GOD IS JUST STANDING BY...AT TIMES...

Kenichi Shirahama (The Mightiest Disciple), this is a cartoon series about a good-hearted teenager who is being trained by his masters in combat arts. He undergoes hard training. He complains, wants to give up at times but perseveres. He uses what he learns only when necessary, most especially, to protect his loved ones. His masters never get involved in his fights. This is a master-disciple rule they strictly follow...though they get worried and concerned for Kenichi when he fights with the enemies. But what he didn’t know, they are always ready to rescue him when necessary...only when necessary…

At times in the midst of our troubles in life, God is so silent. We wonder if He even cares or listens to our prayers, but like Kenichi’s masters, God has trained us well before we encounter our problems, especially the heaviest ones. He is concerned for us and He is watching us in each of our battles in life, ready to rescue us when the need arises. wink emoticon Never lose hope, never give up! Put into action what you have learned from God and persevere. Put into action what you have learned from God and persevere. Always remember, you are in good hands. You have the greatest Master teaching you, training you and watching over you! 
grin emoticon God bless your training in life...Hyyyaaahhh!!!! grin emoticon

HIS LOVE NEVER CEASES TO EXIST

 Inspiration:       2 Corinthians 4:7-15

“I don’t know what your situation is right now, but no matter what it is, when you fall, you will not fall flat on the ground because God will catch you before you touch it and He will help you stand.”

I always say this truth in my talks whenever an opportunity arises for me to say it. 

God loves us so much.

We may not understand the why’s and how’s of life, or we may make mistakes along our way…or we may not get what we want, but one thing is for sure, His fatherly love for us NEVER ceases to exist…

Have an Affectionate Heart!

-luisadelacruz

REACH UP TO GOD...NO MATTER WHAT...

Years ago, I was amazed with an Indian mango tree in Mindoro. It was toppled down by a strong wind, its big trunk lying on the ground. Through the years, its trunk grew further, not too high, but standing erect. It bore fruits and I could reach them from where I’m standing. 

Last year, I observed a plant bent by a cat when it jumped over it. As days went by, it stood erect again. 

 Last Friday, August 3, I transferred a plant with small red flowers in a pot. It had a 90 degree bent stem. I couldn’t do anything about it because if I forced it straight up, it might break. I thought, “Oh, it will reach up to heaven eventually.” Two days after, it did. As I watched it from my window, I was truly awed in the desire of plants to reach up to their Creator…

There are so many things God teaches me from plants. What did I learn from this? Well, no matter how struggling a plant maybe, whether it was caused by outside factors or not, it will always try its best to stand to reach up to God, and maybe…just maybe, if it can only speak, I will hear it praise and thank God in spite of the circumstance it had gone through.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 (GNT)

 Be joyful always,

pray at all times,

be thankful in all circumstances.

This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus.

-luisadelacruz

LET'S STOP BEING CHILDISH...

Inspiration:       Matthew 8:18-22

One day, I saw a little boy walking on the sidewalk, crying, stomping his feet. He was following his father who was carrying his younger child. The little boy stopped from time to time, hoping his father would stop and give in to what he wanted, but to no avail. His father went on walking, taking glimpses to check if his son was still following him. 

Today, as I reflect on the Gospel, I remembered this scene. I was like that little boy when I started my faith journey. Oh, I was such a baby, wanting to obey Jesus, but I didn’t like what He asked me to do. I would spend weeks or months crying, rebelling inside, and telling Him, “I can’t do that. Di ko kaya yan. Iba na lang pagawa Mo (Ask me to do something else). Boo-hoo-hoo-huhu!” 

With my tantrums, I stopped from time to time hoping Jesus would stop leading me to where I didn’t like, but He just took glimpses, gave me encouragements and all, He never stopped walking and I never stopped following. 

Looking back now, I smile, it’s a good thing He never stopped and gave in to my tantrums. Now I follow Him without them. He changed me through the years and I learned to surrender to what He wants and trust Him with His peace in my heart…

To follow Jesus is to entrust oneself and all the worries in the heart. It’s a decision to fully trust Him no matter what may come. 

So now, let’s stop being childish and start being a trusting child to the Living God.        

Have a Jolly Heart!

-luisadelacruz

PLANTING AND HARVESTING IN THE GARDEN OF YOUR LIFE....

Inspiration:   Matthew 6:24-34

I have a little garden right beside my room, around two by three meters in size. This used to be very barren until I started to put one single plant…

Then, my sister gave me two plants from her garden, then my best friend gave me four plants from her Mom’s garden…and so on…Right now, there are several plants in it. 

I take care of them together with God and my best friend. I even made a small bench where we could sit, experience and enjoy the garden. It’s where I meditate every morning. At times, I do my Scripture reflection there, listen to music, read, release my tension…

This garden was once barren. It grew from nothing to something in partnership with God…Now I don’t know what your situation is in your life…

May be you have frustrations and blocks with your dreams, or problems, and there seem to be nothing going on, your life is barren…but just plant one seed at a time, be patient, be hopeful and make God your partner…one day, your life will not be barren anymore, success will grow…Trust God and...

Just make sure you don’t leave God out of it…ever…   
Have an Abundant and Fruitful Future!

- luisadelacruz

WE MISS THE POINT...

In Matthew 7:7-12, this caught my attention: 

“Ask, and you will receive; 

seek, and you will find; 

knock, and the door will be opened to you…” 

Often we miss a point here. 

We are fond of doing just the asking and receiving. We don’t want to take much effort to seek opportunities and knock at their doors…We like things to happen in a snap and we expect them to just fall in front of us from heaven…the easy way….

Why else would lotto or game shows where thousands and millions of prizes click even if they offer slim chances of winning? They are the easy ways to material wealth…

We miss the point....

Jesus mentioned 3 things:       Ask…Seek…Knock…

We speak…We act…We take courage…

If we do all these, not just one…but all, together with faith that God is a loving Father who listens when we speak, sees our effort and good intention when we seek, and acknowledges our courage to knock at the door…imagine what will happen to your life…

Pagsasabi sa Diyos + Pagkilos + Pagsisikap + Pagtitiwala sa Diyos = Bukas, magkakabunga yan ng hitik na hitik….           

(Asking God + Action + Perseverance + Faith in God = Bountiful fruits to harvest tomorrow)

Fervent Heart!   

- luisadelacruz

TELESERYE NG BUHAY (TV Series of Life)

In teleserye, uso ang paglilihim and pagsisinungaling para lang di makasakit o mapagtakpan things (In TV series, secrecy and lying to avoid hurting or cover up something is rampant)….Like si Ana Manalastas, di agad sinabi ke Sophia na siya ang lost anak niya (she didn't tell at once to Sophia that she is her lost daughter)….Si Jade Dimagiba, nagpanggap na si Yuan Dimagiba para lang mahalin ni Papa Cheng (Jade Dimagiba pretended to be Yuan Dimagiba just to be loved by her father Cheng)….

Nang lumabas ang totoo (when the truth came out), what’s the result? Both Sophia and Cheng felt so betrayed kasi nasaktan sila ng husto (because they were hurt so much), nagtiwala kasi sila sa taong mahal nila (because they trusted the people they love). No matter what the good intension is, nakasakit na and the trust, nagkalamat (the damage was done and the trust had a mark of breakage). 

How can this trust be brought back? It’s a process…Pray and ask for the grace to…

1. Forgive - sometimes it's so hard to give this, especially if the pain inflicted is so deep, unforgiveness blocks the generosity of the heart.
2. Remove focus on self - focus on self makes us blind to what's right and what's wrong that we fail to see and weigh things in a balanced way
3. Find good in the person who hurt you and be compassionate - maybe the person did it unintentionally, just wants to help you, is going through a problem of his/or her own, has growing up experiences so different than yours that's why his/her character is like that....but still, look for the good character or something he/she did to you in the past that are good
4. Pray a blessing prayer for the person - praying for a person who hurt you is not easy, but praying a blessing for that person until you overcome your resentment to him/her will help a lot
5. Face the hurt - you can't let it just be buried inside you. You can grieve, cry, be angry, just don't do anything bad in revenge. This will only aggravate the situation. Face the hurt no matter how hard and don't dwell in it too long.
6. Bring it to Jesus (and Mama Mary), allow Him to heal the wound - Jesus is our Divine Healer. He can heal you. Mama Mary can embrace you as a mother to her dear child. Give your woundedness to Jesus and He will mend your broken heart.
7. Let go and let Jesus’ love flow to restore the trust - let Jesus do His thing. Just allow Him to work in your hurt that you can forgive, restore the trust and be well.
8. Move on - move forward. Go on living healed by Jesus' love with no resentment, no anger, free from any negativity.

….I said pray and ask for the grace because on our own we cannot do it lalo na (especially) when the pain inflicted is malalim masyado (so very deep). Di agad-agad ang healing (Healing is not at once). Only with God’s help can this be done….    Free Heart!

 -luisadelacruz

POPE JOHN PAUL II - The Holy Man of God

It seems just like yesterday when I watched him in his Papal visit in the Philippines in 1995. I was so awed by him that in a span of four days, I had composed a dozen of poems. I was so inspired by his presence, the way people cheered for him and love him, the overwhelming love and kindness manifested by him….Aaaahhhh, that was a very wonderful sight to see.

   

Now, I saw in the news that he will be beatified on May 1, 2011. Wow! I am not surprised. His kind deserves that. He is a holy man of God. I am happy, such a man lived in my life time.

Let me share with you some of my poems in 1995. This was how he moved me:

THE CHOSEN ONE

Amidst the crowd you speak

With warmth, love and smile on your eyes,

Radiating peace and serenity

Upon your shining face.

How my heart leaps with great joy

As I see you, as I hear you

Address us, the youth.

I hear, I feel your sincerity and

Your love for us.

I thank the Lord for giving us

Such a wonderful father here on earth.

Yes, I thank the Lord for making you

The successor of St. Peter.

Indeed, our Lord knows best.

Indeed He has chosen well.

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SO DEAR TO OUR HEARTS

Like a father you guide us

With abundant love and understanding,

A gentle touch, a cheerful smile,

A caring whisper, and affectionate words.

The sincerity in your eyes reveals

The genuine feeling you have for us.

Yes, your very being speaks the deep love

You are giving us.

That is why, our beloved Pope,

You are so very dear

To our hearts.

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THE CELEBRATED MOMENT

The crowd go wild as you appear

Before them…. cheering, shouting,

Waving, clasping,

A sign of overflowing joy

They feel deep within,

For in you they see the glory of the Lord….

His grace, His love, His peace, His joy.

Through you the Lord reaches out

To the people.

You are His instrument,

His most humble servant.

As the roaring moment

Ascends to the heavens,

The echo of the people’s love

To the Lord God is heard everywhere.

With one voice, they proclaim their faith

And their praises to the Most High….

The crowd go wild as you appear….

The strong link between humanity

And Jesus Christ.

We salute you, JP2!!!

luisadelacruz 011695

 

A PRAYER FOR JP2

Glory to You, oh Lord, the Most High.

Praise be with You always.

We, Your people, thank You with all our hearts

For entrusting us to a loving,

Humble servant of Yours.

Lord, please give him the strength he needs

So he can continue fulfilling

The duties and responsibilities

You laid upon his shoulders….

Guide him, oh Lord,

Continue to light his path,

To give him Your grace, your overflowing

Love and understanding;

To give him Your humor, humility, and peace.

Above all, Most gracious One,

Protect him from evil and let him know, oh God,

That we will always love him, your humble servant.

To You, our Beloved Creator,

We offer our deepest love and gratitude.

To You, oh Most Holy One,

We offer ourselves and your humble servant,

Pope John Paul II. Amen

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 PAPAL FEVER

Everyone is excited,

Waiting for his arrival.

All are anxious, eager to see him.

Alas! The long wait has come to an end.

Mixed emotions are felt by all.

There are tears, smiles, shouts,

Waves, enthusiasm, tremendous energy –

The warm and joyous welcome of the people.

All throughput his visit is seen.

Everywhere he goes, sea of humanity

You can see with overflowing

Love and affection in their eyes….

Millions of people are touched by

Mixed emotions just as they have

Seen him arrived and as they have seen him depart.

He truly has after effects….

On so many lives.

luisadelacruz 011795

THE FLIGHT

I close my eyes and I see an eagle

Soaring high in the sky...

He flies effortlessly

Trusting the wind beneath his wings.

How beautiful he is to watch

Gliding up in the sky so swiftly.

He looks like he so belongs there...

He has no fear of the heights....

He enjoys where he is.

I wonder how it feels to glide up there....

I stretch my arms on my sides...

I feel the wind under my arms,

so cool, so soothing...

The gentle wind carries me.

It's so peaceful up there.

Suddenly, I feel fear and apprehension.

But I heard a voice telling me,

"Let go....just let go..."

Slowly, I trusted the gentle Wind...

I allowed Him to carry me further

wherever he may take me....

It's so wonderful....

The experience is ecstatic as I glide....

The eagle and me are one....

The gentle Wind and God are one....

God carries me and I can trust Him.

I can glide peacefully and soar high.

I can totally trust Him.

God will keep me safe

in my journey until

He brings me home....

-luisadelacruz

DARK TUNNELS

October 8, 2005, I was sitting by my bedside. A tape of praise and worship songs was playing on the background. I was letting myself to be lost in it as my whole being worshipped the Lord.

The rain fell outside. It poured so hard. From time to time, thunders roared. It felt like there was chaos outside my room, but through it all, I felt so safe inside it. I was protected from the anger of the rain and thunder. I felt peace . . . . and loved by God.

Then it struck me, often times we compare our troubles . . . . struggles . . . . sufferings . . . . pain to a storm. We cry. We get lost. We get hurt. We focus on our struggle. Our weaknesses overcome us. We have no strength to fight back. We get so tired. It seems we are in a dark tunnel. We don’t know what to do. We want to go on but something is holding us back. We cannot see where we are going. We are in total darkness.

The only hope we have is the voice within our hearts telling us to pray and just keep on going. The only thing we can do is to look up and believe that at the end of the tunnel is a light that will lead us to the right path. All we can do is cry out to the Lord and plead with our hearts to help us survive.

As we journey and pray, as we put our trust in the Lord . . . . as we put our lives upon His hands, He protects us with His love. All the thunders and the downpours of the rain cannot hurt us. They cannot keep us down for the Lord is holding our hands, leading us, constantly whispering in our ears how much He loves us. He gives us His strength. He warns us of the pitfalls along the way. He never leaves us even for just a second.

Through that darkness, we feel safe and peaceful because we know the Lord is with us. As we reach the end of that dark tunnel, the heavenly light we see. And as we leave the dark and step into the light, behold we see, that it was not just the Lord who is with us, but also the angels and the saints. We are so protected by the Lord. That’s how He gives importance to each of us . . . . and in the heavens, all who are in there are cheering and rejoicing for us because we made it through our journey.

Each time we pass through dark tunnels in our lives, this happens . . . . we have to remember, we have to pray . . . . listen, trust and obey the Lord. Our dark tunnels are necessary to mold us, to equip us, to make us stronger . . . . to make our faith stronger. It is necessary to deepen our relationship with the Lord, to remind us that we need Him in our lives. We can never survive without His grace and love. Each tunnel has purpose. Each purpose is significant. As the Lord reveals each of them, we will understand the importance of those dark tunnels . . . . and that it is a great privilege to get through them together with the Lord. These are things to be joyful about during those moments. Life is beautiful if we only look beyong our dark tunnels!

-luisadelacruz

‘My friends, consider yourselves fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way, for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing trials, the result is the ability to endure.’ JAMES 1:2-3

‘Be glad about this, even though it may now be necessary for you to be sad for a while because of the many kinds of trials you suffer. Their purpose is to prove that your faith is genuine. Even gold, which can be destroyed, is tested by fire; and so your faith, which is much more precious than gold, must also be tested, so that it may endure. Then you will receive praise and glory and honor on the Day when Jesus Christ is revealed.’ 1 PETER 1:6-7

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

I heard Someone knocking (knock, knock, knock) just faint ones. I ignored it. Several times I heard them from time to time, but I chose to ignore them. Until one day I peeped just to know who was this so persistent Being knocking so tirelessly.

I peeped by the window of my heart, and I saw Jesus standing just outside its door, knocking so patiently. So I decided to open the door slightly. That was last July 2004. Since that day, He never stopped knocking, louder and louder each time (knock, Knock, KNock, KNOck, KNOCk, KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!) up to the point I had opened the door wide and let Him in.

First, He sent the Holy Spirit to put a desire in my heart to commit to Him . . . I did, half-heartedly. I laid low in my career, I even thought of stopping for a while because this was my biggest hindrance in committing to Him. He made me listen to Don Moen’s songs almost everyday and a refrain from one of the songs kept echoing in my mind (. . . be it unto me according to Your Word, according to Your promises I can stand secure. Carved upon my heart, the truth that sets me free, according to Your Word O Lord, be it unto me . . .).

He sent the Holy Spirit to make me write my stories and reflections and gave copies to people and through them I received confirmations that He was touching the readers’ hearts. He made me buy a book, The Purpose Driven Life. I burrowed my sister’s copy, but when I started reading it, I stopped and bought my own copy, then read it daily and even encoded my reflections after reading each chapter. This book, explained to me so many things. It answered my questions, confirmed to me the things that were starting to happen to me. As I finished it, I realized that the topics of the last chapters, I had already been doing, some I had already planned to do. All these, helped me commit to Him more and more and more.

Second, September 2004, during the anniversary celebration of the Light Of Jesus (LOJ), a transparochial Catholic community, Jesus showed me that it was the family of God where I belong. He touched my heart there and even sent a message through the Gospel of the Holy Mass. Actually, I was guilty of not listening to the first part of it because I was thinking of the worship before the Mass. Then my sister gave me a jolt and told me that the Gospel may be meant for me. When I focused my attention to it, the part the priest was saying was about one had to choose between two master’s because you could not serve both at the same time, and his homily sure talked to me.

Now I thought I had given Jesus my full commitment, until He sent me a text message which had a great impact on me that I cried so much and renewed my commitment with Him, but this time deeper. Even if He will ask me not to have my own family and even if He will ask me not to go back to my career I will obey. It is up to Him. I gave Him my word. Whatever He wants me to do, I will do for Him. This was the fourth knock, and it was a very loud knock.

I thought it was the last. The fifth was on my birthday. I attended an early morning Mass. The Gospel, again talked to me, it was about when Jesus sent the seventy two disciples to be His messengers. And there was another thing, a very important thing, He revealed to me that day that I had to have a willing heart in order for me to serve Him effectively. I must obey Him willingly so He could fulfill His promise to me, that in every unselfish thing that I would do for Him, He would be giving me overflowing joy.

The sixth (well . . . He saved the loudest knock in the last, yes, this was the last), it was The Feast, a Sunday celebration of LOJ. It was still in AFP Camp Aguinaldo. I attended the first session with my eldest sister, her husband, and their daughter. We were a bit late so when we arrived, one third of the first song had been sang. The moment I stood in front of my sit and focused on the song, wow, I was in tears. It didn’t stop there, the following two songs made me cry even more. I was not familiar with the two of them but one was I Offer My Life by Don Moen. Boy, I was a bit ashamed because everybody around me was singing and rejoicing and smiling while I was in tears with my shoulders slightly jolting up and down from time to time as I try to minimize my cry (it was a good thing we were on the side and it was a bit dark there).

When Bo Sanhez, the leader of the community, had his talk, I was calm and I had stopped crying. But, my, the whole message, it was all that Jesus wanted to tell me, it was about Jesus getting into Peter’s boat and telling him to cast out his net to catch fishes and with total obedience Peter did as he was told and the net caught so many fishes that their nets were tearing (Luke 5:3-7). Discipleship, total obedience and trusting Jesus, fishing for people for the glory of the Lord in the vast sea of life, these hit me with a big bang. When Bro. Bo asked all of us to raise our hands and ask God for a blessing that we wanted to have, all I could ask was the courage to trust in Jesus . . . that was all I could ask. That moment all I wanted was for me to trust Him, nothing else . . . and it was granted . . . my prayer was granted. That was such a blessed day for me!

That was the end of the knockings in the door of my heart as God was calling me to commit. After that, Jesus entered my heart as I allowed Him to come in. He dwells in it. I am at peace and I am filled with so much overflowing joy. He tells me what to do, and I obey. He lets the Holy Spirit fill me and transform me. My courage to trust Him gets rattled at times, but immediately I ask for His help to steady it and He never fails me. A friend sent me a classic prayer, which I pray : “Dear Lord, Your will Be Done, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. AMEN.”

-luisadelacruz