CHANGE- revised!

i lost the info that i wrote earlier, in the last hour. that's why this is called revised! (oh, boy... thank you, LORD, for teaching me patience). let me get some water first, i learned this from my senior pastor. he used to tell me to get a glass of drinking water prior to counseling session. he knew i would shed some tears during counseling... and especially during my quiet time with GOD. Heart-to-heart time with the LORD!!!:)

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C H A N G E

...put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires... put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
~Ephesians 4:22-24

July is the hardest month for me to go through every year. On July 23, 1976, my father passed away, on July 16, 2001 my mother passed away. On July 24, which is today, is my sister's birthday. Needless to say that i am blessed with six sisters and two brothers.

Today was rather a different day for me. I started my day quite unusual. At around 9:15 a.m. i was talking to a church member about our church matters, ie. building improvements, fund-raising, etc., At 9:30 a.m. i had an appointment with the neighboring church to pick up a package from them that they kindly kept for us from U.P.S. I had the privileged to meet our next door neighbors and seeing and hearing the day-care children sing a birthday song to the birthday celebrant as they had a quick outdoor celebration in front of the main entrance of their church. After this, i received a missed call on my cell phone from my older brother asking me to return his important phone call. I left the office and went to their house to help out. I ate breakfast there and off i went to the christian bookstore to purchase a bible that's on sale to give to a church member. The check out line was long. There was only one salesperson helping all of these customers and he (the cashier) was so very patient to every single person that checked out. Not to mention that there was one customer that had some issues about her transaction so it took a longer time to helped her, she actually had left twice and came back twice after she was waited on the first time. Oh, boy, it was nice to hear this nice, and gentle voice of the salesperson, accompanied with his actions and not losing his "cool" while all of these customers were watching and hearing him deal with his surroundings. That was refreshing for me to observe and i certainly learned from that. While i was waiting and standing, i saw a small soft comfy cloth chair right next to a small table that had booklets that said "HOPE COMFORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT FROM THE BIBLE". That surely grabbed my attention. Since i was waiting anyway, i decided to sit down and read it.
Little did i know that the LORD is going to teach me about CHANGE today. Change in the way i deal with some hyper-sensitive things in my life. Just like the way i deal with my family members when they disapprove of the way i do things. I had a brief discussion with my sister today about her tone of voice when she talks especially when she's stressed out. And i was making a point to her (right after she did it!) to watch her tone of voice when she talks to people even with their pet, maya, a 1 1/2 years old cotton de tulear. For me, what i am learning recently and my constant prayer for myself is to practice, practice, and practice what the LORD is teaching me to do. I learned from a music minister when i went to a worship institute before that "PRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT" and that's what's been embedded in my heart that keeps on beating and it just would never go away... until my heart stopped beating, of course!...

So here we go, how did i apply what i learned first-hand from God's directions today:

1. Ephesians 4:22-24. I called my sister and greeted her on her birthday. I could not recall a time when i ever greeted her on her birthday. You see this sister of mine and i just do not see each other eye-2-eye, we just clash "in a B I G way!!! So many things had happened in the past, when our mother was still living, and she was angry with me and our mom because of the special treatment i got for being the youngest in the family. Although she was actually nice to me when we were in the Philippines, especially when they (siblings) were studying in Manila.

2. John 14:15-17 "If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. I learned from the bible study last night about a person's walk in faith and joy as he goes through the in-between in his life waiting for GOD to move...

3. John 20:14 ...she turned around and saw Jesus standing there...(In the Garden, C. Austin Miles, 1912). The more i go deeper and deeper into HIS WORD the more i am surrendering my will into HIS WILL... Aaahh... the BEAUTY AND SOVEREIGNTY OF HIS MAJESTY. I BELIEVE, LORD!!!