For His Glory-ODB with my reflection :)

Whenever life’s burdens oppress you
And trials are too much to face,
Remember God’s strength in your weakness;
He’ll give you His power and grace. —Sper

The increasing darkness of trials only makes the lamp of grace shine brighter.

http://odb.org/

I get the story from the daily bread and it was really nice and touching story of a cancer patient.

Yes, we got a hard time when remembering His grace during trials. We may sometimes recall Him as a punisher/teacher, a hard punisher because it seems that God is happy in our situation (in pain). But God did not allow suffering for us. It was not good to nlame Him the whole time when we get in a crap situation. Better yet, we must remember Him as the ultimate source of strength and blessing. That trough it all, we must always still glorify Him in the midst of trials. 

God never abandon our side. In times of victory or in trouble, we must not forget to glorify Him because at first He never forget us to leave. 

Psalm 79 When the heathen say....

Psalm 79

King James Version (KJV)

79 O god, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps.

² The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.
³ Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them.
⁴ We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.
⁵ How long, Lord? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?
⁶ Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.
⁷ For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.
⁸ O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low.
⁹ Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake.
¹⁰ Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed.
¹¹ Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die;
¹² And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.
¹³ So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.

I had experienced being persecuted and even question about my God. They would laugh at my back and say I am in wrong congregation, wrong church and my faith was not true.
In times of trouble, they would even laugh harder and say again, where is your God whom you trust and a helper? Why do you experience such grief if you really had the real God.
I was hurt. They were denying the presence of my God. They judged my faith and my God. My God do not exist.
I was in terrible hurt when they say about this. I kept silent and prayed God. I prayed God and tell Him, "prove me now LORD!" I f you are the real God I am praising right now, grant my prayer!today...I had trust You.please teach me now to trust You again and not these heathens who dont believe you. Let them be amazed to what you had done to me. Let them open their eyes and prove them that they are wrong.

God did it. He grant my wish and now continuously still working for my life. indeed, He is the true one. 

The Lure of a message-ODB

You’re sitting in a darkened theater enjoying a concert, a play, or a film, when suddenly a smartphone screen lights up as a person reads an incoming text and perhaps takes time to reply. In his book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains,Nicholas Carr says that in our connected world, “The sense that there might be a message out there for us” is increasingly difficult to resist.

Samuel was a young boy when he heard a voice call his name and thought it was Eli the priest in the tabernacle where he served the Lord (1 Sam. 3:1-7). When Eli realized that God was calling Samuel, he told the boy how to respond. When God called his name a fourth time, “Samuel answered, ‘Speak, for Your servant hears’” (v.10). This attentiveness to God’s voice became the pattern of Samuel’s life as “the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord” (v.21).

Are we listening for God’s voice in our lives today? Are we more drawn by the vibration of a smartphone than the still, small voice of the Lord through His Word and His Spirit?

May we, like Samuel, learn to discern God’s voice and say, “Speak, Lord. I’m listening.”

May we listen, Lord, to You
As You speak to us today
Through Your Spirit and Your Word—
Help us follow and obey. —Sper

Don’t let the noise of the world keep you from hearing the voice of the Lord.

People now in our generation are much more inclined to technology. they attend more to things that will somehow or greatly caused you to turn away from God. Instead that we have to enjoy our time with God, we are much more tempted to our technologies and the like. these are the works of evil. he wanted you to separate from the relationship of God. he is wise though but be not tempted. Dont let facebook or twitter grabs your entire time. That time is precious and God wants you to use it well. Ans also, when God is calling you, you busy with these things. You are turning away from God but you cannot feel it. you have a lot of time but your time with God is little and maybe soon it will be gone. 

I am also speaking to myself. To be honest, I became addicted with facebook. Come to think of it, facebook is controlling us not us to control the website. Do we have the good effects of it? No. totoo nga't nawawalan na tayo ng oras sa Diyos dahil sa kakafacebook or sa twitter. Mas masaya pa ang Diyos kung makikita niya tayong nagaaral instead o kaya spend our time with the family. A Christian like us must be thinking matured enough of how we should manage our time well. 

Let God be the superior to your time. You should put Him first in evrything you do. 

Copied from our daily bread with some insights.

Therapist and mother Lori Gottlieb says that parents who are obsessed with their children’s happiness may actually contribute to their becoming unhappy adults. These parents coddle their children, do not equip them to deal with the real world, look the other way when their children do wrong, and neglect disciplining them.

In 1 Samuel, we read that the high priest Eli sometimes looked the other way. We don’t know what he was like as a father when his boys were young. But he failed to properly deal with their behavior as grown men serving in God’s temple. They were selfish, lustful, and rebellious, putting their own needs ahead of God’s Word and the needs of the people. At first, Eli rebuked them but they would not listen. Instead of removing them from service, he looked the other way and let them continue in their sin. As a result of his sons’ sins and because Eli honored his sons above the Lord (1 Sam. 2:29), the Lord warned Eli that his family would suffer judgment (v.34; 4:17-18).

As Christian parents, we have the awesome responsibility to lovingly discipline our children (Prov. 13:24; 29:17; Heb. 12:9-11). As we impart God’s wisdom to them, we have the blessing of helping them develop into responsible, God-fearing adults.

They are buds of hope and promise,
Possessed by Him whose name is Love;
Lent us here to train and nourish
For a better life above. —Crosby

Failure to discipline our children is a failure to love them.

Be thankful when you have parents who are Christians. Be glad when they correct you because simply they love you and they want you to grow as Christians too fearing the Lord thy God. 

My parents are not Christian but I know they fear the Lord. Well anyway, I am still thankful because they dont ignore the word of God in times of struggle and they are very prayerful. But I hope someday, they will be saved. God will give the perfect time. and it is not impossible. Please pray for my parents too that they will accept Jesus wholeheartedly. 

In God, you will enjoy much happiness.

73 Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.

² But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.

³ For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

⁴ For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.

⁵ They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.

⁶ Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.

⁷ Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.

⁸ They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.

⁹ They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.

¹⁰ Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.

¹¹ And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High?

¹² Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.

¹³ Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency

Sa buhay, minsan gnusto nating mas mabuhay sa kalayawan. Minsan dito natin naiisip ang kaligayan na dulot na ito. OO, ginusto din ng Diyos na tayo ay magpayaman pero sana hindi ito ang maging rason para lumayo sa Diyos at ipakita ang kayabangan at pagtanaw ng utang na loob. 

Hindi porket nasa taas ka na, meron ka na lahat nasasabi mo ng kumpleto ka na o kaya maligaya ka na. Ang tunay na kaligayan ay nakikita lamang sa Diyos, dahil ang ligayang dulot ng mga ganitong bagay ay hindi pernamente na gaya ng sa pagmamahal ng Diyos. 

To have a prosper life, it is better to incline our hearts to God than to seek for diamonds on earth. Diamonds glitters its beauty but God has everything more than diamonds. He can give you more than what you ask for. more than the happiness you have right now. 

God will exceedingly blessed you for following Him. 

Copied for Our daily bread with my additional insights

The heartbreaking stories keep coming. The friend whose grown daughter has left her husband and kids. The dads I recently met who lost their teen sons in car accidents. The pillar of the church whose retirement years have been marked by a string of bad medical news. You know the stories. You may have your own.

Where do we go for help when struggles and pain threaten to shake our faith and steal our last ounce of joy?

Second Corinthians 1:3 may be just the right destination. It is full of hope, help, and possibilities.

Examine what that verse tells us: Paul lifts praise to God on two levels (and remember, Paul had more struggles and trouble than most of us could stand). First, he simply sends praise to God, who is not just our God but the God and Father of Jesus Himself. Think about the power and the love behind that!

Then he gives us even better news: Our heavenly Father is the God of mercy and compassion. He cares for us with an everlasting, gracious love. And there’s more—He is also the God of all comfort.

Need compassion? Need comfort? Go to God. He has an endless supply and is ready to pour it out on you in abundance. He is what we need in times of trouble!

I must have the Savior with me,
For my faith at best is weak;
He will whisper words of comfort,
That no other voice can speak. —Anon.

God’s whisper of comfort helps quiet the noise of our trials.

Indeed only God can comfort us in times of trouble or in times of down. We may sometimes hate Him because of the things that had messed up. BUT think of it, GOD is never been like that. GOD never wants us to be sorrowful or in grief. Think God as a Father. A father wouldnt not allow his children to be in trouble, right. How much more with God who created us an love us even though we are sinners children. We can find His comfort towards Him. All we need to do is pray to God, read the bible and He will answer you. He always listen my Dear. He will always. :)

Psalm 71 You want to know about Trust?

71 In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion.

² Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me.

Hello there! Its been a long time that I did not post again my devotions. Well anyway, maybe that expresses how I was very down in my spiritual life again. Or I had just thought that it was better to read devotions of the experts but throughout this new activity, I guess it was still better to work on my devotions because truly this made me whole and it can incline my spiritual life. In here, I can reflect many things about what the word of God wants me to say this day. and through this I can share it to all the brethren. :)

Oh yeah I got a big news from you. another gift and blessing from God! :)) I am a dean's lister again. I know it maybe easy for everyone to be in the honor roll but for me this is great. This is a gift for my parents and most of all a testimony again that God is the true God. He really is! To God be the Glory.

So for my today's sharing, i want to share all about trust. Trust in the Lord. Yes I know, it is easy to say this but in human nature, we can still feel the doubts or fear. Right?

But let me explain this. I know I am still young to talk about this but I know God is helping me to share this also to everyone. Well recently, my life was becoming so down and I have the fear of failing. Yes its because the grades. I know God help me all throughout the term but there is this feeling I cant deny. I am becoming doubtful, sad, and even uncontented. What if I did not make it What will my parents say to me? :((( But you know what...

I had just trust the Lord. Sabi ko sa Kanya, Lord, bahala ka na. Ikaw na po talaga ang bahala. Wala na po akong magagawa. kundi ibigay ang pagtititwala ko sayo. Alam ko tinulungan niyo ako at lahat lahat at alam ko hanggang sa huli tutulungan niyo pa rin ako.

After that morning, late in the afternoon, nang malapit na akong umuwi pabalik sa Maynila. Tinignan muna namin kung ano grade ko at kasama ko si mummy. Natatakot ako at kinakabahan. I am cleaning my throat to say sorry. 

But the exciting part is, I made it! I made it because I had trust the LORD!!! Thanks God! Mum was vey happy and I say that this is a gift for them. 

You know even in simple ways. Trusting in the Lord is the best solution for any worry. It is because it will turn out the way God's want and you want. :) 

I hope this will give you an ease for a little time. Just trust in the Lord.