I write because YOU Lord exist ♥

  Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.  

[psalm119-105]

Is God disappointed when you stop serving because you were hurt or going through something?

I used to call myself ‘The Prodigal Daughter’ because whenever I am going through something, whenever I am in pain whenever I am not okay the first thing I do is run away from God.

Why?

I am either ashamed of myself for being in pain for the wrong decision I’ve made or sometimes I am too hurt that I want to rebel against Him. As much as loving Him can be addictive and so is running away from Him. Eventually, it became a habit; whenever I am not okay I will not serve in the community nor go to any teachings or even to Church. 

Each and every time I do it, I feel so exhausted, I feel like I am running in a same circle and seems like I have nowhere to go.

Until one day, I told myself maybe I need to change my routine, I told myself why not try it the other way around? Instead of running away why not run to Him?

I did it and that’s when I realized that the only reason I feel exhausted every time I am going through something is because I kept running away to the Only One whom can give me peace.  It was a game changer.

Matthew 11:28-30 says “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

But the real question here is God disappointed when you stop serving because you were hurt or going through something?

Definitely NO.

Many of the people like me, who run away from Him feels too guilty to comeback thinking that maybe God is disappointed or mad at them.

Yet little did they know during those time they were running away, God is running away with them. During the time they are sinning, God is beside them reminding them to remember Him. During the moment they are in pain, God is crying with them. And that even they have totally forgotten God, He is still with them.

 Psalm 34:18 says The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

God is so loving even those time we can’t love ourselves. He is patiently waiting for us to be okay and continuously blessing us in many ways we don’t even notice. I do believe that when we are happy, let’s look up and He is their smiling but when we are hurt you can always look down because He will be their too, wiping your tears.

If you are feeling lost right now, find your way back to Him. If you think you need more time then take all the time that you need but still no matter how long, find your way back to Him.

 As a ministry head whenever a member is asking me if he/she can stop serving for the mean time because he/she is not okay or going through something, I always let them because I’ve been there; but at the same time, I encourage them to still attend the teachings even just an attendee. Because though they feel the urge to stop serving for some reasons they can’t sometimes tell, still it’s not an excuse for any of us to stop coming near to Him.

And in case you did, remember that He is always lovingly waiting for you to come back.

Come back home Child of God, He is waiting.

May God bless you heart,

 Chok

[psalm119-105]

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗕𝗢𝗔𝗥𝗗

It was year 2014 when I’ve learned from Bo Sanchez the importance of having a dream board. (Kung ano gusto mo design up to you, kay Bo from cut magazines lang edi ako artistic so I created my own printed photos taken from google. haha!) After making it, you must put your dream board sa bahay nyo, sa harap ng salamin, sa working place or anywhere na palagi mo makikita so it will always remind you of your ‘dream’ – the law of attraction ika nga. Before, my dream board is general, walang time line pero since 2016 I decided na gawing yearly para mas realistic and I am updating it yearly din kasi nagbabago naman mga gusto natin diga? 😀 (Or ako lang ba? HAHAHA!) 𝑩𝒐𝒏𝒖𝒔 𝒑𝒂 𝒏𝒂 𝒏𝒂𝒌𝒂𝒌𝒂-𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒌𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒈 𝒊-𝒖𝒑𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒂 𝑫𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒎𝒐 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒌𝒂𝒔𝒊 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒆-𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒎𝒐 𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈 “𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒊 𝒌𝒐 𝒑𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒑𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓.” By the grace of God 90% of whatever I put on my dream board is natutupad naman. ♥ Syempre, the 10% unfulfilled dreams may seem frustrating but if you surrendered it to Him, and trust that He knew better then it’s okay. Besides, His plans is always better than ours. PLUS whenever you plan or dream, you have to give Him a space for Him to do His part. Why I’m sharing this? I want you to remember your deepest, wildest, weirdest dream, write it down and remind yourself everyday: “HEY SELF GO AHEAD, YOU CAN TO THIS & THAT & THAT.” 😀 𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲; 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 “𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗦𝗢 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟” 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀, 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘂𝘀 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗛𝗘 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲. 🙂 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆: “𝑾𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏; 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒔, 𝒔𝒐 𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝒊𝒕. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆; 𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅—𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒆. 𝑰𝒇 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒔 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒘, 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒕; 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆; 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒚. (𝑯𝒂𝒃𝒂𝒌𝒌𝒖𝒌 2:2-3) 𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝙶𝚘𝚍 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎. 😊 May God Bless your heart, Chok

[psalm119-105]

WHAT IS HE TRYING TO TELL ME?

Sometimes what’s happening around us doesn’t make any sense at all.

But if we observe carefully and look closely, we may discover that there are certain times we are the answer to other’s needs and surprisingly even to our own question.

God would never leave us guessing. He will always send signals asking you to slow down, quiet your mind and work on yourself while He labors on your behalf. Don’t ignore His signs, because if you do, you’ll end up hurting not just yourself but also Him.

Not all of God’s sign are enjoyable, some are unpleasant and painful but if that is what it takes to get your attention, He knows it is worth it. Pay attention to the events and patterns in your life.

Is God telling you to wait?

Or to stop?

Or to relax?

Or to change your mind?

Or maybe change your heart?

If you will not listen, you might squander time that you’ll never get back.

WHAT IS THE STATUS OF YOUR HEART TODAY?

Are you waiting for something you feel might never come?

Are you hurt or disappointed by someone you thought would never even dare to make you cry?

Are you mad at someone who betrayed you? Are you left behind?

Did you lose something or someone so dear to you?

Or are you one of those who chose not to feel anything at all?

I don’t know what phase are you in now. I don’t know who made you feel that way. I don’t know who and what made you stop loving yourself, loving others and even loving God.

What I know and what I am sure of is that God loves each one of us in the most special way.

People and certain circumstances might hurt and broke our heart but God can make it whole again in just a snap of a hand – just let Him.

Surrender every broken pieces of your heart and let Him work on His masterpiece; let Him work on you.

Stop hindering His plans for you.

May God Bless your heart,

Chok Guerra

[psalm119-105]

COME HOME

Have you ever felt guilty because you think you disappointed God?

Have you lost your way home and suddenly thinks that He might be mad at you and that He is punishing you?

Are you in a phase wherein everything that is happening to you doesn’t make sense at all?

I know it is hard and confusing but I hope that whatever you are going through you would never doubt His love for you.

 We have an amazing God who is always willing to accept us again and again no matter how many times we run away from Him.

Maybe  you think you’ve caused Him lots of trouble, Maybe you’ve messed up a lot that you come up into a conclusion that He might be mad at you but don’t you remember the story of the prodigal son? 

I believe on that story Jesus made a simple point:

“Your Father, God the Father doesn’t mind what you’ve done, whether you’ve hurt someone else or you yourself are hurt or ashamed of your wrong doings, it doesn’t matter – He just want you to come home.”

May you never forget that He is a loving and forgiving God. He is our Father, the Father of Mercy.

 Now is probably your time to come back home to HIM. 

Come home Child of God, He is waiting.

May God bless you heart,

Chok Guerra

[psalm119-105]

Have you experienced delayed too?

Isn’t it frustrating and devastating?

Last Saturday at 11:10pm (ph time) was supposed to be my flight, due to some unforeseen delays around 9:45pm I am still on the road stuck with the driver who seems to intentionally drive slow after telling him I am in a hurry. (grrrr)

I reached the check in counter at 10:05pm yet the cause of delay for my flight isn’t over yet that it annoys me more because I knew I am running out of time.

Suddenly, 1 Airline staff came to me and ask “would you be okay if we will just rebook your ticket tomorrow at 7am?” without even letting her finish I said “NO! Of course I am not okay with that!” then she continued “we are experiencing a problem of over passenger and we are looking for someone who will voluntary accept delays of their flights but we will compensate it with another roundtrip ticket” without even thinking I said “NO. I want to go now.”

 Are you like me too? Always in a hurry that we don’t even see the blessings in front of us? People as we are, we sometimes focused on the close door without even realizing that there are many opened doors beside and behind us.

But like how God never gave up on me whenever I say “NO” to His plan, the airline staff came to me again after seeing I am already calm and asked “are you sure you don’t want to accept our offer?” That time, I was able to think clearly and realized that “hey! It’s a freakin’ FREE roundtrip ticket via Emirates Airlines!!!! Come back to your senses!” So I accepted it.

(Though I am still a bit in anxious because I am expected to report to work the next day but now I have to be late to work for 1 more day)

Wait there’s more! Since I am staying overnight, they booked and escorted me on a hotel nearby with free breakfast in the morning. (Feeling VIP)

And when I reported to work yesterday, I am nervous because I resumed to work late.. But my boss told me “I experienced that too many years ago. So don’t worry, it’s normal. It happens sometimes.”

Again, I am asking you Have you experienced delayed too? Isn’t it frustrating and devastating? I know and I feel you.

But let me tell you what I learned…

First we have to accept that ‘delays’ are part of life. The reason why it is called ‘delayed’ is because something happens beyond our control. I know it is hard to calm down whenever we are experiencing delay, I know how frustrating it is -- but if you would just learn to breathe and surrender then probably the outcome may be different. 

In every delay, He is teaching us 3 things; the power of TRUST, the power of SURRENDER & the power of PATIENCE.

Second, trust that HE knew better (Jeremiah 29:11) and probably if you would just calm down and hear Him, you will see the bigger picture why a certain delay is happening into your life now.

Third, He got your back. Probably like how scared I am because I will resume 1 day late to work -- you are also experiencing some anxiousness now because of the delays you are in, but hey GOD GOT YOUR BACK. If He put some delays on your life for a purpose, He surely arranged everything that will come in between.

Lastly, though you are frustrated and devastated because of whatever delays you are experiencing; still, don’t miss your reward just because you are clouded by not-so-good emotions. Your blessings might be just around the corner, don’t forget to claim it.

May God bless your heart,

Chok ♥

[psalm119-105]

Why is God not answering your Prayers?

The first time I wrote my dreams to Novena to God’s love booklet was last quarter of 2014. On mid of 2016, I had to get a new one because I completed my 7 dreams on my first booklet and on the last quarter of 2017 I had to get another one because I completed my 7 dreams on my second booklet.

But I noticed, from last quarter of 2017 until today it seems like God stopped granting my written dreams, not a single one! And honestly it was really frustrating! 

‘Till I end up not opening this booklet anymore because it became a daily reminder of my un-answered prayers.

Last night during worship, the worship leader asked us “do you have unanswered prayers?” at the back of my mind I answered, “yeahhh. My entire 3rd booklet of Novena to God’s love.” 

After the Feast my sister told me to get her a new booklet and so I did. I asked for 1 new booklet but the person who’s giving the booklet suddenly asked “ikaw? Ayaw mo ba? 2019 na baka kaylangan mo na palitan yung sayo” then she handed me another one.

Today, I re-opened my current booklet and the lady who gave me the new booklet was right – kailangan ko na ngang palitan yung sakin. Comparing to my first 2 booklet, I realized my 3rd one is more of a list of demands not a list of my dreams. I don’t know what I was thinking when I wrote it but I think I forgot to give God the chance to re-wrote it for me.

Do you have unanswered prayers like mine? 

Probably this is the best time for us to double check if we are really praying and not demanding; because praying is telling God what is in our heart and letting Him take the lead, while demanding is telling Him what we want and commanding Him to do whatever we think is good for us.

Proverbs 3: 5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.”

Let’s all be reminded that God hears our prayers even before we say it, but in our every prayers He has to be in it and He has to be with it. 

Trust me, He knew better!

My Friend, whatever your unanswered prayer is, surrender it back to Him because probably it’s time for you to let Him take the lead.

And I do hope that from today, 

at the heart of everything you pray for...

You find Jesus.

May God Bless your heart,

Chok Guerra

[psalm119-105]

WHILE THE BOSS IS OUT.

How many of us had experienced at least once in our career life saying “ano ba yan kung kailan wala ang Boss natin saka madami problema” or “wait ko lang Boss ko ha, ask ko lang sya”

Whenever your boss is out or on leave, do you feel being attacked too? As if all the major problem knocks on your door whenever your boss is away? It happens, right? Well at least for me, it happens most of the time. (HAHAHA) 

But recently, I realized that either my boss is here in the office or away – problem never stops, it’s just that when she is not here and major dilemma came I feel defenseless, I often panic as if all the trainings I’ve done and all the lesson I’ve learned in my entire life is gone that I don’t even know how to think clearly or put my thoughts into words.

In life this happens too. There are certain times we feel that God the Boss of all bosses is away and we are being attacked and we are defenseless. Some people may call it ‘Spiritual Dryness” wherein for some reason(s) you just can’t get a hold of your faith that no matter how hard you try, you just can’t feel HIM around and you start to question Him, “where are You?” “why can’t I feel You?” – and the worse part it is as if He never heard you, cause you feel like He is not even paying attention to your mourn. I’ve been in that situation so many times and probably you were too.

But if you will relate it to your work, why do our bosses allows us to handle our work without him/her? Do they want us to suffer? Or probably we are missing out the point that they just trust us enough and they knew without them, we can do it on your own. 

Like how the parents let you go when you learn to walk, knowing that you are definitely going to fall down sooner or later still they did let you go, again not to make you suffer but to let you know that they trust you enough.

God is like that too. On some point on our life He is letting us walk on our own, decide on our own because He trust us enough to let us live the life He had prepared for us. At times we feel He is not around, He is not testing our Faith in Him, He is actually giving us the opportunity to do what we’ve learned with Him and in Him. All you’ve gotta do is trust - trust Him and trust yourself too. Didn’t He prepared you? :)

Yet at the same time, like our boss or our parents, God hopes we will never stop needing Him after we find out that we can do it on our own. He is waiting for us to comeback and ask Him “what’s our next lesson for today?”  He wants us to realized that there is more to life that and He is looking forward for us to learn it with Him. He is hoping that even at times we learn to walk on our own, we will still choose to walk with Him. 

Like the song of Matt Maher is saying:

Lord, I need You, oh, I need You every hour I need You My one defense, my righteousness Oh God, how I need You When I cannot stand I'll fall on You Jesus, You're my hope and stay

Friend, in whatever situation you are in now – I pray you never stop needing HIM. And if you feel like God is currently on leave on your life -- believe that you are equipped enough to boss up on your life. Listen to your heart and recall all the learnings, remember the phrase “What would Jesus do?” The answer is always within you.

How great God is to entrust you a life? It’s same when your boss is entrusting you the entire company

Manage it wisely.

May God bless you heart,

[psalm119-105]

God clean your life to keep space for new BLESSINGS.

Let’s try to imagine ourselves as a living house; God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, we can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; we knew that those jobs needed to be done and we are not surprised.

Then suddenly He shocks us by knocking the house down in a way that it started to hurt abominably and does not seem to make any sense anymore. 

“What on earth is He up to??” 

We may ask.

Little did we know He is building a different house beyond our imagination. Throwing out a new wing here, putting extra floor there, and running up towers, making courtyards. 

We may thought we were being made into a decent little cottage but hey! He is building a palace! 

He is preparing us because He intends to come and live inside us. 

He is cleaning our lives so there will be more space for Him and His endless Blessings.

[psalm119-105]

ALWAYS Believe in what you pray for

There are certain moment, it seems like my life is a Slow Mo movie. There are random days I feel like nothing seems right. There are times I wanted something so bad that it keeps frustrating me because I was being told to wait a little longer, a little more.

But today, I was reminded of what I have that I don’t notice because I was busy being anxious by those I haven’t achieved yet. Today I was reminded that,  

Two years ago I prayed for a new job with complete package of my non-negotiable and now I am turning two years here in my current company which I consider the BEST.

Two years ago, I prayed for wisdom and abundance to start up my own business and exactly this month, CG Group is celebrating its 2nd year anniversary and preparing to elevate to the Next Level.

Two years ago I prayed for courage to enter a new ministry where I can be happy while sharing my 3 T’s and few months ago was the 2nd year I am serving Media Ministry and was tapped to be the Head and handle a SUPERB set of members.

I think it is normal to experience a phase in our lives where feel like nothing is making sense. But I hope we never let it make us forget that what we have or where we are now, no matter what the result is – it is something we prayed before and it was given to us by God. May we continue to be grateful for whatever answered prayers we have now while praying for our new heart desires.

After all, either it is already an answered prayer or a prayer that is taking time, we have to believe in what we pray for. Have Faith and always Trust Him.

 May God Bless your heart,

Chok Guerra

[psalm119-105]

Have you questioned your existence?

Like “why am I here?” “what do I live for?” “where am I supposed to be?”

Have you been in a situation wherein you question your own worth?

“Do I matter to anyone?”

“Will the world be the same without me?”

Have you ever felt sad because it seems that with or without you, everyone would be just fine.

Nowadays, who appreciates you, who loves you, who needs you became a constant battle we have to fight every single day. We are so blinded by the wrong idea that how we matter to the world define our worth…

We are so blinded that we forgot one truth : “Jesus, son of God died for us”

Not because we did something special

Not because we loved God

Not because we are good

Not because we are smart, talented or great

 He died for us because He love us.. No if’s, no but’s.

He simply love us for who we are and who we are not.

He love us despite and in spite.

He love us dearly before we even learn the word ‘love’

 HE LOVE US.

Jesus loves YOU.

 And if you were on a situation wherein you feel lost, unloved or unappreciated never forget that Jesus, the son of God didn’t die for you just to feel that way. He died for you out of unconditional kind of love you could ever imagine.

HE, JESUS LOVE US and if He do, who and what else matters?

May God Bless your heart,

Chok Guerra

[psalm119-105]

Why Do You serve?

Have you ever encounter that question from people outside the community? I think most of us can relate to this. Lots of people who don’t serve or even attend an spiritual community will never understand the joy of serving. The kind of joy no one can ever describe through words, you just feel it and you can never make them understand unless they experienced it too.

For me, serving God while serving His people is my ultimate purpose in life. I shared it once over a breakfast with my Media Ministry family. But little did they know, I have to learn things in a hard way before I came up to an idea that serving is my ultimate purpose.

Not so long ago, I was called to become a leader at my first spiritual community. Elders had given me 5 beautiful souls to handle and watch over, most of them are older than me but they treat me like their real ‘mom’ and I love it. They are my 5 angels, they are a blessing to me. At the same time, I was tap to become the head of Creative and Dance ministry. Yes I dance (before). HAHA! People who just knew me recently may not believe it but those who knew me for the longest time was aware that dancing is my first love..  And so when I was asked if I could handle the entire ministry, without a single thought I said yes with an exciting heart.

Looking back to those days, more than being a leader, I learned a lot from each of my member and I met knew friends inside the community by being the head of  Creative and Dance ministry. I can say it was fun, I was perfectly happy that I can’t contain it. I fell in love with my service simply because I love what I am doing.

But things went wrong when I started to missed family events because I chose service over my family, when my close friends outside the community started to put wall between us because I ditch most of our gatherings because I chose service over them, when I suddenly felt ‘burned out’ but kept saying yes to every single task that was assigned to me, when I had a conflict with my members because of my shortcomings and lastly, when I have lots of misunderstanding with our leaders for so many reason I can’t even remember now.

It became one of the lowest point of my life. I had to serve with a heavy heart, keep saying yes when I am loosing time for my family, loosing my friends outside the community and even loosing my self while serving. There comes a point when I stopped attending spiritual teachings unless I have service or unless I have to join my members because they will not attend without me. I didn’t realized I was wrong until one day I felt the so called ‘spiritual dryness.’ Why? Simply because I am exhausted and my spiritual growth weren’t anymore nourished.

 I asked God “why did You let this happen? I was just serving!” and His response left me in awe, “My daughter, Why do you serve?”

That’s when I started to painfully realized that though I had fallen in love with ‘my service’ I lose my real purpose why I serve because without knowing it, I am serving Gods people, I am serving our community, our leaders, my members, my ministry but I have forgotten to serve God and that is exactly the reason why in the end, after all I have done it seems that I fail because yes I serve but I didn’t made God the main purpose on why I serve.

I was left with no option but to give up being a leader and ministry head because if I myself don’t know my real purpose, who am I to lead others? It was never easy to leave my first community, I’ve been there since I was 4 and for 21 years, my life revolve on it but I am sure that the only way for me to let God humble me is to empty my hand, heart and life for Him to fill it again. It took a while before leaders of the community finally let me go, I can say they have tried their best to keep me but I knew in my heart that staying on the same situation will not help either of us. They had to let me go and I had to stopped holding on to them. I was hurt and so they were but this is for our own benefits.

I decided to rest but my heart still long for something. Since I am on the progress of moving on, I needed a new environment and I remembered “The Feast” where I once or twice attended. I decided to regularly attend the feast again. At first I decided to do it alone because I don’t want ‘being alone’ be an excuse for me to again loose my opportunity to spiritually grow. Every Feast my prayer intention is for God to heal my broken soul, I know this time He wants us to be alone in my journey of healing and so I let Him, beside He knew better.  Every after feast, different ministries are being flashed inviting us to join, as much as I wanted to I knew that my heart isn’t yet ready.

I want to perfectly build my relationship with God first so that when I join the ministry, whatever happens, if ever I will have a conflict with other servants or leaders, I wont use it as an excuse to stop coming to God. Because we, people are never perfect and if we will let people shaken our faith like what I did, then in the end we lose.

With God’s grace, I was healed. Even my relationship with my first community had found peace too and we decided to remain friends though now we are serving different communities. I regain my faith to service and in no time, I joined media ministry and I am happy. I may be facing some dilemma every now and then but nothing could ever stop me from serving ever again. Why? Because I am serving God and because I am serving God alone, I know I will never run-out of energy, I know I will never loose again because in the first place my service is His battle.

My service is the fulfillment of my ultimate purpose and is one of the thing I do on earth that only God can repay.

My dear friend, whichever spiritual community you are serving now, whatever ministry it is always remember that our service is one of God’s greatest battle therefore we have to win it by any means. Keep serving God even it is challenging, keep serving God even though you were under attack by the enemies just keep serving God in spite and despite because if you do, God Himself will arrange your time for Him, for your family, for your friends and love ones. God Himself will bless you abundantly.

Whatever situation you are in now, stop worrying because isn’t it amazing God entrusted you His battle? Keep your faith high and entrust Him your battles too.

Above all else, never based your faith and service through your emotion because it is the easiest way to use against us when we are under attack. At the end of the day, our faith and service is our everyday decision. Let’s be strong enough to keep choosing it.

There is a saying “Many are called, few are chosen” yes, it is true but I would like to add some line:

“Many are called, few are chosen and FEWER SAID YES.”

Well then,

Did you? Ü

May God Bless your heart,

Chok Guerra

[psalm119-105]

ALWAYS ♥

[psalm119-105]

Alone... With HIM. ♥

When I was asked "how would you celebrate your birthday this year?" I simply answer "I wanted to be alone for quite some time, I want to disconnect to the world."

Some people thinks "it's weird," some may say for them "it sounds sad and unbearable," some even doubted if I could survive for at least a day. (I have done it and that is one of the best day of my life Ü) And of course those few people who knows me so well understands and just let me do it my way. :p

You see, looooooong time ago, God taught me to learn how to love myself and be at peace alone in the most painful way. Continuously losing some people in my life had never been so easy until one day, it hit me down to the core that my only option that time is to run away, hide and shut the world down. It was awful. But during those time is the time when I realized He did it because He wants me to be alone with HIM. I was so broken that time that stubborn as I am, I gave up relying on my own understanding and strength and fully surrendered everything to Him.

He patiently put me back into my senses pieces by pieces. And no matter how many times I cut His hand because of that broken pieces, no matter how many times I hurt Him because I was hurting and can’t even stop my eyes from crying.. He never gave up on me until I was able to stand up again.

From then on, I always knew that being alone with HIM is His way of reminding me that I am never alone and I will be okay no matter how many people come and go into my life. Ü It made me stronger and wiser.

After all, I discovered that I really love having my own space, that I am an introvert by nature and sometimes I just need to be by myself. ^_^

Thank You Lord for another year of blessings and love.

Thank You for letting our family be complete here in UAE.

Thank You for newly found friends and few old friends who chose to stay no matter what.

Thank You for blessing me a good company and work that I am starting to love.

Thank You for the gift of knowledge and experience and friends that helps me handle my growing businesses.

Thank You for letting me be a blessings to others too.

Thank You will never be enough but it gives me a truly grateful heart.

Thank You Lord! I owe it all to YOU. ♥

[psalm119-105]

This is my second Novena to God’s love booklet. I had to revised it last August 19, 2016 because most of my dreams written on my first booklet was already granted and few days ago, without even realizing it, I noticed that again, 5 out 7 written here was already granted. 🙏🏻 🙌🏻 Last night, I asked for my third booklet because now, I need to redefine my dreams again and add more. Third on my third year attending The Feast. ❤️😍

[psalm119-105]

CG - Helping People, help people ♥

Have you ever experienced being sad upon sharing your happiness? Definitely NOT because happiness never decreases from being shared. And happiness being shared always have a riffle effect, no matter what.

Since I was a kid I always wanted to have my own charity. I kept writing it to my dream board but never had a chance to do something to start. Until last Dec. 2, 2016 a friend of mine invited me to his birthday celebration with a twist. Instead of celebrating it on a fancy hotel or expensive restaurant, he celebrated it in charitable way. Instead of asking us for a material gift, he asked for our presence and service. I was inspired. That’s when I realized I don’t need to be rich to help someone I just need to be ‘willing to help someone.’

After my vacation last April 2017, I planned to conduct my own outreach program to be held on my next leave this coming December 2017.

Since I am a fan of planning ahead, I make it appoint that I started telling my friends about my plans, I told them to file their leave as early as possible to ensure they are all present on my first charity event, I started looking for an orphanage and inquiring lots of things. Since this is my first time, I want to make it appoint that everything will be prepared because I have more than 6 months to prepare.

Mid-June this year, my supervisor informed me they have to cancel my December leave because I will have a new project this coming September. Aside from cancelling my planned leave, they will not reimburse my confirmed ticket and I am forced to use all my remaining leave before the end of August this year. Disappointed as I am, as much as I tried to argue, the management’s decision is final and I have no choice but to comply.

“Paano na yung charity work ko?” I asked myself. “Baka kasi di pa ‘to ang time, next year na lang?” I tried to convinced myself.

But it is true, the heart wants what the heart wants and nothing can stop my hearts’ eagerness to conduct my first charity event. With lesser time, I started sending an email to different orphanage informing them that I want to conduct an outreach program less than a month from that time. I find it hard to get an available schedule to all institute I contacted until one day, I mistakenly sent an inquiry to one orphanage in Germany and the founder replied informing me they have a branch in Lipa city Batangas which is by the way my permanent address in the Philippines. Viola! God provided a place, I know He will provide the rest because…

IF YOU WORK FOR GOD, GOD WILL WORK FOR YOU & GOD WILL WORK WITH YOU. ♥

Some friends started to contact me  offering their help thru donations of toys, school supplies and even money. I was overwhelmed because few people sent by God became more than enough to sustain the needs of the entire event.

At the same time, I started looking for volunteers. Due to short notice, most of them are not available and even on the day before lots of confirmed volunteers backed out for some personal reason. But still God did not leave me empty handed, on the day it self He sent 16 angels who volunteered to help and assist me. 

Surprisingly, 90% of them are first timers on this kind of event but the willingness of their hearts equipped them to serve 35 kids and make them the happiest for a couple of hours.

Before the program begins until it ends, I can’t help but cry because the happiness I felt inside my heart seems exploding and I can’t find enough words to express my gratefulness so I just cry... Cry out of joy and cry because literally I’m a ‘cry-baby’ hahaha. :D Kidding aside. :P

On the last part of the program, I asked the kids to write a letter to all people behind the program, from donors to volunteers to all people who helped me make that day successful. I want to freeze the moment thru the letters because know we will forget each other’s name but we will never forget how we made each other happy. YES, those kids made us all happy without them knowing it.

God will always make a way to let us know how much He loved us and to return it back we have to love someone else even a stranger we never met. Na sa'twing nagda-doubt tayo sa love Niya for us, we have to look around because His love is everywhere.  ❤️

While reading their letters, again I can’t help but cry because I can feel the love from their gratitude.

Whoever said you can’t love someone on the first meeting must try conducting a charity. 😊

Upon hearing the feedback of the volunteers after our event, I realized one thing:

"Our greatest joy in life does not come from how much we received, instead it came from the small things we wholeheartedly give."

Again, keep in mind that you don’t have to be rich to start helping people, you just need to be ‘willing to help someone.’

Let’s help people, because thru helping others we may never know who are we inspiring to help others too.

 May God Bless your heart,

Chok Guerra

 PS:

Maraming maraming salamat po sa pag-support sa akin to make this event worth it. Walang katumbas ang saya na nakuha sa pagpapa-saya sa iba.  ☺️ I can't find enough words to express how thankful I am because God used me as an instrument to make a little part of this world a better place.

Maraming maraming salamat po sa mga sumuporta at tumulong sa event na ito. Sa mga nag-extend ng kanilang blessings as donation, sa mga nag share ng kanilang talents thru assisting sa paghahanap ng food, drinks, pagbabalot ng gifts, paggawa ng name tags at kung ano ano pang kinailangan sa preparation at syempre salamat sa mga nag share ng kanilang love by spending time with the kids as volunteers.  

Aside from making those kids happy surprisingly, we also end up going home with a smiling face and a happy heart. Sulit ang pagod.  

This is just the beginning. 

God bless our hearts, ALWAYS.  ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

[psalm119-105]

Whatever you're good at, whatever it is you love the most, that is God's gift for you. Using it for HIS Glory is your gift back to HIM.

--Service ♥

[psalm119-105]

Heart of Worship | April 6, 2017

“Why do you do what you do?”

That’s the question boggling on my mind for the past 2 weeks when a non-Catholic colleague asked me “Why do you do that?” (She’s pertaining to my service in the community) she follows up with a question “what do you get from it?”

I didn’t answer her, I just smiled and let the silence speak in behalf of me.

Why didn’t I answer her? Probably I don’t want an argument? Probably I don’t want people questioning me? or maybe probably I don’t know the answer either?

Today, I’ve heard the song "The Heart of Worship" by Matt Redman and I was reminded of the story behind that song. That story was once shared by a person who lead us on worship about 3-4 years ago.

It was during 90’s when a group of worship leaders, at the peak of their service somehow lose their real purpose on why they serve. Conflicts starts to grew them apart and no one is brave to admit that something is wrong. They kept leading an empty worship, they continue serving.

Why?

Because it makes them feel good to be in front of people as if every worship is their own personal concert.

I think, one of the most common trap in losing one’s purpose in service is an over-focus on style. This temptation has a certain ability to grab the attention of everyone who sees or hears.

The Church pastor and the writer of the song, Matt Redman was the first one who acknowledged danger of getting caught up in the quality of sound—the desire to be pleasing to more than simply the ear of God. He remembers, a few years back, his church was on the forefront of modern worship, but the pastor sensed that in all the excellence of craft, there was a heart of praise missing from their gathered worship.

Brave as he is, he thinks of a way to bring the worship leaders back to their senses. 

He wants them to remember why they serve and Who are they serving. 

And so one day he announced they will stop using the PA and projectors, he instructed everyone to pack away all the music instruments for a while and gathered in connecting room with nothing but their voices and Bibles—and, of course, their hearts.

They stayed there for a couple of days, pray and worship God without music. They stripped away anything associated with style, preference, or performance, and there was a real sense of discovering ‘the heart of worship’ again. 

After few days of reflections and nothing but pure prayers with no distraction from earthly things...

... the song “Heart of worship” was born.

My favorite line from the song?

“I'll bring you more than a song

For a song in itself is not what you have required You search much deeper within 

through the way things appear

You're looking into my heart..” 

HE IS LOOKING INTO OUR HEARTS. ♥

Matt Redman says:

“Heart of Worship was a song written out of witnessing what God was doing with our worshiping community. As a church family, we’d always given lots of time to responding to God through song. However, we’d lost something of the sense of bringing an offering. Instead, a sense of consumerism had seeped in. Songs and style and personal volume preferences and so on had crept far too high up the ladder—we’d lost the dynamic of worship being ‘the all-consuming response to the all-deserving revelation of God.’”

 Friends, may we always be reminded that God doesn’t look on neither what we do nor how we do it for as long as we do it out of our love for Him that’s more than enough.

Ask yourself as I ask mine, why do we serve? 

And if God is not our answer then our purpose needs a bit of aligning till it matches to His heart. 

Probably, there will be hundreds of times when we will lose our purpose or even our will in serving. 

Maybe sometimes, within the community itself we will have some conflicts with our co-servants. 

Maybe there are times you’ll feel no one appreciate your service, or perhaps no one listens to you..

 But who cares??! 

Up there is your God Who is smiling and having a happy heart because you care for His people, because you care for Him and so you keep serving regardless of any circumstances that is trying to stop you.

HE CARES even if no one does.

Remember that serving God and His people is one of the greatest battle we will encounter here and we have to win by any means!

And now, if you are tired, rest but don’t loosen your grip to your service. Give yourself sometime to remember why you start serving in the first place. Allow Him to bring you back to your senses.

If you’re lost don’t ever hide, don’t even run away. 

Come back to Him, go back to His heart, let Him remind you, let Him lead you to the right path, again and again and again. Believe me, He love doing that.

Love your service because it is something you do on earth that only heaven can repay.

Love your service because as they always say “many are called and few are chosen...”

However, I strongly believe from the chosen ones’ fewer said yes...

And you of course, are one of them!♥

 May God Bless your heart,

 Chok Guerra