A Song for Sita

We're beginning our Ancient Paths Level 1 seminar today. There are thirty five participants who have signed up. My friends Buddy and Trudi arrived from Bacolod City last night. They will be part of the ministry team for this seminar.

I don't really have much time to write this post, as we have to leave the house in a few minutes.

But I heard this song in my heart just moments after I woke up at 5:30 a.m. And in my spirit I sensed these words: "This is my song for Sita today. Tell her."

So here I am...listening to Matt Redman's very beautiful song on my ipod as I type out the lyrics for you, Sita, my dear friend.

The Father's Song
by Matt Redman

I have heard so many songs
Listened to a thousand tongues
But there is one that sounds above them all

The Father's song
The Father's love
You sang it over me
And for eternity
It's written on my heart

Heaven's perfect melody
The Creator's symphony
You are singing over me
The Father's song

Heaven's perfect mystery
The king of love
Has sent for me
And now You're singing over me
The Father' s song


Here's a verse to go with it:

The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save.
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love
He will rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17


Dear friend, go in the strength of the Father's love today, as He sings over you The Father's Song.

I Love the Philippines - 2

Cows in Batanes Islands, Philippines

photo credit here

Batanes is known as the "Home of the Winds" and is the smallest and northernmost province of the Philippines. It comprises ten main islands, only three of which are inhabited. Read more here.


I Love the Philippines - 1 here


Wikipedia entry on Batanes

Batanes, Philippines: Travel Guide

Batanes, Philippines: More Info and Beautiful Pictures

Batanes Community Website

About Iraya Volcano on Batanes Islands

Batanes Travel Diary

Pray for the Philippines

His Banner Over Me is Love

Journal Entry: January 18, 2009

He brought me to the banqueting house,

And his banner over was love.

Song of Solomon 2:4

It’s my last full day with my daughter , and my last full day in my father’s house. Tomorrow I will move to another city south of Manila. I will be staying at Ayala Alabang Village in Muntinglupa City with my friends Joey and Ut. For the remaining days of this week I will be coordinating two Ancient Paths seminars with a group from New Life Church. My flight back to Bacolod is on early Saturday morning.

Again, I feel a tinge of sadness to be leaving my daughter, and this beautiful home, so full of warm memories of my growing up years.

It’s been very cold these past days. At night, I have been grateful to be warm under my thick comforter. But the other night, as I was about to sleep, I felt an aching void in my heart. How secure it made me feel to have that blanket of cover, but that void was so painfully real. Somehow, with my husband gone, there have been times that I have felt unprotected and alone.

Ernie was a very good husband—a good provider, thinking of his family’s needs before his own, he was a strong protective wall around me. With him around, I felt secure. Mostly because he cared, he loved me, and was always thinking of me.

Whenever we were far from each other, he would send me SMS messages on my cell phone, with questions “How are you?” or “What did you and Obedient One do today”. Or he would send me tidbits of what has been happening at home. Just little messages to let me know he’s around. The text messages are non-intrusive. I could read them when I opened my phone. A phone call had the sense of urgency, and he knows that I generally do not like phone calls. I prefer to receive these quiet SMS messages. So he would send them to me, when he was at the airport, waiting for his next flight, or just an hour before his next class, he would ask me to pray.

Now, with Ernie gone, naturally there is no one who will think of me that way. And there are no longer any of those thoughtful text messages on my phone.

When we got back from Thailand last September, we had several suitcases with us. Ernie decided to leave one of his bags here in Manila, to avoid excess baggage fees on our flight back to Bacolod. “We can always take it back with us next time around,” he said.

I opened his suitcase the other day. There were his favorite cotton polo shirts, all neatly folded and giving off that familiar fragrant scent of the fabric conditioner we used in Chiang Mai. I couldn’t help but shed a few tears. In that suitcase is the electric hot pot which he very carefully packed among his clothes. He wanted to bring it back with us, one of the very few kitchen stuff we had decided to bring home. “This will remind us of our beautiful time together in the university flat,” he had said while packing it.

Now there is no one to share those beautiful Maejo memories with.

There can be so many ways of spiritualizing my husband’s death. I have found myself saying, “It’s a new season.” “The winter is over.” “God is calling me up to a higher level.”

And it’s all true. But I don't really need to hide my pain behind these truths. I can be up front and honest about my grief. The bottom line is that he’s no longer around. And I miss him so much.

These were the thoughts going around my mind as I lay under my comforter that night.

Then I remembered another time when I felt something like this. It was the night I came home from the hospital on November 1, 2006. Ernie had a heart attack that morning and was in the intensive care unit. A respirator was attached to him, and a tube was in his mouth that went into his trachea, for lung fluids had to be suctioned out regularly. He had a heart monitor, and an oxygen meter to measure how much oxygen was flowing into his lungs. His creatinine count was elevated, indicating kidney malfunction…

I have written about the miraculous account of his healing in a previous post.

But I didn’t know that then. All I knew that night was that his blood pressure was going down, and he had zero urine output. Not a very good prognosis.

At about 10 o’clock, my friends and I gathered around his bed again, and prayed Psalm 91 over him. Then, physically and emotionally exhausted from the whole day’s events, I was admonished by my friends to go home and get some sleep.

Upon getting home that night, I recall the emptiness of our home, the feeling of being alone, and the deafening silence of not having him around to talk to.

Then, I took my bible, my NKJV Spirit-filled Life Bible, a deep source of comfort to me as it contains words of life spoken by my heavenly Father. And I hugged that book close to my heart.

Maybe some people will think I’m crazy to do this, but hugging my favorite book really brought comfort to me that night.

I told God, “Father, I just want to hug Your words close to me. Your words have fed me, nourished me all these years. In embracing your book I know I will receive a measure of comfort and strength during these lonely hours when I do not even know what will happen next.”

I was able to sleep and even woke up refreshed a few hours later. I went back to the hospital before breakfast to find Ernie looking pink, no longer pale, very cheerful, and most of all recovered. It was his 60^th birthday.

That memory came back to me the other night.

I had just finished reading Psalm 119:1-8 (for I am making a determined effort this year to commit that whole psalm to memory) before turning off the reading lamp by my bed.

And I sensed God speaking to me, “Let Me be as this thick blanket over you.”

And I felt so warm and secure. I knew that God was the covering over my head, my strength, my security, my protector. I once again hugged my travel bible close to my heart.

And I fell asleep.

I Love the Philippines- 1

Malapascua Island, Visayan Sea, Philippines

photo credit here


More about Malapascua Island here

It's been almost a year since this blog was born.

One of the important reasons I have for maintaining and updating this website is to share with my readers the beauty of my beloved homeland, the Philippines.

As I share my heart openly on these pages, may my dear friends and loved ones be led to the truth that God has a divine and prophetic destiny for this nation.

When I first heard God's call on my life to be an intercessor, one of the things that was clearly impressed upon my heart was to be an intercessor committed to praying for my country.

I belong to a group called Intercessors for the Philippines. This is a nationwide group that has banded together for this sole purpose - to faithfully lift up this nation to God in committed and informed intercession, to partner with God in bringing about His purposes for the Philippines.

Beginning with this particular entry, I will be posting a bit of information about my country, together with one or two pictures, not only of scenic spots, but also of the harsh realities, of this nation.

May my series entitled "I Love the Philippines" touch your heart, dear blog reader, from whatever part of the world you may come from, to kneel before God, and lift up this nation to Him.


PHILIPPINE FACTS:

The Philippines is officially known as THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, or Republika ng Pilipinas, in Pilipino, our national language.

It is roughly 115,830 square miles, or 300,000 square kilometers in size.

It is found in the SW Pacific region, in the Malay Archipelago off the Southeast Asia Mainland.

There are over 7,000 islands in this archipelago, of which only 400 are permanently inhabited.

There are three main island groups, namely
-Luzon (in the north),
-Visayas (in the middle), and
-Mindanao (in the south).

The eleven largest islands make up about 95% of the total land area. These islands are:
-Luzon
-Mindanao
-Samar
-Negros
-Palawan
-Panay
-Mindoro
-Leyte
-Cebu
-Bohol
-Masbate

Coming soon: I Love the Philippines-2



More photos on Beautiful Philippines here.

More about The Philippines here

More on our Cultural Heritage here

Listen to "Ako'y Isang Pinoy" by Florante here

The Job Crucible

Bob Sorge's book

"But He knows the way that I take,
When He has tested me
I shall come forth as gold."

Job 23:10

Bob Sorge is one author that I consider to be one of God's greatest gifts to me. Many authors write from their intellects, Bob writes from his heart. And this is one reason why his books really minister to my heart.

Bob is a worshiper, and an intercessor. There is a relationship between a writer and a reader, and having read several of his books, I really feel like Bob is an old friend. He doesn't talk above your head, he is a fellow traveler, a companion.


In today's post, I share a brief excerpt of what he has written about Job in his book Pain, Perplexity, and Promotion.


Those of you who are going through a season of pain will find great comfort in reading this book. Job's life is the story of a man who knew how to persevere and to endure to the end.

Here's the excerpt:


The Book's Theme

...In broad strokes, the life of Job is a pattern for all believers of how God takes a blameless, godly man, with a life of personal purity and a yes in his spirit, and brings him through the fire to a higher inheritance.

Job came out of the crucible with a life message that has been spoken to God's people ever since. Here are some of the poignant truths Job's life declares:

- Sometimes God is totally perplexing.

- There are things going on in the spirit dimension that you don't see.

- If you've been walking blamelessly and faithfully before God, and something incredibly mystifying and even traumatic happens to you which seems to have no reasonable cause, then heighten your spiritual alertness -- God might be in the process of bringing you into spiritual promotion.

- If you will guard your purity, increase your pursuit of God, and commit yourself to unquestioning obedience, He will eventually unfold His purposes to you.

- Realize that God loves to glorify Himself by salvaging the calamities of his saints, producing the superlative out of the impossible.


A Pattern to Get Your Bearings

Job's life message serves as a model or a pattern against which others can measure God's disciplines in their lives. When you have a grid for measuring what is happening in your life, you're able to cooperate with God's purposes. But without that grid or pattern you're very likely to partner with the accuser, cop an attitude toward God, and end up aborting the process. Without any prototype for understanding God's dealings, it's very difficult to say, "You have done well with Your servant, O LORD, according to Your word" (Psalm 119:65). Instead, it's easy to echo the accusation of the Israelites, "'It's useless to serve God'" (Malachi 3:14). God wants us to steer clear of that pitfall so He has given us the pattern of Job.

Job, then, was a pioneer, a pathfinder, a forerunner whom God baptized into "the School of the Spirit," in order that he might serve as a living parable to all generations after him. His life serves as a compass, enabling us to get our bearings when we're under the disciplines of God.

Sometimes we think we know who God is. God says, "None of you know who I am! Unless I show you." So God devastated every understanding Job thought he had of God and began to rebuild Job's theology on the truth of Isaiah 55:9, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways." So Paul cried, "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!" (Romans 11:33).

God operates in a dimension that totally surpasses our human analysis. And here's a signature of God's ways: He loves to redeem impossible messes. He loves entangled imbroglios that have no human solution, that are hopeless catastrophes apart from divine intervention.

Sometimes God allows the saint to be reduced to seeming defeat, filled with anguish and reproach, with Satan gleefully savoring his upper hand. Or sometimes the saint is trapped by crushing circumstances beyond his control. When it appears that God has abandoned you, Job would cry out: "Don't quit! Trust God! It's never too late! This is the kind of situation that God loves!"

In some situations, God steps back and says, "Too easy. If I step in now, they won't glorify My name for the answer." Thus He waits things out a bit, and lets the situation become even more critical so that there will be no question about the source when He intervenes with HIs sovereign deliverance. He loves to do the impossible!

...Redemption's Greatest Crossroads

In fact I want to suggest that Job became a forerunner for the most eminent of saints, helping them navigate the greatest crisis points of redemptive history. At the crucial crossroads of God's redemptive plan, when everything was at stake, Job's life served as a pattern enabling them to make the right choice...

We are now facing another critical moment in God's plan: the return of Christ. In preparatin for Christ's coming, God is taking many of His saints through the Job crucible. A fire has been kindled in the earth to awaken the bride with passion for her Bridegroom. Will she persevere to the end, or will she abort God's purposes? Thankfully, she has Job!

Everybody had Job for an example, except for one man: Job! This is why Job is so admirable. He persevered through the crucible with no predecessor, no forerunner, no pattern from which to gain comfort. Job had nobody. He was charting virgin territory, going where no man had gone before. He was making an unprecedented foray onto the swirling battleground of spiritual warfare, where God's purposes and Satan's incitements and people's opinions combine to season the soul.

As a result of Job's faithfulness, God decided to use his example to comfort every generation, providing them with a compass to help them interpret their pathway. We enjoy the same benefits today. Instead of aborting His purposes in our lives, we are now able to cooperate with His grace and enter into our highest inheritance...


An excerpt from Bob Sorge's book, Pain, Promotion, and Perplexity (Oasis House: 1999), pp. 25-28

About Bob Sorge

Bob Sorge’s life story articulates the human heart’s capacity to unreservedly trust the utmost sovereignty of its Maker.

Bob served for thirteen years as senior pastor of Zion Fellowship in Canandaigua, New York and at the same time functioned as music director at Elim Bible Institute. In 1992, however, he suffered a vocal injury that left his voice extremely weak and painful to use. He had to resign his pastorate; he could no longer sing. (Read more here.)

Praying for Israel

Map of Israel

photo credit

I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
they shall never hold their peace day or night.
You who make mention of the Lord,
do not keep silent,
And give Him no rest till He establishes
And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth

Isaiah 62:6-7

Many years ago, I felt that God was calling me to be a worshiper and an intercessor.

That has been an upward call, and heeding the invitation has led me through many mountaintop and valley experiences. One of the best things that I have experienced because of that call is a deep love for Israel and her people, the Jews. Gradually, the Lord has led me to connect to a number of people around the world who have a similar calling and love for the nation of Israel.

This year, my New Year resolution is to move up to higher ground. I want to keep growing deeper in my relationship with God, and this will naturally mean growing in the two main areas of my calling - worship and intercession.

In the past years, there have been many distractions.


My husband died about six weeks ago. There is a deep longing in my heart to draw close to God, to seek what is on His heart, to align to the purposes He has for me in this new season that I find myself in.

In a previous post, I have written that my heart senses that I am entering a season of renewal and healing. Part of this is to recover precious ground that may have been taken over by the enemy.

This morning, I sensed God speaking to me clearly about Gilgal, literally "Rolling", the place where the second generation Israelites were circumcised before they could move into the Promised Land. And in that place, God spoke to Joshua, saying, "This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from My people."

These days I am spending much time alone with God in the Manila home where I grew up. There is a sense of peace, quiet, gentleness in this house. I know God will meet me here, and hopefully, give me some of the answers that I am longing for.

When I read about Gilgal, I knew that God was also speaking to me about the circumcision of the heart, where He wants to strip away the things in my heart that hinder Him from accomplishing the purposes He has for me.

The call is always to "Come up higher."

Praying for Israel, a renewed sense of love for this nation and people, aligning my heart with God's heart. He is calling me to continue to be one of the watchmen standing with Israel, especially in these very difficult times.

These are truly exciting days when we find ourselves partnering with God's purposes for His nation and His chosen people.

We have been telling others to watch the fig tree, which is Israel. The events involving Israel is to be our signpost for what God is doing in the world. If we truly love God, we will love what is on His heart.

Israel is at the center of God's heart. Let us be moved by the things that move His heart.

About five years ago, God paved the way for Ernie and me to acquire another house next to the one we have. I sensed that these two adjoining houses are to be named "Hephzibah" and "Beulah."

Beulah House is where we have prayed weekly for Israel. We have a small group committed to praying for this beloved nation. We call ourselves the Filipino Christian Friends of Israel, Bacolod Chapter. We pray that this group will continue to grow as we encourage others to ask God to put a special love in their hearts for this nation. My friend, Beulah Badua, who has such an intense and fiery love for Israel, heads this group in Manila.

Please join our hearts in praying for Israel.

Bear with me as this particular post will be quite long. But I do want to share with my blogger friends a special prayer alert for Israel which I have received from Intercessors for Israel.

Intercessors for Israel seeks to raise up a prayer army in and for Israel. Though we are burdened to teach about and stimulate prayer in the lives of individual believers and in local congregations, our primary calling is to intercede before God in behalf of the people and Land of Israel, and to do our part in the battle to prepare the way for the return of the Lord...

Read more here.

Special Alert #3

As the fighting in Gaza enters the third week Israel is once again at a crossroads where it must make strategic choices. At this point, it seems clear that while Hamas has taken a major blow to its infrastructure, weapons stockpiles, and the loss of a small number of its fighters (their force was estimated to be 15,000-20,000 fighters), this terror organization is still active, in place, and ruling Gaza.

Israel has mobilized about 10,000 reservists who have spent the last week training and are now ready to go. As we said in the last Special Alert, you cannot keep troops in a high state of readiness indefinitely.

Israel must make a decision: Withdraw from Gaza either unilaterally, or with some kind of truce mechanism in place. Both of these are bad choices. At best, Israel will only achieve a “victory on points, not the conclusive victory it is aiming for. Hamas continues to pound Israel with rockets, now hitting as far inland as Beersheva, and according to some reports, as close as 17 Km. south of Tel Aviv.

Expanding the ground operation to the next stage might include taking over the Philadelphi corridor (between Egypt and Gaza), where the smuggling tunnels are situated. Other options to “stage 3” are expanding the fighting to the central part of Gaza (Khan Yunis) and even house to house fighting in the center of Gaza City. The army estimates that stage 3 would take an additional 20 days to accomplish. That would bring us to 31 January, 10 days before elections.

Meanwhile, on the streets of the nations and in the U.N., calls for an unequal “cease fire” are being heard with greater frequency and violence. U.N. resolution 1860, calling for a cease fire in Gaza, basically puts Israel, a sovereign nation, and Hamas, a terrorist organization, on the same level. It does not call for disarming the terrorists in Gaza and it does not even mention Israel’s captive soldier Gilad Shalit. Israel appealed directly to President Bush to veto the resolution, but he declined to do so. While this resolution is not “binding”, and Hamas rejected it outright anyway, it is a bad harbinger of things to come.

This past weekend demonstrations were held all over the world blaming Israel for a “massacre” of the Palestinians; not one word was mentioned of the constant terror southern Israel has been experiencing for the last three years. The dictionary defines a massacre as: “The act or an instance of killing a number of usually helpless or unresisting human beings under circumstances of atrocity or cruelty. A cruel or wanton murder.” None of these definitions applies to what is happening in Gaza. Yes, some children and civilians are dying in Gaza, but we must ask and answer the question, why? They are dying because Hamas is fighting in the midst of this civilian population and using these civilians as living shields to protect them from the Israeli Army. (There are documented pictures of Hamas terrorists holding children in front of them to keep Israeli soldiers from firing at them, and pictures of Hamas mortar squads firing from U.N. schools which are supposed to be places of refugee for the Palestinian civilians.) Many of these fighters are wearing civilian, not military clothes, and they are fighting from Mosques as well as schools. The Hamas leadership is in hiding, reportedly in a bunker under Shifra Hospital in Gaza.

While the children are innocent victims, most of their parents do not qualify as innocent. Two thirds of the population of Gaza voted for Hamas in the last elections. They voted for a terror organization who has promised never to recognize Israel, never to make peace with her, and to fight with all means (including suicide bombers) until Israel is totally destroyed.

Although Israel is far from perfect, and in war accidents do happen, what other nation has both dropped leaflets from the air and even called Gazans on their phones calling on them to move out of areas that are occupied by the terrorists or have weapons caches. Did Germany warn London before the V2 bombs dropped? Did the USA and UK warn Dresden before it was firebombed? Did the USA warn the Iraqis before the “shock and awe” bombing of the Second Gulf War?

In the midst of this battle, Israel has agreed to a daily three hour cease fire (1-4 PM) so that food and medical supplies can be brought into Gaza. As Israel “ceases,” Hamas continues to “fire” rockets into Israel. What other country in the history of warfare has ever done something like this? Yet, we are maligned and condemned in most of the nations of the world.

At Sunday’s Cabinet meeting, P.M. Olmert said it very well: “No country in the world, including those that preach morals to us, would have shown restraint as we have. We knew this wouldn't be simple, and what is acceptable for every other country in the world is barely accepted when it comes to Israel. We have never allowed anyone to decide for us whether we are allowed to strike those that hurl bombs at our kindergartens and schools and we never will agree to that in the future. No resolution that was made or will be made in the future that will deprive us of our basic right to defend the residents of Israel.” Let us pray that these will not just be nice sounding but empty words, but that they will be a standard of operation that Israel will be committed to.

Our prayer points come from Special Alerts 1&2 and this Friday’s Prayer Points:

Pray for:

• Clarity, courage, and sound judgment for Israel’s political and military leadership. That they have the strength of soul and spirit, as well as the determined resolve to see this battle through to the proper conclusion.

  "And said to the judges, 'Take heed to what you are doing, for you do not judge for man but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgment.'"

  2 Chronicles 19:6

• That the end of this conflict will also include the release of our prisoner in Gaza Gilad Shalit. That this will be a non-negotiable demand of Israel.

• That Israel will take over the “Philadelphi Route.”

• Protection of the innocent on both sides of the battle lines especially the children.

  Thus says the LORD: "A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted for her children, Because they are no more."

  Jeremiah 31:15

• Israel to strike a hard and decisive blow on the Hamas infrastructure and terrorist leadership.

  God is a just judge, And God is angry with the wicked every day. If he does not turn back, He will sharpen His sword; He bends His bow and makes it ready. He also prepares for Himself instruments of death; He makes His arrows into fiery shafts. Behold, the wicked brings forth iniquity; Yes, he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood. He made a pit and dug it out, And has fallen into the ditch which he made. His trouble shall return upon his own head, And his violent dealing shall come down on his own crown. I will praise the LORD according to His righteousness, And will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.

  Psalm 7:11-17

• Israel to have an anointing and ability to explain to the world why this is happening and to remain committed to finishing it properly, in spite of the worlds condemnations and accusations.

  Let Your mercies come also to me, O LORD — Your salvation according to Your word. So shall I have an answer for him who reproaches me, For I trust in Your word. And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, For I have hoped in Your ordinances.

  Psalm 119:41-43

• The Israeli elections: that they will not be postponed, nor that this long overdue Israeli response to the ongoing terror will shift the election into the hands of those who are responsible for the condition in the first place. We ask for an overwhelming victory for Likud and Netanyahu — because they are the one major political party much closer to Your revealed will for this nation. Anoint Netanyahu and the rest of the Likud team with real wisdom and sharpness to lay out the situation clearly once election campaigning restarts. Awaken Israelis to truth. Give us a government through whom You can glorify Yourself.

  “And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD," says the Lord GOD, "when I am hallowed in you before their eyes.”

  Ezekiel 36:23

• Extreme vigilance for Israel’s intelligence services so we are not surprised by an attack by Hizbullah or Syria. Pray also that there would be clear communication between the intelligence services and divine wisdom as to what to act on and what not to. In addition, pray that policy would be driven by what's truly best for the nation and not by politics or personal ambition.

  And one of his servants said, "None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom."

  2 Kings 6:12

• While we pray for the safety of all of Israel’s soldiers, please remember that many Messianic believers are serving at this time and more may be called to the battle.

• Pray that Israel will not have any more “friendly fire” incidents.

• Ultimately, that God's will is done.

  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

  Jeremiah 29:11

  For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "THE DELIVERER WILL COME OUT OF ZION, AND HE WILL TURN AWAY UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB; FOR THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS."

  Romans 11:25-27

The IFI Team
11 January 2009
Jerusalem

Lo, The Winter is Past

photo credit

My beloved spoke, and said to me:

Rise up, my love, my fair one,
And come away.

For lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of singing has come,
And the voice of the turtledove
Is heard in our land.

Song of Songs 2:10-12

The year 2009 is going to be a very special one for me and my family. I can just sense it.

Although the new year is not even two weeks old, there are already a number of indicators.

On New Year's eve, the five of us gathered around our last meal for the year. We thanked God for the year that was ending, and each of us took turns to speak and declare what good things we were expecting to happen in the months ahead.

With Ernie gone, I realize that I am now the official head, the one my children look up to as the spiritual covering, of our family. It is a very important role, one for which I have asked God to lead the way.

One clear message that God spoke to my heart that evening was the beautiful passage in Song of Solomon which I quoted above. The winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come.

Somehow, these words touch my heart... makes it leap! It is the promise of spring after the dark and cold season of winter.

Winter isn't over yet, I can still feel the icy blast of the north winds. But the hope of springtime gives me a feeling of warm comfort. Yes, there are good things coming my way.



I will be in Manila for two weeks, starting today. I took the dawn flight out of Bacolod City this morning.

It's been cold and rainy the past days. When we landed in Manila, the ground temperature was 23 degrees Celsius. That's much colder than usual, and I felt cold under the corduroy jacket that I had on. Nevertheless my spirit felt warm.

I came here because I needed to be away from my daily concerns to spend much precious time alone with God.

The passage says, "Rise up... and come away..."

It is an invitation, and I welcome it. There are many things I want to hear from God: a confirmation of the plans I am making for this year, and a much-needed sense of direction. I also want to stay close to God my heavenly Father for warmth and comfort. I need to ask Him a few questions.


After breakfast this morning, Obedient One and I went to Victory Christian Fellowship. There was an awesome time of worship, followed by an exhortation by Pastor Manny Carlos.

The passage he spoke on was another confirmation of what I had already been sensing.

Yes, the Almighty will be your gold
and your precious silver;
For then you will have your delight in the Almighty,
and lift up your face to God.
You will make your prayer to Him,
He will hear you,
and you will pay your vows.
You will also declare a thing,
and it will be established for you,
so light will shine on your ways.

Job 22:25-28

It was hard to believe that the words could be so direct and so specific... and yet they were!

Pastor Manny spoke on what it means to be a child of the king, and to live in God's kingdom in this world constantly battered, tossed about, and swept along, by bad news.

God's kingdom is the best news we have ever received. "This is the year of favor," he said, "the day of vengeance of our God...
to comfort all who mourn,
to console those who grieve in Zion,
to give them beauty for ashes,
the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness...."

The fig tree puts forth her green figs,
and the vine with the tender grapes give a good smell.
Rise up, my love, my fair one,
and come away. (Song of Solomon 2:13)

With words like those being so specifically given, I am really looking upward and forward to what God will bring about this new year.

This is my season of hope, my season of healing, my season of spring!

(If you want to read more on healing, John Whitener II has an insightful post about Pain and Thanksgiving here.)

Life at Jubilee

Journal Entry: March 27, 2003

Year of Jubilee

photo credit: Deborah Colquohon

The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
because the Lord has anointed Me
to preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
and the day of vengeance of our God.

Isaiah 61:1-2

These past days, I've been turning back the pages of time. I came across a couple of journal entries that I want to appear on this blog as my introductory posts for the New Year 2009.

I only have one New Year resolution -- and that is to move up to the next level of my life that God has planned for me.

In desiring to move on, as the storm clouds around me are beginning to clear, I have re-read these entries of days past, and my heart is awed as I am once again reminded of what God has done.



JOURNAL ENTRY FOR MARCH 27, 1953


I turn 50 today March 27, 2003.

Can anyone share how I feel? I'm really excited to be at this age. After all, one turns 50 only once in a lifetime.

I feel so important, so significant! Makes me feel like I'm being called by God to do an eternally significant thing -- like there is a glorious path that is opening up before me, and I find myself on this path. What a privilege!

I call this my Jubilee Year.

In the history of Israel, Jubilee is the 50th year, coming after the seventh Sabbath year (or after 49 years). It is the year when captives are released, debts are wiped out, slaves are set free, and lands revert to their original owners. No matter how bleak everything looks, everyone can look forward to the year of jubilee because then everything starts all over again on a clean slate.

And so this year, I declare I will walk, talk, think, and do, JUBILEE.

I generally keep my "accounts" current. This means that I don't keep long lists of what people owe me in my relationships. Nevertheless, when I look under the carpets or peek into the nooks and crannies of my life, I must admit that some hidden lists remain.

This is a good year to open the prison doors in my heart, and decide it is time to let people I have imprisoned there through unforgiveness, through demands that they measure up to my expectations, through demands that they stay there until they have "paid back" everything I feel they owe me as my right, my fair share, my just dues... it is time to let them go.

I don't want to hold on to rocks of offense by my continued recitation of a litany of past hurts which only become fresh ammunition for re-opening old wounds. I open up the prison doors and set all these captive people free. In doing so, I set myself free.

Life is difficult enough even without my carrying that overweight backpack. For a prison is not only a dark place in my heart, it is also an unnecessary burden that weighs me down and keeps me from moving on. EVer looming before my eyes, it becomes a negative standard by which I measure every person and circumstance. The past assumes the role of an oppressive taskmaster that keeps yelling at me, "Never forget! Never go beyond this hurt! Remember what they did! Remember how it felt!"

Well, this being my jubilee year, it is time for me to say, "Enough is enough." It is time to tear up the record of wrongs, and start all over again...on a clean slate.

What a release!

And this year, not only will I refuse to re-live past hurts, I also refuse to walk in past victories.

"This is the time like never before to let go," says a dear author friend. Today, I will allow my precious alabaster jar which I have held on to for the longest time, to be broken, let the fragrance of the pure spikenard flow, and give my Creator the freedom to do a new thing in my life.

I choose, this being my jubilee year, to walk in the newness of life.

This is the acceptable year of the Lord, this is the year of Jubilee.

Let my life this jubilee year be as a challenge that I offer to others around me. Will you accept the challenge? The choice is yours to make.

A New Beginning

When Dawn Breaks
oil on canvas by Gregory Frank Harris

This is the prayer for blessing and comfort for our family by Atty. Lyndon Cana on November 26, 2008 during the necrological service for my husband Ernie.

I want it to be my first post for 2009.

“Lord, you are the God of the widow, the fatherless, and the orphan.
You said in Proverbs 15:25 - The LORD tears down the house of the proud, but protects the inheritance of the widow.

Today, as we lay Kuya Ernie to his earthly rest, we pray for the family and loved ones that he leaves behind.

We pray for Ate Lidj. We bless her with ISAIAH 54:

She will sing, not a song of lament, but a song of praise
You will enlarge her sphere of influence

She will stretch wide open the welcome embrace of her ministry
She will lengthen the cords of her intercession

She will deepen the stakes of her faith and her hold on the promises of the LORD.

Four things she is assured of: There will be

no fear,

no disgrace,

she will suffer no shame,

no humiliation.

She will not live the life of a decapitated widow or as an injured half of a whole.

Rather she will rediscover a new sense of wholeness and completeness because

You, O, Lord, are her husband, the LORD Almighty is Your Name, the Holy One of Israel is her Redeemer, He is the GOD of all the earth.

While she may miss her husband, she will not lament a loss, but celebrate a legacy.

While she will feel his absence in the vacuum that he leaves behind, she will be overwhelmed by the overfilling presence of the happy memories that they have wrought together as husband and wife.

The memories will not sadden her but sanctify her,

instead of resignation, there will be resolution,
instead of depression, determination
the past will not be a burden to carry,
but an inspiration to carry on.

The rest of her life will not be a second best but a different kind of another best.

For as you have blessed her with a husband,
So now she will be pleasantly surprised to be blessed with herself,
because before she was a wife,
she was and is first of all a person,redeemed and loved by the LORD.

We bless the entire household with the blessings of Psalm 112:

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord and finds great delight in His commands.

Their children will be successful.
They themselves will be prosperous…
Light will shine for them.
They will not be terrorized by bad news.
Their hearts will ever be steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

The children will find meaning in the expression “the GOD of their father Ernie”, and the GOD of Ernie will be the GOD of Anna, Miguel and Cathy, and Jeremy.

We reinforce the laying of hands by grandfather Ernie on grandson Matthew.The mystic cord of prayer will bind the grandpa to the grandson and the heavens will respect the intentions of the grandfather for the grandson.

The marriages yet planned by the rest of the children, and the grandchildren already born and those yet to be born will benefit from the blessing spoken of in Exodus 20:6 that the love and favor of God shall overtake those who keep his commandments up to their generations.

We pray for the brothers and sisters and the uncles and the aunts and all the family, that they will continue the legacy of faith and service even as we thank you for the good name that Kuya Ernie has left behind.

We pray for all widows and orphans, and all families who are represented here today, that theirs be the blessing of strong marriage, faithfulness of spouses, devotion to the Lord, a good name, health and provision, and above all, purpose and meaning in life and a role to play in the kingdom of God.

Thank you for the unbreakable promises of the Lord Almighty covenanted in this prayer today, and sealed by the matchless name and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, our redeemer and Saviour and Lord."