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Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Friday, April 24, 2009
THE SOURCE OF PASSION
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Devotional Article
THE SOURCE OF PASSION Colossians 3:23-24 “V23 – And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men. V24 – knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ.
What is Passion? When a writer is driven by inspire thought, he stops for no one and nothing. He eats and sleeps and breaths the words in his head: That is Passion! Passion – Motivating factor to do anything for someone - having the right connection.
When an artist is struck by a an image, he sets down his palette, takes out his brushes and paints on his canvas. He does not care if he is alone in a wide, open field. He does not mind if he looks ridiculous: That is Passion!
Colossians 3:23-24 “V23 – And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men. V24 – knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ.
“...whatever” Everything we do in life should be done heartily as if we are doing it for the Lord.
“...do it heartily” You do – teaching, running, parenting, plumbing, etc. – we should do it heartily. “Do it with all our hearts!”
“...as to the Lord and not to men!” The passion we put into any project and activity in life is a good reflection of how we esteem the “ONE” for whom we work!
“...for you serve the Lord Christ.” THE SOURCE OF PASSION!
Discover the passion that is already within & build on it – fan the flame and make it alive (2 Tim. 1:6).
People are trying to find reasons to get excited about life today. For Christians we can live with a genuine passion everyday. Let’s apply Colossians 3:23-24 in our lives and it will change the world and your world as well. Christ is our Leader, Head and Power Source. Make sure we are in right connection with Him.
Love for God does not call for a small of us. It does not ask for half of us. It demands all of us!
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength (Deuteronomy 6:5)
What is your Passion?
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Lord God in heaven - rekindle our passion unto YOU that we will love YOU with everything that is in us through out the days of our existence...In Jesus' name...Amen!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
THE ALMOND BRANCH OF HOPE
Easter Message of Bro. Eddie C. Villanueva
12 April 2009
“Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, I see a branch of an almond tree. Then said the LORD unto me, You have seen well: for I am ready to perform My word” Jeremiah 1:11-12
Resurrection always brings a message of hope. There is nothing more hope-boosting than knowing that the dead, yes the DEAD, may rise again!
The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is the single redemptive event that perfected mankind’s salvation and deliverance from sin, at the same time proving that faith in Him that holds the indisputable power over death is not useless.
Jesus, the Son of God, had to taste death to give His sinless life as a sacrifice for all the transgressions of mankind (Isaiah 53: 3-6; Hebrews 2:9). When He cried out on the cross: “It is finished!” (John 19:30) every requirement for the forgiveness of the sin of every man, under the Law and the Commandments, was satisfied! Every work needed to be done to set man free from the dominion of the evil one was indeed finished!
The Lord Jesus was the Lamb of God who, by His sacrifice on the Cross, had taken away the sins of the world. The Heavenly Father proved to all that Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross was accepted as payment for man’s debt when He raised Him from the dead after three days of being in the grave. Because of the resurrection, those who have received Jesus as their Savior and Lord are now assured of eternal life, and just like Him, will also experience their own bodily resurrection (I Corinthians 15:12-22)!
The resurrection was also the message of God to Israel in the time of the prophets. Every time the Israelites were chastised by God because of their collective sin and backsliding from their covenant with God, the Lord raised up prophets to bring His message of restoration to their nation. One such prophet was Jeremiah.
In the beginning of God’s call to Jeremiah, the young prophet, the
Lord showed him a vision. It was the vision of an almond branch (Jeremiah1:10-12). The almond tree in Israel is the very first tree that awakens to life after the long winter season. It is the very first tree that would burst forth with beautiful white flowers in the early spring while the rest of the trees are still barren and sleeping. It is a symbol of the powerful phenomenon: The Resurrection!
God was saying to the prophet Jeremiah: “Even if Israel, My very own nation, dies because of My discipline and judgment, I can raise her back to life again and restore her glory among the nations!” The Lord told Jeremiah that the vision of the almond branch spoke of His willingness to fulfill all His promises to Israel if they would return to Him with all their hearts and walk in obedience to His will and purposes (Jeremiah 3:12-22), and that it was for the sake of the glory of His name that He was going to do this (Ezekiel 36:21-23). Israel was a nation covenanted with God bearing the name of Jehovah, the eternal, self-existent God of covenants.
The Philippines today needs to experience the power of the Resurrection! Like the nation of Israel, we are also a nation that bears the glory of the name of Christ! Being the first and only Christian nation in the Far East, we are today dying in shame and reproach being known today as the most corrupt country in Asia. From being one of the most prosperous countries in the region in the 1940’2 up to 1960’s, we have sunk to our destitute state today. Many of our people are going out of the country just to find jobs. In the time of relative global prosperity, we are among the hungriest in the world. Unprecedented moral and spiritual degradation, especially in places of authority, has brought our people closer and closer to the grave. Systemic corruption is all over the land.
Is there hope? Because of the Resurrection, I dare say, yes there is hope! Like Jeremiah, we must receive a vision of the almond branch!
The Philippines in fact was first named “Archipelago of Saint Lazarus” before it was named the Philippines. This could be a prophetic pronouncement; that this nation would be resurrected in due time, because Lazarus, the closest friend of Jesus for whom He wept when he died, was raised from the dead by Jesus Himself. Jesus prayed to the Father that life would return to the body of Lazarus which had been dead for four days. Everybody was mourning for Lazarus and had given up hope until the voice of the Lord Jesus broke the silence of the grave with the loud shout of command: “Lazarus come forth!” (John 11:43).
Lazarus rose back to life! He was released from the burial clothes (representing murderous, hindering works of the Enemy like poverty, chaos, rampant sinfulness, among others) that bound him hand and foot by a simple command the Lord gave: “Loosen him!” (John 11:44).
As we celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, let us fill our hearts with the message of hope for ourselves, our people, and nation! Let us look unto the Lord Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, the One who holds the keys of death and hell (Revelation 1:18). Because Jesus has risen, the Philippines, the Archipelago of Saint Lazarus will also rise! Let us not lose sight of the vision of the almond branch, the vision of hope in the worst of situations!
Let every God-fearing and nation-loving Filipino believe God for our nation’s resurrection! Let it be said, the Philippines will RISE and be great again!
12 April 2009
“Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, I see a branch of an almond tree. Then said the LORD unto me, You have seen well: for I am ready to perform My word” Jeremiah 1:11-12
Resurrection always brings a message of hope. There is nothing more hope-boosting than knowing that the dead, yes the DEAD, may rise again!
The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is the single redemptive event that perfected mankind’s salvation and deliverance from sin, at the same time proving that faith in Him that holds the indisputable power over death is not useless.
Jesus, the Son of God, had to taste death to give His sinless life as a sacrifice for all the transgressions of mankind (Isaiah 53: 3-6; Hebrews 2:9). When He cried out on the cross: “It is finished!” (John 19:30) every requirement for the forgiveness of the sin of every man, under the Law and the Commandments, was satisfied! Every work needed to be done to set man free from the dominion of the evil one was indeed finished!The Lord Jesus was the Lamb of God who, by His sacrifice on the Cross, had taken away the sins of the world. The Heavenly Father proved to all that Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross was accepted as payment for man’s debt when He raised Him from the dead after three days of being in the grave. Because of the resurrection, those who have received Jesus as their Savior and Lord are now assured of eternal life, and just like Him, will also experience their own bodily resurrection (I Corinthians 15:12-22)!
The resurrection was also the message of God to Israel in the time of the prophets. Every time the Israelites were chastised by God because of their collective sin and backsliding from their covenant with God, the Lord raised up prophets to bring His message of restoration to their nation. One such prophet was Jeremiah.
In the beginning of God’s call to Jeremiah, the young prophet, the
Lord showed him a vision. It was the vision of an almond branch (Jeremiah1:10-12). The almond tree in Israel is the very first tree that awakens to life after the long winter season. It is the very first tree that would burst forth with beautiful white flowers in the early spring while the rest of the trees are still barren and sleeping. It is a symbol of the powerful phenomenon: The Resurrection!God was saying to the prophet Jeremiah: “Even if Israel, My very own nation, dies because of My discipline and judgment, I can raise her back to life again and restore her glory among the nations!” The Lord told Jeremiah that the vision of the almond branch spoke of His willingness to fulfill all His promises to Israel if they would return to Him with all their hearts and walk in obedience to His will and purposes (Jeremiah 3:12-22), and that it was for the sake of the glory of His name that He was going to do this (Ezekiel 36:21-23). Israel was a nation covenanted with God bearing the name of Jehovah, the eternal, self-existent God of covenants.
The Philippines today needs to experience the power of the Resurrection! Like the nation of Israel, we are also a nation that bears the glory of the name of Christ! Being the first and only Christian nation in the Far East, we are today dying in shame and reproach being known today as the most corrupt country in Asia. From being one of the most prosperous countries in the region in the 1940’2 up to 1960’s, we have sunk to our destitute state today. Many of our people are going out of the country just to find jobs. In the time of relative global prosperity, we are among the hungriest in the world. Unprecedented moral and spiritual degradation, especially in places of authority, has brought our people closer and closer to the grave. Systemic corruption is all over the land.Is there hope? Because of the Resurrection, I dare say, yes there is hope! Like Jeremiah, we must receive a vision of the almond branch!
The Philippines in fact was first named “Archipelago of Saint Lazarus” before it was named the Philippines. This could be a prophetic pronouncement; that this nation would be resurrected in due time, because Lazarus, the closest friend of Jesus for whom He wept when he died, was raised from the dead by Jesus Himself. Jesus prayed to the Father that life would return to the body of Lazarus which had been dead for four days. Everybody was mourning for Lazarus and had given up hope until the voice of the Lord Jesus broke the silence of the grave with the loud shout of command: “Lazarus come forth!” (John 11:43).
Lazarus rose back to life! He was released from the burial clothes (representing murderous, hindering works of the Enemy like poverty, chaos, rampant sinfulness, among others) that bound him hand and foot by a simple command the Lord gave: “Loosen him!” (John 11:44).
As we celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, let us fill our hearts with the message of hope for ourselves, our people, and nation! Let us look unto the Lord Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, the One who holds the keys of death and hell (Revelation 1:18). Because Jesus has risen, the Philippines, the Archipelago of Saint Lazarus will also rise! Let us not lose sight of the vision of the almond branch, the vision of hope in the worst of situations!
Let every God-fearing and nation-loving Filipino believe God for our nation’s resurrection! Let it be said, the Philippines will RISE and be great again!
BABANGON NA ANG BAGONG PILIPINAS!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
~I'm Home...Back to Winnipeg~
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~Mission Trip~
Left Arizona, USA, yesterday afternoon. Thanks to Bro. Sam & Sis. Mel de Asis for accommodating us - at their beautiful home with a 7 star or more ... kind of accommodation. Driving / touring us around the city - showing us the state of Arizona with the leaders together with their family. Not to forget - the generosity of Bro. Jerry and Sis. Hyasmin for allowing us to use their shop for our nightly sessions. So as the CMT members, for their passion in serving God and the people - it was very inspiring / encouraging to see them serving the Lord with an intention of giving the best for HIS glory.Arizona (AZ) is for JESUS ... the Alpha and the Omega ... A to Z! The beginning and the end - HE IS GOD!
On this Mission Trip to JIL Arizona - it increases my understanding of "Who Is God" and "Who Am I To HIM!" How HE intervenes in every situation 'till the end - yes I know, I am / we are in partnership with the Sovereign God - who is abundantly able to perform supernatural act on behalf of HIS people and I'm one of them!
Arrived Winnipeg on time ... from Phoenix Airport to Calgary, waited less than 3 hours for my next flight to Winnipeg. I'm still adjusting from hot to cold temperature ... Praise the Lord - for allowing me to experience different weather!
Again, maraming salamat ...thank you very much - to my leaders / pastors ... of the trust and to all who did pray for us. To JIL Wpg 1, Wpg 2, Wpg SE, Regina and Saskatoon leadership and congregations - thank you for all your prayers
~...'till next time ... talk to you soon ... with God's blessings to all...~
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
~Mission Trip to JIL Arizona Updates~
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~Mission Trip~
Praise the Lord! The School of JIL 12 Vision has been successfully done in JIL Arizona, USA. The eight (8) leaders are excited and preparing themselves for the Encounter Retreat. Giving them the overview of JIL 12 Vision - inspire them the more to do the work of the Lord ... becoming more enthusiastic and visionary ... with the vision for the multitudes.JILC vision made us realize that we are very unique: Our Preferred Future State:“A GLORIOUS CHURCH evangelizing and discipling Filipinos, and all peoples of the world through teaching and preaching the full Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Wherever we are - whom are we encountering with - it is an opportunity to tell people of God's love... to bring them to the kingdom of the Living God... for them to experience the saving, healing, delivering knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ! I am one of the privilege servant of the most High God to minister to our brethren in JIL Arizona - our wonderful, and loving family in the Sun City of Arizona.
Again ... thank you very much! Let the fire keep burning - Shine on for the MASTER! DREAM and let your dream come true ... Dream big and Win the World for JESUS!
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