Fresh Start Daily

Have you ever wondered why God pardons our iniquities despite their utmost gravity when we repent from them? I have. I couldn’t get my finite mind to understand God’s infinite well of mercy. However, it says in Micah 7:18 that the LORD delights in mercy.

“Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?

He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy.

He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast our sins into the depths of the sea.” Micah 7:18-19

God actually delights in mercy. Wow. We can never say God is merciless. If people do not experience His mercy and forgiveness, it’s because they reject it. God is merciful but we should never forget that God is also just. There’s no sense in giving us the law (God’s law) if there is no consequence when we violate it. Those who refuse God’s mercy will see His justice.

What Charles Spurgeon said about us not feeling/experiencing God’s mercy is beautiful:

“Whatever despair may whisper or doubt may suggest, one text of Scripture is worth fifty fears and doubts, or fifty thousand either.… All objections to the delight of God in mercy are but illusions of your brain, or delusions of your heart.”

The enemy likes to plant seeds of doubt in our mind and heart. However, I am reminded to doubt my doubts. I am reminded to trust God and not my feelings. The enemy’s purpose is to destroy us so we won’t have victory in Christ.

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” John 10:10

God promises us the opposite:

“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10

“You will cast our sins into the depths of the sea.” v. 19

Wow. He will not only forgive us but He will also forget our sins. Casting our sins into the depths of the sea means throwing our sins into the deepest part of the sea where it cannot be retrieved.

“God will not hold on to our sin but forgive us instead. This means there is no probation with God’s forgiveness. He doesn’t forgive our sins just to hold onto them and hang them over our heads. In His compassion, He does away with our sins, casting them into the depths of the sea – and then He puts a ‘No Fishing’ sign there!” enduringword.com

This reminds me of this verse, too:

Philippians 3:13-14

“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.

I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

When we repent from our sins and receive God’s forgiveness, we must get up and keep walking towards our heavenly goal. We must press on and focus our eyes on Jesus Christ who will lead and guide us.

Father God, help us to believe that we are completely forgiven and that we can move forward with You. Thank You for the assurance of Your mercy and forgiveness.

Since I arrived late here in Taiwan, I slept at around 4 a.m. and woke up around 10 a.m. Lelan picked me up at the airport. Our hotel is about 40 minutes away. Out of the blue, I told our taxi driver last night that I used to watch Meteor Garden when I was in college and he laughed. He said it’s an old TV show. Haha! At least I made him laugh! 😁 Anyway, I really enjoyed watching Meteor Garden before. I just suddenly remembered it when we were on our way to the hotel. The driver recommended a popular Japanese restaurant next to our hotel. He even got out of the car to show us the location of the restaurant. He used Google Translate to tell us. 😁

We took a shower then headed out after resting. We joined a long line of people to buy donuts at a donut shop just outside our hotel. I thought the donuts they were selling must be really good because people were lining up for it. Some were even taking pictures. When we got our donuts, we were not disappointed. It was warm and milky and not too sweet. Just around the corner, we saw a stall that sells empanada-like food. I don’t know what it’s called. It was good, too. Just a little oily. I like that there’s egg inside.❤️

Then we started to walk to the train station to go to Taipei 101. Our hotel was near Taipei Main Station. We got a little lost but Lelan had a map so that helped. Lelan said that with the limited time we had, we would only be able to visit one tourist site (Taipei 101) and that was okay. I wasn’t actually thinking of doing any activities because we didn’t have enough time and we will go back here in May. Last year, I purchased discounted plane tickets to Taiwan for May as a gift for him. I didn’t know that he wanted me to go to Taiwan this time because he was only here for a short period. But he wanted us to spend more time together before he flew back to the U.S. (He’s on his way home now…🥺😢)

I wasn’t overly enthusiastic to go to Taipei 101 because we had done a similar activity in Malaysia recently. I am grateful for the experience, of course, but I just prefer enjoying the city from the ground. Does that make sense? 😅 Anyway, again, I am grateful that God allowed us to see that. I learned something new from our visit in Taipei 101: the damper. I didn’t know that dampers help in the stability of a building. I had never seen one before. It’s amazing!

Then Lelan got some mugs and chocolates from the souvenir store on the 98th floor then we went back to the hotel to pack up. We went straight to the airport after. I set up my computer to teach at the food hall. What I like about the airport in Taiwan is their free, unlimited, and fast internet connection. I was able to work while waiting for our flight. It wasn’t the best setup but I survived. I didn’t know that Lelan had a plan to take me to Taiwan so I wasn’t able to inform our company beforehand.

It’s cool here. Well, for me at least. I enjoyed the short time my husband and I spent here together. I am grateful that we are able to visit. I already miss my husband.

It’s my first time to fly alone. Lelan wants me to stay in Taiwan while he’s there because of his long layover there. My flight was delayed. We were supposed to leave at 10:40 p.m. but it was announced that we would leave at 12 m.n. Earlier tonight, I heard people complaining and I thought to myself, I wouldn’t complain. I told myself that I just want to be grateful. I will complain if I really have to but as much as possible, I won’t sweat the small stuff.

I’m glad that God gave this opportunity for me to spend more time with my husband and to see another country. It’s okay even if the flight is delayed as long as we are safe. Instead of being pissed, I decided to sing worship songs. I want to pray and worship God more. Our senior pastor in church said yesterday during the service that we should not be satisfied with our prayer life now and that we should go deeper. I want that. I want greater intimacy with God. It’s the first day of our corporate prayer and fasting in church so I didn’t have dinner. I replaced my meal time with prayer.

I arrived in Taiwan at 2:05 a.m. I am grateful for the pilots, Capt. Cruz & Valencia, for the smooth take off and landing.

Panginoon, kahit anong ningning ng mundong ito, sa Iyo ako.
Kahit anong ganda ng mga tanawin, alam ko ang katapusan nito.
Hindi ako mahuhumaling sa anuman dito sa mundo.
Namamangha ako sa gawa ng kamay Mo,
Pero handa akong lisanin ito para sa Iyo.
Ang naghihintay sa akin sa langit sa piling Mo,
Ay kapayapaan na perpekto.
Wala nang luha, sakit, o pasakit rito.

Chin Ai and Guna invited us for a snack tonight. They brought traditional Malaysian deserts for us to try. It’s like a farewell get-together because Lelan and I are leaving early morning tomorrow for Manila. I’m grateful we found new friends here. They are very kind to us. They modeled Christlike hospitality to us.

Malaysia is clean. Not 100% clean but you won’t see a lot of trash. Their MRT is also faster and colder than the MRT/LRT in the Philippines. It’s nice to experience another country’s culture and see how we are different and similar at the same time.

Brunch

Petronas Tower

Chin Ai called me this morning and offered to take us to Genting Hinglands. However, Lelan already booked a tour. Chin Ai and Guna are very kind. Their hospitality is something we should emulate.

Anyway, the tour driver was supposed to pick us up at 10:30 but it was already 10:03 and no one had contacted us yet so we called the company and the customer service assistant said that the driver couldn’t pick us up because our AirBnB is an hour away from the area. So, we decided to cancel the booking. Lelan called the National Elephant Conservation Centre in Kuala Gandah and the lady who answered said that there is no entrance fee. We only had to give a donation. So we booked Grab to go to Kuala Gandah from Bandar Baru Bangi and back to Bandar Baru Bangi from Kuala Gandah. We got to the conservation center at 1:30 and we finished at 3:16 pm.

We asked for a tour guide to walk us through. Our tour guide, Uda, was very nice. I learned a lot about elephants today. Apparently, there are 25 elephants in the conservation center — 4 of which are male. You can differentiate a male elephant from a female elephant by the tusks. Male elephants have long tusks. Female rarely have tusks and if they have, they’re only short.

I also learned that elephants eat A LOT not because of their size but because they absorb only 20-40 percent of the nutrients. And because they absorb only 20-40 percent, their poop, which has 60-70 percent of nutrients is beneficial to other animals and the environment. Elephants are important because they help other animals. It’s amazing to know that animals are created not only to consume but also to help with symbiosis.

Our Grab driver recommended nasi lemak to us so when we stopped by at KFC and we saw they have nasi lemak, we tried it. It was okay. We went back to Chinatown after, then we went to Little India to have dinner.

National Elephant Conservation Center (Kuala Gandah)

With our nature guide

Elephant food

Our nature guide demonstrating how to feed the elephant

Back in Jalan Petaling (Chinatown)

Little India