THE THREE WARNINGS

I wrote this article few months ago.. I just want to post it here.. Hehehe..

There are 3 things that God revealed to me for the past week through His Word and His Holy Spirit. I was in the state of hungerness and thirst for His presence these days that I wanted to cry before Him. These revelations from the Lord one night overwhelmed my spirit. The fear of the Lord began to tear my heart and think of God's justice over humanity. As I opened my Bible, I felt like somewhat unworthy before Him. But He constantly reminded me of the righteousness that Jesus Christ--God's Son--had imputed on me..

In the chapters 28 and 29 of the book of Isaiah, I've learned 3 important things that kept on reverberating over my mind until now. And I believe that these were inspired by the Holy Spirit and should not be ignored. The first thing that God told me is this: GET OUT FROM THE NEUTRAL PLACE. For some years in my Christian life, I lived in the state of neutrality. I equate neutrality with lukewarmness. Being in a neutral place had successfully robbed my joy in Him. It crippled my spirit. It drew me away from the Source of Life Who sustains everything in this world. The Word of God is very clear that He will going to spew out from His mouth those Christians who are lukewarm; those who know how to play the game with God; those who make Christianity a joke. As I remembered my past years, I realized that I had hurt God so much. But in spite of my weaknesses, He lwt me see His abounding love and mercy for me. He loves me truly. He wants me to get out from the neutral place and start serving Him faithfully. My prayer before the Lord is that He will give me a spirit that will aggressively take radical, positive steps in life and an expectant heart of the good things from Him.

The second thing that God had told me has something to do with what I have now--all the blessings that I enjoy.He said: I WILL NOT GIVE YOU SOMETHING THAT WILL RUIN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH ME. God knows every detail of my life. He knows the times that I fell into sin. He knows the moments when I wanted to stop breathing and remember no more. And He also knows my efforts in keeping my faith stronger and facing every circumstance that comes in my way with courage. Not even a second that His eyes are close for me. With all the trials and hardships that I had faced and still facing, I know that I would not be able to surpass each one of them without the grace of the Lord. It is because of His grace that I'm still living. It is because of His grace that He patiently wait for me. I thanked the Lord with all of my heart for pouring out all the blessings in my life these times. He allowed me to finished my 4-year college degree successfully. He sent many people in my life who are ready to support me in prayers, finances, and advices. People in my community look at me as if I have all the "luck" as they call it. He let me avail a full scholarship for my masteral study. Then I began to ask God. Will these blessings ruin my relationship in You? It is written in the Bible that those who disobeyed God will really face the consequences--the wages of sin. I asked Him, "Lord, I have experienced the consequences of the mess I created, but why is it that there are still blessings?" I thanked Him that He let me understand this fact: Blessings can be deceiving! At first, my focus has been in the blessings and not on the Giver. I began to trust men who have end of their strength. My attention have been in God's presents instead of God's presence. Now, I understand that these blessings have been given to me by God first to let me see His goodness in my life, and second to make my life a channel of blessings to others. I thanked the Lord that He shifted my mindset and attitude towards these blessings. One thing is sure: God will not give us something that will ruin our relationship with Him. In my case, He gave these things to me, along with the bad consequences, to let me understand that He is still good to me.

As I continued to study His Word, I felt like God talked to me personally. His message was very clear, and this is the third one: I WILL DESTROY YOU IF YOU WILL NOT RETURN TO ME. Fear dominated over my mind that I wanted to close my Bible and stop reading the chapters. It was very, very clear. He will going to destroy me if I will not return to Him. Tears flowed in my eyes that night (which is not usual for me when I study His Word alone). Truly, the Holy Spirit convicts. All I desire is to enjoy His presence here on earth, live my life in simplicity. But my heart had been hardened. I acted like I do not know the justice of God. I did not take heed of His Word. I pretended to be ignorant of His warnings. But I just thank Him for opening my heart and mind to the workings of the Holy Spirit. I know that God can just stretch out His hands and kill me in a second. I always tell everyone, including my family, that God can take my life away if He wishes if I commit grave sin against Him.

But God made a promise to me and to everyone. He invited us to return to Him and to trust Him quietly, then we will be safe and secure. That promise of God encouraged me. Yes, I have mistakes, failures, shortcomings, and sins in my life but His grace is sufficient. I repented before the Lord of my sins and believed that God had already forgave me and blot out all my sins. I asked Him to strenghtened my faith so that I could leave my past behind, fight for any temptation which wouls surely lure me into darkness, face life with courage, and hope for as better future that lies in the hands of God. Only by the blood of Christ that I received righteousness and holiness from God. Without His grace, I will not be able to see His will and glory.

Now, I would leave Tacloban City with a clear mind and heart and a clear conscience. Yes, I will face another batch of trials and testings but greater is He Who is in me than he that is in this wicked world. Praise belongs to the Lord and I give Him thanks for what He is doing in my life today.
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