two friends were walking through the desert. during some point of the journey, they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. the one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, he wrote in the sand:
“today my best friend slapped me in the face.”they kept on walking, until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. the one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. after he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone: "
today my best friend saved my life".the friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him,
"after i hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone. why?” the friend replied,
"when someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand, where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. but, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."learn to write your hurts in the sand and to carve your benefits in stone. they say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them.
PRAYER:
Lord,
thank you for always shedding light in your dark everydays.
thank you for always givng us second chances to correct our imperfectness.
Lord,
in our times of shortcoming
and times we may have hurt the people around us,
i ask for your mercy and forgiveness.
we are sorry.
give me the chance to forgive
the people who have caused us pain or torments.
and that in return, we also ask for your forgiveness.
as we go on our day, Lord,
open our hearts and minds
to become a better Christian.
guide us in ways we can serve you and your people
at the best of our capability.
bless the people around us,
who continue to be patient with us despite our cruelty.
bless the people who loves us dearly.
bless even more,
the ones who we have lost touch and had rivals with.
may they find forgiveness in their hearts.
keep them in your watchful eyes and guide them.
we ask you these in your name....
Amen.
Labels: forgiveness, friendship, God, life, life lessons, LORD
i contemplate to decipher and describe the twinge and torment that assailed on us. fiery careless words of others lambasted my lovedones like flaying bullwhips slapped on the backs and rears, with its sharp edge tailed knots and metalled stars tore the skin and flesh of the punished. their scorching balls of hatred thrown directly at us igniting our preserved dignities into blowtorch flames into charred ashes. we walked away and turned our backs from pursuing these battles but they pulled the trigger of loaded guns of lies, propelled and launched at us execution style.
i wanted to fight back. i could have interferred and blocked their merciless whipping with my strong wooden knight shields. that way they can also experience the sharpness of the bullwhips blades planted on their skin. i could have caught the balls of fury. i could have created a bigger ball and threw it back to them so they know how it felt like to be ignited in flame. i could have dispatch a rifle myself, i could have fling it towards the opposite direction, and blast it off to them with a bigger bang. i could have made a gigantic explosion.
the pain bursting in my heart, the multiplying damaging words they threw at us, the dishonest accusations, their denial to the truth, i probably would have. the burning desire within me tells me to defend my lovedones also, to straighten up the matter, to tell their own odors, too... i knew i could have...i could have done that easily. i wanted to. i would have. i could have...
but i decided NOT to do it.
with all my might, with all my remaining control, with my head bowed down, with my knees kneeled on the floor, with tears flowing down from my eyes, with my hands in praying position...i asked the Lord to forgive my evil thoughts and to purify my heart instead. with my humbled heart, i asked for His mercy. i asked for His blessing. i asked Him for strength.
perhaps...my revenge...is in His will. my revenge is to repent...to understand them more no matter how much it hurts. my mom and dad taught me to throw bread when they hit me with rocks. the bible said to love your enemies like your neighbors no matter how much they betrayed you, despite the lasting wounds that turned to scars they left you.
a friend once reminded me, "we are built by God not to shrink down into less version of ourselves. we are built by God to blossom into more. "
perhaps...my greatest revenge to their angry words...is to forgive with an open heart and with open arms.
and so HELP ME, GOD.
![Psalm 30:5 [32 kb]](http://img.heartlight.org/cards/g/psalm30_5.jpg)
Psalm 23
A psalm of David.
1 The LORD is my shepherd,
I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters,
3 He restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for His name's sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
"We are pressed on every side by troubles,
BUT we are NOT crushed and broken.
We are perplexed,
BUT we DO NOT give up and quit.
We are hunted down,
but God NEVER abandons us.
We get knocked down,
BUT we get up again and keep going."
2 Corinthians 4:8-9
![Psalm 23 [53 kb]](http://img.heartlight.org/cards/g/psalm23.jpg)
Deuteronomy 32:11
![2 Corinthians 12:9 [41 kb]](http://img.heartlight.org/cards/g/2corinthians12_9.jpg)
![Romans 8:28 [33 kb]](http://img.heartlight.org/cards/g/romans8_28.jpg)
Psalm 139
For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.
1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
![Matthew 5:11-12 [47 kb]](http://img.heartlight.org/cards/g/matthew5_11-12.jpg)
![1 Peter 5:7 [29 kb]](http://img.heartlight.org/cards/g/1peter5_7.jpg)
"Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
That hovers over its young,
He spread His wings and caught them,
He carried them on His pinions."
Deuteronomy 32:11
"My brethen, count it all joys
when you fall into various trials,
knowing that that the testing
of your faith produces patience.
But let patience have its perfect work,
that you may be perfect and complete;
lacking nothing. "
James 1:2-4
God said to me, " my grace is sufficient for you; fo rmy power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore, I will boast all more gladly about my weakness so that Christ's power may rest upon me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
"Be glad! There is a wonderful joy ahead!
Eventhough it is necessary for you
to endure many trials for a while.
These trials are only for a while.
These are only to test your faith,
to show that it is strong and pure.
It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold
---Your faith is far more precious than gold."
1 Peter 1:6-7
"God's loyal love could not have run out.
God's merciful love could not have dried up.
They are created new every morning.
How great is your faithfulness!"
Lamentations 3:22-23
"All things work together for those who love God; to those who are called according to His purpose."
Romans 8:28
Psalm 139
For the director of music.
Of David.
A psalm.
1 O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.
5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.
19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Labels: forgiveness, life lessons, LORD
[i slept crying last night. perhaps, life has been a little too harsh on me. but it is okay. i can be anything and i can do anything if i set my heart and mind into accomplishing something. and the miniscule trials i undergo, i can manage to tackle it all. i just need time, focus and my determined faith.
this morning i woke up at 3:44 am. i attempted to go back to sleep. but nothing can make me snooze. i watched as the morning sun rays come alive. the twirps of the birds singing to me on my window. the light beach breeze of the wind flowed through my curtained window.
in my head.
with my eyes closed, i made up a prayer in my head. tears fells from my eyes, and i just prayed. i know, we can't have all the great days. but today can certainly be a good one. ]
My God Alnighty,
in my time of aloneness,
in my days of trials,
if my faith is tested,
if my love is challenged,
BE WITH ME, my Lord.
Remind me,
that no matter how tough the journey is,
that no matter how rough the circumstances are along the way,
that no matter how mean people or how difficult the experiences i'll encounter,
YOU are there.
walking with me,
hand in hand,
in this journey to life.
I might be a little weak right now, Lord.
But I am certain....
with YOU, i can reach great lengths.
with YOU, i can be strong.
with YOU, i can do anything impossible.
So I ask you to guide me, my Lord.
please protect and continue to bless the people I love dearly .
Keep "him"- my dimsum morning - safe, healthy, stressfree
wherever he may be or whatever he may do,
Never get tired of forgiving us, My Lord for our shortcomings.
Thank you for this life and its abundant blessings.
I asked you these in Your MOST Precious name. Amen
Labels: life, life lessons, LORD
![Psalm 46:1-2 [63 kb]](http://img.heartlight.org/cards/g/psalm46_1-2.jpg)
