Yes... Love is not for tomorrow... it is not for later... it should be done now! In every moment and opportunity... love must be done today at this time.
This is a lesson I will never forget.
I was supposed to help in the mini-seminar about worship and I want that my sister attend the seminar. So I "texted" her of her location because she was not there yet.
And then she replied that she will not come. But because I want her to be there, I replied and it sounded a little bit angry, which is somehow true. I felt a little bit irritated then that my sister is passing up an opportunity to learn and maybe share it to others.
She replied back that she will attend the mini-seminar. But I know it is just because I got "angry". So I didn't reply back to her because I may end up fighting with her.
But the unthinkable happened. My mommy and daddy was out then and was planning to go to the seminar by jeep. Then, she collapsed just before she left and was rushed immediately to the hospital. I got the news a little bit later from mommy. She knew what my last reply to my sister because my sister texted her about my text. I asked if was it my fault but she assured me it was not because before my sister left, she was telling mommy that she's a little bit sick. But it didn't help, the burden was with me and I can't concentrate on preparing for my talk.
I was thinking what if my sister will not wake up. It may be partly my fault that she collapsed because of my "persuasive" powers in my text to her. I may not have the chance to say sorry and make amends. But what really burdens me, was that I didn't try to understand her situation before I get irritated. I was not loving her as a brother to a sister. I was not doing my mission. And now this happened that she collapsed without her doing something strenuous. I stormed the heavens and the airwaves (by texting) to pray for my sister.
My prayers were quickly answered because she recovered immediately right after she arrived at the hospital and mommy and daddy was also there. And it was right before my talk that the news arrived. The burden was lifted and I gave out a sigh of relief.
And I reflected upon it while giving my talk (yeah, I was doing two things at that time...) I realized that love does not wait on you. You must always love everybody and you must always do it now... there is no other time to do it but now. People you love may be gone in a flash and you may regret not loving them to the hilt. It was my mission: to learn to love and to show love. And I am not doing it!! That's why I am so burdened that time. I was not doing what God is telling me to do. I still am going back to my selfish self. I still get angry to my parents, I still get a little bit irritated with my brother and sisters. I still am a little bit snobbish to my ministry friends. I still get irritated to people that doesn't follow God. I still get too righteous... And by doing that, I lose every second of opportunity to show love even to the people close to me. I'm not showing God's love to them...
May it be that I remember this day. So I will have the constant effort to love them as I love myself. I may falter, fail, fall, sin... but I will still struggle. It's better to love than to preach how to love. It's better to love than to teach them doctrinal and Catholic truths. They will never understand the truths of the Universal Church if there is no love. They will never understand the teachings if there is no love. They will never learn if there is no love. For even if there is faith, hope, gifts of the Holy Spirit, friends, family, teachings, ministry, great songs and the like, if there is no love, it will be noisy gong or clanging cymbal. Even if I perfected my craft in preaching, in business, and in other things, if there's no love to my family, friends and neighbors, I will have nothing and I will not gain nothing.
For all these things exists; but the greatest of these things will always be love.
PS1. back to our next topic in our subseries: I Will Love Today
PS2. Watch out for our next set of topics: Being Complete
Monday, August 20, 2007
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Love Blog Series # 6.2.3: Loving You
Do You Know God's Name?
I found this site by Pastor Ahyh (www.yhwh.com) and I asked permission to use some of his explanations about God's name.
Now before we begin... How will this be connected in loving your neighbor, your enemy, your friend, your loved-one, your boyfriend, girlfriend, family, mother, father, etc...?
You'll soon find out. Now let's have a special verse that will connect your question to God's name:
"I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." - Matthew 25:40
Let's start off from where I ended last topic. We have discussed before that we need to love God not because God needs our love but because it is more of a response to His love. It is also for us to learn how to really love. And in loving someone, one thing we must know is that person's name. So what is God's name?
From the bible, we can find the answer from Exodus 3:13-14. This is when Moses actually asked God His Name.
13Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?"
14God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" - Exodus 3:13-14
God's Name is not God. It's not Lord. It's even not Jesus. Yes, His name is Jesus when He was on earth. But before being called Jesus, He said His real Name also:
"Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.'" - John 8:58
So God's Name is I AM. Now, this is the translation (or meaning in English words) from the Hebrew texts originally written many years ago. The transliteration (or using the same letters of the English alphabet) of "I AM" is YHWH or YaHWeh. So in Hebrew language, God's Name is Yahweh.
Now in using the Hebrew language, YHWH becomes
is Y meaning Yod, rhymes with "rode"
is H meaning He, rhymes with "say"
is W or V meaning Vav, like "lava"
and another H.
Now, the Hebrews wrote it from right to left making it
But God didn't wrote it left to right or right to left. He wrote it from top to bottom. And He didn't use a pen and paper to write it. He used something else (YES!! He's the Most Creative Writer I've ever known...)
He wrote His Name like this:
You!! He wrote His Name in our very existence and in every existing human being. His Name is you, your neighbor, your enemy, your friend, your loved-one, boyfriend, girlfriend, mother, father, etc... Just look: The Yod is our head, the 1st He is our arms, the Vav is our torso and the last He is our legs. This supports the reason that what we do to the least of our brothers, we do it unto Him. Because His Name is us!! He created us not only in His image and likeness, we are His very Name!! Isn't that amazing?
That's the reason why we need to love others... That's the reason why we need to also love ourselves. We are His very Name. And because we love Him also, we also ought to love others as we love ourselves. It's also a response to His love. Thus, making the only true, logical and basic reason why we love others is because we love our Lord, YHWH (See Love Blog Series #3: True Love Has One Reason Alone).
So, this ends the "knowing" part of this topic series. Now will get into the "internalization" part. Tune in next time for our next topic.
PS1. Sorry for the delay. It's been 2 weeks, I know. I have to ask permission from Pastor Ahyh (Thanks for permitting me to spread the word!!) I also have to "connect the dots" so to speak to make a point :D
PS2. Next topic in our subseries: I Will Love Today
PS3. Watch out for our next set of topics: Being Complete
I found this site by Pastor Ahyh (www.yhwh.com) and I asked permission to use some of his explanations about God's name.
Now before we begin... How will this be connected in loving your neighbor, your enemy, your friend, your loved-one, your boyfriend, girlfriend, family, mother, father, etc...?
You'll soon find out. Now let's have a special verse that will connect your question to God's name:
"I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." - Matthew 25:40
Let's start off from where I ended last topic. We have discussed before that we need to love God not because God needs our love but because it is more of a response to His love. It is also for us to learn how to really love. And in loving someone, one thing we must know is that person's name. So what is God's name?
From the bible, we can find the answer from Exodus 3:13-14. This is when Moses actually asked God His Name.
13Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?"
14God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" - Exodus 3:13-14
God's Name is not God. It's not Lord. It's even not Jesus. Yes, His name is Jesus when He was on earth. But before being called Jesus, He said His real Name also:
"Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.'" - John 8:58
So God's Name is I AM. Now, this is the translation (or meaning in English words) from the Hebrew texts originally written many years ago. The transliteration (or using the same letters of the English alphabet) of "I AM" is YHWH or YaHWeh. So in Hebrew language, God's Name is Yahweh.
Now in using the Hebrew language, YHWH becomes
is Y meaning Yod, rhymes with "rode"
is H meaning He, rhymes with "say"
is W or V meaning Vav, like "lava" and another H.Now, the Hebrews wrote it from right to left making it
But God didn't wrote it left to right or right to left. He wrote it from top to bottom. And He didn't use a pen and paper to write it. He used something else (YES!! He's the Most Creative Writer I've ever known...)
He wrote His Name like this:
You!! He wrote His Name in our very existence and in every existing human being. His Name is you, your neighbor, your enemy, your friend, your loved-one, boyfriend, girlfriend, mother, father, etc... Just look: The Yod is our head, the 1st He is our arms, the Vav is our torso and the last He is our legs. This supports the reason that what we do to the least of our brothers, we do it unto Him. Because His Name is us!! He created us not only in His image and likeness, we are His very Name!! Isn't that amazing?
That's the reason why we need to love others... That's the reason why we need to also love ourselves. We are His very Name. And because we love Him also, we also ought to love others as we love ourselves. It's also a response to His love. Thus, making the only true, logical and basic reason why we love others is because we love our Lord, YHWH (See Love Blog Series #3: True Love Has One Reason Alone).
So, this ends the "knowing" part of this topic series. Now will get into the "internalization" part. Tune in next time for our next topic.
PS1. Sorry for the delay. It's been 2 weeks, I know. I have to ask permission from Pastor Ahyh (Thanks for permitting me to spread the word!!) I also have to "connect the dots" so to speak to make a point :D
PS2. Next topic in our subseries: I Will Love Today
PS3. Watch out for our next set of topics: Being Complete
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