I was not expecting much from a particular “summery” Saturday last month. When I woke up that day, I thought it would just be one of those ordinary days. Little did I know it had the capacity to unfold as one of the most memorable weekends I’ve ever had.
The organizing team of our Division was given about a month to have all the details ironed out for a special outreach party at Jollibee Pioneer for the Kids of Kythe Foundation.
Hi Everyone! I’d like to thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts, AHA moments that became fruits of my personal quiet time. Starting today, you may now read new entries through New Northern Niche – http://ricagmonzon.wordpress.com
For this new season of my life, I will be sharing with you new stories and articles that I hope would truly touch your heart and inspire you to be closer to God. See you there! You may also subscribe to that site. Here is my latest entry from New Northern Niche. See you there! I truly hope to meet all of you soon! 
DO YOU NEED FAITH AND COURAGE?
Sharing with you my heart’s prayer in this new season in my life. I believe that the Lord has started to move mightily on our behalf, and has caused us to move out of our comfort zones so we can be on the path that leads us to fulfillment of the majestic purpose He has wonderfully prepared for our lives. Decide and resolve to walk by faith and move with great courage!
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. – Jeremiah 29:11
“If you want to be a force for good, then, like David, you’ve got to choose to take action in the area of passion God has placed inside your heart.” – Bill Hybels
“…anything worth pursuing is going to require great risk…are you risking enough for your holy discontent?” – Bill Hybels
Dear Father,
Having been pulled out from a deadly cycle of procrastination and mediocrity, I now commit to you all my plans, courses of action and thoughts. Create in me a pure heart oh Lord and constantly examine me to weed out all things that can be found in me that are not from you. I believe Father that I have already been awakened from the lackluster life I was living for the past months, so I could walk on water and follow Your lead in my life. There are lots of awesome things that you have planted in my heart and I ask for you to let them take root in me to the extent that I will decide and resolve to put my trust in You, and step out in faith.
By the strength you have given me, I will move into the direction of my life’s great purpose. It is my prayer for you to use my gifts and talents in ways that will glorify you and bless people so that they may be brought into a close, personal, growing relationship with you. I will choose to be in the faith zone, fuelled by the inspiration your Spirit is filling me with and I shall choose to always shine for You, with whatever you have assigned me to do. My prayer is that the way I shine will be a direct result of your beauty and radiance. Use me, Father. Use me today and every day of your life.
Remind me that You are with me and move me to pursue You passionately through every call you have made for my life. Help me to be a good steward of the resources and gifts you have entrusted to me. I want to be able to worship you in all that I say, think and do. I want to give you the best worship my heart and lips can offer. You are my redeemer and my soul’s true source of joy. I praise You Father, I worship You. Use me for your greater glory beginning today. Let me step up to the plate of Your calling for my life. Share with me the vision you’d like me to live in. I love You Lord. It’s my heart’s joy to worship and honor you. Thank You in advance because it is done.
Amen.
Sharing with you my heart’s prayer in this new season in my life. I believe that the Lord has started to move mightily on our behalf, and has caused us to move out of our comfort zones so we can be on the path that leads us to fulfillment of the majestic purpose He has wonderfully prepared for our lives. Decide and resolve to walk by faith and move with great courage!
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. – Jeremiah 29:11
“If you want to be a force for good, then, like David, you’ve got to choose to take action in the area of passion God has placed inside your heart.” – Bill Hybels
“…anything worth pursuing is going to require great risk…are you risking enough for your holy discontent?” – Bill Hybels
Dear Father,
Having been pulled out from a deadly cycle of procrastination and mediocrity, I now commit to you all my plans, courses of action and thoughts. Create in me a pure heart oh Lord and constantly examine me to weed out all things that can be found in me that are not from you. I believe Father that I have already been awakened from the lackluster life I was living for the past months, so I could walk on water and follow Your lead in my life. There are lots of awesome things that you have planted in my heart and I ask for you to let them take root in me to the extent that I will decide and resolve to put my trust in You, and step out in faith.
By the strength you have given me, I will move into the direction of my life’s great purpose. It is my prayer for you to use my gifts and talents in ways that will glorify you and bless people so that they may be brought into a close, personal, growing relationship with you. I will choose to be in the faith zone, fuelled by the inspiration your Spirit is filling me with and I shall choose to always shine for You, with whatever you have assigned me to do. My prayer is that the way I shine will be a direct result of your beauty and radiance. Use me, Father. Use me today and every day of your life.
Remind me that You are with me and move me to pursue You passionately through every call you have made for my life. Help me to be a good steward of the resources and gifts you have entrusted to me. I want to be able to worship you in all that I say, think and do. I want to give you the best worship my heart and lips can offer. You are my redeemer and my soul’s true source of joy. I praise You Father, I worship You. Use me for your greater glory beginning today. Let me step up to the plate of Your calling for my life. Share with me the vision you’d like me to live in. I love You Lord. It’s my heart’s joy to worship and honor you. Thank You in advance because it is done.
Amen.
How was your December last year?
If it closely resembled mine, then it probably consisted of last minute Christmas shopping, foodie feasts, reunion parties with family and friends, with some nights spent on “perfecting” lists of faith goals, things to do and resolutions for this year.
Have you put your goals in writing? If yes, this is a good start. This is an important foundation, but we must go beyond this. We should get our thoughts and actions aligned with the great things we have heard, read and written down. To add to this, highlighting your favorite verses in the Bible will never be enough. We have to be committed to letting these come alive in the way we live our lives.
“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” – James 1:22
July has arrived. We have entered this year’s second half. How are you with your faith goals and list of resolutions? Have you started with that fitness plan you were so determined to follow? Or maybe, like me, you wanted to blog more and perhaps lay the foundation for the book you want to write. Are you seriously committed to your dream project to the extent that you have contributed to its weekly or monthly progress? How are you in this department? What would your report card say?
Going into tougher areas, maybe there is a habit you want to break, a person you must forgive or a hurtful experience you need to forget. Maybe you have been praying for a great change or miracle to happen in your life. It could be that you are tired of living a life that has been deeply wounded by staying in a relationship that you know, in your heart of hearts, will never be good for you. Or your case could be that of someone who has never forgiven herself/himself for past mistakes. You may have tried to change or break destructive addictions on your own but never became successful on your attempts.
Where are you in your crusade to live a better, fuller and happier life?
I have not chosen to break this news to you gently. You will never be able to reach your desired turning point on your own. You need help. Big time.
I am not talking about the best-selling Self-help books your money can buy. They can give you good ideas to work with, but real change begins when you admit that you can’t ever make that change happen without God’s grace. When by faith, you accept Christ as the Lord and Savior of your life, you will begin to turn away from a dilapidated life of sin, remorse and pride, and move into His marvelous light. This is where healing begins and real change starts to take place. When you let God’s light break through your brokenness, His peace will begin to reign.
If ever you come to a point of doubting God’s ability to change you from the inside out, carve out these words in your heart:
His grace is sufficient for you, His power is made perfect through our weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
The depths of God’s saving grace can’t ever be captured in its fullness. It is too glorious for our hearts and minds to completely comprehend. By faith, as we continue to seek Him, follow Him and express our love to Him through obedience, more of His loving and glorious nature will be revealed. Always remember that the starting point will always be His love.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16
God can bless you with your very own new slate right at this very moment. Surrender your heart to Him and invite Him to reign in your life. You can only experience genuine peace in your heart and real change in Him. He is going to supply you with the grace you need for this beautiful change to begin.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” – 2 Corinthians 5:17
our dear mom and lola lulu, her mom
Earlier this week, I wrote a note on my planner as a reminder for me to compose a blog post for my mom. Obviously that did not happen a few days before because I am here, glued to our computer’s monitor, still in the process of completing one for her. It’s 1:15 am and I’m still not sleepy. Well, this is a good thing. Thanks to the milk tea I drank at 2:00 pm yesterday. It was successful in keeping me awake
A few years ago, I decided to honor my mom through my first blog site. It brought tears to my eyes since she was still working in the US, and it was her 4th year away from us. That blog entry I wrote back in 2008 was founded on missing my mom so much. All we could do was to e-mail her, talk to her on facebook or have chat fests with her through Magic Jack. Even if Skype was around, we only got to see her a few times because her laptop’s camera did not work most of the time. This went on for 6 years. There was even a time when she surprised us with a picture she edited through MS Paintbrush. What she did was to crop her picture, cut it and paste it on another cropped photo. She pieced it together with the picture I had with my 3 siblings. That was one of the most beautiful gifts I’ve ever received. She couldn’t hand it over to us personally for all she could do that time was to save it on her computer, attach it to her e-mail for us and click send, hoping that Yahoo will deliver it on time.
Today is different. God knew when the right time was for her return to Manila, so she could finally be with us. God knows all things. It was March of 2010. We celebrated Mother’s Day with her last year, and this time, we were even a day earlier. This afternoon, my mom and our lola decided to watch Thor with us because they did not want to keep the aircon on the whole day (note: it’s summer). Out of the blue, my mom told me that it would be a better idea for us to celebrate Mother’s day on the 7th, and not the 8th. After watching the movie, I asked them to choose which restaurant they wanted to go to for dinner. They picked one of our family’s all-time favorites. After enjoying a lovely meal, I watched my mom and grandmother happily strolling around their food-tasting haven, together with my siblings. Oh happy day.
Yes, today is different because we’ve been celebrating mother’s day every day since my mom arrived from the US. Today is different from how things were during the 6 long years my mom was not with us. My heart is just full of gratitude for how He has been faithful to His promises. I still have tears in my eyes, but now it’s from sheer joy. Everyday, God reminds me of how blessed I am to have this wonderful family. The thread of love, laughter, kindness, compassion and joy runs through each day of our lives. It’s all because of Him.
Mama, you are a great inspiration to us. Even if Papa is no longer with us, you have raised us bravely as a single mom. You are a woman who effortlessly embraces us, your children, with unconditional love, kindness, encouragement, sacrifices (working in the US is just one of them), generosity and quality time. You’re someone who just never gets tired of taking care of us. Maybe you have felt exhausted many times, but you never showed it to us. You have always taken care of us with a beautiful smile on your face. You’re the best cheerleader, our biggest fan. Your love has touched our hearts in many ways and has moved us to dream big and go after the great plan that God has for us. Both you and Lola are the best moms ever. We love you so much!
God should be our first priority. We have our work and friends to color our calendars but let us not forget to spend quality time with our families. They do not deserve scraps of our time. Honor them and celebrate how God has gloriously blessed you through how much they love you.
It’s now 3:25 am, time for me to sleep. Happy mother’s day to all the moms out there. A big love-filled thank you from us!
“Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.” – Deuteronomy 5:16
It just dawned on me that people are fond of sharing how their “sunrise and sunset realizations” have touched their hearts and changed the way they live their lives. On the other hand, having the word “night” as a central theme, is common as well, in that we use it to describe seasons in our lives when we are in need of hope, peace or praying for a miracle to happen. Seasons where darkness seems to cave in on you.
What about the hours in between sunrise and sunset? Don’t they deserve our attention as well?
A eureka moment touched my heart last Friday. It was my first time, in many weeks, to see how the every-busy Greenhills Shopping Center district looks like on my way home, at 4pm. I made a few stops before leaving. I had a tug of war inside me, which revolved around whether or not I should buy some things that tickled my fancy. The other side won. Hence, I did not succumb to being won over by consumerism. Clap clap!
Anyway, that’s not why I decided to revisit WordPress tonight.
Seeing how bright and sunny the day was, while feeling the breeze as I was walking, brought so much delight. Spring was back in my steps! I was like a little girl enjoying a wonderful ride at an amusement park. This helped me remember one summer during grade school years when I first set foot on Disneyland. I remember being so amazed by the rides, mascots and the sheer joy I felt by just being in that place. It was, for me, the happiest place on earth!
What I got blessed with last week was definitely different. It certainly did not need Mickey Mouse. In its ordinariness, this recent eureka moment was really something special.
Like a diamond, this simple, yet beautiful day also dazzled. It was a sweet picture of how God can turn an ordinary day into one that’s brimming with breakthroughs. This multi-faceted epiphany was used by Him to give me so much peace in my heart. Two weeks ago, I had my eyes semi-glued to the seemingly huge challenges I was facing, without realizing that God is bigger. As you immerse yourself in His word, you will get to know how loving, faithful, just and forgiving He really is. I must confess that I was too “future-oriented” for several days to the extent that I failed to fix my eyes on His character and thank Him for the blessings that were already around and in me.
If you ask me, that is where faith starts to fade. The moment that the fault-finding eye becomes activated, the faith you have in your heart begins to lose its potency. It loses its power. When you suddenly whine and suspect that God is unfair, that is where a greater battle happens. What do you do? Read Hebrews 6: 10 – 13. Mark these words. God is not unjust. Through faith and patience, you will walk into His beautiful will for your life. This also led me to another realization, which will surely bring peace in your heart, once applied to your life. When you have not received full clarity yet regarding the direction God wants you to take, be sure to meditate on these words from 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18:
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
This is God’s will for you, my friend, no matter how difficult your circumstances are. He will give you enough light for the step you are on. Each season has its wonderful set of gifts. Rejoice and be glad always!:)
I told you, my 4pm Sunshine is much better than Disneyland. I want to visit Disneyland soon, though
You are so sweet, Lord!
“A great mid-week realization: I need to supersize my prayers and faith goals because nothing is impossible with Him. It’s His delight to astound/amaze us.”
What you just read was something I posted on Twitter and Facebook. My ever-surfacing tendency to mine led me to get the real definition of astound since this word kept on popping in my head this week. This is how the dictionary defines it:
Astound: to overwhelm with amazement; astonish greatly; shock with wonder or surprise.
I believe so greatly that this is the Lord’s message not only for me, but for all of us who want to be taken to the next levels of our faith in Him. It’s His sheer joy to astound us with His greatness and faithfulness. Our Church opened the year through a new series called, “Strong,” inspired by the Book of Joshua in the Bible. I cannot share with you in colorful details what transpired in that story, but I can tell you what it led me to discover.
We bring so much joy to the Lord when we ask for what seems impossible, and He delights in astounding/amazing us with the way He spectacularly answers our prayers
The Lord is pleased when we have faith. We can never please Him without it. Examine your life and you will realize how blessed you are and how faithful God has been to you. Let’s walk in gratitude and move in grand faith. Nothing is too difficult for Him. What is impossible for man, is possible with God. Let’s put our trust in Him and claim His favor upon our lives. Stick to Him. Honor Him with your faith. Do what you know will put a smile on His face. Obey Him. Bring glory to Him through the way you live your life.
You’ll know the size of your faith by what you pray for, and how you move after it. When you pray, believe He will deliver. Let’s pray for big things…the ones that are destined to fail without Him. He walked on water. He parted the Red Sea. He made the sun stand still when Joshua dared to ask for it. Now, it’s your turn to ask. Now is your time to dream big dreams. Expect Him to astound you with how He answers.
Some lines to really treasure and always remember. Some lines are from my favorite authors. The others came from my personal “lightbulb” moments
We have come this far to glorify Him and let His grace arise.
You can be at peace, even in the midst of uncertainty
Let’s touch the very heart of God by faith-filled prayers
We can glorify Him in great ways by sharing the gifts and strengths He has given us to bless others
God can divide your life’s “Red Sea”, so His miracles can break through to bless, protect and prosper you.
God’s power is matchless. God’s power produces miracles. He still enables people to “walk on water” and cross the Red Sea. He still gives sight to the blind and He can turn water into wine. Same power. He will forever be our amazing God.
Your quiet time with the Lord is the fruitful foundation of your personal relationship with Him.
“Your real self will not come as long as we are looking for it. It will come when you are looking for Him.” – CS Lewis
“Don’t dig up in doubt what you planted in faith.” – Elisabeth Elliot
Stop trying to decipher unsolved mysteries. Choose to be thankful for what He has given you instead. These are real. Walk by faith too
God cannot be pleased without faith. Trust Him for He knows all things and He wants to lead you to His best. He loves you:)
Thanking God after he answers a prayer is gratitude. Thanking him in advance is faith. See Mark 11:24 – Rick Warren
“To experience the presence of God is a pilgrimage of utter delight and fascination.” AW Tozer
If u want to be a force for good, you’ve got to choose to take action in the area of passion that God has placed in your heart.-Bill Hybels
God is always on time.
It’s not about you, it’s about God by Rebecca Osaigbovo. God’s way produces divine strength through human weakness
“God is more interested in the purity of our hearts than our public performances.” – Tommy Tenney
“The place God calls you to, is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep need meet.” – Frederick Buechner
In your presence there is fullness of joy- Psalm 16:11
God is working behind the “seen” scene of your lives
“One day of favor, can be worth more than a lifetime of labor.”- Tommy Tenney
I used to find great comfort in knowing that almost everyone is in search for something more in their lives, because for many years, I was in that quest, too. Most of the time, women I know would embark on what we’d usually call a “soul search” just to discover what it is they have been put on Earth to do. The book, “Eat, Pray, Love,” written by Elizabeth Gilbert, has appealed to numerous women because it was able to strike certain chords of their hearts, what with the expedition that she chose to take in India, Indonesia and Italy, together with her healthy and guilt-filled culinary experience, relationship mishaps and quest for genuine spirituality. Though there is a part of us that would want to spend thousands or even millions on shopping and travel sprees,all in the name of finding ourselves, those who have attempted to assuage their pain using these have ended up shattering their dreams, breaking their hearts and leaving their bank accounts empty. This elusive concept of ” finding the missing piece” has sold billions of movie tickets, published gazillion of books and made more people go after square pegs for the round holes in their hearts.
“Your real self will not come as long as we are looking for it. It will come when you are looking for Him.” – CS Lewis
Chasing an ideal career, being with your prince charming , eating all the ice cream you want or having all the money in the world could never ever be able to fill the void that is making you feel restless, your existence meaningless and letting your time go into waste. That void, vast space, is a God-shaped hole in your heart that only a personal relationship with Him can fill with joy and peace. Continue looking for yourself in other places and I assure you that you will never find it. Seek Him and delight in Him. Follow His Light. Not only will He give you the desires of your heart, but He will bless you with the great dream He has for your life.
“There is a God-shaped hole in all of us that only He can fill.” – Plumb
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” – Matthew 6:33
It has been a long time since I last stayed for over 10 minutes at our terrace. This has been my go-to place for prayer and reflection during certain seasons of my life. What I like about it is that whenever I’m here, I would see a wonderful horizon. The sky is my infinite ceiling. To visit this place often has automatically surfaced as the first of many things I hope would be a habit for 2010. For me, this isn’t a complicated getaway. All I have to do is to use the stairs going to the third floor of our house and open the door leading to the terrace. No entrance fee needed.
I just realized that this, in many surprising ways resembles how accessible God is. Many times in the past, I thought that to renew my mind and refresh my spirit, a production number would be desperately needed. What I didn’t know was that the ability to reach God and hear His voice will never be dependent on certain rituals and idiosyncrasies. My well-meaning choices included spending for travel fares/accommodations, having a massage and being inside my favorite coffee shop with a cup of chocolate milk. Though these are great suggestions to relax and rewind, and sometimes God would even ask us to have these vacations and stay-cations, I believe that more than the scene, He wants us to pray right where we are and acknowledge His presence. The fruitful alternative stairway to reach Him would always be prayer and a pure heart.
Following rituals, preferred places of refuge and other things that make us think that we will find God there, can be as dangerous as having superstitious beliefs. A place, person, deed or an act will never add value to God’s sovereign strength and power. Without any help from anything or anyone, He is already omnipresent (present in all places at all times), omniscient (having infinite insight, knowledge & awareness) and omnipotent (almighty and infinite in power).
Acts 17: 24-25 beautifully captures these three attributes of God – His omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence:
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.”
Like all of you, I sometimes feel the need to do some “soul searching” as a conduit to find peace, solitude and joy. Once we live out and wholeheartedly accept the saving knowledge that Jesus is the way, truth and life, we will be able to discover that the answers to our hearts’ questions could never be found using our finite, self-assigned and, sometimes, illogical means and theories. It has never been about us, any person, any thing or any place. True joy and genuine refuge could only be found in Him, our almighty, all-knowing and ever-present God.
“God is our refuge and strength,an ever-present help in trouble.” – Psalm 46:1
2010 was a year filled with His beautiful surprises. I have so many blessings to be grateful for. You have a lot, too. As we welcome 2011, it is my prayer for all of us to have complete joy through remaining in His love and living a life of joyful obedience to Him. It will be amazing because of Him. With you, I am looking forward to a year of fresh and full servings of joy, love, peace, provision and grace! He is just a prayer away, wherever you may be right now. Read your Bible and open your heart to what He would like to tell you. It’s actually not complicated.
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” – John 15: 9-11
I’m very excited to share with you, excerpts from Pastor Wayne Cordeiro’s preaching entitled, ” The Reason for Waiting.” I believe these lines will encourage you to wait upon the Lord with joy in your hearts, fulfilling the assignment He has for you. Remember that He who promised is faithful. The Lord will use your “waiting time” to refine you as He ushers you into the season you have been praying for. He is never late, never too early, but always on time. He knows when the best time is. He knows all things. He knows what is best for you. Walk by faith, not by sight.
“God wants us to wait at times so that we are ready for the trials in our future. Without the wait, when the trials come, which could be unemployment, financial issues or sickness, our hearts will wither. That’s why God takes us through a time of waiting to strengthen our hearts. It is written, “I will drive them out before you little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land.” (Ex. 23:30) God inches us out little by little. When I was a kid at school, I was trained to run a race. I needed to wear a vest that had a cord tied to it. So when I ran, I was being held back by the cord. The coach would release the cord only little by little so that I could have certain muscles to be trained and built for the race. Without that training, my muscles would not have been strong enough to stand a real race, and I would not have developed the stamina and strength that I needed to run a race. There are times God puts a vest on you, and lets you out little by little, to build you the strengths and character you need for your future. If you don’t want to wait, and do it your own way, you will mess up what God has designed to be wonderful. However, if you do it God’s way, He will give you strength and character for the wonderfulness He has prepared for you.”
“God is going to use the ingredients of the wait as the recipe of a miracle.”
“Waiting is not easy, but there is a reason – it is to strengthen and refine our hearts. If you are upset while waiting, God will tell you not to be and He will refine you. He is not done with you. Let me encourage you to stay faithful in Him and follow Him, there is a reason for the wait.”
“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Is. 40:31)
