Fresh Start Daily

Lelan and I went to kuya Jerry’s place in Antipolo tonight. After dinner, we practiced the songs we will sing tomorrow in Rosario church (one of the churches they oversee). I had no idea they would include me. I’m not a singer. 😅 Plus, we will be singing hymns that I had never heard before. I know contemporary Christian music more because the church I attend plays mostly contemporary music.

We practiced “I Love to Tell the Story” and “Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne”. I hope I will remember the tone tomorrow. 😅 After the practice, we had a videoke session. It was my first time to have a “hymnal” videoke. 😅 I like most of the hymns they sang, especially the “I’d Rather Have Jesus”.

I appreciate kuya Jerry’s hospitality. He makes us feel special every time we visit. He and Anjo always prepares good food, and he always sets the dinner table beautifully. I also noticed that they are creative with food. Anjo said that kuya Jerry believes there’s no rule when it comes to food preparation. It encourages me to emulate it in our own home. ❤️

Devo: Mark 1:40-45

“If You are willing, You can make me clean.” V. 40

The leper did not ask Jesus to heal him but to cleanse him. Like the leper, what many of us need more than healing is cleansing from sins. It’s more important to be cleansed from sin than to be healed. It’s better to die knowing that our sins have been forgiven by the Lord despite our illness than to die in perfect health but with the eternal damnation as our destination. Our body may be afflicted with a disease, but with God in our heart, we have peace.

“Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him…” V. 41

Jesus touched the leper. In the past, a leper was ostracized. The leper in the story must have missed being cared for by people.

“…a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus…” Luke 5:12

In the verse above, it shows us that the leper who approached Jesus was full of leprosy. It means that his disease was in the advanced stage and his body was therefore rotting away. Nobody wanted to be around him.

“This was important because people were forbidden to touch this man on account of his leprosy. Since his disease was in the advanced stages, he was a leper a long time. It was a long time since he had felt a loving touch.”

This commentary above from enduringword.com pierced my heart. He was a leper for a long time. He hadn’t felt someone’s touch for a long time and must’ve longed the warmth of an embrace. Jesus touched him and made him feel loved and valued. ❤️

“As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.” V. 42

Jesus warned him not to tell anyone about it.

“And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, and said to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone…'” V. 43-44

However, the man could not help himself and announced it to people.

“However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter…” V. 45

I think I also wouldn’t be able to keep that to myself had I been in his position. I mean, how can you keep such good news to yourself?

“…so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction.” V. 45

This verse shows us that we should always obey Jesus. There are consequences when we disobey.

Father God in heaven, cleanse us and heal us. Cleanse us from the inside out. Remove all the filth in our heart and our body. Only You can do this overhaul in our heart, Jesus. Help us also to love people despite their sins.

I ran out of cooking gas and I don’t want to buy a new tank because I am moving to a new apartment soon and cooking gas is not allowed there. So I decided to bake something using the ingredients I have here. I initially thought of egg muffins but then went with an egg loaf instead.

I used 6 eggs, 1 small cabbage, 3 tomatoes, 5 cloves of garlic, 3 onions, a pinch of salt, a pinch of ground black pepper, a pinch of cayenne pepper, 3 tbsp of flour, and cream cheese.

I went to Laguna today to attend my best friend’s son’s birthday celebration and dedication. I’m glad I was able to share that special moment with her and her family.

I attended the WC fellowship today. WC stands for Welcome Center. It’s a ministry in our church that welcomes new comers or unbelievers. We share the history of the church, our mission and vision, our core values, the different ministries, the Christian’s faith journey, and the gospel. We also pray with them.

We had several activities: games, devotion, fellowship, breakfast, review of this year’s operations, presentation of the programs for next year, Q & A , and lunch.

During the breakout session (after the devo), I shared in our group that I always ask God to give me the right people at the Welcome Center. I ask Him to give me those that are not difficult. Sis Mariles then said that our prayer should not be for God to give us people that are easy to manage but that God should prepare our heart no matter who God will bring to us.

She’s right! I forgot that it’s not about my skills in managing people but about God working through me. It’s about being used by Him as a vessel to speak to people. It’s not my message that I will share but His message.

No matter who we talk to and now matter how difficult people can be, what’s important is God’s empowering. God will bring people to us no matter our differences. He will use to us to lead people to Him. It is the Holy Spirit in us that will deliver the message. It’s all about JESUS!

Human basketball 😅

Matty’s team did not win in today’s game. They fought against boys that are bigger than them. I’m not being biased but both teams did well. After the game, I asked him how he’s doing and he said he’s okay. Then I told him that he did great. I also reminded him of their three consecutive wins prior to today’s game (my sister told me about it).

Before the game, over lunch, I told him that it’s okay even if they do not win. My sister butted in and said that he has to do his best. We have to give our best in everything that we do. However, I told him not to feel pressured. I told him to do his best and just enjoy the game. If they win, that’s great. But if  they don’t, that’s okay. It’s important that we experience to lose, too. There are things that we can learn from losing that we cannot learn from winning. We also told him to always give the glory to God.

I’m glad that Matty is optimistic. He didn’t feel down because they lost. He is competitive but at the same time, he understands that it’s just a game.