We have our families to back us up, whenever we feel like the world is falling apart. We’ve got friends to encourage us on the way. But just like us, they’re also humans and not all the time we get the need, attention, belongingness that we long for from them. Sometimes, although not intentionally, they add up to the pressure and burden that surround us.

It’s hard to find that something, when you live in an imperfect world, where everything and everyone is just not enough. People… they’re just like us.

But 2000 years ago, a Man, unlike all other beings came to earth, who brought with Him truth and freedom. This was an unlikely truth for some that cost Him His life – but He was raised from the dead and it was then that freedom was made available for all. It was the freedom that breaks chains and bondages – freedom that opens our eyes to a better truth. This truth is hope to all mankind. He was and is the peace that surpasses understanding, love unbreakable (every human’s need) and grace that bridges the great gap between human and perfection.

It was with this new found peace that I learned to ride the waves of pressure in life. And this love accepted the worst of me – quenching my thirst for belongingness. And He showed me grace that looked beyond my weaknesses – telling me it’s not where I fall down that matters, but where I turn to, to find strength to rise back up and carry on.

With the knowledge of this precious truth, I learned that my flesh will fail, over and over again while I live in this world – and I may grow weary at the end of each day – but the love of Christ is the reason I breathe, and the freedom to be who I am in Him, is what keeps me going. Finally, love that never fails.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_hV8L65Rqo

72-Hour Worship, Warfare, and Intercession, May 19, 2012, 6:00 AM – 6:00 PM, The Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay City

Registration on-going! Register to: IFP National Office: 533.5183/66; 0922.8022436 NFS Office: 889.3935 lc. 7558; 0917.8915333

Bleachers: Php50
Upperbox/Lowerbox/Ringside: Php200
Court: Php500

Open to all those who desire to stand in the gap for the destiny of the Philippines!

King David knew how to overcome feelings of discouragement. Even in the face of tragedy, he “encouraged himself in the LORD his God” (1 Sam. 30:6 KJV). He had learned how to put his hope in God in the midst of adversity.

From studying the book of Psalms, we can discover the method David used to overcome discouragement. Let’s take a look at a few principles that show us how to encourage ourselves in God.

1. Be honest with the Lord.

Life can be painful. Godly believers get ill, lose their jobs, and grieve the loss of loved ones. When you feel discouraged, share your true feelings with God: “The Lord is near to all who call on Him; to all who call on Him in truth” (Ps. 145:18). Talking to Him about your struggles is often the first step to healing.

From each passage, list a few negative thoughts that David expressed to God:

Psalm 13:1-6
Psalm 22:6-18
Psalm 69:20-21

Do you feel comfortable pouring out your heart to God, regardless of how you feel? Explain why or why not.

2. Don’t dwell on the negative.

This might seem like a contradiction to “Be honest with God.” But there is a difference between expressing your negative feelings to the Lord and dwelling on them day after day.

How do you change your focus? One of the best ways is to thank God for what He has done for you. Read More.

“I didn’t want the children to feel they were abandoned so I started my own student center,” he explains. He fed, clothed and taught the children with whatever little resources he had. His family supported him.

Many of those children are teenagers now and remain serving the Lord faithfully. Through the LDP, Daniel earned a bachelor’s degree in Education and was later invited by Compassion to take a Master’s degree in Holistic Child Development at the Baptist Theological Seminary in Penang, Malaysia, where he was among the first graduates of the course. With these scholastic achievements, his mother thought, he is definitely qualified for decent-paying jobs. “But he chose to go full time in the ministry,” his mother says. Seventy-two-year-old Felicia, for some time, hoped that her youngest son could be a well-earning teacher, the provider in the family.

“I questioned why he did not teach in a regular school to earn an income,” Felicia confesses. “My other children worried how their baby brother could support himself.” But now Felicia says she understands that “doing the Lord’s work is more important than anything in the world,” and the entire family supports Daniel’s ministries.

Most of their church members are farmers and fishermen, and yet Daniel’s church has already bought and distributed supplies to the children up the mountains. One notebook and one pen for each child. The church also feeds these children every Sunday afternoon. They call it their “Faith Feeding Program.”
Daniel’s mother, Felicia, laughing and crying at the same time, recalls, “This little boy,” referring to Daniel, “used to wait for me by the window and ask, ‘Nanay, did you bring home food today? I’m very hungry.’ “Now (he) has traveled to many countries, even to Europe. Who would have thought? And now he is my pastor,” she chuckles as she wipes the tears from her eyes.

Accomplishments:
• In 2006, Daniel served in an orphanage in Cambodia
• He was a Child Development Worker for the Solid Rock Baptist Church’s orphanage where he cared for 42 orphans.
• In 2009, Daniel came back home to Ilocos and became the senior pastor of his life-long church. The church gathers at the Obrero household and has grown to 150 in membership

News source: Compassion PH

Zechariah 12:10a – “Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on all the people of Jerusalem. They will look on Me whom they have pierced and mourn for Him as for an only son.”

About the Prophecy of The Psalms and Zechariah

Again, Psalm 22 is a Psalm of David. In this psalm he is describing an execution. The early portion of this psalm describes the Messiah’s suffering; the later portion describes the universal deliverance the Messiah makes possible.

In Chapter 12 of the book of Zechariah, the prophet speaks of God’s own representative who is killed at the hands of His people. At a future point, the people of God will realize whom they have pierced and will mourn for “the son” who died.

The Fulfillment

Matthew 27:31 – “When they were finally tired of mocking Him, they took off the robe and put His own clothes on Him again. Then they led Him away to be crucified.”

Mark 15:20 – “When they were finally tired of mocking Him, they took off the purple robe and put His own clothes on Him again. Then they led Him away to be crucified.”

John 19:15-16 – “‘Away with Him,’ they yelled. ‘Away with Him – crucify Him!’ ‘What? Crucify your king?’ Pilate asked. ‘We have no king but Caesar,’ the leading priests shouted back. Then Pilate gave Jesus to them to be crucified.”