The Road to Damascus Lifestyle

04/03/2025

Hi Roadies! What do you think? Bagay ba yung Roadies bilang terms of endearment natin to everyone who follows this page?

Anyways, we'd just like to let you know that we also just launched our YouTube Channel and we'll soon be streaming simultaneous on FB and YT. Reason being is that FB will soon be deleting live videos after 30 days. Syempre ayaw natin nun so we thought it best to also upload our previous live videos sa YT Channel. Here's a link to our first episode and please like, share and subscribe na din!

Let's continue to share God's love and Gospel through socmed!

God bless everyone!

This is the first live video we put up and here we share what were our "Road to Damascus" moments with God that led us to fully surrender our lives to Him.

02/03/2025

24/02/2025

Almost everybody prays, we know that for a fact. What do we pray about, that's the question.

This afternoon, let's talk about what should we be praying for when we pray to God.

See you at 3 pm MNL! God bless!

23/02/2025

When is "Okay na 'to" not really okay? Should we settle on just okay?

13/12/2024

THE DANGERS IN THIS GENERATION

Here is one page that is very popular, most notably with the youth of today. It shares "nuggets of wisdom" and "words of comfort".

At first glance, it's so encouraging and will definitely boost one's self-esteem. These words will definitely brighten up someone's day, especially our young people. Words like these let people put their game-face on to go out in to the world, ready to conquer whatever life throws at them. Sounds good, right? But is it, really?

As a Christian, it is my opinion that we should to steer clear of this "self-love" pages as it promotes pride and rebellion, although very, very subtly. It aims for people to look unto themselves and what can someone achieve instead of relying and surrendering our lives to God conpletely.

Let's analyze the words:

"I fought many silent battles."

Doesn't the battle belong to God? It was His always, and was never ours. Remember in Joshua, God revealed Himself as the Commander of the Lord's army. We are foot soldiers and God is our Commander. What we do is to follow Him in battle, His battle. We don't fight our own battles and we do not choose which battle to fight. There's only one battle and that is God's battle against evil.

"Wiped my own tears..."

The Bible tells us that Jesus is our Comforter and the Prince of Peace. No one else can wipe away tears and sorrow but God alone. Even if we want to comfort ourselves, we truly cannot. Sure we can drown ourselves in alcohol, cover our faces with make-up, travel and try to escape our problems. But in reality, only God can fill the void in our hearts and take away our sorrow and tears.

"...survived."

God is sovereign. Each day that we wake up, it's because of His will that we continue to live. If we die at a certain point in the future, it is because that is His plan for our time here on Earth. We cannot survive this world on our own. Even when we were sinners, we were surviving because of God's prevenient grace.

When we break down and analyze the words, it doesn't sound any good anymore, right? The statement becomes arrogant, full of pride and borderline rebellious. This is how Satan deceives. Remember he is called the master of lies and deception? He will turn and twist seemingly innocent words and when you believe it long enough, you'd have already been trapped.

Let's be careful about what the world "teaches" us. The world will tell you that you are okay and self-sustaining. The world will tell you that you deserve everything in this world. The world will tell you that you must love yourself. But in reality, it isn't really the world that tells us those things right? Paul tells us that we battle against the principalities of this world and that's who is really talking behind these pages and social media accounts.

But why? How come it's from the enemy when it only tells us that we did good with our lives. We know that this is from the enemy because God isn't there with the words. There's no mention of God and yet there's a lot of "I" and "me". We know that this isn't from God because when we remove God from anything, it's no good.

Remember, apart from God, we are nothing.

Brothers and sisters, be very careful. Always be discerning. Always seek God in everything. Always seek His wisdom.

Jeremiah 29:13 says:

"You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart."

Hoping that these words help you on your faith. Soli Deo Gloria! Shalom!

07/11/2024

THE CASE OF SURRENDER

We often hear from pastors and ministers to surrender our lives to God, and yet it's really hard to understand, moreover enact. To surrender means to give up everything. Does that mean that we will just sit all day and just let God do whatever we think He will do?

Absolutely not! That's not surrender but procrastination at it's worst form.

Before we dive into what really should define surrender, let's take a look at what the Bible tells us on why we should surrender our lives to God.

Romans 12:1 says, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship."

Back in the days where Jews worshipped in the temple, they offered sacrifices to God as a general atonement - an acknowledgement of their sinful nature and a request for renewed relationship with God. There were different types of sacrifices, depending on what it symbolizes and its intended purpose. Likewise, here in Romans 12:1, Paul states that we should consider ourselves as a living sacrifice for God, holy and pleasing and to to be used for His glory alone! Surrendering our lives to Him is an act of WORSHIP!

Another reason for us to surrender to God is because Jesus Himself exemplified surrender when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane before His crucifixion. How painful it must have been for Jesus to utter this prayer in Luke 22:42, ""Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done." Jesus made His pain and sorrow known to God. And yet He acknowledged God's sovereign plan and asked that God's will be done. Surrender is an act of OBEDIENCE!

Lastly, surrendering allows us to put our trust in God and trust in Him alone. My life verse is in Proverbs 3:5-6 and it says, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths." Isn't it great to learn that God has plans for us? Isn't it wonderful to know that we have God who will lead our lives for us? All we need is to surrender our hearts and minds and put our trust in Him. Surrendering to God requires an act of TRUE FAITH!

I hope that these three reasons will suffice but the Bible tells us a lot more about why we should ultimately surrender our whole lives to God. But how then, should we surrender?

Surrendering our lives to Him means that we lift up to Him everything that we have and all that we are. That includes our joy and pain, our victories and sufferings, our moments of peace and episodes of anxieties, etc.

Everything. Every waking breath, every random thought. Everything.

When we surrender to God, we invite Him to fill us up and let Him work in us in order for our lives to fulfill His intended purpose. That purpose can be a lot of things, like God using us to bless and help others, spreading God's goodness and mercy, becoming a reflection of His love and compassion among many other things. All of these we cannot do on our own. All of these can only be possible when we surrender completely our whole lives to Him.

Surrendering is a choice. Do you choose to worship, obey and put your faith in Him by surrendering? Choose now and choose wisely.

Shalom!

19/09/2024

THE COMMON PROBLEM THAT MOST CHURCHES FACE TODAY

I recently stumbled on this 2013 sermon by John MacArthur entitled "Strange Fire". I was amazed because fast forward 11 years to now, what he believed to be a relevant issue then is much more evident now, more than ever before.

I would agree with John MacArthur that the biggest problem churches are facing now is the ABSENCE OF DISCERNMENT. But it's not just a problem on a congregational level. While his sermon focuses on a collective approach, let's take a slightly different route and take on the problem on a personal and individual level. So what is true discernment for a Christian?

Let's start with a basic question. A question that every believer have asked themselves at one point in their lives, or for some, have yet to ask themselves:

"What is my purpose in life?"

Some may answer that their purpose is to serve God. Some may say that it is to spread the Gospel. Some may say that it is to go to remote parts of the world to share God's love and goodness. Some will also say it is to love others as we love God. There are a lot of things that we can list that we may perceive to be our ultimate "purpose" in our Christian lives. It would be best if we look at what Scriptures says.

First, let's look at Genesis 1:27 and the Bible says:

"God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."

We all know this, God created us. But why did God create us? God declares this in Isaiah 43: 6-7:

"Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”

God's declaration is clear as day: we were made for His glory! Hence, "Soli Deo Gloria (For the Glory of God Alone)". Everything is for God's glory, it always has been and will always be. Even our very creation magnifies and exclaims His glory. Have you noticed how He formed Adam in His own hands? Have you noticed how all other creation were verbally created but with man, He took time and delicately formed us in His wonderful hands? This is to demonstrate His glory in us. The Westminster Catechism probably explains this truth in its first question:

"What is the chief and highest end of man?"

And the answer is simple: Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy Him forever.

Isn't it wonderful to learn that our ultimate purpose in life is to bring glory to God? I couldn't think of anything else to do with our lives than to offer it back to Him. Now that we fully understand what our ultimate purpose is in our lives, the next question to ask ourselves then is:

"How do I glorify God?"

John Piper answers this in simple but beautiful words:

"...God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him."

God is most glorified when we view him as our all-satisfying treasure in life, the greatest joy and desire of our hearts. John Piper further writes:

"... if you are more satisfied in anything else other than God — then you diminish the glory of God, and you magnify the glory of what you’re most satisfied by. And the Bible makes clear that we should live in order to display the supreme worth and beauty and glory of God. That’s our primary reason for existence."

That sentence right there is probably the most important sentence for me: We should live in order to display the supreme worth and beauty and glory of God.

We do not live our lives for ourselves.
We do not live our lives thinking of what would be best to do with it and how to live it.
We do not live our lives telling ourselves that we will serve in church, help the poor and needy, go to Bible school, become a missionary, etc.

What we should be doing is to seek God first in everything we do. Completely trust in Him that He will direct us to what He needs us and wants us to do. All of the things above would be results of our complete obedience to His will and purpose.

That is what true discernment is all about. True discernment is the ability to judge that our actions is glorifying God, not just ourselves. True discernment is the ability to determine that whatever we do should be for God and for His glory alone.

01/08/2024

WHAT IS OUR HOPE IN LIFE AND DEATH?

"We are no longer our own and we now belong, body and soul, both in life and death, to God and to our Saviour Jesus Christ."

God’s motive for our salvation is for us to be saved by grace and to redeem us to be one with Him again. Because of that grace, as our response in gratitude, we want to please God and bring glory and honor to His name.

As we live our daily renewed lives as God’s children, our utmost principle should be that we no longer live to please ourselves. We no longer put ourselves first and instead put God first in everything we do. How do we put God first then? By fully entrusting our whole lives to Him. Because we are saved by His grace, our lives are no longer our own. Jesus Christ bought us with a price and our response is to give Him back all the glory, honor and praise through our whole lives.

Let us pray:

"Jesus Christ, you are our only hope in life and death and we submit ourselves in your merciful, loving care. You love us because we are Your own. We are no good apart from You and we could never ask for a greater gift than to belong to You. Thank you for loving us unconditionally. Amen."

31/07/2024

THE WORK OF CHRIST ON THE CROSS

In our world today, there is an upward trend in which individuals consider their basis of salvation just from the “work of Christ on the Cross”. They believe that Christ died for their sins and that they have been granted eternal salvation. And for them, that’s the most that the “work of Christ on the Cross” can offer. This notion is incorrect and often dangerous. Not only does it provide false hope for the individual but it can also be a breeding ground for pride and self-righteousness.

For us believers, the redemptive power of Christ’s death and resurrection does not end at salvation. His work is of no benefit to us unless we are unified with Him in a personal loving relationship. We cannot be completely saved without a deep and personal union with Christ.

Calvin once insisted that in order to understand the nature of our salvation in Jesus Christ, we must and should never separate His work on the Cross from who Christ is, meaning His character and person. Calvin expressed it this way:

“First, we must understand that as long as Christ remains OUTSIDE of us, and we are separated from Him, all that he has suffered and done for the salvation of the human race remains useless and of no value to us. Therefore, to share in what He has received from the Father, He had to become ours and to dwell within us… for, as I have said, all that He possesses is nothing to us until we grow into one body with Him.”

This is emphasized as well in the Scriptures when the apostle Paul wrote in Galatians, “...it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me…” In Colossians, he wrote “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

By reading through Scriptures, it is very evident that the work of Christ on the Cross is not just about being saved from our sins. It is more on securing His very person as one with our own and to live just as He did, bringing glory and honor to God.

20/06/2024

Probably one of the most popular verse among people would be Jeremiah 29:11. People love this verse because it serves as a reminder of God’s love for us and His plans for us. You’d see this verse in mugs and stickers, Facebook and Instagram bios, posts and captions, everywhere actually. It is such a wonderful verse that is full of promise and hope. However, most people often misinterpret the actual message of this verse. One of the more popularly published versions of the verse is this:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

We can all agree that God’s message here is very clear, He has planned our lives and He wants nothing but only the best for us. But most people would associate the word “prosper” in this verse with material wealth or even success. But that is not the message that God conveys here. It is far more greater than that.

In the earlier versions of the English Bible, the word that was actually used is “welfare” instead of “prosper”. The original word used in Hebrew is actually “shalom”, which means peace. If we use these words in context with the whole chapter of Jeremiah 29, God is telling us that He wants us to live our lives full of peace and free from worries. At the beginning of the chapter, God comforts the Israelites (who are now exiled in Babylon) to live normal lives, even though they are captives in another nation. God reminds them of His promise that someday, He will deliver them from captivity and bring them back to their land. God promised them peace and welfare, until the right time comes for their redemption.

Understanding Jeremiah 29:11 is understanding who God really is in our lives. He is not just a provider, but He is our source of everything. This chapter tells us that even though we may be living in difficult times, God is there and will be there for us because His plans for us is to give us peace and welfare, a hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11 is more than just about obtaining wealth or being successful in our lives. It is about learning to acknowledge God’s presence and sovereignity in our lives and trusting Him that whatever circumstance we are facing, He is our God and He will never leave us.

18/06/2024

Did you know that the Doctrina Christiana (printed in 1593) is the first book printed and published in the Philippines? Currently, there's only one copy known to still be in existence and it is housed in the Library of Congress, in Washington DC. Isn't it heart-breaking that the only surviving copy of our Philippine legacy and part of history is housed somewhere else? Forgotten and neglected.

It's a sad reality but it's happening all around us, not just with books but for everything else. In Christian churches today, most preachers would shy-away from doctrine-based teachings and would rather offer self-help sermons and man-centered mindsets (for their church to be more culturally-relevant and interesting just so they can attract more members and not lose existing ones). While the doctrines of our faith are being forgotten and neglected.

Don't get me wrong, these are helpful topics in the journey of life. But we are forgetting and neglecting the primary message of Christianity: the Gospel! The Gospel is full of doctrine-rich teaching that will suffice for our everyday living and this is what our churches should be teaching. The doctrines of our faith should be taught so that everyone will have the longing to fully understand the love of God and what His message is for us. We cannot fully understand the Bible and the Gospel if we just focus on "how-to-deal-with-emotions" and "declare-and-claim-manifestations-of-blessings" teachings.

The Bible clearly tells us that we should entrust our whole lives completely to God. Not just 8 hours of our everyday life, not just every Sunday but every second of our lives. This means that we must surrender our all to Him and let Him work in us. This is what the message of the Gospel is about. The Gospel is God's message of hope, salvation and redemption for mankind to be reunited in Him.

I pray that to anyone who is reading this, challenge yourself to learn more. Learn more about our God. Learn more about the doctrines that the early church has prepared for us to help us in our spiritual journey. Do not be satisfied with the shallow lessons about Christianity that the world offers. Pray hard and and ask God for a heart of longing for Him that reaches deep in to your soul.

As we grow in our Christian faith, so should our hunger for more wisdom in knowing God. As Paul wrote to the Colossians, I believe that it is also his desire for every Christian:

"For this reason we also, since the day we heard about it, have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all perseverance and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light."

Shalom everyone and God bless!