FEW HOURS TO LIVE

What would you do if you are given with just few hours to live?

Most of us might have the same response or answer to this question which I believe can be summarized into 3 statements: 

1.        Spend the remaining time with love ones 

2.      Reconcile with our enemies 

3.      Give thanks to God for the life given to us and ask forgiveness to our sins

This answer I think is very common to everyone, but I have a different answer in my mind which I would like to share with you.

I haven’t realized how valuable time or my life is until I witnessed death itself with the last few days and hours I spent with my father, my Tatay as I called him.

I really don’t like the thought of death nor expect that I will see it with my own eyes and feel it directly from a love one.

I’m not so emotionally attached with my father. The truth is I fear him because of his very aura which is strict and disciplinarian. He has a very strong personality and he’s not expressive (I think those are the qualities I got from him). He is responsible but not showy in terms of his love to us.

With that, I just let time flies between us as I am busy with my own life thinking that it’s OK not to mind him so much.

Until that unforgettable week when he was given with just few hours to live, and somehow God had given me the chance to take care of him. That painful feeling when you see the person you love dies and wished that if you can just buy time to spend more with that person, you will definitely do it. Yes, I cried like a river when he held his last breath. The reason is regret. I regret when I let the time passed without showing him how much I appreciate his hard work in getting us to school and finished College. I regret the time when I did not express my gratitude to a responsible father who sacrificed much for the provision of his children. Still I thank God for giving me that last few hours to show him how much I care and ensuring that he will rest in the arms of Jesus.

Then something in the way I see my life changed at that moment. I realized that life indeed was short. Time is valuable. You will never know how or when your life will end. There’s really a time for everything, but each day might be your last so you must learn how to value it.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

New International Version (NIV)

A Time for Everything

3 There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
4     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

Live our life to the fullest as they say. But for me it’s better to say that let us live our life as if it’s our last. Treat each day as our last day to live, every hour as our last chance to breathe without compromise.

Our existence in this world is just temporary and just a short time for us to fulfil our purpose. Did you know that? That each of us has our own purpose to fulfil? If you are not aware of that, then you will never know how to give importance to life and even to your time.

The most significant thing that we should know first is the source of our life, the giver of our life. Where did we get the air that we breathe, the soul that resides in our bodies and the spirit that gives us the highest way of thinking and feeling? Where? Everything comes from our creator. Who? Who else but the maker of heaven and earth, who has a name high above all names, the Alpha and Omega, the Lord God Almighty.

Ecclesiastes 12:1-8

New International Version (NIV)

12 Remember your Creator
    in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble come
    and the years approach when you will say,
    “I find no pleasure in them”—
2 before the sun and the light
    and the moon and the stars grow dark,
    and the clouds return after the rain;
3 when the keepers of the house tremble,
    and the strong men stoop,
when the grinders cease because they are few,
    and those looking through the windows grow dim;
4 when the doors to the street are closed
    and the sound of grinding fades;
when people rise up at the sound of birds,
    but all their songs grow faint;
5 when people are afraid of heights
    and of dangers in the streets;
when the almond tree blossoms
    and the grasshopper drags itself along
    and desire no longer is stirred.
Then people go to their eternal home
    and mourners go about the streets.

6 Remember him—before the silver cord is severed,
    and the golden bowl is broken;
before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,
    and the wheel broken at the well,
7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from,
    and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

As young as you are right now, you must learn to discover ways on how to make your life meaningful and fruitful. Of course God wants us to enjoy our life but he wants to be part of everything in it. An inventor wants to make sure that his invention functions properly, and if he found any defect on it, he fixes it. The same thing with God, as He is our Creator, he wants to make sure that we are living a good life. If he found something that works far from His will, he fixes it. But he penetrates through our willingness and acceptance of His control over our life. He can never fix a life that doesn’t want to be fixed. In other words, surrendering our life to our God makes it living our life to the fullest and obedience to Him is like living our lives as if it’s our last. Does this make sense to you? 

Since life on earth is temporary, we ought to prepare for what is eternal. The life we gained when Jesus died on the cross is a gift that we must treasure and not allowing anyone to take it away from us.

John 10:10

New International Version (NIV)

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Death is inevitable, but we have a promise of eternal life from God. We might die in this world, but we can live forever in heaven. The question is: are we living in accordance to the will of God? Or are we wasting our time fulfilling our own selfish desires that takes us away from our purpose?

Because life is short and time is fleeting, we must gain wisdom now. . .

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

New International Version (NIV)

13 Now all has been heard;
    here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
    for this is the duty of all mankind.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
    including every hidden thing,
    whether it is good or evil.

UNBREAKABLE

Promises are made to be broken. This is a common cliché known to all of us.  A saying that most of us adheres to unknowingly.

I made several promises in my twenty eight years of existence. Some were fulfilled, many were broken. People made promises to me too, from the most loved to the least.  Those are promises that made me happy when fulfilled, and mostly had given me so much frustration that I had almost believed that the cliché is really a principle, a rule and not just a saying.

The word "promise", what does it really mean?

As I searched its meaning, I caught three important words that relate to it very well: declaration, expectation and trust.

Declaration

A promise is oftentimes made through declaration in many ways in whatever means. There's a promise made through written words and another through spoken words.
Some comes in a form of an oath, others through a pledge.
Sometimes silly individuals swear by using heavenly bodies (i.e. stars, sun, moon), as somehow their proof of sincerity and eagerness to fulfill their promise. Absurd as it is but we really buy this and eventually believe with all our hearts.

Why do we believe in all these sorts of declaration? Simply because we need something to hold on to, something that will give us certainty of tomorrow, something that will give us the assurance of what will going to happen in our lives despite the odds that the series of events might bring us on our journey, on our battles.

What comes next after declaration? It's expectation.

Expectation

What did you expect? A promise was made so it should be fulfilled. There's growing anticipation deep within your heart that day by day this contemplation is increasing until it developed into full grown hope.

We hope because there's a reason for us to expect, and we cling to that reason so tight we are unable to let go. I remember a novel by Charles Dickens which I read during my high school days. The novel is entitled "Great Expectations". From this, I learned how a person's expectations can either make or break him/her. There are a lot of twists in the story in which most can be out of context for what I'm trying to imply here. The main character just fascinated me so much, his name is Philip Pirrip nicknamed Pip which I believe somehow depicts a person that most of us portrays in real life, an ambitious personality who will go for any possibilities in life in order to accomplish things.

When a promise was made to us, it just gives us extra will to walk into the unknown. Somehow we know that at the end of the rope is the fulfillment of a promise. What if we found nothing? What if after we exerted everything just to hold into that promise, we found out that it is actually vague? We feel cheated right? Our expectations will now be the cause of our dissatisfaction.

Why do we believe anyway? It's because of trust.

Trust

Aside from hope, trust made us believe in a promise. We trust the people who give us those promises in the same way people trust us when we give them our promises.

A broken promise whether you believe it or not will surely lead to broken trust.

I don't know with you but for me, a promise is synonymous to a commitment. When someone broke it, it feels like it gets on your nerves and penetrates to your bones. It's hard to get over with it. Rebuilding trust might take a lifetime.

I seldom make promises or make some commitments I'm not determined to fulfill because I'm afraid to break someone's trust. I know, as what I always say, part of being human is to fail.

So no matter what we do, there will be promises that will certainly break, intentional or unintentional.

Are you getting discouraged now?

No, I don't want to discourage you. I'm telling this reality so that you will appreciate one thing that I discovered. Something that is unbreakable. This is no other than the promise of God. This very life that I have is already a fulfilled promise of God. The air I breathe, and all that functions inside of me are part of God's promise. God even demonstrated how unbreakable his promises are as himself through his beloved son Jesus.

John 3:16

New International Version (NIV)

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

A promise is not really made to be broken. It just depends on who makes it. If it's God, it's definitely unbreakable because he himself is unbreakable.

Hebrews 10:22-23

New International Version (NIV)

22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

There are some points in our lives where we got disappointed, disappointed with people, with our own situation and even with our own actions and decisions. We have high hopes that happened to end in frustrations.

There’s a pain of a broken promise, the anguish of long wait that resulted to nothing. All because we put our hopes on situation or on people who don't have enough power in fulfilling our satisfaction. That we can't blame to them.

In my twenty eight years of existence, only when I started to put my hope to the Lord and surrendered my life to Him, I became fully aware of His unbreakable promises. I am a witness of that because I just received the fulfillment of his promise to my family. It's just amazing how it happened.

Psalm 33:4

New International Version (NIV)

4 For the word of the Lord is right and true;
    he is faithful in all he does.

When I started to put my trust in God alone, everything in my life changed. Even at times that I failed Him, God never fails in my life. My stubbornness can cause delays to the fulfillment of his promises, but even at these times God remain faithful.

Psalm 40:4-5

New International Version (NIV)

4 Blessed is the one
    who trusts in the Lord,
who does not look to the proud,
    to those who turn aside to false gods.[a]
5 Many, Lord my God,
    are the wonders you have done,
    the things you planned for us.
None can compare with you;
    were I to speak and tell of your deeds,
    they would be too many to declare.

In this journey, I will meet people who will give me some sort of promises, might be in this present time or in the future. We don't really know what will happen.

One thing I'm sure of is that when all else fails, God will never fail. When all promises in the world were broken, God's promises will remain unbreakable.

Psalm 119:49-50

New International Version (NIV)

49 Remember your word to your servant,
    for you have given me hope.
50 My comfort in my suffering is this:
    Your promise preserves my life.

The thing is how will you know the promises of God in your life?

·        Accept Jesus as Lord and Savior over your life.

·        Know the character of God and obey His will.

·        Love God with all your heart, mind and soul.

·        Persevere and hold firmly to your faith.

·        Share your faith to others.

·        Continue to walk under the Lordship of Jesus all through your life.

Do all these things and you'll discover what's unbreakable. . .

Promise. . .

*ACEMIT* 10/14/2012

Fear Factor? Faith Treatment. . . Father's Cure. . . Son's Sacrifice. . .

Do you have fears?

Did you ever have a fear, so great, that had made you stumbled and paralyzed?

Do you think you have a kind of fear that is impossible to be cured or treated?

Is it a phobia or something else?

Who has no fear in this world?

My answer in the last question is none. There's no such thing as fearless individual (based on my own opinion). Even the bravest warrior on earth has his or her own set of fears, which somehow refrains each person to fulfill each dream and do essential things to survive and win in life.

Well if you will ask me, I have few morbid fears and a lot of small fears. I have this crazy, rather extreme fear of blood, fresh blood. I’m not aware of it before. It has not sunk in to my system then, until one day, I encountered its manifestations. I tell you, it turned my whole world upside down. Is it exaggeration? No. This is exactly how I would describe the dizziness or discomfort that I felt when I got the chance to have a perfect view of human blood filed up in tubes during a drug test in College. Thanks to my concerned classmates who caught me when I was about to collapse. Hhmm. . . With that, I actually discovered the reason behind one event during our Biology class in high school when I totally refused to dissect a frog and left the job to my group mates while I end up finishing our report to compensate. So that's it. I chose not to pursue a medical course when I can because of that strange fear. Fear of blood scientifically known as hemophobia.I really have so many fears in me, which I know might also be the same fears that most people in this planet is experiencing.

We all have fears in us. That's part of who are, being human. Fear is something that we can't control. It’s hard to manage and it’s difficult to handle. However, a fear can be treated according to some experts, but it depends on the willingness of a person.

Actually, Hemophobia is not really my greatest fear even though I’m struggling on it until now. My worst fear even when I was a child is what you called Thanatophobia, the fear of death. There are two things I fear about it.

1. First, is the idea of death taking me to the unknown. I have this thinking in the past about death when I simply don't know what will happen to me after I held my last breath. I don’t believe in life after death when I was young at the time to understand the truth about it. I have a different belief then. A belief that when people die, they have to sleep for a long time oblivious of everything until the time of resurrection comes which no one knows when. Or even if there's really life after death, I’m not sure whether I will go to heaven or hell.
2. Second thing I fear about death are the circumstances that might surround it like pain, suffering and grief. It gives me chill and enables the butterflies to go around my stomach just by mere thinking about it. 

Time goes by, still my Hemophobia remains (I think it’s not serious to be treated though). But something happened to my Thanatophobia, an amazing change, a change that has not come on my own, an unexpected treatment to my fear that had become an incurable disease if not because of the Divine Intervention and a compassionate soul that I encountered. The unknown has been revealed. Although I’m still afraid of the circumstances that associate it, I started to believe that my fear of death has been conquered.

Do you want to know how? I'll tell you the story of how the Divine Intervention and the compassionate soul have prescribed a treatment to my illness. It happened one warm afternoon, and I’m having this spiritually fruitful conversation with a person I met in a youth organization I had just joined a week earlier. The person asked me this question: "Where do you think you'll go when you die?" My answer: "Uhmm . . . I don’t know, perhaps I’ll be unconscious for a long time while waiting for the judgment day and God will resurrect my dead body or I might go to heaven, because I’m kind somehow. “You probably want to digest my answer. Where in the world did I get that answer? Do you think my answer is funny? No. It’s ridiculous. Let’s just forget where I grasped that principle. Anyway, despite my queer idea, that person still manages to gather enough patience in explaining to me the serious answer to the mind buggling question, the answer that had literally changed my perspective about death. Do you want to know what the person told me? The person told me the truth about Jesus.

Surprised? What's the connection of Jesus when it comes to my fear anyway? That person shared to me something about faith. That death was already conquered by Jesus. Faith in God through Christ will fulfill the promise of eternal life. That when you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior and surrender your life to God, death in this world will mean starting another life in heaven where death will exists no more.

The conversation that I had with that person along with my response had not only created a positive impact to the major fear that I have which is death, but it course through some other areas in my life and all other fears that comes with it: fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of being left alone, fear to be left behind, fear of emotional and physical pain, fear of suffering and all other fears.

I developed a different kind of fear that knocks out all my other fears. The most powerful fear of all. . . Fear of God, which can also be translated as faith. Faith along with the grace of God is undeniably considered as the only cure or treatment to our earthly fears that rotten our purpose in this world. A kind of fear that you would want to instill deep within you until it grows mightily and gives out the fruit of love and trust to our heavenly Father. A fear that will defy all odds and had already conquered death itself . . .

Proverbs 10:27

New International Version (NIV)

27 The fear of the Lord adds length to life,
    but the years of the wicked are cut short.

I know, in this life, I still need to deal with fear. . . It will find its way in me and through me whenever it can. But the difference now is that I already have faith that will block its way and will eventually stop fear to paralyze me . . . and with Jesus in my heart and the presence of God, I know there's victory over all my fears. It’s not my power but the power of God that will crush and destroy even my strongest fear. It’s already trampled at the cross.

 Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3     he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,[a]
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

You know what, if there are factors that exhibit fear in you, I am urging you to seek treatment that can only be found through Jesus Christ.

John 14:6

New International Version (NIV)

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 16:33

New International Version (NIV)

33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Then the Father found a cure to mankind's fear. . . . Without hesitation, a life was sacrificed . . . the death of the Son saved the world . . . from eternal damnation . . . to everlasting sanctification. . .

*ACEMIT* 09/12/2012

PRIDE: Hot and Crispy or Original Recipe?

"Pride Chicken", the term most people used when they are referring to "pride" as to lessen the impact of the word itself to the person whom they address this.

I just find it ridiculous whenever I hear people use this term for pride. Because I think it is really unfit. How can you relate pride with fried chicken in the first place?

Well, I never thought I can find connections until one day, I was ordering my favorite chicken meal at KFC, when the lady at the counter asked me this question:  Ma'am, what would you like to order, Hot and crispy or Original recipe? I was just amazed by the train of thoughts that suddenly occupied my mind. Indeed there are connections. So this version of ideas that I had created out from this instance is what I would be sharing in this write up. Please bear with me folks. . .

Let's start with the first idea:

1. Hot and Crispy - A hot and crispy fried chicken is really spicy that it oozes up our appetite to eat more. The crispness and the crunchiness of the chicken skin are inviting us for a tasty bite.

So what are the connections?

·         Pride is Hot.
   

Pride in relation to this is the feeling or the state of a spiced up life of a person, when his or her life is oozing up with achievements, recognitions, fame or even productivity. All are attributed to their talents and skills.

They lose the ability to believe in other people's potential because they are so full of themselves. They refused to delegate difficult tasks to others for fear of not meeting their expectations. With that, they are burning with conceit, wanting to achieve more regardless of how it will negatively affect others.

They fail to recognize the works or ideas of others because they think they are the one who deserve the recognition and appreciation. Without them, it seems like a certain project or activity will not prosper or succeed.

People with so much pride thinks they are the strong flavor in an organization or wherever they participates, because they are simply good in everything. Their abilities fires up to the highest degree and their ideas rises up to the highest level possible, so who does not need them? They had set their minds on this: They are "hot" when it comes to success.

Proverbs 21:24 (NIV)

“The proud and arrogant man- "Mocker" is his name; he behaves with overweening pride.”

·         Pride is Crispy.

Pride in relation to this is like a crispy chicken skin. When you eat it, you just don’t want to swallow it but enjoying too much of the crunchiness in every bite, you crave more of it.

People who are at the top or at the heights of their accomplishments, really enjoys too much appreciation. They take every bite of praise and develop a "crispy" high regard of themselves.

Because they are so consumed with their achievements, they tend to oppose corrections and it’s hard for them to handle criticism. They find it difficult even to accept their own mistakes.

      They don't want to swallow their pride and thinks that certain situation will just break it into pieces. Sometimes, they are in denial, that there is no existence of pride in them and reason out that if they committed mistakes, that's just part of being human. There's nothing that can be done to change or correct their character defects. Just blame it to the inconsistencies of the factors that lead into that circumstance or blame the incompetence of others.

Despite their failures, they still think they are better than others. They are supreme beings in their own point of view and they are not satisfied with what they have. They strive for what they do not have even at the expense of others.

Ecclesiastes 6:7-9 (NLT)

“All people spend their lives scratching for food, but they never seem to have enough. So are wise people really better off than fools? Do poor people gain anything by being wise and knowing how to act in front of others? Enjoy what you have rather than desiring for what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless- like chasing the wind.”

That’s Hot and Crispy pride. What about Original recipe?

2. Original Recipe - Of course, long before KFC served their Hot and Crispy chicken, their chicken legacy started with their famous "Original recipe" (It’s actually my favorite:-D). There's tenderness in the chicken flesh and juiciness in the chicken skin that will make you crazy eating until only bones were left in the plate.

So what are the connections?

·         Pride is the origin of all evil things.

Long before pride dominated the world, this actually became the reason for a rebellion in heaven. God's greatest worshipper, leader of the angels, Lucifer, turned his back and disobeyed God. Being so full of himself, he thought that he should also be worshipped. For his abilities and power, he thought he is already equal with God, and so he should not serve Him anymore.

He rebelled to God and God punished him. He was sent to earth to wait for the time of his eternal destruction. Lucifer, now named Satan is out in this world luring anyone to come with him into the place where eternal death is waiting.

Now, have you realized how a leader of the angels turned out to be the devil that he is today? That's because of pride. 

Matthew 4:8-10 (NIV)

“Again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. All this I will give you, he said, If you will bow down and worship me. Jesus said to him, Away from me Satan! For it is written, Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”

You may not agree with the connections that I have written here, but for me, pride is something that we should not harbor deep within our hearts. It is not wrong to become an achiever or to be famous and to be recognized for what we had accomplished. What's wrong is becoming consumed with our own selfish ambitions and glorify our own being rather than glorifying the sole Giver and Provider of everything that we have, everything that we are. Remember that the talents and the abilities that we have are all gift from God and only His power can enable us to do everything. The Creator designed us for His great purpose. If we misaligned with that, then we are certainly bound for destruction.

I’m saying all of these not because I’m a wise person to give such instruction. I’m saying these from the bottom of my heart, from what I learned and continue to learn under God's discipline. I am also a proud person who is changing in humility because God is so gracious to me. I might falter again in this area, but because I’m holding on to God's mercy, I know I will be victorious. I had given up everything to Jesus, the blood on the cross, eternal life as substitute to eternal death. I don’t rely in my own strength anymore because God's strength rests in me. I am still a work in progress and with that, I thank God everyday for the patience that he has for me, seeing Christ in me and not who I am as a sinner.

John 10:10 (NIV)

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.

Let's follow the humility of Jesus, in which despite of his holiness and perfection, he lay down his life for us sinners so we will receive the everlasting life in heaven.

Proverbs 22:4-5 (NIV)

Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life. In the paths of the wicked lie thorns and snares, but he who guards his soul stays far from them.”

Want more of "Pride Chicken"? It’s up to you. . .

*ACEMIT* 08/06/2012