Road Trip: Essentials to Eternity

Road Trip 2

Road Trip Essentials to Eternity

Speaker: Daniel Carandang

Written by Jen Uson

Summer’s fast approaching and for sure everyone’s excited to bid their schoolworks farewell and hop right in your cars and go on a road trip with your friends! 

Though of course every road trip leads to a destination, and in life we should look forward to the best destination there is…

Which is an eternity with our Creator!

With every road trip also comes a handful of essentials we need to have in order to make it to our destination, and for this road trip one of the most important things we’ll be needing is: God’s word.

We need God’s word because it is the ultimate way God reveals His will to us and where we should be headed to. He uses His word to guide us simply because it is truly made by Him. The Bible is written by 44 different men over a period of 1,500 years and yet all the books are perfectly united in the same theme! God has inspired these men to write about Him, it’s not because these men were genius writers but it was because God blessed them with what they should write. How great is that?

YAAAAAAAAAS

In Psalm 119:105 it says-

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”

God’s word in this road trip serves as our map or the ever so useful waze, which is everyone’s favorite. It should be able to guide our paths as we’re on the road to eternity. If we want to find the best paths to take in life we shouldn’t be asking the society, media or Hollywood, because the bible will show us all the best paths to take.

Every time we get confused and we don’t know where to go always remember to meditate on His word because the Bible should always be our final authority when it comes to every decision we’re going to make.

There will always be bumps in the road. Especially in this road trip, because the world we live in is a very dangerous place and we often see people walking in the dark without anything or anyone guiding them which leaves them trapped and lost.That is why we need God’s word as our lamp so that we would avoid get to avoid this. God’s word is the light we need to overcome the darkness.

We also have to remember that in this road trip, Jesus is the one driving and we’re simply just enjoying the drive while riding shotgun!

We can’t just simply rely on ourselves in this road trip or else we’ll get lost.

According to Jeremiah 17:9,

“The heart is deceitful”

More often than not, we think that we know what’s right for us so we take the steering wheel away from Jesus and follow our own hearts, but if we follow our hearts we’ll end up regretting our decisions.

Remember: God’s Word will show us the safe and right path to take, our human hearts will not!

  

 “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

Hebrews 4:12

Agreeing that we should be guided by God’s word is different from actually being guided by His Word. We will only get to experience the benefit and value of God’s word if we actually use it and walk in its light.

The Word is God, it is God’s word made in flesh. Let’s keep seeking His will on the road to eternity!

Are you ready?

Road Trip: Where are YOU Going?

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Where Are You Going? 

Speaker: Daniel Carandang

Written by Ana Andres

Have you ever been on a road trip?

It could be really loads of fun—full of laughter, singing, eating snacks and telling stories with friends or family while on the road. This is the very essence of a road trip; enjoying the journey.

However, this doesn’t mean that a road trip is just travelling without a particular destination. Really, you’re headed somewhere.  In the same way, as a person, you’re life is headed somewhere. Someday you might become a politician, an educator, a celebrity and the list goes on. But whether you like it or not, know where or not, you are headed somewhere.

Most of the time, we are the ones who determine our own destination. After all, this is our life. We are entitled to choose where we should go. However, we forget to acknowledge our Creator. We forgot to acknowledge the fact that He made us for a purpose, intended to carry out His plan and not our own plans. It has become rare that people determine their destination based on God.

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Ephesians 2:10 

What He wants for us is only what is good, pleasant, joyful and honorable. He only wants what’s best for us. Do we really want to miss out on this?

It sounds so easy; follow God’s plan and live a joyful life but in reality, it’s difficult. There will be many moments in your life where you want to go to this certain direction but God will say no and direct you to another. It will be a constant battle between your plans and God’s plans.

So why are we to surrender our will, and choose God’s will?

    God is a Holy God.

 “I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.”  

Leviticus 11:45

“Holy” means set apart and what sets God apart is that there is absolutely no sin in Him and He is perfectly pure. There is not one bit of evil in Him but rather He is only good and His love is perfect, therefore we can trust in Him because He has no evil motives for our lives. His intentions are only pure and good even if sometimes that’s difficult for us to believe.

The world is full of deceivers and people who only look after their own interests that it makes it really hard for us to imagine someone who cares and loves us unconditionally. Nowadays, it’s difficult to become vulnerable, to entrust our lives to another because of the amount of dishonesty and deception we receive. Never mind, right? The only person we can truly trust is our self, or at least that’s what other people say.

But if we truly believe that God is Holy and perfectly good, we will allow Him to direct our paths and believe that He will stay true to His promises. It’s difficult but it’s simple. Trust and have faith!

     God knows and wants what’s best for us.

His wisdom is limitless while ours is very limited. We may think we know what’s best but in truth we don’t. We only know  and see what is in front of us but God sees the bigger picture. He sees everything!

With His limitless wisdom, He knows what’s best for us and not only that,He is also the one who personally teaches us what’s best! But oftentimes, we resort to other sources for wisdom.  Most of the time, our own! Perhaps it’s because we don’t acknowledge His sovereignty; that He is all-knowing or that we either don’t know or believe that God only wants what’s best for us.

“This is what the LORD says-- your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.” 

Isaiah 48:17

In this verse, God was rebuking Israel for its disobedience.He knew the path they were taking would only lead to destruction and indeed they experienced destructive consequences. They missed out on the joyful blessings of God.

The choice is always ours. If we don’t want to end in destruction then let us choose life and God’s will is life!

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

John 10:10

It is our REASONABLE RESPONSE to Who God is and what He has done for us.

It’s been said over and over—that He died in our place to pay for the penalty of our sins. We’ve been so used to hearing this but if we truly understand the magnitude of what He has done, we know that it is only reasonablefor usto respond to this immense love of His by obeying and pursuing His will.

Maybe for some of us it’s difficult to relate to this. Perhaps it’s difficult because if we were to be truly honest with ourselves, we haven’t really genuinely encountered the love of God and His sacrifice on the cross doesn’t seem to be true in our lives. It is because not unless we recognize how wretched we are, whether we think we have sinned “big” or “small”, we will never realize the gravity of what Jesus has done.

So today, let us choose to open our hearts and surrender to the will of our Father!

 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” 

Romans 12:1

LoveStruck: The Basics of Love and Marriage

LoveStruck

The Basics of Love and Marriage

Speaker: Marty Ocaya (with Atid Ocaya)

written by Ashley Petallano

Ever love story is different. 

Some love stories begin with two kids, living side by side and growing up together, eventually realizing they're meant for other.

Others involve two lost souls finding each other in a vast ocean of people.

And there's the typical boy meets girl and the rest is history. 

SIGGGH

Falling in love is a beautiful thing. Most of us want to see ourselves dressed in white or looking good in a dark suit, waiting for our future hubby or wifey for our sweet forever.

Unfortunately, most of us have a wrong view of relationships. Young people of today do not prioritize the basics of romance and love. They think overwhelming feelings is the definition of love. This mindset causes them to suffer the hurt from heartbreak,

It's not always about feelings, guys and girls. The saying: "The heart knows where it goes" is deceiving because let's face it: the heart can sometimes be easily fooled by too much feels. And too much feels is not good for any of us.

#TooMuchFeels

In order to avoid becoming victims of heartbreak, we should know the basics of relationship according, not to the world or romance movies, but to the Bible, God's handy manual for His followers. 

Here's God's Path to relationships and marriage:

Path 1 - Romantic Relationships are ALWAYS With the Opposite Sex

Romance is meant for men and women, not men and men or women and women. It's for two individuals of the opposite sex to share. It's in the Bible:

18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs[g] and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib[h] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

Genesis 2:18, 21-22

You may not agree but it's clear: God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. God creates a woman to be the man's helper and no one else. 

Feelings should never dictate who you are. Emotions can be easily deceived and if you allow yourself to dwell in them, you will also be fooled. It's like telling yourself that you're Superman to the point you almost believe it. But no matter what you do, you will never be Superman. Why? Cause it's the truth.

Path 2 - Premarital Sex or any Hint of It Should be Avoided

3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.

Ephesians 5:3

The movies that we watch and the music we listen to tell us that if you love someone, you just gotta shed the clothes off and just do it. After all, what's the harm in showing affection by taking it into the next level? There's nothing wrong with it , right?

RIGHT?

The honest truth is SEX IS BEAUTIFUL.

Yes, you read right. 

It's a beautiful thing...if it's used in the aspect of marriage.

Saying that it's just sex is not enough to give you the reason to do it outside of marriage. When you give in, you're giving in the one special gift for your spouse to someone else. 

God wants us to savor the gift of sex with our spouses. If we believe that God wants only the best for us, then we should trust Him on this one. If you think about it, giving it up to someone else once or multiple times scars the sanctity of sex for marriage.

It becomes worthless, meaningless. When we engage in sex outside of marriage, we destroy it's beauty because we are selfish people. God will give it to us when we're ready, when we're happy in the presence of our future spouse.

Path 3 - Romantic Relationships Always INVOLVE Authority

Yes, kids, we're talking about parents or anyone guiding us right now.

You say: "BUT WHYYYYYY? Mom and Dad don't understand! They don't want us to be happy!"

God placed authorities in our lives because we need guidance. We think that we know everything when in reality, we actually don't. It just feels that way. But God gave us our parents and guardians so they can oversee us and make sure we don't do anything that will hurt us.

In the Bible, parental authority was all over the relationships. Abraham was the authority over Isaac and Rebekah's relationship and look how that turned out. Naomi guided Ruth and Boaz and they ended up having a loving marriage.

6 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

Ephesians 6:1

God wants us to listen to our parents, not just with regards our relationships but with everything. As long as what our parents are saying are in line with God, we should do it. When it comes to love and romance, we should involve our parents because they know what it's like. It sounds old-fashioned but they know what is right for us.

Ask their advice and thoughts on your relationships. Consider what they say and what God says because let's face it: they will always be right.

Path 4 - Being Responsible is Non-Negotiable

Marriage is not just about the love and happily ever afters. It's much more than that.

Before Adam was given Eve, God made sure he was ready for the responsibility. If you want to get ready for the happily ever after, you should prepare for it. You don't just jump in and do it. Marriage is too precious for you to jump in unprepared. 

Romantic relationships is never about the romance alone. Many marriages end badly because both parties depended heavily on emotions. When all the feelings went away, so did the commitment to forever. Relationships are a combination of romance and responsibility.

Path 5 - Romantic Relationships are COMMITMENTS

23 The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones
    and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
    for she was taken out of man.”

Genesis 2:23

Adam and Eve were joined for life. Not for five minutes, not only for five years--they were joined for life.

Unfortunately, most couples break up and take their vows for granted. They end it because they're unhappy and there's no point in continuing a doomed relationship. Instances like these prove the importance of thinking everything through before committing to it. 

Again, feelings are unreliable when it comes to making decisions. Remember: they eventually go away. Couples who value God's sanctity for marriage know that they're entering into a lifelong commitment that requires them to love one another even when they don't feel like it. When you're committed to something, you stick with it no matter what.

When you get married, you promise to everyone and God that you will be with the other person no matter what happens. You know how the vow goes: in sickness or in health, in richness or poorness, till death do us part.

Marriage and relationships are not just about the fuzzy feelings, friends. It's not something we should take lightly or immediately dive into, It's important to consider God and our families into the equation. Yes, the 'you and me against the world' thing sounds so romantic but it doesn't last. Relationships sanctified by God will.

If you're single right now, enjoy it! :D Nothing's better than serving God wholeheartedly with everything you've got while you wait.

Lovestruck: The Perfect Love

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The Perfect Love

Message by Daniel Carandang

written by Jen Uson

It’s that time of the year again where people all over the world either go crazy over buying flowers, preparing the perfect dinner date for that special someone or picking out the perfect film for their single awareness day movie marathon. It’s Valentine’s day, folks! 

Us too, Zooey. Us too.

Valentine’s day is known for being one of the most awaited occasions all over the world because it’s all about (drum roll please): love. 

We often see this occasion as an opportunity to make grand gestures towards the people we like and care for and make them “kilig”. It’s safe to say that we all like the feeling of being in love.

Even though it’s Valentine’s season and we see people receiving unlimited stocks of chocolates and flowers, how come there are still some who feel bitter, unloved and empty inside? Let’s face it: people will always have the tendency to disappoint us. Whether it’s your crush, your friends or sometimes even your family may disappoint you, and that’s because we’re all human. We’re not perfect, but for such imperfect people we desire the most perfect love. The problem is, we keep searching for love in all the wrong places. 

We are all lovestruck. Admit it or not, we crave for “a short-lived passion” and as humans we desire an unfailing love. The question is, does this “unfailing love” really exist?

Of course it does!

According to the Bible,

 “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.”

John 3:16

The unfailing and perfect love we've all been searching for is God’s love. Can you imagine sacrificing your son to be able to save other people from their sins? That my friends, is what I’d like to call an unfailing  love.

God’s love unlike those flowers will not wither, God’s love unlike those balloons will not burst into thin air and God’s love unlike those boxes of chocolate will never run out. God’s love is a love that will last for a lifetime.

Isn’t that amazing?

Now that we know that God’s love will never falter, I think we should start doing our parts as His children and continue aiming to become the kind of men and women God wants us to be, and to show that we reciprocate His love for us.

The problem with our generation is that we have so much misconceptions regarding what it takes to become “real men and women”.

Nowadays for a person to truly become a “real man” he should regularly go to the gym, be brave and adventurous, win in a fistfight and so on. But what does it really take to become a real man in God’s eyes?

REAL MAN = MACHO, MASCULINE, DOESN'T CRY?

In 1 Kings 2:2b, “So be strong, act like a man, and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go”

In this verse, King David, who was the standard of what men should be at that time, gave his son Solomon a list on how to act like a real man. He said that a real man should love and follow God, be prayerful, humble and be willing to admit their mistakes and has self-control. This is how real men should act.

Real men are not those who are merely just fearless and do not back out from fights, but men who  know how to follow God and love him.

Now women on the other hand also have a few misconceptions regarding how we should be. People often think that for you to be an acceptable woman your body shape has to be perfect, your skin should be fair, your eyebrows should always be on point and many more. We're not saying that it’s bad to care about these things, though. 

You know what we're talking about

But is external beauty the only thing we should care about? Of course not!

According to the bible,

In 1 Peter 3, “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves.”

The bible is not condemning external beauty because we should always take care of ourselves and do things that make us feel more confident as women. What this verse is trying to say is that we should prioritize our inner beauty more. Real women prioritize their inner beauty by being peaceful and considerate to others.

In Proverbs 31:30, it says:

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

A woman who fears the Lord is to be praised and this is of great worth to Him, she knows that God will never leave her nor forsake her and she will always be secure because she knows that her inner beauty is imperishable.

It takes supernatural strength to follow God. It is not for the weak hearted. So we must always take note of these things and continue aiming to be who God wants us to be.

Here’s to having hearts that are strengthened by the love of the Lord alone!

Fearless: No Such Thing as Impossible

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*images taken from Google and Giphy

No Such Thing as Impossible (with God)

Message by Daniel Carandang

written by Ana Andres

Have you ever been in an impossible situation?

Perhaps you’ve had a medical condition with no cure, a terror professor who gives failing grades, or as simple as a crush who never seems to notice you.

Whatever it is it’s just…

Many, many years ago, a man named Abraham was also in an impossible situation. Abraham wanted to have a son. This was his greatest dream. Problem was, Abraham’s wife, Sarah, was barren and Abraham was old.

This was an impossible situation. There was no way Sarah could conceive a child. She was physically incapable of such. Nonetheless, God promised Abraham a son.

Wait, WHAT?!

In this situation, we see the reality of our own limitations as humans. Truth is, we are really weak and powerless on our own. For an instance, we are helpless towards natural catastrophes and death or maybe sometimes we’ll feel like we’ve given it our all but we still fall short. At one point, we will reach the maximum of our limited capacity and there are some things bigger that we just aren’t able to control.

But unlike us, GOD IS ALMIGHTY.

“Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am GodAlmighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless."

Genesis 17:1 

“El Shadday” is the Hebrew translation of “God Almighty”; “El” meaning, powerful and strong and “Shaddai” meaning, all-powerful and all-sufficient. God is limitless and therefore there is nothing that He is unable to control. When He promised Abraham a son, He also intended to fulfill this promise. He has the ability and power to do so!

“Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what He had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.”

Genesis 21:1-2;5

You see, nothing is impossible with God!

We are weak but our God is able!

God can do more than this Darth Vader

How should this impact our lives then?

 “Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless.

Genesis 17:1

Knowing and genuinely believing that our God is Almighty, we are able to depend and trust His Word with all our heart. We won’t be afraid to walk where He leads us and we won’t be afraid to walk before Him and be blameless.

13 years before God gave Abraham and Sarah a son, they compromised and sinned. They were getting impatient and they thought foolishly, “let’s not wait anymore, let’s ‘help’ God”. So Abraham slept with Hagar, handmaid of Sarah. This was widely accepted in their culture back then but just because it’s accepted, does not mean it’s right. Biblically, this was still considered as sin as it was fornication and adultery.

When we compromise, we lose sight and forget that God is Almighty. We no longer acknowledge the fact that God is able and that is why we step in and do it our way. This doesn't only dishonor Him but it also hinders us from seeing God’s mighty power and receiving His blessings.

How we see God ultimately affects how much we trust and obey Him. If we depict God to be small, then our trust and obedience will be small but if we see Him as the STRONG, POWERFUL, ALMIGHTY God that He is, our trust and obedience will be greater.

We can count on Him and His promises because He is more than able to fulfill them!

Are you willing to walk before God and be blameless?

Open your heart. Pray and Obey!

See for yourself the wonders He’ll show you!

GOD IS AWESOME...AHHHH!

Fearless: Fears Be Gone!

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*all images taken from Google images

Fears Be Gone!

Speaker: Julius Rayala

written by Ashley Petallano

There are two kinds of fear: fear of the uncertain and fear of the certain.

When you fear the uncertain, you're simply scared of the unknown. For example, you've been liking this friend of yours for years. It's not just a crush, it's a MEGA CRUSH. It's such a burdening crush that you want to tell him/her. But you're stopped by the fact that all your efforts might go to waste due to the FRIENDZONE.

#friendzoned #ouch #ithurtssobaaad

When you fear something certain, it means you're scared of what's already sure. It's like being told that your mom is sick with terminal cancer. Three doctors confirmed that she's got less than months to live. The reality that you might have to live without your mother soon is terrifying. And you think to yourself: this isn't fair.

When we live in fear, everything stops. We don't want to move or do anything extreme simply because we are scared. The problem is fear can limit us. It hinders us from doing things beyond our capacities. Also, they stop us from pursuing what God wants for us. 

An example would be the fear of running out of money. Let's face it: MONEY IS ESSENTIAL. It's no wonder why we're afraid of losing some. If we do, we can barely do stuff that are important to us such as pay for school, the bills and food. We're initially stumped when we don't have the means to pay and we panic.

But if we want to survive this world, we cannot afford to be enveloped in fear. Being fearless requires not inhuman strength, swords or muscles. Nope. One is fearless when he knows who is God is. When you know that God is stronger, your fears are laid to rest.

PHEW!

Our God is a limitless God. He is not weak like us. He carries us on His shoulders. It helps us relieve ourselves from worries when we believe that God has a plan for us whilst we are in the midst of terrifying situations. He is beyond our realities.

When you believe that your God is beyond reality 

How are we assured of this?

 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Matthew 7:11

When faced with fear, always know that you can turn to God for everything: support, advice and prayers. If you accept Him and allow Him to control your life, you are welcomed by Him with open arms. His children can come to Him freely with their burdens. 

7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Matthew 7:7

As His child, God is concerned with your welfare. He is a Father, remember? Like what Matthew 7:11 says, if our earthly fathers can provide what we need, God can surpass their efforts. Now we're not saying that God is a genie. He is a Father who will approve matters that will benefit you and glorify Him.

No father matches God. He gives us what is good. Bad things are not His doing but ours. We are sinful beings that usually allow sin take control and ruin God's plan. 

God is always faithful but as His child, we need to do our part as well. 

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Acts 1:8

We are called to be His witnesses, martyrs of faith. We should spread the Word about God and His Gospel. Of course, we must also obey God. He reminds us constantly of what to do through the Bible and our prayers. Also, learn to give for His kingdom through tithing.

God provided Christ for us so that all our fears will be laid to rest. No more fear of being sent to hell, of unforgivable sins, of Satan winning this battle. All our fears are nothing compared to God's power. He is enough. More than enough. 

If our God is with us, then who can stand against us?

God takes over our fears!