Finish the Race

6:14 AM / Posted by Bhebhe Lacson / comments (0)

The Barcelona Olympics of 1992 provided one of track and field's most incredible moments.
Britain's Derek Redmon had dreamed all his life of winning a gold medal in the 400-meter race, and his dream was in sight as the gun sounded in the semifinals at Barcelona. He was running the race of his life and could see the finish line as he rounded the turn into the backstretch. Suddenly he felt a sharppain go up the back of his leg. He fell face first onto the track with a torn right hamstring.
Sports Illustrated recorded the dramatic events:
As the Medical attendants were approaching, Redmond fough tohis feet. "It was animal instinct", he would say later. He set out hopping in a crazed attempt to finish the race. When he reached the stretch, a large man in a T-shirt came out of the stands, hurled aside a security guard and ran to Redmond, embracing him. It was Jim Redmond, Derek's Father. "You don't have to do this, "he told his weeping son. "Yes I do," said Derek. "Wel, then," said Jim, "we're going to finish this together."
And they did. Fighting off security men, the son's head sometimes buried in his father's shoulder,they stayed in Derek's lane all the way to the end, as the crowd gaped, then rose and howled and wept.
Derek didn't walk away with the gold medal, but he walked away with an incredible memory of a father who, when he saw his son in pain, left his seat in the stands to help him finish the race.

APPLICATION:

That's what God does for us. When we are experiecing pain and we're struggling to finish the race, we can be confident that we have a loving Father who won't let us do it alone. He left His place in heaven to come alongside us in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. "I am with you always," says Jesus, "to the very end of the edge" (Matt. 28:20)

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The Chicken and the Pig

5:56 AM / Posted by Bhebhe Lacson / comments (0)

A Chicken and a pig were walking down the street one day and noticed some por children who looked as i they hadn't eaten anything for days.

Moved with compassion, the chicken said to the pig, "I have an idea! Let's give those children a nice breakfast of ham and eggs."

The pig contemplated the chicken's suggestion and said, "Well, for you, that would involve a small sacrifice; but for me, t would involve total commitment!"


APPLICATION:

When Jesus came to save us from sin, He knew that it would cost Him His life. He went to the cross anyway to offer to us eternal life. His commitment to us was total.

Like the pig n the story, our commitment to Christ must be more than small sacrifie of our time, energy, and money. It must involve our whole life - all that we are. When we come to Christ, we must be willing to live out the same totoal commitment that Jesus modeled. Jesus said "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" Matt. 16:24

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The Cookie Snatcher

12:59 AM / Posted by Bhebhe Lacson / comments (0)

While waiting at the airport terminal for her plane to begin boarding, a woman sat reading a newspaper. Earlier, she had purchased a package of cookies in the airport snack shop to eat after she got on the plane. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the man sitting next to her was eating a cookie. She looked down and noticed that her package of cookies had been opened and the man was eating them.
The woman couldn't believe that the man would have such nerve as to eat her cookies. So that she wouldn't lose all of her cookies to the man, she slowly reached over, took a cookie, and ate one herself. To her amazement, the man continoued to eat more cookies. Getting more and more irritated, the woman removed all but one cookie from the package and ate them.
At that point, the man reached down and took the last cookie. Before eating it, though, he broke it in half and left half of the cookie for the woman. This made the woman so angry, she grabbed the empty package with half cookie and crammed it in her purse.
Then, to her shock, she noticed that there in her purse was her unopened package of cookies.
APPLICATION:
Sometimes when we judge or condemn other, we end up judging or condemning ourselves. The Bible speaks of this in Luke 6:37: "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned." Have you ever been too quick to pass judgment on another? When we do that, we put ourselveds in a precarious and often embarrasing position. Check out all the facts, ask questions, listen carefully, and give people the benefit of the doubt.

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The Society Woman

12:46 AM / Posted by Bhebhe Lacson / comments (0)

A good-looking society woman was invited to an expensive fund-raising dinner in New York City. she was seated next to a walthy lawyer. During the meal, they had a chance to get to know each other and were having a good time. when the meal was finishe, the lawyer leaned over and asked the woman if she would go to bed with hi for $10,000. The woman blushed but said that she would. The man then asked her if she would go to bed with him for $10. The woman was shocked and said, "What kind of a woman do you think I am?" The man responded, "My dear, we have already established that. Now we are merely deciding on the price."
APPLICATION
What's your price? What would it take to casue you to sell out? We already know who we are. We are sinners who have been saved by faith in Christ. None of us is immune to sinfu behavior. Even Paul the apostle stumbled and fell. Peter, when faced with possible persecution at the time of the Crucifixion, denied Christ three times. He had his price.
Both Peter and Paul grew in their faith, though, becoming a strong and courageous. Bot of them died as martyrs because no amount of money, no amount of pain could cause them to turn their backs on their Lord.
Some of us are fair-weather Christians. We stick with Christ until something better comes up, or until the going gets rough. Our goal as Christians is to allow Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to make us into the kind of people who are strong, firm, and steadfast in faith. (See I Peter 5:10)

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The Greatest Hitter in the World

6:34 PM / Posted by Bhebhe Lacson / comments (0)

A little boy was overheard talking to himself as he strutted through the backyard, wearing his baseball cap and toting a ball and bat. "I'm the greatest hitter in the world," he announced. Then he tossed the ball into the air, swung at it, and missed. "Strike One!" he yelled. Undaunted, he picked up the ball and said again, "I'm the greatest hitter in the world!" He tossed the ball into the air. When it came down, he swung again and missed. "Strike Two!" he cried.

The boy then paused a moment to examine his bat and ball carefully.

He spit on his hands and rubbed them togeter. He straightened his cap and said once more, "I'm the greatest hitter in the world!" Again he tossed the ball up in the air and swung at it. He missed. "Strike Three!!!Wow!" the boy exclaimed. "I'm the greatest pitcher in the world!"

APPLICATION
Your attitude determines how circumstances impact your life. The little boy's circumstances hadn't changed, but his optimistic attitude prompted him to give an encouraging meaning to what had happened.

What difficult time are you going through right now? Can you do something to change ti? If you can, don't wait another day - make the needed changes. If you can't change the circumstance, however, change your attitude - you'll discover that circumstances won't have the last word.



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Beauty and the Beast

8:18 AM / Posted by Bhebhe Lacson / comments (0)

Do you remember the gripping scene in the animated Disney film "Beauty and the Beast" when the Beast was about to confess hi love to Belle? Cogsworth looked on the euphoric anticipation, for if Belle pledged her love to the beast, presto! The spell that hung over the castle like dark, dank cloud of doom would finally be broken.

As she clasped hands with the Beast, Belle asked permission to gaze into the magical mirror in order to see her father. Viewing her father in obvious distress, she dropped the mirror and gasped at his plight. "I've got to go to him," she sobbed.

"Go to him, then," the Beast responded. Those four words spoke volumes.

Cogsworth later walked into the room with an air of triumphant expectancy as he declared to the Beast "I must say that things are going swimmingly,"

All hope vanished into thin air, however, when the Beast uttered the most significant line in the film. "I let her go," he confessed to his enchanted little clock.

As the reality of those words sunk in, Cogsworth shook himself and asked, "You did what?"

Can you imagine the impact of the Beast's admission? to let her go was to plunge his kingdom into another season of a cursed existence. To let her go meant that all hope was lost of ever becoming normally human again. To let her go meant that he forfeited his last, best chance of ever being loved. but he let her go. Why?

"I had to," he said. "I love her." the besat understood that a lover does not hold the object of his love hostage to his possessive grasp.

APPLICATION:

Perhaps a similar scene played itself out in heaven when God let go the beautiful angel Lucifer, who rebelled against God, determined to go his own way. "You did what?" Michael or Gabriel or some other angel might have asked, realizing that this action would bring untold misery and suffering upon God's creation.

What about you and me? though God could force us to love Him, He lets us go. " I love them too much," He says. God loves us and allows us to go our own way, knowing full well that misery and suffering could be the result. Like Beauty, however, we have the option to come back, to change misery and suffering into joy and celebration. Whenever one person come back to our loving heavenly Father, the angels rejoice

Luke 15:10
10Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

But how can we go and leave on our own way -- when we know very clearly that we can do nothing without Christ... there is this Tagalog song entitled "Babalik kang muli" very true, If we really someone, if we really love God and we did accept Him as our Lord and Saviour, no matter what, in any way -- the end of our Journey will always be with God

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The Bear in the Cave

7:47 AM / Posted by Bhebhe Lacson / comments (0)

Two adventurous teenage boys who were good friends were out spelunking (exploring caves) when they found what appeared to be huge bear tracks deep inside a long, cavernous tunnel. They bravely decided to keep going, but they moved ahead slowly and with extreme caution, keeping their eyes and ears open in case they actually encountered a bear.

Suddenly, from the darkness behind a rock jumped the biggest, meanest-looking grizzly bear they had ever seen. Standing squarely in front of them, the bear beat on his chest and roared like a lion, sending a terrible sound echoing off the walls of the cave. Scared to death, the two boys decided they had better run for their lives. They immediately turned to make a dash for daylight.

Just the, one of the boys dropped to the floor and started untying his hiking boots. He whipped the boots off, jammed on his running shoes, and began trying the laces.

His exaperated friend yelled at him, "Come on, man! Let's get out of here! why in the world are you changing shoes? We don't have much of a chance of outrunning that bear anyway!"

Lunging to his feet and starting to run, the first boy replied, "I don't have to outrun the bear. All I have to do is outrun you."


APPLICATION:

Do you ever feel like your friends treat you like bear bait? When the going gets rough, they bail out on you. They remain friends with you until it costs them something -- then they ditch you.

One of the great things about having Christ as your friend is knowing that He will never leave you nor forsake you

Matthew 28:20
20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Hebrews 13:5
5Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

He is the friend who is not only willing to lay down His life for you, but He has done exactly that.

John 15:13
"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends"

ONLY JESUS CAN BE YOUR TRUE AND FAITHFUL FRIEND - He is the friend whom you can really rely on, Most of the time our friends put us down, forget about us, sometimes they are fair-weather friends, only remembers when they needed you, sometimes they leave you hanged.... Jesus is not the same I hope my dear readers if you haven't experience God's Friendship, you may be able to find Him here..... try JESUS!

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The Cliff

5:23 AM / Posted by Bhebhe Lacson / comments (0)

AUGUST 2008
TRANSFERED


I just received a phone call from our attorney sending us the good news that my petition was granted!! I have to asked her several times just to confirm that I did'nt heared it wrong!! haha.. I can't believe that it was really approved.. if I would look back on the last 2 years accomplishing my documents and gathering proofs, I really can't believe my hardships was not put to waste! (not to mention the financial expenses!!! haha) and the first thing that I thought about was! Whew! God is really faithful!! He really is! thinking about this "petition thing" was very tiring, and I can say that my faith was also tested during the process, I even doubted God would grant my prayers, so everytime there was a court hearing for the presentation of proofs and testimonies, I would call or text my close friends and church mates to pray for it. They would comfort me and tell me, "God has answered your prayer! so don't worry.." It's very difficult to trust like a child! I would say to myself, yes God will answer my prayers but most of the time I can't stop thinking what if it turned out to be the other way.. but I think that is what God is teaching me, to just trust in Him!! I would like to share this illustration I read from my favorite christian book:

The Cliff
A man named jack was walking along a steep cliff one day when he accidentally got too close to the edge and fell. On the way down he grabbed a branch which temporarily stopped his fall. He looked down and to his horror saw that the canyon fell straight down for more than a thousand feet. He couldn't hang onto the branch forever, and there was no way for him to climb up the steep wall of the cliff.
So Jack began yelling for help, hoping that someone passing by would hear him and lower a rope or something. "HELP! HELP!" Is anyone up there? HELP!" He yelled for hours, but no one heard him. He was about to give up when he heard a voice.
"Jack. Jack . Can you hear me?"
Yes, yes! I can hear you. I'm down here!"
"I can see you, Jack. Are you all right?"
"Yes, but... who are you, and where are you?"
"I am the Lord, Jack. I'm everywhere."
"The Lord? You mean, GOD?"
"That's me."
"God, please help me! I promise - if You'll get me down from here, I'll stop sinning. I'll be a really good person. I'll serve you for the rest of my life."
"Easy on the promises, Jack. Let's just get you down from there; then we can talk. Now, here's what I want you to do. Listen carefully."
'I'll do anything Lord. Just tell me what to do."
"Okay. Let go of the branch."
"What?" "I said, let go of the branch. Just trust me. Let go."
There was a long silence. Finally Jack yelled, "HELP, HELP! IS ANYONE ELSE UP THERE????"

Yes, sometimes my faith is shaken because of what is happening around me, but God remains faithful all the time. Sometimes when we face trials that we know are beyond our capabilities, that is the only time we start to trust in the Lord, I may be guilty on this but God didn't failed me, He still answered my prayers, great is His Faithfulness!! I bring back all the glory to Him!

How about you? are your problems seems letting you down?? Just trust in the Lord.
"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

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