In Quietness, In His Presence

I read Psalm 131 tonight. And I felt my heart speaking the verses. For quite a while, being calm and quiet has been my weapon in facing certain things in my life. It's not because I'm afraid but because I chose to submit to the Lord. Right now, all I want is just to enjoy my walk with Jesus. And at this time, it is a walk of quietness and stillness with Him.

My heart is not proud, Lord,

    my eyes are not haughty; 

I do not concern myself with great matters 

    or things too wonderful for me. 

But I have calmed and quieted myself, 

    I am like a weaned child with its mother;

    like a weaned child I am content.

Israel, put your hope in the Lord

    both now and forevermore.

I don't know why. But I'm starting to get poetic lately. I just usually express myself through my journal, pouring out everything. But lately, God inspired me to be poetic. :) He certainly does! So, I'll just grab it while the bubble is there. :) I got inspired reading those verses that I made a few lines of mine.

In the midst of clamor,

I chose calmness.

For my mind to ease

and my heart to rest.

In Your Presence, O God

my soul finds peace.

What else would I ask,

when you are enough?

28: Career Choices

My first job is still my current job. After I graduated from college, I immediately looked for a job that suited my degree. And gratefully, God gave me the best job. I can't believe that I'll be turning 7 years in the company this August. I remembered I was about to give up when I thought that nothing great was going to happen in my career. Then, all of a sudden, opportunities came, just at the right time. Talking about God's timing. :)


There are times that I would think about trying other companies and seeking better opportunities but I really never do anything about it. I never submitted any resumes or even deliberately look for jobs. Those were just spur of the moments. But not until I got back from Canada. I was opened to a lot of options. And my desire to work abroad grew. Actually, I got a change of heart because I never wanted to work abroad before. 


But right now, I'm not yet sure if this is what God wants for me. It would take a lot to actually leave my current job because I still enjoy what I do and now having the chance to really mentor a team, it would also be a lost privilege for me. When there was a door for me to go back to Canada, I wanted to take control and push it. But I didn't. I trusted God. Because I believe that no one could ever hinder His plans. It was a great opportunity but God knows what's really best for me. 


Just this week, I posted my updated resume to job sites and I received some responses through email and even got a phone call. I wasn't expecting any of it. And I actually felt scared. I'm not sure if I would even be qualified or if I'll even pass the interviews. It was the same feeling when I was looking for a job for the first time. I'm not even sure if it's even the right thing to do for now.


I was very much encouraged with the message today. Practicing God's presence. This is what I really need to do more than anything else. To be able to hear God clearly and know His will for me, I need to be in His presence constantly. I got so focused thinking what are the next steps I need to do instead of focusing on God. More than anything else, I need to understand the heart of God for my career. Why, what and where? And make it the desire of my heart as well.

^{Hebrews 13:5}

 Keep your lives free from the love of money and 

be content with what you have, because God has said,

“Never will I leave you;

  never will I forsake you.”

Knowing that God will never leave me no matter what, I just have to wait and be still.

Being Cautious

Today, I had some thinking of what had happened for the past days, on people that I'd interacted with.  


Then, I was reminded by God of this verse -  “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’" (Matthew 25:40)


And, it was like an ouch! Many times I forget that what I do or say to someone, I'm doing it to the Lord. And I feel bad thinking about it. I tend to forget that God also cares for the people around me. If they get hurt because of what I do, God feels the same hurt for them. I realize how insensitive I am on how God would feel towards my words and actions.


I'm not perfect and I know I've hurt people without me knowing it. I hope that they will forgive me for it. I pray that in every person that I would talk to, I would see Jesus in them. That way, I will be more careful with what I do and say. I know it's never easy especially if pride or selfishness will try to take over. I just have to look up, continue looking UP.

Duty or Delight? - Week 6

I finished week 6 on the second week of July. Going through all the sessions had really helped me big time. Week 6 talked about victory. It was a reminder for me that no matter what, I have been victorious when I received the Lord Jesus in my life. He has won all the battles even the future ones for me. I just have to live that victorious life.

As I close this journey, I could not really show how God has really been amazing for the past months in my life. But, really, He has been. I am overwhelmed. It had been an interesting ride. It was journey that I had to walk alone with God and it was a life changing one.

Now, I continue my life looking forward to more interesting journeys.

I just want to leave again this verse, Psalm 37:4
"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart."

Always, always delight in the Lord. :)

Duty or Delight? - Week 4

There were three important things I noted in my journal which I believed God wanted me to be reminded of.


Rely
Pruning
Repentance


During this week 4 journey, I re-examined my self on how much have I been relying in the Holy Spirit.  It's sad that most of the time, I don't.  Especially when things seem to be so easy to control, I just go on, on my own. I realized how much blessings I missed of not continuously relying in the Helper.  I'm just grateful that the Holy Spirit never stopped knocking at my heart and made me see that I need Him in my day to day. 


Are you familiar with how the branches of the grape vine are being pruned? Do you know that Jesus figuratively called us the branches, as He is the vine? When we started bearing bad fruits, the gardener who is God will start pruning us so that we will start again bearing good fruits. I'm in a pruning period right now. There are just a lot of things that God has been dealing with me lately. The process of pruning is never delightful but always painful. But, you know what? Jesus is the vine. No matter what, He will hold us together.


And part of pruning is constant repentance. That's why we need the Holy Spirit. Someone who will always remind us and help us resist in going back to our old self. It's never easy. I can attest to that. I'm still a work in progress also. But, we should never give up and just continue to find strength in God to overcome temptations. Repentance is also a day to day thing.


When you plant something, do you check from time to time the condition of your plant? Or if it bears fruit, do you check if it is a good fruit? One thing I always forget to do in my Christian walk is inspecting my crops. What are the condition of my fruits? Are they pleasing to God? I pray that I will learn to inspect. It's also a way for me to  see if what I've been doing have been glorifying to God or just simply pleasing myself.


"Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while— yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter." 2 Cor 7:8-11

Duty or Delight? - Week 3

When you are so down to the mouth, it's really comforting and encouraging when you are reminded of God's character and of who He really is in your life. If you will agree, it is really when we have adversities in our life that we come to know Him more in a very personal way. 


Since week 3 of my D or D journey, I have started praying the same prayer Paul had for the Ephesians. 


"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints..." - Ephesians 1:17-18


Are you always amazed of God's faithfulness? I am. Everyday. Every end of the day, I would just look back and wonder how I survived that day without grumbling. I can't help but praise God and thank Him for His faithfulness that no matter what, He will sustain me. But what amazes me more? - God's faithfulness even if we grumble or disobey Him. I'm just glad that He is not like us. He always keeps His promises even if we are unfaithful to Him. Remember the story of Israel? 


I remembered one blog that I read saying that I am not that powerful to influence how another person would behave. Well, it's true. We never have the power to change or transform a person. Only God could do that. And we could only be transformed through His Son, Jesus Christ. Why do we need Jesus? Because God knows that no matter what, we will continue to disobey Him. There's nothing we can do to live up to His standard and that's why He made a way for us. I'm just glad that God made a new covenant. How about you?


I want to share these verses to you: Ezekiel 36:26, Psalm 86:11, Jeremiah 32:39. I hope you'll look them up. They all have one thing in common - heart. Do you know why God said in Prov 4:23 that above all things, we should guard our heart? Because He also said that the heart is deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9). That's why it is important that we always walk in God's protection. It is only in Him that we will have the strength to truly guard our heart. But what if you're heart right now is shattered? I suggest you look up those verses. God can give you a new heart. Isn't that amazing?


Because God always protects us, He will always hold us together even if we really wanted to just give up. He will never let go. Jesus is described as the chief cornerstone because He is the foundation of the church. He unites us all. He is the Rock that will never be destroyed by any force. Are you standing on the strongest Rock? If not, you might want to throw that rock. It's never too late.


One of the things I really struggle with is memorizing verses in the Bible. It's really good that we have a weapon that we could use to defend when the enemy attacks us. Jesus promised us the Holy Spirit. In John 14:26, Jesus said, "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." The Holy Spirit will always remind us even the verses that we thought we don't know to overcome any temptation. 


If you will be asked what is your greatest inheritance, what would your answer be? How about God? The one who chose you before the creation of the world, who redeemed you by sacrificing His Son, who remains faithful, who transforms and protects you, who strengthens you. God is my greatest inheritance and no one could ever take that from me.

i picked up this rock at english bay so that i will be reminded 

WHO I am standing on

one fine day

Yesterday, I felt so blessed for being able to spend time with myself alone. It was what I really needed. And, I want to take you on how my Sunday turned out to be a one fine day.

this is a flower at our front yard, ready to bloom for summer :)

It was a sunny day so instead of calling a cab going to train station, I decided to walk to the bus stop and took a bus going to the sky train. Sometimes, I wouldn't feel like walking because the road is steep going to the bus stop. Good thing it was sunny. Great time to walk. Below is the street near the bus stop.

I attended worship service at Coastal Church in Vancouver downtown. The message was the last of the series, Intriguing Women.  It was about the most intriguing woman in the Bible, Eve. After the service, I ate lunch at Tropika because I was craving for their Indonesian spring roll - it's stuffed with veggies and chicken and coated with nuts. Yum! Then, I ordered a combination meal comprise of chicken satay, sweet and sour pork and veggies with tofu. 

It was good that I had a fully loaded lunch. Because I had a very long walk after. I walked going to Stanley Park from Robson street and took some pictures along the way. A lot of people were out because of the nice weather. Sunny day here is an opportunity to go out that's why everyone grabs it. Some were strolling like me, others rented bikes and others were just hanging out on different spots. Here are some of the photos I took.

I've been to Stanley Park for how many times but I've never enjoyed the view as much as I did yesterday. I was able to savor every pretty site I can see.  And finally, I've arrived at my destination. The English Bay. I've been imagining for how many days already to just sit on the grass, listen to the sound of the bay, feel the air and enjoy the sun. And, all of it happened. I was able to relax and enjoy God in a very special way.

    by the way, i just love my sandals! my aunt gave those to me when i visited Chicago and I just really had the chance to wear them now that it's spring :)

Time's up and I had to go back to do some grocery. It was a long walk back to the train station that I just needed to stop by and grab something cold. DQ was what I had in mind and DQ I had filled my tummy. Oh, the car in the left. That's a classic! The first time I was here in Canada, I've seen that already and now, it's still there, never fading. 

What a perfect fine day, right? :) If you haven't done this, I hope you would have the time too. It's a perfect time to just clear your mind and listen to God.