A Grace That Superabounds!

"There is no sin that can stop the grace of God but it is the grace of God that can stop any sin."

Do you believe in the supernatural God that protects you with His legions of angels? A God that protects you from all kinds of diseases? That is the truth written in the Scripture that some Christians don't even believe. Sometimes we can't blame them because they experience too much hardship in life but you must understand that no matter how hard your situation is God's grace still flows in you abundantly.

You know that in the Old Testament you'll see God's anger, His wrath and in the New Testament you'll see a God of love, mercy and grace. Why did God have to deal people that way in the Old Testament? Before I wrote this I really don't know and I don't even care that much but what I learned was really amazing. You guys wanna know why God dealt people that way in the Old Testament? Simply because sin wasn't dealt at that time. God dealt with people differently in the New Testament because sin was already dealt with. Jesus died on the cross for my sins and yours. Because of that we're not living under the law anymore but we're living under grace. OK. I know Christian life is not easy. There are lots of responsibilities, obligations, commitments, etc. If that's how you look at it we share the same point of view before. But when you understand the Christian life you won't look at it as a matter of obligation and you'll start living a Christian life because you want to now. It's not a matter of having to do but wanting to do. You want to live a life like Christ lived because you wanna do it, because you are willing to do it, because you love doing it. 

Part of Christian life is turning away from your sins. According to Romans 2:4, God's kindess leads you toward repentance. Now what in the world is repentance? You might probably heard it a million times before and you probably thought that repentance is turning away from your sins. Yeah, it's true but how can you tell this to a non-believer if you don't even have the power to turn away from your sins? Most of us perceived repentance as turning away from your sins and then turning to God, but when you talk like that the focus is wrong, repentance is more likely turning to God with your sins, that's in the ultimate sense that you're turning away from your sins. Most ministers usually preach in repentance is that when you do not repent God's gonna judge you, God is not gonna bless you but that's not even the way the bible preaches it. And then I realized that God did not say not to bless me if I don't repent, He didn't even said that He would get angry at me but that doesn't mean that I will not repent anymore. You also have to. We really have to. To repent actually means to reconsider, to think differently. It is a change of mind, a change of mind on how you view sin, on how you view God, a change of mind that you cannot save yourself, and a change of mind that only God can save you. When we change our minds the ultimate result is a change of love.

The Bible said in Romans 12:2, that if you renew your minds that's how you're able to change. A change of mind about God, that God is not mad at you, that God is not angry with you anymore, that God loves you unconditionally, that God will protect you all the days of your life, that God will provide everything you need. When you have this change of mind that God is looking at you like that and it gives you the response to love Him back. It's not about God being pissed off and angry, that'll create more fear. 'Coz you don't want to have a christian life doing the right things cause you're motivated by fear right? I also don't want to. Be motivated by love instead of fear. 

When you're preaching the Good News and you tell the people that God is mad at them because they sinned, what in the world is so good about that? The Good News is that even when you sin God is not mad at you. Many Christians always want to live by works, that we have to make God happy by doing good deeds instead of realizing that He's already happy with you just the way you are. Did you know that God is already happy with you just the way you are? God might probably wanna say, “My child did you know that Im smiling right now because of you? That every time I look at you makes me wanna smile more.”. Oh my! How sweet is it to be loved by God!

Many Christians do not grow in their ministry because they're doing it with their own strength and not because of the love of God. They do it because they want praises for themselves and not for God. They do it because they have to and not because they want to. We do it because that’s what we are supposed to do even if we don’t feel like doing it. If we’re living a life like that we’re not living the life of Jesus. We’re just living a bunch of dos and don’ts and that is called religion. Doing something just for the sake of doing it doesn’t sound a relationship at all. If God were to ask me, “Emman, why are you playing the guitar during praise and worship?”, I don’t want to say, “because I’m part of the worship team, I have to do this, this is what im supposed to do.” . You can be honest with God. You can tell Him that you don’t feel like taking part in the ministry because you’re weak, you’re hurt, if you would tell Him the truthGod will do a supernatural surgery in your heart. Do you believe that? You gotta believe that God will do extraordinary things in you. When you’re hurting God’s heart is broken with you.That’s how compassionate God is. He doesn’t want you down. Now, you can wake up every morning knowing that you are being loved by a wonderful God. Even when you have plans not to get better, plans not to change you are still loved and you are still the beloved. Your only job is to be loved extremely and that’s when you become changed by love and not by fear.

Romans 5:20 says that where sin increased grace increased all the more. The first time I heard this was like, whoa! Are you kidding me? I mean really? But when I read that in my Bible, that was the time that I know it was for real. Yeah! It’s real. All my life I’ve never known this until now. I thought when people sin they fall out of God’s grace but it’s the exact opposite, it’s when people sin they fall into God’s grace. God’s grace is really wonderful.There is no sin that can stop the grace of God but it is the grace of God that can stop any sin. Where sin increased God’s grace SUPERABOUNDS! Come to think of it, how in the world do you get out of your sin if you fall out of grace? When you sin you fall into God’s grace! That even when you sin you are still 100% ok with God, that even when you sin your fellowship with God will not be broken. That when we sin Christ comes to our defense says the Bible in 1 John 2:1.  That He loves you the same even when you sin. That there is nothing you can do to make Him love you less because He loves you more than anybody could. And there is no greater love beyond God’s love, His love for you is incomparable, it is everlasting, it is unfathomable, it is pure. That is the grace that superabounds! 

Romans 5:19 says that, For just as through the disobedience of the one man(Adam) the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man(Jesus) the many will be made righteous. So, how many sins does it take to become a sinner? 1? 100? 1000000? The answer is NONE! We are born sinners. And how many good deeds does it take to become righteous? NONE! Because we are reborn righteous, that’s why we’re born again. Our identity cannot be found in our deeds but rather in our birth. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! We are new creations now. The sinful past was gone and was replaced by a righteous one. When you do good you are not more righteous and when you do bad that doesn't make you less righteous. Jesus became sin who knew no sin, that we might become His righteousness says the Bible in 2 Corinthians 5:21. All our sins are washed away, all, including your past sins and even the sins that you have not yet committed.

A God that loves you, a God that died for you, a God that will accept you no matter how many times you fail, a God that is excited to see you coming back to Him, a God that is not mad at you even when you sin, a God’s that is full of grace, a superabounding grace.

References:

The Superabounding Grace of God by Ptr. Joshua Tongol

My Bible

My Heart

Naniwala Kasi Ako, Sana Ikaw Din

Blog. Blog. Blog. Hindi ko alam, pero mayroong pwersang nagsasabi sa akin na magsulat ako ng blog. Hindi ko alam kung maganda ba ito o nababaliw na ko dahil sa pagiging tambay ko ng halos 3 linggo. Mahirap maging estudyante dahil naranasan ko na ‘to pero mas mahirap daw magtrabaho, ewan ko, hindi ko pa kasi nararanasanang magtrabaho(pero malapit ko nang maranasan). Sa ngayon, nasa gitna ako, kakatapos ko lang maging estudyante at papunta pa lang sa pagiging empleyado. Mahirap din. Kala niyo madali. Mahirap maging tambay. Mahirap maging pabigat sa bahay. Mahirap mag-isip kung saan ka kukuha ng pera para makasama sa mga summer outing, sa mga gala ng barkada, para makabili ng regalo sa mga kaibigan mong magbibirthday, pambili ng pagkaen sa araw-araw. Mahirap mag-hanap ng paglilibangan lalo na kung natapos mo na lahat ng computer games na naka-install sa PC mo, kung napanuod mo na lahat ng pelikula at anime na naka-save sa hard disk mo, kung nabasa mo na lahat ng comment at na-like mo na lahat ng comment sayo sa facebook, at higit sa lahat, kapag natapos na ang all-time favorite mong TV show na “bantatay”.  Grabe. Kahit saan ka lumugar mahirap. Mahirap maging estudyante pero mas mahirap mag-trabaho pero mas mahirap maging tambay. Nakakahiya. Nakakabagot. Nakakainip. Nakakamiss.

Bigla kong na-miss ang pag-gawa ng schedule sa Mapua. Na-miss kong ma-badtrip sa online enrollment at sa pagpila sa windows 6 ng registrar. Namiss kong magpaprint ng CM, bumili ng index card, bumili ng halos transparent na bond-paper ng bookstore ng Mapua, bumili ng small at large yellow booklet. Oo, masayang magpahinga, masarap magbakasyon pagkatapos ng halos 15 taon ng pag-aaral (4 na taon lang dun ang seryoso) pero may sasaya pa ba pag kasama ang tropa at barkada? Kahit hindi na natutulog sa pag-gawa ng projects at finals na bukas ang deadline nagagawa mo pang humalakhak ng parang wala ng bukas. Kahit na hindi na kumakain para matapos ang mga papansing paper works ng mga minor subjects ang sarap pa ding tumawa lalo na’t kasama ang barkada. Ang saya. Sobra.

Sa tagal ng panahong ginugol ko sa aking pag-aaral, madami akong bagay na natutunan. Maraming bagay na sana hindi ko na lang natutunan. Maraming bagay na sana natutunan ko. Ayos lang, hindi naman natatapos ang pagkatuto sa pag-aaral. Alam ko, naniniwala ako, mas marami pa akong matututunan sa labas ng paaralan. Siguro nga hindi na ko estudyante na naka-enroll sa isang paaralan pero estudyante pa din ako ng “buhay” na ‘to. Ang dami ko pang gustong malaman, ang dami ko pang dapat maintindihan at maunawaan sa buhay na ‘to. Wala pa ko sa kalahati, halos magsisimula pa lang ang tunay na buhay ko. Sa mga oras na ito at sa mga susunod pa, iba na ang magiging takbo ng lahat. Hindi ko na maaavail ang student’s discount, hindi na ko bibigyan ng allowance ng nanay ko, hindi na ko makakahingi ng pera para sa mga project, hindi na ko mag-lolog-in sa mymapua para gumawa ng schedule. Madaming magbabago. Madami ng nagbago. Ako mismo nagbago. Ang takbo ng isip ko nagbago. Hindi ko na iniisip ngayon ang mga project, asayment, term paper, finals na kailangang maipasa, iniisip ko na ngayon ay mga job interview na kailangang maipasa. Iniisip ko na ngayon kung saang kumpanya ako dapat magtrabaho. Iniisip ko din kung paano ako babawi sa lahat ng taong tumulong sakin noong nag-aaral pa ko, lalo na sa mga magulang ko. Sabi ko sayo mahirap maging tambay, ang dami mong naiisip, ang dami mong dapat isipin.

Sa mga estudyanteng makakabasa nito, mag-aral kayong mabuti. Para sa mga sarili ninyo, para sa mga magulang niyo, para sa magiging pamilya niyo. Pahalagahan niyo ang pag-aaral niyo, wag niyong sayangin. Kung tinatamad kayo, isipin niyo nalang kung ilang beses tiniis ng nanay at tatay niyong huwag tamarin para may pang-enroll kayo. Kung nahihirapan kayo, isipin niyo kung ilang beses tiniis ng nanay at tatay niyong maghirap para lang maigapang ang pag-aaral niyo. Kung hindi niyo pa din kaya, isipin niyo nalang ang mga magiging anak mo. Maawa kayo sa kanila parang awa niyo na. Hindi mo naman kailangang maging suma, magna o cum laude eh, kailangan mo lang gawin kung anong makakaya mo. At wag mong sabihin sakin na kaya mo lang eh mag-dota at magfacebook! Tatadyakan kita! Yung iba nga eh pinipilit mag suma, ayun, sumasampung taon na pero sige pa rin, tuloy pa din, hindi pa nagququit. Yung iba naman pinipilit maging magna, ayun, magna-nine years na sa college pero ayaw pang sumuko. Naniniwala kasi silang kaya nila. Kaya sana maniwala ka din. Maniwala ka sa sarili mong kaya mo. Maniwala kang mayroong isang Diyos na naniniwala sayo. Wag mong ipressure ang sarili mo. Gawin mo lang ang best mo at siguradong aayos ang buhay mo. Gusto mong makagraduate? Wag ka munang umangal. Naiintindihan kita, pinagdaanan ko din lahat yan, naging estudyante din ako, madalas umaangal din ako pero hindi naman nakatulong sa pag-graduate ko ang pag-angal ko. Napagod lang ang lalamunan ko. Sayang ang boses. Kung nagpray ka nalang kaysa umaangal ka eh di mas maganda sana. Sabagay, pwede ka pa namang magpray, hindi pa huli ang lahat. Pray na. At siyempre, hindi sapat na magpray ka lang, kailangan mong kumilos, kailangang may gawin ka din. Kailangan mo pa ding mag-aral. Wag kang umasa na papasa ka sa exam dahil nagpray ka pero hindi naman nagreview. Niloloko mo lang ang sarili mo. Wag mong paasahin ang sarili mo. Alam mo naman kung anong dapat gawin diba? Wag ka nang makipag-laro ng tamad-tamaran at tanga-tangahan sa sarili mo. Subukan mong mag-isip. Subukan mong pag-isipang mabuti kung anong buhay ang gusto mo, kung gusto mo bang umasenso o gusto mo lang na maging tambay habang buhay. Sa’yo nakasalalay ang buhay mo. Wala kang karapatang manisi ng ibang tao.

Tulad ko, naniwala ako. Naniwala akong makakatapos ako ng pag-aaral, naniwala sakin ang mga magulang ko, mga kapatid ko, mga kaibigan ko. Naniwala ang Diyos sakin na kaya ko. Oo, aaminin ko, hindi ako perpekto, hindi rin ako magmamalinis sa harap ninyo. Tinamad din ako, baka mas tamad pa pala ko kaysa iniisip niyo, umabsent din ako, nagcutting din ako, nahirapan din ako, madalas nagcacramming ako pero hindi ako basta-basta sumuko. Tinuloy ko, tinapos ko ang laban. At eto, aanihin ko na ang lahat ng itinanim ko. Ang tagal ng anihan no? After 15 years ng pagpupunla pero ayos lang, sulit naman. Ganun talaga, may tamang oras ng pag-ani. Kailangan mo munang paghirapan, kailangan mong pagtiyagaan, kailangan mong pagsikapan. Kailangan mong maniwala na magbubunga yan. Minsan ang hirap maniwala na gagraduate ka pa eh no? Walang pang-enroll, ang dami mo ng bagsak, naka-ilang warning ka na, naka-ilang revise na yung thesis niyo, naka-ilang shift ka na, lahat ng ka-batch mo nakagraduate na at kumukita na, buong pamilya mo, pati mga pinsan mo graduate na, kahit yung kapatid mong grade 4 lang nung 1st year college ka nauna pa sayong grumaduate ng college, minsan hirap na hirap ka ng maniwalang gagraduate ka pa. Pero sana maniwala ka sa sasabihin ko, GAGRADUATE ka. Lumalabas ang tunay na kapangyarihan ng paniniwala sa mga oras na pinakamahirap maniwala(the power of believing unleashes its utmost potential at times when it is really hard to believe). Kung hindi ka naniniwalang matatapos mo ang pag-aaral mo wag ka ng mag-aral. Sayang. Yung Diyos na tumulong sakin noong nag-aaral pa lang ako ay yung Diyos din na tutulong sayo sa pag-aaral mo ngayon. Kung nagawa niya sakin, kayang-kaya nya ding gawin sayo. Kung ako nga nakagraduate eh, ikaw pa, kayo pa na mas matalino sakin. Siguradong kaya niyo. Wag kayong titigil, tuloy ang laban, wag kang susuko. Duwag lang ang sumusuko. Hindi ka naman duwag eh. Nagduduwag-duwagan ka lang. Kaya mo. Maniwala ka. Gagraduate ka.

Lord, I pray for all the students who have read this blog, I pray that you would bless their studies. I pray that you would be with them, that you would guide them, that you would provide for them as they finish their studies. Father I release the spirit of faith, I release the spirit of belief Lord God, that they will continue to believe in you, that they will continue to believe that they can do it, that they continue to believe that they will graduate. Lord restore their hopes oh God, restore their broken dreams! Panginoon, hawakan mo ang mga puso nila, itama mo ang mga puso nila, hayaan mong matutunan nila kung gano kahalaga ang maniwala at magtiwala sayo sa pag-aaral nila. Na wala silang magagawa apart from your presence, that you are the only solution, na baka ikaw nalang pala ang kulang sa buhay nila kaya hindi sila makagraduate. Lord help them. I just declare victory in their studies! I speak in faith, they will soon be graduates in Jesus’ name. Amen.

God is telling you right now, pwede ka na ulit mangarap, pwede ka na ulit maniwala.