"And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You." -Psalms 9:10
I just
saw this verse when I opened a Bible. This verse was related to what I
experienced when I was a kid. My parents taught me how to pray to God. One
time, I suffered from an illness. I sought God for a cure. I pray faithfully to
Him. God answered my prayer just in time.
God will never forsake His
children who seek for Him. He was very kind and merciful to His people. He will
provide what we need. He is always by our side to support us. He will keep us
from danger.
As a sign of our gratitude
for His kindness, we should seek for Him for us to show our faith and trust to
Him. We should pray to Him when we are in trouble, or when we have a problems. We should
pray for our sickness for God will heal our illness. God bless those who believed in Him. God is please to those who
trust Him.
Worship service is the best act of worshiping God-which is always held inside the church. People usually go there to pray in the belief that their prayers will be answered. The moment you enter, you can already hear the choir singing hymns of prayers and praises, in front of them is a minister who preaches the word of God.
The message of this Sunday’s service was about the likeness and difference of the people these days and the Israelite back then. Israelite were the chosen people of God who were released from the hands of Egyptians who had oppressed them during their time. All of this became possible because of God’s power. He commanded Moses to use his staff to make a way in the sea by splitting it into half then God told them to cross the desert to reach the “Promised Land” He gave them. While they were in the desert, the Israelite experienced thirst and hunger. They kept on complaining along the way and so God commanded Moses to use his staff once more and struck the stone for the water to come out, He sent quails and provided them “manna” to eat but still they complained and started to lose their faith in Him. This had made God really angry so He punished them. The people of God these days had a Promised Land to achieve too. God promised His people to live with Him in the Holy Land when the right time comes. We are His people and we have a mission to accomplish; to spread the truth and God’s word until the second coming of Christ comes. We may have experienced a lot of pains and problems in this world but despite all that, we still have to follow God until our very last breath.
I realized how God blessed His people inside His home. I can feel His power and love that was just beside me, embracing me with His loving arms. The prayer of the minister made our tears fall from our eyes. Truly, God blesses His children who pray in His home.
When I was younger, about five
years old, a friend of our family gave me the chance to participate in a summer
activity for kids held at the Christ Commission Fellowship in Ortigas. It was like a kids’ camp that lasted for
three days. So, for three consecutive
days, I woke up early to eagerly go and attend the activities in the
church. I really enjoyed the upbeat
songs that made all the kids sing and dance.
There were stories from the Bible to hear, crafts to do and games for
the kids to get involved in. All in all, that summer activity was fun and
I learned a lot. Looking back, I now
realized that this activity was sort of an introduction for me to know the Lord.
Ever since I participated in that activity, my heart longed to sing the songs to praise and worship the Lord every time that I need to be in the Lord’s presence. I have learned that worship is to ascribe the highest worth to our Lord. Also, when I worship I say, “God, you are number one in my life. You come before anything else.”
Worship may come automatically to other people especially on Sundays. I tell myself that worship is not only an hour or two spent in church on a Sunday but it is a way of life. When I have received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I only want to please Him and be the person who is after the Lord’s heart.
Aside from singing hymns and contemporary songs, I also learn a lot from the testimonies of other people during a worship service. They make the words of the Bible and the promises of Christ come to life. The people who talk about their life stories and struggles become living proofs of the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord. During this worship moment I remind myself of my life verse and how it becomes true to my life. It gives me the chance to thank the Lord for all the blessings that He gave me. I thank Him with all my heart and I worship Him with every part of my being. Worship moments also give me the opportunity to pray for the people who are significant in my life, whether the relationship is good or bad. It gives me the chance to also reflect how I spend my week and how I dealt with people. Most of all, my worship moments with the Lord gives me the understanding and realization that He loves me and He will never forsake me no matter what. I lift my life to the Lord and to God be the glory!
The night before the retreat, I was not excited. My things are not yet packed and I am too lazy to arrange my things so I decided to pack my things in the morning as I wake up. I don't know why maybe I am jut tired that day and felt exhausted with school stuffs. As we traveled, there I felt the excitement! I was amazed with the place! It was awesome! The atmosphere and ambiance is calming and the breeze of the wind gave shivers to my body. The peaceful place gave us rest from stressful and busy days in school and at home.
We had just arrived at Capuchin Retreat Center, Lipa Batangas
During the sharing of "Life Timeline"
Merienda Time!!
The session started when the retreat master discussed about our theme "Live a Life of Love". He talked about the relevance of the theme to ourselves, to our family and friends, to our community and most especially to God. My own definition of our theme "living a life of love" is living a life with God, our Almighty Father. When you choose to live with him, you are following a right path to the betterment of yourself, good relationship with family and friends, and most specially a deep connection with God. God's glory is on the cross. It is our primary duty to worship and adore Him. God gave His only son to pay for our sins. Jesus Christ wholeheartedly gave his life because he loved us. That word "love" is extremely powerful, it is all about sacrificing for the people who are worthy for your love.
God loves us and he wants the best for us. I also learned the importance of being pure, the essential of purity to oneself. If you are pure physically, mentally and spiritually, God will also provide the best for you. You deserve a decent and good partner that will respect and care for you all the days of your life. Just be patient and everything will be worth it. I also promised that day that I will remain pure and I believe that God will provide as long as I obey Him, praise Him and keep my promise to Him.
I hope that this retreat have changed our everyday lives and vision of life. Let us not forget what we have learned from this day. "Let us love one another for love comes from God." Spread the love to our family, friends and to everyone until our world will be filled with love.
I felt so relaxed and enlightened whenever I go to church. I was like a bird freed from the cage. I felt like flying in a windy place. Pains, hurts, anger and sorrows had been washed away from my heart. I felt like I'm reborn whenever I go to church and whenever I listened to the doctrine. I felt better when I'm in church. There was a time I'm sicked when I'm in church. After hearing the doctrine I felt better and enlightened. Since then I started to like going to church. When I was a kid I joined a group in our church. At first, we've been listening to bible stories, we've been taught how to read bible verses and we always sing worship songs. I used to play with my church mates and sing with them; but there was a time when I stopped attending masses. Since then I'd notice a big change in me. I became disrespectful and naughty; But thanks to my mother she didn't stop bragging me and my sister. By then then the liking of me going to church returned.
My retreat experience is so memorable. I'ts my first time to open up to my classmates. Upon hearing their sides, I felt pitying them but at the same idolize them. I idolize them for being a happy go lucky person that you wouldn't notice them carrying heavy burdens with their lives. My retreat experience made me realize how important and lucky it is for us to be loved by God. God loved us so much that He gave His only son Jesus Christ in order to cleanse our sins. He'd sacrificed so much for us and cared for us.
While watching the "Passion of Christ", I got time to reminisce all my wrong doings. I cried for seeing the suffering and struggling of Jesus who'd done nothing, but payed for our sins. He sacrificed Himself for the sins that we've done and ye't we still continue to do things that weren't right. Also I'd realized that God gave us problems to be stronger and better. so that we will not be weak and strong enough to face another road of our life. God did everything on purpose and we should give it all back by worshiping Him., obey His commandments and help other people. If we do this and have a strong faith and relationship with Him we will be guided and be blessed.
“I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me”
Philippians 4:13
This may seem to be a common verse to other people. I even know of some people who use this verse as their life verse too, but I know that these words are truly powerful and I just have to claim it to change my life.
When I first came across this verse, I felt a sense of enlightenment and empowerment. It became so powerful in my life that it guided my thoughts and actions. It gave me the understanding that there is nothing impossible with God. As long as I believe and trust in Him, I will be able to do my works here on earth according to His will. It also gave me the confidence that when I put God in the center of my life and in everything I do, He will surely bless it and it will become fruitful. God became my source of strength, my Savior, my Provider and my Father.
There was an instance in my life when I felt so low and I wanted to give up. It was a family problem and I didn’t know what to do. The separation of two very important people in my life caused confusion in my young mind. Although there was a change in my life because of the family set up, this verse that I held onto even when I was a child became so life changing, too. It gave me a new perspective in life. It gave me the courage and strength to go on even on sad and difficult times.
I also cling onto this verse in school. Sometimes, I feel so frustrated and stressed out especially when there are tons of school requirements to meet and some classmates just don’t care or cooperate. Aside from academic responsibilities, I have to fulfill my duties as a Senator in the Student Leader Council and as a member of the Chorale group. It really breaks my heart when I find it hard to manage my time and prioritize tasks because other school works may suffer and be neglected. I then mumble a short prayer and remind myself of my life verse to boost my strength and carry on. At the end of the day, when I feel so tired and burdened, I bow down my head in prayer and declare, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” With this, I always come to the sweet realization that God loves me and wants the best for me. He makes me feel that He is in control so I need not worry and that makes me really happy and ready for the next day.
"The Lord is my light and salvation----- whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strong hold of my life of whom shall I be afraid." Psalm 27:1
I choose Psalm 27:1 as my life verse because I believe that as long as I'm with God I have nothing to be afraid of. It is said that if you have a strong faith with God you will blessed and guided. When I was a child my mother asked me, "Are you afraid of God?" This question bothered me a lot and it took me some time to find my answer. "No, I'm not afraid of God." I said. Then my mother throws me another question, "Are you afraid of ghosts?" "I'm not." I answered my mother. Since then my answers bothered me because I said both that I'm not afraid of ghosts and God either. I took time to reminisce and after some time of reminiscing I knew then the answer to my question. My answer should be, " I'm not afraid of ghosts, bad spirits, sayings and other scary stuffs because I believe in God. He is the only one I must be afraid of because when I'm afraid of Him I do things right and as much as possible avoid sinful acts. Like the one in sayings fear no one except God because if your afraid of Him you will obey His commandments, you will build strong relationship and faith with God. This is why it is said God will guide and protect who fears Him."
