Abscess

Have you ever had a boil that turned into an abscess? If not, you better pray you don’t get one. Lol… I have one now. It all started with just a simple pimple that turned into a boil and turned into an abscess. I started to self medicate, tried to clean and drain it by myself. Then after three painful days, I decided to go to an expert, a doctor. The doctor said, “if only you have come earlier, we could have prevented it to get infected like that.” She told me that it is one of the worst that she is draining.

You know what my friend; our life is like my simple boil that turned into an abscess, if we will just consult God first and not self medicate, we can prevent all the complications and infections in life.

Another thing I learned when I went to the doctor’s office is that you have to wait. Even though I am walking in pain and a bloody bandage, I still have to wait. I waited for approximately an hour just to have my turn to be operated, to add more pain, to add more injury which is of course for my own treatment and relief. And I believe this is also the same thing in life. We will spend a lot of waiting time in life. I could have made a scene asking the secretary to hasten my appointment or I could have just waited patiently waiting for my turn which is of course will eventually come.

And God sees us while we are waiting; He can be saying “Wait the right way, wait patiently.” God instructed us to wait patiently, if we wait in Him, we will not be weary. And sometimes, we just have to walk through things while we wait and sometimes we run and the time goes by quickly. Now, my question is, how do we wait? I believe we should wait with praise and worship in our hearts. Praising Him and thanking Him in advance for what will happen is a good sign of patience. We wait patiently by watching our words, action and thoughts. Our thoughts direct our words and will eventually direct our lives.

One Step at a Time.

I have to make a confession to you my friend; I have what they call O.C. (Obsessive Compulsive) Disorder. In the Philippines, they call it OC-OC. If you are like me, you probably have a “TO DO LIST” in somewhere near you (I want everything organized). I have a “TO DO LIST” in my phone, maybe you have it in your mind, it is a list of all things you need and hope to get it done within the day or sometime soon and being a therapist we also formulate short term and long term goals for our patients. I know sometimes I can get so busy and sometimes it overwhelms me and drains my energy. And just today, I have to look at my patient list and it is way above the norm. And most of the time, our “TO DO LIST”, though it is full of good intention, it can actually distract us and keep us from God’s plan.

And you know what my friend, God wants to live us a balanced life. In reality, all things don’t happen instantly, even microwavable food isn’t cooked instantly, It can take up to 5 minutes to cook it. As a human being, we grow one step at a time, we grow big little by little, we lose weight gradually, we pay debt one payment at a time. Don’t get me wrong, I believe the Bible verse “With God, all things are possible,” but it also doesn’t say “With God, all things happen instantly.”  And yes, my God is a supernatural God, but we also have to be patient in what His plans for our lives.

God is saying to me now, learn to balance, learn to trust ME, learn to be patient Mike and do it one step at a time. He wants me to focus on the next step, not on the actual long travel. I am letting God to just lead and guide me on my journey and let me just do the stepping. I don’t need to figure out everything today, all I need to do today is to take that next step which is moving forward. I may have to make some adjustment along the way, but I know God is leading me. Same with you my friend just start doing a little baby step at a time and before we know it, we are there in our destination.

Because I Said So.

As a father who is outside of the country, I usually talk to my children through skype or magicjack. And most of the time, my children will ask something that they need from school or something they like for their birthday. And just recently, my eldest daughter Alyssa asked for a bicycle, I told her that once she gets here in the US, I will buy her a bike. It may take some time for her to receive the gift, but she was happy I told her that she will get it someday. She specified a color and an additional 2 for her siblings Kishi and Zeya. My daughters are so happy that they expect it and look forward in going here in the US. It will be quite a while for them to go here in the US because of financial matters, but I will make sure they will come here and buy that bicycle because I said so.

You know what my friend, same with our lives. God says something in your life, like “You are blessed, You are healed, You are anointed, You are capable, You are equipped, You are favored” because HE says so.

When God said to Abraham that he will be a father to many nations, it came to reality because He said so. When God said to Mary that she will give birth to a savior, it came to reality because He said so. When Jesus said to the bleeding lady that she is healed, it came to reality because He said so.

Today my friend, you may be burdened by your problems, lift it up to God because He has His hand over your world. You may be thinking you are not blessed, not confident, not healthy, not favored. Double check again, because God is saying you are blessed, prosperous, healed, loved, highly favored.  Because HE said so!

Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall.

Being new in the States, I am not used to seeing the changes of the grass, leaves and flowers here and the time change. One time, I was talking to one of our patient, I told him that the trees outside look dead and how the leaves look sad. He said, “Well, Mike, it doesn’t look very good now, but the truth is, the tree isn’t dead, it is just not in the right season yet.” In summer, that same tree will be green as it can be.” And sure enough, just a few months later, that same dead looking tree was a beautiful bright green and filled with life tree.

You know what my friend, same way with our lives. There are times we look at our lives that it looks dead. Your dream may look dead, your relationship may look dead, your dream may look dead. But you have to realize that it is not really literally dead, it maybe just waiting for the right season. The right timing. We cannot give up just because things don’t look the way we want them to be. We have to keep believing and keep trusting God that He will push us through that new season in life. Friend, if you'll keep that attitude of faith you will receive strength to make it through to the next season and it won't be long until those dreams and desires will flourish in every area of your life!

Root Canal

I just had the final session of my dental root canal. It took almost 3-4 sessions just to finish the damaged and abscessed tooth to recover and make it new again. The dentist told me it will take time, pain and money of course to finish recovering this damaged tooth. I underwent several treatments, cleaning, anesthesia, drilling and so much pain to endure… But now, it feels like a new tooth, a recovered tooth, a recovered smile. I can still feel some pain, but its better now, than before. It is such a humbling experience when you put yourself in somebody’s hand.

And in the Bible, God’s people all went through very difficult times, some are held captive, some are sold to slavery, some are mistreated, some are treated like tooth abscess. But God send His power to encourage and give them hope for their future.

And one thing I have learned through this painful root canal, when God puts a dream in our hearts, it doesn’t mean it is going to pass without trials, without pain, without hardship. He is going to try us; He is going to mature us, because He has something in store for us. Like my root canal, I had painful procedure, but in the end, it paid off because it’s already fixed.

Same with our lives. God may have putted a dream in your heart, just like me, you have to undergo a trial, a testing, some pain, some hurtful situations, a root canal! But if you keep on believing, trusting Him, focusing on the finish product and allowing Him to work in your life just like what my dentist did and keeping a humble attitude. He will give you a NEW Victorious LIFE!

You Have to Believe it, to Receive it.

Ever wondered why Joseph was named Joseph the Dreamer? Yes, he interpreted dreams of the people, but on the other side of the coin, I believed he kept on dreaming what God has put in his heart. He kept saying to himself that God has not forgotten him. In his story, Joseph was betrayed by his brothers, he was sold to slavery because of their jealousy, he was falsely accused by the wife of the pharaoh, just imagine that… he spent approximately thirteen years in prison that he didn’t do and when he made an interpretation of a dream for another person and promise him to get back to get him out of prison, he was forgotten by that person.  But certainly God did not forget Joseph. But looking on Joseph’s perspective, he must have said “God has forgotten me, look how my life is, I am imprisoned, abandoned, forsaken, I thought God has given me a promise, a dream, look at me now, and locked in a prison cell”

But the story of Joseph didn’t end in a sad ending; it teaches us that we should see hard times as a test of faith. When things aren’t going our own way, we have the opportunity to find out what we are made of. What kind of attitude will we have? Will it be a bitter, negative attitude? Will it be asking God why? Will it be blaming God? OR will we stay in faith? Knowing that God has a plan for your life?

To end the story of Joseph, when he was finally released, he was promoted; he was given a big break. I love what Joseph said to his brothers when they had this reunion. “What was meant for my harm, God used it to my advantage.”

You may be like Joseph right now, feeling helpless, full of problems, difficulties in life, facing a divorce, down in a debt, facing a sickness or a disease, jobless, dealing with problematic child, relationship problems, whatever it may be. If you keep on trusting God and putting your faith in Him, He will push you through and give you the desires of your heart in HIS time, maybe a tomorrow, a day, a week, a month, a year, or just like Joseph more than thirteen years. But rest assured, He will fulfill His promises to you as long as you keep the faith in Him. I am blessed my friend and so are YOU!

You are blessed.

Birth Pains

Every time my wife gets pregnant, we get excited. Even though she didn’t look any different on the outside yet in the first few months, we start on planning and preparing for the new baby. Then as time goes by, sometimes the joy fades. That is when my wife becomes uncomfortable, swollen, morning sickness, she can’t sleep, her back aches, complaints of leg and joint pains. And things to seem to get the hardest right before you give birth. Most specially the last few weeks and months of the actual delivery date.

You know what my friends, same with our lives. When we have something in our heart from God, at first it is exciting. It is easy to stay encourage and full of faith during that time. But the real testing comes when you are about to give birth to that gift. The real test is when we go through the actual birthing process. My question to you now my friend, are you willing to keep a good attitude even when we are uncomfortable and things aren’t going our way? Yes, you may feel pain, discomfort, pain, but if we keep believing and trusting God that the birth pain will push through.

If you are in a process like this, keep believing, keep standing. Even though you don’t see it happening. Hold on to that promise even when it’s uncomfortable because soon you will give birth to that dream and plans the Lord has place in you. 

Thoughts

Admit it my friends, when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we had difficulty, we had more challenges, we had more battles to overcome. Yes, in the Bible, it says we will all have hard ships and trials and tribulations and battles to overcome. But I also read in the Bible, specially at the back of it, that Jesus overcame and won that battle. When we accept Jesus Christ, His spirit becomes one with us. He actually lives in us. When you say lives, it means it dwells, His thoughts and His power should dwell in you. And one of the ways Jesus empowers our thought is through the power of our thinking and imagination. He wants to empower our thoughts to direct our lives to achieve that Victory we are looking.

If we keep thinking negative thoughts, that “I will not pass this exam” “Why is my life like this,” “I hate this job,” “I don’t like my manager,” “I hate this one and that.” “I will not get out of this debt.” If we keep on saying these negative words, God will not be glorified, you are letting Him out of His place. Just like in a house, you are pushing Him out of His temple. Try welcoming God to your heart by saying positive words, encouraging words, uplifting words. Yes you may have said negative words yesterday; yes you may have sinned and had some setback the other day. But today is a new day. Today is a better day than yesterday. When we line up our thoughts in His words, we can be sure that we are thinking His thoughts. Let us choose to focus on His thoughts.

I am blessed and so are you my friend.

Colors of Life

Have you ever felt like you have wasted years of your life? Don’t get me wrong, but lately, I have been meditating about my life and I feel like I have wasted a lot of time, wasted with a wrong place, wrong job, wasted time with the wrong people and doing the wrong things. But the Bible tells of a time when Jesus fed a crowd of thousand people with only five loaves and two fish and of course with the help of the boy (You know the story). On that certain day, everybody had more than enough to eat, and there were enough baskets full of bread and fish for leftovers. Actually, more than enough!  Not just twice, not just thrice, but thousand times. Because we serve a God of multiplication. I love what Jesus told the disciples to collect all the leftovers “So that nothing is wasted.”  He said.

And you know what my friend, if you feel like you have wasted something, if you feel like you are just a leftover food, if you feel like just a second hand. Be encouraged that with God, nothing is ever wasted. He will never waste that experience that you had, He will never waste a hurt you got, He will never waste the dream that He gave you. Well in fact, He will ask the disciples to gather it for you so that nothing will be wasted. God will gather all those wasted years, experiences, hurts and feelings and restore them back to you in a thousand folds. He will turn them around for your own good. He will make you stronger, wiser and better. Be encouraged my friend that God always makes beautiful things out of the dark.

Storms in Life

Coming from a very tropical country in South East Asia (Philippines), I am already used to having storms and typhoons. We are so used to these kinds of calamities that every after storm, we enjoy it because there is peace after that typhoon. Filipinos are so resilient to these kind of situation that we somewhat enjoy these kind of calamity. And just this year, I transferred here at Tennessee and there are also a lot of tornado watches. And while watching the news, some of them are as large as 100 kilometers wide with winds blowing approximately more than 120 kph, it can knock down trees, poles, remove roofs and making a disaster. But do you know that right in the center of those storms and tornadoes there is peace? In the eye of a storm, there is peace. The winds, the rain, and there can be damage all around you. Same with our lives, there may be difficulty, there may be a storm with your finances, storm with your family, storm with your health, storm with your job. But you can be at peace if you keep right in the center of that storm in your life. You can find rest in the center. Just like a real storm, we cannot control when and where it will occur, but we can always ask God to take us to the center or eye of the storm so we could endure it and have peace in the middle of it.

Maybe you are just like me, facing a major challenge in life, you have been constantly battling that storm, you are so worried in life on how to overcome that situation, maybe you are trying to get back to that person who did you wrong, or maybe you just want to get out of that uncontrollable situation. Just ask God to take you to the center of the storm. I encourage you my friend to ask Him. Trust Him. Even with the storms of life surrounding you, you will be safe and find peace as you rest in the eye of the storm with God.