Here In Your Presence

prayer

To pray for someone is the least you can do for someone and it is also the most you can do for them.

     Recently, I have found so much peace in prayer. Without prayer, I would not be able to love as I do (still working on it), be as generous as I can sometimes be (also a work in progress), and as compassionate as I try to be. It’s an amazing gift we have, to have a constant line of communication with our Almighty Father, at all times. We are called to be saints and one of the best ways to purify our hearts is through prayer.

     I make it a point to supplicate the lives of each of my family members and each individual brother or sister in my household. I know I don’t know how to love, especially to the extent that our Merciful Father loves us. It would be foolish to not go to Love Himself in order to learn how to love. I am usually quick to see faults in others, but when I lift up each brother or sister to the Lord, He not only sheds light to purify the hurts, faults, and wrongdoings, but His light magnifies the greatness of Himself within each and every person in my life.

How amazing is our God to turn our affliction into love and joy!

     When I reflect on my own life, the Lord never fails to reveal to me how small I am compared to Him. How great it is to be so humbled at the foot of His cross! My life is of such insignificance but You Lord have breathed a purpose in me. I would be lying if I claimed that my best characteristics were my own. It is because of my Saviour that I am compassionate. It is because of Him that I can be generous. It is His overflowing and endless love that allows me the privilege and honour to love others.

     I will always remember when one of my past counterparts corrected me and said, “Never joke about prayer, it is sacred.” Our prayer time must be safeguarded; Whenever we approach the throne of His Grace, it will always be a profound and life changing experience. It is through prayer that my love for my family and my household transcends to heights I could not have reached on my own. It is through prayer that I am able to experience the Holy Spirit flowing through others. It is through prayer that I am constantly being broken down and built back up.

     Honestly, I cannot even bring justice to my experiences in prayer. Thank You Lord for allowing me to be vulnerable, broken, and empty in Your presence.

How can I not be moved, Lord here with You, so have Your way in me. Lord there is just one thing that I will seek. This is my cry, my one desire. Just to be where You are Lord, now and forever. It’s more than a song, my one desire is to be with You, Jesus.

Heart of Jesus, aflame with love for us

Have mercy on us.

“And He showed me that it was His great desire of being loved by men and of withdrawing them from the path of ruin into which Satan hurls such crowds of them, that made Him form the design of manifesting His Heart to men, with all the treasures of love, of mercy, of grace, of sanctification and salvation which It contains, in order that those who desire to render Him and procure for Him all the honour and love possible, might themselves be abundantly enriched with those divine treasures of which this Heart is the source. He should be honoured under the figure of this Heart of flesh, and Its image should be exposed… He promised me that wherever this image should be exposed with a view to showing It special honour, He would pour forth His blessings and graces. This devotion was the last effort of His love that He would grant to men in these latter ages, in order to withdraw them from the empire of Satan which He desired to destroy, and thus to introduce them into the sweet liberty of the rule of His love, which He wished to restore in the hearts of all those who should embrace this devotion.” — St. Margaret Mary

My Jesus, I want to love you more and more. Allow me through my efforts, to know you, honour you and love you deeper. Remind me Sweet Jesus, to never run ahead of you, and to never lag behind, but to walk hand-in-hand with You through this life.

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine.

reflections: June 7, 2013

“what so ever you do to the least of my brothers that you did it to me”

last weekend for SHOUT.. we got an opportunity to go out and share some love with others through the act of kindness (RAK). woot woot!
but man.. I found it hard to do the activity because I felt like no one needed my kindness at that moment..

but I think because of this mindset I had.. it was harder for me reach out and see where kindness is required..
so Our Lord gave me a little slap po hehe

While I was waiting for my cup of Tim’s with ateh Ellen, I looked around searching and thinking of what I can do as a RAK
then right in front of me.. a man with a cane/walking stick was pulling a high-chair (kids chair) for a mom who was sitting in the table in front of me. She was trying to have her breakfast while holding her young daughter in her arms.
And from the looks of it, he did not know the woman nor did the woman know him. He just saw the woman’s need and went out of his way to help her despite his own challenges.
I wanted to go help him carry the chair but I was too late…

Like I said earlier, that moment was a slap or wake up call for me..
The Lord does not call us to love out of duty (“because we have to RAK”) but out of true love that goes beyond the need to fulfill our duty or self satisfactions but to fullfil His (hope that makes sense po)
His desire to be shared and experienced by everyone. To bring a unique joy that can only be experienced through and in Christ.

Lord, as we more forward with life.. always remind us that it is You that I’m bringing. Let us RAK with a mindset willing to love first 🙂

A Good Shepherd

The Bible speaks many times of the good shepherd. Jesus proclaims “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep” (John 10:11)

Today’s gospel Luke 15:3-7 also speaks about the good shepherd. The gospel today made me really reflect:  So how do I stand as being a shepherd of the flock that the Lord has entrusted to me?

1. A Good Shepherd knows his flock by name -Do I really know my household members, do I even remember their birthdays and anniversaries. Do I know the challenges that they face so I could pray for them?

2. A Good Shepherd feeds his sheep – do I prepare well for a household meeting by studying diligently the teachings to be given, do I prepare the songs in advance after prayer and reflection. Do I really live out the teachings that I give?

3. A Good Shepherd loves his sheep – am I encouraging and affirming to my members instead of being critical? Do I pray for my members? Would I give some of my personal time to spend with them in fellowship? Do I still contact those in active members not just to invite them back to the community but to simply care for them?

Thank you Lord for reminding me of who You truly are, the Good Shepherd who loves His flock and would give His life for the sheep under Your care! May I truly continue to strive to walk in Your footsteps. Help me to really love the sheep that You have blessed me with!

God Almighty

Matthew 14:22-36 tells the story of how Jesus defies the laws of nature by walking on the water. Not only that, he was able to let someone walked on the water as well. Jesus manifested that He is the Almighty God. He can calm down waves and wind and bring back hope to terrified disciples.

If there were an equation of the gospel reading, it would be like this:

Courage – Fear + Faith = Miracle

The antidote of fear is courage. When the disciples were terrified with fear upon seemingly seeing a ghost, Jesus called out to them saying, “Courage, it is I! Do not be afraid.” Our courage has to be anchored in Christ or else we will just be overcome with fear sooner or later. Courage anchored in Christ enables us to do greater things. Peter having the courage of Christ and an uncorrupted faith was able to walk on water. Only when he was not anchored on Christ and his faith faltered was he started sinking. The moment he started focusing on the waves and feeling its force, he started to sink.

Miracle is happening already in our midst. We may not recognize it, we are already walking on water, but because we focus on the waves of hurts in our lives we started sinking instead. Let us focus on Christ, He is Almighty, He can perform miracles.