LIVING THE CHRIST LIFE

As mentioned in an earlier post, here is the exhortation from Pastor Bobi Tayag of THE WAY CHRISTIAN MINISTRIES.

Living Insights:

Jesus said in John 10:10 that the life He came to give us all is life abundant.

Television commercials, claim that the abundant life goes along with drinking, wearing certain kinds of clothes or shoes, or driving a certain type of car. You can’t find abundant living in a can or in a bottle or an attire and accessories or a car. You can’t find abundant life in a capsule or a pill or in cocaine or marijuana or any kind of drug. John 10:10 says that abundant living is only found in Jesus.

John 10:10 says the thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill and to destroy. Through the devil’s empty pictures of fame, money and drugs, he steals from, kills and destroys people. But God’s idea is different. Jesus says I am come that they might have life, and they might have it more abundantly.

If someone is living an abundant life, what does it look like, and how does it look different than other people? I can’t answer these questions unless I have a clear understanding of what the word abundant really means.

So, how do we understand this word abundant? In John 10:10, Christ uses the Greek word “perissos” pronounced ‘per-is-sos’. In this context, it means ‘superior in quantity or quality’ ‘exceedingly’ ‘very high’ ‘advantage’ ‘beyond measure’. This is the exact same word that Paul uses in Ephesians 3:20 “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.” A clue to our understanding of this word is to think about whom Paul is speaking of—God.

To us who are already saved, abundant living is not just living well-off materially. It is not merely being comfortable or healthy. Being saved is great. It’s vital. But it’s not the end—it’s the beginning. There’s so much more that will fulfill us, complete us, satisfy us, and make us to be all that God designed us to be in Christ Jesus. It is receiving and living God’s best in this life.

“Fulfillment comes as by-product of our love for God. And that satisfaction is better than we ever imagined. God can make the pieces of the world’s puzzle fit together; he helps us view the world from a new perspective”

-Erwin W. Lutzer-

“People can meet superficial needs. But only God can meet our deepest needs.”

-Forrester Barrington-

“Until we have learned to be satisfied with fellowship with God, until He is our rock and our fortress, we will be restless with our place in the world.”

-Erwin W. Lutzer-

“Jesus we all have; He is all we need and all we want. We are shipwrecked on God and stranded on Omnipotence”

-Vance Havner-

“You have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in You”

-Saint Augustine of Hippo-

First of all i’d like to say thank you to all of you who have been visiting the blog and are contuinually supporting God’s work through this simple medium. also i would like to encourage all of you to please leave comments about the articles that we post and  leave suggestions on how to improve the blog even more.

We are amazed at how God has been sustaining the blog for the past 9 months and we are genuinely humbled when people leave comments telling us how the articles have ministered to them. we give God all the glory and we pray that we will excel still more in the ministry that God has entrusted to us.

Anyway, time for more updates, i’m very excited to announce that we will be posting two featured articles within the coming weeks that we hope will minister to you. One of them will be from our CCM Chairman Pastor Bobi Tayag from “THE WAY CHRISTIAN MINISTRIES” in Cagayan de Oro, another will come from Bro. T.J. Caparros from “LIVING WORD” in Cebu, Bro. T.J. is currentrly Vice Chairman of the CCM National Youth Council.

These men are being used mightily by God and are men of whom we have the highest respect and admiration, we hope that the articles will be helpful and will minister to you all.

thank you again for your support and God bless you all.

ahhhh yes, the age old question for many singles out there, can a boy and a girl have a friendship without any feelings for each other? watch out for our article on this hot topic…

In continuation of our previous post…we were talking about cyber dating and its effect on our emotions. Again the Bible tells us that “our hearts are deceitful…” and so in our online conversations we need to be on guard as well. You see it’s not so much the chatting per se that is wrong, but the emotional attachments that we are trying to pinpoint. Emotions that are reserved for the marriage relationship, we want the pleasure of the relationship but not the responsibilities that are attached to it. In cyber relationships it is easier to get the attention and the emotional high because you don’t see each other, but the danger is that we might put in the wrong emotions and interpretations in the messages that are being exchanged.

Another issue is the issue of purity, you might be wondering, what is this guy talking about? We can’t have sex while chatting the other person has to be with you to have sex. Duh! I know that, but the issue of purity as we all know is not just physical its emotional as well. Your emotional purity is at stake when we indulge in intimate conversations online. We open ourselves up and in reality what we are trying to do is “fish” for clues on whether this girl or guy likes us, or we’re trying to “test the waters” to see if the other person’s response would be favorable to what we want to happen. Again, our hearts are deceitful and we should always remember that. But here’s the problem, many of us don’t want to admit it, we hide behind excuses like, “I’m old enough to know what I should do”, “I know when to stop and its just chatting online”, “I’ve learned my lesson from the past and I can predict what’s going to happen and stop it right away” and the list just goes on and on and on…but let me ask you this, “how many times do you have to get burned to know that fire is hot?” I think once would be enough, and how many times have we made mistakes when it comes to finding love our own way? I think we’ve made a lot of mistakes.
But this is where the beauty of God and His Word are seen, Scripture tells us that we should be careful if we think we are standing strong lest we fall. In proverbs we are told that pride comes before a fall. So we need to admit that we are nothing apart from God.

A few things that we need to know before we end this post. First of all what we’ve been talking about is chatting with the opposite sex. Be very careful that when we chat that we are not opening up too much information…(to be continued)

 Cyber dating:

Communication and technology have come a long way since its humble beginnings. From snail mail to e-mail, from analog to digital, from the cell phone to the iPhone, everything just seems to be getting faster and better. People today literally have the world at their fingertips, with the dawning of mobile internet capable phones. Yes, indeed we can communicate faster and better with our loved ones across the world businessmen can close deals using video conferencing and of course many people are also claiming that they are finding the love of their lives online. With the advancement of technology, welcome to the world of cyber dating. But what is this thing called cyber dating?

Cyber dating is what I call conversations that usually happen when we go out on dates but are done in the confines of our homes or offices through the web. There is a melee of forums to choose from, you have myspace, multiply, friendster, facebook, hi5, yahoo messenger and the list just goes on and on. Now many of you may be wondering what’s wrong with chatting, is there anything in the Bible that says “thou shalt not chat”? is it bad for me to keep in touch with my friends? We’re not having sex or doing crazy stuff, we’re just chatting. Of course you won’t find that in the Bible! But what you will find are principles that  guide us and guard us from the guile and wile of the evil one, Satan. You see dear young Christian Satan and world don’t take breaks, they bombard us with so many SUBTLE and I emphasize this word deliberately, so may SUBTLE attacks that the whole objective is to make something look harmless. Just as Scripture has warned us that Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light, I believe that the tools that he uses also employ the same principles. In the puritan book “Precious Remedies for the Trouble Soul” the author warns us that many times Satan hides the hook and makes the bait attractive. So attractive in fact that as we are reading this article we’re already justifying ourselves and thinking that either I’m too conservative or I don’t know what I’m talking about.

But going back to what I was saying, we’ve let our guards down in this area, how? Because we think we’re safe, we think that because he or she is far away and that there is no physical contact or interaction that our emotions are safe. But that is the lie that many of bite into, that’s the hook behind the bait. Let me clarify that when I say cyber dating, I’m talking about a boy and girl meeting online and having the level of interaction reserved for a married couple. You see there is an attachment that develops when people of the opposite sex open up to each other, its just the way that the Lord designed our bodies. And we since this design is a form of early warning device for us, and we are told in Scripture to, “not awaken love until it is ready” then we are to be careful how we expose ourselves, especially with friendships to the opposite sex. Notice however that I did not say that you should NOT have friends from the opposite sex.

What we need to do however is to exercise wisdom, wisdom guided by the Word of God. Because there is a major difference between courtship and friendship, and many of you out there engaging in cyber dating are courting more than anything else. Please don’t make the old excuse “I’m getting to know her/him”…(to be continued)

-GIVEN DURING THE GRADUATION OF A CHRISTIAN SCHOOL IN BAGUIO, I HOPE THAT IT WILL MINISTER TO YOU AS MUCH AS IT DID TO ME-  KUYA TABS

Good evening,

First of all, I congratulate you on achieving a milestone that not many achieve in this day and age. I also extend my most heartfelt congratulations to all of the parents for your unwavering commitment and immeasurable sacrifices for your children to come to this point in their lives. The countless hours of pep talks, the never ending negotiations to do homework, for some of us, the many many MANY trips to the principal’s office, the after school dance and music lessons, the school programs, the field trips and the millions spent on allowances, tuition, food, clothes and yes, the shoes. Truly God has sustained and provided for all your needs and so much more, and He will do it once again, welcome to college. But kidding aside, I extend my highest respects and deepest admiration to all of you for your unending support and sacrifice. God is indeed GOOD.

ONE ANTHROPOLOGIST ONCE SAID, “OUR UNIQUENESS AS HUMAN BEINGS LIES NOT IN OUR SPEECH OR INTELLECT, BUT RATHER IT LIES IN THE FACT THAT EACH OF US WAS BORN WITH THE ABILITY TO LIVE A THOUSAND LIVES, BUT IN THE END WE WOULD HAVE LIVED ONLY ONE LIFE” and tonight as I share with you what the Lord has placed in my heart, it is my prayer that this short message will not just inspire but rather, point you to live the ONLY LIFE WORTH LIVING, and that is living for Christ. And so I stand before you tonight not as one who has already attained all things, nor do I stand before you on the basis of my credentials, or what I have achieved, rather I stand before you by the immeasurable grace and mercy of God who has granted me this privilege. Tonight, I will not address you as a teacher or mystic guru, I will address you tonight as a “kuya” “manong” “ahiya”.

Now, to you my dear adings; shobes; shotis, as your ahiya I would like to remind you of a few things that I believe are very important and that should serve as reminders for you. In 2 Timothy 2:15 it says, “15Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” This is what we would want you all to be. “Approved of God”. But what does this mean?

1. A person approved of God, has a relationship WITH God or more appropriately GOD HAS A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM- when you graduate from small world that does not mean that you leave God behind. I HOPE THAT YOU DO NOT HEAVE A SIGH OF RELIEF AND SAY “HAY SALAMAT, DI KO NA MARIRINIG ANG MGA LORD LORD AND GOSPEL GOSPEL” BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE A TRAGEDY. As you enter college there will be many decisions to face, aside from the class schedule or subject to take; who will be your friends, what course to finally take, which organization to join, and you must not face these decisions on your own. Look to God and ask God His will, more importantly, ask Him into your heart first, to put your faith in Him who died for your sins and repent, because He ALONE can answer all your questions.

2. A person approved of God is a person who is diligent- work hard dear graduates, and when you feel like giving up, work harder, because everyday of your lives you will be battling and fighting. I’m not talking about a corporate or competitive battle, I’m talking about the battle of character, because you will need to work hard to keep your integrity intact, to keep your soul intact. When your peers will try to influence you to go against your ideals and convictions BE DILIGENT TO PRESENT YOURSELF APPROVED OF GOD! DO NOT GIVE IN TO THE TEMPATIONS THAT WILL COME YOUR WAY!

3. A person approved of God is a person who is not ashamed of God- as you enter this new chapter of your life, NEVER BE ASHAMED OF GOD, do not exchange the godly principles that have been taught to you for the fleeting pleasures of this world, LEARN TO HAVE HIGHER STANDARDS FOR YOURSELF, and not for others; STANDARDS FOUND IN THE WORD OF GOD. DO NOT HAVE SHALLOW ROOTS.

4. A person approved of God is a person who is not afraid to make mistakes- dear young men and women, I will tell you now that in this life we will make many many mistakes, but a person who is diligently seeking to be approved of God will not see these mistakes as failures but rather that person will see the mistakes as lessons. And when you make a mistake get up, stay up and keep on. Because life is not about how you start, its how you finish, and the person approved of God will make sure that THOUGH HE IS BATTERED HE WILL NOT BE BEATEN, THOUGH HE IS TIRED HE WILL NOT FAINT, HE WILL FINISH AND WHEN HE FINISHES; HE FINISHES STRONG.

These are reminders my dear young men and women, not on how to face school, but rather some reminders on how to face life. Because college is not a license to party, it’s a test of maturity; it is not a gateway to freedom but a rite of passage into adulthood.

Finally, I would like to make this appeal to you, as your kuya, as you enter college ENJOY COLLEGE, BUT DO NOT WASTE YOUR LIFE! DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME! DO NOT WASTE YOUR STUDIES! DO NOT WASTE YOUR FRIENDSHIPS! DO NOT WASTE YOUR TALENTS!

BE A PERSON APPROVED OF GOD!