A Testimony of Completeness

A Testimony of Completeness from the Sixth Saying of Jesus On the Cross (Holy Friday – April 2, 20221) Cambridge dictionary defined completeness as the quality of being whole or perfect and having nothing missing. Meriam-Webster listed synonymous words as faultlessness, flawlessness, fullness, absoluteness, entireness… now, How can I make a testimony of being without fault or without flaws when I felt all this time I am missing something? As we or I limit myself with “I can’t”… “I don’t have”, yet as Christians, the Bible assures us that we are created in His likeness, is perfect and complete. And when we trust God, we lack nothing. Jesus certainly did not accept any incompleteness, whether the need was for food, physical healing, forgiveness, a task to finish or for Jesus to die on the cross. John 19:30 says When Jesus received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished,” and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. What does the sixth saying mean when Jesus said “It Is Finished”? The sixth statement of Jesus on the cross is an exclamation of completion. What was completed or finished? 1. Jesus Finished the Work that God the Father tasked Him To Do Jesus suffered physically like tasting the sour wine, when at that moment He needed water, still He had to finish the work God the Father had sent Him to finish, that is, to provide salvation for the people. By living His entire life without sin, Jesus was able to become the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. The way of salvation has now been made complete. Just as Jesus, we have tasks to finish assigned to us, be it daily, monthly, yearly or a lifetime. A daily taskto complete may it be an assignment, a quiz, a lesson, the laundry or any household chores. A monthly task of paying bills, complying a report, or passing a test after a month of preparations. A yearly task of doing an annual report, of schooling, of reading a book series. Or a lifetime task, as for a child, where we are tasked to learn and to finish school, whether with or without academic distinction, we are to achieve “a graduate” by holding on to that diploma. As a teenager, we are given tasked to help, to do household chores, to be responsible of what is assigned to us. As a young adult, we are tasked to find a job, to return what and how our parents sacrificed to send us to school. As an adult, we are tasked to look after our elderly, to care to sacrifice just as they did for us. All of us face tasks assigned to us, all we have to do is work hard to finished it, whatever the cost, how hard it is or easy it would seem, in the end we could say, ahh.. it is finished! 2. Jesus Achieved VictoryOver Satan Jesus' death on the cross was the victory over the devil. The suffering of Jesus on the cross has finished the task. The dominion over the earth that man will be handed over to the devil when man sinned is to be won back. The authority of Satan will be vanquished - the victory will be won. When Christ comes back again He will take hold of the victory that He won over the devil on Calvary's cross. In Hebrews 2:18, For because He himself has suffered when tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted. Jesus as an earthly man achieved victory over the devil several times, so then we can overcome temptation and will be able to help us when are faced with temptation and to go on sinning. When we received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and trust in Him we have the victory over Satan and our sins. Claim victory in Jesus name! 3. Jesus Suffering Is Finished The reason that Jesus said, "It is finished" is with regard to His own suffering. Jesus spent over thirty yearsupon the earth living among sinful people, suffering from the wrath of men. Jesus endured the final six hours of that suffering on Calvary’s cross. This was now finished. He would no longer have to suffer physically and emotionally because It is finished! Is it nowhere to be found in the Bible that directly say that Jesus suffered everything that we have suffered? Is it impossible? Human as we are, we are prone to comparing our situations. Like, Jesus was a man, and has not experience what women suffer or Jesus was never physically married, or have been in a sexual relationship. So the pains and sufferings we experienced, we tend to ask why? We are looking for a reason and that we are asking God why, why do we have to experience pain, sadness, loss, defeat, sickness. We are asking God why do we have to suffer or when will these sufferings end. The statement it is finished is still unfinished for a middle-aged individual, referring to living a life on earth. Unless death comes knocking, be it by sickness or sudden death, finishing the course is still far from ending. Still more of suffering, still more of life to enjoy, still more to achieve, still more of life to experience, still more of life to work on for life after and for Christians, still more years of serving God in whatever way we can. How I long for that day that I could say, its over now, I have kept the faith, I have finished the race, but it is still a long way only God knows when indeed “it is finished!” Our completeness is not dependent upon a situation or a person. Recognizing this assures us that we are not incomplete and that having the luxuries in the world does not complete an individual, that there is no immediate need for one special someone to be in our life, and that marriage is not a source of completeness, especially for the young ones wanting to get away with the hard-up life they are having. Every one of us is God’s image, needing no completion, but ever beautiful, rare and complete. We cannot ask for more - or have less! God created us and has completely given us what we all need, only we are to recognize, appreciate and be thankful for it. This testimony of completeness has come to a completion, the act of finishing the task given to me which is to give a testimony. Just like in a basketball game, I am passing a successful forward pass caught in bound by a team mate, that is the next speaker for the final saying of Jesus on the cross.

Eighteen

On The Verge

When several years has gone by
The feeling of giving up is nearby
When the feeling of emptiness is always there
Messing around daily making life hard to bear
When the thought that nobody is there to care
The feeling of being alone is beyond compare
When thoughts of having someone
Is haunting for quite some time
When life would have been easier
With somebody to wipe away a tear
When who you are with is sensitive enough
Who would tap your shoulder and be tough
When who is with you is a comfort in life
The load of burden is out of strife
When bitterness and anger reside in this heart
Somebody someday will break it apart
When thoughts of being sick and tired of this life
Stabbing this heart hard with a knife
When nights through the years has gone by
That no more tears is left to dry
When you can no longer find a reason to smile
Because you have been crying for quite a while
When all you have been asking is what is your purpose is life?
And why do we have problems in life?
When answers to these questions abound
But you never found it around
When sanity hangs by a thread
Wishing life is over is a dread
When going away is a relief
Don't give up on this belief
When on the verge of letting go
God's loving grace has always been there years ago!

An Empty Tomb

AN EMPTY TOMB

As christians, we are called Easter people.  Easter is a Christian church festival that celebrates the return of Jesus Christ to life following His death. (Merriam Dictionary). This day commemorates the resurrection of Christ from death, with the proof that the tomb where He lay was empty!  What does an empty tomb mean? Based on the scriptures it tells us:

1.          Don’t Be Afraid.  Human as we are, we fear a lot of things that surround us.  Some of it we are able to overcome, some of it we dread. 

a.         Health – as we grow older or as we lack rest from our daily activities, we face problems in our health.  This fears some of us, as it may cause us expenses, broken relations or even death.

b.        Wounded soul – as individuals, we are prone to sins.  We sometimes fail to reconnect to God and thus cause us wander away from the comforting hand of God.

c.        Emptiness – when we have nothing, maybe money, time, relationship, successes, we may feel we have no value at all in life.

d.        Life’s situation – where we are, and who we’re with is a situation in life we are afraid of.  We may want to escape from reality, because we feel burdened and we cannot deal with it.

2.       Believe He is Not Here – Like Jesus, who was ressurrected from the grave, God will be able to let us out of the tomb of hopelessness, self-centerdness, sinfulness, sickness and our worries. Believe that Jesus did not remain in the tomb so what besets us will not be here.

3.       Go and Tell – Jesus Christ’s resurrection reminds us to share His goodness, His power and victory over death to others!  (with points from HEC’s minister’s sermon – Pastor Nimrod Morales)

In life, we may feel empty, that is, having nothing or the feeling of no value to others or we feel we are valued for just a simple reason and we are buried with problems in life’s  situation that we are in.  Just remember, an empty tomb is Jesus’ triumph over all trials, just so with Christ we will be resuurected from the tomb of problems in life.  Believe and Share.

The CROSS

The cross may be a noun, a verb, a person, a symbolism or whatever we describe it, is a relevant symbol this Holy Week.  As defined, a cross is a long piece of wood with a shorter piece across it near the top that people were once fastened to and left to die as a form of punishment, the cross on which Jesus Christ died.(Merriam Dictionary)

The cross is not just an object, it may mean something to us in a lot of ways:

Pain.  The cross we bear everyday of our lives be it physical, emotional, mental or spiritual is pain.  Whether we experienced a fatigued body from work, overworked mind of thinking or worrying, or spiritually pained of sin. Pain is a prominent cross to bear – a heart ache, a loss, a feeling of being alone and left out. But pain with a purpose is heartwarming. Jesus Christ suffered a lot of pain, but He continued to carry the cross to save us all from sins. Our responsibilities may sometimes seem to be a cross of pain for us, but that is a pain with a purpose.

Guilt. The cross we carry when we keep on sinning. We ask God for forgiveness and yet again we keep on coming back to our old self, with a lot of weight on our hearts and minds for what we have done to others and to God.

Agony. The cross of distress that we may be feeling for the need of help when troubled by daily cares, a difficult situation of not having enough of what we needed, a desperate need of somebody to bear the cross with. Jesus was helped while carrying His cross, a brief relief from agony. That is what we want in life when we are in agony, someone who will carry the cross for us.

Joy.  The cross we bear daily may be a source of happiness to someone, a blessing. Although it may seem absurd to be glad with bearing a cross, but who knows others were looking at how you handled the crosses in your life – with patience, contentment and praises to God.  Joy, that despite of all the problems in life, God is always there to carry our burdens with us.

Hope. The sacrifices we bear as we carry the cross everyday brings hope, a desire with anticipation of a better life, that pain will go away, guilt will end, agony will be over and joy will be obtained. Hope springs eternal. The cross of hope will lead us to our eternal home.

Whatever cross we bear today, believe that we can carry it through! Our crosses, our burdens were lifted at Calvary’s cross…

A Perfect Father

Father's Day: a less celebrated event than Mother's Day, I suppose.  But because our church will be celebrating it this Sunday, I was tasked to give a tribute to fathers.  So I wrote a poem to share to the web before I deliver it on the pulpit... 

A perfect father that is what we imagine to have

Somebody who will give all that we want in life

A person with strength just like Samson imbibe

One who can resist the charm of Pharaoh’s wife.

Just like what we learn in school since our childhood days

Our father should be the pillar of strength through all the years

The example of love, care and inspiration in despair

Someone in this world beyond compare.

A perfect father should bring out the best in his child

Willing to make a colorful robe to show he is proud

Can raise a king out his humble and simple life

A wise father who knows his own child’s strife.

Situations may change our view of a perfect father

When he may not agree to what we are after

Those times we feel that he is not there to care

Since he is not around when we feel  the scare.

The longing to be asked what’s going on in our lives

Is as important as watching the basketball game live

The tap on the shoulder, the noisy talk over dinner

Is the time for us to get closer to every family member.

Someone who is proud of his wife, is a perfect father to have

Who exudes loyalty, support, respect, care and love

We may not expect our father to be perfect in our entire life

But we are sure, there is a perfect father  in heaven above.

Yohoo!!

                           You who saw my cries at night, while others had seen me laugh
                           You who heard my every prayer, while they saw me murmur  
                           You who lie in bed with me, while others are with somebody
                           You who I can hug on so tight, while others failed to do so
                           
                           You who bear witness to every tear I shed through the years
                           You who bear my murmur of giving up
                           You who bear my snore of tiredness
                           You who bear my gasps of pain
                           You who bear witness to my weaknesses
                           You who bear with me...

          Everyone has that endearment to something, be it a toy, pillow or anything.  That something that you can't leave behind, that something that makes your sleep or travel incomplete, that something that gives glee to any situation.
          My niece, Daphne, has her "baby green" for years as her companion  (ehem..given by me in her infancy years) .  
          Mine is Beary, my furry bedtime buddy..(thanks bro Eric for letting me meet him)
     

                                                        my you, my who...yohooo!!!