WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME?

In one of my devotional time with the Lord, I heard the question "will you still love me?" and right then and there I said to myself and prayed to God, Lord whatever happens I will always love you. Well,in our walk with God our words must be a living word. It is not enough to say it but we have to walk it. How stable are we in our love for God. Is saying to everybody that we believe and love God enough? Is doing good to others enough?

The understanding that the Lord gave me to the questions above, is that it doesn't really matter what the questions are, what matters is that: are we doing it according to the will of God because if it's not then it is time to come to Him and know Him personally to be able to know His will for us. As we confess and make Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, the life after that is not about us anymore but it is all about the life and will of God in our lives that must take control, for what is the purpose of such confession if we will not inquire and come to God in our daily lives.

As to the answer of How stable are we in our love for God? First, let me share the meaning of stable or stability, it is the steadfastness or consistency of our love for God. As the word stability entered my mind I remember a story of a rich man who lived in the land of Uz. His name is Job. In his abundance, Job love God very much. He was blameless-a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil. He had seven sons and three daughters. He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, and 500 female donkeys. He also had many servants. He was, in fact, the richest person in that entire area. Wow! that's a great wealth!

But will His love for God continue to be stable?
1. when all his animals were stolen and all the farmlands were killed; all the sheep and shepherds are devoured by fire?
2. when his house was swept away by a powerful wind and collapsed and when all his children were dead?
3. when as to his health, he was struck with terrible boils from head to foot and when his wife said to him, are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die!
4. when in this situations some of his friends came to visit but persecute and condemns him?
5. when everybody turns away from him?

Will you still love God even in this situation?

Let us look what was Job's response to the situation above:

1. as to number 1 & 2 above, Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. He said,“I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had,and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!” In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God.

2. as to number 3 above, Job replied, “You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.

3. as to number 4 & 5 above, Job appealed to God and present his anguish and questions God. God answered him by telling Job of his sovereignty and asked him who he was to questioned what He has done. Job repent for what he had said and God forgave him. God was angry with Jobs friends, for they have not spoken accurately about God, as Job has. As Job prayed for his friends, inspite of their persecution, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before! (Read the Book of Job).

That was a great story! In my life I encountered trials and some of those are written in my previous blogs. Let us stand up with Christ as our foundation and let us continue to love the Lord whatever we may face. Just like Job, he never waives his love for the Lord and take note, that was before Jesus died. Right now, we are more privelege because Jesus already died on the cross for our sins and when He ascended He gave us the Holy Spirit to guide and put convictions in our hearts to be wise and prepare for the coming of Jesus. So, harden not your heart for the time is fast approaching. Let those who have ears, let them hear what I am saying.

THE MIND

The result of the 2008 Philippine bar examinations is soon to be out. Somebody from Manila informed me that it will be out on the first week of April. However, there were a buzzing news last week that it will be out on that week. I was one of the 6,500+++ examinees last September 2008, and when that buzzing news came out, so many things entered my mind that because of my vulnerability during that time even things that is not related to the bar exam entered my mind and my physical body was really tired. I did a thing that is not supposed to be done.(What is that thing?...hehehe...it's between me and my God) During our church family meeting last Saturday, it made me pray for forgiveness because I gave permission to enter it in my mind.

God remind me of what I wrote in my blog the other week "THE ALABASTER JAR", that in our walk according to God's will nobody is exempted, INCLUDING ME. In that situation, I learned a deeper understanding of how fragile our Mind is. That is why in the Bible, when Jesus was asked which is the most important commandment, He replied, Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with ALL your MIND. Based on my experienced, "All your MIND", means it is within our decision to which thoughts we shall permit to enter into our minds, the enemy or the thoughts of God.

Before I accepted Jesus to be the Lord of my life, it is so hard for me to convert my thoughts into the thoughts of God but now the Holy Spirit helps me to identify and recognize which is of God's. As I read the Bible now, I understand why God really hates a double-minded or with divided loyalty man, because it is written also that God made a covenant that He will put his laws on our hearts and write them on our minds. So, we must purify our thoughts with the help of the Holy Spirit, because the holy and unholy cannot be put together.

It has been said, Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. In living a new life with Christ, we are encouraged to think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth (Romans 8:5-8) and not to copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform us into a new person by changing the way we think.

For those who believe, let this be an encouragement to meditate, eat and apply the instructions made by God through the Holy Spirit for it is written study this book of instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.