If God is Asking You to Do Something, Do It

Photo credit: http://www.facebook.com/thefeastpicc

Last week, I found myself driving for an MD who I met for the first time. He was asking me about stock market investing and was referred to me by another MD. Because of his super busy work schedule, accompanying him to Betis, Guagua, Pampanga to look for furniture was the only time we have to talk. Since he was totally clueless about this topic, he said that his safest bet was to get the same insurance and investment products that I got for myself. As of this writing, only a few days after, he actually did. He even told me that he wants me to talk to his other friend about investing, too. Wow!

Over the weekend, I received a Facebook message from our old neighbour who I haven't seen in 25 years (yeah, that long) encouraging me to keep writing and inspiring my readers. She even commended that I was doing a great job at that. Another WOW! Honestly, even with thousands of page views, I am still amazed every time I know that someone actually reads my posts. Thank you very much!

Yesterday, a workmate who I haven't really talked to personally, but is an acquaintance and my friend on Facebook, sent me a message asking me about stocks. I asked if he wanted to do it directly or indirectly after telling him the difference. He then asked me which of the two am I doing. When I said I actually do both, he said that he may do both as well. Again, Wow!

Later that morning, after posting something on Facebook about why I aim to be rich, another workmate/friend sent me a text message saying that if my goal is to help and serve others, his goal is to help and serve his family. After a number of exchanged messages, I was able to explain to him further and at the end of the conversation, he got my point. For a clearer understanding of my readers, I told him that it wouldn't make sense helping others first when you see your own family in need. As the saying goes, charity begins at home. I am blessed to be raised in simplicity and detaching from material things, and I plan of raising my own kids that way, too. As long as we have a roof over our heads and food on the table, we are okay. My family's financials are already well taken cared of. If I die too soon (knock on wood), my family won't go hungry because I am insured. If I live too long (my dream is to reach 80 years old), we have money to enjoy and I wouldn't be a burden to them as well. And I think that God put us in a situation wherein we have the capacity to earn more than many others not just for ourselves, but more importantly, to help others.

Then on my way home to Tarlac, another workmate sent me a message saying that she is looking forward to having a short chat with me in person during our conference (short because these days will be really busy) next week. She said that aside from stocks, she wants to know how I do my "missions." I think she is referring to charity work. Again and again, Wow!

And Then the Big Question

As I was near our house, this is what I realized. For the past months, I have been talking to a lot of people. By the term "a lot," I meant way above the average number of people I used to talk to in my entire life!

Used to being the wallflower, the almost invisible girl in a group, known to being the quiet type who just listens and rarely talks, I am left in awe and totally overwhelmed with how my situation is changing right in front of me now.

Then I asked God, "Lord, is this the kind of life you want for me? The exact opposite of how my life has always been.?"

And then I remembered that my prayers has always been like this...

"Lord, use me for Your glory."
"Lord, prosper me so I can prosper others."
"Lord, show me each day how I can bless the world more."
"Lord, let me do work with meaning. Lead me to my purpose in life"

And God Answers My Question -- Without Me Realizing It

But then again, I realized that it was obvious.

I did not only get the answers to my prayers above. God was making me do what He wants me to do!

Talking to a lot of people was my way of serving others, blessing others and loving others.

God is using me for His greater glory. God is prospering me so I can prosper others. God is putting people into my life everyday and being a blessing to them. God is making me do work with meaning and leading me to my purpose in life through pursuing my passion.

Pray Bold Prayers

I urge you to do the same -- to keep praying bold prayers and have that bold trust in God that He will answer every desire in your heart.

Be very blessed!

Happy 33rd Birthday to Me! Yey!

Photo credit http://kidthings.net

Today, June 15, is my 33rd birthday. And because I am saving for something big, I thought of keeping my birthday celebration SIMPLE.

For me, simple means minimum expenses but meaningful results.

My plan was to spend my birthday the way I would want to spend the rest of my days in the future. (Note: In this case, FUTURE is synonymous to ASAP.) And for me to be able to do this, I took a leave from work. I thank my superior and employer for this blessing called "vacation leave."

Let me share with you how my day went.

6:30 am     I woke up, prepared myself and my first grader Gaby for school

7:30 am     Gaby and  I were at Creston Academy. Her classes start at 8:00 am

8:30 am     I was back at home, reading a book How to Become a Happy Retiree, and lying next to my 3-year old daughter Elise who was still asleep

9:00 am     Elise was up and we enjoyed watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

10:00 am   I went to BDO to make a deposit for our (me and my two friends) donation for World Vision's Volunteer Caravan. This amount will be used to repaint schools in Aklan.

11:00 am   I was back at Creston and waiting for Gaby's dismissal at 12:30 pm. While waiting, I was able to buy minimum shares of a blue chip company thru COL, exchanged messages with a travel agency, inquired about a new business, finalized orders for Gaby's birthday happening in a month, thanked friends for their birthday greetings, and read a book in between.

1:00 pm     Gaby and I were back at home. We enjoyed my birthday lunch (take out), watched Disney Junior and played, then took an afternoon nap between Gaby and Elise.

5:00 pm     I received a message from a new customer of our small business saying that an amount of Php7,950 was deposited to my account. My parents prepared this purchase.

6:00 pm     My kids and I were off to SM. We had our favourite Belgian Waffles, played at the arcade, shopped for pompoms and bought Disney magazines.

9:00 pm     I put my kids to bed and I begin doing my next favourite thing -- writing :)

And now, the LESSONS I learned in one day...

1.) On our way home, Gaby says, "Mommy, sana laging ganito. Yung hindi ka na umaalis." (Mother, I hope things are always like this, wherein you don't have to leave.) I held her hand, and with a pinch of pain in my heart, I answered her, "Soon."

On my birthday, I was experiencing a "rock bottom moment." This is a term I use which means frustration. At that moment, I was telling myself that if only I started saving and investing when I began earning, I can quit being an employee anytime I would prefer to.

To the single ladies reading this post, my message for you is simple. Earn as much as you can, and invest in the future before the present. I am not telling you to be frugal. Go ahead, reward yourself and enjoy the fruits of your hard work; but always remember to pay yourself first. How? By investing in your future.

2.) I received tons of birthday greetings through Facebook, text messages, and even emails. Having very few friends, I was overwhelmed.

 

"Strangers are just family you have

yet to come to know."

- Mitch Albom, Five People You Meet in Heaven

 

 

The above quote was from one of my favourite books. It was touching that I have schoolmates, workmates from my current employer and other companies, doctors who I have known from work, customers from our small business, readers from my blog and members from an auto club WHO BECAME MY FRIENDS, and eventually, FAMILY.

 

I have not even met many of these people personally, and yet we talked as if we have known each other for a very long time. As cheesy as it may sound, but it was just magical.

 

These birthday greetings became a reminder for me that there are a lot of things I could do with my life to make it more meaningful. I can talk to a lot of people, reconnect with them, or enjoy a great conversation with them over lunch. 

 

Just today, I received an invitation from these friends to visit Canada, NYC, Pangasinan and Ozamis! (I wish it could be that easy, who knows.)

 

In addition to that, my travel buddy and I, who have not travelled for the past years, are now considering getting lost in someplace new again.

 

WOW!!!

 

As of this writing, I have scheduled lunch with two friends separately this week, and I have booked a flight to Ozamis in a few months. (Spell EXCITED.)

 

Friend, life is happening right now, right in front of you. Remember that there is more to life than going to work every morning, going home every night, and watching TV on weekends.

 

At the end of the day, when we face God in heaven, I don't think He would ask how many hours we've spent overtime. But rather, He would ask how many lives we have touched, brought closer to Him, and inspired in your own little ways.

 

I am ending this post with a prayer I posted on my Facebook account this morning.

 

My Birthday Prayer

 

Heavenly Father,

 

I thank You for my beautiful life. I am giving you my life and my gift. Use it to bless many. In Jesus' name, Amen.

 

 

Thank You!

 

To all my friends and family, thank you very much for making my 33rd truly a meaningful one. Do not let each day be just like another day. The best is yet to come. Cheers!

 





 

Stop Waiting. Live Your Life NOW.

Last month, my hands began feeling numb. I told my MD friend about it and he suggested that I have my blood sugar checked. One test after the other, I was diagnosed to be pre-diabetic. I am only 32 years old.

Not only was my blood glucose above normal. My cholesterol was high and my uric acid was high, too. My sedentary lifestyle and love for sweets took their toll on my health.

Today, I had a repeat of my laboratory tests. With fingers crossed, I am expecting a miracle -- better test results. 

Then I remembered one story I heard at the Feast one Sunday. Let me share it with you.

There was a woman, who was at her senior years, was diagnosed with cancer. Stage 4. Her dawn was near, and she acknowledged that fact. So she gathered her closest friends and family one night. They enjoyed a sumptuous dinner and laughed at wonderful stories from the past. They were all having a great time. 

Then the woman brought out a box, filled with her most expensive jewelries -- things that she had been holding on all these years. She gave one item to each family member and friend. She told them that after she is gone, may she be remembered by these priced possessions.

The message of the story is simple. 

Friend, do not wait for cancer. Do not wait to be pre-diabetic. Live your life today.

Do not wait for work to be done before spending precious time with people you love. Do not wait until your 50 before you start preparing for retirement. Do not wait for better days before you start investing. Do not wait for retrenchment before you do what you actually love.

Start living your life NOW. Spend as much time with people you love as often as you can. Earn as much as you can. Help and inspire as many people as you can. Travel as far as you can. Pursue your dreams. Live out your passion. Serve your purpose. 

Because at the end of the day, I do not think God will ask you how much money you have saved or how many hours a day you spent at work. I think God will be interested to know how many lives we have inspired and helped made better.

My prayer for today, "Lord, teach me to number my days that I may grow in wisdom."

Life is too short to be anything but happy.

Be very blessed!


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The Advancers: Make Worship Your Weapon

http://www.facebook.com/BrotherBoSanchez

The talk started with a man reading a verse from Ephesians 6:10-18

The Armor of God        

“¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

 

This Armor of God was clearly manifested during the talk when Bro. Bo Sanchez, who dressed and acted as Mick Puri, and the rest of the Advancers appeared on stage in full gear.

1.       Belt of Truth

The belt holds you. It holds your spiritual armor. The reason why you get into trouble is because you tend to believe in lies. The lie that you are no good, that you are a failure, and that you are no good. You need to believe in truth, and the truth is what God says. And He says that you are His child, that He loves you and that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.

 

2.       Body Armor of Righteousness

Righteousness is a fancy word for good. Deep within you is the goodness of God. Because you are made in the image and likeness of God, and because God is good, then there is goodness in you.

 

3.       Shoes of Good News

You live in an unstable world and you need to wear shoes of peace that no matter how difficult and chaotic the world is, there is peace in you because you stand on holy ground. When problems come, there should be peace because the best is yet to come.

 

4.       Helmet of Salvation

Salvation is that you belong to God. Protect yourself from lies and believe that you are loved by God not by what I have done but by what God has done in my life. Trust Him.

 

5.       Sword of Spirit

This is the Word of God. You need to learn about God’s teachings and absorb them in your life.

6.       Shield of Faith

This is the center of your entire armor. Faith is defined as trust. If you want to defeat the enemy, defend yourself by trusting God. If you trust God, you are going to overcome your battles. You will win.

 

At the end of the day, it is all about trust. Winning life’s battles is about how strong and how deep is your trust in God.

When your boyfriend dumps you, can you trust God and say, “It is his lost, not mine. The best is yet to come.”

When the company retrenches you, can you trust God and say, “My future is brighter than my past. The best is yet to come.”

When you are being tempted to do something wrong, to cheat, to lie, can you trust in God and say no to the temptation to be convinced with all your heart that even if you do not cheat and lie, God will still bless you with whatever you need. He will not fail you. Bravely walk the narrow path and do what God wants you to do, trust in Him and he will bless you with greater abundance more than you could ever imagine.

Worship is all about trust. Worship is declaring to God that when you start worshipping, when you start singing and lifting up your hands, and start looking up, you are declaring to God that He is the source of your blessings. There may be trials and difficulty in your life, declare that God is King and choose to follow Him.

Worship opens your life to the blessings of God.  Worship releases the power of God, because you trust in Him. Worship is saying, “Yes, Lord, come conquer my life, with Your power and with Your love.”

Maybe right now you are going through a trial, maybe your prayers are not yet answered, maybe you are tempted to lose hope. Whatever it is, worship God. And make worship your weapon. Because when you worship, you are declaring, “I trust in Your love. I trust in Your Word. The best is yet to come.”

If you want to win in your life, and you know you cannot win it alone, start praising God. The power of God will flow through your life.