awful dream. Which triggered a migraine.

It didn't help that I've started taking pills which my doctor warned might cause hot flushes, pains and other side effects.

But thank God it was just a dream.

Nowadays, populations all over the world are in a state of panic because of an itty-bitty virus. Corona has indeed become “queen” and “star” of all viruses because of the fear it has induced in people.

At Costco and Walmart stores near our place in San Diego, tissue paper, alcohol, hand wash products, and mind you, even bottled water and rice, have started to run out. What??!!

It doesn't help that social media shares and stories---some of them fake---have magnified the strength of this virus more than its real power to do harm.

Health authorities assure us: its ability to infect anyone is only 3 per cent; a good immune system will protect you; take the necessary precautions and you'll be a-OK.

Yet we still panic, right? Welcome to the panic room. Refugee camp, if you will, where a peace accord awaits.

Psalm 46:1-3 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. (KJV)

In Jesus, we can be nursed back to faith. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified... for the Lord goes with you; He will never leave you or forsake you,” Deuteronomy 31:6.

There's of course still a chance to catch the bug, that's why we take precautions.

But didn't He also promise to heal?

Paul who had a momentary onset of panic during one of his journeys, confessed, “But this happened that we might rely not on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead,” 2 Corinthians 1:9.

Christ is still seated on His throne. King of kings and Lord of Lords, He turns every pretender---yes even this itsy-bitsy corona---to mush. We can starve to death this nano pretender to the throne!

Just press your panic button!

Pray. Believe. Exercise wisdom in whatever you do. 

Then leave the rest to Him who holds your life in the palm of His mighty hand.

Goodness, He even raises the dead!

OF BOOBOOS AND CANCER

Meet Varian, my dear constant date of late.

Now, before you raise your eyebrows, let me clarify. Varian, surnamed Truebeam, is this high-tech, space-age thingamajig dispensing radiation therapy against this totally dreaded disease---cancer.

With Heather and Cheri, and yes, gigantic Varian.

Yup, I’ve been diagnosed. But thank God, mine was itty-bitty and early stage; so my good doctors ordered only surgery and radiation therapy as major interventions.

Still, at the onset, this feeling of shock, “What, me? Cancer?” persisted. But as I catatonically hurdled the back-and-forth diagnostic tests and consultations, shock and fear gave way to awe.

How could a small “c” hold itself up against my big “C”!

“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you,” Hebrews 13:5b, had never been crisp-er and touchy-feely. Christ promised to be with me through the highs and lows of my life---been utterly faithful so far. So how could I not trust Him now with this pin-prick?

Oh, yeah, pin-prick!

Because others really have it bad. My sister Malu endured her worst days with late stage cervical cancer.  As I write, three more among my loved ones, both sides of the family, are grappling with advanced stage cancer! I'm sure you have your own story to tell. 

No laughing matter, this insidious small "c". 

But see, mine was diagnosed early. And just in the nick of time! My hubby Jack and I recently just got our health insurance here in the US, breezed through a battery of baseline health diagnoses. Then bingo!

Yet, no fear! Him who holds our lives at the palm of His powerful hand has our backs covered.

He provided in advance for my situation. Because he never sleeps nor slumbers! (Psalm 121:4)

Loved ones, friends, our church pastors and brethren, bible study group members, prayed; sent well wishes; and checked in on me from time to time. May He give it back to them a thousand-fold.

Flowers? Never got a single petal. LOL, just kidding!

(Trivia from my daughter-in-law Opalyn: flowers are a no-no for cancer patients, especially those on chemo treatment. Something in them may lower their immune system.) 

Had my surgery at Scripps Mercy Hospital before Christmas. And enjoyed my best Christmas ever---my daughter Lucci's family from Australia spent the holidays with us. Talk of perfect timing. Talk of love being the best picker-upper.

Happiest Christmas every with my family...

and with my sister's family

 
Didn't He promise that His joy would be our strength? (Nehemiah 8:10)

He’s Jehovah Rapha, my healer, Exodus 15:26.

Booboo or cancer? They’re all the same to Him. If he commands, away it goes, pronto!

I thank Jack, son Carlo, and Opalyn for their perpetual presence, patiently bringing and waiting and sitting with me as we went from doctor to doctor and a myriad of diagnostics.

My family, especially our grandkids, have been a balm for my perennially downcast self . Yes, even as I ceaselessly prayed for my  little booboo to go away.

That’s what healing is all about: God’s love and family constantly going the extra mile with you even in your worst days. 

So here I am, on my third day of a three-week radiation treatment, with Varian as my everyday gizmo date. Won’t miss him though when it’s over. 

I’ll treasure though the radiation team behind Varian—Cheri, Heather, Noelle—of the Sharp Medical Center Douglas and Nancy Barnhart Cancer Center, San Diego (as all my doctors and other carers from both hospitals).

Today, trainees Kailey and John came to observe. Yey! for young people entering the medical and health care field. Patient caring is probably one of the toughest jobs around. It's a calling and a passion.

A special shout out to Scripp’s nurse Janice (a Filipina!) who made sure my pre-surgery procedures pushed through in spite of some scheduling snafus. A grade ten for commitment and stick-to-itiveness.

Lord, bless them all: doctors, nurses, other hospital and specialty medical services personnel whose expertise and genuine caring for patients make our days a little brighter.

Grace personified indeed.