MONEY LAUNDERING

Nowadays, we really have to be practical in spending money. In our house, each one of us is assigned some household chores to do. The kids take turn to wash the dishes and sweep the floor and tidy up their own room when they are not so loaded with their school assignments. My wife takes care of going to the market and does the cooking while I do the toughest job, that is, the laundry. Who needs a housemaid?

For the many years that I have been doing my chores, I developed my prayer time like during those boring hours while waiting for the washing machine to be filled up with water (since it was not the automatic type), then pour in the laundry soap and throw in the dirty clothes.

One time while I was waiting and watching how the clothes go in circle inside the washing machine, I talked to God. I asked Him to help us meet our financial needs everyday. Suddenly a twenty-peso bill, washed and filled with bubbles came afloat, and then another one, and another one, until I got a total of one hundred pesos in all.

Does God make money? The answer is NO! Surely one of us forgot to get those paper bills left in the pocket---and right timing for God to impress upon me how He answers my questions and my worries. But does God make miracles? The answer is definitely YES!
God still answers prayers in many ways.

Bible Reading: Matthew 1o:5-15

5"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9"This, then, is how you should pray:"
'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one
14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.


M A C

Meaning: Jesus wants us to ask for what we need each day when He taught us how to pray this way: "Give us today our daily bread."

Application: I will stop asking for my future needs, instead, I will ask God to give what I need today. I believe this is Jesus' way of taking away my unnecessary anxieties.

Character of Jesus: Jesus taught us how to talk to His Father that we may know His will in our lives each and every day.

PRICELESS

My Family and I love going to the mall, not for the luxury of shopping but just to stroll around and see what’s new. One time, we went to a newly-opened mall near our place. We came across the fast food area where we saw a long line of people waiting for their turn to taste the popular and best selling barbeque in that mall. While we were nearing the barbeque stall, I tried to get my kids’ attention away from that tempting smell of the barbeque in grill that spreads around the fast food area. Tempting, not because eating pork is not healthy but because we cannot afford to buy one.


Then, with a downcast spirit, I asked God, “Lord, when will you bless us financially?”

Still with a heavy heart, we sat on a park bench nearby, passing time, watching people.

Suddenly, I saw three boys who were about ten to twelve years of age, and dressed up with their best clothes but wearing dirty and worn out slippers. One of them was even on barefoot, Each one carries with him a plastic bag, going from one trash bin to another. They were opening the bins to get like empty soft drink tin cans that they can sell for a few centavos. At the same time I noticed that they were also on a close look out for the mall guards. They seemed so afraid of them. I know why. I saw how the guards shoo them away like stray animals. Now I understand- if they are dressed like the mallers, the guards may not notice that they are even without slippers and they will not be dragged out of the mall. Yes, they are in the mall but not for leisurely walk as we do.

As I was keenly observing them, their situation made me realized that God has been so good to have blessed me with so much more. I am blessed with healthy family. I am blessed with a happy family whom I can joke and laugh with. I am blessed to have the time to spend with them walking in the mall, even without the extra money to spend luxuriously on shopping and dining. I began to appreciate the simple way we share the happy moments together. Precious moments like those, I should say are priceless.




Bible Reading: Matthew 6:1-4

1"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

M A C

Meaning: Jesus is teaching us the right way to give to people who are in need.

Application: I will start giving to the needy and I will do it in secret so that my Father in heaven will be pleased and someday He will reward me.

Character of Jesus: Jesus is the creator of giving, and He just taught by example when He gave His own life for us.

WHAT IF

FACE OFF. That was the title of the American film which starred John Travolta who played the bad guy and villain to Nicholas Cage as the good cop. It was a heart-pounding story of twists and turns when they exchanged faces but not the character and personality behind the face. At the end, the good guy, Nicholas Cage wanted to get his face and his own person back while John Travolta started enjoying his new life and new face and the good image that goes with it.

I grew up in our ancestral house which has a small balcony in front before you reach the door to the living room. My Dad while passing time would usually watch passersby from the balcony of the house. One time he called me and told me to take a look at the old man on the street pushing his old and almost worn out cart, as he shouts “dyaryo, bote.” (means that the old man makes a living through buy and sell of old newspapers and empty bottles) My Dad sighed and told me, “buti na lang hindi ikaw yan.” (you are blessed, you are not on his shoes). I understood then what my Dad was trying to say --that God was so gracious that He gave me a better life while I spend my short and temporary life here on earth.

I always remember that sight and the casual way my Dad taught me about compassion and appreciation every time I see poor people, or homeless beggars, with no place to put their tired bodies to rest, making the streets their shelter, or those who get through a day’s meal out of the leftovers from the garbage bins. I would always ask myself, “what if …I am in that person’s place?” What if… one day I will wake up with a new face and a new life--very poor, lonely and worst of all, without Jesus Christ in my life or without knowing Jesus as my savior?

Today, would you be a channel of God’s blessings as you count the many blessings that you have as compared to other people around you?

What if…




Bible Reading: Matthew 15:29-39

29Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. 30Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. 31The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.
32Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way."
33His disciples answered, "Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?"
34"How many loaves do you have?" Jesus asked. "Seven," they replied, "and a few small fish."
35He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. 37They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 38The number of those who ate was four thousand, besides women and children. 39After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.

M A C

Meaning: Jesus asked the disciples to hand over the fish and bread to the people first even though they were also hungry and the disciples obeyed. They were not selfish to think only of themselves.

Application: After God handed over to us His blessings we must also share it to other people in need.

Character of Jesus: He is compassionate to all of us.

CARRY…OK

A wedding will be held for one of the members of our church where I and my wife were assigned to assist the local pastor. This was in a small church in Manila Philippines.

My wife and I are neither professional singers, nor members of the music ministry in this church. But since no one was available to sing, we ended up preparing a song number for the wedding ceremony.

We will be rehearsing until evening, and so we brought our children to the house of their grandma because no one will look after them. It was past eleven o’clock in the evening when the phone rang. It was their grandma calling from the emergency room of the hospital and told us to hurry and to go there where she brought our three-year old daughter who had been vomiting all day.

Immediately, I turned off the karaoke and stopped everything we were doing. The initial thought was to rush to the hospital and get there as soon as we can. But I gained my composure. I held my wife’s hand and prayed to God before heading there.

God answered our prayers. We felt the presence of the Lord while praying. We believed that our daughter has been healed right that moment. The Lord went ahead of us to give His healing touch.

When we reached the hospital, we saw our little girl lying on the bed. I went to her and said, “carry na kita, okay ka na, pinagaling ka na ni Jesus.” (“I’ll carry you now. You are now okay. Jesus healed you.”)Then she smiled at us and embraced me so tightly.

During the wedding, we were so happy to sing, not only for the couple, but also for the Lord. We shared this experience to the guests.

Sometimes, when we have something to do for the Lord, things just don’t go well as we intend to. We just have to entrust everything to God.



Bible Reading: Mark 4:35-41 and Mark 4:1-20

35That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." 36Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"
39He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
(When Jesus said, “Quiet! Be still!” He used the word phimothete, which would normally be used to exorcise evil spirits. Jesus recognized the devil’s attempt on his life in the storm and spoke accordingly, taken from the book: The New Manners and Customs of the Bible Times by Ralph Gower )
40He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" 41They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

1They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. 2When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. 3This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. 4For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.
6When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7He shouted at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me!" 8For Jesus had said to him, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit!"
9Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?"
"My name is Legion," he replied, "for we are many." 10And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.
11A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12The demons begged Jesus, "Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them." 13He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
14Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. 15When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. 17Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
18As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." 20So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.


M A C

Meaning: Even Jesus encountered obstacles set up by the devil during His ministry here on earth.

Application: When things seem to go wrong most especially when I am going to do something for the Lord, I pray and ask God for His guidance and protection and rebuke Satan’s wicked scheme through the power of Jesus Christ.

Character of Jesus: He is persistent. No one and nothing can stop Him from doing His business.