Category: SANCTIFICATION

Scriptural Readings: John 1:1, 29, Proverbs 16:1-4

What comes to our minds when we hear the word obedience? We always have in our mind the word following. Right? Is obeying difficult? As we grow old, it seems that this word isn’t easy to do. Once we start to pursue things, we end up with difficulties. Even with the help of modern technology, we complain a lot rather than obey.


The world that we live in continuously opposing our spiritual being. The bible warned us about these things. It is really with hardships that we have to live the Christian way. There are three ways we follow. First, our way. Second evil’s way, and the third, God’s way. If it is our way, everything will end up with a lot of complaints and questions. If it’s the evil way, we will arrive with the opposite of our expectations, and of course, God’s way. There is no other way how to live our lives but to attain a Christ-like manner of living.


John 1:1

King James Version

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.


New Living Translation

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.


Obedience is synonymous with conformity. One thing that we have to understand, however, is the application and the results. As Christians, we are to obey, and later on, exactly to become what God has planned for us. A lot of Christians today are obedient but not conformed to the standards God has set for us. We missed the things God has prepared for us.

Christianity is all about the invincible and invisible God made Himself available to us through Jesus Christ. He conformed into a human to make sure will not enter and suffer eternal damnation. When the Word became flesh, it was obedience. Obedience to conformity is the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Obedience to death by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ brought us back to God’s original plan.



John 1:29

King James Version

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.


New Living Translation

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!


We have to be aware of everything regarding our spiritual lives. If we are not going to do these things, we will surely miss something. The death of Jesus on Calvary took away the sin, the root cause why we commit sins, and the guilt God imputed to us. It means that we must reckon dead on loving to commit sins, and above all, when we face God, He sees Jesus, not us. He will not hold us accountable for all the sins we committed. We are not guilty of anything. Jesus paid the price.


Proverbs 16:1-3


King James Version


v.1 The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, from the LORD.

v.2 All the ways of a man clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.

v.3 Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.



New Living Translation

v.1 We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives the right answer.

v.2 People may be pure in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their motives.

v.3 Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.


First, by grace, we are saved. God can continue His plan for us. Salvation has to come first. Second, by obeying Him, we are doing His will as He commanded so. As we abide and conform to His will, He is going to reveal His divine plan. A plan that we will be thrilled about working on. A perfect plan filled with His will and the life we are searching for in this chaotic world. The works He will be giving us would surely be thrilling for us.

The bottom line is, we can never miss God. He promised not to leave us nor forsake us. He is all-powerful and can provide us everything we need. He knows everything about us. We can trust Him. Obeying God is the transforming power that we need in our lives. The moment we entered into the path God has for us, we will know fully what the word success is all about with no doubts and full of confidence.

Obedience starts by trusting and having a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He took care of our salvation, gave us eternal life and security because he obeyed God our Father, and this is what He wants us precisely to do. We will never have a carefree life. We will still be having insecurities, miseries even if we have all the riches in this world. We suffer these things because it is our fault, and to remedy these things, God sent His son for us to obey Him.

It can be true that we are obeying His will, but sometimes we still entertain doubts that cause the slowing down of His plan. Another thing why we do not have progress is that we might be operating on some other things. Remember that we are to commit our actions to the Lord so that our plans will succeed. It is always to be His plan, not ours.

Scriptural Readings: Romans 6:23, II Corinthians 4:10, Romans 6:11

Romans 6:23

King James Version

For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.


New Living Translation

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

For some, it is a little bit creepy just to hear the word death, and for some, they are not comfortable talking about it. However, it is a fact that all of us must face. Many things will come to our minds when we think about this word. One of them might be a question of what happens next after death? With all the arguments and theories about this word, we cannot help ourselves but confront this question.

We may all agree on one meaning of death. However, have we given a lot of thought to what would be the consequences of being dead? Being dead simply means there is no communication. Is it a good thing not to have a connection? One might be thinking that it is a lot better to have peace rather than living in a chaotic world. But what about what the bible says? For Christians, we have to know the spiritual essence of death. Is death a reward or a punishment?

“I am dead.” is a usual response when we think that we are in trouble. Although we do not mean it literally, we know that we will be in a state of silence, spending a lot of time thinking about how to get rid of our problems. It may seem to be a cliche, but the bible is very clear about us being in trouble with our sinful nature if we are not going to get rid of this. We will surely die, a spiritual death that will separate us from our God. Separation from God drawing the line between the truth of everlasting life with God and eternal damnation of suffering in hell.


II Corinthians 4:10

King James Version

Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.


New Living Translation

Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.


Death can be an ugly word, but in Christianity, it is a foundation for spiritual essence. Understanding death shows a clear picture of what kind of spiritual life a Christian has. A Christian life dies every day. It is a truth that we must embrace to glorify our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We share the death of our Lord so that others will see the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But one may ask, what is the significance of this in the temporal world? We live in a world filled with uncertainties, and whether we like it or not, we are eaten alive. We have no idea how to survive without worries. These things are killing us in a daily manner.


Romans 6:11

King James Version

Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.


New Living Translation

So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.


The difference in the Christian world is that we suffer and die to gain spiritual maturity despite the threat of physical death. Our spiritual lives are elevated to a more divine status when we share the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ. The spiritual defeats the temporal world, leaving only the truth, freedom from sinful nature. Peace and contentment will reside in our mortal bodies once we conquered the state of craving more temporal things. In Christian life, this is the essence of spiritual death. The more that we get interested in spiritual things, the lesser we crave more material things. We consider and put in our minds to be dead to the power of sin, and we come alive to God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is of utmost significance that we must consider ourselves dead that we might not communicate with our sinful nature and be aware only of the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Scriptural Readings: I Corinthians 6:1-2, Romans 14:17-18, Galatians 5:22-26


King James Version


I Corinthians 6:1-2

v.1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?

v.2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?



New Living Translation

v.1 When one of you has a dispute with another believer, how dare you file a lawsuit and ask a secular court to decide the matter instead of taking it to other believers!

v.2 Don’t you realize that someday we believers will judge the world? And since you are going to judge the world, can’t you decide even these little things among yourselves?


Life itself is a big question. To make a strong foundation and continue, questions must be answered to succeed. However, we have to consider a lot of things, and one of them is our differences. The secular world is entirely different from the spiritual realm which sometimes opposes each other, and this is where the trouble starts. We settle our differences without knowing which is secular and spiritual. We can compromise our differences, however, sometimes the most comfortable for us to meet halfway are making more complicated solutions, taking us more into arguments resulting in emotional imbalances.


Hatred exists and is a part of us, and sometimes this is the cause of our differences. Our Lord Jesus Christ tells us that we must not have hatred. The bible is clear about this. We have to live a holy life. How are we going to do this?



King James Version

Romans 14:17-18

v.17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

v.18 For he that in these things serveth Christ [is] acceptable to God, and approved of men.


New Living Translation

v.17 For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

v.18 If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too.


The kingdom of God is a spiritual realm. In the spiritual world, eating and drinking are not a necessity. All things coming from His domain are good and can never be wrong. Compared to the secular world, where we always have a point of argument. We have to separate spiritual from secular.

Verse 17 shows us the two worlds. The secular world represents eating and drinking, while the spiritual world tells us what the Holy Spirit produces in us. We must be able to know the spiritual essence. As soon as we get to know what the Lord is saying, what happens next is we grow and mature spiritually. Furthermore, the secular world and its issues are unveiled and exposed when the spiritual essence comes to our spiritual senses, telling us what attitude we must be having. Verse 18 now tells us we are the servant of Jesus Christ with the attitude God Himself bestowed on us, pleasing both for Him and men living in the secular world.


King James Version

Galatians 5:22-26


v.22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

v.23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

v.24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

v.25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

v.26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.


New Living Translation

Galatians 5:22-26


v.22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

v.23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

v.24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.

v.25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.

v.26 Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.


Our lives are filled with questions in the secular world-embracing laws, worldly attitudes that lead us to an unending life of miseries and uncertainties, and above all, lack of faith in God. We are God’s children, a co-heir with Jesus Christ. When Jesus died on the cross, He nailed all those passions, desires of our sinful nature(the old man in us)to His cross, so that our lives must conform and fit in the spiritual realm where God’s kingdom is. We are now living in the spirit, and we must walk in the spirit. In the secular world where we are helpless, crippled, and defeated, in the spiritual world, we are powerful. The moment we walk in the spirit, God will empower us. Our lives will be transformed fitted to that what God had planned. The fruit(take note, not fruits)of the Holy Spirit will be produced in us, as promised, living a victorious life in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Alleluia!

Scriptural Readings:  John 4:5-24

In making decisions, we sometimes have confusion, and this is natural and normal. Advantages and disadvantages are overwhelming. The human laws and principles that we believe and guide us are another thing added to the difficulties in making one conclusion. But then again, we have to make a choice. 

King James Version

John 4 

v.5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

v.6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with [his] journey, sat thus on the well: [and] it was about the sixth hour.

v.7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.

v.8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)

v.9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

v.10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

New Living Translation

John 4 

v.5 Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

v.6 Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime.

v.7 Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.”

v.8 He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.

v.9 The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”

v.10 Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”

“If you only knew …. 

What is happening today for most of us Christians is to miss entirely what our Lord Jesus Christ is telling us. The answer of Jesus “If you only knew… means we have no idea of what we are doing, or we miss entirely what He wants us to know and do. We tend to see His response to us is in a worldly view and manner. Just like the woman, her response is about the relationship between Jews and  Samaritans which refers to her beliefs and norms in life which are natural and can be wrong or right. All of us, one way or the other experienced this. So, what happens, we become confused, frustrated, and later on, refuse or accept the options with uncertainties given to us. Right?

What matters is the spiritual essence! What Jesus is telling the woman obviously is spiritual, but she sees it in a worldly view and its consequences. Most of us Christians see the way the Samaritan lady sees. We have seen the answer as the world sees it, giving us a lot of questions, making our lives more miserable, leaving behind the most important thing the spiritual essence. 

King James Version

v.11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?

v.12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

New Living Translation

v.11 “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water?

v.12 And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?”

This is another situation. Still holding on to her worldly views, she asked Jesus if He has some things to get the living water from the very deep well, and even dared to ask Him if He can offer better than their ancestor Jacob? Isn’t that sometimes, we asked for bigger things from God so that we will also share bigger things? Sounds logical? Right? Are there any spiritual essences? Let us not make decisions quickly. Let God be the judge.

King James Version

v.13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

v.14  But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

New Living Translation

v.13 Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again.

v.14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

Jesus will never stop until we get the whole idea. He will continue until we get it right, and with no doubt. His instructions will flow in our spirit, soul, and body as we continue learning His words and live spiritually. 

King James Version

v.15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

v.16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.

v.17  The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:

v.18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.

v.19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.

v.20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

v.21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

v.22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

v.23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

v.24 God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.

New Living Translation

v.15 “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”

v.16 “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her.

v.17 “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband—

v.18 for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!”

v.19 “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet.

v.20 So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?”

v.21 Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem.

v.22 You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews.

v.23 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.

v.24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

Finally, Jesus has to make things for us, as always. For the woman to get the spiritual message, Jesus made her know who she is, and so do we. We have to go to the very core of what life is. Jesus the son of the living God, tells us who we are and what must be done. God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”  Approaching God is not impossible. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit! We can exalt God at any time and in any place. We are not restricted to a place or a time limit to praise and glorify Him. As we pray and worship Him in truth, confusion and uncertainties disappear from us. They will be replaced with truth and confidence. All glory to our God and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Scriptural Readings: Romans 9:31-33, John 3:3-7, Romans 8:35-39

We can all be well aware of our time, but considering and completely comprehending its value, most of us might probably respond that I am dumb not to know it. The question is are we sure about it? We think we already have completed the right timing on everything, only to find out that we are frustrated and gravely mistaken. Countless times we ask ourselves, why is it we always arrive at a response to “what went wrong?” This is a fact! We cannot deny this.

Our problem is not only finding the right and true-time but the right and the true value of time. We always insist that we have the most valued time working for us, but the truth is we are occupied by our own unsure, filled with uncertainties and unproductive time. We are unaware and have been wasting the true valued time which is not ours. As the result, we look for the right and true valued time. We cannot find it because we lack the wisdom and guidance from our God.

King James version

Romans 9:31-33

v.31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.

v.32 Wherefore? Because [they sought it] not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;

v.33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

New Living translation

v.31 But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded.

v.32 Why not? Because they were trying to get it right with God by keeping the law instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path.

v.33 God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said “ I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. But anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”

We are not entirely different from them. The thing that we have to consider is the time that we spend too much on everything doing it by ourselves, and not by trusting God! We stumble on the stumblingblock we made, and this time, it is not God who made it. We make our stumbling blocks. We made them by not trusting God!

What usually happens when problems arise, we immediately look for possible answers. Answers which lead us to worldly views, and possibilities that contain bigger probabilities of wrong decisions and uncertainties. Because we see these problems would grow bigger and compounded, we tend to hit the panic button, and we look for worldly ways of solving these problems, with God at the end of our list. We go for the law of the basics on how to find and solve our problems using the world views, applying the normal rules.

As Christians, we are bought by the blood of Jesus Christ. So our time must be focused on what our Lord Jesus Christ is telling us, not the things we planned through our efforts. We have to go to and tap into our spiritual realm where God can meet us. This is the place and the true valued time exists. This is where we come to know the true value of time in which God Himself will tell us where we made mistakes, and He will give us everything we need. No doubt at all! This is the time we must be having!

King James version

John 3:3-7

v.3 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.

v.4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?

v.5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

v.6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

v.7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

New Living translation

John 3:3-7

v.3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

v.4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”

v.5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.

v.6 Humans can produce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.

v.7 So don’t be surprised when I say,“You must be born again.

Just like this guy Nicodemus, a Pharisee, who knows the scripture very well, and seeing things in a worldly view responded to Jesus how a man can be born again if he will not enter the mother’s womb for the second time. This of course is a scientific way of responding. The logical way. A way of understanding humans to know. He cannot see it as a spiritual response by our Lord Jesus. Why? It is because he is spiritually dead! Being born again is a spiritual experience. Accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior do not need to be a member of religion following certain rules. The moment we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, we are born spiritually. We are born again! We will be having a personal relationship with Him. His Spirit will dwell in us, together with the Holy Spirit. This is now a spiritual relationship. We come boldly to the throne of grace of our Father with no stumbling blocks. A relationship filled with spiritual essences.

We have to redeem the real-valued time. We have to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ! This is the right time we must be having. We have to go to the sanctuary where God is. Sanctuary is the place where God exists. When we were born again, we let Jesus Christ come into our lives! The Holy Spirit Whom our God the Father promised resides in us! Yes! all we have to do is to come to the throne of grace and talk to our Father.

King James version

Romans 8:35-39

v.35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? [shall] tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

v.36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

v.37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

v.38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

v.39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

New Living translation

Romans 8:35-39

v.35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?

v.36 (As the scripture say, ” For your sake we are killed every day; we are slaughtered like sheep.”)

v.37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

v.38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow-not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.

v.39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below-indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Even if there would be endless stumblingblocks, we must never stop declaring the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is why the apostle Paul said, who will separate us from the love of Christ? This is the result of being born again to the Kingdom of our God. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever(Hebrews 13:8). Together with the Holy Spirit, Jesus promised that He will not leave us nor forsake us(Hebrews 13:5).

Scriptural Readings: John 16:33, Romans 8:28-31, Romans 5: 1-5


King James Version

John 16

v.33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.


New Living Translation

John 16

v.33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth, you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

True enough, the self struggle continuously is still a major issue one thing humans cannot deny. Although given a lot of options, or perhaps remedies to deal with it. Still, it ends with uncertainties. We stick to the rule, “I can do this”, or “never say die.” The result is sometimes a success, but more than often, a total disaster. It is like trapped in quicksand, the more we move, the faster we sink.



King James Version

Romans 8

v.28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and called according to His purpose for them.

v.29 For God knew His people in advance, and he chose them to become like His Son, so that His Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

v.30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to Him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.

v.31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?


Of the many things that happened when we got saved, we knew that our human nature is the hindrance to our spiritual growth. As Christians, we knew what to do, however, we struggle because human nature intervenes. It is inevitable when we reached an unacceptable situation in our lives as Christians, we come to God everything to Him through prayers. However, our prayers sometimes end as a complaint. It should not be the case. We have to humble ourselves in His holy presence. Our Father knows exactly what we are going through.


The truth of the matter is that God tries to build us up by tearing down our human nature. Our problem is spiritual in nature. Instead of seeing things through spiritual matters, we deal with it through our human nature. We miss the whole point. The reason we end up confused and disappointed. God is a spirit, and so that He can reach us, it has to be through our spirit. We have to deal with our spirituality, or otherwise, it is going to be never-ending uncertainty to be carried out for the rest of our lives.


While our old habits, character, and dispositions(our old nature) will be torn down by God, the Holy Spirit this time is building us up. Let us put this in mind that God does the work alone! We struggle because we make sure that we do it by ourselves. We should stop looking for ways to deal with our struggles. God has committed Himself to tear down everything for us. He knows us from top to bottom, and from inside out. If things, including the environment, events happening in our lives seem to be uncooperative, and hopelessness is the only thing clear for us, we are completely wrong! God is in total control of everything. While the Holy Spirit is changing us, we have to see these things that make our lives miserable as faith builders. God let these things happen so we can focus our attention on Him. Not only God will guide us, but He will make decisions for us. For sure, God will create a godly character in us(the one we are looking for)and show the Christian way of living.


King James Version

Romans 5

v.1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

v.2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

v.3 And not only [so], but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

v.4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

v.5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.



New Living Translation

v.1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.

v.2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

v.3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.

v.4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.

v.5 And this hope will not leave to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.


For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.


Let us not complicate things happening in our lives. Jesus Christ has taken us to a place where we can never be deserving, a privilege to share God’s glory. Let God tear down these things that make it difficult for us to continue living, and let the Holy Spirit build and run our lives.

Scriptural Readings: Ecclesiastes 3:7, Psalm 37:7, Job 6:24, Ephesians 2:6-7



For so many obvious reasons a lot of us are currently living the most trying times in our lives. We continue to see and experience restlessness. From small scale to medium-scale and the most obvious larger scale. Our problems are compounded every day and it seems that these things will never come to an end. Is there a possibility that these things will one day be over? How long can we endure these things confronting us? Can we be able to reach the rest we want in this never and changing to the worst world we live in? The longer that it takes us to deal with it the shorter we are being pushed to the edge as if our entire being is a ticking time bomb.


King James bible

Ecclesiastes 3:7

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

Psalm 37:7

Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

Job 6:24

Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.

Of the many things that we surely and miss in our lives at this point is just to sit, rest, and listen to the holy things God is telling, teaching, and instructing us. Let God speak and we should sit patiently and remain in silence. It is about time that we should stop giving and executing humanly options in the first place(most of the time failing) but listen carefully to the divine instructions first and foremost. It is impossible to receive God’s instructions if we are filled up with our reasoning following our way of thinking and collaborating with our stubborn attitude of dealing with these things through our actions. These are the things that make us weak. This is the clearest error in our lives that is continually done in a daily manner. Sitting and resting on God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the only thing that can assure us from all these things that are making our lives miserable lifted from us.

Ephesians 2:6-7

v.6 And hath raised [us] up together, and made [us] sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus:

God made us sit with Jesus our Lord and Savior in heavenly places. Once we Christians are seated with Him it means that we have to rest with Him. The idea of sitting and seated with Him means He will do all the things needed by us firstly. When we are sitting down or lying down the pressure is not within us. It is transferred on the chair or bed where we are sitting or lying down. When we are tired we need to rest our physical body including our mental health. We should be having a time of rest. In a lying or sitting position, our whole being does not have to put any strain or force itself to rest. All the things that make it difficult for us are now transferred to the bed or the chair we are resting on. In the same way, it goes with our spiritual lives. We must rest and sit with our Lord Jesus Christ. Resting and sitting with Him means He has taken the burden from us and we are free and should be patiently waiting for His instructions and most especially His blessing for us. This is the divine rest that most of us are looking for and probably missing.

And I will give you rest

If we stand on our ground, trusting in our own beliefs, bearing anxiety, depression, and things that we carry on our shoulders as we face every day, sooner or later we are going to give up. Our man-made faith in believing that we can stand on our human ground is strong and will sooner or later crumble like cookies when uncertainties and problems pile up. We are going to admit that we cannot stand anymore. Do not hold back. We should not keep anything from Him. There should not be anything left inside from holding us back from Him. Jesus promised us rest. Stand on this promise. This is the ground we should be standing on. All these things that we keep holding on to, things that made it difficult to live one more day should be given to Him in exchange for our rest. He said He will give us the rest we needed. If we ask for it, He will give it.

v.7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in [his] kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

New Living Translation

v.7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Jesus Christ.

When we became Christians, accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour we were made to sit with Him in the heavenly places and this resulted in one of the many things that God promised us. God promised that He will show or point to us the incredible richness of His grace and kindness that in the future generations might see it as well. We are given this promise, yes, right at this very moment and no doubt about it. His grace and kindness in abundance were given to us today that can displace any anxiety, depression, and all those miseries that imprisoned us for a long time. We continually walk in our Christian lives bearing all these things that burden us. We need to sit and rest. God made us sit with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to show that through grace and kindness we are free from the bondage of oppression from anxiety, depression, and all the things that slave us and above all assurance of eternal peace.

Scriptural Readings: Philippians 4:6-7,19; John 14:27

Demand and expect are normal human behaviors. For some, these things become a habit. We have made laws twisted them and become accustomed to it and to the extent that it has transformed and taken them with us on having evil things in our lives. Abortion, divorce and the list goes on and to make things worst, we are trying to add more.

As Christians, can we benefit from these laws?

We are in a situation that we have to have needs and the worst way of having these needs is demanding God. We have carried our attitude in praying to God that we are demanding things from Him. It is a foolish thing to demand from God. God is not a genie, a magical spirit believed to take human form and serve the person who calls it. It is the other way around. We call upon Him and we serve Him. When praying we should not demand. We request from God. We humble ourselves and we go to the throne of grace with humbleness and we request(pray) God for our petitions and not to demand from God.

There is no doubt God hears us through Jesus but the attitude we’re having and showing will not be fully taken into consideration because of arrogance and having intentions not according to His will. Half of the world is in chaos. Even the richest countries in the world are now battling with so many things in order to return to their former glory and what do we do? We demand a lot and expect our own selfish decisions to come up. We think that we are doing the right things collectively but the truth is we are having our selfish motivation individually. Have we thought about why almost one half of this planet is killing each other and dividing even their own countries?

Philippians 4:6-7

v. 6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

v.7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

It is all about request and result not demand and expect. When we pray (request), God answers(results) prayers. God sees not the words we say but our purpose and intention in our hearts. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit and therefore we should know what we lack and need therefore in our spiritual lives. These are the things that we have to pray(request)for. Remember that God knows everything! Even before we say a single word, He knows our purpose and intentions. If we make a request(a prayer)and the result is different from what we know, there is something that God wants us to know or do something else. As Christians we should not rely on expectations because this will cause frustrations and many more but we have to rely on God’s revelations through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. From this, a strong personal relationship to our Lord Jesus is established. From God through Jesus, we will be having our strong spiritual matureness living the spiritual way God intended in us to be.

The Father did not demand Jesus to go down and became a man to save us. The Son of the living God humbled Himself became a man and the result was salvation to mankind. This is the Gospel of our Lord and Savior. The good news. Despite the middle of turmoil and uncertainties, we do not have to demand and expect but instead we should be in no doubt in total peace.

Let us get rid of demand and expect. Of the many things that we are looking for is true peace of mind. As we continue to have an attitude of demand and expect we will always have the result of wanting more and expecting more and thus peace becomes unattainable.

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Philippians 4:19

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Let us accept the peace that the Lord Jesus left and offered us. This is the start of redirecting our lives from dissatisfaction to contentment. This life that we willfully submitted to Jesus Christ will be changed. We will see and act on His will that will make others see we are His disciples and children of our heavenly Father. We have to put in our minds that God knows our needs and will supply them and not what we want in our lives. If we try to read carefully God said that He will supply the needs and not the wants. Dissatisfaction starts when we try to want things that we do not need. We should not even try to want things that we do not need.

I Timothy 6:6-12

v.6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.

v.7 For we brought nothing into [this] world, [and it is] certain we can carry nothing out.

v.8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

v.9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and [into] many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

v.10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

v.11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

v.12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

Scriptural Readings: I Peter 2:11, Jeremiah 29:11, Psalms 23.

We are on a journey. We are just passing through this world as the old saying goes but how do we see ourselves in this journey? As Christians we are told that we are going to be with God as He promised us when were done with our earthly lives.

As Christians, we should see ourselves as God’s vehicle. As we deal with a 24/7 cycle in our lives we should be driven by God’s will but the journey has become difficult for us.

A car will always have a bumpy road and has to slow down. Even the largest ship has to cover from a safe place letting a strong storm pass. An airplane has to cope up with air pockets and trains will stop because one way or the other it will run out of tracks.

We need Jesus to absorb these bumpy roads. He’s our shelter during the storm and we will definitely crash as we feel something wrong with our engines due to problems and soon as we run out of tracks because we face uncertainties, our journey stops.

It is a lost cause without God’s intervention. Having no knowledge of what God wants us to do will be a futile attempt to have a life of what God wants us to have. It is only God’s will that we are going to go on and continue our lives conformed to His will handling all the toughest things that will come our way.



I Peter 2:11

Dearly beloved, I beseech [you] as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;


Sanctification translated in Greek is hagiasmos means “holiness.” Sanctification therefore, means “to make holy.” God wants us, human beings to be holy as holy as he is holy( Lev 11:44 ; Matt 5:48 ; 1 Peter 1:15-16). We are to be saints. Saints translated in Greek is hagios. It is an integral part of our spiritual lives shaking our whole spirit, soul and mortal bodies leaving the things only what God needs in us. This is time, God’s time that He will send us and become true, equipped and mature Christians.



Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.


The word know in Hebrew is YADA` meaning to ascertain by seeing. It is in the Kal preterite form meaning the action had been completed. In other words, He has seen us. He even knows the exact number of our hairs even we keep losing some of them in a daily manner. He already has seen the manner of our journey!

What really is wonderful about this passage is that the Lord has given us thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. The word give is in Kal infinitive. Infinitive verbs like the concept of infinity, they are not bound by time. Therefore thoughts of peace and not of evil shall be with us through our journey as an expected end. The word expected in Hebrew is tiqvahah which means thing that I long for or things that we long for. As for the word end in Hebrew means the last or end, hence, the future.

Psalms 23

1 A Psalm of David.

The LORD [is] my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou [art] with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Christian joy and happiness does not mean having no sad and trying moments. We are going to be tested by time through our journey and we are not going to be alone on this journey.

To sum things up, God has already given us peace along our journey in life that is not bound by time. Yes, as pilgrims we are asked to abstain from fleshly lust which can be very difficult for us but God has already seen what lies ahead and He wants us to know that along our journey He has already given us the peace that is not bound by time.





Heavenly Father, we come unto your throne of grace with heaviness in our hearts. We come to your holy presence and claim your promises. You are near to us who are brokenhearted and afflicted. We stand on your promise that you are going to deliver us from these afflictions and lift up these sorrows. We stand on our faith that You will grant us peace that is not bound by time. Through Your son Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior we pray. Amen.

Scriptural Readings: Matthew 24:10,12; Hebrews 6:4-6; Psalms 34:18-19;
II Corinthians 3:4; Colossians 2:2, 9-10; Matthew 22: 36-40; Revelation 19:10.


Matthew 24:10

And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.


And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another,

What is true about what is happening today around this planet causes alarm and a lot of discomforts and uncertainties. The fact that peace is being compromised, half of the people around the world do not want to be living in perfect harmony. Some people think they were offended and they were betrayed.

The result…

and shall hate one another.
We can see perfectly the picture of our true nature if what our wants would not be met. Since some of us felt offended and betrayed we resorted into hatred. Hatred has become an option. Violence has become a normal thing for us to see and experience. It has become a solution to our differences.There is now no conviction. There was so much delight seeing other people hurt and die. We cannot hide these. We can see them everywhere.

Is this true or false?

v.12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

Rejecting the truth, many of us are walking away and gone astray. Our calloused conscience cannot communicate with our faith anymore because our sinful nature together with our own selfish desires are racing each other inside of us in whichever comes first as a winner we end up becoming the loser. Forgiving one another is just a lie that we have to live with. The supposed burning love in our hearts either died or had gone cold.

Hebrews 6:4-6


v.4 For [it is] impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,

v.5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

v.6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put [him] to an open shame.



New Living Translation

Hebrews 6:4-6



v.4 For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit,


v.5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come—


v.6 and who then turns away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.



There are times that we Christians look at Jesus as just merely a human unknowingly. There are times we never acknowledge Him as a savior. Only to find out that our faith does not seem to work for us at all and the reason is we have been living our lives in this situation.


Many of us today are broken, one way or the other we have felt and suffered from frustrations, depression making us helpless and broken.



Psalms 34:18-19


v.18 The LORD [is] nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saved such as be of a contrite spirit.

v.19
Many [are] the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.






II Corinthians 3:4


v.4 Such confidence we have through Christ toward God.



Colossians 2:2


v.2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself,


Colossians 2:9-10

For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;




And who is talking? Isn’t that these words are from God? Isn’t He reffering to our Lord Jesus Christ the One He sent for our salvation and the way that we have to live by, the truth that we should and have to believe in and to have a life pleasing to the Father?

Are we listening? Do we hear what God is telling us or do we continue with our own way of living? God has given us the capacity to choose and what are we doing?




Matthew 22: 36-40



v.36 Master, which [is] the great commandment in the law?


v.37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.


v.38 This is the first and great commandment.


v.39 And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.


v.40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.


The thing that is happening and what we are doing right now is exactly the opposite of what God wants us to do. How can we please God if the first law alone is a failure for us. How can we accomplish the second law if we have failed already on the first law. God is love. How can we love God if we have hatred in us. This is a totally completed picture of failure as a Christian.
Jesus said that we have to love God with all our heart, souls and mind because God Himself will deal with these things that are impossible for us to get rid of, our hating hearts, hating souls and hating minds making it possible to love ourselves as well as our neighbors.

Unless we accept the absolute truth of the finished work of Jesus Christ at the calvary, the good news, it is impossible to love God and Jesus Christ who gave His life for us. Hatred will forever reign in our hearts, souls and minds and this means that we have chosen the wrong way, the wrong truth and the wrong life.


Revelation 19:10

And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See [thou do it] not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Having the testimony of Jesus Christ in our lives will reveal to us the many things we need in our spiritual lives. Our spiritual lives matter. The more that we draw near to Him and He will no doubt draw near to us. The more revelations we will be having the more life pleasing to the Father our lives in whole will be. Alleluia!