the wonderful news about the love of God

i was going through Dug Down Deep by Joshua Harris this morning, and i was on the chapter discussing about God in His greatness yet being so personal with us.

i know it struck me already the first time i read it, but this morning it gave me a different feel. on his discussion about God's love, i just had to stop and meditate on what His love is really about.

the lines from the book that got me:

"The love of God is wonderful news only when we understand his transcendence - when we tremble at his holiness, when we're awed by his perfection and power. God's love is perceived as amazing only when we realize that the one thing we truly deserve from him is righteous wrath and eternal punishment for our disobedience and loyalty."

most of us think that His love for us is something about us - we being lost creatures and bound to die, and because He doesn't want that to happen, He demonstrated His love for us by sending His Son, Jesus Christ. BUT God doesn't need us to be able to justify his being God. His love for us is for His eternal glory, that through our lives we would reveal His goodness and grace.

as humans we are sinners, considered as God's "enemies" for He hates sin.
so we do not deserve His love, yet it is freely available to us.
His love defines our salvation, our eternal gratitude for being rescued from hell and living in worship in heaven.

yes, we do always hear people saying that "God loves us". at times when we receive blessings, we always claim that "God loves me". and also, we encourage others with "God loves you" when we feel that they need to hear it. but do we really understand for ourselves what His love means to us?

Understanding the love of God (view on my instagram)

His love for us should not make us boast that a God is in love with a mere human, but rather it should make us fall on our knees, realizing that we don't deserve anything from a Holy God. His love should leave us amazed at His goodness.

"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than angels and crowned them with glory and honor." - Psalm 8:3-5

"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so no one need to be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again." - John 3:16-17 MSG

"But the greatest glory of the Cross is what it tells me about God. A God of justice and mercy. A God who loved helpless sinners like me so much that he came to die so we could be free to know and worship him for eternity." - Joshua Harris, Dug Down Deep (Chapter 3: Near But Not in My Pocket)

the bookworm in me

i've always been a fan of reading, ever since i was a kid. because we had this bookshelf filled with illustrated storybooks (mostly of Bible stories), i fell in love with reading and getting lost in the wonders of the stories. in school, it was never a chore for me to do readings (note: novels and story-related readings, not geeky-slash-nerdy science stuff or whatever, but i can barely survive). way back in high school, i can finish a book in one sitting - that's how into it i get when it comes to reading.

i read more for relaxing and stress-relieving, rather than for learning. i mostly like feel good books and inspirational ones. i read mostly fiction, but not much of those mystery-thriller types. i prefer those with happy endings (haha, so fairytale-ish), but i also prefer reading ones that would make me think and emotional.

anyway, since i got my iPhone early this year, i got so excited with the iBooks app. finally i can carry around a "library" with me anywhere, without any bulk, and i can read anytime! since then, i've filled it with books that i've been wanting to read for so long, and new ones that i feel are expensive for me to buy! grateful for all these free epub books downloading site, i've been saving a lot of money (HAHA) and it fills up my "library"! now i have so much to read, i wish i can have MORE time!

currently on my 11th book til i complete my reading challenge for this year. i made my reading challenge more "workable" this year, 12 books assuming 1 book per month, because last year i set my goal to 20 and didn't get to reach even half! (i was soooo busy then too, and not so much money to buy books! haha, being defensive!) i feel proud of myself for being able to go through with the challenge and being (according to Goodreads) 3 books ahead of schedule! and, i still have waaaaaay more books in store in my library that i HOPE i can read all of them by this year. :>

current books on my itunes library! book count: 20 books.
done with 7 of them, currently reading one. 

before i started reading from my "library", i was able to buy 3 books for the first 3 months of the year. i blogged the first one over here, which sadly, i wasn't able to continue doing with the rest. :( i'll just give a brief run down of the ones i loved, and some others:

top 3 favorites:
• John Green's The Fault in Our Stars
oh how i love Augustus Waters! :")
• Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower
read it because the movie's coming out soon, but i fell in love with it more than i thought!
• Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall
how she writes those thrills.. i cannot explain. once you start it, you won't be able to bring it down.

books i'm excited to read:
• Why We Broke Up (Daniel Handler)
• Will Grayson, Will Grayson (mainly because John Green and David Levithan are the authors, haha)
• Delirium Trilogy (Lauren Oliver)

anyway, i record what i've been reading and planning to read on my Goodreads profile. you're welcome to add me there as a friend! though i still haven't explored that so much, i promise to update it soon (and more often, hihi). nerd much, i know.

PS. any other recommended readings? i have no plans to read the Fifty Shades trilogy, not a fan of those kinds of books.

book 1/12: If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat

If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat
by John Ortberg

i first learned of this book from Crae (followandreblog) in tumblr when she mentioned about it in one of her posts. i got curious about it because of its title and the lines she's been quoting from the book. i thought that it would be really helpful for a scurdycat like me to know what it takes to follow God's calling and fulfill His purpose. and last year, i've been hearing the line "getting out of the boat" so often from our ballet teacher, since we had this huge breakthrough as a company for Acts Manila.

i started reading this book end december of last year, and finished sometime early january. planned to blog about it after i finished reading it, but the article writings i have now just takes so much of my computer time, haha. the book tackled faith and trust issues, fear, discerning God's calling, handling discouragements, patience, and of course, the blessings that come with fulfilling God's plan. there was no hesitation when i got this book from the bookstore (OMF bookstore in BF Pergola! love that place ♥). i felt it was really timely and i needed encouragements as i walk in this journey of following God. anyway, here are some of the lines that hit encouraged me the most. btw, i have this habit of underlining sentences as i encounter them while reading to help me remember important words or lessons. mehehehe, nerd much.

on courage and fear of failure.

"Courage alone is not enough; it must be accompanied by wisdom and discernment." - Chapter 1, On Water-Walking

"Each time you get out of the boat, you become a little more likely to get out the next time. It's not that the fear goes away, but that you get used to living with fear. You realize that it does not have the power to destroy you." - Chapter 1, On Water-Walking

 "The worst failure is not to sink in the waves. The worst failure is to never get out of the boat." - Chapter 1, On Water-Walking

 "..when you fail- and you will fail sometimes- Jesus will be there to pick you up. You will not fail alone." - Chapter 1, On Water-Walking

these next lines made me realize deeper why i'm where i am right now. this section on career and calling made me realize the importance of living with purpose. my dream career would be working for a magazine in no less than New York City. (yup, The Devil Wears Prada is the movie-peg of my life, haha!) but because God has called me, i am here. i chose to be here right now because i discovered that God has placed me here, with a mission to fulfill.

"A calling is something you discover, not something you choose." - Chapter 3, Discerning the Call

 "..calling is 'the place where your deep gladness meets the world's deep need.'" - Chapter 3, Discerning the Call

"What work brings you joy? For what do you have desire and passion- for these, too, are gift from God. This is why giftedness is about more than just talents- it includes passion." - Chapter 3, Discerning the Call

"A calling, which is something I do for God, is replaced a career, which threatens to become my god. A career is something I choose for myself; a calling is something I receive. A career is something I do for myself; a calling is something I do for God. A career promises status, money, or power; a calling generally promises difficulty and even some suffering- and the opportunity to be used by God. A career is upward mobility, a calling generally leads to downward mobility." - Chapter 3, Discerning the Call 

 "A career may end with retirement and lots of 'toys.' A calling isn't over until the day you die. The rewards of a career may be quite visible, but they are temporary. The significance of a calling lasts for eternity. A career can be disrupted by any number of events- but not a calling. When God calls people, he enables them to fulfill their callings even in the most unlikely circumstances." - Chapter 3, Discerning the Call

encouraging words on faith, trusting God, obedience, hope, and waiting.

"Never try to have more faith- just get to know God better. And because God is faithful, the better you know him, the more you will trust him. The way to get to know his trustworthiness is to risk obeying him." - Chapter 4, Walking on Water

"Maybe God is calling you to trust him at some point of frustration in your life. Trust him. No one ever regretted trusting Christ more- ever." - Chapter 4, Walking on Water

 "I believe the reason God says 'fear not' so often is that fear will sink us faster than anything else. Fear disrupts faith and becomes the biggest obstacle to trusting and obeying God." - Chapter 6, Crying Out in Fear

"You can risk being fully honest with God for a very important reason: God is never a God of discouragement." - Chapter 7, That Sinking Feeling 

"Whenever Jesus calls someone to get out of the boat, he gives the power to walk on water."- Chapter 8, Focusing on Jesus

"Hope does not prevent me from expecting the worst- 'the worst is what the hopeful are prepared for.'" - Chapter 8, Focusing on Jesus

"..what God does in us while we wait is as important as what it is we are waiting for." - Chapter 9, Learning to Wait

"..we are waiting on God. Therefore we can trust his wisdom and timing. We can wait with confidence. Because waiting reminds us that we are waiting for someone, the single most important activity in waiting is prayer. Prayer allows us to wait without worry." - Chapter 9, Learning to Wait

"God's voice is never frantic. When you hear desperate thoughts, you can know it is not God speaking." - Chapter 9, Learning to Wait

"..every time you walk on the water, each time you trust God and seek to discern and obey his calling in your life, your God will bet bigger, and your worship will grow deeper, richer, and stronger." - Chapter 10, How Big is Your God? 

this book gave my heart enough encouragements to go on fulfilling God's plan. life hasn't been easy, and i don't think it will get easier. but one thing i've been learning is to go through it strong. there are more fears i have to conquer as i go through the waters, but i know God is in control. this book enlightened me with truths that i can hold on as i go through life walking with God.

If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat. being in the boat is settling. there is comfort and there are no risks, but where's the excitement, the adventure? it's out in the waters. growth is there. JESUS IS THERE. "The water may be dark, wet, and dangerous. But Jesus is not in the boat."

i encourage you to read this book, and living your life won't be the same.