66. Wala ka sa Lolo ko. For him, there is a time for everything, a time to be born and a time to die.

23 November 2020
Romans 6
Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ
4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.

Let me share what I wrote 2 September 2017.

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity, a time to be born and a time to die.

I thought all along Apostle Paul went on missionary journey immediately after his encounter with the Lord Jesus on his way to Damascus (Acts 9:4).

His conversion was immediate and complete, yet there was skepticism and for three years he was in exile in Arabia (Heroes, authored by Dr. Harold J. Sala). Later he returned to Jerusalem to meet Peter and James, the Lord Jesus' brother; then back to his hometown in Tarsus making tents for about seven years, until Barnabas sought him out and brought him along to Antioch, both of them teaching great number of people, where the followers of the Lord Jesus were for the first time called Christians (Acts 11:25-26).

It spanned three chapters in Scriptures, yet it spanned over about ten years.

“Lord, Your Word says, You have made everything beautiful in its time. You have also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end (Ecclesiastes 3:11). In my heart I plan my course, but You, Lord, determine my steps (Proverbs 16:9); I pray that day by day, my heart and my steps be in line with Your plan, in Jesus’ name. Amen.””


I could have been dead.

Two life-threatening affliction, full blown depression around 2004, and Steven's Johnson Syndrome in 2008.

In our lingo, ang masamang damo ay matagal mamatay.


Solitude. My skirmishes with death has become precious moments of solitude for my soul.

I would regard my long season of severe affliction as the beginning of my faith journey. I would not be at this point writing about God's grace if I did not experience serious failure that my abilities counted to nothing, yet the Good Lord provided for all the needs of my family at that very crucial stage that I was at my wit's end.

Romans 6
Slaves to Righteousness
22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God has made everything beautiful in His time.

One day my children's children will say, wala ka sa Lolo ko; for him, there is a time for everything, a time to be born and a time to die.

May you be blessed. Amen.

Maraming salamat.


Comments

  1. Ate BecksNovember 22, 2020 at 11:51 PM

    Peace and blessings Picoy and Marlou. Kelan ba ako magkakaroon ng devotional na Wala ka sa Lolo Ko. Pwede na yong first 31 ay volume 1 den volume 2 yong another 31 blogs. To God be the glory. God bless everyone

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