I must admit that I love reading books written by Max Lucado. I love how he use his typical writing style, humor, and extensive use of passages in the Bible and how he interacts it with the current life. This is maybe one of the reasons why I could say that he makes the reading of profound Christian truths easy to follow and even enjoyable. 

In his book "Just Like Jesus", Max takes us on a journey to restore our hearts. He welcomes us to a question that will really challenge us to think: "What if, for one day, Jesus were to become you?" How would you answer this?

For me, the most striking truth I've read from this book is this:

"God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be JUST LIKE JESUS. God loves you just the way you are. If you think His love for you would be stronger if your faith were, you are WRONG. If you think His love would be deeper if your thoughts were, WRONG again. DON'T CONFUSE GOD'S LOVE WITH THE LOVE OF PEOPLE. The love of people often increases with performance and decreases with mistakes. Not so with God's love. HE LOVES YOU RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE." (emphasis mine)

Max's intentions are very clear. he want the reader to be able to grasp the idea that God loves us and that He wants us to be just like his Son" pure, blameless and obedient. Max also gives hope that we can do this by trusting our lives to HIM and just follow His Word, the Bible.

I would highly recommend this book to my family and friends. It's very easy to understand yet full of hopeful topics.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com®  book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255. 

A Danger to your soul in our prosperous society is to value possessions more than people--and more than a relationship with God.

I remember what Henry Ward Beecher once said, "He is rich or poor according to what he is, NOT according to what he has."

Let's evaluate ourselves at this time. Do we ever struggle with greed and materialism? Have we been so attached to the things in this world? Do we value earthly possessions more than our relationship with God?

Hebrews 13:5 says, " Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be satisfied with what you have. God has said, 'I will never leave you; I will never forget you.'"

Next to temptation, perhaps the most frequent and insistent attack from the enemy to which we are vulnerable is accusation. By faith we have entered into an eternal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. As a result, we are dead to sin and alive to God, and we now sit with Christ in the heavenlies. In Christ, we are very much important, we are qualified, and we are justified.

The devil can not do absolutely anything to change our position in Christ and our worth to God. But what I have observed is that he can render us virtually inoperative if he can deceive us into listening to and believing his insidious lies, accusing us of being of little value to God or to other people.

In these past few days, I just found myself being rebellious. I didn't open my Bible and never took the opportunity to pray and devote my self to Him. Then, discouragement and disappointment came. I tried to talk to God, yet I am not willing to listen. I cried. Still, GOD's FAITHFULNESS is indescribable. He did not let me fall away. I am reminded again of HIS love, HIS UNDYING love for me, for us.

Then, a sister in Christ texted me. She said,

GOD takes us into deep waters not to drown us, but to CLEANSE us. And HE disciplines those HE LOVES.

Almighty God, I stand in awe of You, Lord. Thanks YOU for Your unconditional LOVE. Thank YOU for Your MERCY. Thank You for the FORGIVENESS that You gave. I love You, because You have loved me first with Your everlasting LOVE. In JESUS' Mighty Name, Amen.

And now, let me share to you this beautiful song that really touched my heart. May the message inspire you, too. GOD bless, and let's BLESS GOD with our decisions.

When God Ran

Philips and Craig

Maybe you've come to a point wherein you sought advice from your friends about some "love life thing", and all they said was "FOLLOW YOUR HEART".

I must admit. I, myself, experienced that scenario before. I, being the “inferior” type in the group, tried to follow my heart, as what they have recommended. You know what happened?

I found myself losing my purity, emotionally and spiritually..

After everything that has happened in my life, I am really praising GOD that He let me realize some of the most important things I should always keep in mind.

About our HEART:

The Bible warns us that our heart can lead us in wrong, even DEADLY directions.

Our hearts lie.

Something can “feel” right and be completely wrong.

As what Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?"

We need to constantly evaluate the purity of our hearts in Prayer. We can always ask GOD to reveal the things that contaminate us, our hearts, our whole being. And as GOD reveals our wrong attitudes, longings, and desires, we MUST remove them from our hearts.

Of course, I’m not exempted in this. But, my only hope is that my Father in Heaven is FAITHFUL to complete me.

Yes, there are temptations. I cannot deny them. That’s why I’m really praying that GOD would continue to help me guard my heart. I know there is really One who is in control of all the unknowns. We can trust him to lead us through it and protect our hearts in the process.

Let me end with this:

 

 The world takes us to a silver screen on which flickering images of passion and romance play. As we watch, the world says, “This is love”.

GOD takes us to a foot of a tree on which a naked and bloodied man hangs and says, “THIS IS LOVE”. 

Yesterday, we had our church's monthly leaders' meeting in. Before we started to discuss all the agendas, our youth coordinator shared a passage from the Bible stating that we are Christ's AMBASSADORS. Meaning, we are representatives of Christ.

I opened my email and was pleased to receive a message from a site encouraging the youth to be more devoted to God. When I read the devotion for today, I feel very excited to share it to everyone (especially to all the leaders in church).

Wonderful weather, beautiful sisters, sweet brother, lovely father, the Word of God- some of the reasons why I am really enjoying my Monday. :)

I started my day devoting my self to God. I read my Bible and I prayed. I believe that if you started Your day by immersing your soul with His complete and Final Revelation to man (which is the Bible), everything else will follow smoothly. All your anxious thoughts, worries, and heartache will be removed because of His Word.

I just want to share to you my homework in our Baptist College of Leadership (BCL) class. Our topic was about debotional method since we are currently taking up the subjest "Methods of Bible Study".

“Prove yourselves doers of the Word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” James 1:22

EMPHASIS:

Doers of the Word- I am a Sunday school teacher. Those of us who are called to preach or teach the Word of God must put it on first. To proclaim the Word of God as if it was true in our life, when it is not, is a LIE. Another point is that, once we hear/read the Word of God, we are obliged to do what it commands. Yes, it’s quite hard to be as holy as what God wants us to be, but we can always ask God to give us strength.

Hearers who delude themselves- Those of us who receive the Word are also vulnerable to self-deception if we fail to put it into practice. Let’s take for instance, we hear a sermon or a lesson, and say “Wow! What a great truth!” and hurry off to share it with someone else without processing it ourselves and applying it in our own lives. If I do not act on the truth I hear of my good heavenly Father, then I am deceived because the truth I heard does not stay before me, and I soon forget it and so forget myself.

PARAPHRASE:

A genuine Christian does not just listen to the Word and so deceive herself. The Word must be applied and reflected in her life.

PERSONALIZE:

I must not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive myself. I must do what it says.

SIN TO CONFESS: I must confess that there are times I am being pretentious. I listen to the Word and read my Bible, but me, myself is not reflecting what that specific Scripture is telling me, especially when I teach in the Sunday School. Also, I am afraid to admit it when my life does not completely match up to the Scripture.

ATTITUDE TO CHANGE: I must be true, not only to myself, but most especially; I must be true to the One who created me, to the One who gave me the gift of teaching. This verse made me realize that I have a perfection complex. I have this thinking that I have to model perfection and not admit to something else. I must accept the fact that I can’t model perfection, because I am not perfect; I can only model growth. The people around me need to know that I am a real person in the process of maturing.

COMMAND TO OBEY: It is clear in this verse that we are commanded to do what the Word is telling us to do. We must continue to grow spiritually by reading, listening, and applying God’s Word in our lives.

PRAYER TO PRAY: Lord, forgive me for the times I have placed the quest for earthly perfection ahead of growth in You and Your Word. Help me model growth in my life today.

ERROR TO AVOID: We are tempted when we are in trouble to believe that just hearing the truth, or "knowing" the truth is enough.

TRUTH TO BELIEVE: This verse reminds me that listening and receiving again and again the truth of God's amazing love and grace for us will help us to be more deliberate and faithful in our words and with our actions.

To act on the truth we hear is to live as if God is truly our gracious heavenly Father and that He alone gives us our worth, our identity. But this is to allow very deep habits of mind, words, and actions to be transformed.

To act on what we hear though, is not simply to try harder not to, say, not complaining or being anxious. James 1:22 is not encouraging me to simply try harder to live right. This is encouraging me to do whatever I need to do in order to feed my faith in my heavenly Father.

SOMETHING TO PRAISE GOD FOR: I praise God for His faithfulness to complete me. I praise God for His unchanging, generous, and completely good character.

DEVOTIONAL METHOD

   

Proverbs 3:1-2

   My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart,

2 for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity.

VISUALIZE:

   I can imagine in this verse a father lying in a bed, a bedridden loving father, who is telling his child about the things he must not forget.

EMPHASIS:

   My- a possessive pronoun, meaning God is really talking to His children, those who believed and accepted Him.

  

   Son- this is not only pertaining to male, but instead, it is used in this verse as a general term

   Do not forget- They say in Filipino, “Ang gamot sa limot ay paalala”. These are the ways that I do to not forget His teaching and commandments: I always read the Bible, as in every time I get a chance to read it; I memorize it; I write it down on a sticky note and post it on my wall so that every time I open my eyes, I will be reminded again.

Teaching and Commandments- As I read this, I remembered the Greatest Commandment:  "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.”

In your heart- God is concerned about our hearts. A question came into my mind: “When God listens to my heart, does He hear His Word?”. When God’s Law is in our hearts, He can do something through us, in us, and for us. What’s in our hearts will determine what’s in our lips. If the truth of God is in our hearts, then the Word of God will be on our lips. Taking care of the heart is the most important thing we can do. “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”-Proverbs 4:23

Long life and prosperity- True prosperity and true "long life" can be found only in heaven.

PARAPHRASE:

   Anyone who doesn't follow the guidelines of wisdom presented in this proverb is doomed to poverty and to death at an early age.

PERSONALIZE:

   “I must not forget His teaching. Instead, I must keep His commands in my heart, for He will prolong my life many years and will bring me prosperity.”

SIN TO CONFESS:

  

   I must confess that most of the time, I worry about things such as, “How long will I be staying here on earth?”, “What are the things I should ask God so that I can be prosperous?”, “Will I really be spending my eternity in Heaven?”. Notice that I am very anxious and doubtful about God’s promise to me. In other words, I am not living a doubt-free life. Although I’m reading my Bible, I must also confess that the lessons I get from the Word of God are not actually being practiced in my own life. Also, I still don’t acquire the habit of asking God’s help about anything He commands.

PROMISE TO CLAIM:

   These verses clearly state the promise that God will prolong my life many years and He will make me prosperous. And for God, true prosperity can only be found in heaven, together with Him.

ATTITUDE TO CHANGE:

   I should hide His Word in my heart so that I might not sin against Him. When I’m going to make a decision, I should think about this first: If He was in my place, what would Jesus do? I must also change my attitude of worrying.

COMMAND TO OBEY:

   The command for all the believers is found in verse 1. I should not forget His teaching by always reading His Word and applying it in my life. I should keep His commands in my heart, not just in my mind.

PRAYER TO PRAY:

   “Heavenly Father, help me remember that Your will is good, pleasing, and perfect. Thank You so much that You reward those who obey You, keep Your commands, and do what’s right. I pray that Your will may be done in my life. Help me humbly follow You. Help me to reflect Your love through my testimony. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
 

ERROR TO AVOID: For me, it is a big mistake if you don’t practice what you preach.

TRUTH TO BELIEVE:

   I believe that the guidelines in these proverbs are the God-appointed pathway to prosperity and long life, but God has higher perspectives and purposes that will sometimes require His children to forego such earthly success. It is only because of God's mercy that wicked people sometimes live long and prosperous lives on earth, yet they will not escape His judgment in eternity.

SOMETHING TO PRAISE GOD FOR:

   I praise God for His faithfulness to complete me. I will forever be grateful for His mercy and Grace. I know I don’t deserve to be in heaven, but because of His grace, He helps me to put my faith and hope in Him to save me.

APPLICATION:

   One of the key words in the Bible is “REMEMBER”. We are to remember God’s works His mercy, His faithfulness, and His commandments. Sometimes we forget all God has done for us.

  

   I will find some time to write down the gracious deeds the Lord has done for me since I have been walking with Him. I will tuck my “story” into my Bible on how I followed His commandments, and look at it from time to time. This might also be a great time to start a spiritual journal since I haven’t done this before- a Day-to-Day record of my life with God.

1 I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. 2 I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. 3 My enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before you. 4 For you have upheld my right and my cause; you have sat on your throne, judging righteously. 5 You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name for ever and ever. 6 Endless ruin has overtaken the enemy, you have uprooted their cities; even the memory of them has perished. -Psalm 9:1-6

            Psalm 9 is a great victory psalm. Notice the universals in verse 1- "ALL my heart" and "ALL Your wonders". I must confess that there are times when I don't praise the Lord with my whole heart. At times i've stood in church with the hymnbook in my hand, singing a great song of praise--but not with my whole heart. THE BEST WAY TO HAVE VICTORY IS TO PRAISE THE LORD WHOLEHEARTEDLY.

WORTHY IS THE LAMB

Thank you for the cross, Lord.
Thank you for the price you paid.
Bearing all my sin and shame, in love you came
And gave Amazing Grace.

Thank you for this love, Lord.
Thank you for the nail-pierced hands.
Wash me in Your cleansing flow, now all I know
Your forgiveness and embrace.

Worthy is the Lamb
Seated on the throne.
We crown You now with many crowns
You reign victorious!
High and lifted up
Jesus, Son of God.
The Darling of Heaven, crucified...
Worthy is the Lamb.

I will be forever thankful for the life and the love God gave me. Honestly, I'm undergoing a lot of stress due to my problems and trials. But as I listen to this song, I realized that my God is BIGGER than all my circumstances and problems. And even though I don't feel like worshiping Him, I am always reminded that God deserves all my praises. He is WORTHY! He reigns VICTORIOUS! He is HIGH and LIFTED UP!

 We can rejoice in the Lord today because HE IS WORTHY of our praise!

      For me, PLANNING is deciding in advance what is to be done, when, where, how, and by whom it is to be done. Thus, a plan is a determined course of action. It is an attempt on the part of an individual to anticipate in the future in order to achieve better performance. The essence of planning is looking ahead. It is always concerned with the future. So before the clock strikes at 12, i want to share to you my not-so-perfect plan for the coming year 2011 :) and oh! please help me eliminate some unnecessary details. Thanks :)

Here's my list:

I.SPIRITUAL 
  A. Have a daily devotion with my Savior
  B. Set up at least 10 minutes a day to listen to Christian Songs and meditate on it
  C. Finish reading the Old Testament
  D. Attend a Bible School
  E. Have something special  for my babies in Sunday School :)
  F. Memorize 2 verses a day
  G. Pray daily

II.CAREER


A. Do my homeworks
B. Be on time! :))
C. Explore things. Learn everything I can.
 D. Master Accounting
 E. Be an ACCOUNTANT :) (although it will take four more years) :)


III.PHYSICAL


     A. Remove excess fats :) 5 curl-ups a day
    B. Eat more fruits and vegetables :)
    C. Avoid Make-Ups
    D. Try  new sports
    E. Take Vitamins

IV.INTELLECTUAL


         A. Finish 1 inspirational/good book at least once a month
       B. Memorize 5 songs a month
       C. Watch a good movie once a week
       D. Read one novel every quarter :)
       E. Read in advance the lessons on all my subjects

V.RELATIONAL


     A. Have a date with my boyfriend: JESUS, at least once a week
     B. Learn more recipes for my family
     C. Be more intentional
     D. Invite them to church every Sunday
     E. Set a movie day with family and friends
     F. Meet new friends
     G. Set a day out with the GIRL POWER :) at least once a month
     H. Have a girl talk with my sisters every night

That's it! :) I know to myself that I can do most, if not all, of these things by this promise of God:

But still, I have to do my part as a believer. Proverbs 22:4 says, "Respect and serve the LORD! Your reward will be wealth, a long life, and honor." 

Have a wonderful planning! :) GOD BLESS.

"God plans the best for us and together as God's people, He would make us PERFECT." Hebrews 11:40