Fasting 2012.

Together with my wife and kids, I begin the year with a FAST (the kids are on a vegetable and TV fast).

Yes, a fast.

Emptying the stomach, getting hungry, and sacrificing. But for what?

  For GOD to feed our soul, fill our spirits, and freshen our faith.

  For GOD to mold us. 

  For US to seek HIM.

  For US to hear HIM. 

People in the Bible fasted.  They fasted to win battles or to confirm a certain leading from God.  They also fasted when they were repenting or mourning.

These are all great.  But every beginning of the year I fast to follow Jesus’ example.  He fasted to SEEK GOD.

Jesus was about to begin his mission to save mankind, and the first act he did was not to move forward, but to take a step back and retreat.  He fasted.

And  HE came out of that fast in the power of the spirit (Luke 4:14), ready to take on His mankind-saving mission. 

So yes, I begin the year with a fast.  Not to get breakthroughs. Not to get my prayers answered.

But to GET GOD.

New year resolutions, faith goals, things to do, things to change, things to have, and so many more as we start the year.  Nothing wrong with these but I just realized that we normally start the year with things we don’t have.

Why don’t we start the year with something that we have!

             TIME!

The use of our time could determine satisfaction and fulfillment, not just for 2012, but for the rest of our lives.  That if used properly and wisely, we can conclude that we really lived our lives to its fullest.

We all have time.  We just don’t use it wisely.  We spend it, kill it, waste it.  

Moses, one of our Bible heroes who had his own ups and downs, very much like us, had something to teach us when he prayed to God  ”Teach us to number our days aright…” Psalm 90:12.  He was talking about a particular mindset that we should use when we use our time.

He gives us the idea that our days are actually numbered! And yes, if we look at our priorities, schedule, decisions, even dreams & aspirations with the glasses or lens or “shades” that our days are numbered, then it will definitely change the ball game.

This will direct us to what is most valuable to us, then we can invest our time properly & wisely.

So this new year, wear shades!

Look at life with lens of this perspective or should I say truth, that our days are numbered.

My youngest daughter, second of my four kids.  Loves God, pretty, caring, and responsible.

She used to like pink, then purple, and now she has a lot of favorite colors.

Julles used to have a best friend and now she doesn’t, because, as she unequivocally told me a while ago, “she has a lot of best friends”.

I’m now at her ballet class, and will be here for about two hours.

I never liked ballet.  I’m here, though, for Julia.

She just told me (one hour ago) that she wants “dancing” as a career/profession.  

Seeing her now after that very important remark made me think of that cliché parents usually say : “I don’t know how you’ve grown up to be so…smart or pretty or responsible, etc.”

I totally disagree with that.  NOT ME.

I know exactly how my daughter came up with that aspiration. I know exactly how she is growing.

I know when she made the decision to follow God.  I know her secrets (and crushes).  I was there when she became a “young woman” biologically.  I can say that I’m always “there” for her.

So, dancing?! Yes, maybe. It’s between Julia and God. I’m just here.

As a father, I take hold of her God-given direction.

As the man of the house, I sit in her ballet class, enduring…and enjoying.

What was supposed to be a normal ride, turned out to be a total disaster for me. Low energy, rock bottom body fuel, zilch on power.

Problem: Pre-workout nutrition.

I only had a cookie before starting the ride.

At just 25% into the ride, I was already “out”.  I tried to boost myself with a power bar, and then a power gel, but to no effect.  Halfway through the ride, we stopped at a carinderia in Naic, Cavite,  and I ate lugaw with egg. Still inadequate.

All efforts were too late.  It was a horrific ride. 

My life lesson: I cannot dive into my ride/day without the proper “pre-workout/pre-day nutrition”.  

Similarly, what would normally be a full and fulfilling day could end up a total fiasco (like my bike ride) if my pre-day nutrition would be composed of:

*The morning paper – full of issues that will frustrate me

*AM Radio – hmmmm, still full of issues highly opinionated discussions that would make my head spin

*FM Radio – Well, this isn’t so bad, especially if I like the music, but the positive effect on me is short-lived.

No wonder many end the day so stressed and burned out.  Problem? Pre-day nutrition.

Solution: God and His Word.

Enduring. Refreshing. Comforting. Encouraging. Inspiring. Rewarding. 

Psalm 1:2-4 His delight in in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.  He is a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.  Whatever he does prospers.

We came to the hospital late afternoon, and she got into the delivery room by 7pm.  And so there I was, just waiting and praying.  I fixed the hospital room where my wife and youngest son, Juan, will stay.  By 8pm I was finished and was on my way to the delivery room.

Outside the delivery room, there was no one in that hallway.

It was just me, my Bible, notebook, a Snickers bar and my favorite shandy. 

At that point I was reminded of something about family. That of all our relationships after God… it’s really family that matters.

All throughout the pregnancy of my wife, it was us as a family going through it with her.  

The regular OB checkups, we go as a family.  

The ultrasounds, we go as a family.  

When we brought my wife to the hospital, we were a whole family going inside the emergency room! 

Whatever season we are in, be it an ecstatic one, a lonely one, or a normal one, family is there.  Family is who you can really count on. 

Family.

I thank God for family.

Read my Bible, prayed, ran, cooked brunch for the family, woke up everyone and whaalaah! A good family brunch, looking forward to a good table discussion.

While everyone was sluggish, I was all pumped up.  I started the family brunch conversation by praising my eldest daughter, Andee, for her good final exam results. Not much reaction from my wife and kids, so I followed up with a birdbrained-trying hard reply…

Me: “Well I think girls are more intelligent than boys”  (now this woke them up!)

Wife: “Not really, maybe when they’re younger they seem to be unintelligent, because they just like playing”

Youngest daughter: “Yah dad”

Son: No reaction!

Andee: “I think boys and girls are equal, men are just tamad!“

Whew. Men are just tamad. My daughter was talking about studying and school, but I also realized a relevant truth to that comment.

Because there are men who are “tamad”… we now have a fatherless generation growing without the love, affection and discipleship of fathers.  No wonder we children lacking vision and direction.

Because there are men who are “tamad“… we see women trying to get security, attention, love and affection from so many other sources apart from their husbands.

BUT…what if?

What if men fully fulfill their roles as husbands and fathers.  Not bumming around, taking responsibility over marriage, family, work and society.

Well, this is a big “what if”.

And the answer starts with me.

I was on my way to dedicate the condo unit of a friend which happens to be beside a Casino-Hotel.  My wife and I, together with some friends, were invited to have lunch first inside the Casino’s coffee shop before proceeding to the condo unit.

And whaaaalaaah! As I entered the Casino proper, 2 security personnel stopped me and got my Bible.  It was not allowed.  So I gave my Bible wondering what the heck is this about?! I didn’t want to make a big deal of it and found my way to the coffee shop.

On the way out, now headed for the condo dedication,  I got my Bible back and asked the manager for the reason.  And here’s the verbatim reply…

“Sir nakaka-sagabal po ang Bible sa casino” (The Bible is a hindrance or impediment/obstruction inside the casino)

Whew!  I was dumbfounded.  The Bible suddenly became a deterrent, a limiting factor inside the Casino.  A restriction that limits the freedom of the people playing inside.  Sad.

My experience is different though.  When I started to read, understand and do what the Bible says, it gave me freedom!  Freedom to pursue the full and fulfilling life God has planned for me. The deception nowadays is that people think that freedom is freedom to do the forbidden. No wonder many end up in dilemmas with dreadful consequences.

Ultimately, the choice is ours.

Will God’s Word be a limiting factor to “the life” that we want?

Or our ticket to freedom to “the Life” He planned all along?

Yes SEX.

Why not?

I believe there is a cultural deception that is happening and the enemy is capitalizing on it.  Yes, sex is, and should be, private, but this doesn’t mean that we should not talk about it or teach it.  Our religious culture today has somehow relegated sex to “taboo” status, to the point that the very people and institution that should teach, discuss and establish the right mindset on this matter are not doing so.

While we remain silent on this subject, satan is rolling out his massive information campaign through movies, TV (including kiddie channels), magazines, billboards, and the like.

Ergo, we should talk about it!

Husbands and wives should talk about sex.  They should be the ones exchanging ideas, thoughts, insights and desires on this.  If spouses don’t, men will resort talking about it with their friends (and who knows what happens after that…) and worse, with other women.

Parents should discuss sex with their children. Fathers (especially) and mothers should be the primary teachers of sex to their children.  We should impart Biblical mindsets and perspectives on this matter, explaining that God created it, and that it is good and great in the context of marriage.

The church should be teaching it.  While this might weird out some people, YES, the church should teach sex.  Because God created sex, it will be fantastic — when done in a godly context.   Who else can teach its purpose and power but the very institution that God ordained to teach and preach His Word?

So yes, let’s talk about sex.

Flowers, chocolates, teddy bears, fine dining, candles…the works!  Driving along EDSA from Quezon City to Alabang, I noticed that the roads going to malls, restaurants, hotels and motels were clogged.

Yes, love was in the air.  No fighting of spouses, no opinions clashing, no eyebrows raised, no shouting between lovers. But what about the day after valentines?  Or days, weeks and months after V-Day?

“Love“, a mis-used, abused, and over-used word today.  People see it as that tingly-wingly, magical, spark-causing feeling.  Well, these feelings are great, but truthfully, for these feelings to last, it has to be founded on a stronger kind of love.  Reality will hit days after valentines day, when we realize that lovers or married people are not one and the same, and people will have their differences.  What will sustain our “love” is another kind of LOVE.  The true-blue-real love coming from God himself.

The Bible spoke of this love, in fact repeatedly it says that God’s love “endures forever”.  This is the foundation of all love that we can give and experience…God’s love.  Without it, all the love coming from us and all the love that we receive will just be temporary. And yes, even that tingly-wingly-magical-spark causing feeling.

But how do we really start the year STRONG?  To conquer those wins, blessings, and favors?

The church just concluded a weekend preaching series entitled STRONG.  It was a study on certain events in the life of Joshua, who was an in-your-face, no-holds-barred, action-based military commander in the Old Testament. When Israel entered a new season, an era of conquering, Joshua was God’s appointed leader. Their time of whining and grumbling under Moses was over. It was time to succeed.

The Israelites did conquer. They won over their enemies, witnessed God’s amazing miracles, and experienced God fighting with and for them.  The people became strong; they started strong, stood strong, stayed and finished strong.

What was their x-factor, their game winning strategy?

Here… Joshua 5:13-14

13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” 14 “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord[a] have for his servant?” 15 The commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

Game-winning strategy? JESUS was the ULTIMATE COMMANDER IN CHIEF.

Want to win? Conquer? Be blessed? Favored?

Who’s your COMMANDER?