Changing Soap

A big change happened recently!  I changed soap.  Now why is that such big news?  As far back as I can remember, the bath soap that my family has used has always been Safeguard.  I don’t know why – it’s either my parents believed the advertisements, or because my mother used to work for the company that manufactured it - I never really asked, but every since I was a young kid the soap in the bathroom, in  our guest bathrooms, and even in the kitchen sink, was Safeguard.

And so, when I got married, what soap do you think I had my family use?  Safeguard.  Well, by the time I got married I believed that it was the best soap to use, killing 99% of household germs, so they said.  But it was more because of tradition.  We used it before, no reason to change brand.  Even when another brand came out, also claiming to kill 99% of household germs, I did not lift a pinky to even try it.  I stuck to one soap.  I was a “one soap man”.

Until last week.  For some reason, as I was walking down the bath soap aisle of the supermarket, I saw the other brand of soap, and decided to try it.  I’ll admit that one of the reasons was the price, since it was cheaper.  But then I told myself – if they  claim to also be a germ killing soap why don’t I try it?  And, at the same time, save some money.

Well, after days of using the soap, the topic just popped up in the dinner table, and everyone was saying that they liked the new soap, including myself.  It smells good, it seems to last long in the body, and it looks like it does perform as the advertisements say.  So, it seems like we’ve shifted to another brand of bath soap – a better one, for us at least.  And we’re happy…and clean.

It’s hard to break tradition.  Even if there are claims of a better one out there, if we have used a certain product traditionally, or habitually, it’s hard to get ourselves to try new ones.  Sometimes we even stick to tradition without even knowing why.  I remember the story of a woman who baked chicken in a unique way – she would cut the edge of the legs before putting it into the oven.  Her husband asked her why, and all she could say was “that’s how my mom did it”.  So the wife asked her mom why she cut the edge of the legs of the chicken, and her mom had no explanation…all she said was “that’s how your grandmother used to cook it”.  So the wife finally asked her grandmother why she would cut the edge of the legs when baking chicken.  And her grandmother answered “it’s because our ovens during our time were small, and the chicken just wouldn’t fit”.

I remember asking our cook why she would put salt in the cover of the rice cooker while it was still cooking.  She didn’t know why, she just did it because that’s what she was told.  It’s hard to break tradition.

Luke 5:36  He told them this parable: "No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old.
Luke 5:37  And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined.
Luke 5:38  No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.
Luke 5:39  And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better.'"

I remember when I started growing in my personal walk with the Lord, how God’s Word, the Bible, started revealing to me what His will was, how He wanted me to live, and how He wanted me to worship…I remember how there were many practices, both in religion and in life, that I knew God wanted me to change.  It was hard.  But for a heart that was made new the old ways just wouldn’t work.  There were lots of new teachings, new revelations, that the Lord was revealing that had to be put into “new wineskins”, into a new heart.  And so I had to start getting rid of traditions, both in how I worshipped and also in how I lived, and I started living according to what I believed God wanted me to do according to His Word.  It was hard at first, but eventually the “new wine” started to blend with the “new wineskin”, or the new heart that God had given me.

If you are in a similar situation, and you feel that God has changed your heart, has given you a new heart, ready to know more of Him, more of His Word, don’t be afraid to get rid of the old to make room for the “new”.  You’re a new wineskin now – there’s new wine out there that God wants to pour into your heart through His Word.  Not that all traditions are wrong, but we need to ask ourselves "why am I doing this?", "is this what God desires from me?".  It's God's traditions that count, not man's traditions.

Don’t be afraid to leave what are human traditions, and take the new things that God wants you doing, and enjoy it!
Isa 43:18  "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
Isa 43:19  See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.

My Backsliding Experience

I was writing in my other blog about backsliding (a topic I am very familiar with since I was a former “backslider”), and I remembered my own experience of backsliding from the Lord. 

Years ago, when I was in college, someone shared to me the “gospel”.  At that time my understanding of the gospel was the message given during the Mass.  But I heard a different kind of news – good news.  It told me of who I was, a sinner, whose life was separated from God because of my evil deeds.  But it taught me about a Savior, of what He did to save me from that state.  He died for me, took the punishment that was meant for me because I was a sinner, and paid the price for me.  I remember telling myself “why didn’t anyone tell me about that”.  And when I was invited to receive that message for myself I did, I prayed, and things started to change. 

I started attending bible studies, and then slowly began to attend a Christian church.  I started to learn what the Bible taught about who the Lord was, what He promised for us, and how He was a prayer answering God.  I was slowly growing in my new found Christian life.

A few months into my new Christian life I got to like a girl.  I started courting her.  And after a few weeks I was going to go for it – I was going to ask her to be my girlfriend!  And so, as every “born again” Christian would do, I prayed.  I prayed seriously, sincerely, in Jesus name even, that God would move her heart and have her answer me with a great, big, “YES”!  I was excited.  I went to her house…popped the question…and she answered “no”.

I was shocked.  I went out of her house wondering why God did not answer my prayer!  I was fuming mad!  I thought that God answered prayer?  My request was simple.  Couldn’t God have just moved her heart to answer me?  And so, right at that moment, I turned my back on God.  He did not give me what I wanted, and so I did not give Him what He wanted – Myself.  And so I backslid.  I drank more, took more drugs, enjoyed life more.  I was on my own.  Oh sure, I still believed in God, but He was just there…useless.  If He couldn’t answer my prayer of what use was He to me?

That was my concept of God – that He had to answer my prayer.  That He was there at my beck and call.  Prayer was my tool, my magic potion, to get Him to do what I wanted Him to do.  And when the potion did not work, all I had to do was throw it away, and look for another one.

For those of you who have backslid, or maybe you’re still a backslider, have you ever noticed that the reason I had for backsliding is the same reason that most of us have for backsliding – God not answering our prayer, or not allowing things to go our way.  When God does not give us what we want we take it against Him, we feel He is unfair, and we turn our backs on Him.  Oh it may be as simple as my request, or it may be as major as keeping someone alive, or stopping our business from failing, or maybe keeping a job.  And when He doesn’t answer as we want Him to, we just throw Him away, and we go back to our own way.

What I did not realize was that I had made myself an image of God according to my imagination, according to what I wanted Him to be, rather than who He was.  The god I wanted was for my pleasure, to do as I desired.  And if I just offer the right sacrifices, the right prayer, He will do that for me.  Many today worship a god of their imagination, of their liking, rather than really bowing down and worshipping the God of who He is.  It was only later on that I realized that I had it all wrong, and that I was there for Him, not the other way around.

We live for ourselves.  It doesn’t matter what other people think, and it doesn’t even matter what God thinks.  I do what I want to do.  This is what characterizes the life that all of us live.

2 Corinthians 5:15  And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again.

Jesus gave His life for us, not so that we could get all that we wanted, but so that He could get all of us.  He saved us from the hold of sin, to bring us to His hold of freedom, a freedom to enjoy His life.

When we live for God, I mean REALLY live for God, it does not matter whether or not He does answer our prayer, or whether our desires are met or not, or whether things go our way or not.  What matters is we know He is with us, that He holds our life, and that we have eternity assured for us because He paid the price for our sins through His dying for us.  That’s what really matters.

But you know what’s great?  He does answer prayer.  He may sometimes answer “no”, or “wait”, but He does.  And it’s the knowing He hears, and cares, that really satisfies.  And, yes, He does meet our desires.  They may come in different packaging, and He may even change one or more of our desires, but He does.  He is here to satisfy.  But God doesn’t want us living for what He does.  He wants us living for Him…period.  Just Him.

It took around 5 years of a backslidden life for me to realize that – it was all about Him.  After turning my back on Him, He never turned His back on me.  He looked for me, even when I was not looking for Him.  And eventually He brought me back.  But by that time He made sure that I understood why He brought me back.  It was all for Him, not for me.

God took away the self-centeredness and began to build and mature my God-centeredness.  And He is still building; and I may be maturing but I cannot claim to be mature.  He is still working in me.  But He has made it clear – that I am here for Him, not Him for me.  The world does not revolve around me, it revolves around Him.  He reminded me, and continues to remind me, that I live for Him who died for me, who gave His life for my sake.  And that is something I am willing to do, wholeheartedly, by His grace and strength.

2 Corinthians 5:15 And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again.

Those Forgetful Moments

I officiated a wedding today, generally all went well until the end.  After the proclamation, where I say “I now pronounce you husband and wife”, I asked the congregation to pray for the couple, and right after that I announced that the service was over.  With the usual “God bless you all”, and “another round of applause for the newlyweds”, I officially ended the service.

As I was putting all my stuff together I saw the groom looking at me with a puzzled face, as if saying “It’s finished?  You didn’t forget anything?”.  I was about to tell him it was now the wedding planner’s turn to handle the picture taking when I heard someone from the congregation shout “you may now kiss the bride”!  Wow, I had forgotten the most awaited part of the whole ceremony!  Oh no, what a “50’s moment” that was!  Very quickly I jokingly said “I was just testing if you would remember”, and with a guilty smile on my face apologized to him, and quickly said “You may now kiss the bride”!

It’s a good thing it was taken very lightly by the congregation, who just laughed it off as a nice light comedy moment in the ceremony.  But, wow, I forgot the sweetest, most romantic, part of the ceremony – one that everyone, from the bride and groom to the congregation, wait for!  Anyway, I went down from the pulpit making a mental note – “I’m not going to forget that part again”! 

The story doesn’t stop there!  As I left the venue someone was standing at the gate and waved at me.  I approached him with a puzzled look on my face (it was my turn to use that look, ha ha), and he said “You don’t remember me?”.  Aaaargghhhh!  He looked so familiar, but the Pentium 1 processor in my brain was taking its sweet time searching its memory base as to who he was!  It’s a good thing he was kind enough to introduce himself, and even added a compliment that he was blessed by the wedding service.  Of course I had not seen him in years, but he did look very familiar, and I just couldn’t remember who he was right away.

Don’t you hate those forgetful moments?  They remind you of how old you already are.  Sigh.

I am thankful, though, that I don’t have to worry about that with my God.  Though He is the “Ancient of Days”, He does not, and will not, forget us.

Isaiah 49:15  "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!

Here the Lord uses probably the most intimate and loving relationship in the world – that of a mother and child, to compare with His love for us.  But I’m sure we know of mothers who have abandoned their children, or who have forgotten about them.  But the Lord said “I will not forget you”.  As the famous Basil Valdez song says “Hindi kita malilimutan”.  That’s God’s promise.  It’s who He is.

There will be times when we will feel that maybe God has forgotten us.  But during those moments we’re the ones with the memory problem, not God.  We are the ones who forget what He promised, verses like the one above that assure us that our Lord will never forget.

Thank God He is God.