Phone Photos in Paragraphs

I’ve seen the hue I would love forever

I want to marry the other,

But I surrender,

Because You know better.

This was taken in my run that week in the
park near our home, I was in the beginning
of my run and the sun is high up
but no worries for my tan burn.

My fruitful run last week.
Looped in the park twice,
looped in the jogger's lane
a lot of times. That's why
it looks like that. I should run
in a letter M next time. HAHA.

Running has been my buddy these past few weeks as I am training for a run on July. And aside from the runner's high it gives me, it has been showing me sights that I don’t usually see on a usual fast-paced straight-ahead focused day. 

The sky and antennas in the park
where I usually run.

I have been a complainer and have been easily angered in thoughts, make-faces, words and even actions. And that is because I am not filled with the Holy Spirit because again I am not embracing the presence of the Lord in my life. I was not spending significant amount of time with my First Love dapat. I am not thinking of Jesus and others but always myself and so I am not being grateful as well for His grace, love and greatness that is seen in all things if we will just drop everything and look up. Things may not be perfect because there are wires and antennas but the hue of the sky will bring you back to the Lord who is the creator of everything and so you can trust Him whatever imperfections you see.

I was reading this book by Bill Bright, entitled First Love and the Lord just rebuked me in Revelation 2 which talks about the Ephesian church who have left their first love and that is exactly what happened to me.

I know things in my head but I don't do them and so in one of my runs, I experienced cramps in who knows when was the last time I had locking toes. That is like, deliberately going to what you want to do and not what God wants you to do. And I was so rebuked as I watched a video about a young boy who gave emphasis to the Holy Spirit living in Him as He obeyed the Lord's leading to Him to give His savings to His brother. How about you, how are you in yielding to the Holy Spirit?

My first cramps in a while. This is part
of running.

Revelation 2 says, God has seen their diligence at work but they deliberately left their first love-- Jesus. 

Running on empty. I’ve been running and running until I finished my 9.6 kilometer run that day. Had to walk home to drink my first taste of water and guess what? I just had a drop of water, of course not, I drank two glasses of water effortlessly.

In the Christian life, you would think of others first because that is the example Jesus has given us. Philippians 2, He humbled Himself despite of He has every right to demand because He is God. He has all the right to complain and be entitled but no, He served people. He washed the disciples' feet even though He knows they would fail. We will never attain to His standards, He is Holy, that is why His grace saves us, because He gave the standard to us and gave Himself up for us to experience His love and yet we deny and/or leave that first love. We can only love because He first loved us. We cannot give what we do not have. That is why the Holy Spirit was sent for us to be empowered to love Him and love others for His light to shine in us and they would know that we are His disciples and for the other people to also experience Jesus in their lives.

Run to God's directions.

And I pray that when we run on empty, we will tap on to Him and not tap out on life.

Sun can burn me but not kill my love
for running. My confidence is the Lord,
that He loves me so much despite of
my tanness.

Revelation 2 says, look how far you have fallen and go back to Him. Repent and Run to Him again. My cramps cannot stop me from running. Life may have knocked you down like how the sun is in this summer but take heart, Jesus has overcome the world. He is victorious. And again victorious in the end. He is on His throne. He is Good.

As I saw a rare butterfly in that area of the park, I was astonished and just stopped from my fast run which made me a little dizzy. Let us stop and thank God's goodness and faithfulness today. Stop being cranky, start being thanky.

Sunset as seen in the train station.

Sunsets are my favorites because for one, I am still asleep when the dawn comes. Second, I love the hue that it produces and now, it is my screenlock and homelock, finally, I’ve found my favorite color. But aside from those shallow reasons, sunsets reminds me of His greatness. Sunset reminds me that in the other part of the world are people waiting for the sun to rise and I cannot just hold on to it forever. I must share it to others despite of my love for the sun. I surrender my desire, and may His desire just overtake my heart because my heart is His. My heart is Yours Lord, take it all.

Dusk in our home in the province taken last holy week.

And as I run, I am challenged to disciplined and go the extra mile and not stay in my comfort zone. To continue to step up my game. Same with my relationship with Jesus, it is to know Him more and love Him more until I die and see Him face-to-face. May my heart just long for Him for the rest of my life.

I’ve learned a new place now with the Lord despite of not where I want to be because I was dreaming of a beach recently, but wherever God’s presence is that is where I want to be in.

In His Pursuit,
Michelle Aquino

Dear God, I pray that all the people who would read this would look where they have fallen, repent and do the things they did at first, to love You above all. In Jesus, Name, Amen.