162. Wala ka sa Lolo ko. His mouth speaks of his heart of praise for God.
28 May 2021
Exodus 3
14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’
“This is my name forever,
the name you shall call me
from generation to generation.
Exodus 4
10 Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
Moses would stutter speaking.
Let me venture on this.
If we look back, Moses grew up as an Egyptian Prince as son of an Egyptian Princess. He was schooled along with the other princes. He had self-confidence.
One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.
Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. Exodus 2:11-12
The long years Moses was in Midian and lived as a shepherd disarmed him of his abilities, of his self-confidence. He must had been lost for words as to his predicament. He lost respect of his own people and now the Lord wants him to go back to Egypt and be the leader of the Israelites.
The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?”
The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.” Exodus 2:13-14
God did not have Moses lead the Israelites when he was physically strong and full of self-confidence.
He humbled Moses, God wanted him to depend not on his abilities but on Him alone.
That is the way of the Lord.
Have you been successful at things in life just as you have planned them?
Or have you been in a moment that you admittedly failed terribly and turned to God for help?
Disappointments are God's appointment.
Success can feed our ego and make us forget our gratitude for God.
Do Not Forget the Lord
Deuteronomy 8
17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.”
18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.
I was confident of my abilities that I would provide for the education of my children up to college. I was physically strong and full of self-confidence.
"Daddies, give voice to your love.
Sharing my voice.
Dear Vannie, Patty and Paolo,
I intended to provide for your college like from when you started school.
You would remember we even had our own school service and Mama brought your lunch to school. That was the way I wanted things to be.
Had it been like that all the way, I would have been proud of myself. I was then nearing 40 I thought I was somebody, recently I came to realize the case of Moses.
Then failure struck and I realized I was nobody, my abilities amounted to nothing, I could not provide for my own family. I would later read 1 Timothy 5:8, "Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever". It was terrible feeling inutile.
You know my story, you are part of my story. You were with me in the wilderness, in affliction. The Lord rescued me, rescued us. He restored my health, he restored my life in a way I myself would not imagine. He worked a miracle in my life, in our family.
Had my own plans happened, I would have been a very proud man especially like today Father's Day.
Instead, I am an everyday grateful man for the Lord's compassions, as Lamentations 3:22-23 reads, "Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.""
""When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered" (Psalm 73:21), "I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand" (Psalm 40:1-2). "Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise" (Psalm 51:15). "I will sing of the LORD's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations" (Psalm 89:1). This I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
22 December 2017"
My children's children will someday say, "Wala ka sa Lolo ko. His mouth speaks of his heart of praise for God."
May you be blessed with God's Word. Amen.
Maraming salamat.
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