Spanish Darts Award

Wow! I can't imagine getting passed on with another award from Sitka. God does pour His blessings but if we learn to share His blessings, we bless others as well. "Thank you Sitka for always remembering my blog."

The last time Sitka gave me the "furry-blog-award", I almost forgot to include what went with the award. So, not this time...

As what Sitka had explained, "Spanish Darts Award" is also known as "Premio Dardos", which means "Prize Darts" in English. It's given for recognition of cultural, ethical, literary and personal values transmitted in the form of creative and original writing.

There are important things that went with this award:

1. Accept the award by posting it on your blog along with the name of the person that has granted the award and link to his/her blog.

2. Pass the award to other blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgement, remembering to contact each of them to let them know they have been selected for this award.

Accepting the award is the easiest thing to do...Passing it on is the hardest as there are so many encouraging blogs I have encountered. There are so many interesting blogs out there in the blogosphere but for me, 2 stood out from the rest right away as I have read and visited their blogs time and time again. I still get that kind of excitement whenever they write a new post and makes me feel as if I have never been to their blogs. Their writing encourages me in return and helps me so much with my own spiritual growth.

Without a doubt, I would love to pass this award to:

Alleluiabelle, whose writing will make you feel that you're right next to her and that as if you have seen the things she wrote about. You'll feel the triumphs of living with Christ in the humblest possible way, despite the odds she had to endure and face daily as if you're going through such trials with her and overcoming them with God's strength.

Andrea, another sister in Christ, who is a writer as her profession. But whenever she writes, she knows how to engage her readers and make them realize what it means "when she chose to stand up to write for Christ".

+ Christ = Eternal Advantage

Back in 2006, as I was exercising, I had this image of the "cross" in my mind...In Math, the symbol "+" also looks like the cross. Suddenly, I realized, when we "surrender" to the power of the cross [because of what Jesus had done], we gain so much in our lives just like the "addition symbol" - we gain "pluses" in our lives:

with our spiritual hunger + Christ = Bread of Life [John 6:35]
with the darkness we're in + Christ = Light of the World [John 8:12]
with our spiritual death + Christ = eternal life [John 3:16]
lies + Christ = Only Truth [John 1:14; John 8:32; John 14:6]
religion + Christ = Only Way [Proverbs 12:28; John 14:6]
sickness + Christ = healing [Proverbs 3:8; Isaiah 19:22; Malachi 4:2]
blindness + Christ = able to see [2Corinthians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 4:3]
bondage + Christ = freedom [ Galatians 5:1; Romans 8:2]

Surrender....a scary thing to do...But not to surrender to Christ...It is to gain something of eternal value, of everything that God has offered to give us another chance to be with Him and not be separated from Him. Romans 10:9, 10 -"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved."

I Just Want to Pray

I still have this lingering coughs and when I thought I was ready to go to work last night, last minute, I was dialing the charge nurse's desk and had called in sick despite me not having enough sick time. I was more eager to recuperate than to earn. What good is it to have money and not enjoy the health? The Lord does help us put things into better perspectives. He is the only One Who truly changes our hearts. Not even ourselves can't do that kind of change, to be a better person. Without Him, we are truly nothing.

Lord, today, I want to talk to You. And to write my prayers down as a way of making others see Your love, Your grace. Please use me Lord and may many more turn to You because I know that You want all of us to be saved. May the people who will happen to peek at this site and at my other brothers and sisters' [in Your Holy Name] blogs discover the invitation You have been extending all along - Your gift of salvation.

Lord, please forgive all of our sins. Please help us learn to walk in Your righteousness. Thank You for Your unfailing love and mercy, Your gift of salvation ["To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace"-Ephesians 1:6,7].

Please grant us the true peace that only comes from You. Help us learn not to worry in our everyday struggles, knowing that You truly care for us and You're always there for us. ["Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you" -1Peter 5:7]. ["Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body and be thankful." -Colossians 3:15].

Lord, help us at times of temptations. Keep us away from evil thoughts, so that we may not say evil words and not do evil things. ["Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you."-James 4:7].

At times, we want to explode and feel so angry because of any circumstances that make us feel that way. Remind us that You, Yourself, is slow to anger, for angry feelings lead to foolish thoughts and actions. ["Cease from anger and forsake wrath; do not fret-it only causes harm."-Psalm 37:8].

When we feel afraid in any situation, calm us Lord and take away our fears, for we know that fear does not come from You. ["In God, I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" -Psalm56:11]. ["The Lord is my light and salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise against me, in this I will be confident." -Psalm 27:1,3].

Forgive us at times that we forget You, when we are caught up with our own worldly happiness and think that it will never end. We forget to thank You for the blessings that You always give us, out of Your mercy and love. ["If we had forgotten the Name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a foreign god, would not God search this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart." -Psalm 44:20,21].

Please comfort us in times of loneliness, when we remember those loved ones who had passed away. ["God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." -Revelations 21:4].

Thank You Lord. Thank You for Your kindness. Thank You for Your unconditional love, Your gift of salvation. Thank You for dying on the cross. Because of Your death, we live when we choose to believe in what You had done. Thank You for Your friendship. Thank You for always believing in me, despite my weaknesses, it's Your grace that always sustain me. I love You Lord. In Jesus' Name. Amen....

Don't Worry About Anything! Pray! Thank Him!

Every time I go through trials of my own, I always meditate on my favorite verse from Philippians 4:6,7 -"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

How great is that, that I can just give all my worries to God and in return, He gives me His peace that no human minds can understand. But what I love about that verse aside from us needing to PRAY, is to THANK Him for all He has done.

Utilizing that wonderful knowledge from the Lord's Word, years ago, I had shared with my son during our morning devotions together, that instead of whining about things, we should start thanking the Lord and lifting up others who are in need, always in prayers. And we had kept that to this day [glory to our good Lord!]. For example, if the weather is hot or too cold, I didn't want us complaining "Man! it's too hot! or it's too cold!". Instead, in prayers, we say, "Lord, thank You that we have airconditioner that keeps us comfortable in this very hot weather or Lord, thank You, we have this heater that warms us up in this very cold weather. Please protect those homeless people and other hurting ones who don't have the means to either keep themselves cool or warm..." Of course, our prayers are always powerful when uttered in "Jesus' Name".

When my father was diagnosed with colon cancer back in 2005 and during one of his hospitalization, where he was connected to a breathing machine and name all the tubes that could enter our bodies' orifices, [I couldn't imagine what pain my father had gone through physically], it was that verse that I had meditated on which gave me peace despite that trial I had to face. There were many oceans that separated my father and my siblings and I apart, but it was the Lord's love that connected us all and bridged that gap in between us. Through prayers and with thankful hearts, the Lord made my father recovered and lived for a few more days and prior to him leaving us, we had spent some time together, though short was equivalent to a lifetime of sharing love and being one as family. I thank the Lord for that time we had with our father and giving us that opportunity of being together. Despite the odds, we were able to visit him and the Lord did provide for the things we needed!

Sometimes, when I want to praise the Lord, He Himself gives me the words to my head. And in a matter of few minutes, I have this song I can play with my guitar to worship Him. How awesome is that? Just like on July 11, 2005, in a dreamy-like state, I had the chorus part of a song already playing in my head. I wrote this song to praise the Lord and thank Him "for all He has done". Thank You Lord, most of all, for sending Your only Son, Jesus, to be the sacrifice for all of our sins so that in return, we can have a relationship again with You. Thank You for loving us unconditionally.

I Want to be Where You Are

I know that You give me the strength

You're the One Who put this hope into my heart

Day to day I must learn to completely trust

And obey Your Word and believe what You had done

Chorus:

I want to be where You are

And worship You forever

I want to see the face of my God

To hold and kiss...Your pierced hands

Draw me close to You and hold my hand

As I travel in this foreign land

Someday I will go home where You are

I will sing this song to You with all of my heart

Blogging friends, thank you all for your encouragements and I pray, for us all to not be weary in writing what the Lord puts into our hearts so that through these blogs of ours, many more people will come to know the Lord. Pray! Thank Him! Pray! Thank Him again and again! God bless you all. I enjoy your visits...