Yey! Praise God I arrived in Kansai International Airport (KIX) yesterday around 7:33pm local time. Everything was smooth... no delays, plane landed early.

As I was on the taxi, which looked like a coaster, on my way to the hotel, I had a vision. I believe it's one of the reasons why God gave me this trip. I saw a vision of the Philippines being like Japan, or better. I know many will be pessimistic about what I just said and say that it's impossible, but heck, I don't care what other people may say. With God, nothing's impossible. As long as I know it's from Him, I'm sure He wants me to be part of that plan and do it. Honestly, I didn't feel like I was in another country. This place has lots of lights at night. It's rare to see a road that's unlit. What amazed me was there are so many building on top of the mountains. If you've seen Tagaytay from SLEX at night, multiply that by hundreds and get closer, that's what they have here.

I really admire their infrastructures. They've got very, very long highways. Very smooth travel on, complete with signages of lights. It felt like travelling on NLEX that's higher than ground level, but within the metro. I saw this bridge that's way above like a few kilometers high, as in ang taas!

It's really hard to describe what I see here. I'll post the pictures when I get back.

In essence, why I felt like I was still at home? 'coz I saw my country no different than any first world country out there. Like what the Word says, with God NOTHING is impossible.

When does trusting someone begin?

Do you start trusting someone after a person has done something good to you for a number of times, like once, twice, 10, or a hundred times?

If you come to think of it, we don't really count the numbers. It will only come to a point where we decide to trust. Yes, it is a decision we eventually make.The same thing goes in trusting God.

He does not need to do anything before we start trusting Him with His words. We just have to decide when to trust Him and believe that every Word He says is true. The bible has a lot of promises that is waiting for us to receive. God said that His will is good, pleasing, and perfect. But the question is, have we decided to believe that those promises are true, that the Person who gave them is telling the truth? If not, you may want to ask yourself "Why?". Maybe you haven't really known God for who He is.

You decide. It will change your life.

Here's another devotional that I wanna share. Read this and you'll get a better idea of what it means to be born again. Be blessed!

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Born Again!

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

– John 3:3

Have you been to the doctor lately? What medications did he give you? Did he give you a call to check how you’re doing? Have you ever wondered why Jesus was called The Healer, and not the doctor? Here’s what God revealed to me this morning.

“Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.’” (Matthew 15:32)

God is not the doctor, but He’s The Healer. He doesn’t just give you prescriptions and then leave you on your own when you go back to your normal way of life. God is a God of compassion. After receiving our healing (from illness, poverty, heartaches, etc.), unlike medical doctors, God will not leave you on your own and just wait for you to consult Him when you get sick again. He will make sure that you will never get sick again! He will give you His prescription, “feed your spirit with the Word” and keep it strong. That’s His part, now we also have to do ours. The only choice we have to choose from is to chew then swallow the Word, or simply spit it out.

GLORIA	Obey Today He who being often reproved hardens his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. –(Proverbs 29:1)
Some people have the mistaken idea that when the direction of the Holy Spirit comes to them, they can just ignore it for a while if they want to and then obey Him later in their own good time. They think to themselves, "I know what I'm doing is wrong. I know my lifestyle isn't right, but I'm just going to do it a while longer. Then I'll get things straightened out with the Lord." Let me warn you, that is an extremely dangerous thing to do. Because God says that when you refuse His guidance, your heart grows hard. It's not that God's grace doesn't extend to you anymore. It's not that He wouldn't forgive you if you turned to Him. It's just that sin will callous your heart to the point where you can't hear Him calling. That's what happened to the children of Israel. God would tell them what to do and they wouldn't do it. When He was trying to bring them into the Promised Land and He told them to go in and possess it, they flatly refused. Of course, they thought they had good reasons for refusing. They were so full of fear and unbelief that they actually thought if they did what God said, they'd be destroyed. But, you know, it doesn't matter how good your reasons are for disobeying God. That disobedience will still cost you. It will still harden your heart. The children of Israel ignored God's leading so often that He finally just sent them into the wilderness. They were so stiff-necked, He couldn't lead them into the blessings He'd planned for them, and He had to just let them wander around until all but two of them had died off. He had to raise up a whole new generation of softer hearted people before He could take them into the land. Take a lesson from that and don't play around with sin. When God tells you what you need to do, don't put Him off thinking it will be easier to do it later. It won't be. It will be harder! When the Spirit of God comes to correct you, follow His instructions and follow them quickly. Keep your heart tender. Obey the Lord!

Source: http://www.kcm.org

KENNETH	Coming Together Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. –(Ephesians 4:13)
If you know how to listen to the voice of God, you can hear Him calling throughout the Body of Christ today. He is calling for unity. He is calling us to lay down our disagreements and come together in preparation for Jesus' return. Just the thought of that scares some believers. "How can I unify with someone from another denomination?" they say. "I'm not going to give up my doctrines and agree with theirs just for unity's sake!" What they don't realize is this: scriptural unity isn't based on doctrine. Winds of doctrine, according to Ephesians 4:14, are childish. Winds of doctrine don't unify. They divide and blow people in every direction. The Word doesn't say anything about us coming into the unity of our doctrines. It says we'll come into the unity of the faith. In the past, we've failed to understand that and tried to demand doctrinal unity from each other anyway. "If you don't agree with me on the issue of tongues," we've said, "or on the timing of the rapture...or on the proper depth for baptismal waters, I won't accept you as a brother in the Lord. I'll break fellowship with you. But that's not God's way of doing things. He doesn't have a long list of doctrinal demands for us to meet. His requirements are simple. First John 3:23 tells us what they are: to believe on the Name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another. Once you and I come to a place where we keep those requirements and quit worrying about the rest, we'll be able to forget our denominational squabbles and come together in the unity of faith. We'll grow so strong together that the winds of doctrine won't be able to drive us apart. When that happens, the devil's going to panic because the unity of the faith of God's people is a staggering thing. It's the most unlimited, powerful thing on earth. Right now all over the world, the Spirit is calling the Church of the living God to unite. Hear Him and obey, and you can be a part of one of the most magnificent moves of God this world has ever seen.

Source: http://www.kcm.org

Before I started writing again, I just thought of browsing through my past entries in my blog. Maaaaannnnn... I felt embarrassed of what I was writing about. Nahiya talaga ako nung nabasa ko sila. I dunno where I got them, but I just did. Anyway, I'm gonnna try to write again, and continue to be inspired. I'm not a writer though, I just like to encourage people. THE END.

DON'T TRY TO READ THEM. (I know you'll read them after I say this. hahaha!)

This one won't be long.

I spent my Holy Week vacation with my VCF family in Lingayen, Pangasinan. Met new friends, ate delicious food, appreciated nature, burned my shoulder with the sun (I wanted to get a tan, but burned only my shoulder instead).

Interestingly, I thought it would be just an ordinary rest in the province. But NO, It was quite an interesting one. Learned a number of things about life, exposing the good and bad in you, yet never left condemned. Understood more about how people live their lives, apart from what people normally see with the naked eye.

I didn't go into details, but I can say that I had fun and was happy to meet new people in the family and expecting it to be better in the next few years.

I am reminded that I'm definitely blessed.

For the past few days, God has been giving me revelation after revelation through His word, but tonight's was different and strange...

June 30, 2006

"..., and for all who have not met me personally. My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

                                                                                                         - Colossians 2:1-3

When I was reading it, I know that it spoke to me but didn't know what the Holy Spirit was trying to tell me. I spent some more time trying to meditate on it, and something came up to me. "...for all who have not met me personally. My purpose is that they may be encouraged..." --> How can I encourage someone whom I haven't met yet? But then I realized that I have been doing that, through the internet. Meeting new people online, yet giving encouragements and using the Word at the same time. Hmmm... could this be modern ministry for me???  It's really strange, but I'm really excited to do what He tells me to do next!

1 Timothy 5:8

Supplying a family’s needs is a tough job, but the Lord calls every father to the task. Sometimes, though, our hard work yields only the barest of necessities.

No parent should be ashamed that he or she cannot give a child more than life’s essentials. If we were truly pressed to live on only what we need, we might be surprised by how few requirements we actually have. As a boy, I had two pairs of bib overalls, three shirts, and a single pair of shoes. When the soles of my shoes wore out, I put cardboard in them until my mother, a widow, had the money to resole them. The refrigerator was not full, but we had enough to eat, and we had a small home. I did not need any more than the basic elements my mom could provide.

What might come as a surprise is that a man who offers his family much more than the fundamentals can nevertheless be a poor provider. By giving in to every whim and materially spoiling his children or spouse, the household leader is not practicing good family management.

A wise provider knows that boundaries are important in teaching loved ones self-control and discipline. Consequently, he will set limits that are in keeping with the Lord’s purpose for his family.

Hi guys! if you may, please answer these if you know me...

JOHARI: http://kevan.org/johari?name=AndyLim

NOHARI: http://kevan.org/nohari?name=AndyLim

Thanks! =D

Pay now, play later; or play now, pay later? Instant gratification, or delayed gratification? What is your preference? For many of us who are impatient, waiting is a tough test. We can hardly wait for our turn in a long queue. We just can't wait to wiggle our way out of Metro Manila traffic. It is hard to wait when… we're suffering in agony due to an illness… for cash to flow when finances have already dwindled… for God's best to turn up for singles who are advancing in age… But precisely because of unbelief, we fail to appreciate the virtue of waiting.

“The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him” (Lamentations 3:25). When we don't wait on the Lord, we will most likely not be able to taste His goodness and we will henceforth make wrong conclusions about God. David affirms in Psalm 27:13-14: “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.”

If earthly masters can provide for their servants, how can our heavenly Master who is seated on the throne fail? Psalm 123:1-2 boosts confidence in God: “To Thee I lift up my eyes, O Thou who art enthroned in the heavens! Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress; so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until He shall be gracious to us.”

To those who are faint from fatigue, are discouraged and ready to give up, Isaiah 40:30-31 encourages: “Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.”

Hopes get dashed when the waiting seems endless. Hence, human intervention often pre-empts God's intervention. Our quick-fix solutions draw us to the threshold of trouble. Take the case of Abraham, who waited for 25 long years before the fulfillment of God's promise a son in his old age with his barren wife. The odds grew greater as the years progressed. With wavering faith and increasing impatience, he and wife Sarah manipulated the situation by resorting to human means to have a child, resulting in the birth of an illegitimate son, Ishmael, by the maidservant. Thus, we need to learn the following principles about waiting and blessing:

1. We must wait for God's timing and will. Unless we wait, we will never see God's wonderful plans unravel before our eyes. Some accounts in the Bible show us how God orchestrates events to accomplish His divine will at the proper time:

Joseph, at 17 years old, was young and inexperienced. Yet he received from God a vision in his dream about his place of honor. Sold as a slave to foreign traders, and later imprisoned based on false testimony, his dream could be interpreted by observers as mere hallucination. But God sent him to the “School of Hard Knocks” for 13 years to hone his skills and learn the ropes of proper administration. Domestic household management in Potiphar's employ prepared him for handling national affairs including the national economy. Joseph's character was also strengthened in the process. In learning to keep the Lord's ways, he learned to be detached from the attractions accompanying power (e.g. fleeing from the temptation of Potiphar's wife). He was maligned for being a principled man, and was thrown into prison for it, yet he took it all in stride. While there, he developed the ability to relate with difficult people like hardened criminals. It was also in jail that he got the right connection to Pharaoh, who lifted him up and bestowed him with an appointment to the most powerful position as Prime Minister of Egypt, the most powerful nation at that time. (See Genesis 37:2-8; 39:1-10, 20-22; 41:41-43, 46.)

David was anointed king at a tender age, but was made to wait for more than 15 years before he could finally sit on the throne. His initial training was in tending sheep before he could lead a nation; to fight Goliath so he could lead an army and fight many fierce battles; to submit to the authority of King Saul so that others would recognize his authority when his time came. Because he waited for God's timing, he found favor in the sight of God, replacing Saul as king. (See 1 Samuel 16:11, 13; 2 Samuel 5:4.)

Moses' 40 years in the wilderness may seem like a period of uselessness, but this was God's school of solitude and obscurity that turned Moses into a thing of usefulness. As he waited on God's step-by-step guidance, Moses was empowered to deliver the people of Israel out of Egypt's slavery. (See Acts 7:22-23, 29-30; Exodus 7:7.)

2. We forfeit God's blessing when we fail to wait. Why settle for less when we can have the best? Worse, in our quest for immediate satisfaction, we blow our chance to receive God's blessing and end up with nothing. Saul was told by God to wait, but because he doubted whether help would come, he acted on his own, as a result of which, he lost favor in the sight of God, shortening his term and cutting off his family line to the throne (See 1 Samuel 10:18; 1 Samuel 13:8-14). Esau, because he couldn't wait to gratify the desire of his flesh, committed the mistake of selling his birthright for a mere bowl of soup. Regret came later when the blessing of the firstborn son was transferred to Jacob, the younger brother (Genesis 25:29-34; Hebrews 12:16).

3. We must wait patiently. Repentance and salvation these are two things that can't wait. “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). “At the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I helped you; behold, now is 'the acceptable time,' behold, now is 'the day of salvation”' (2 Corinthians 6:2).

There are certain things that would rather wait because God withholds it until a later yet better time. The Lord has nothing but good reasons for requiring us to wait. Waiting is not inactivity, but should bring us to our knees in prayer and spur us to faithfully follow and obey God.

Through prayer (Psalm 123:1-2) and with trust in God's Word (Psalm 130:5), we can endure for righteousness' sake rather than suffer the consequences of passing pleasures (Hebrews 11:25), with hope in our hearts for Christ's appearing (2 Timothy 4:8). These enable us to wait patiently: “...in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Tim. 4:8).

The pressures of earthly life may be bearing down on us, and relief may be what we're groaning for. We may have been praying for something but nothing seems to be happening. Nevertheless, in agreement to Psalm 130:5, we may say: “I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope.” God will not disappoint those who wait for Him, for He is faithful, and nothing is too difficult for Him. In the end, we will prove that we have not waited in vain.

Date given: 21 May 2006
Date issued: 28 May 2006
Speaker: Ptr. Peter Tanchi

A SOULFUL RELATIONSHIP by Rev. Ronald McFadden

If you're not married yet, share this with a
friend. If you are married
(ABE), share it with your spouse or other married
couples and reflect on
it. An African proverb states, "Before you get
married, keep both eyes
open, and after you marry, close one eye."

Before you get involved and make a commitment to
someone, don't let lust, desperation, immaturity,
ignorance, pressure from others or a low
self-esteem, make you blind to warning signs. Keep
your eyes open, and don't fool yourself that you
can change someone or that what you see as faults
aren't really important.


Once you decide to commit to someone, over time,
his or her flaws,
vulnerabilities, pet peeves, and differences will
become more obvious. If
you love your mate and want the relationship to
grow and evolve, you've
got to learn to close one eye and not let every
little thing bother you.

You and your mate have many different
expectations, emotional needs,
values, dreams, weaknesses, and strengths. You
are two unique individual children of God who have
decided to share a life together. Neither of you
are perfect, but are you perfect for each other?
Do you bring out the best in each other? Do you
compliment and compromise with each other, or do
you compete, compare, and control? What do you
bring to the relationship? Do you bring past
relationships, past hurt, past mistrust, past
pain? You can't take someone to the altar to alter
him or her. You can't make someone love you or
make someone stay.

If you develop self-esteem, spiritual
discernment, and "a life", you won't
find yourself making someone else responsible for
your happiness or
responsible for your pain. Manipulation, control,
jealousy, neediness, and selfishness are not the
ingredients of a thriving, healthy, loving and
lasting relationship! Seeking status, sex, wealth,
and security are the
wrong reasons to be in a relationship. What keeps
a relationship strong? Communication, intimacy,
trust, a sense of humor, sharing household tasks,
some getaway time without business or
children and daily exchanges (a meal, shared
activity, a hug, a call, a
touch, a note). Leave a nice message on the
voicemail or send a nice
email.

Sharing common goals and interests. Growth is
important. Grow together, not away from each
other, giving each other space to grow without
feeling insecure. Allow your mate to have outside
interest. You can't always be together. Give each
other a sense of belonging and assurances of
commitment. Don't try to control one another.
Learn each other's family situation. Respect his
or her parents regardless. Don't put pressure on
each other for material goods. Remember for richer
or for poorer. If these qualities are missing,
the relationship will erode as resentment,
withdrawal, abuse, neglect, dishonesty, and pain
replace the passion.

The difference between 'United' and 'Untied' is
where you put the I.





We all take different paths in life, but no matter
where we go, we
take a little of each other everywhere!

Failure is God's own tool for carving some of the
finest outlines in
the character of his children.------

Have you read The Da Vinci Code? Have you seen the movie? Are you planning on either reading or watching it? Curious? Well, just be careful. Curiosity can kill, you know. It can kill your faith if you are not well grounded on the Word.

Many people are afraid to read or watch The Da Vinci Code, because they believe that their faith might falter. It can do damage if you will believe every detail in a book which was written as FICTION. But let's say you forget that it's fiction, or you didn't know that it is... The most important thing you should know is that you should be sure of what you are believing in. Is your faith well grounded? Let me share what I have learned from my devotion tonight...

STANDING ON A FIRM FOUNDATION

READ | Isaiah 52:7; Romans 10:15

When was the last time that you had a Bible study on the topic of feet? In all likelihood, you haven’t ever had such a lesson. In fact, you might even be squeamish at the thought of focusing on feet! The apostle Paul, however, was not. He made feet a focal point of one of his most enduring, powerful messages: the discussion in Ephesians 6:10-18 about the armor of God. In case you missed it in your reading of today’s passage, let’s take a closer look.

Four times in four verses (vv. 11-14 NIV), Paul declares that the purpose of the armor— the value in putting it on piece by piece—lies in its ability to help us “stand,” “stand against the devil’s schemes,”“stand [our] ground,” and “stand firm.”And of course,Paul’s list of armor would not be complete without the sandals of peace mentioned in verse 15.

Clearly, he was concerned with our feet! The Roman soldier’s sandals had an oftenoverlooked feature: a long spike at the heel of the shoe. Its purpose was to allow the warrior to plant his feet firmly in the ground when an opponent approached.With his feet secured in this way, the soldier had an obvious advantage: he would be able to stand his ground.This part of his uniform enabled him to keep his footing even as he faced the danger.

That is precisely what the heavenly Father wants for every one of His children: the ability to stand firm in the face of troubles. This is possible, however, only when we plant our feet on a firm foundation—the foundation of faith in Jesus Christ.Is your faith well grounded?

Honestly, there's nothing to be afraid of if you know that your God is the only God Who is alive and kicking.