ANG AKING PATOTOO - Sis. Daisy Sevellena

Purihin po ang ating mahal na Panginoon. Ibig ko Siyang pasalamatan sa kabutihan at kadakilaan Niya sa aking buhay. Maraming salamat sa ating Panginoon na maibahagi ko rin po yong himala na ginawa ng ating Panginoon sa aking buhay, na dati rin akong isang makasalanan, ngunit nang ako'y makakilala sa ating Panginoon ay binago Niya ang aking buhay. Nagkaroon ng kabuluhan ang aking buhay sa harapan ng Dios. Ibig ko pong ipahayag sa inyo ang aking buhay noong ako ay hindi pa nakakakilala sa ating Panginoon at hindi pa nakapakinig ng kanyang Evangelio.

Ako ay ipinanganak sa bansang Malaysia, doon na rin ako lumaki, bale taga Mindanao po ako. Subalit hindi ko kapiling ang aking mga magulang. Ang lola ko ang nagalaga sa akin, kaya laki ako sa lola. Lumaki ako at nagkaisip na hindi ako nakadama ng pagmamahal ng mga magulang. Solong anak po ako. Naging rebeldeng anak ako napabarkada, sinungaling, mabisyo at umuuwi ng dis oras sa gabi. Pinag-aral ako ng lola ko ng nursing ngunit hindi ko natapos ito. Hanggang dumating yong panahon na pinalo ako ng Panginoon. Binigyan ako ng pagsubok sa buhay. Naranasan kong magmahal sa isang lalaki na hindi naman pala kami puede sa isat isa at dahil doon nabalitaan kong siya'y nagpakamatay. Sa mga oras na yon naging magulo ang isip ko. Naisipan ko din ang magpakamatay. Salamat na lang sa Dios na may malapit akong pinsan na pinayuhan ako na huwag kong gawin ang bagay na iyon. Gusto kong magpakamatay dahil halos lahat ng kamaganak ko, ako ang sinisisi sa pagkamatay niya.

Nagkaroon ako ng pagkakataon na makaalis sa bahay namin at sumama ako sa isa kong tita sa pagluwas sa Myanila. Pumasok ako sa promotion at doon ko nakilala si Laila na dati ng tumanggap sa Panginoon. Marahil niloob ng Dios na mawala ang promotion at nagpasya si Sis. Laila na pumunta kami sa lugar ng Paniqui, Tarlac. Doon ko nakilala sina Bro. Jet at Sis Judith na tunay na mga naglilingkod sa ating Panginoon.

Purihin ang Panginoon sapagkat isa sila sa ginamit ng Panginoon upang magkaroon ng kabuluhan ang aking buhay. Sapagkat inilapit ko sa Dios ang aking buhay at hiningi ko sa Dios ang kapatawaran ng mga nagawa kong mga kasalanan. Sumampalataya ako sa kanya na ako'y pinatawad sa lahat ng kasalanang ginawa ko. Labis akong nagpapasalamat sa ating Dakilang Dios na binigyan nya ako ng kalakasan sa buhay kong ito upang magpatuloy. Alam ko na hanggat narito ako sa mundong ito hindi ako pababayaan ng Dios. Kaya't huwag tayong manghimagod sa paglilingkod sa Kanya. Matuto tayong magtiis sa mga pagsubok sa sanglibutan ito. Kumapit tayo at magtiwala sa Kanya dahil walang ibang makapangyarihan sa lahat kundi Siya lamang. Purihin ang Panginoon.

(Si Sis. Daisy ay ginagamit ng Panginoon ngayon sa ating Radio Ministry bilang anchorwoman ng The Way of Truth Broadcast)

"MY COMMITMENT"

“I’m part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Ghost power. The dye has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I’m a disciple of Christ! I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.

“My past is redeemed. My present makes sense. My future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed vision, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotion, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His Presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.

“My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my guide reliable, my mission clear. I can not be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed, I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

“I won’t give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problem and recognizing me- my banner will be clear!”

"I ACCUSE MY PARENTS"

I am standing before the great white throne of Almighty God. I hear the condemnation of the great judge of the universe saying, “You are condemned. Get away from my presence, you worker of iniquity, go to the everlasting fire of hell!”

Lord, spare me, spare me for it is not all my fault be ignorant of your will. Lord, forgive me, forgive me, listen to me Lord, for I was not given a chance to learn of thee. Nobody have told me about your love, nobody have told me about salvation, more than anybody else, I accuse my parents, I accuse my parents, I accuse my parents. They have given me everything but not God. They have provided me nourishing food, they have bought me nice dresses, they gave me warm clothing, but they never gave me a Savior. They gave me good education but not the Gospel. They have showered me with precious gifts but have not provided a family alter. They have protected me from harm but they have not thought of the punishment I will spend forever and ever. They never cared about the everlasting torment that will have no end.

They have bought me different kinds of books but not the Bible. They have taken me to the movies but not to the Sunday school. I have heard them cursed and blasphemed but not heard them pray to God. Lord, my Lord, give me a chance once more. I never thought this would happen to me. Have mercy on me, my God have mercy.

Yes, I accuse my parents, I accuse my father! I accuse my mother! I accuse them, I accuse them! They have neglected us their children. They have neglected my spiritual needs. They were busy looking for money but they do not know that the most precious wealth is Jesus. They bought a beautiful house for our family. It was furnished with the most modern furniture. The floor was carpeted. But who were living there? They are all sinners. Yes, we are all sinners! My father usually comes home late in the night groggy with alcohol. My mother was most of the time at the mahjong table. We, their children, tried almost all of the pleasures of this world. But they did not give us real satisfaction. Our parents said that it is just natural for us to enjoy life.

Yes, we have a beautiful house on earth but do not have a mansion in heaven. I wish I had not been born. Was I born to go to hell? Was I born to be punished? NO! NO! I was born to be with God. I was not born to go to hell! I was born to go to heaven! But now my chance is all gone. So, I accuse my parents, I accuse you, my parents before this judgment throne of God, you were never been good parents to me!

I felt someone dragging me…who are you? Get away from me, Satan. Do not take me! Do not take me to go to hell! I see the burning hell…I see the burning hell… do not take me there, Satan… do not take me there! Help! Help! Help! Help me….oh…oh…oh. oh.. I accuse you my parents. I accuse you…I accuse you…you are the cause of all of these.

SAVED TO SERVE

Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” On the other hand Paul stated, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” He added, “Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness.” These statements are perfectly true; If they are truth, then all have sinned and became servants of sin. Men did not only serve sin, but also the devil.

Perhaps there are some in this august audience that are still servants of sin. You are indeed servants of sin if not yet liberated from it. Jesus told the Jewish sinners, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” Nobody would like to be a child of the devil. But the Bible says, “He that committeth sin is of the devil.” What a sad and ugly thing to be a child of the devil. If you commit sin, you like it or not, you are a child of the devil.

Man was created a free human agent. He is free to serve sin and the devil. In reality, man can not liberate himself from the power of sin. But he is free to choose Christ as his liberator from the devil. In the moment he repents and claims the power of the blood of Christ by faith, he is forgiven and made free from the dominion of Satan. But, why was man saved from sin and the devil? He was saved to serve God and his fellowmen.

At the moment a sinner was liberated from sin, it becomes his nature to love God and men. It becomes spontaneous for him to have the desire to help others to find the Savior. When Andrew found Jesus as his Savior, he sought for Simon Peter, his brother, and led him to the Christ.

By the way, to those who are saved here, how did you happen to find the Lord? Were you the first to seek for Him or somebody serving God led you to Him? I am sure you were not the first to seek for Jesus. Christ used someone to seek for you. Someone saved, serving God in His kingdom, led you to Christ in one way or the other. He may be a pastor, a Christian worker, or just a plain and simple Christian layman.

An English rich young man was converted and became a missionary to dark Africa because he was convicted by the Holy Spirit by using Cripple Tom’s copied Bible verses which he dropped from his attic on the side-walk of London. Cripple Tom was saved to serve God in His Kingdom.

When He saw the holiness of God in a vision, Isaiah found himself undone and sinful. He exclaimed, “Woe is me: for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of unclean lips.” A Seraphim took a live coal from the altar and laid it upon Isaiah’s mouth, saying “Thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged.” Immediately Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send and who will go for us?” Isaiah answered, “I, here am I; send me.” Isaiah was saved to serve to God of heaven.

When he was convicted of his sin, King David repented to God, saying, “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight…purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean, wash me, and I shall be whither than snow…. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me…restores me the joy of thy salvation…then will I teach transgressors thy ways: and sinners shall be converted unto thee.” David was saved to serve in God’s Kingdom.

Saints of God, why were you saved from sin? You were saved to serve God and men. Jesus said to his disciples while He was in Samaria, “say not ye, there are yet four months and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.”

My co-young saints and all lift up your eyes and look on our people; for they are white already to harvest. Shall we let these people die without a Savior from their Sins? O, no! We can not do that. We can not deny our people from their greatest need of salvation; for we are SAVED TO SERVE!

SHOW OUR LOVE TO THE PEOPLE

The greatest privilege young Filipino can have is to show his love to his country and people. The immortal words of our great hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, still rings in our ears which says, “The youth are the hope of the Fatherland”. From the time these words were spoken up to this time, our Fatherland was never given a ray of hope to prosperity. It is not that I don’t believe in our national hero but that I would like to amend his statement and I say, “The Christian youth are the hope of the Fatherland”. As Christian young people how could we show our love to our people?

There are many ways our people seem to show their love to our country. Many are ready to go to the rescue if their love to our country s being invaded by a foreign enemy. They are ready to die to the last drop of blood to defend the country. This is heroic indeed! But what does it profit the country though she was delivered from the foreign ruler when it is being ruled by a native tyrant? Some would show their love by sharing their technological talents to the progress of the economy. But again what will profit the people though they are full in their stomachs but have empty souls. What if they all have nice dwellings but do not have true love with one another? But we Christians dare to show our love to our people through the spiritual means! Only the Christians can accomplish this. This is the only lasting service we can give to our people. We have to realize that as citizens of this country it is our duty to cherish her and to serve her. But we can only do this if we are real Christians. We are the only ones that could love our people. Sinners who seem to love our country are just plain hypocrisy. They serve just for and self aggrandizement.

How can we show our love to our people as Christians? How could we show our Christian services? We have to start from the grass root. Our people need to know God and His Salvation. We need to testify about the love of Jesus. We shall witness not only in words but in deeds. We can give away tracts and gospels and do visitation evangelism. Our young people who are talented can preach the gospel. Some should teach the Word of God. We need to begin from the small children in community. If we get the children for Christ we can get the nation for God. We need to witness in the schools. Instead of joining demonstrations and rallies, we can organize Christian rallies and evangelistic meetings. We can have many ways to show our Christian service to our people.

In our respective places we have around us hundreds of people who do not know Christ. I challenge to witness to them about the love of God! Spiritual blessings are more precious than gold. These are the riches that do not pass away. These are the treasures that are laid up in heaven: “For what shall it profit our people if they gained the whole world and lost their souls? Our service to our people is not oriented to material gains but to spiritual blessings. There will be a day when this world shall be no more. What our people gained spiritually will last forever.

Dedicate your lives to Christ and our people! This is the way we can love God and our people.