Even Though He Doesn't

I am happy to announce that I am enjoying knowing God lately. Not because of the yes from my prayers but because of who He is. This is what I want to experience since last year. I have been physically beaten and emotionally hurt last year and it made my view of God blur. Even coming to this year, I was battling physically and emotionally and it resulted to broken relationships with people because I was looking at myself. I was focused on my needs and how they can be met. I got to a point where I want to control the people around me.

When the coronavirus dawned on the newstands, it made me realize that I was not God. That I cannot do anything about it. That I am powerless. And all I can do is to humble myself before a holy God. And to worship Him in my obedience to Him.

There are many things I know that my God is rebuking me to let go and do. To have Him as my number one and to surrender all to Him. My desires, my fears, my finances, my strength, my time and my future. After ten years of knowing Jesus, ngayon ko pa ba iisipin na better ako than Him? HE IS GOD. End of conversation.

He loves me so much that is why He wants me to cling on to Him alone. To be pure and to present my body as living and holy sacrifice acceptable for worship. He loves me so much that He is perfect and won't destroy me. He wants me to wait because He knows the right timing.

So, this blog just starts now. Ang haba ng intro kasi di ko maalala ano ba talaga yung ibblog ko for this month. Hehe. Now I remember.

So, I am studying the major and minor prophets recently since I am ending my old testament bible reading yay! Maybe this is my eight time to finish the whole bible. I don't keep count basta I try to finish it every year. I will be sharing to you my learnings from Daniel!!

First up, Daniel's view of who God is is so high which is maybe the reason why he obeyed God more than the earthly leaders. Okay, I am not saying na we should not obey God-given authorities, I just said, they are God-appointed but His allegiance is to the God of heaven. That is why Daniel did not bow down to another. He continued to pray because He believed God's word given to Jeremiah and Isaiah that there will come a time that they will go back and be saved from exile. That the the struggles they are going through will soon come to an end. He persevered but until when? But how? That is God's department to care for and our responsibility is to ask God what He wants us to do now and follow through. Discipline. I was shooting around this week and a good pulse doesn't come over night. It requires consistent practices. And at the end of the day, may we hear God as we come out victorious in those trials well done good and faithful servant. Enter into my presence. That if the pain of this life brings me closer to God, I would take it. If it will make me know God more, I would love to embrace that pain knowing that I have my God with me. When Daniel's friends said, our God can rescue us but even if He doesn't we will continue to worship Him. That brought home to my heart. We are not worshipping God for what He can give but for who He is. Di tayo user dito. You know how the story ended, God was with them in the fiery furnace and they were brought out without stain, without any burn.

Lastly, do you know why God is to be glorified? Daniel 9 is a chapter in the old testament that sceptics cannot refute. When God says He will rescue, He will. He does not lie. That is why when He says He will come back again, He will. Daniel was not just about their physical salvation from exile but it is a prophecy of the coming Messiah. That above all, our greatest problem is spiritual. That we need someone to save us from eternal damnation. And do you know that when you count the number of years that the Messiah would come, that God rescued them was when Jesus came. In the proper time. He knows the time and the season. He died and He resurrected. That is why He is worthy to be worshiped. I rest my case.

Even though God does not answer my prayer with a yes, I will worship Him, because He is God and He is Good. He loved me first. He died on the cross for me. He rose again and is now living that is why my hope is alive. Our hope is not in vain. I am leaving this chapter that I read last night from Habakkuk of who God is. Habakkuk started with punishment and it is just comforting how He ended the book. Rightly so, his name's root meaning came from a Hebrew word meaning to clasp or to embrace.

Habakkuk 3 New American Standard Bible (NASB) from bible gateway

God’s Deliverance of His People

3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to [a]Shigionoth.

2 Lord, I have heard [b]the report about You and [c]I fear.
O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years,
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember [d]mercy.

3 God comes from Teman,
And the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah.
His splendor covers the heavens,
And the earth is full of His praise.
4 His radiance is like the sunlight;
He has rays flashing from His hand,
And there is the hiding of His power.
5 Before Him goes pestilence,
And plague comes [e]after Him.
6 He stood and surveyed the earth;
He looked and startled the nations.
Yes, the perpetual mountains were shattered,
The ancient hills [f]collapsed.
His ways are everlasting.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan under distress,
The tent curtains of the land of Midian were trembling.

8 Did the Lord rage against the rivers,
Or was Your anger against the rivers,
Or was Your wrath against the sea,
That You rode on Your horses,
On Your chariots of salvation?
9 Your bow was made bare,
The rods of [g]chastisement were sworn. Selah.
You cleaved the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw You and quaked;
The downpour of waters swept by.
The deep uttered forth its voice,
It lifted high its hands.
11 Sun and moon stood in their places;
They went away at the light of Your arrows,
At the radiance of Your gleaming spear.
12 In indignation You marched through the earth;
In anger You [h]trampled the nations.
13 You went forth for the salvation of Your people,
For the salvation of Your anointed.
You struck the head of the house of the evil
To lay him open from [i]thigh to neck. Selah.
14 You pierced with his own [j]spears
The head of his [k]throngs.
They stormed in to scatter [l]us;
Their exultation was like those
Who devour the oppressed in secret.
15 You trampled on the sea with Your horses,
On the surge of many waters.

16 I heard and my [m]inward parts trembled,
At the sound my lips quivered.
Decay enters my bones,
And in my place I tremble.
Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress,
[n]For the people to arise who will invade us.
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no [o]fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
18 Yet I will exult in the Lord,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
19 The Lord [p]God is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,
And makes me walk on my high places.

For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.