I Asked The Lord That I Might Grow - Sovereign Grace Music

Finding Traces of Grace in the Twilight of Life

By REV. ARNEL TAN STRAIGHT FROM MY HEART "WE live for seventy years or so (with luck we might make it to eighty), and what do we have to show for it? Trouble. Toil and trouble and a marker in the graveyard" -- Psalm 90:10 AGEING is not a choice, ageing graciously is! Psalm 90 is also called the prayer of Moses. It is also the psalm that many people use to prepare themselves for a good exit or a good death.Death is not a popular topic these days. Either we are too numb due to the killing that happens, or, too scared. Well, today, instead of the horror of death, let us see the traces of grace surrounding it. Moses prayed an honest, humble prayer which also portrayed the helplessness of man without God. Life is not only difficult, it is also complex. Yes, endowed with a freedom to choose, but on the other side of it are the consequences brought about by the choices we made. When it comes to choosing, I am afraid I have made more wrong or not-so-wise choices in my life and will still make more... meaning, more consequences to pay and more regrets rather than rewards. Imagine, if one wrong choice is to be paid by 10 years of consequence, you cannot reach the year 70 wearing a smile! That is why Moses prayed... ”Oh teach us to live well, teach us to live wisely and well"(Psalm 90:12 MSG). Life itself, without the bad choices, is already trouble and toil and it is only by God's mercy that we can survive! In the twilight of life, do not fail to see or discover the traces of grace that God wants you to enjoy... the grace not to over-worry for the next generation. Here, we truly see that after all, it was not our effort that caused our survival... it was the faithfulness of God. God’s concerns are much greater than your concern over your children and grandchildren. This does not mean that we become lazy and dreamless, rather, it should make us trust the unlimited God while we humbly accept our limitations... the grace to expect redemption before the final chapter comes to an end. Redemption is not only our chance to make it to Heaven, but also our chance to right the wrongs we made. This, too, is grace... an undeserved opportunity to be a blessing again, and perhaps to leave a better legacy... where people will not have to debate any more if we are worthy to be buried at the "Libingan ng mga Bayani". More traces of grace ahead... like the grace to accept and live with the regrets of life by learning to surrender the scars of the past; to learn from the pain of the present; Godly courage to live with the consequences of our sins; and the wisdom to live life by the moment instead of by days, months and years; the grace to grieve and grow and move on (there is no authentic moving on if there is no grieving. The grace of grieving would mean accepting the fact that something precious has been lost); to humbly avail of the chance to change. In the twilight of life, demanding people add to the loneliness of this chapter. Wisdom during the twilight years would be an attitude like this... to relate more and demand less. At the end of the journey is a prayer to enjoy a closure of every wound with the stitches of mercy. It is hope-giving to know that life is not measured by its beginning but how it ends. Life is not about perfection but about devotion. So, from this point on up to before the curtains close... Live well, live wisely. Pray that we may learn to age graciously! Moses ended well, he said that God replaced those painful years with a last chance to smile, a last chance to make a difference, a last chance to be a blessing to others. Moses took God's offer of these graces and somehow ended well. Remember, it is God who buried Moses, his friend! Indeed, let it be our prayers too. Oh! teach us to live well! Teach us to live wisely and well. Eugene Peterson said it excellently when he wrote these lines "We learn to live well when we learn to live wisely, and we learn to live wisely when we realize that our days on earth are numbered". Happy Ageing graciously!

Prayer

STRAIGHT FROM MY HEART – May 18, 2013

Looking back, since we left the old church, we stepped into an exciting journey of waiting, watching wondering what God is unfolding! The journey brought a lot of inconveniences to all of us, and yet, it also opened the doors to an adventure of faith. My prayer for the coming days is that God’s grace will continue to stir a hunger for adventure in our hearts, and in prayer, we continue to wait and see God’s agenda . . . and expect that God will continue to subtract from our own agenda. If you find yourself praying for this church, I can honestly say that you have now become a part of this family minus the formalities of membership requirements. Please, do continue to pray for the church and the ministers, that together we will have a heart that seeks God! If there is one thing I truly wish to highlight in the life of the church in Acts 2:41-47, it’s the obvious testimony of delight in doing God’s agenda . . . meaning, there is no one in that church doing what they are obliged to do. Willingness to give; willingness to serve; willingness to participate; prevails among the believers. Honestly, there is no need to preach about giving, they are already doing it; no more need to preach about praying, they love praying; . . . here is a vibrant community that hungers for God and is totally enjoying being loved by God. No wonder people, priests, and a lot more are attracted-not to their programs or projects . . . they are attracted to the life of Christ that is present in the lives of the believers! My prayer is that the church which gathers here will not be known as nice people with impressive moralities, but rather, a people who are loving Jesus and enjoys being unconditionally loved by Christ . . . abounding in the grace of God; looking forward to communion with God; and through the love of God, makes a difference in the community! Let us be governed by the Holy Spirit in living out the life of Christ in us in full freedom! Enjoying freedom in Christ, REV. ARNEL C. TAN

Resurrection Hope

By Rev. Arnel Tan “Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance." John 20:1 Today, we look back on a past event called the resurrection. We look at it as something historical, and somehow, void of any sense of relevance for today. Perhaps, due to its familiarity to the Christian faith, many have concluded it as being an event of the past. It is not the denial of the resurrection that kills hope–it is the attitude of indifference towards it. Today, let us prayerfully see the resurrection of Jesus, not only through the lenses of theology and the Christian faith but rather through the lens of present hope and future glory! Let us ask God to restore the wonder of grace and hope in the light that we have a risen Lord! Our gathering today is not a memorial for someone who died…but it is about a Savior who is alive! Our gathering is not about what kind of life Jesus lived…rather, we celebrate the new life we have in Christ that makes us people of blazing hope rather than people knocked out by despair. The life of Christ alive in us guides our path as we tread the journey to becoming more desirous of knowing His power by giving up our addiction to ‘worldly’ power. Today, we savor the powerful truth that life in Christ is a series of wonders and hope. Yes, we are not exempted from the badness of life’s realities but the good news of the gospel and the truth of the resurrection have already defeated all bad news that may come our way. In other words, the resurrection hope is greater than any present-day hopelessness or future gloom. Yes, the body will still battle disease and go through deterioration, death, and decay…yet, the resurrection is our preview that those who believe in the Risen Lord will someday be raised with Him in glory! Let us greet each other with a vibrant greeting of hope. “THE LORD IS RISEN, THE LORD IS RISEN INDEED! Easter means to live in HOPE AGAIN!

Straight From My Heart

Hello! Welcome to our worship service today. It's always a pleasant sight to see God's people gathered in the Lord's day like this to praise and to pray. Our presence here is a symbol of God's grace abounding, from your choice to come to worship and from the time you took your ride or walked to this place God's grace was and is at work. It is The Lord who put the desire in our hearts to be with God's people today, it is also through the working of the Holy Spirit that are all able to worship today. Prayerfully let us savor every moment and engage ourselves to prayer as we listen and seek God. No one should go home empty handed when the heart is hungry for God. As the old Methodist preacher would say only those who are filled with themselves will go home empty in heart. And that those who came empty will go home filled. With this I remember the words of Jesus in the sermon on the mount " Blessed are the poor in spirit....." Let The Lord do the subtraction of the unnecessary in our hearts so we may enjoy simplicity. Our quest in living a simple life is not a simple process at all. God in His grace makes the subtraction process both humorous and hurtful. Somehow the humor makes us bear the hurt and learn the lessons. So I ask you what are the things, people, relationships , opportunities that God is obviously deducting from your cluttered heart ? Well, by faith see God's hand and embrace God's purpose. Believe me though the process is painful the relief of being unloaded with many heavy things ( we put ourselves) is beyond compare. Go through it and don't interfere with God, and see that simplicity is something your guts can't do but His grace can. Pray for Pastor Bobby as he will be leading the team to help the victims of typhoon Pablo. He will focus on this for the next three months. For Pastor David who is in Baguio to visit his family. For Rev. Judy Leones to handle the weekly clinic at the welfare center. And the rest of us who will be doing various ministries this week . Pray for Dr. Dey Brato as he oversee the building project and with him the various teams. As we cross our Jordan let us remember we need God more today that yesterday. Together with the psalmist I say in my heart .... " I was glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of The Lord" Psalm 122:1a Joyfully let us surrender to God and see that His subtraction is paving the way to a simple life by faith. Respectfully, Rev. Arnel C. Tan

Straight From My Heart

As we enter the threshold of a new year, let us do so with a united desire to know God more and to unclutter our lives that we might travel light in this journey of faith. In prayer, we continue to seek God's direction on how to do His will this year. We continue to listen and obey God as we journey with other brethren from various groups in responding to the needs of the people of Compostela Valley. Pray for Pastor Bobby as he leads the team that will do the rebuilding projects. For the next three months, Pastor Bob will be facilitating this effort. Pray that God will open the doors of blessings by which we can share our resources. This year will also be a challenging one to all of us especially in the area of purging our hunger for material things, and in prayer, discerning our involvement in whatever ministry God will lead us. Pray for Pastor David Tan as he speaks to the high school students of Davao Christian High School on their ‘Spiritual Emphasis’ week. Remember me in prayer as I give the message for the first flag-raising ceremony for the year 2013 at the city hall. Along with these activities, let us all remember to pause and pray. Today begins the 52 Sundays of 2013 . . . let us ask for God's grace— that The Lord will grant us the opportunity to be in His house on every Lord's day! Let us make worship and prayer a joyful response to the invitation of God to commune with Him. By the way, the distribution of the our daily bread devotionals for teachers starts this month. Pray that God will touch the lives of teachers and students through this. We will also partake of our first communion in 2013 today. Take this time to reflect and refocus our hearts and minds to The Lord Jesus Christ. As a body of believers, let us celebrate and remember Christ who died and rose from the dead for our sins and for the glory of God and let us have a sense of deep homesickness in longing for the coming of our Lord. Finally, let me express my appreciation to all those who worked hard and sacrificed for the dawn Christmas services and the simple celebration of our 60th anniversary . . . to God be the glory! Let us look forward to see God's direction; let us be on our knees in prayer and as we stand, we march, crossing our Jordan Rivers in full obedience to God's leading. HAVE A PRAYER-FILLED AND HOPE-FILLED NEW YEAR TO ALL! Prayerfully, Rev. Arnel Tan

STOP, LOOK AND LISTEN.... BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD

By: Rev. Arnel Tan ". . . Step out of the traffic. Take a long, loving look on me, your High God. Above politics, above everything." Psalm 46: 10 The Message This psalm finds an emotional welcome in many hearts who are in the midst of the noise and complexity of life. So many take time to take notes and in agreement, many wanted to memorize Psalm 46:10. This is good because it will lead to a deeper realization that this Psalm is so impossible to apply without surrendering to God who, alone, can still us from within. To ‘be still and know that I am God’ requires us to ask God to activate the function of our sanctified imagination. Meaning, in prayer, ask God for an image in your mind that will remind you of His command to be still. One painter would picture God's peace in His painting of a terrible storm . . . and in the midst of it, a calm bird resting. What is your picture of ‘be still’. In my busy work in church and broadcast, ‘be still’ for me means being able to unhurriedly enjoy my brewed coffee amidst the demands and pressures of life and ministry. It is being able to set boundaries and accept my limitations. This would mean not taking a tasked that will disrupt the stillness of my heart in communing with God. Let stillness of heart be expressed in the language of prayer. I need to remind myself that my main job in church is to lead people to God, to pray and step out of the way, lest I cause traffic in their ‘stillness’ and pursuit of knowing God. As a redeemed community, we too must enjoy the use of our sanctified imagination and picture what it is to be still and know God. In the midst of our load of ministry, we can have a ‘still’ heart flowing with grace and in God's presence, touching lives of others . . . And those who we encounter are attracted to our unique peace. In quietness of heart, the Lord develops a godly confidence in facing our daily pressures. When we are in prayer as a congregation, it is here that we are most not in control . . . yet it is here that we are consciously close to the One who is in charge. Being still before God is an assault to our pride and busy lives. We would rather do something than be still . . . that's why God commands us to hush, cease striving and bow down to Him, exposing ourselves to His presence in worship and enjoying friendship with Him in prayer. Psalm 46:10 must not only be a therapy . . . it must be a lifestyle that slows us down that we may rest from performance and perfectionism. Being still before God is a royal invitation from God to see things from His perspective. Upon receiving the instruction from God's word, let us exercise a sanctified imagination to picture how this looks like and then let us avail of His grace to apply this into the mainstream of life where stress is overwhelming! Amen.

HEART REVEALING PRAYER

"I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower with inner strength through His Spirit," Ephesians 3:16 Listen to a prayer and you can somehow glimpse what's inside the heart. Take the time to hear your own prayers, maybe you can write them down and then visit them again after sometime. It is here that you will discover your spiritual state. Your prayers unveil the depth of your heart. It is interesting to see that through our prayers we somehow see, not wrong prayers, but shallow prayers. Here we are made aware that the kind of requests we ask God are more often self-serving and not centered on seeking God's glory. If you find that your prayers are too shallow, don't be disappointed . . . we all start here. Keep praying, keep calling, keep enjoying the presence of God . . . soon you will see spiritual depth in your prayers. When prayers are no longer offered to serve our purposes; when praying for others aside from our close family circles are desired; when seeking God is our main preoccupation in prayer, then we are leaving the shallow waters. Paul prayed for inner strength by the power of the Holy Spirit. Honestly, I don't find this in my prayers. To be candid about it, only when I am in an emergency or in dire need do I realize the need for inner strength. A whole lot of my prayers reveal my concern for the external welfare rather than what's really happening inside. Thank God for His tolerance! I think the application to all of the lessons on prayer is to actually start PRAYING! Yes, shallow prayers at first . . . then we enter into God-centered prayers. Whenever we pray, God is doing something that only He can do. Remember, this happens every time you and I pray. God is relating to us, sustaining, cleansing, directing, convicting. Yes, prayer changes things . . . but more than that, God is changing the one who prays! Soon you and I will see some changes in our prayers. Instead of just asking things for ourselves, we now desire to want what God wants us to have! Let us all be fervent in prayers, for when we pray, God is doing a miracle of transformation. Listen to your prayers and see your heart! Prayerfully, Rev. Arnel Tan

What Exactly Did Abraham Sacrifice - Conclusion Part2

The moment you surrender to Him, then you get your surprise, the moment you said “Your will be done,” then you would say “His way are higher than my ways.” How do you think Abraham hug Isaac, before or after they climbed mount Moriah? If Abraham escaped and did not obey God, He can hug Isaac, control on Isaac. A tight hug can mean control, or a tight hug means, liberation from control. Which hug do you do? Do you hug someone with controlling heart? Or hug someone with liberating hug? The days of Abraham are numbered, he did not only see Isaac, He saw his grandson, and his great grandson. How God is so good, when you released these to Him, He let you know that this is the only obstacle why you can’t enjoy these because you are holding this. Blessings are now enjoyed when we are controller no more.

What Exactly Did Abraham Sacrifice - Conclusion Part1

When a controller releases control he becomes calm. When a controller stops controlling and allowing God to do so in His time even to the next one hundred years , in His ways, not in my fast lane ways, that even today like instant coffee, conversion, maturity, discipleship is made instant by long lectures. Not only in His time, in His way, but for His glory. The Last part of Abraham journey of faith, it was a struggle for control and we noticed from the scripture that it was not Abraham that was a controller, Sarah too, it was not also Sarah who was a controller but everyone in the Bible who will do things their ways is a controller.

PRAYING BELIEVERS

“I believed in you, so I prayed, “I am deeply troubled, LORD.” Psalm 116:10 (NLT)

Prayer has its foundation in our faith in God. It is not a message sent to outer space without knowing who will receive it. Prayers are messages believers send to God . . . in faith that God will listen and in His wisdom, answer our prayers. Such is the privilege of those who believe they can pray. It is not a privilege for the few . . . rather, prayer is the privilege that few believers avail of. How sad!

The Psalmist soon realized that being related with God by faith does not at all exempt us from troubles . . . not just troubles, but deep troubles. In general terms he puts them in one category labeled as “deep troubles”. There are no details given to us about the troubles that beset the psalmist. One thing is sure, we are not exempted from it. Rather than digging for details, let us see how he confronted his troubles. The Psalmist PRAYED!

Let our faith in God lead us to commune with Him in fervent prayers. Here, let us see His hand over our situations and His embrace around our fears and His abundant grace overshadowing our failures and inadequacies. No more denying, no more pretending that we are not affected. Send your concerns to the throne of grace where the Lord meets the needs of the helpless! In God’s wisdom, He may choose to spare us or grant us His assuring presence as we go through the pain allotted to us.

If praying does not guarantee the result I desire, why bother to pray? We continue to pray because we are shortsighted and loudmouthed children of God. We pray so we can experience deep faith enriched by calamities that sweetens our celebration. We pray for we are weak in facing the challenges and forgetful to remember God in our success. One can say he believes and miss the privilege of talking to His Savior. On the other hand, the one who believes is daily nourished and, moment to moment, refreshed by his nearness to God using the privilege of prayer.

Praying believers are not only saved . . . they are walking close with the Savior. They hide and run to the Rock of their safety. “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I” is the psalmist’s longing. It is not always ‘bail me out’ and ‘spoil me with your blessings LORD’, rather, ‘draw me nearer to Yourself’ is the deep prayer of the believer. Praying believers are mature believers. They have different appetites and attitudes. It is not their perfection that drives them to call on God . . . it is their vulnerability and clumsiness that leads them to desperately call. This is what the Psalmist meant by “I believed in You, so I prayed.”

BLESSINGS FLOW WHEN A CONTROLLER LETS GO

"Don't lay a hand on the boy!" the angel said. "Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son." Gen. 22:12 NLT

The Lord is eager and willing to bless His children. We do not notice, much more, enjoy the blessings of God that is already here because of our addiction to control . . . doing things our way; taking full charge of something only God can do, for a controlling heart is demanding rather than grateful. It nourishes one's wound and is deliberately inconsiderate of the wounds inflicted upon others. Sufficient, superior, silent are some costumes that a controller wears to stay in control.

It is here that spiritual surgery is urgently needed! God is the Surgeon, he cuts so we can be healed. There will be no recovery when surgery is not performed. For Abraham, God asked for Isaac. In order for Abraham to enjoy Isaac fully, he must relinquish his grip on the boy. We don't enjoy God's blessings because we grip (control) too hard. Honestly, it feels good to be always in control . . . at least to the controller. Embrace turns to choke; mentoring turns to spying; disciplining turns to caging when we don't recover from the addiction to control!

Religion takes over obedience. Quickly, it becomes a cadence of legalism at the tune of our marching command. God must intervene without violating our free will. If not for God's intervention, the controller will not even know that he is such. Thank God for His blessings of intervention . . . we find ourselves exposed, naked and for the first time, admitting we are not in control. This is a sweet music of grace, a beautiful dance, not a march . . . an opportunity for the possibility of true liberation.

At the end, Abraham did not lose Isaac the way he was slowly losing him as a ‘Controller’ dad. At Mt. Moriah, Abraham stepped back and God took over. It was there that he finally offered His addiction to control. It was there Abraham savored the blessing he almost did not fully enjoy unless He obeyed God and let go of his version of order into God's Holy Chaos. He found himself humbled and blessed! A disturbing journey to deliverance indeed. Remember, when God disturbs, we become desperately dependent upon Him to deliver us from our own self-set order. It is in this rare moment of releasing control that God’s Holy Chaos becomes a blessing!

What Exactly Did Abraham Sacrifice - Part2

Abraham did not learn to lie but benefitted from his lies, because of the beautiful, supermodel, wife the king began to give him gifts. The God in heaven said ah, ah, the man of faith is a controller, the man of God is shrewd, he’s beginning to like it. It’s beginning to be like a lifestyle. A controller will use any means to stay in control.

What Exactly Did Abraham Sacrifice - Part1

Somewhere in the story is a lesson for Abraham, I would like to believe that the test is not for God but for Abraham. A little information will help, at this point in time Abraham is no longer young. Isaac came to their lives, Abraham was already a hundred years old. Can you imagine for the first time God gave Him, and just when he is enjoying, just when you have concrete plans, just when it looks like forever and just when the same voice who promised the boy, is the same voice who said “give him back to Me”, believe me the struggle is not easy.

Manager or Minister - Part2

Some people use guilt and it may cause people to perform but deep inside it can cause distance beyond repair. Some people use gifts, load someone with gifts and he cannot say no anymore. By the way, what is our motive when we give? Why are we so kind? One time my host and I were eating dinner and my host said I’m always kind to the pastors. Eat, eat, then he said eat, eat so that God will be kind to me. Why are you so kind? Why do you give gifts? If the reason is to bully with the expectation of change, with the expectation that if I give, he will realize that God loves him, stop it. The love of God is the only love that can transform a man.

Manager or Minister - Part1

When it comes with our relationship with God and connected with that is our relationship with others we ask the question, are you acting as a manager or a minister? Peter, with his dialogue with Jesus gets very down to earth, wants to divert the topic and he said to Jesus “What about him?” What is the answer of Jesus to Peter? Very brutally frank, Jesus tells Peter without protocol, direct truth, sharp, pierce to Peter’s heart “Peter if I want him to live until I come back, what is that to you?" Peter your job is not to manage John, your job is to follow me.

The Truth About The Second Coming of Christ - Part2

Worldy saying says “when the cat is away the mouse will play”. Because the Lord's second coming is somewhat long to wait, we'd rather do anything that are pleasing in our sight and enjoy sinning and then at the last minute become holy. Is that true with you? A God-honoring life is not doing good works because you are afraid that the boss will catch you play but, holiness should be our lifestyle.

The Truth About The Second Coming of Christ - Part1

Every new year , every TV station invites people who can predict the future, they told us many predictions on what it will be in each year because you know what, people are addicted on what is ahead, that’s the problem with people, they want to be ahead of what will happen about tomorrow. There are also predictions that days will end on December 2012. But for us Bible believing Christians, the end of the physical world is after the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

SAVED BUT NOT SAFE

“The Lord said, “Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now.” Acts 9:11

Ananias no doubt is a true child of God who truly believes in Jesus as his Lord. His soul is already delivered from darkness and sin and his destiny is to be with the Lord in eternity. Yet here on earth, the Lord needed to deliver Ananias . . . not from sin but from being a safe and selfish servant of God. To be a Christian in those times required a bold step from your safe zone. Initially, Ananias took that step when he followed Jesus. God needed to push him a little bit more into the water of obedience. It is God’s commitment to lead us to live an obedient life, eventually becoming an obedient church.

The road to obedience is not a safe road. The only guarantee is that God promised to walk with us in this unchartered road of obeying His will. For Ananias, his assignment was to minister to Saul, the butcher of Christ’s followers. This time, Ananias thought of arguing his case before the Lord, which the Lord graciously heard. At the end of his dialogue with Jesus, Ananias chose to obey! The Lord first needed to disturb Ananias’ safe life, then, as he was jolted from his comfort zone, the Lord gave His direction to him. Whenever we ask for God’s direction in our lives, we are also asking for Divine disturbance! Without God’s disturbance, I doubt if we will want His direction?

Unknown to Ananias, God was delivering him from living an uneventful life. As he obeyed God, Ananias crossed his Jordan to the other side. [It is in obeying that we become more dependent on God; more sensitive to listen to His guidance; more walking by faith than by sight.] From the moment Ananias stepped out from his home to step into the apartment of Paul, he was being delivered from the safe life and radically ushered into a God-ordered chaos! And from the moment he stepped out from Paul’s abode, Ananias tasted a deep sense of God’s peace and God’s presence that originally came from God’s disturbance. Disturbed, directed and delivered! As Christ’s follower, you and I have our own assignments from God. Expect a Holy kind of disturbance that you and I might experience a deep Holy fear of God eventually leading us to plunge into the ‘unchartered’ road of obedience. It is not always safe but surely, this is the pathway of the saved! “Oh Lord, from the desire of being so safe, deliver me; from the addiction to always be in control of my life, release me.” Amen.


Prayerfully,

REV. ARNEL TAN