DISCERN

These are all too eerily familiar: 

Political leaders promising to unify their people or bring order amid chaos, yet turning around to exterminate populations or jobs or hopes without regard for people's—even the unborn's—right to live or prosper. 

image credit: history.com

Businessmen hailed as philanthropists yet siphoning wealth into their own pockets through elaborate schemes.

History is full of them. Nations are full of them. Industries are full of them. 

They just take on new forms and names and titles. Like plastic bottles thrown into the ocean, they get washed back to shore. Filthy as ever. 

Marxism or communism is renamed "the new global order". Power vested on people morphs into totalitarianism. The free marketplace becomes a haunt for greed-motivated schemers, scammers and money-launderers. 

Look closely and you'll discover the same self-serving, sinister tactics: expert and rather cool and flawless manipulation, control, lying and truth-twisting, saying one thing to the right and another to the left of them.

So believable even so-called intellectuals, university students, especially gullible young people, are lured by them. Remember Hitler's youth volunteers?

You shall know them by their fruit, says the Bible, no matter how highfalutin and self-righteous they sound. 

Jude verses 12b&13 describes them as "... shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever."

1 Samuel 24:13—" Wickedness proceeds from the wicked."

Yet why do they prosper? We ought to remember: 

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms," Ephesians 6:12. 

There's more to their praise release or what we hear them say. 

Spiritual forces have set shop in the high places—in prime ministers' residences and kings' palaces, in towering corner and penthouse offices. Where power resides, darker powers encamp too.  

Thirst for power is quenched only with the begetting of more power. 

So we need to rightly discern those we give our allegiance to or elect in public office. 

We are in the last of the last days. Jesus talks about these times when men, offering themselves as the solution will deceive many, leading people as lambs to the slaughter. 

Our only anchor? The Truth! The Word of God. 

Hebrew 4:12—For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 

Examine everything you hear or see through your scriptural lense and hear what the Spirit of God says. 

Your next question of course may be this, "Why does God allow schemers, murderers and megalomanics rise to power?"

And Sherlock's answer to that is, "A very good question, Dr. Watson. But that's for another blog."

Prayer: Lord, forgive me for my wrong decisions. Help me to pray, listen to You and discern between veiled manipulative words and the truth. Apart from you I can do nothing. So Jesus, be my anchor. Holy Spirit, teach me, guide me into all truth. Amen. 

WORSHIP

Will you allow me a bit—just a tiny bit—of self-indulgence? 

I love to sing. Always have. Always will. I'll probably be eternally singing. And that's no joke. But read on.

In high school, circa nineteen kopong-kopong (a long long time ago), I dreamt of being a Broadway star. The next Julie Andrews or Barbra Streisand. When I started working—my first and second jobs being a copywriter in two TV networks—a popular TV director spotted and auditioned me for a TV musical show. "The next Nora Aunor," he proudly proclaimed to his crew. 

Yet I chickened out. The thought of being in showbiz seemed demeaning. Proud, yes, I admit. So my Broadway dream went pfft.

But God is a God of second chances. He did not allow this gift to go to waste. One Friday evening 34 years ago, in a concert where my dear friend Cyd invited me, a gospel song so touched my heart that for the first time in my life, I knew, really knew, "God loves me!"  

That born again experience turned my life around. Proud and self-centered me experienced a peace which passed all understanding. I noticed that fearful-worrier-complainer me was turning more joyful, calm and more tolerant of others, and uh... humble?! Hey, I'm a work in progress. 

And He gave me new songs to sing! 

I found myself later on leading worship in a Christian church. And that's what I've been doing for a long time until recently.  

Singing worship songs brings one into His very presence—where there's fullness of joy, strength, healing, anointing, peace. Imagine yourself sitting at the footstool of King Jesus, Creator of the heavens and the earth. 

Broadway and the adulation of audiences don't even compare! Because your audience is almighty God! 

I've fought and lost, but mostly won, many of life's battles, by His amazing grace and the praise and worship songs which carried me through tough and terrible times, even through my current bout with the small "c".

So I refuse to be nonchalant as far as worshipping the Lord is concerned. Because I know that when He calls me home, I will be in the most holy place, worshipping my Savior. 

This is the beauty of worship: He's after your heart, not your voice. You may be disintonado (off-key), mispronounce or even forget the words. Worship Him in Spirit and in truth. That's all He cares about. And He'll let you in.

How to worship Him in Spirit and in truth? Put your faith in Jesus. Repent of your sins. Acknowledge Him as your Savior and Lord.

Prayer: Jesus, I commit my life to you. Forgive my transgressions. Come into my heart. Be my Savior and Lord. Lead me. Guide me. Be my Rock of refuge. In Jesus' name.. 

TOO, TOO MUCH

Information, any kind, is just right up there, swirling in the internet etherworld—accessible with just a few clicks on your smart phone or tablet. 

Type your key words and voila, a list of options pops up, as if ordered. Now you’re surfing but hopefully not drowning—to a point that you can’t decide. "Which one will I source?" Or you just take them all! 

This is pretty evident in my students’ research papers. They really don’t scrutinize internet information anymore. They just copy and paste—because they’re probably confused, unsure of what to take or refuse.  The result? A hodge-podge submission! This teacher has no choice at times but to ask for a rewrite. Makes you ask, have they learned anything? 

Older folks are equally guilty.  Perennially glued to FB and other social media, our precious hours fly away with endless scrolling, some of them trash and fakes. 

Tiring, ain't it? This information overload. Just a barrage of words and concepts  pecking at our brains, blurring our vision, and causing back pains. For what? Knowledge that's here today then soon forgotten? Because they're just too much! How could anyone remember ideas swooping and swimming in the vast digital ocean?

When does one say, "Enough!"?

For a lot of people, more knowledge means more open doors. Ever wonder why nowadays, more and more young professionals are enrolling in post-graduate courses? 

For example, doctors are not content just being medics. (In my current online post-grad class are four doctors.) They see the need to climb higher in their own health organizations. 

"Competition is stiff." "It's a ticket to higher positions." The magic word "boss" with its perks beckon.

Whatever their reasons, I salute them. But how stressful. Learning is a continuous process so this too must be handled wisely. Got to be choosy! 

Learn from one who's been there, done that. Solomon—said to be the wisest man who ever lived—wrote: 

Ecclesiastes 1:18 "For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow." Verse 14 "I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after the wind." 

In today-speak, he seems to be conveying:

"I Googled every possible idea worth knowing. Yeah I got so smart, learned heaps. Yet all those knowledge is too tough to handle.  How do I apply them? Oh what responsibility! Man, I'm exhausted! Why am I even doing this?"

Yet we need wisdom, right? Notice: Solomon said, "in much wisdom is much vexation." It's frustrating to be pregnant with ideas and not have the power to birth or concretize all of them.

It's the "much" word! It means over and above what is normal. More than what you need. It's like drowning in mountains of cash and blings and possessions that you don't know anymore what else to acquire to make you happier or more content. 

Maybe we only need "enough knowledge and wisdom". Wisdom for the here and now, wisdom for what matters—so we can be productive and achieve results for the tasks at hand.

We've met or known people in high places. Pedigreed. Admired for their genius. Knowledgeable about diverse topics. Yet many of them have egos higher than Mount Everest. Or they suck at relationships—their children or spouses the first casualties of their pride or arrogance.

How could those so knowledgeable or accomplished fail, and be so clueless about what matters most? A lot of knowledge is not the key. Wisdom is.

Because wisdom is just that: the right use of what we know! What we learn, we apply, not just store in our brains. So it's not really a warehouse-full of knowledge we should covet. We need to be choosy. Search for the right information, wrap your brain around them, master them, and decide wisely.

Psalm 90:12 "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." 

Yet this is the key:  "The fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," Proverbs 9:10. 

You won’t go wrong with the Word of God—your default source of life lessons and guidance as you surf life’s tempests, be they minute or gigantic.

SHAPABLE, MOLDABLE

 

Image credits: San Miguel Yamamura Glass

"Bote!" "Garapa!" "Dyaryo!"

Shouted by a cart-pushing Chinaman going around our Manila neighborhood, these words woke me up most mornings when I was a kid—bagong-saltang probinsyana (fresh from the province, Sampaloc, Quezon) getting used to life in Manila. 

This was how migrants from mainland China started their fortunes in Manila back then. They collected bottles, old newspapers and metal scraps, set up sari-sari stores, or sold shoes from house to house. 

Their persistence surely paid off. From humble rickety shops, their children in the long run woke up to mornings in posh residential villages. The saga of Shoemart (SM) magnate Henry Sy is just one of those inspiring stories. But this blog is not about him. 

This is about how one rises from brokenness to wholeness. 

Let's revisit bote, garapa collected by cart-pushing Ching. Bottles by themselves are a pretty interesting topic. [I wrote loads of promo materials on them when I was in SMC's Packaging Division.]

I find them pretty amazing, actually. A great metaphor for brokenness, and wholeness. 

Psalm 34:18 "The Lord is near the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit."

You see, those collected bottles are really destined for breaking. So when you break a bottle, wonder not, they'd be resurrected. Brought back to a bottle manufacturing facility, these broken bottles are then mixed with other ingredients like silica sand, soda ash and limestone; then burned, not to crisps, but to flowing liquid. 

Whoah, shapeable? Indeed. 

Because they're impermeable rock-solid objects, these broken bottles must be transformed to molten glass at approximately 1500 degree centigrade. (Makes you wonder how hot hell is. Maybe hotter?!)

Then as molten lava-like wonders, they spurt out as shooting glowing embers which are then molded and cooled off into bottles. 

Brand new! Shards no more! Soon displayed in supermarket shelves with their pricey contents inside.

Been broken yourself? Went through the fire yourself? And while you're at it, did you feel you could not get back up and collect your shattered parts? 

I have good news for you. 

God is in the business of collecting and putting together the shards of our broken lives, not to glue them back together, but to transform us into brand new glowing containers of His glory. 

Yes, we need to be fired, but fired precious, for His wonderful purpose for our lives. Memories of our old shattered, dysfunctional lives may still sneak in, but in Christ, we can become new. 

I've experienced it myself. Once me-centered Yay does not live here anymore. (Well, once in a while, she tries to sneak in but new-me catches her in due time.) 

Ezekiel 36:26 "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." 

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold the new has come." 

Transformed to contain His glory, brand-new you can now shine your bright light for those around you. No longer afraid and cowering in fear and insecurity, but displayed—yet humbly—for the Master's use.

Prayer: Break me and make me brand new, Lord. Change my heart of stone that I may hear from you. Jesus, I repent and confess: You are my Savior and my Lord. Do with me as you please. 

WHATEVERING

What's your go-to word when you want to say something but run out of words? 

Mine? "Whatever."

The Bible offers a whatevering alternative:

Philippians 4:8 "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

So when your mind gets blank or dark or confused or harassed, go on auto-shift mode to truth or whatever is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable.

Excellent and praiseworthy thinks you surely won't run out of: First and foremost, God's love. Jesus' saving grace. Our daily ration of strength, good health, protection, nutrition. And yes, the caring of our loved ones. Endless good thoughts, don't you think?

Add to these the parade of God's promises which He has time and again fulfilled. And why not? He's our mighty God who's worthy of all the praises we can utter or sing.

Shift to this whatevering mode and feel your mind sifting your thought-debris and pulling all those impending slanders, criticisms and complaining to the trash bin. Yes, even your propensity to digest fake news! All because the Holy Spirit has shifted your focus from lies to truth. 

But first things first. Be on Christ-mode. 

1 Corinthians 2:16 "Who has the mind of the Lord as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ." 

Prayer: Lord, Jesus, teach me to think as you would. Holy Spirit, counsel me and guide me. May my thoughts or words or actions speak loudly of Your presence in me. Amen. 

WORDY 2

The Word was made flesh. (John 1:14)

Jesus—the Word—took on human form to bridge the yawning gap between God and man after Adam sinned and brought humanity along with him to the mire. Jesus walked and spoke as a man would, breaking down God's saving grace for us in soundbites. 

God-speak to human-speak. So we won't miss His point. 

And what is His point really? That He loves us. 

That He won't let us crash-land without giving us a chance to fly. Really fly! 

He set us free from the shackles of sin. Jesus went all the way to the cross so that we who once lived in darkness may be transferred to His kingdom of light. 

If that's not enough, God left us His instruction manual—the Bible, so we won't be entagled in our day-by-day soap opera. 

Jesus, the Word, is really all we need! 

Jeremiah 1:12—"I am watching my Word to perform it." 

He who promised is faithful!

WORDY

Mind-boggling! Just 26 letters in the English alphabet. Yet piles and piles of books and manuscripts have been written since time began. 

With just these 26, infinite number of words and ideas have seen light. Not even the most prolific thinker among us could use all those words in our lifetime. Whatever language people speak or think with—ethnic, tribal, English, Chinese, etc.—we can all agree that our lives are continuously getting better because of all those words and ideas concretized through inventions, concepts, philosophies, music. 

A crazy cool thought: Let's build new continents out of those printed books! Now hold that thought. 

The Bible says that when God went about creating, He spoke the Word and whatever He spoke came to be. John 1:1/3—"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through Him." 

Jesus is The Word. All the creative and most profound words you could ever imagine—or not imagine—are in Him. We are the nanoest  proof of that. We got our creative powers from Him. 

With man's ability to use words and ideas to create tangible results, why do many people deny God the credit  of having created the universe? 

But let's be clear about it before we get all prideful and cynical: He alone—being the mighty God—has the power to create something out of nothing. 

Meanwhile, let's use our words wisely!