Maxine shares about her experience during the X-Power Youth Camp
Charisse shares what she learned from the different sessions in the X-Power Youth Camp
Matthew talks about his personal highlight during the X-Power Youth Camp
As my news feed on Facebook has pointed out, the season of graduation is upon us. So allow me to give my congratulations to all the new graduates! I believe you have made your parents proud, whether it’s finishing high school and moving on to higher education or getting a degree and stepping up in the world. I remember when I graduated from college it gave me a sense of accomplishment. I graduated with a business degree but I’m not in any kind of corporate or entrepreneurial business. Most of the stuff I learned and studied I’ve already forgotten. But those that I do remember I’m still able to use and apply today.
While I was still studying I had four subjects on law, particularly business law. If you asked me what Republic Act No. xxxx is, I’d give you a blank stare. But what I do remember very clearly and memorize word-for-word is, “Ignorance of the law excuses no one.” It simply means, for example, if you hop in your car on a day that it’s coding and then get caught by the authorities, even if you forgot or had no prior knowledge of that law you will still have to pay the penalty.
The same is true with the Bible. Ignorance of God’s Word excuses no one from the consequences of their disobedience, even if they have no idea they’re actually disobeying God. There is no excuse we can give to justify our sins and disobedience. The grace of God has set us free from the power of sin in our lives but there are still consequences to our wrong doing. So for all the graduates my message to you is…
“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
Joshua 1:7-8
Do not neglect the Word of God. Always find time to read the Bible, to study and meditate on it. Prioritize your relationship with Christ and always put Him above all else.
While browsing through Facebook I came across a blog entry that pointed out the racial discrimination of young people today. Apparently there were many fans of Hunger Games who were disappointed with the casting of a couple of characters. I won’t go much into detail but you can read more about it here. But I would like to share an excerpt from the blog…
“All these… people… read the Hunger Games. Clearly, they all fell in love with and cared about Rue. Though what they really fell in love with was an image of Rue that they’d created in their minds. A girl that they knew they could love and adore and mourn at the thought of knowing that she’s been brutally killed. And then the casting is revealed (or they go see the movie) and they’re shocked to see that Rue is black. Now… this is so much more than, “Oh, she’s bigger than I thought”. The reactions are all based on feelings of disgust.”
When I was reading this I was in shock that young people today still possess those kinds of mindsets in a world that is constantly shrinking because of globalization and the internet. It probably wasn’t the intention of those who posted discriminatory tweets and comments to come across as racists. Even before the movie came out these fans already had a visual perception of the characters. They used their imagination to create the look of the characters based on their understanding from what they read. And because of what they had established in their minds they perceived it to be the truth. So when the movie finally came out they were disappointed because they had the wrong truth all along.
It’s very easy for us to perceive the truth we have in our minds as the real truth or the right truth. It’s a good thing we have the Bible because it is the Word of God, it is the standard of truth. If we want to know the truth and live the truth we need to read the truth of the Word of God. A wise pastor once said, “The Bible should be our filter for thinking.” It’s easy to give advice or make a decision but the question is, is it based on the Bible?
I think it’s great when you see friends of yours being blessed. I met Mike five years ago when he had just graduated college and gathered him together with a couple of his fellow graduates in a victory group. He graduated with a nursing degree and went on to become a registered nurse. While working as a nurse he had a business opportunity in Olongapo back in December 2010. The following February he resigned from his nursing job and would commute between Manila and Olongapo because of the business. Somehow things didn’t work out with his business partner and he left the Olongapo business in April 2011.
It was a good thing that during that time Mike had started a blog-site on extreme board sports: www.mylifeonboard.net, since it was a passion of his. I remember during this time Mike was struggling with finances and would miss a couple of our victory group meetings because of that. I believe it was a time of testing as Mike would always ask me to pray for their finances. He was working on the blog-site full time but it wasn’t generating that much initially. I remember him asking if he should apply for another job and while working on the blog-site. I told him to pray about it and see what was the wise thing to do at that time.
Today, in less than a year, Mike and My Life on Board (MLOB) has been to La Union, Cebu, Siquijor, Dumaguete, Bacolod, Samar, Leyte, and even Singapore. MLOB has also been featured on GMA 7′s “Unang Hirit” and “Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho.” It’s just amazing to see how God has brought this young man from glory to glory, not just spiritually but even in his new business.
After our youth strategic meeting last week I was trying to recall a song that I used to sing when I was still in the youth. It was a good thing Joash was there to help me remember. As we started singing songs from our Youth on Fire days, we were asking a couple of our youth leaders whether they knew the songs. They stared at us with speechless and confused looks. I figured they were trying to recall if they’ve ever heard those songs or were probably taken aback by our singing. Either way that didn’t stop us from singing with full emotion and outstretched arms.
We sang songs from the Youth on Fire album then jumped to songs from older albums of Hillsong. When we started singing ‘For This Cause’ I remember it being my anthem song. A great song that encouraged me to discover my purpose in Christ, to no longer live for myself but for Him. What are you living for? Better yet, who are you living for?
If you haven’t heard of the song, you can watch and listen to it here. I also posted the lyrics to help you sing along to it. Hope you get encouraged as well.
Hope has found its home within me
Now that I’ve been found in You
Let all that I am be all You want me to be
‘Cause all I want is more of You
‘Cause all I want is more of You
Let Your presence fall upon us
I want to see You face to face
Let me live forever lost in Your love, yeah
‘Cause all I want is more of You
‘Cause all I want is more of You
I’m living for this cause
I lay down my life into Your hands
I’m living for the truth
The hope of the world, in You I’ll stand
All I want is You
Let Your presence fall upon us, Jesus
I want to see You face to face
Let me live forever lost in Your love, yeah
‘Cause all I want is more of You
‘Cause all I want is more of You
I’m living for this cause
I lay down my life into Your hands
I’m living for the truth
The hope of the world, in You I’ll stand
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/h/hillsong/for_this_cause.html ]
I’m living for this cause
I lay down my life into Your hands
I’m living for the truth
The hope of the world, in You I’ll stand
All I want is You
All I want is You
All I want is You
All I want is You
All I want is, all I want is You, Jesus
All I want is, all I want is You, Jesus
All I want is, all I want is You, Jesus
All I want is, all I want is You, Jesus
All I want is, all I want is You, Jesus
All I want is, all I want is You, Jesus
All I want is, all I want is You, Jesus
All I want is, all I want is You, Jesus
Let Your presence fall upon us
I want to see You face to face
Let me live forever lost in Your love, yes
‘Cause all I want is more of You
‘Cause all I want is more of You
I’m living for this cause
I lay down my life into Your hands
I’m living for the truth
The hope of the world, in You I’ll stand
I’m living for this cause
I lay down my life into Your hands
I’m living for the truth
The hope of the world, in You I’ll stand
‘Cause all I want is You
All I want is You
All I want is You
All I want is You
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