Filipino Motivational Speaker in the Philippines
All about Sean Si and his thoughts on entrepreneurship, public speaking and leadership
Recently, I have been thinking about talents. I believe that our talents are given for 2 reasons – to glorify God and to bless others. And since we have a God who is unselfish and loving, He uses us to be channels of blessings to others.
This post has been inspired by the series of events in my life this week that showed how giving, forgiving and good our God is.
Waiting is not actually the favorite word of many. And surely not mine. A lot of us get impatient when the line to use the restroom is 5M long or when the traffic caused us to be late despite the fact that we did our part in terms of waking up early and leaving the house at least an hour before an appointment.
Still everyday, we have to wait. And admit it or not, we get impatient.
This read is for many of us who wants to be reminded, why again should we have to wait?
1. God’s Waiting Room is God’s Classroom. We are first and foremost God’s child than we are an employee. a business man, a student. So whenever you are getting ticked off while being asked to wait, remember who you are.
Take that time to talk with your Father. After all, it is such a better use of time than to complain to your friends or post the traffic status in Facebook. God may be using this time to tell you something.
Certainly in God’s waiting room, you will continue to learn how to become more like His Son, Jesus.
2. Understanding the character of God. “What you think about God is the most important thing about you”-A.W. Tozer. I like this quote. It personalizes our relationship with our Savior. Which leads me to ask, what do you think about God? Who is He to you?
Do you know Him well enough to know that 
He promised you the following:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” – Jeremiah 29:11
“And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:19
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” – John 14:27
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” – Romans 10:9
If you know God intimately, you know that His reasons, His plans are always for your good. Then you can rest and wait.
3. It is God’s Command. Do I need to say more? To encourage you, the Bible has 43 verses on waiting. Some of which are:
“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” – Psalm 37:7
“The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.” – Lamentations 3: 35
“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” – Psalm 27: 14
“But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.” – Micah 7:7
David waited 15 years to become king. 8 years of which he was being chased by Saul who wanted him killed. Abraham waited 25 years to have a son; and soon became the father of all nations. Joseph waited 13 years in Egypt to be meet with his family.
May you, who are waiting on the Lord be encouraged as you continue to walk and abide in Him.
In history, the ones who recorded events and dates and wrote the stories altogether were mostly people who were hired to write about it. They were employed by generals, kings, queens -powerful people. Of course, hiring a scribe to write your history comes with a special perk. You can SUGGEST things. You can suggest that they downplay your defeats and shameful moments or erase it altogether. You can also suggest to exaggerate and heroize specific moments of triumph and greatness.
Of course, if the Scribe believes in his or her employer, the scribe would have no problem writing the story with the suggestions.
Let’s look at Jesus’ history as written by Matthew.
Genealogy of Jesus – Only the book of Matthew started with a genealogy
This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
4 Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
6 and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
– Matthew 1:1-6
It includes 4 very unpopular women:
Rahab the harlot, Ruth the moabite, Tamar the daughter-in-law of Judah who deceived him and the mother of Solomon who had been Uriah’s wife.
Now why did Matthew had to write about them? Wouldn’t you be writing all the good stuff when you want someone to look good? I mean, this is the Savior and Messiah Jesus Christ we’re talking about!
Two categories of unclean people:
“While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples.” – Matthew 9:10
“Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him.” – Luke 15:1
“When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” – Matthew 9:11
Sinners and Tax collectors – that’s how bad tax collectors were. They had their own category. They were considered traitors to their own nation because they were collecting tax for Rome. And as long as the Romans were happy with the tax, they can add any amount of surcharge they wanted for their tax collecting.
Tax collectors have no other friends
Tax collectors know the extent of their ‘sinfulness’ in people’s eyes.
Matthew was a tax collector
“As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. “ – Matthew 9:9
Matthew was doing what? Praying in the Temple? No, he was COLLECTING TAXES. Jesus found him in his sin.
And yet, what did Jesus say? “Repent you… tax collector?” No. Jesus looked him in the eye, smiled kindly at him perhaps and told him two simple words: “Follow me.” Without any second thought, Matthew got up and followed him.
Matthew did not deserve to be even in the presence of God and yet God went to him, looked him in the eye and told him point blank ‘Follow me’ – ALL WHILE HE WAS IN HIS TAX COLLECTOR’S BOOTH
Ever had that experience? When God approached you in your tax collector’s booth, undeserving, and asked you to follow Him? Maybe you didn’t see God in the flesh asking you to follow Him. But He has. Someway, somehow He told it to you in a different light – that’s why you’re here. And that, for Matthew is what Christmas is all about.
Being called to follow Him, undeserving as we are. We will never be good enough but His grace covers all that up.
Just a disclaimer, for those who didn’t know: I’m not a tax collector. I’m not with the BIR.
Being called, undeserving, to follow Him. Christmas is the story of grace. It’s the story of sinners, of tax collectors, of redemption, of sacrifice and love. Christmas is the story of God in its best. This is why we needed Christmas. We need a story that can help us remember God and what He did in this Earth 2,000 years ago for you, for me, for tax collectors and sinners. For guys like Matthew and girls like Rahab and mothers like Bathsheba.
Christians still need Christmas. “And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” – 1 Corinthians 11:24
“In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” – 1 Corinthians 11:25
Remember Christ. Because you and I are the likes of Matthew. We are called, undeserving as we are, to follow Him.
A really nice video propaganda of our faith. It’s the whole message of the Bible summarized into a 5 minute video which I would like to share with you guys as it had been shared with me by Melchor Chan in Facebook. Watch it.
There’s not a religion in the world that doesn’t agree that something’s wrong with us.
God.Our.Sins.Paying.Everyone.Life
We have heard the phrase ‘God loves you’ so many times before. What does it really mean? How exactly does God love us? Read on as I try to simplify it in 5 simple points.
The mirror shows but a reflection
First, there is the sinful nature of man
There is something in us that always leans on that something which we know by law or conscience is forbidden. It is called the sinful nature. We genuinely want to work and earn our money honestly but that doesn’t mean we are exempt from greed. Something in us will always say that the forbidden is good and pleasing. How did it get there? The Bible tells us it happened the moment we disobeyed God by not trusting Him – sin entered into the hearts of men.
Then there was the law
Ever woke up and saw yourself in the mirror? You always look horrible in the morning right? It’s natural. You get frizzy hair, a morning star or two in your eyes, drooping eye bags and an oily complexion to boot! My point is, it’s natural to look bad every morning and the mirror shows you that.
God’s law is a mirror. It shows us that we are naturally sinful and that nothing we can do can take that away. Nothing we can do can save ourselves from the wages of sin which is the second death. We can try so hard to obey the law and be a better looking person in the mirror but we can’t. So what now?
God chose us
Why did God choose us? I have no idea. What I do know is that we are definitely unworthy of His love. What did we do to deserve His love? Nothing. Can you see the grace of it all? Love is a choice and God chose us. There is no proper explanation of it, but that’s what makes it real love. There is no explanation.
He died for us to bring us back to Him
The justice of God demands sacrifice. Blood signifies life. It is written “Without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness.” Life must be taken in order for a life to be forgiven. It is God’s nature to be just but it is also His nature to be loving. God does not want us to be eternally separated from Him in hell so what did He do?
God sent His Son, who is God altogether, into the world to die for us. His blood justified our forgiveness before God and His body beaten and bruised for us satisfied God’s judgment of our sins against Him. There could have been no other sacrifice which would satisfy His anger against our sins than Himself.
So what now? – All He asks in return for His love is for us to accept the truth about it
Romans 10:9 says “That if you confess with our mouth ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
All God asks of us is that we accept the truth about what He has done for us. Accept that truth in your life, knowing it in your mind, feeling it with your heart – having it inside your very being then YOU WILL BE SAVED. Can it get any simpler than that?
God’s love is an invitation. If you do not accept it, it will not be yours. His love is salvation acted out through His Son, Jesus Christ. Accept Him into your life as your personal Lord and Savior and I assure you, as it is written “You will be saved.”
