Here is an excerpt from my talk on “Beauty Full” last February at Victory Ubelt.

I witnessed a funny thing last night after church. Well, I’m not sure if  ”funny” would be the appropriate word for it, but any other adjective escapes my into-the-holiday brain right now.

While waiting for Dennis to finish preaching, I decided to go to a bookstore and browse through some books. Just then, this guy holding a palm branch (palaspas) walked in and went straight to the magazine section, grabbed a copy that was of interest to him, and then browsed through it right beside where I was. He was pretty near so I just took a glance at him, at the same time securing my bag (hehe times like these, it’s okay to be praning– in english, slightly paranoid). Unfortunately, as I turned to take a look, I also caught a glance of what kind of magazine he was holding— a very popular “men’s magazine” (I still don’t think they should call it that, though). With one hand he held a palm branch, which supposedly tells of one “welcoming” Christ the Savior, and with the other hand he held something that would tell otherwise.

A few minutes later, his friend walked up to him to tell him they had to leave. When the friend saw what his friend was looking at, he gave some “friendly” advice: “Pare naman! Kakagaling lang natin ng simbahan eh tapos yan na agad babasahin mo?!” (” *insert ‘pare’ counterpart here* We just came from church and then now, that’s what you’re reading?!”)

Wow. At least this friend was in his right mind and was about to correct Mr. Palaspas.

But then, friendly-advice friend gave an even friendlier advice: “Bukas ka na bumili nyan!” (“Buy one tomorrow instead!”)

Toink.

As funny as it sounds, sometimes we do think like Mr. Palaspas and Mr. Friendly Advice.

Just like Mr. Palaspas, it is sometimes so easy for us to go into this holy week thinking it is just a tradition we practice every year. We can go to church, fast from meat, even fill our houses with palm branches…and yet we are unwilling to let go of our old sinful habits. With one hand we say “Welcome Jesus! We celebrate you! Come into my life!“, and yet with the other hand we still do the very things that He tells us to have nothing to do with.

Or we can be like Mr. Friendly Advice, who sees holy week as just that— a week when you  try to act holy. After which, we go back to our “normal” ways…until the next “holy” week.

So what should our mindsets be as we go and celebrate this holy week? Why do we have holy week in the first place?

Well, aside from the joy that we have in being able to take time off from work, Holy Week is really about remembering Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.

Nothing more, nothing less.

(But of course, it’s really fun to take time off from work and be with family and friends, right?? hehe…but that’s not the point so let’s go back to the real reason…)

It is because of Christ’s death on the cross that all our sins have been atoned for. It is because Christ chose to become sin for us that all our guilt have been washed away.

Jesus died and was buried according to scripture.

But it didn’t end there.

Like I said, it is about Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection– nothing more, nothing less.

On the third day, Jesus resurrected and became alive again, also according to scripture. He did not remain dead. The story did not end with Him losing power and being handed over to death. Because He was Jesus who was completely obedient to God the Father and was blameless, death itself could not hold Him down. He overcame the very thing we are all destined for because of our sin. He was victorious over sin and death—and He chose to share His victory with us! Because of His resurrection, we too, are made alive in Him. Because of His resurrection, we who were once dead to our sins are now alive in Christ. Once we were slaves to sin and our sinful nature, causing us to go on in our sinful patterns…but now we have been set free and we are able to say no to sin and therefore it doesn’t have a hold on us!

We can actually say no to sin! (Yaaay!!! )

This means that I don’t have to hold a palm branch or a Bible in one hand and with the other hand keep on sinning or doing my old ways. Jesus has given me the power to say no to that. This means that I could actually welcome Jesus willingly and completely and not let it be just  lip service because I now understand the freedom and the victorious life that He wants me to have. This means that I don’t have to put a timeline to when I can sin and when I cannot sin; I don’t have to try to act holy and on certain times only, because now I know that because of Christ’s death and resurrection I can say no to sin at all times, and I am already made holy.

I am already holy, and none— absolutely NONE of it is of any merit to me. None of my holiness is up to me or up to how I act. My holiness is based solely on what Jesus did for me on the Cross.

I guess this is my overly-zealous way of trying to encourage you, that we don’t have to be either one of them— Mr. Palaspas or Mr. Friendly Advice— anymore. We can, at this time and always, finally leave our old life of sin and completely welcome Christ into our lives. We can enjoy not just this holy week, but we can– from this moment on, live and enjoy holy lives.

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photo: mhygzs.multiply.com

Taught in Victory Weekend earlier today. If you have been following my blog for quite some time now, you might have noticed that I get to mention this from time to time. I really wish I could stop talking about it already, but honestly it’s just something that has been so life-changing for me that each time I sit and listen I still learn something new and I still get excited. I am even more ecstatic for the participants!

Latest batch of VW participants

Today was no different. I was once again stirred up in my faith and grateful for who I now am in Christ. I prayed this for myself, and then for the other women, and now for you too– that we will always remember who we are in Christ. We are loved. We are accepted. We are secure. We are significant. We are forgiven. We are redeemed. All that— only in CHRIST.

Oh, how rude of me! If you have no idea what I am talking about, Victory Weekend is just a tool we have in church that helps us deepen our relationship with God. This two-day retreat focuses on establishing strong spiritual foundations that enable us to live a life of freedom and fruitfulness.

For the past month, God has been stretching my faith. He has been placing me in situations that would leave me with no choice but to trust in Him. This past month, He has magnified for me how helpless I am without Him, and at the same time how much I can accomplish through Him and in Him.

Allow me to share something that has encouraged me today. I hope that you and some people you know can get encouraged by this, too!

Oh, let me first give you a brief summary of this whole thing, just to give you a context of what I’m talking about….

The text of this story is found in Matthew 14. This was the time when Jesus already went about preaching and ministering to many people.  In one particular instance after Jesus ministered to the crowds, the disciples were put in a dilemma on what to do with them. It was approaching night time and the crowds (thousands of them!) were getting hungry. Some disciples suggested that they just dismiss them and send all the people home, so they can get food for themselves in the villages. Buying food for all of them was clearly out of the question since that would mean that the disciples will have to shell out so much money. Then…they spotted a boy with five SMALL barley loaves and two SMALL fish. But how can that help them, right? Obviously, the small bread and small fish were just enough to feed the small boy. It didn’t make any sense, but one of them still took the chance. They were in the presence of no less than Jesus, after all.

I’ll just copy-paste the next few verses to let it tell you the rest of the story…

Matthew 14:17-21

 ¹⁷ “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they (the disciples) answered. ¹⁸ “Bring them here to me,” he (Jesus) said. ¹⁹ And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. ²⁰ They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ²¹ The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.”

To summarize this further:

The boy and the disciples said, “This is all the food we have. We only have this small bread and small fish to offer.”

Jesus took what they had to offer Him anyway.

Jesus blessed the bread and fish and distributed them.

The small bread and small fish multiplied.

Everyone ate and were all fully satisfied.

The disciples had so much left over to pick up after.

The same is true with us.

We say, “This is all that I have. This is the only thing that I know. I only have this small thing to offer you.”

Jesus responds by taking what we offer Him anyway— no matter how small and seemingly insignificant.

Jesus chooses to bless whatever it is we offer Him and uses it to bless others.

Our efforts and gifts multiply.

Everyone gets a taste of our gift, gets blessed, and gets fully satisfied.

We find ourselves having to pick up so much that are left over.

The blessings overflow.

We can keep on giving and giving and blessing and blessing because there is so much that God leaves for us.

Amazing, isn’t it???

You can be a stay-at-home mom like me, or a working mom…you can be a wife, a single woman, or a student. Everyday we are faced with a dilemma on what to do with the people God surrounds us with or the circumstances we find ourselves in. Everyday we have a choice to just step back and relax and let the opportunity to be a blessing pass.

“Just send them home. I have nothing to offer them.”

“It’s too costly to involve myself in this.”

“I only have enough for myself.”

Everyday too, we have a privilege to offer whatever it is that we have in our hands and allow God to multiply it and bless hundreds– or even thousands. What we think is enough only to feed a small boy will in fact be more than enough to feed thousands. It all depends on whose hands it is in.

A rod in my hands might be able to keep stray dogs away. A rod in Moses’ hands parted the mighty sea.

A sling shot in my hands is a kid’s toy. A sling shot in David’s hand became a mighty weapon. 

Two fish and five loaves of bread in my hands are a couple of tuna sandwiches. Two fish and five loaves of bread in God’s hands fed thousands.

Nails in my hands might produce a place on the wall where I can hang my kids’ framed paintings. Nails in Jesus Christ’s hands produced salvation for the entire world.

It all depends on whose hands it is in. 

I choose today— and everyday— to offer whatever small and insignificant thing I have in my hands to God. And every day I shall wait and see how He will bless it and multiply it to bless the lives of thousands. And every day I shall see how much left over I would have to pick up after.

Ever since I had kids, this has been a common scenario in my life:  Just as I finally get some time alone to do some things that require a certain level peace and quiet, one of the girls come running to ask me for something. It may be something as trivial as a hair clip to something that is a matter of life and death– for them, anyway. Either way, I noticed that our kids do not really have a good sense of timing. They just come whenever they feel like it, for whatever matter they  feel like discussing. They don’t stop to think about how to say things or how to express themselves properly. They don’t stop to think about how they look. There’s no need to put up a front. They come to you when they are sad and when they want to cry as if it’s the end of the world. They come to you when they are happy and overly-excited that it seems as though the whole floor has turned into one giant trampoline. They come to you when something scares them. They come to you when something bothers them. Often times, they even have a hard time articulating themselves properly. They often get their thoughts all jumbled up as they try to translate what’s going on in their heads into words.

Still— you, as a parent who loves them dearly,   listen anyway. Never mind that you were set on finishing that project for the house. Never mind that you were set on doing something else. You stop and listen anyway. It is a joy to see them come running to you. You don’t even notice the messy hair or the runny nose (well, you do, but you listen first and take care of that later). You don’t even notice the fact that sometimes they don’t make sense. You feel what they feel.  You’re the first to rejoice with them when they’re happy. You become sad when you see them crying. You would do anything to comfort them and make them feel safe and secure. You would do all those things because you love them. They are your children.

And they know it.

Our children know that they have complete access to us. They know they can come to you anytime and you would stop and listen to them. (Well, that’s the ideal response. We are but humans who fall short, after all). They know that by virtue of them being your children, they are granted that privilege of barging in (in a better sense of the word).

Sometimes though, our children grow up forgetting they have unlimited access. All of a sudden, they  have to wait for “perfect timing” to ask for their allowance or something they really like or to be allowed to go over their friend’s house. Before the weekend of the party arrives, they stock up on points by being extra nice– helping out with chores and studying really hard– to increase the chances of their requests being granted. A lot of teenagers grow up suddenly forgetting that they can come talk to their parents about anything and everything. They filter out what they think their parents would consider as “bad” stuff and share only the good. Instead of acting like children–members of the family, they begin behaving like boarders who just happen to stay and be  under the care of their parents.

When we started out in our walk with God, realizing what Jesus has done for us and that through Him we have been made children of God, there was no limit to our asking. We would be so excited to tell God everything– every desire, every disappointment, every detail of our lives.

Then we “grow older”. We forget about this unlimited access and we try once again to “earn” God’s favor by stocking up on points. We start editing what we say, as if He doesn’t see and know everything. We act as if there’s only a certain time when we can come talk to Him.

It’s my prayer that we would never grow old when it comes to our faith in God. I pray that we will always be like little children and know that we can come to God anytime, anywhere–  no matter how messy we look or how inconvenient the timing seems to be, or how difficult it is for us to articulate ourselves. I pray that we will always remember that by virtue of us being children of God (through the cross of Christ), we now have complete access to God, and we have the awesome privilege of barging in anytime, anywhere.

…And our Heavenly Father, our perfect Father whose ways and thoughts are far beyond our own (and who is beyond our capacity to disturb and interrupt)— is more than willing to listen.

…And yes, He is going to wipe off the tears and the runny nose, too.  :)

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

When Jesus made this invitation for us to come, it was with the premise that most probably, His people would be weary. He knew that the greater percentage of us who would be needing this invitation had a profile of this kind: tired, confused, weary, burdened. If He had expected otherwise, He would have given us this invitation instead: “Come to me, all you who have got it all figured out in life, and I will give you rest.”

But no. He didn’t say that.  He has extended his welcome for those who realize that they do not have it all figured out. He has long been inviting those who acknowledge that this life has left them tired, sometimes confused, and most probably overwhelmed.

This loving Jesus— God the Son who saw it fit to walk through this earth, had actually lived long enough in this world to know every possible temptation and burden we might face. This loving Jesus— God the Son who counted it a joy to give His life for us, actually knows –I mean, really knows– what it is like to live life in this fallen world. This loving Jesus— God the Son who is now reigning on His throne in heaven is telling us, inviting us, welcoming us….to come. No need to figure it out just yet…just come.

And that’s not the end of it.  Here’s the promise: I will give you rest.

Rest for our minds, rest for our bodies, rest for our hearts, rest for our spirits….REST.

Peace… joy… security… REST.

“Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.” Hebrews 4:1

I encourage you, come enter His rest today.

Also….drink lots of water!

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photo: crossmap.com