For 2010, let my first post be something 100% optimistic and inspiring at the same time. I received this e-mail just some minutes ago and I really can’t wait to share it through this blog, it’s actually something written by Bo Sanchez, here it is:
Happy 2010!
Believe That You’ll Have A Super Blessed Year!
Do you believe that you’ll have a super-blessed year?
Thoughts are powerful but words are even more powerful.
I’ve written here a powerful declaration for you to say. But I ask you to say it with conviction. Confess this out loud…
“I declare I’ll have a super-blessed year in 2010! I claim a year of amazing abundance for my life. This year, I shall receive more love and give more love. I shall experience more joy, greater generosity, dreams fulfilled, financial increase, open doors, new opportunities, divine connections, supernatural appointments, great miracles, answered prayers, and exponential growth—Amen!”
My sons love playing with clay.
I think it’s a great toy.
Because you can shape it in anyway you want.
My boys would ask, “Dad, make a ball!” and I’d roll it on my hands and make a ball. My boys would ask, “Dad, make a hotdog!” and I’d rub it between my palms and make a hotdog. My boys would ask, “Dad, make a donut!” and I’ll connect the two ends and make a donut. My boys would ask, “Dad, make an Optimus Prime Autobot Transformer Robot!” and I’ll tell them, “Nah, that’s too simple for me. Here, why don’t you try it?”
Friend, here’s the truth that has been hidden from you for a long time now. Your life is like clay in your hand.
Because God has given you the power to shape your life.
And this new year is no different.
How do you want your 2010 to look like? It’s really up to you. It’s your choice. You call the shots. You decide your destiny.
I repeat. Your life is a clump of clay. And God has given you two powerful tools to shape your life: Your Faith and your Action.
Actually, Faith and Action are one. Because the clearest expression of your Faith is when you Act on your Faith.
And you’ll discover that life—and all of God’s creation—will adjust to your Faith and Action.
How Beliefs Determine Your Reality
A lot of people have Negative Faith. And their Negative Faith creates their negative life.
They think, “I’ve had financial struggles last year and that won’t change this year.” Or “I’ve had so much misery last year and I’ll probably have more misery this year. Nothing will change.”
One day, a friend of mine—let’s call her Negative Nina—has a headache. It’s really just a simple headache. But Nina hears these thoughts in her mind: “It must be cancer. My officemate had a headache before the doctors told her it was cancer.” Actually, the truth is that Nina has a headache because the night before, she watched too many telenovelas. That’s all. But as the days go by, her fear grows bigger and bigger.
I told her, “Nina, your body is an obedient vessel to your mind. Soon, your body may actually produce the cancer you believe you have.”
Friend, don’t be like Negative Nina.
Instead, be a person of Positive Faith.
Do you want to see financial increase this year?
Say this declaration out loud: “This year, I’ll grow my investments, I’ll pay my debts, I’ll earn much more, and I’ll give much more.”
Do you want to see your family blessed?
Say this declaration out loud: “This year, my love will grow deeper, my relationships will grow stronger, and my family will grow closer!”
Do you want to be blessed spiritually?
Say this declaration out loud: “This year, my relationship with God will be stronger. I’ll grow in trust, I lessen my worries, I’ll be less materialistic, and experience more of God’s real joy.”
Let me now explain to you the power of your faith.
Swimming In The Dark Isn’t Fun
In an experiment, psychologists threw a helpless mouse in a giant tub of water. If the tub of water was in a windowless room, where the mouse sees nothing else but pitch-black darkness, the mouse would swim for a while but give up quickly. How quick? It drowns after only 3 minutes of swimming.
But if the giant tub of water was in a room with even one tiny shaft of light—the mouse will keep swimming for an amazing 36 hours! The difference between 3 minutes and 36 hours is hope. That’s the power of faith.
I’ve met a lot of people who are like the mouse in that windowless room. Because they can’t see a bright future ahead of them, they give up. They give up their dreams. They get stuck in their past. They feel that nothing will change in their miserable life.
You may feel like you’re swimming against the current. You may feel like any moment now, you’ll be drowning in your problems. But fear not, there’s light at the end of your dark tunnel.
Today, God wants to give you hope. The God who said, “Let there be light” on the first day of Creation is still proclaiming to you now, “Let there be light”.
Your future is brighter than your past.
I remember a story my mother told me a long time ago.
Put God First
And A Sale Will Be Added Unto You
Most of you know that my parents brought me closer to God in 1978. But do you know who brought my parents closer to God?
A house. A simple bungalow house brought them closer to God. Let me tell you how it happened.
Have you ever experienced buying a shirt, a dress, shoes—and later regretting buying it? Well, it happened to my parents. Except that it wasn’t a shirt, a dress, or shoes. They bought a house and later realized they didn’t like it.
So my mother began the difficult task of selling it.
They advertised it in newspapers every week.
Here was the Ad:
Nice Bungalow; 3BR, 2TB.
W/ garage and tiny garden.
Everyday, she received 2 or 3 callers, inquiring about the house. But for some reason, there were no takers.
After one month of no sale, Mom changed the Ad.
Nice Bungalow; 3BR, 2TB.
W/ garage and tiny garden.
Owners desperate;
Will kill themselves if not sold soon.
Just kidding.
But Mom was really desperate. You see, she already bought another property and was paying for that loan. But she was also paying for the house that she was trying to sell. She was drowning in her debts and needed to sell the house fast.
She was like that mouse in that tub of water, wondering if there was hope for her.
During that time, Mom followed the horoscope to the letter, consulted strange fortune-tellers with really strange hair-dos, and read all the fortune cookies she could get her hands on. Which didn’t really help sell the house. But the fortune cookies made her gain 10 pounds.
But I now believe that God has a great sense of humor. Because at that exact same time, Mom was invited to a prayer meeting. A prayer meeting she didn’t want to go to. She asked, “Is that the kind of prayer meeting that’s filled with weird people that like to raise their hands and dance ‘Lululalei Lalulalulalei, Lulalulalei Lalulalulalei…’?”
No way was she going to be with these weird people!
But desperation has a way of making you do crazy things. Because my mother was worried sick about the unsold house, she was willing to try anything. Yes, even a prayer meeting filled with weird people.
That was how she attended her first ever prayer meeting. And she loved it. She even sang and danced right along, “Lululalei Lalulalulalei, Lulalulalei Lalulalulalei…”
Read this carefully.
Remember how she used to get 2 to 3 phone calls inquiring about the house? The prayer meeting was a Friday night. The day after, Saturday, she received 36 phone calls!
And by nightfall, barely 24 hours after she attended the prayer meeting, her house was sold.
What was God saying? “You put me first in your life, I will take care of your worries.”
You may be like my mother.
For months, you’ve been praying for a miracle. And no miracle has been taking place.
Don’t give up. Believe. Put God first. And a day will come when you’ll see the light exploding in your darkness.
And you’ll find out that your future is brighter than your past.
Believe That God Has A Great Future For You
You may be like the old prophet Simeon in the Bible.
One day, God told him, “Before you die, you’ll see the Messiah.” So Simeon stayed in the Temple, praying for the fulfilment of God’s promise. He prayed and fasted and waited for the Messiah for many years. After 20 long years, Simeon became an old man. He must have wondered, “Did I hear right from God? Perhaps I made a mistake. Perhaps it was just my imagination.”
But Simeon kept believing (Faith). He kept doing what was right (Action). He kept praying in the temple.
And one day, he saw a couple from Galilee arrive in the temple—Joseph and Mary walking in, carrying their baby in their arms. I don’t know if he saw a giant red neon light arrow in the sky with big bold letters announcing, “This is the guy!” I imagine Simeon running to Mary, and lifting the baby, he says, “I can die now, for I have seen the salvation of Israel.”
Imagine if Simeon gave up. What if before the day Jesus came, he packed his bags and said, “I’ve waited too long. Twenty years. This is silly. I’m going to Hong Kong now and do some shopping.”
He would have missed the Messiah.
You may be like Simeon. You may be saying, “I’ve been in debt for such a long time. Nothing’s gonna change.”
“I’ve been stuck in my crummy job forever. I’ve had no promotions for 15 years now. I guess I’ll die in this job.”
“I’ve been single for such a long time now. I don’t think I’ll ever get married.”
“My child has been rebelling for 12 years now. I don’t think he’ll ever change.”
“Bo, my husband won’t change anymore. He’s been away from God for 12 years now.”
Friend, don’t believe these lies.
Believe that God has a great future in store for you. Believe that your future is brighter than your past. And keep doing what’s right. Keep acting on your faith.
If you’re discouraged, I want you read my last story.
She Believed Her Family Will Come To God
I met Rorie Pasimio 23 years ago.
She attended our prayer meeting carrying a heavy burden—a burden she had been carrying for many years. Her marriage with her husband Roy was breaking apart. Because Roy had all the classic vices. In my time, they called it ABS-CBN, or Alak, Babae, Sugal, Cabaret-Beerhouse-Nighclub. For years, he was drinking and womanizing. For years, he had many girlfriends. It seemed Rorie’s life was destined to be filled with pain and misery.
But Rorie had faith. She kept believing that God had a great plan for her. She believed her future was brighter than her past.
She didn’t want a broken marriage and a broken family. She prayed for God’s miracle for Roy. But not only faith. She also had action. Because she also worked on herself. She stopped nagging. She stopped fighting him and started fighting for him. She surrendered him to God.
God’s miracle came in the form of a sty or kuliti.
Have you ever had a sty? A sty usually stays on for a few days, perhaps a week. But Roy had an extraordinary sty that lasted for five long months.
One day, Roy’s officemate was in the hospital with cancer. He called up Roy and said “I heard Rorie attends a prayer meeting. Can you ask her and her friends to pray over me here at the hospital?” Naturally, Roy was forced to go with Rorie.
And there, he saw them pray over his sick friend. And he saw how his friend’s face changed—from restlessness to incredible peace.
Rorie couldn’t believe her ears when she heard Roy ask her friends, “Can you also pray over my sty?”
They prayed over him. And in 3 days, his 5-month old sty was totally healed.
And from there, Rorie invited Roy to attend the Light of Jesus. Roy said that little by little, his vices went away one by one.
Today, 23 years later, Roy Pasimio is our missionary to Asia Pacific and the Middle East. He has opened 12 Light of Jesus chapters in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Australia, New Zealand…
How did this miracle happen?
A woman named Rorie dared to believe that God has something greater in store for her. She believed that her future was brighter than her past.
This wasn’t all. Rorie and Roy have two adult children who are also serving God. Their daughter Gemma serves in Singles for Christ here in Manila and their son Tey is a nurse in America, leading one of our Light of Jesus chapters in Los Angeles.
Don’t Ask Small
Here’s my final message.
Rorie didn’t pray a small prayer. She didn’t pray, “Lord, help me to survive this marriage.” She prayed, “Lord, make my marriage a great marriage. I want a family that will serve you. I want a husband that will serve God with me.”
I repeat: God has a great future planned for you. So don’t pray small prayers. Pray for great ones. Expect great things to happen to you. The Bible says, Ask me and I will give you the nation as your inheritance.
Ask Him to fulfil your highest hopes and dreams! Dare to ask God for your deepest desires. Don’t settle for lesser dreams.
May your dreams come true,
Bo Sanchez
PS. Do you want financial growth in 2010? The key is to gain an abundance mentality. To throw away your scarcity mentality.
Again, May our 2010 be Super Blessed!
Brilliant Sunshine 