DAY25: WHEN THE FLAME FLICKERS

I missed my laptop! HAHA. i haven’t been able to update my Facebook or even my Blogspot for 1 day due to busy moments that happened recently (GEAR-UP yesterday and 1^ST DAY of Review class today! J). But even though I wasn’t able to write my blog on Microsoft Word, I was able to make a hard copy on a Cotton Bond Paper (HAHA) for me not to be able to miss my 31 day blog challenge! Yaaay! I really can’t believe that I’m on my 25^th day already! It seemed like it was just yesterday when I started at Day1 and now, I’m almost finished! Not just that, as the days passed so quickly, God has made my mind so productive that I was able to learn a lot from all the topics that was given in this devotional J

Now, let’s move on sa Devotional today … :))))))))))))

We know the importance of keeping our faith and passion for God strong yet there are just days when weakness gets the best of us. When we feel discouraged and weak and our faith just would not hold up, what can we do and whom can we turn to? The Bible talks about the gentleness of God, how He does not push us away when we come to Him in desperate need. He does not despise us when we come to Him weary, hurt, and just needing a boost. In fact, He desires that when these times of weakness come, the first thing we do is to run to Him.

Is your fire flickering? The best thing to do is run to God. Let Him ignite you once more. When we choose to come to Him and trust His goodness, we will see how gentle God is, how much He understands what we go through, and how much He loves us. (FROM THE DEVOTIONAL)

GRABE! I can relate much! woooooh. I just had a discouraging day! L. It turned out that this day were full of things that very disappointing for me but at the end of the day, instead of letting myself be eaten up by negative thoughts like discouragement and pity, I just gave it all to God and trusted Him to turn everything upside down J

We just had our first day of our review class with our Clinical Instructors at the College of Allied Medicine Auditorium. Today, our beloved Dean, Dr. Susana Salvacion, our respected Chairman of Nursing, Prof. Caroline Murallon and one of our loved Clinical Instructors, Sir Marc Oneel Alvarez made us feel super welcome as we step back to the grounds of our alma mater J. Kanina, we just had an orientation regarding the topics to be taken during the Nursing Licensure Examination that we will be taking few months from now on December 2011. I’m sure that all of us had our own kinds of Anxieties as we prepare ourselves for the upcoming examination! I was really excited on the review! Wooooh! As in! But I guess I was just excited after all! Di pala ako prepared for the review! L

Kanina, we just had a 100 item exam on Fundamentals of Nursing and sad to say that I only got 53 out of 100. The questions were not that difficult at all, siguro di ko lang talaga na prepare ang sarili ko. As the spirit of disappointment came, I just couldn’t feel but be anxious! I really felt down knowing the fact that I can still improve naman. L

2^nd thing was, my mom’s simcard got lost today! Well, to tell you the truth, it’s not as easy as it is. My mom uses that simcard for a lot of professional purposes and since I borrowed her phone for days due to my damaged phone, I used my number on the phone instead. I was really sure that I am checking the simcard regularly but I guess I just couldn’t find it even though I just searched everywhere L

Well. These things that happened to me aren’t that bad at all but I guess because I entertained that spirit of discouragement, MY FIRE FLICKERED! Good thing GOD’S GRACE IS SUFFICIENT! It was His loving grace that restored my back to that optimist guy I was before! J

Before I went home to Lucena, I went to VCF Lucban to check if I have misplaced the simcard there. I wasn’t asking much to the leaders due to my altered emotion! But before leaving the area, I just told Christian Salvatierra that I lost my mom’s sim. Surprisingly, he found it a couple of hours ago when I went there during our break! My heart bursted to joy as he have given me the sim that I lost! Also, I forgot all the disappointments and just focused on God and His enabling grace! J

“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” John 7:38

I guess, as what I learned from the experience that I had kanina, as the scripture from John said; I just believed in God! He is really awesome and is willing to help us in everything that were experiencing. Sometimes nga lang, we tend to focus more on the negative things rather than focusing on God. I, myself was reminded by that!

After that experience, God made me realize that the thing that happened at the Exam kanina was just a reminder that I really need to prepare for the examination! Sure thing that His grace would be sufficient, but as a Christian, I need to be prepared! I NEED TO DO SOMETHING! J

Same as when were facing things that are not expected to come especially when it is a negative one! LETS JUST DO SOMETHING AND STEP OUT OF IT! J

DAY24: GEARED FOR BATTLE

This blog was written on a short cotton bond paper due to busy things that happened yesterday, I wasn’t able to post this blog immediately! But even though I wasn’t able to be with my laptop yesterday, I don’t want to give up the blog challenge and the devotional itself J

WRITTEN YESTERDAY:

Just had a great time at GEAR-UP today! From 126 young people that attended last week, we had 111 passionate people that formed the big crowd na nagrespond to the Alter Calls last week (Plus some newcomers J). Good thing we were able to channel them to Lifegroups and 121 sessions! THANKS GOD! J

I really had a tiring day! My lilbro just had his discharge papers fixed from the hospital and it was already 6:15pm when we arrived home. So, immediately, I rushed to Lucban to attend the GEAR-UP youth service! Great thing my time wasn’t wasted! I was able to minister to Adrian and was able to sched 121 sessions with Joed and Meg! J Not just that, I was also able to see for the third time in GEAR-UP (since we started 3 weeks ago) how powerful God is! From the altar calls that we had kanina, it’s way beyond human effort for us to boast that it’s because of us na nangyari ‘yung mga ‘yon! It’s relay ALL BECAUSE OF JESUS!

Moving on today’s topic, u was really surprised that today’s title is somewhat related to our GEAR UP service (just like what happened yesterday sa devotional and lifegroup namin J) This is actually what I feel everytime I see a huge crowd of people knowing Jesus for just some time. THE ENEMY IS ALWAYS THERE TO STEAL, KILL and DESTROY; this is a fact that we know but sad to say, those people/ most people that attended the service kanina are not aware of that! So as leaders, WE REALLY NEED TO GEAR UP for there is a SPIRITUAL WARFARE that is going on!

While dwelling on the topic, there were thoughts that flashed again on my head. HAHA

1. THERE IS A BATTLE

While we were enjoying God’s presence during worship services; you know what’s happening in the HEAVENLY REALMS? THERE IS A BATTLE THAT IS GOING ON! It started long long before and is still going on today -> which lead me to #2

2. JESUS HAS ALREADY WON THE BATTLE

2000 years ago, Jesus died on the cross! Due to his blood, our sins were cleansed also giving Him victory over the enemy! So then if the enemy has already been defeated, then why is he still there?

3. THE ENEMY WON’T STOP

This is a fact that we need to accept and a thing that we need to be alarmed of! Even though the enemy was defeated, Satan won’t stop until every human being would turn away to God! That’s why there is PRIDE, LUST, GREED, IMPURITY etc. because Satan is desperate to destroy us!

4. GEAR UP FOR BATTLE!

Ergo! We need to be GEARED UP! As a leader we need this! There is a battle going on and we need to fight the good fight of faith! We really know how to naman di ba! If God is with us, who could be against us? We just need to be aware of the things that are happening! No need to be anxious, anyway, Kasama mo naman si God sa laban na ‘to!

So let us guard the good deposit that is within us! If we will fail to win in this battle, the next generation will have a hard time to continue! But if we (us and the next generation) will fight hand in hand for God, surely the enemy WON’T stop us! J

EVERYTIME THE ENEMY REMINDS YOU OF YOUR PAST, REMIND HIM OF HIS FUTURE! J

DAY23: LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD

Just had a great day today! Afterall, my day was used wisely thanks to the grace of God! J I'm done reading Extravagant Worship by Darlene Zschech (wohoo! I have a new record; 5 DAYS beating DO HARD THINGS for 6 days J). Not just that, I was able to make “TAKAS” to the hospital (naka confine si lilbro..sad) to spend some time with the guys at our Lifegroup! J We learned a lot today about LOVE (2^nd part of our ONELIFETOLIVE CAMPAIGN)! I wasn’t that aware that the topic of the devotional is related to what we had at Lifegroup J (Due to the whole reading thing kasi, I wasn’t able to dwell on the devotional earlier; HAHAH Dami kong palusot J). At least, God made me dwell on the same verses! Yaaaay! J

Mark 12:30

New International Version (NIV)

³⁰ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

Whenever I hear the word LOVE, I just couldn’t help but relate it to God! Truly, it’s a FACT that GOD IS LOVE! J and in this Christian walk of mine, as I look back on the things that I’ve accomplished because of His grace, I couldn’t help but cry and cry for I am not worthy to be loved by God yet before I was born, he have already expressed His love for me! As I look at the cross where Jesus was crucified, I could see myself na dapat nandun cross and not him! But the more that I thought that way, more tears are bursting on my eyes for because of GOD’S LOVE FOR US, even His one and only son was sacrificed for our sake!

During our Lifegroup lately, we discussed three things that we can use as an expression of our LOVE:

1. LOVE UNCONDITIONALLY

2. SERVE SACRIFICIALLY

3. FORGIVE COMPLETELY

Kanina, while I was talking to the guys (Meg, Joed, Emerson and Adrian), I just thought that these things that God wants us to do as an expression of our love to others ARE ALL GOD’S ATTRIBUTES. Then somehow, for us as humans, it’s really hard to do those things! Right? But as I went on to the next verse (Mark 12:30 and Ephesians 5:1);

Ephesians 5:1

New International Version (NIV)

¹ Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children

I just realized, doing these things; those 3 expressions, following God’s example and Loving God with all our heart, mind and soul is just a MERE RESPONSE TO THE LOVE HE HAS GIVEN US (para sa akin). IN SHORT, IF YOU FULLY UNDERSTAND WHOLEHEARTEDLY THAT GOD LOVES YOU SO MUCH, LOVING HIM BACK IS A NORMAL RESPONSE (and part of that is doing those mentioned above) [haha, parang mas mahaba pa; ang awkward nung "IN SHORT :))"]. Remember, He first loved us! And that LOVE is INDESCRIBABLE!

Kaya lang, the sad part most of us even yung mga Christians na doesn't understand these stuffs. :( I just remembered a part on the song I JUST WANT YOU by PLANETSHAKERS; there was a lyric on the bridge saying:

There is no greater love than Yours, nothing else could ever compare

God’s love is ONE OF A KIND and is INCOMPARABLE with any other LOVE in the world. IF WE WILL DO THOSE THINGS MENTIONED ABOVE JUST BECAUSE GOD COMMANDED US TO DO SO, we’re missing out the whole point here! We will just be burdened until came a time that we will feel exhausted! (GOT WHAT I MEAN?)

But on the other hand, If we will just take time to seat back, relax and dwell on God’s love for us, that WE ARE BLESSED TO HAVE A GOD THAT LOVES US SO MUCH! We just have to respond to that LOVE by giving the LOVE that He deserves! Then that would be the time that we will start to obey god wholeheartedly! J

I really don’t know if what I wrote was true at all (please try to correct me if there are information that are incorrect) but all of this things that I wrote came out from my heart! J

DAY22: A STORY TO TELL

When was the last time you had great news that you cannot wait to share with your friends? You must have felt that way when you first encountered God. Truth is, our initial encounter with God is just the beginning. Each of us is a story in the making, unique stories that will all point to God’s power to transform a life. But that will all depend on how much we will allow God to work in and through us. In His gentleness, He does not impose on us but gives us the chance to decide whether or not we would yield to His will and purposes for us.

Yet know that we have tasted how good it is to have a relationship with an all-powerful yet also loving God, is there really a better choice? May we all willingly surrender our pens to the One who is the Author and Perfecter of our faith and let Him write bestsellers out of our lives (Hebrew 12:2). So, how would you want your story to be? (EXCERPT FROM THE DEVOTIONAL)

I remember everytime I introduce the 121 booklet to my follow-up; I always go first with the introduction. “dun sa introduction”, there was this acronym termed as START

Stop trusting in yourself and start trusting in Christ alone for salvation

Turn from everything the bible calls sin

Attend weekly services and small group

Read and obey your bible everyday

Tell others about your new relationship with Christ

(I hope I got everything right, I can’t seem to find my 121 booklet at this moment. HEHE)

Ever since we have become a Christian, our lives have been a STORY TO TELL! To tell you the truth, actually at present times, the most powerful way of inviting others to have a relationship with Jesus Christ is through our testimonies; from our stories and somehow, one of the reasons why many of our family members are being saved is because of our stories (or maybe vice versa; that none of them are still saved because we never tend to share our stories to them).

Upon dwelling on this portion of the devotional, some thoughts flashed on my mind:

1. ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS TO MAKE KWENTO

If there is someone who is good at making kwento’s about ourselves, I think it’s us! And the frequent we do it, the more that our friends would be inspired to know what we have been experiencing. It’s like when we watch a great movie! The movie was so great that we can’t help but to share it to our friends. Not just that, we will spend time with them watching the movie even though we have already experienced the fullness of the movie. THEN WHAT MORE IF WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO SHARE IS FOR THE GLORY OF GOD? J

2. JUST BE YOURSELF

Our friends will be able to understand it quickly if we will be yourself while telling them our story. You’ll be more efficient! THAT’S A FACT! J Just don’t try to be another person when you make kwento, it will just make you ineffective!

3. DON’T WORRY ABOUT HOW HE/SHE WILL RESPOND

God is with you! SYEMPRE! Everything that you will share is just out of His grace into your life! Si God na bahala sa kanya! Just share what you need to share! Just like what is written in 1Corinthians 3:6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So don’t worry! God will be the one to make the growth! Our job is to plant the seed! We may not know the exact date that our friend/family members will respond but as long as we continue what we are currently doing, God will surely make that growth that we are praying for! J

4. ENGAGE! Don’t Equip,Establish and Empower!

Just like in the principle of discipleship, engage first! Doing the next step will just complicate the situation! Just patiently prepare the person little by little! J

That is all. HAHA. J Each one of us has his/her own unique story to tell! Let us just be excited to tell it to others! Thank God for this great opportunity that he has given me to be refreshed with this topic J. Now, I am excited to SHARE MY STORY TO THE WORLD J

DAY21: KEEP YOUR FEET ON THE GROUND

I remembered what my former classmate Erson Mendoza told in his motto during our freshmen days at Quezon National High School, “TOUCH THE SKY WITH YOUR HANDS, BUT LEAVE YOUR FEET ON THE GROUND”. For some reasons, I knew that he was pertaining to the word HUMILITY…. J

Humility may sound very difficult to some but as Christians, it’s quite a must in our walk! For some time, I had the chance to talk to people that lack humility (sa ‘kin na lang kung sino yun. HAHA) and it seems like the more we give credit to ourselves on a particular thing that we are doing, the less we rely on God for His grace to be upon us. (GETZ? J). For some people that might read this, it might be offending but I believe that as growing Christians, we need to HUMILITY J

Ephesians 2:8-9

New International Version (NIV)

² Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love

I am really blessed that for some point, God placed me at Victory Lucban! J I was really amazed the way God stretched my faith and my confidence in talking and ministering to people but I am more blessed on how God gave this humble heart to me! J At some point, out of the things that God made me do, I could’ve BOAST IT ALL! Whenever I lead the people to worship, talk to people during lifegroups, leadership groups, devotions, and even staff meetings (ASSUMING. AHAHA), pwedeng pwede naman akong maging BOASTFUL. But, whenever that thoughts flash to my mind, I just can’t do that!

HAHA. To tell you the truth, whenever people try to give a GREAT JOB for what I did, I just say THANK GOD FOR HIS GRACE! This is a FACT; most of the time when I lead people to worship, its either PAOS ako or DI KAMI NAKAPAG REHEARSE NG SATURDAY (pag Sunday service. HAHA) pero its still God who gave us the AWESOME EXPERIENCE that were having on our services. Week after week, we just can’t help but be amazed on what God is doing, KASI IT NOT BECAUSE OF US that were growing, BUT ITS ALL BECAUSE OF JESUS! J

Ephesians 2:8-9

New International Version (NIV)

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.

This is the first verse that I memorized! HAHA (Hindi John3:16). The reason why I loved this verse was because during highschool days, I always try to quote the verse LITERALLY! That time kasi, it was Faith Andres who invited me to Victory and it was Grace Del Moro who became my first Lifecoach, so I always try to quote the verse; “For it is by Ate Grace that we have been saved through Erica Faith” HAHA (missed those times). It was then that I realized na that moment pala had a significant relationship with how I acted whenever I do works for Jesus! Since I claimed the verse in my heart, I never had the chance to boast on something and just thank God for His grace!

Most of the time nga, people try to give credit on me and other people too because of what we were doing, but as for me, I always give the credit to God! Eh kasi, Grace nya lang talaga yung reason why we did those things! Just recently I read a Facebook post from Dirk Pastrana with the the words:

“I am really blessed to the lives of LifeBox Lucban, more so to Kristian Louis Reyes Arenas and Melvin Balilo great job for the men'steam there guys.... I salute the humility of hearts keep it up! Reach the NEXT GENS”

I really don’t know how to respond to this message. I just want to give credit to Jesus! If I would rephrase this post nga eh, I would write:

“I am really blessed to the lives of LifeBox Lucban, more so to GOD who is enabling the leaders to REACH OUT FOR MORE through His grace!!! J.... I salute the humility of the hearts of the LEADERS, keep it up! Reach the NEXT GENS”

I just want Jesus to be exalted in everything that I will do! And as a LEADER, I am also envisioning the people that I am living with to have that attitude too! Jesus is the only one that is worthy of the highest praise! And what’s disappointing is that people tend to get the credit that is supposed to be given to Jesus! Eh si God kaya mismo yung nagsabi, GRACE LANG NYA KUNG BAKIT NAGAGAWA MO YANG MGA BAGAY NA GINAGAWA MO- SO THAT NO ONE CAN BOAST! J It may be difficult on your part, but allow HUMILITY to be upon you!

I know someone who lacked humility more than anyone of us! His name was LUCIFER! He was a worship leader! An angel with 6 wings, a beautiful one! But one thing that made him was not good about him was that he desired himself more than God! He claimed to be greater than God and we all know what happened to him; HE DESCENDED INTO HELL and is more popularly known as SATAN! HE WAS DEFEATED.

Through the life of Lucifer, we could all learn the value of humility and the bad things that being proud or boastful could to! So, as a Christian, I would rather choose to give Jesus the credit everytime I will be praised in doing something, anyway, DAPAT NAMAN TALAGA EH! J

DAY20: SET AN EXAMPLE

At times, especially when I am at Victory Lucban, I always feel that people are looking at me; not because of the things that I’m doing (maybe) but siguro kasi, for them, I AM ONE OF THE LEADERS kaya most people look up to me at some point! Sabihin man natin na I’m just on the start of my 20’s and not that old to be looked up to, but I guess for them, I am a spiritual giant!

I could remember tuloy the time when I was a younger Christian, I tend to look at people that are already mature in their faith. Somehow, I want to imitate what they were doing, why? Kasi for me, they are the exact representation of PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEEN CHANGED BECAUSE OF THE BLOOD OF JESUS! It was just recently that I realized that what I made was wrong L. (wanna know why? LATER. hehe) Also, it never crossed to my mind that sooner or later, as I grow in my relationship with Jesus, I would be able to experience the exact same thing; that people would look up to me too! That I need to set and example to these people because, for them, I AM A LEADER

Upon meditating on this topic, few things were brought to my mind; most are things that I was unable to do (BEFORE pa yun): J

1. FOLLOW MY EXAMPLE, AS I FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF CHRIST. (1Corinthians 1:11)

It was Paul who was speaking that verse. During my early years as a Christian, I tend to imitate people that surrounded me because I thought that their lives represent the goodness of God. Although that statement is true, at some points kasi, we tend to follow people but are not following the example of Christ! THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENS NORMALLY! That’s why as leaders, we need to be reminded that as we set an example to people that look up to us, let us first evaluate our hearts and our actions if we are really following the example of Christ! J

2. DON'T LET ANYONE LOOK DOWN ON YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE YOUNG, BUT SET AN EXAMPLE FOR THE BELIEVERS IN SPEECH, IN LIFE, IN LOVE, IN FAITH AND IN PURITY. (1Timothy 4:12)

Most of us have that WRONG MINDSET na I’M NOT THAT MATURE ENOUGH FOR ME TO SET AN EXAMPLE. NGAYON PA LANG, you have to set in your mind that as you have surrendered your life to JESUS, people will start to look on what you are doing! Do not be intimidated/discouraged by people around you! SET AN EXAMPLE TO THEM! It doesn’t necessarily mean that the OLDER people are the ones who are MORE MATURE! As young as you are, YOU CAN STEP OUT, LEAD and SET EXAMPLE for new believers to follow; as long as YOU FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF CHRIST (1^st thought)! J

It was then that I realized that AGE isn’t a hindrance for me to STEP OUT and DO WHAT GOD WANTS ME TO DO. 19 years old na ‘ko nung nakita ko sa Victory Manila on how they empower the young persons as the older one’s set an example. But I guess, God has a purpose for that! Right now, siguro God wants me to encourage the younger generation that as YOUNG AS THEY ARE, THEY CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE BY SETTING AN EXAMPLE in SPEECH, LIFE, LOVE, FAITH and in PURITY! J

3. IN YOUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER, HAVE THE SAME MINDSET AS CHRIST JESUS:WHO, BEING IN VERY NATURE GOD, DID NOT CONSIDER EQUALITY WITH GOD SOMETHING TO BE USED TO HIS OWN ADVANTAGE; RATHER, HE MADE HIMSELF NOTHING BY TAKING THE VERY NATURE OF A SERVANT, BEING MADE IN HUMAN LIKENESS. AND BEING FOUND IN APPEARANCE AS A MAN, HE HUMBLED HIMSELF BY BECOMING OBEDIENT TO DEATH— EVEN DEATH ON A CROSS! (Philippians2:5-8)

No one can boast! We all know that as a leader! Continue to be humble and make ourselves nothing as we set an example to the next generation! If we ourselves would be humble enough, we would see the next generation full of humility! J

As a leader at Victory Lucban, I couldn’t help but be CAREFUL in everything that I am doing! Siguro dahil I have already prepared myself to accept the fact that people will definitely look up at me especially those people that are just new in their relationship with God. And you know what’s amazing in SETTING AN EXAMPLE; it’s WHEN YOU JUST IMITATE CHRIST AS YOU LEAD PEOPLE TO HIM, you could see OTHERS DOING THE SAME THING! J Just like what we did here at Victory Lucban! We have set an example of MAKING DISCIPLES; from our Generation 1 leaders and until now that we have our Gen2 and Gen3, we are still setting an example of REACHING OUT TO PEPOLE! As a result, even our Gen2 and Gen3 people are doing the same thing, WITH NO COMPLAINTS, kasi siguro, they saw in us as we set example that WE CAN DO IT J

C’MON GUYS! LETS SET AN EXAMPLE TO OUR GENERATION AND LET’S SEE HOW WE WILL REACH OUT EVERY SINGLE PERSON BY THIS TESTIMONIES THAT WE WILL HAVE!:)

DAY 19: WHO ARE YOUR PAULS?

GRABE! I experience a very difficult day today! GRABE ang BATTLE with lots of stuffs! Woooooooh! Sa bahay pa lang, whenever I encounter people especially sa Dad ko! K But despite of everything that happened today, there is one thing that I am really thankful; that this God has been molding me so much that AT THE END OF THE DAY, whenever I look at things, I just find them MEANINGLESS to do if it’s not for God J God is really more than amazing and there’s no greater LOVE than HIS UNCONDITIONAL LOVE! J God’s grace is always there for me! J

I am on my 19^th day on this IGNITE 2011 DEVOTIONALS J, somehow, as I dwell more on the contents, these makes me realize a lot of stuffs. Although this devotional would just last for 31 days, my prayer is that as God have given me wisdom everytime I dwell on this devotionals, I would also gain a lot with/without the devotionals! For wisdom and understanding isn’t based (NOT ENOUGH) on a great material but rather on a GREAT GOD! J

2 Timothy 1:13-14

New International Version (NIV)

¹³ What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴ Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

If there is one character in the New Testament that I really admire the most, it’s PAUL! At some point nga, (just thought), if I would change my name, I’d turn it to paul (HAHA), but no worries, I have a much better name naman HAHAHA -> KRISTIAN although its spelled with a “K” not with a “CH”. But kidding aside;

The Apostle Paul is one of the greatest missionaries of all time. His life truly shows how it is to live passionately for God who turned his life around. Yet amidst His adventures in the faith, He did not forget to pass on to someone whom he knows will continue what was entrusted to him. This was not just about evangelizing someone—he discipled Timothy.

Timothy, on the other hand, opened his life to Paul’s mentoring. He was humble enough to receive from Paul and follow him. Like Timothy, we need to realize that being trained and mentored is important. To have godly mentors is a blessing. Who are the “Pauls” in your life? Ask God to guide you as you open your life to “Pauls” who can guide you in this Christian walk. (EXCERPT FROM THE DEVOTIONAL)

Mentors like Paul is A MUST in our Christian life. This is a fact that we need to accept!

Whenever I hear the word MENTOR, lalo na dati, I want to cry more and more! L. Dumating kasi sa point ng Christian life ko na walang nag mementor sa ‘kin L. My walk came to a point na puro ministry na lang ang ginagawa ko inside the church. There were NO DISCIPLESHIP, NO ACCOUNTABILITY and NO MENTORSHIP that was happening! It was just a SELF-SEEKING CHRISTIANITY that was happening. Super thankful nga ako kay God kasi He changed me a lot! He gave me people that helped me a lot in my Christian walk that served as my mentors!

PASTOR JAYZON DE BELEN

You know what dati, ayoko lumapit dito! I want to share to somebody but please, not him. For me siguro kasi before, he’s already a pastor and I’m just a kiddo, so there’s no way that I could understand him. But that changed when I went to senior year! As I faced the biggest step outside of my comfort zone; TO GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES, I realized that I need to be filled with receive words of encouragement from a person that is more mature than me! He is currently my Leader in discipleship and even in worship! I am so blessed by the leadership of this man and I am inspired on what he is doing at Victory Lucban

DIRK PASTRANA

Dirk is a kuya to me! I really missed those times na napapagalitan kami ni Melvin nyan! Haha. At present kasi, di kami masyadong naguusap. But still, I am blessed on how he serve God! He is one of the people I really look up to especially in terms of leadership! J

RUCHEL ALEGRE

Grabe! She was my FIRST PRAYER PARTNER! I can still remember that time when I just had my PRAYER topic on 121. Immediately, I attended a youth service at Victory Lucena. Upon arriving 5 minutes late, I just heard the words “GRAB A PARTNER AND PRAY FOR YOUR CAMPUSES”, it was also that time that when I entered the hall, si Ate Ruchel agad yung nakita ko.. HAHA. I could still imagine my face that time when she approached me to pray for our campuses! FULLTIME kasi sya and I was like a newly fed Christian back then. So before praying, I told her “ATE RUCHEL, PAGPASENSYAHAN MO PO ‘TONG PRAYER KO HA! J”. After my explanations, she just smiled and told me that I don’t need to say sorry; whenever we pray daw naman kasi, we don’t pray to people, WE COMMUNICATE WITH GOD. J

GRACE DEL MORO

My FIRST VICTORY GROUP LEADER J. There came a time na sya na lang yung kumakamusta sa ‘kin; that was the time of our summer affiliation at Manila. Although I was attending at Victory Pioneer that time, syempre, it’s important for someone to check you! I am really thankful to Ate Grace that time! All her impartations especially in reading books was retained on my mind! Kaya siguro during the whole summer of 2010, I was able to read a lot of books (THE EMPTY CROSS, SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP, EXTREME CALLING, DO HARD THINGS, WHY GOD WANTS YOU TO PROSPER, PERMISSION EVANGELISM).

LYAN LOPEZ

The person that God used for me to be STRETCHED OUT! Although she’s a gal, God used her to make a great impact on my Christian life! Everytime I experience some things, I just go to her, kasi kakatapos lang nya dun sa situation na ‘yun. And super duper na EMPOWER ako sa kanya! Especially in my days as MINISTRY HEAD ng MUSIC TEAM J

CHRISTIAN CORNEJO

For just a short period of time, this guy encouraged me a lot! The way I saw his life and his dedication in his work as a Campus Missionary at Victory Pioneer (Nga pala, he’s currently the Youth Pastor of LEVEL UP), his generosity and his never-ending passion to serve Jesus! Biruhin mo, umuuwi pa ‘to ng San Mateo Rizal and goes back to Mandaluyong every single day. Whoah, amazing J. And even though I had spent time with him for just a short period of time, I learned a lot, and is still learning from him as I see what he’s doing to the call that God has placed in his life.

These are just some of the people that I consider as PAUL’S in my life. Whether they shared something to me for a long or short time, I am very thankful to God because He gave me a chance to meet these people! J

PASTOR GILBERT FOLIENTE said in a prophetic presbytery that I would be surrounded by mentors! At present, although si Pastor Jayzon at si Lyan yung nagserve as mentors sa ‘kin, I am confident that God will treasure that promise that He gave me in that prophesy thru Pastor gilbert! I REALLY NEED MENTORS! LALO NA NGAYON THAT I’M BECOMING A PAUL TOO! I ALSO NEED TO BE EQUIPPED AS I EQUIP NEXT GENERATION! I have the assurance that God will fulfill that, as of now, I just need to be faithful on the mentors that I have at present J

DAY18: GETTING WISE COUNSEL

This is the 18^th day of the 31 devotional and blog challenge that I decided to do BY FAITH a few weeks ago! J I am so blessed to see that even though there were times that I merely want to give up, surely, God’s grace was so sufficient to restore me back to the goal of finishing the devotional as well as the blog (HAHA). To tell you the truth, yung notebook ko, di ko napakinabangan for the past few weeks (HAHA) except for the preachings! All my quiet time for the past 18 days has been written on Microsoft word and is posted on my blogspot (naitsirkarenas.blogspot.com) Actually, this is a great time for me to incorporate the Ignite devotional to my quiet time (the verses that are on the devotional). I am really learning a lot! J

While reading the content of the devotional, Proverbs 19:20 kept on flashin on my head “LISTEN TO ADVICE AND ACCEPT INSTRUCTIONS AND IN THE END, YOU WILL BE WISE”. Then I was followed bby the verse the I just read a while ago in Proverbs 15:22 “PLANS FAIL FOR LACK OF COUNSEL, BUT WITH MANY ADVISERS THEY SUCCEED”. Upon dwelling on these things, some pointers flashed on my head:

1. WE NEED MENTORS IN OUR LIVES AS CHRISTIAN

For me, I tend to look at the older generation as MENTORS; they are the people that we really need to look at especially on stuffs that were doing in our Christian life! Their job is to impart something to the current generation just (then us to the next generation), for us to be directed on the right path! These will help us become wiser and stronger as a Christian! J SYEMPRE ITS GOD PA DIN who’s going to lead us there but the mentors that we have are God’s instruments for us to stay on track

2. ADVICES ARE IMPORTANT

In my walk as a Christian, one of the things that I learned was to seek advice and accept instruction (Proverbs 19:20). I can still remember my SHIFTING EXPERIENCE! During my sophomore year as an AHSE Student (Associate in Health Science Education), there were a time when I wanted to SHIFT to BA COMMUNICATION ARTS. At that time, I was really furious and decided to go! BUT GOD REBUKED ME WITH HIS WORD! The reason why I will never forget that verse in Proverbs is because God used that verse for me to stay in my course! Who would’ve imagine that I will reach to BSN III even to BSN IV and currently a fresh graduate of BSN. Not just that, if I changed my course right away, I wouldn’t be able to gain this LIFE that I have right now (the experiences, the tests and even the friends)! I think I made a right decision because I sought advices from people!

3. NO NEED TO RUSH WHEN DECIDING

Most of the time, we tend to decide on a specific situation right away without even thinking of the consequences of our decisions! I also learned in this walk not to SAY YES immediately to a specific situation that needs decision without praying first and seeking God’s approval! I know that I have placed these 4 things that I learned from FAITH ANDRES that is useful when deciding on a particular thing (WORD OF GOD, GODLY COUNSEL, HOLY SPIRIT, and COMMON SENSE). This was actually helpful for me, it might be for you too! J

4. GOD WILL TELL YOU WHAT TO DO, BUT IN THE END, HE WILL GIVE YOU THE FREEWILL TO DECIDE ON SOMETHING

I remember the time when I attended the Planetshakers concert at Ultra last March, (if you want to read that, just try to search it on my previous notes J). God impressed to me to go! But after that, God didn’t interfere! Yeah I felt that God was prompting me to go, but He wanted me to sense that/realize that. That time, parang God was telling me this (version ko) “I want you to go, pero ikaw pa din magdedecide in the end!”. I was really anxious that time! I even told my friend Melvin this “what if hindi ako makasama? Para san pa na God told me to go?” Syempre possible yun, if I decided not to go, BUT I STICKED ON WHAT GOD TOLD ME THE FIRST PLACE! HINDI PABAGO-BAGO NG ISIP SI GOD, di tulad natin J

5. GOD’S GRACE IS ALWAYS SUFFICIENT WHEN YOU MAKE A WRONG DECISION, BUT THERE’S A REWARD IF YOU DECIDE ON THE RIGHT TRACK!

God’s grace is always sufficient and is always here to restore and sustain us! Any wonder why we’re still here in our walk with God despite of all the pitfalls that we’ve fallen into. IT’S ALL BECAUSE OF HIS GRACE! And whether you decide right or not, God’s grace will always be sufficient for us!

But Hey! I didn’t mean that it’s okay to choose any of the choices! Yah God’s grace is sufficient, but THERE’S ALWAYS A REWARD if we decide right! J

BIG WOW!HAHA. super nakaka amaze na while sitting here sa labas ng house naming, God was able to impress to me some things. I really dunno if related sya dun sa topic. All I know is, I just typed yung revelation ni God sa ‘kin regarding the verses and the thought! J if someone would be reading this, I hope helpful sya! Hehe BTW, quiet time ko nga pala to. HAHA J