The (Un)repentant Siberian Husky

When I was a kid, I remember spending hours in front of the TV watching this animated film on Betamax over and over. No, it wasn’t The Land Before Time, if that’s what you’re thinking. Rather, it’s a movie about a dog named Charlie. See, Charlie died and went to heaven, thus the title, All Dogs Go to Heaven. But then, he wanted to avenge himself by somehow escaping heaven and getting back at his rival-slash-murderer, Carface.

Of course, this is not a biblically-sound illustration of what salvation is, but it got me thinking if our pets will get saved. Will they ever see heaven?

Although I highly disagree that canines are man’s best friend, I just love them. So now, I’ve been wondering about their salvation. However, I haven’t encountered a verse in the bible that explicitly answers the question above. The more I think about it, the more questions flood my head. Do animals sin? Do they have life after death? And so on.

A couple of days ago, as I was cuddling Vera, my one-year-old Siberian Husky, I whispered to her ear “Do you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior?” And guess what she did. She bit my wrist. That unrepentant Siberian Husky.

I still don’t have the answers to my questions regarding this. But you know what, I realized something about myself. I think I had a flaw in how I understand salvation in general. I think qualified it. I acted as if salvation had an elimination process and that there were “rules of the game”. I was being legalistic and way too technical.

And I believe salvation does not work that way at all.

Salvation is a precious gift from God purchased for us by the blood of Jesus. He didn’t just die for me, my family, and my friends. Christ offered Himself as the Perfect Sacrifice for all of us. The gift is available to all. We just have to accept this gift and trust in Jesus alone for salvation.

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. (Titus 2:11)

Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.  (Colossians 3: 11)

I looked back and remembered how I sometimes saw check boxes on people’s foreheads. Saved or Unsaved? Really. I saw check boxes when I should have seen Jesus. Now, who did I think I was I to play judge?

I felt so convicted. I prayed to God for forgiveness and thanked Him for revealing to me the errors of my ways.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you something. The day after Vera bit me, I tried again and told her, “Kiss me if you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior” and she licked my nose with her wet puppy tongue.

Vera with her favorite toy @ 2 months

P.S. I have another dog – a male whippet named Duke.

Beloved [A Blog Post on Fellowship]

Small Group. Discipleship Group. Leadership Group. Cell Group. Life Group. Connect Group. Bible Study Group. (Feel free to add to the list)

Although known by a variety of names, these groups exist for the same purpose and geared towards a mutual goal. And that is to follow Christ together.

But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin. (1 John 1: 7)

No one can be a lone ranger Christian. We need encouragement and prayers from other believers who sincerely care about us. Sometimes, we need loving reminders to keep us on the right track. We need friends who will do this Christian walk with us.

This is fellowship. This is sharing lives.

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. (Hebrews 3: 13)

The first time I attended a small group meeting is an event to remember. I was relatively new to the faith while the girls I joined seemed like veteran Christians. There were five of them. They knew their bible, got their memory verses in check, and were discussing (drum roll, please)… eschatology. I wanted to do somersaults in the air. I was thinking, “I just got saved and the end times is already on its way, great.”

They were so comfortable talking about faith with each other. They spoke about rapture and tribulation as if these were the most common, most normal subjects in the world. I have to admit, I winced whenever they said the word “enemy”. The enemy this, the enemy that, the enemy is working extra hard to snatch the souls of mankind. You can probably imagine how scary it was for me.

When all that was said and done, they invited me to next week’s bible study. I could’ve said no, could’ve made up an excuse. Instead, I resorted to the safest non-committal response known to human race – “I’ll try”

During the week that followed, God spoke to me. He reminded me of how I asked Him for a small group and told me that this small group is His Perfect Choice for me.

So, the next bible study, I was there. This time, the atmosphere was less apocalyptic. I got to meet other ladies belonging to the group who were absent the previous weekend. They were very welcoming, but I still felt like I didn’t belong. I imagined myself as the black sheep of the herd, bleating to a different tune. I thought to myself, “These people have no idea what kind of person I am, what I’ve done in the past, they’d never understand.”

But it was me who didn’t understand who I am in Jesus.

Sharing my experiences and thoughts with the group started as a struggle because I was always fishing for a correct answer, answers that sounded Christian. I found it difficult to own up to my mistakes, let alone admit these to anyone.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8: 1)

No condemnation in Christ. What a beautiful message. When God revealed this to me, I dropped my hypocrisy and watched it shatter. Gradually, I dismantled the wall I put up. I started opening up my heart to my small group. Little by little, I shared with them my weaknesses, my fears, my personal issues. I realized that they weren’t there to judge me based on who I was or who I was pretending to be. I also realized they couldn’t help me unless they knew the things I was going through.

That was when it all made sense.

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. (Acts 2: 42)

Two years have passed since my crash course in eschatology and I’m still with the same group. Some members have come and gone while some have chosen to remain. From around 5 members, Jesus more than tripled our number.

Sometime during our first couple of years together, these ladies stopped being people-I-study-the-bible-with and became my sisters in Christ. If it weren’t for them, I don’t really know how I’d be able to keep the fire burning within me.

We pray for each other. We encourage one another through testimonies or revelations from God. We attend services and worship together. We keep in touch throughout the week via Facebook, text messages, and emails. We go out on coffee, lunch or dinner dates not only to talk about scriptures but also to just hang out and be girls. We can discuss doctrines, parables, prophecies and also make-up and movies and clothes, and sometimes, even boys. I laugh with them, I cry with them.

Fellowship is relationship. It must be built on mutual respect, trust, and love. It has to be nurtured. Above all, Jesus must be at the center of it. Otherwise, it will fall apart and come down to nothing.

BELOVED. That’s us. We overflow with God’s Amazing Love. The same Spirit dwells within us. And through Christ, we are able to love.

Soaking in the River

Organized and hosted by the River of God, Soaking in the River is a monthly gathering of believers who desire to experience more of the Lord and to worship Him intensely. For 4 hours, it’s all about praising Him while everything else fades in the background.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the Soaking with some friends and it was amazing.

We started off by opening up our hearts and inviting God to fill it. I put aside all my personal worries and interests and just focused on Him. With eyes closed and desire burning, I fervently prayed in tongues for the Holy Spirit to be poured upon me. I remember having a deep wanting to encounter Him, to feel more of Him. After some minutes, I began to tremble and I knew it was because He heard me.

I lifted my hands up to Him and felt the center of my right palm and the left side of my left wrist getting heavier. It was as if weights were placed on those points. I continued to sing praises to Him, forgetting that there were other people in the room. In my head, it was just me and God. Being surrounded by His Mighty Presence was more than enough to bring us to our knees. He is such a glorious, marvelous God.

When the ministers started to lay their hands on the attendees, I closed my eyes. One of the ministers laid his hand on my head and I felt so light. Then, another minister came. This second minister pressed the center of my right palm with his thumb. Suddenly, everything became blurry and I was falling.

I cried so hard for 40 minutes straight as I lie there on the floor. I don’t know why, but I felt so downcast and broken. I felt as if all the problems of mankind were on my shoulders. I was brought to pray for everyone – people I know, people I don’t know, my country, the entire world. I cried out Hosanna to God.

The Soaking ended at 9:00 PM. As we were leaving, I bumped into the man who ministered on me. I asked him why he pressed the center of my palm. His reply was short and simple, yet it satisfied my curiosity. He said, “The Spirit lead me to.”

Spiritual Warfare

Monday Night

I was in bed. I couldn’t move. Scary visions played in my head.

Tuesday Night

I was in my room, composing a blog post on my laptop about how much I love the Holy Spirit. I was working on the last paragraph when I began questioning everything I typed.

How did you know He’s real? What if it was just your imagination? Perhaps a mere coincidence or delusion?

It was clearly an attack from the enemy, using my skepticism to his advantage. He was trying to shake my faith. I immediately called a friend and asked if we could pray together. I felt God’s comfort immediately and managed to publish the blog.

Wednesday Night

Something amazing happened that day and I knew it was God’s doing. I was eager to blog about it, but I couldn’t find the words. Okay, writer’s block, I thought. I’d blog about it some other time. I didn’t even get to start. Not one sentence.

Thursday Night

I read 1 Kings 2: 1-25 before going to bed. The chapter started with David leaving instructions to Solomon, who was to succeed him as king. After David’s death, Adonijah (fourth son of David, half-brother of Solomon) came to Bathsheba (mother of Solomon) to make a request. He asked Bathsheba to speak to Solomon, on his behalf, that he may have Abishag as his wife. Solomon, upon hearing this request, immediately recognized Adonijah’s attempt to usurp the throne and put him to death.

I should have seen it as a warning.

After reading the bible and completing my daily journal, I turned the lights off and closed my eyes. However, I couldn’t sleep. For some reason, I felt scared. Blasphemous images and sinful thoughts started filling my head. I tried to just push them out, but the effort was futile. So I prayed. After much struggle, God made me fall asleep.

Friday Night

I was lead to read the Book of Philemon. It was short and encouraging. One chapter, 25 verses.

While in prison, Paul wrote to Philemon pleading, out of love, for Onesimus. Onesimus was Philemon’s runaway slave, who stole from him. At some point, Onesimus met Paul, who shared Christ with him. So, Paul was asking Philemon to receive Onesimus once again, this time as a brother in Christ instead of a slave. From slave to son/brother, amazing life story.

I closed my bible and went to bed. To be honest, I was scared to shut my eyes. I was already expecting another attack from the enemy. Sure enough, the enemy hit me again. I felt very much like a prisoner and a slave. It was worse than the previous evening. The visions were more vile this time. The entire night was pure torture. At midnight, I fell asleep. Minutes later, I was awake again shaking from a terrible dream. I prayed and forced myself to fall asleep. But it happened again. Another nightmare. I was trembling and extremely afraid. I decided to sleep beside my mum and just prayed over and over.

The next thing I knew, it was morning. I felt so thankful.

Saturday Night

This it it, Lord. Apart from you, I am nothing. I am surrendering everything to You. It’s all in Your Mighty Hands now. I am trusting You fully to save me from the enemy. There’s no way I’d be able to do this on my own.

That was my prayer. I opened my bible and He gave me His Word.

Then, I said to you, “Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as He did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the desert. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place. In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God, who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go. (Deuteronomy 1: 29-33)

I continued praying and closed my eyes. It was the best, most relaxing sleep I had all week. I woke up at around 9:30 AM the following day.

Sunday afternoon, I met with my small group for bible study and told them about what I went through. They asked why I didn’t even ask them to pray for me and with me. I didn’t have an answer. A couple of times, I did want to text them, but I held back.

I remembered, then, that the enemy will isolate a person like what he did with the demon-possessed man in Mark 5: 1-20.

Sunday Night

I read about the Temptation of Jesus in Matthew 4: 1-11. I realized Christ used what is written in the Book of Deuteronomy to rebuke the enemy. Wow. I didn’t know know that. I made a mental note to read more Deuteronomy these coming days.

Notes:

God could have prevented me from suffering oppression, but He didn’t. Because He was increasing my faith. He was teaching me a very important lesson – to only depend on Him and not on myself. In theory, I knew that. So many times, I shared to others how we should fully surrender to God. But He gave me the opportunity to put it into practice. He also reminded me of the importance of fellowship with other believers. And the power in the Name of Jesus.

Truly, I was humbled by the entire ordeal. I was too busy being scared that I lost my focus on Him. I forgot everything I learned, I forgot who He is in my life. He is sovereign, He is in control. He goes before me and fights the battle for me.

The spiritual war rages on, but Victory is Yours, Lord God.

Thank You. Thank You. Thank You.

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6: 13-17)

On Strength

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on 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)

I carry this in my heart. I hold on to it at times when I am feeling weak or unsure of my footing. I am sharing this today because we sometimes need to be reminded that apart from Christ, we are never strong enough. Let us stop trusting in ourselves and just surrender fully our situations to Him.

He is the Way, the Truth, and the Light. (John 14: 6)

Amen!

No Accidental Minister

A friend and I decided to have dinner at Pancake House, High Street last Wednesday. As always, I picked one of the booths for its soft orange cushioned seats. Nice and comfy.

While waiting for our order, I opened my bible to 2 Chronicles 9: 1-12, which speaks about the the Queen of Sheba seeking the wisdom of Solomon. I asked my friend to read it as well and to tell me what he believed the message was. And, just like that, we started discussing the passage. We got engrossed in exchanging ideas that we continued talking about it over our steak and spicy chicken meal.

King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for; he gave her more than she had brought to him. (2 Chronicles 9: 12)

The above verse really stood out. I remember telling my friend that it reminded me of what Christ has done for us, how he gave us life in exchange for our sins and how our good works can never compensate for His gift of salvation. Suddenly, our conversation was all about Jesus. An intense desire to just speak about Him washed over me. I couldn’t stop talking about Him. It was awesome.

After dinner, I excused myself to go to the restroom. And that was when I noticed. There was someone seated right behind me, our backs on each other. He was alone and I could sense youthful angst in him. Given the volume of my voice, I’m certain this person heard everything my friend and I talked about. Particularly the part about Christ. I didn’t know he was there, that booth was empty when we arrived. I was too focused on the Word that I didn’t even realize that someone took the table next to ours.

I believe the Holy Spirit put me in that situation, at that exact time and place. Without meaning to, I was able to minister to this stranger, who probably needed to hear about Christ. I smiled to myself, amazed at God’s Ways. He knew I wouldn’t have approached this person nor spoken to him about Christ, so He inspired me to read the Word and to just openly share what the chapter was telling me.

Thank You for sending me, Lord.

For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard. (Acts 4:20)

Consumed by the Holy Spirit

From the moment I started this blog, I have been extremely excited to share about the Holy Spirit. I think it’s high time to get the ball rolling.

In one sentence – The Holy Spirit rocks! Feel my enthusiasm? That’s because my pulse rate doubled as soon as started typing. If you could only see me right now, I’m like a giggly high school girl whose ultimate crush just passed by. And I’m actually biting on my lip because I am feeling so giddy just by thinking I’d finally be able to tell people how head over heels I am with the Holy Spirit.

Okay, while I can still control these overflowing emotions, allow me to start.

For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1: 5)

We know that the Blessed Trinity is three Persons in one God: God the Father, God the Son (a.k.a. Jesus, Lover of my Soul), and God the Holy Spirit. I was baptized with the Holy Spirit a few days after my 26th birthday. We were a group of about 30 in the room. The pastors and church leaders instructed us to ask with our whole hearts to receive the Holy Spirit and they laid their hands on us.

I closed my eyes and in faith, asked for the Holy Spirit. What happened next, I never expected.

If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him! (Luke 11: 13)

When the Spirit manifested, I was awestruck. Until now, I can’t find the words to describe it. It was electrifying (literally)! I could feel the Spirit being poured into me. I was like a vial slowly being filled with oil. At first, I felt as if I was hit somewhere between my chest and my belly, but it didn’t hurt. Seconds later, a calming Energy crept from my toes up! It was the most beautiful feeling ever. The statement “filled with the Holy Spirit” makes perfect sense. The sensation was so intense, I was brought to tears.

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2: 4)

Everyone around me began speaking in tongues. My human mind could not understand, but the utterances were that of praise, of thankfulness, of celebration. I opened my mouth, despite my shaking jaw, and sounds began to flow out. I think it sounded like, aa-ba-ba-ba-aa. Just that, over and over. Hmmmn, realized just now, doesn’t that kind of resemble “Abba”?  Abba is the Aramaic word for Father. I won’t be lying if I tell you that, at that moment, my heart was crying out for God.

After that experience, I approached one of our pastors and described to him how the Spirit manifested in me. He said that even if the Spirit did not make His Holy Presence felt like that, I still would have received the Holy Spirit. Because for as long as one’s intentions are pure and one asks in faith, he/she will receive the Spirit.

I believe the Holy Spirit wanted me to feel His power because I can be a skeptic sometimes. He wanted me to realize that He is SO REAL.

Just the other night, I was praying in the Spirit for a friend. My heart was beating so fast as I spoke tongue-lish. English and tongues, combined. Suddenly, I felt my entire body stiffen and I was enveloped in warmth even if the air conditioning was turned on. Then, the visions came. It was not voluntary. They were just there in my mind’s eye, flashing one image at a time. It was new to me, so honestly, I got scared. I will not dwell too much on that because as my small group leader warned me, not all visions come from the Holy Spirit.

But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. (1 Corinthians 14: 3)

I still haven’t told the friend I was praying for what I saw. As Paul said in his first letter to the Corinthians, these visions should edify the Church. Since I’m still uncertain, I will seek guidance and confirmation from the Holy Spirit, the Counselor. I just wanted to share that because God is often described as Consuming Fire and one of the manifestations of the Holy Spirit is through heat.

The Spirit feels different from Christian to Christian though. The Holy Spirit will hold back so as not to overwhelm the person. I’ve read that the manifestation can get really powerful that a person may turn physically red all over or may feel a breeze blowing even if  he/she is in a closed room.

After receiving the Holy Spirit, the believer will also receive the fruit and the gifts. That’s another thing I’m so excited to testify about. After being baptized, I’ve become more faithful, more well-mannered, more sensitive to the feelings of others. I’m also more conscious of my actions and I can even understand the bible better.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5: 22-23)

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He gives them to each one, just as He determines.
(1 Corinthians 12: 7-11)

Some of the wicked features of the old me was being quick to anger and undisciplined with the words I say. But now that I’ve welcomed the Holy Spirit in me, I’ve become less hot-headed. I hardly get stressed out, too. Most of the time, I’m just… happy, without knowing why.

I feel that the Holy Spirit is always with me.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. ( Acts 1: 8 )

The Holy Spirit empowers me to be a witness of God. It feels so natural to tell other people now how He has transformed my life and how awesome He is. I don’t feel shy about praying for other people as well. The Holy Spirit feeds me the words to say.

He is the source of my wisdom and commitment, among other things.

I love You so much, Holy Spirit!