Absolute Surrender

Absolute Surrender. Poured Out Life. All out for Jesus. Exchanged Life.

Those are the words that challenge me with my walk with the Lord. Those are the words that I esteem as the REAL Christian life. I want it for my life.

What is it? What does it cost?

The Absolute Surrendered life is nothing short of a life totally focused and given to the Lord Jesus Christ. It costs ALL there is to us. ALL and not a even a drop for self.

"So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple." Luke 14:33

"For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake" Philippians 1:29 We are not called to just believe but to also to suffer for HIS SAKE! I take it as a privilege to suffer for the One who is WORTHY.

I really love these words from Jim Elliot. I pray the same thing. Lord, help me let go of everything that is temporal, those that I hold dearly, all that gives me temporary pleasure. Instead, open my hands to receive Your call, Your cross and die. Die to everything that I want and desire for myself. So that nothing can stop me from living an absolute surrendered life to You."

I enter into a surrendered life in His grace with so much hope and peace. I enter into a season of solitude, refinement and purification so that all of me will DIE until my eye focuses on Him alone and my heart finds true satisfaction in Him alone. As EG White said, "God’s work of refining and purifying the soul must go on until his servants are so humbled, so dead to self, that when called into active service, they may have an eye single to the glory of God.”

So here I am, I ask the Lord to refine me and purify me with His loving eye on me.

Danita Estrella challenged, "Would you be willing to walk away from the temporary pleasures of this life for the sake of the Gospel? Don't answer too quickly because it is going to cost you."

I am a daughter of the Most High God! I am a daughter of the King!

God thinks I am special.

His thought is all that matters. I love You, Lord!♥

"But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is godly" Psalm 4:3

Jesus is Faithful. My Lord is wonderful! He never left me and is still with me always.

"Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You." Psalm 73:25

Lord, You alone are my Portion forever. People come and go, love and hurt but You, Lord, are perfect ALWAYS and FOREVER!

I ♥ You and desire to love You for the rest of my life, all the days of my life... You and YOU alone. You are worthy of ALL of me. Take me as Thou will, use me as Thou will! For Your glory and honor alone. Forever and EVER!!!!

"Even our death is a doorway to His very presence." - Leslie Ludy

"Look to Jesus ONLY." -Betsy Ten Boom

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." Isaiah 43:2

I am happy to know that God is with me as I pass through the waters and the flames. That in itself is sooooo comforting! THANK YOU, Lord!

"Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say Rejoice!" Philippians 4:4

His promises say:

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" Romans 8:28

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
 Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9

As Elisabeth Elliott said, "Perhaps some future day, Lord, Thy strong hand will lead me to a place where I must stand – utterly alone. Alone, O gracious love, but for Thee I shall be satisfied if I can see – JESUS ONLY. I do not know Thy plans for years to come, my spirit finds its perfect home – sufficiency. Lord, all my desire is before Thee now, lead on, no matter where, no matter what, I trust in Thee.” I am looking forward to see more of Him and see Him move in people's lives. I am excited to experience the fulfillment of each of His promises and experience His power as He promised!

This is WAR

We have a battle. We have a calling. And it is not for trifles. We are made to fight, strive, work, conquer, give ourselves for something that is eternal.

Let us set aside our little temporal causes and give ourselves for this one great battle.

Never Settle for Less - Strive for Excellence

We are the children of the Most High God. WE are called to be excellent and reflect His glory wherever we are.

Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time (Colossians 4:5, NRSV).

I got a funny email from my Team Leader today who sent this email to everyone. It says:

The last sentence made me laugh. Hahaha! It is true. So I immediately opened the files and did them with joy from the Lord. I finished them in less than 15 minutes. Then I proceeded with other tickets. Praise God! God then immediately bless me with so much joy and more of Him!

"...if we truly believe in a literal hell, why is there so much focus on the temporal." - Francis Chan

From this LINK (click it)

Different just like Jesus

In the past couple of days, I have been guilty of being angry and insecure. Because of that, it has eaten my joy and peace. I realized that I have become selfish and was hardened by my selfish desires. It has caused me to fight others without even praying first. It was so ugly. It has been a week that I have been suffering hurts and pains. I have remembered the past that was done to me and sometimes, I could not believe that I was disrespected that way. Even worse, I believed the lies. I do wish I can turn back time and followed His leading. I really didn't know what to do. And now, here I am being attacked by this ugliness of insecurities and distrust that has built in my heart. It has caused me to waver in my faith and being complacent in my pursuit of the Lord. I became so weak and wretched. I wasted my time in tears instead of battling in prayer. I see it now. I see it now.

We sometimes get angry thinking we will get what we desire: healing from the past and apology from the person. But actually no. Being angry and mad makes things worse. It causes more sin and builds more damage in the hearts. God has taught me this before but He continues to teach me this as I battle this life, as I struggle to mortify my flesh, as I battle in the spiritual world.

Today, I humble myself and lay all my hurts down in the feet of Jesus Christ, who redeemed me from the pit. I no longer live there but I live in Him now. So no matter what pain has been caused me, I want to be different just like Jesus. I pray that by His grace, my heart will be healed and He will lead me to the place where He wants me to be, in His own and perfect way. Because He is my Lord, my Savior, my ALL in all. I go to the cross and He goes to His throne -- my heart. So that He will be glorified in all things, always.

"Watch and pray lest you be tempted." Mark 14:38

"Therefore holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, FIX your thoughts on Jesus..." Hebrews 3:1

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12

Let us continue to pursue His word and Him alone and not ourselves...

"God’s work of refining and purifying the soul must go on until his servants are so humbled, so dead to self, that when called into active service, they may have an eye single to the glory of God.” -- EG White
in Review and Herald April 10, 1894

This has made me think. I used to think that when you feel you love God so much, you immediately go out there alone and do "great" and "big" things. However, we will truly miss what He has in store in seeking Him first in an intimate relationship with Him. Through this, He refines and purifies the soul until we are so humbled and dead to ourselves. Then He will lead us to an active service, for His glory alone.

I have made so many big mistakes in my life. I am in a crossroad where I have to decide which way to go. I really don't see the sign and I don't see the roads ahead. But I pray that God will lead me to a place of Total Surrender to Him with His strong and mighty hand. I cannot do this by myself. I need my Savior. Lord, help me.

Yanny birthday celebration - The "First Time" Adventure

Today is Yanny's 24th birthday. My beloved sistahrette!! ♥ We are a thousand miles away and although I tried so many ways to make it special for her, it is totally different from being "together" physically. So I just imagined she is with me. Hehe! Here is the little adventure on her birthday!

I worked early today so I can leave early. I was supposed to leave at 4:00pm but because I got stuck at work and finished the call before 3, my Team Leader just told me to not take lunch and just go home at 3. I was happy. I left work around 3:30 pm and headed for lunch. I thought it would be nice to try so many new things today. So here we go...

First stop: Pizza! Vegan pizza with spinach, brocolli, olives, soy cheese, cucumber, mushroom. Ahmmm it doesn't sound good haha! Well, here is the picture!

Happy birthday Yanny!!

She was born a year after me. Born with a shiny hair while I was born with a lot of hair. She has curly hair, and I have a straight hair. Growing up, we would not get along with her. We have so many differences and I thought we were the exact opposite of each other. She has a strong personality and I did have a very mean demeanor. She was very bubbly and friendly and I was an introvert. Everybody loves her. I admit I was jealous of her. *wink* But although we were different, we would still hug each other and play together. (Thank God for pictures!)

Beautiful Weekend - July 16-17

What a beautiful weekend! I can't even describe it. I hadn't been feeling miserable and burdened for a long time but on Friday night, I totally was. I was so burdened that I sought the Lord in His word even before going out on Saturday. He answered and continue to answer the questions I had on my head. And after spending time in His presence, His presence abounds throughout the day! Despite the pain I experienced that night, the day and the weekend was still beautiful! Despite what I am going through, there is joy and peace. There are a few things that I am scared of but His word and love comforts me! "I keep my eyes always on the Lord, with Him at my right hand, I will NOT be shaken!" Psalm 16:8

What a beautiful weekend! On Saturday, I went to work and on my way to work I took a little adventure with my little old camera. Here are the photos!

"Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." Psalm 16:11

When I think about this, all the other leisures of the flesh (sleep, rest, entertainment, everything we turn to for rest) fades away knowing that we can only find fullness of joy and eternal pleasures right in His presence, in the presence of Royalty. It's heaven on earth! ♥

Dying to Self

"I DIE daily." 1 Corinthians 15:31

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is NO LONGER I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20

Life-changing Quotes

"People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway." — Mother Teresa

"We shouldn't measure ourselves next to our generation because our generation isn't looking too good." -Eric Ludy

Words from Mary Southerland

"A disciplined thought life is the very foundation of a victorious journey with God."

"Nail your ego to the cross and declare it powerless."

"If you’re going to risk and maybe fail, fail at something that matters. Fail gloriously so that even in failure, LIVES CHANGE.” - Jon Acuff

Bringing People to Jesus

The love of the Lord is life-changing. For all who have walked in His love knows that it is chain-breaking. He sets us free with His forgiveness, healing and love. He changes us and make us a new creation. He gives us a future full of hope! Most of all, He gives us the privilege to be with Him forever (yes, even NOW).

What is more convicting is that there is something so mysterious with this life-changing love that it overflows. When we experience it and behold of its beauty, we want to share it with people among us. God made it in a way that we want others to experience this Savior, this God who is all powerful and amazing.

"Why wouldn't you go if you have something so GOOD?" - Jackie Pullinger

We wonder, how can we ever share Jesus to others? I wondered about this for long. Would it possible to tell them about Jesus straight up? I tried that before. It didn't work. I was so abrupt with my question that it wasn't effective anymore. Then how?

Little Adventure - July 10

How many times do we just pass by without noticing something new, something different, some beautiful? I know I did. So today, I did a little adventure and I found a lot of things that really amuse me and sparked a great delight in my heart! Most often than not, it is the simple things that we miss. And it is in the simple things that can give us a little adventure.

Here they are...

A True servant of God aspires ONLY for the applaud of Heaven and not of the people around.

We're not sentenced to death, we're just privileged to answer His call."

~Jackie Pullinger

Her name is Aoife.. Precious and sweet... Adorable too... Spending time with her was really great.. From movies, to Bible Stories, to sleeping, to walking, to buying food, to swimming in the pool and to making cupcakes. Twas a great time!



I have realized that the Bible School experience have really soften my hearts for the children and has changed my outlook on them: They are not just little creatures that can be chaotic at times. They are precious and God loves each of them. The best time to teach someone about God is when they are young so that they will have the foundation in Him. Showing love is also very important. But loving and spoiling are 2 different things.*

Repentance

Repentance doesn't mean to slowly change. Repentance means "to COMPLETELY TURN AWAY" from everything we know to be sin.

HUH becoming an AHA!

"But I will sing of Your power;
         Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning;
         For You have been my defense
         And refuge in the day of my trouble." Psalm 59:16

I used to hate the way I was raised and the way my family was in comparison to other families. Some families didn't have to suffer the way we did. Some kids have Christian parents who raised them in God's way and therefore they grew up without having to go through the trauma that we have to go through - scary days and nights filled with tremor and fear, unwise life decisions, wild escape, regrets of leaving, sexual molestation, etcetera. I used to envy those who have good families. I used to think they were blessed. At the same time I resent it. I asked why I have to experience this. I asked why didn't I have a good family with parents who guided me to the Truth. I became insecure and envious.

"When we come to the end of ourselves, we come to the beginning of God."
--Billy Graham

A Wonderful Life

Everyone wants to live a wonderful life. Everyone wants to be happy. That is goal of every person. Every action and decision should supposedly make someone happy. We can see it everyday: People working to earn more money for various reasons: to pay bills, to buy needs or to buy new gadgets, new house, new car, and the list goes on; People stealing to obtain money; people killing to take revenge or obtain more money; couples holding and kissing each other; students going to school to obtain education for the future; people shopping for clothes; and so much more! In each of these actions, each person has a goal to be happy.

The question we face is, how about if something doesn't go right? What if someone hurts us with an unkind word? What if someone leaves us unexpectedly? What if someone we love betrays us? What if our child disobeys us? Doesn't that hurt? Doesn't that cause so much pain?

Let me be weak...