Teach My Heart

Teach my heart, Oh Lord
That I may walk in Your ways, Your ways of righteousness
Help me not to quench Your Holy Spirit
Lead me to the place where You will be most glorified.

Forgive me Oh Lord, if I have sinned against You
Forgive and hear me when I call
You alone are my hope and desire
If You are going to give me something,
The very thing I am asking for
And yet it would separate me from You
Oh, Lord I wouldn't want anything outside Your will.
My heart's desire above all things is to draw near to You
All the blessings that I have received,
They are received not because I am worthy to have them
But it is only by Your grace
That I have all these things I need.

Open my heart, search my heart
Teach my heart and guard my heart
That is what I pray
Take away anything that is not from You
Purify my heart and take Your rightful place.
May it be prepared, sanctified, purified
May Your Name be glorified in all of this...

I love You more than anything in this world.
You are my desire
I will love You not only with the words I am saying
But in a way my life is lived...

In Your Love - Nichole Nordeman

I am humbled in Your presence
More desperate than before
I've brushed against Your mercy
Yet still I'm wanting more
I have felt the hand of comfort
In the softness of Your touch
I wait...

I am holding on to promises
I'm counting on the truth
And on these knees I'm faltering
I'm calling out to You

In Your love
I find my resting place
In Your love
I find my shelter
When I lay down all that I've been holding to
The beauty I've found in You
Is sweeter than all I've known
In Your love

I surrender all my failings
Please break these chains of doubt
I bring these simple offerings of what I can't work out
Won't You let these healing waters anoint my troubled soul
I wait...

(Holding on to promises...)
I am holding on to promises
I'm counting on the truth
On these knees I'm faltering
I'm calling out to You
In Your love
I find my resting place
In Your love
I find my shelter
When I lay down all that I've been holding to
The beauty I found in You
Is sweeter than all I've known
In Your love(I wait...)

In Your love
I find my resting place
In Your love
I find my shelter
When I lay down all that I've been holding to
The beauty I've found in You is sweeter than all I've known
In Your love
(In Your love)
I find my shelter
When I lay down all that I've been holding to
The beauty I've found in You is sweeter than all I've known
(In Your love...)

Will I Know It?

History never looks history when you're living through it. It always looks confusing and messy and it always feel uncomfortable. - John Gardner

Will I know when I'm walking through the story for the first time? Will I recognize the event that will begin the chapters of my love story with my mate? Will time stand still for one moment to tell me that this person, this one person, out of all the billions bustling on the planet -- is the One? Will I recognize when it happens? Or might I miss it? Some questions are probably best left unasked. I know I should push them aside and wait for life to unfold its mysteries.

Someday when I'm older and wiser, I'll sit back and tell my story to someone who will listen. And as I tell my story, will I remember the doubts and questioning prayers of today? Or will I have forgotten the silent longings; will they wash away like footprints on an ocean shore? I'll probably tell some young fool the same things I get tired of hearing from others. I'll tell her to bide her time, "for it sure work out in the end." And of course, "you can't rush these things."

Someday I'll have a story to tell. How will I respond when one day I look back on my love story? Will it bring tears of joy or tears of remorse? Will it remind me of God's goodness or my lack of faith in that goodness? Will it be a story of purity, faith and selfless love? Or will it be a story of impatience, selfishness and compromise? It's my choice. I am encouraged (and continue to remind myself) to write a love story with my life that I'll feel proud to tell. - Excerpt from "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" by Joshua Harris

An axiom in mathematics means that if your premise is incorrect, then your conclusion is bound to be wrong as well. Use the wrong formula and the answer is certain to be incorrect.

But who knows which is the right way? No one, except God... we can always ask Him for guidance. I remember asking the Lord, "Lord, how will I know if he is the one for me?" For some, it might come as a coincidence, but for me I take it as His answer to my question.. reading from Isaiah 18:3b "When a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it, and when a trumpet sounds, you will hear it."

Simply telling me that when love comes knocking at my door, I will hear it and when the right one comes, I will surely see him and not miss the start of my love story.. God is good... God is great... and He loves me so... I can simpy trust Him to take me to the right place at the right time when I am ready. I surrender to the One who knows the best things for me.

Run To You

Last November 3, I celebrated my 10th spiritual birthday. It was in 1998 that I truly accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I was at the same time entering the leadership at our church that time.

I remembered that as I was praying about my commitment, the Lord asked me, "Will you still continue serving me, even during this difficult times?" I was forced to resign then from my work and by January the following I have no more job. That was a very painful experience for me. It was my first job and I failed.

I told the Lord that I will serve Him still even at the difficult times of my life. I just want to obey. I will trust in Him.

After 5 months, my brother told me that someone from Insular Life was calling me. I said to him, "Why would they call? I didn't buy any insurance. And I don't even apply for a job there." But anyway, I called and the person I talked to, told me that they were trying to contact me for almost two months. He even asked my cousin on how to get to Bulacan, just so to get in touch with me. There was a job opening for a programmer and he thought that I can fill it in.

I took the exam the next day and they told me to call after the Holy Week for the results. I passed the exam! Yahoo! Then came the panel interview with the 3 bosses... After the interview, me job offer agad! Hehe...

Everything that followed is history. After 3 months of probationary period, I was regularized! After 6 months, I got promoted to analyst/programmer position. After a year, another promotion for a systems analyst I and systems analyst II after another year. After 3 years, (medyo matagal...hehehe) my promotion as a senior systems analyst came.

God had been faithful to me through all the seasons of my life. I can and will always run to Him at all circumstances... whether on sad times... or on good times... He proved His faithfulness. I can always depend on Him just as you can also depend on Him. He loves you as much as He loves me.

As part of my celebration and thanksgiving unto Him who remained faithful, I did a special number presentation in our church last November 10. I may not have the most beautiful voice (nanginginig pa nga at nasisintunado...), but I want to share this song... May it minister to you just as it has ministered to me.

P.S. Thanks to Pepito for playing the guitar and at the same time sa pagback-up. :)

RUN TO YOU - Twila Paris

Faster now than ever, I run to You
Now I know You better, I run to You
I am a little older now, You know it's true
Maybe a little wiser, too, I run to You

And I can see deeper than I did before
I do believe, never have I been so sure
That I need You every minute, every day
That I need You more than I could ever say

Ooh, I run to You
Ooh, what else would I do?
I run to You, ooh,
I run to You Ooh

Even on the sad days, I run to You
Even on the good days, too, I run to You
Even before all else fails, You know it's true
You are the wind in my sails, I run to You

And I can see deeper than I did before
I do believe, never have I been so sure
That I need You every footstep, all the way
That I need You so much more than I can say

meron akong kwento...

All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me completely. Yan ang sabi sa Bible, yan ang mababasa sa 1 Corinthians 13:12b.

Meron akong kwento, hindi ko pa lang maikwento... hehehe

Kahapon ako'y nagdiwang ng aking kaarawan... (Oist! sapat na yung malaman mong birthday ko kahapon, wag mo ng itanong kung ilang taon na ako sapagka't di na ako nagbibilang ng aking edad mula nang ako'y mag-debut... LOL!)

Balik tayo sa kwento ko... November 3, mga past 10pm na ako nakarating ng bahay pagtapos ng aming meeting sa church. Kahit na pagod ang aking katawang lupa, for the first time in history... hindi ko alam kung anong nagtulak sa akin na antayin ang ika-12 ng umaga ng November 4. Habang aking inaantay ang pagtuntong ng alas dose, ang aking ginawa'y nanalangin sa Panginoon. Akin ring inilagay sa "flight mode" ang aking cellphone at ng ako'y di maistorbo ng anumang text messages, sapagkat ang nais ko'y makapiling ang Panginoon... siya at ako lamang... :) Natapos ang aking panalangin, aking tinanong Siya kung ano ang kanyang mensahe para sa aking kaarawan...

At ito ang aking nabasa na tunay naman na nangusap sa aking puso:

Is it not my family God has chosen?
Yes, He has made an everlasting covenant with me
His agreement is arranged and guaranteed in every detail
He will ensure my safety and success. - 2 Samuel 23:5

Ang mga talatang ito ay nagbalik sa akin noong taong 2002 ng una kong tanungin ang Panginoon, kung ako ba'y mag-aasawa pa o hindi na... Nakakatuwa sapagkat sa aking devotion, ang aking nabasa ay mula sa Ecclesiastes 4:12 "Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor. A cord of three strands cannot easily be broken".

At sa pagbuklat ko ng aking devotion mula sa "From This Verse" ay ito ang nakalagay...

One Plus One

Often in my ministry I'm asked to prepare a marriage ceremonies from today's passage, for it tells us that one plus one equals more than two. A good marriage exceeds the sum of its partners.

Charles Wesley thought so, too. Charles isn't as famous as his brother John Wesley, the founder of Methodism; yet Charles' hymns are far better known than John's sermons. All over the world, Christians still sing, O For a Thousand Tongues; Christ The Lord Is Risen Today, Hark The Herald Angels Sing and Jesus Lover of My Soul.

Charles wrote hymns day and night, sometimes jumping off his horse and running into nearby houses, shouting, "Pen and ink! Pen and ink!" He reportedly composed 8,989 hymns during his lifetime, an average of ten poetic lines every day for fifty years. He was still writing hymns on his deathbed.

When Charles fell in love, he wrote his love letters in the form of hymns, composing forty of them, right up to his wedding day.

He was forty years old and had met Sally Gwynne, who was half his age, while on a preaching trip in Wales. Sally's father, a wealthy landowner and magistrate, had initially opposed the Methodist movement, but he came to be one of the Wesley's most enthusiastic supporters.

As Charles pondered his love for Sally, and as he studied Ecclesiastes 4, he brought the two subjects together in a hymn that began:

Two are better than one
For counsel or to fight
How can one be warm alone
Or serve his God aright?

The couple was married on August 3, 1749, at Garth, Wales with John officiating. Charles preached at their honeymoon spot for two weeks, then left for an evangelistic tour. Their marriage, however, was a happy one, and Charles soon cut back on his journeys, deciding that two, after all, are far better than one.

Pagtapos kong manalangin, akin ng ibinalik sa Phone mode ang aking cellphone upang makatanggap ng mensahe... Meron naman akong natanggap na mensahe, isang pagbati ng maligayang kaarawan mula sa isang taong di ko pa mapangalanan... saka na lang pag sigurado na ako... hahaha

Meron akong kwento.. hindi ko pa lang maikwento sapagkat nasa unang bahagi pa lang ang Diyos ng kanyang pagsusulat ng aking sariling kwentong pag-ibig. Ayaw ko Siyang pangunahan kaya't mananatili muna ang bawat pangyayari sa aking puso't isipan.. saka ko na lang ibabahagi sa inyo kapag ang lahat ng ito'y naging malinaw na sa aking isipan... at makita ng totohanan. Uy, excited.. hahaha!