GRACE TUCKED IN LETTERS

Have you ever been broken, guilty, and distant from God? Have you honestly asked if God could still save and redeem you if you keep on returning to the same sin you have vowed a number of times never to get back?  Truth of the matter, I am not an exception to that. I have been a Christian for quite some time already, surrendered my life to Jesus years back. I have been claiming one Promise after the other, holding one Truth after the other. However, Satan’s “lies”  are undeniably real and at times leave me consumed with so much unworthiness.  How do I overcome such seemingly helpless falling into the same sin? How can I fight the feeling of being powerless of its grip? Am I really a “new creation?” That the old has gone and the new has come? This is where the real fight comes in and this is the whole point of  WHY I LOVE JESUS.  With reverence, I boldly repeat, the whole point of...

I moved in for closer look at the empty room. With the round tables tucked in red cloth and bond papers placed atop, the echo of excitement and joy bouncing back the walls was all I could hear from my expectant heart—expectant that He would do Immeasurably More. Leap of faith was the exact picture of the over-all 52 delegates from our school to the National Christian Medical Conference named Heartbeat and Advanced Leadership Training. This conference was a gathering of medical students from different medical schools all over the Philippines, in which medical doctors of the Philippine Medical Ministry spearheaded it. Considering the registration fee and round trip tickets for each delegate, it was impossible for us, the core leaders of our school ministry, to raise such huge amount. In fact, we arrived at Manila knowing our funds would not suffice. Hence, the leap of faith! Weeks prior the aforementioned event, it was my personal declaration to God that we would be able to r...

Before words will flow here, I just have to make this declaration right away. God is the great Giver, the Fountain, the Source behind floodgates of Heaven, the One pouring in with ever-replenishing blessings and grace and hope. The past weeks have been mind-bogging I should admit. It was rooted in my commitment to join a particular Christian conference (further details I will not mention anymore). Initially, I was confident that I could reach the amount for registration and travel with my current savings. However, with less anticipation that I will be tested, God allowed to zero-out my savings. How? There was a sudden increase in the registration due to sudden change of venue and prior to that announcement; I already made a pledge to give to my friend who will go on missions. Hence, the dilemma came in. Should I withhold giving, as my reality will also speak of my need for asking? I praise God for the Holy Spirit is ever present. It was His conviction that prompted me to...

Even if I know it is never healthy to fear or even if there seems to be no reason to fear, sometimes, it just gets into my nerves and I cannot simply disconnect myself from it. Tomorrow will be our last exam for the semester but as for me, some of us, not yet. We have pending remedial as soon as we get back from our month-long community exposure. Not yet. Just hold some more! This has been a reality in my academe when I entered medical school. I knew beforehand it would be tough however it was totally different when I took my first step after the other, one day after the other. My seemingly bold steps turned into small steps to even standing in tiptoe. Yes, as for me, it was like tiptoeing in a rope; carefully balancing with each step forward while holding fast to whatever there is to hold on. Yet now, I am just afraid. Undeniably afraid.   The disciples, even when they personally walked with Jesus in His ministry, even when they became witnesses of His mirac...

A lot knew about my story but for today’s celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus, I want to take myself back to the time when my life absolutely turned topsy-turvy and what really transpired in between that day and today. Seven years ago, I encountered a fatal accident and were it not for the people who cared enough to rush me to the hospital despite of the fact that I was lying at the highway unconscious, I would not have lived. Accordingly, my head CT scan result revealed an internal hemorrhage and a skull fracture that prompted an urgent surgery. Lo and behold, I survived. I could remember vividly when I woke up inside a white room and my first complaint was “I am hungry.” I was still unaware of everything that had happened till my brother explained to me on how I survived the accident and was at the moment in the ICU as a post-op patient. Initially, nothing sank into my senses. Days turned to weeks, when I was already in the private room and both of my catheter and N...

It is easy to forgive when the person acknowledges the mistakes he or she had done against you, repents and asks for forgiveness. But, what if the person will display no signs of remorse? What if he or she will act as if blinded of your hurts? How about if he or she can still flash the widest smile and there you are containing your emotions attempting to explode? Will forgiveness make sense if you extend it? How about if he or she keeps on moving in the cycle of worldly grief? Just being sorry whenever he or she is caught then later does the same thing all over again. How can you outstretch undeserved kindness and love? More so, how will you deny yourself of all the justified reasons to actually hate and get bitter, to take a vengeful act for that matter, to return the same kind of hurt or perhaps more than that? Will you? I, myself, am never an exception. Despite the knowledge of what the Bible commands “to forgive not seven times but seventy-seven times,” I am limited. As a pe...

Have you ever heard of a heartbreaking story and wondered afterwards how that person was able to overcome it? Or have you even attempted to share yours—that part that is jagged with all the sharp edges, the creases and crevices left from your experience of being stumbled at the rock bottom? Last year was a sail amidst the roiling waves.   Just like Peter, when he already began walking in the water yet he sunk because he was moved to fear from the wind, I, with all my frailties, almost turned my back from it but the Lord compelled me to venture the waters and to even dive deeply to it. My untimely brokenness led to a catapult of faith. I thought I was spiritually growing but when God allowed such painful experience, there I realized I was standing at complacency. I desperately need growing and maturing without stopping. I have learned so much from last year and if there’s something that I want to share, it is that… “Your painful story does not have to finish beaut...