Categories
Devotionals

When It Is Time to Move Forward

when it is time to move forward“It would not be in our best interest to always remain in one happy and comfortable location.  Therefore He moves us forward.  The shepherd leaves the fold so the sheep will move on to the vitalizing mountain slopes… It could never be better to stay once He determines otherwise; if the loving hand of our Lord moves us forward, it must be best.” – Streams in the Desert

There comes a time in our life when we become complacent.  We don’t want anymore changes.  We care not anymore for challenges that would try our strength.  We just want to live a quiet and simple life away from all the noise and clutter of the world.

God knows however when we do need rest and when we have to move on and grow.  He knows that we have but a limited time on earth and He wants to make full use of each moment that we have to reap for us eternal rewards.

Is God calling you now to move on and follow the Shepherd who wants the best for you?

“Is it always necessary to leave?”

“It’s always necessary to know when a stage of one’s life has ended.  If you stubbornly cling to it after the need has passed, you lose the joy and meaning of the rest.  And you risk being shaken to your senses by God.”  – Paulo Coelho, The Fifth Mountain

Categories
Devotionals

Finding The True Me

finding the true me“You will be called by a new name, a name given by the Lord himself.” – Isaiah 62:2, GNT

Who am I? Who do I really want to be? Who should I be?

Could such questions become our stumbling block in discovering our true vocation and identity?

There are times when I must admit that I’m afraid somewhat to not get the answers I want. There is a fear in me that the true self I might find wouldn’t be as good or as special as the false self I have always tried to build on my own.

I must understand however that it is only the true self which can give us fulfillment. It is this TRUE SELF that is best both for me and for those around me. The false self may be easy to build, but it would also easily crumble. It is touchy and defensive and survives in trying to cover up what is real deep within. While I may fool the world with an illusion of it, I would always have to live with who I really am.

It isn’t easy however to shift from creating an illusion of a false self to achieving one’s true identity and purpose. It would require that I die first to myself and that I surrender to God’s purposes for my life. Only in the Maker could the instrument ever find its real worth.

“See what I was in myself and by myself. I had destroyed myself, but He Who made me remade me.” -St. Augustine

Categories
Devotionals

Not All Moments Are Equal

not all moments are equal“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die… a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance…”– Ecclesiastes 3:1-4, NIV

Have you ever found yourself looking at a beautiful scenery that you felt you could fix your eyes upon its beauty and never ever tire of looking at it? Have you ever listened to such an enchanting song that you felt you never wanted it to end? Have you ever experienced such a blissful moment that you wanted to remain in it for as long as you ever could?

There are moments when we are blessed like that, moments when we are not filled with anxiety for the future or regrets for the past. All that we know is that we are happy in the present, and if we could choose to, we’d rather freeze that moment and never let it go.

It is true that many times, we can’t always predict those moments. We could never copy exactly a beautiful moment so we could repeat it over and over again.

But we could allow for more of those moments to come into our lives by spending more quiet time instead of always hurrying about. We could allow more of those moments if we could let go more of our anxieties and try to fix our eyes on what is good and positive instead of what is lacking in our lives.

There are moments that are more powerful than minutes, minutes that are more important than hours, and hours that are even more precious than days wasted and unlived. How are you spending the moments that you have today?

Categories
Devotionals

What Does Eternity Mean?

what does eternity mean“He has also set eternity in the human heart…”– Ecclesiastes 3:10

When I was still studying, one of my favorite subjects was Science. I was very curious then, and I wanted to learn many things. I wanted to know more about the planets and the stars. I wanted to know how the universe works.

Today, much has already been discovered. More stars have been named. Many theories have been formulated as to how the universe ever began.

One thing however still fascinates me, and that is what ETERNITY really means. What does it mean to live without end? What does it mean to have existed forever?

One thing is certain though. That God truly has etched eternity upon our hearts. Somewhere within us, we long for it. Somewhere deep within us, there is a part that cries out against death and not being able to go on.

When I think about ETERNITY, I sometimes imagine how God is already with my future self, and what a wonder it is to know how I’ve become! In the same way, it’s a wonder to know that God has already known me even before I was born. In fact, considering all these things, God has known me forever! I have existed forever within the mind of God.

Whenever I get impatient in this life, may I always remember how short it is compared to that wonderful eternity God has given us all.

Categories
Devotionals

What Is Real Life?

what is real life“The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces… “ –Isaiah 25:8

There are times when I undergo a crisis in faith and I wonder whether all I believe in is true. Such times prod me to ask myself, “What is real life anyways?” Is it that kind of life which includes God, the angels, heaven, and a hope of a new and better life after this one?

On the other hand, could real life be what many people often talk about and aspire for? Is it that one made up of our jobs, of finding a partner in life, of thinking about retirement and of the next entertaining thing to do?

It is so tempting to go back to what many people call as ‘real life’.  It is so tempting to simplify everything and not think about the things we don’t often see with our eyes.  Real life as often portrayed in the movies seems so glamorous and exciting and… tangible.  It also seem so much easier.

However, when I do try to go back to this seemingly normal and real life, I couldn’t make sense of it for long.  After the initial excitement and thrill, and after tasting what delights the senses, I soon see the ‘other things’ that make up this real life.

I soon see hopes shattered and thrown away.  I see broken hearts.  I see betrayal.  I see sickness and old age and death.  This is real life, too.  That part of real life which many people often choose to forget as though it never existed at all.  Forgetting doesn’t make all these things go away, however.  It just makes us more afraid and lost later on.

It is then that I am able to reconcile what real life truly is.  Real life consists of all these things, of the happy and the sad, of our hopes and of our desperation.  Real life consists of both the visible and the invisible things, of those that are here, and those that are yet to come.  Real life includes even my faith and of all the things I believe in, even if many people won’t  allow them to be a part of their own lives.

As for me, I pray for a stronger faith, because only my faith gives me comfort to accept what real life is, with all its fleeting happiness, it’s greatest joys and it’s deepest darkest griefs.  With my faith, I can continue to hope, that even when real life includes hurts and diseases and death, all these things are not yet the end.  My hope allows me to hold on firmly to my belief that God has a real remedy for all the sufferings that I now see, creating joy out of our sorrows and love out of our greatest fears.

“If God does not exist, then life is futile. If God of the Bible does exist, then life is meaningful. Only the second of these two alternatives enables us to live happily and consistently. Therefore, it seems to me that even if the evidence for these two options were absolutely equal, a rational person ought to choose biblical Christianity. It seems to me positively irrational to prefer death, futility, and destruction to life, meaningfulness, and happiness.” -William Lane Craig, Reasonable Faith