Romans 4:13, 16-18
It was not through the law that the promise was made to
Abraham and his descendants that he would inherit the world, but through the
righteousness that comes from faith.
For this reason, it depends on faith,so that it may be a
gift, and the promise may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not to those
who only adhere to the law but to those who follow the faith of Abraham, who is
the father of all of us,…He believed, hoping against hope, that he would become
“the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “Thus shall your
descendants be.”
There is a lot to learn from the life of Abraham especially
the part when he kept on with his faith in God. He was already of age when God
promised him to be the father of all nations. All we need to keep in mind is
that our time will come and all we have to do is just continue to trust God in
His goodness and mercy and never let go of our faith. Just imagine what Abraham
had to go through. If it were us and not Abraham who had fallen into this kind of
fate we could have responded and reacted to this situation differently. Are
these words familiar to us? I do not deserve to be treated this way. I did not
do anything bad for God to punish me like this, as if God is a tyrant that is
ready to strike us with every wrong move. Why me and not the others who are a
lot more sinful than I am. And all these kind of things that we say without
much thought. If we are to look at the life of Abraham very closely we would
discover that he never let go of his faith in God despite the seemingly
irrational and hopeless situation he went through. Imagine in his old age when
his wife Sarah finally bore him a son God asked him to offer him as a sacrifice
which meant losing his son. He remained firm in his faith and continued to
trust in the word of the Lord. Abraham was tested and found to be true. In our
own lives, we too are called to prove ourselves worthy before the Lord in order
for all of the blessings to flow freely without any block or hindrance. We
don't expect a mango fruit if we planted a banana tree. It is pretty much the
same with our lives. If we strive to live up to the expectations of a child of
the Lord by giving Him honor and praise then we will surely be not disappointed
with the outcome. For God inhabits the praises of His people. Although we have
a tendency to forget or become out of focus since we are surrounded in this
world we are in by elements most especially the physical ones that make us more
inclined to pursue worldly things. We become sidetracked or worse completely
off track of the path where God is leading us. Let us live every single day of
our life conscious of the wonderful truth that we are God's people and He has
made a covenant with us. Almost everybody knows this famous Christian song from
kindergarten, “Father Abraham has many children, some of them are small, some
of them are tall, all of them are beautiful...” We remain beautiful as long as
we keep God's covenant and remain obedient and faithful to God. He is the
reason for everything and the source of all good things. Sometimes morbid
thoughts enter into our mind and immediately we'd think that it is always the
devil who does it but whether it is true or not this thought could be a wake up
call and reminder that in worst case scenarios or life and death situations
there is always a God ready to help us at any time. All we have to do is call
on Him. It is indeed good advice to always look intently on God and find all
the joys waiting for us. There is really no doubt that we need to further explore,
know and understand our faith. In doing so we have to constantly look to the
Lord, seek Him and recall His goodness. Jesus' name is undeniably powerful and
beyond measure. Its worth is more than all the riches we can gain in this
world. There is really nothing we can find even if we search far and wide, high
and low, more than what the Lord can offer. We could go on and on with so many
options we are confronted with daily in our lives. There is an endless list of
"To Do Things" but what comes first and last is always dependent on
our priorities. In deciding on our priorities we have to always involve God in
all the things happening around us. We would
be so glad to discover that as we place Him in the center of our heart,
body and soul He never fails in guiding and directing us. There is indeed great
power in the name of Jesus. There is a need to go through the different
seasons throughout the year for there is indeed a time and a season for
everything. Thus, we all go through different situations and circumstances in
life. Some of them do not make any sense if we fail to acknowledge the power of
God moving in it. There are numerous things that we can think, focus and decide
on but there’s only one thing I am sure of. We’ve got to acknowledge that despite
of it all God’s power remains to be above all things no matter what it may seem
to be. We should always keep in mind all the wonderful things He has done for
us. The Lord will never forsake nor abandon us. In the midst of all the turmoil
we inevitably face in our daily lives may we remain hopeful in the Lord who is
Almighty, provides for all means and prevails now and forever. Whenever we
experience difficulties in life we tend to question God right away and somehow
blame Him for what came upon us. Sometimes we come to a point in our lives when
we tend to question the will of God in our lives. I have plans and you have
plans but sometimes things do not fall into place and ask why things happened
the way it did and not the way we planned and expected. We just need to always
remember the marvels the Lord has done and always hold on to it. If we live by
the word of God which is perfect and remains forever then nothing could go
wrong. Our hearts will abound with joy and gladness as we further explore, know
and understand about our faith. In doing so we have to constantly look to the
Lord, seek Him, recall His goodness, keep our spirits up and make our hearts
rejoice like what today's psalm is telling us about. We may have experienced a
situation in our life when we encountered a lot of trials and difficulties.
Just when we're about to give up and lose hope, suddenly we came across a
particular incident or inspiration that perfectly fits or matches our specific
problem which gave us this hope and feeling that God knows exactly what we're
going through and promises to see us through it. The Lord is telling us is in
today's psalm and assures us that He remembers what He has promised and will
surely bring about what He said to us that He would do. If God remembers, so
must we. Every single day we are confronted with so many challenges in life and
we have to be always hopeful that the fulfillment of everything that we have
been praying for has come. We should believe that whatever delays or setbacks
we are encountering serve as lessons to be learned that benefit our spiritual
journey with Jesus. There is a need to go through the different seasons
throughout the year before the dawning of a new beginning. There is indeed a
time and a season for everything. It has the same message which is hope and
victory for after the passion and death of Christ is His resurrection. Amen.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 105:6-7, 8-9, 42-43
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
You descendants of Abraham, his servants, sons of Jacob, his
chosen ones! He, the LORD, is our God; throughout the earth his judgments
prevail. R. He remembers forever his covenant which he made binding for a
thousand generations – Which he entered into with Abraham and by his oath to
Isaac. R. For he remembered his holy word to his servant Abraham. And he led
forth his people with joy; with shouts of joy, his chosen ones. R.
We are God's most precious ones and our worth never
diminishes nor do we lose our value. No matter what this imperfect world that
we are in at the moment throw in front of us, we shall not be moved. We are
worth more than anything in this world. There is no reason to fear or be afraid
for we are the sons and daughters of the Most High God and the Holy Spirit is
with us. Another thing that was impressed to me and reminded of is Josie. I
could still remember when she sort of got very amused of me and smiled from ear
to ear when I shared to her things about the Lord Jesus. I could tell by the
way she looked then that she found it strange that I am openly and boldly
declaring my faith to our Lord although she did not say anything. I could never
forget the words that I quoted to her during our conversation because they are
the very words found in the first sentence in today’s gospel. Amen. Hallelujah!
Luke 12:8-12
8 Jesus said to his disciples: “I tell you, everyone who
acknowledges me before others the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels
of God. 9 But whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels
of God... When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and
authorities, do not worry about how or what your defense will be or about what
you are to say. 12 For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you
should say.”
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