Overwhelmed

I just signed in to one of Christian websites in the internet and I am so overwhelmed by their feedback.

This is what I have written:

Prayer Request:

I am just 22 years old and on February 3, I will be the one who will stand in front of the congregation to share God's message. Please pray for me. Until now, I am not yet done preparing for my teaching. Thanks.

Feedback:

Dearest Ivee,

I am going to send out a prayer blast to all our Transformation Garden friends several days before you teach and we will be praying for you on that day. God promises that "He will give us the right words to speak." He will do this for you. And I'm so thrilled you are doing this. What a witness to God.

Your friend,

Dorothy Valcarcel

www.transformationgarden.com

God is really good! I didn't know them personally but they are extending their prayers for me. ^_^

I am so happy.

Peace

"The peace that Christ gives is to guide you in the decisions you make; for it is to this peace that God has called you together in the one body."

Colossians 3:12

Peace.

Calmness.

Serenity.

How can we get those things if we are living in this busy world? A world where everything must be done into rush? How can we have peace if we are always bombarded with so many things to do here? How can we get serenity if we are always desiring to meet deadlines and appointments just to have timeless security?

The truth is that we can never find peace in this world.

This world is just promising us the things that we can see through our naked eyes. This world is just promising us to get the things that we want materially...this world is just promising us temporary happiness.

This world is full of lie and deception. No matter how hard we try to get that peace that we wanted to have... we can never find that in this sinful world.

But there is Someone Who can give us peace.

And He will give that to you if you open the eyes of your heart to accept the truth that everything in this world is just temporary and that He is the Only One Who can give you true calmness, serenity and peace that nobody in this world can give.

The only thing that you must give...is your heart.

A heart that is undivided.

A heart that have passion for Christ.

Only through Christ can we get the peace that we longed to have in this tumultous world. And because of that peace, we can have the power to decide things that follow God's ways. If we have that peace through Christ, everything will turn into something that is beyond our expectation.

His only requirement is faith.

Our Perfect God

"This God -- how perfect are His deeds! How dependable His Words! He is like a shield for all who seek His protection. The Lord alone is God; God alone is our defense. He is the God who makes me strong, who makes me sure-footed as a deer; He keeps me safe on the mountains. He trains me for battle, so that I can use the strongest bow."

Psalm 18:30-34


Our God is sovereign. He is the Creator of all things. He is the main reason why we are all created. He is the perfect God. The God Who works in mysterious ways. The God whose works and deeds are perfect. And He is the God who loves us from the very beginning till the end.

We humans are not perfect. We are dependable and we cannot live by our own. We cannot boast from the things that we did. We are incapable... we are weak... But we have a BIG God that can do all things and can turn out impossible to possible.

I strongly believe on what the psalmist said to this passage. God's deeds are perfect and we can truly depend on His Words... Because His Words are true and His promises are eminent. He is our Protector from every problem and pain. Because we are weak and dependable, we need a Protector, and He is our God. When we feel so alone, He is there for us. When we feel so incapable, we can trust God and get the strength through Him.

This world is a battlefield. A battle between good and evil. And God, our omnipotent God is a Mighty Conqueror Who have won the battle 2000 years ago at the Calvary. We are already a victor if we rely on Him but if we let the enemy who was a looser to overcome us, we will never be a victor and we'll join his defeat. In the passage, our God will train us how to be strong and how to continously live in the success of His victory. We are still living in this battlefield and we must always obey our Commander for Whom His strength is never ending.

God alone is the God whose love is unconditional and His promises will never cease. We just have to rely on His Words through reading the Bible and having a quiet time with Him so that when things don't turn out to what we expect, we are still strong and we have the strongest bow to defeat the enemy.



----As days go by, Im getting more and more nervous. Three weeks from now, I will be the one who will stand in front of the congregation to share the Word of God. I am so overwhelmed by this Big Opportunity that God had given me and this is another way of showing Him how much I love Him. What gets me more nervous is the fact that until now, I still don't have any preparation for my message. I don't have the topic yet, the passage and everything. I am still asking God to reveal something to me so that I could be able to start doing preparation for the preaching. Without the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I couldn't make that. I am nervous and I am excited as well. This is another step of growing in Christ's love. I am praying for the topic about "Moving On". But I will still obey what God wants me to do. To God be the Glory.

Servanthood

"True greatness is not defined by what we get but what we give."

Sometimes, we have wrong perception about servanthood. In servanthood, there is a Master and there is a Servant. And the servant must obey all the things that the master wants him to do. In our lives, we desire to become the master so that we can get all the things that we want because we have a servant who will do everything just to please us. But, in reality, we can never be a master because all of us are servants and we have only One Master. I guess you know Who am I reffering to. In the situation between Martha and Mary in the New Testament, we can clearly see the difference between the two kinds of servanthood that the two girls have shown to Jesus Christ. But who's the one whom Jesus was pleased? It's Mary right?
It's not about telling others on how good and how dedicated we are in serving but it is the passion to do everything to their Master and leaning our minds to know what the Master wants to tell to us. It's about doing and not asking for return because God above will bring back all the good things that we have done.

1. Who are people who have modeled a lifestyle of service for you?

---For me, the people who became models of service are:

My Parents - they give me unconditional love that they even gave their whole life to us.. their children.

Ate Ana - she was the one who supported me when I was in college. Without asking for return, she gave everything just to support our family.

Sis. Flor - our church leader. She is definitely one of the persons to be admired of regarding faithfulness and dedication in her work in our church

Bro. Boy - one of the pioneers of ACCF Sto. Tomas. Until now, he continously serves whole heartedly in the Father's vineyard.

Ptr. Arnold - as a pastor, he gave up everything including his career in fulfilling God's commission. He is serving full time in our church as a resident pastor.

Sis. Anding - one of the leaders in our church. She have served many years in God's kingdom and I could say that she is very dedicated to her work until now.

And I know several people who are still dedicated in their work. And the Lord knows who they are.

2. In what ways are you serving others today?

By doing everything that will satisfy their need. By doing the best in everything I do. And most especially by doing things that pleased them as much I please God. It's like, "everything I do is an act of worship to glorify God."

3. What gets in the way of servanthood for you?

For me, seeing them with gladness in their hearts is a sign that they appreciate my work.

What Matters to Me

Well, what can I say? I have a new blog. Actually, I should not put some entries here that will tackle my everyday experiences. But this is my passion. And I am happy to share my experience but I still have limitations which only God and I understand.

What I want to share here are the most significant situations of my life that really matter to me.

Before you explore my blog. I can say that it is different from other blogs. In this, I will not write every bit of my everyday life (have I already mentioned that?) In this, I will answer some important questions that I’ve learned from my everyday experiences. Those answers, I hope will help you to know more about my personality. To know the real Ivee.

So, welcome to my blog.

It really does matter to me. I hope it also matters to you.

God bless you!