Accelerate: Go. Grow. Glow.

Accelerate your life. Constantly go to God and surely you will continuously grow in every area of your life and the people around you will see the glow in your heart.

Exhausted. Empty. Crushed. Confused. Broke. Insecure. Hopeless. Life is difficult!

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Heavy words? Not anymore!

Now that we have encountered Jesus, we know that when we are being emptied it is because God wants to fill us with new and better blessings and when we are stretched, He just wants us to grow. So now, when life throws us dirt it’s okay. We simply shake it off, shake it off, and shake it off; and use it as a platform to step upon until we emerge victorious.

We are living in an era and area where almost everything is instant, where people are mobile, and where the demands and dynamics of daily life have evolved with time. At one point, we have become slaves of our work, unhealthy relationships, financial incapacity, family issues, personal insecurities, or other problems that dry our spirits.

We have become stray, hungry souls in the modern jungle of glass-and-steel skyscrapers of the present world.

Walking down the memory lane, our experiences a month, a year or years ago may bring pinch on our hearts, deep breaths, or tears in the corner of our eyes.

Thanks to our merciful and gracious Father Lord God, He called us in ways and times unexpected to give us new and better lives for us to do good and enjoy blessed lives. (He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. ~ Titus 3:5)

Through our transformation, the jungle turned into a mecca of love, care, and enlightenment that propelled us to do our best to become obedient to God’s word, to have better relationships at work and at home, and to be channels of God’s blessings wherever we go.

We now have new and better perspective about life and reinforced Christian values.

Breakfree! Move forward!

Whether by responding to a friend’s invitation, reconnecting with God due to necessity, or personally choosing to renew personal relationship with God, it is by no accident that we are transformed. We were all hand-picked by God and are now renewed in spirit and heart. It’s just up to us how we will remain in Him.

We are all works in progress!

Embrace your potential not your past. (But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ~ Philippians 3:13).

“Your past does not define you. God can take all your imperfections, so don’t stay there,” shared by Randy Borromeo.

Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Remember the old days—what you were thinking of and how you were feeling.

Look at yourself now! People may know your transformation, but only you can truly tell how your life has changed. Perhaps, you have already moved forward and are now aware of your bigger and brighter life ahead.

When we listen to God’s word and make good use of our blessings—time, talent, and treasure—we feed our souls and nurture our life in general.

Accelerate your life. Constantly go to God and surely you will continuously grow in every area of your life and the people around you will see the glow in your heart.

Be Jesus’ torch-bearer. Listen to His voice. Respond to God’s call and reflect the light of Jesus’ wherever you go.

Accelerate your life! Move onward and upward.

 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ~ Jeremiah 29:11

Metamorphosis

Like a butterfly, we were once a crawling caterpillar unappreciated by many; then surrounded by cocoon of problems. But as we persist and do our best to move forward, our sweat and tears soften the cocoon and the hardshell that seemed to block us sheds off… then poof!

In this material world, everything flows and nothing remains the same. As Heraclitus observed, change is the only permanent thing in the world.

If we are to improve, then we have to move upwards and onwards.

Nonetheless, as we act let us not confuse movement from progress; for our state of action doesn’t always translate to advancement and improvement.

We must know which change we have to accept as it is and which we have to deliberately act upon on. We shouldn’t just be purely passive accepting every change as it happens or purely active reacting on every change.

When it comes to our personal changes, every transformational change always comes with resistance. It is but normal.

Sometimes we become comfortable with our conditions that we no longer want to take another step or change positions or transfer locations. We settle to where we are. Sometimes we stagnate, or worse, we tend to deteriorate.

We don’t notice we no longer learn new things so our minds get rustic and we become left behind or narrow-minded. We feel too safe in our seats until our sedentary lifestyle brings us to the hospital due to illnesses we didn’t know we’re forming over time. We get stuck in our relationships that hurt us, stagnate us, or rotten us thinking we would never be loved again.

Desire change! Be willing to be transformed!

At first we will naturally feel resistant to change. We will become inconsistent with our desire to improve, or at least, change status in life.

No matter what you feel, just press on!

Remember the reasons you had in mind why you wanted to change, to improve. Revisit your feelings when you first acted upon the change you want to happen. Feel your excitement and joy.

Do not limit and doubt yourself to do great things.

Ask our faithful God to guide you every step of the way.

The best change comes from God—turning your good to better, and your better to best. He is faithfully transforming us from glory to glory.

All we need to do is be willing to submit to His wonderful ways of transforming our lives. For God desires nothing but our best.

Rest on God’s unconditional love and limitless grace. How?

I. Believe in God’s Transforming Power.

                -God’s love changes us for the better, He wants us to be saved and to enjoy the gift of life

                -God’s miracle, blessings, and healing are always available each day

II. Change Your Perception of Yourself

                -God created us with inherent capabilities no matter where we came from or how we look

    -God has equipped us with necessary tools to victoriously face our refining trials

                -When God calls, He equips.

III. Look at God differently

                -God is faithful to His promises and generous to both evil and good, sinners and saints (Matthew 5:45)

                -God is understanding and considerate, that He even allowed Himself to become human for Him to experience the things that we experience as humans, even the harder and most painful things, to relate to us and inspire us

                -God was tempted like us, but he managed the temptations well by remaining obedient to God’s word and by holding firmly to His faith

IV. Desire to be Healed Totally and Completely

                -Allow God to work in our lives through and through

                -While God is healing us at one area, don’t block Him to other areas so He may also transform us there because He wants to bless us and make our joy complete

V. Be Willing to Learn

                -Seek for wisdom, hunger for knowledge and share them with others

                -Acquire new information, modify existing ones, renew your ideas and incorporate with others'

                -Have the humility to be mentored… life is an open university that is pro-students who are willing to be taught

                -There are a lot of things we don’t know that we don’t know

                -Even the greatest men in the world get help from others

                -Leaning is the result  not the simply the process of being taught of

Remember that God is giving us our situations because He has a perfect and glorious plan for each of us. When God calls us to change, let us be responsive and be confident that all things work for our best.

Resist your resistance, not God’s transformation of us.

God continuously pour forth His blessings to us even as while we are asleep. If we think we don’t receive His gifts, or we question why others are better than we are, it is because we unconsciously resist God’s blessings.

Our laziness, our procrastination, our envy, our crab-mentality… our attitude toward receiving God’s graces is the one which hinders us from enjoying them.

1. Remove your umbrella of laziness, procrastination, skepticism and catch God’s blessing with open arms.

2. Patch the holes in your lives so the blessings you catch will not leak. Constantly train and desire to improve. Focus! Be diligent . Be self-discipline. When things become part of your system, they gradually become easy and automatic… they become you!

 

3. Share the things you receive and learn. What you learn and receive triples when you share them with others because others share what they have or their learnings to you too. And the good news is, even if others don’t share what they have to you, God will bless you in other amazing ways you deserve.

Like a butterfly, we were once a crawling caterpillar unappreciated by many; then surrounded by cocoon of problems. But as we persist and do our best to move forward, our sweat and tears soften the cocoon and the hardshell that seemed to block us sheds off… then poof!

We become the most beautiful insect in the field, flying high from one flower of opportunity to another. We have just been transformed by the transforming love and grace of God, through our own desire to improve and our constant action to press on.

Surprised as we are, after the refining fire of difficulties, we are now the precious gem in the midst of the vast quagmire of struggles giving hope to others—if the once feeble person has improved and so can they!