Holy Friday's Reflection: The Salvation of God Through Jesus

“The Luckiest Tree”

There was once a tall tree planted in a high mountain. One day, a group of loggers went to the mountain to cut trees around it for future use. They cut all the trees they can see and their attention focused on the tallest one. The tall tree prayed to God and said, “Oh Lord, if you will allow these loggers to cut me, make me your instrument for your future purpose.” And the loggers began to cut the tall tree. The loggers divided the wood into two equal parts. One was sent in a farm and the other half was kept. An old farmer bought the wood and used it as a food container for the animals. The wood asked God, “Lord, you cut me and made me a food container for these animals; I know that you have better plans for me Lord, I trust you.” One night, a man and a woman went in the farm and looked for a shelter to stay. The farmer doesn’t have any space in his house but he referred the couple in his animal house. That night, the woman gave birth to his son, and she placed her little baby to food container. The wood said, “God, thank you for giving me the chance to cuddle you begotten son.” Many years passed, the other half of the wood is used. A group of soldiers is looking for a wood to make a cross.  They found a wood kept in a warehouse. They get it and made a cross. The wood said, “My Lord, I was kept for a very long time, make me the best purpose I can be.” The soldiers take off the cross to the warehouse and give to a man named Jesus. They torture him and let him carry the cross. And before the day ends, they nailed the man in the cross. The wood said, “Oh God, I thank you for giving me the chance hold your wounded son.”

The story tells us that the tree faithfully devoted its life to God. It prayed to him to use him for his propose. He let the Lord drive his own life. And that made him the luckiest tree in the world. If the tree can be faithful to God, how much more we can be. If we will just let God use us for his own purpose we can be also – or much more be blessed. Every one of us has a mission to make. Our mission is to bring each other closer to God. He formed us in His own image so we can know Him personally and have a joy-filled life. He did not make us as tree, but gave us a will and a freedom of choice. The Bible says, “The result of unforgiven sin is death. But God's gift is eternal life given by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). There is only one way to reach God. Jesus Christ is the only answer to this problem. He is the only One who can bring us back to God. He offered his life on the Cross and rose from the grave, paying the penalty for our sin and bridging the gap between God and people. (1 Peter 3:18).

We have differences with each other; language, culture, behavior and attitude but God wanted us to unite as we get close to him. We have our own sufferings, trials and pains but these are essential for us to grow in any area of your life. Our book has been written and on the last chapter, we have happy-ending.  We may be going through rough times now. Perhaps there’s a mountains of trials in your life today – bills, school, works, health, family, friends but whatever it is believe that you can have that happy future. We must trust Jesus Christ at all times to forgive our sins and settle on to obey Him for the rest of our lives. That way we can know God and find his salvation. (Romans 10:9-10).

Holy Thursday's Reflection : God’s Mercy

To the parents, how much do you love your children?

To the children, how much do you love your parents?

Parents love their child so much that is why they are very hardworking just to give their child a brighter future. They work so hard day and night to give the needs of their child. They send them to the best schools and give them the best education they can have. They even sacrifice their own happiness to fulfill their duties and obligations to their child. They would even trade their lives just to meet the needs of their child.

I remember my father and mother worked so hard to gives quality education. My father worked as a marble contractor. He used to earn more than enough for our family. Our family that time was well off that we could afford a luxurious life. But things fell down easily. My father had a tuberculosis and been in and out of the hospital. The doctors had to remove the water out of his lungs. During those times, we were too young to work for our family, so my mother step on. She worked for our family even harder this time. She sells variety of food at the street from morning to afternoon. I worked along with her selling foods in the street in the morning and I go to school in the afternoon. It is hard for us but we have to do endure it. We helped each other to build our family back again. We get strengths from each other and support each other’s battle. Today, everything was change, Mama is gone, and Papa is 650 kilometers away from me and its my time to be the flag bearer of our family. But with God’s grace I can pass all the challenges I may have meet along the way and fulfill God’s plan for me and my family.

Just like any other parents in the world, God is very loving. He showed his unconditional love for us by sending his begotten son to wash away our sins – John 3:16. Jesus died in the cross to redeem us from our sins and lead us to God. God loves the wicked and sinners. The bible said that he loves bad people “We somehow know this already, but it still jars our sense of “justice”” Luke 6:35-36. God gives his mercy to those who do not deserve His kindness at all. In another part of the Bible, it says, “When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy” Titus 3:4-6. Even the bible said that Jesus eats with the sinners; Mary Magdalene, Levi - Tax Collector, a sinful woman etc. God’s mercy is undeserved kindness. Jesus said “I don’t condemn you—now go and sin no more.”

As Brother Bo Sanchez said to his article, forgiveness isn’t the result of Repentance. Rather, repentance is a result of forgiveness. Repentance comes when God’s kindness invades our soul. Change of heart is a spontaneous result of being loved! Let God’s mercy overflowed to our life and we’ll share to the rest our the world.