holding on to God's promise

"but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint."
-Isaiah 40:31

Last Song Syndrome

Hide me now
Under your wings
Cover me
within your mighty hand

When the oceans rise and thunders roar
I will soar with you above the storm
Father you are king over the flood
I will be still and know you are God

Find rest my soul
In Christ alone
Know his power
In quietness and trust

Amazed...

I received a bad news early this morning. It was few hours pa after nung mag-sink in sa akin na bad news pa la yun! Hehe... I'm on Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) for the next 30 days due to the Quality Scores last month, I only got 83.33% when I'm supposed to have met the target goal of 85%.

It was okay for me kasi I know that I got too relaxed with my stats at hindi tlga ako yung tipo na masyadong conscious. But then, when my team mate (na na-PIP rin) told me na we would not qualify for monthly incentive... ayun na nga, shocks! I have a tuition fee na kailangang pondohan! I texted my mom, sabi ko sa kanya for sure the normal salary I'm getting will decrease and I might be short with my monthly budget!

But the Lord is really good! He started showing His goodness to me through Mama when she replied:

"That's the price of getting involved in ministry. That's the time din to see how God is able to provide for ALL your needs. Read Isaiah 43:1-11 He promised to be there kahit ano pa daanan mo."

And so Isaiah 43 says...

"1 But now, this is what the LORD says—
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.

3 For I am the LORD, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
Cush [a] and Seba in your stead.

4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
and because I love you,
I will give men in exchange for you,
and people in exchange for your life.

5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
I will bring your children from the east
and gather you from the west.

6 I will say to the north, 'Give them up!'
and to the south, 'Do not hold them back.'
Bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the ends of the earth-

7 everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made."

8 Lead out those who have eyes but are blind,
who have ears but are deaf.

9 All the nations gather together
and the peoples assemble.
Which of them foretold this
and proclaimed to us the former things?
Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right,
so that others may hear and say, "It is true."

10 "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD,
"and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor will there be one after me.

11 I, even I, am the LORD,
and apart from me there is no savior."

And when I get home, I just prayed... and cried! I was doing my devotion when I received a call from P. Chris, to remind me of something, tapos ewan ko paano nya na-sense, but I think, it was God who gave him that sense or gut-feel, when he asked me "oh bakit parang malungkot ka?" I just told him I'm doing my devotion nga.

After the call from P. chris, I browsed through my notes, sa journal ko and I saw this line "Whatever you are going through right now, the Lord knows it!" a note from Pstr. Lito last friday during the Crossover Leader's Fellowship. And then it was followed by a passage from 1 Timothy 6:12:

"Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses."

My baby Mich asked me to pray for her last night, for her shift, at sa benta nya to be able to maintain her stats... The morning came and it ended up na hindi nya na-meet yung quota for number of sales. But then I am blessed by how she responded to it. I shared to her my bad news and also ask her to pray for me eto naman yung reply nya- "We are being tested tlaga...I'll pray that God will continue to bestow blessings upon u..."

Another manifestation from Mommy Bibeth, when she texted me- "..are you alright now? I'm praying for you, take care. Mwah!" without me even telling her about the bad news... It was after that text when I shared to her my burden.

And then I went to sleep na...

I'm am taking calls (sa office na 'to around 12am) when I felt the urge to check if I have a message in my phone, and yes there was! Eto yung pinaka-nagpaiyak tlga sa akin eh.. the message goes like this- "I dont know what's happening with you right now, don't know how all your work is going, but God brought you to my mind right now and I thought O'd pray for you. Lean on Christ always. Stay strong in the lord. You're in my prayers. -Mark". Nung una akala ko kung sino, medyo bago ko palang kasi syang na-isave sa phonebook ko, kaya nung mag-first-15min break ako I read the message again, at naiyak talga ako!

Haha, eto na naman... grabeng nakakatuwa bumawi si God sa akin through those people... I fell so blessed despite of that bad news, I mean ang bilis bumawi ni God kahit nalulungkot ako ngayon He brought people around me to make me feel na He knows nga what I'm going through... And so as the song goes, I will be STILL and know you are God...

I will fight the good fight to bring glory to His name. Amazing God talga Sya! (--,)

Bunso prayed for Ate

It has been a joy for me to pray for people (well, most of them are people from the call center ministry), basta nakaramdaman ako ng urge to pray for someone, I'd approach him or her and pray for them... Common for our baby christians in gcf CONNECT at yung mga first time guests namin kailangan tlga ipag-pray ko sila before sila umuwi, hindi ako mapalagay eh. And ayun nga, I consider that a privilege and a blessing...

But then Sunday night, I went home and felt like I want to be prayed for! Hindi kasi ako tumayo during Pastoral Prayer eh, all along I thought magiging okay ako at the end of that day. Pero hindi pla, before I went home may isang bagay na nakapag-paiinis sa akin at medyo iniyakan ko... Hehe! Pero okay na yun ngayon!

Monday after noon, I was reading a book before going to sleep (because I have shift at 11pm)... Lumabas ako ng kwarto at pinuntahan si Bunso (Majar), I asked him to pray for me. I told him two of my major prayer concern:

1. I'm broken hearted over something from way back (not to long ago pero from way back last year) and that God is dealing with me so that I may deal with it.

2. My good dillema over someone, someone that I have been praying for. I need the affirmation of peace to be complete so that I may discern if this is really God's will or not.

So ayun, nakakatuwa si Bunso kasi medyo naglulugaw daw ang utak nya...At medyo nagulantang sya na bigla-bigla na lang akong nagpa-pa-pray, hehe! So ayun, he read me a passage before praying for me:

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

-2 Peter 1:3-11

Actually, hindi ko na-absorb nung binasa nya sa akin kasi nga antok na antok na ako. So kinuha ko bible nya at binasa ko ulet... Hehe, sori hndi ko pa din na-absorb! It was just tinight that I am able to get what the passage, and what Majar is trying to tell me!

And I'm just so thankful that God used my bunsong kapatid... I'm just happy that I can count on him (Majar) to pray for me kapag mga ganung on-the-spot instances. Magiging Pastor yun eh! Joke lang... Love you bunso! (--,)