need + generosity = equality

1And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. 5And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will. 6So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. 7But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us[a]—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

8I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. 9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

10And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. 11Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. 12For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.

13Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, 15as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little."[b] - 2 cor. 8:1-15

obedience

The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. 3But the man who loves God is known by God. - 1 Cor. 8:2-3

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obedience is better than sacrifice and to obey what God commands is loving Him.

wisdom and foolishness

5For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.

26Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him. 30It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

Romans 1:5, 26-31

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some people's impression about Christians or those who depend on God are weak. they say that Christians have Jesus as their tourniquet just to go through life day by day. personally, i sometimes feel the same way when i look at the brothers and sisters in our own church and it makes me feel sad to have thoughts that i'm with people who are weaklings, losers, poor, etc. after reading this scripture in romans, i felt humbled and asked myself who am i to think that i'm better than the brothers and sisters in our church? i won't be where i am today if not for the help, support, encouragement and Guidance that God and the church has given me. to this, i will boast of the foolishness of God for it is wiser than man's wisdom.

MMD public urinals

yes, i've just used one of 'em this morning @ MIA road on my way to work =P

reconciled by death and saved by life

9Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! 10For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. -romans 5:9-11

God reconciled with us through the death of His Son and saved us through His Son's ressurection.

This is twice the love that God gives to all of us to turn and repent from our sinful lives.

adversity from difficult people

it is true that difficult people are like sandpaper..they may scratch you and hurt you but eventually you end up smooth and the sandpaper worn out.

studying, pondering, missing

i'm caught up with three things right now: work, life, home

work:
i've so much to learn, OSGi, Parlay and Parlay X, and CORBA.
i have plans of developing a web application for managing agile projects that would use OSGi for dynamic module management, Spring for DI, and an MVC framework (not decided yet on using Struts2, ICEFaces, or Wicket). anyway, i have created an initial skeleton for the project and i'm using maven for project and build management. hoping and praying to get this done this year! so help me God.

life:
i try and do my best to live a balanced life, and playing this game
in the kind of career that i have ain't easy. it always cross my mind,
what can i do to make an impact to other people using the gift and
the blessings that comes with it. i am always slumped in my small little
desk in a corporate world having a project that is using bleeding edge
technology that nobody cares about, or at least outside of the industry
that i'm into. there's so much more to life than these things, are you
feelin' me??? oh well.

home:
i miss home, we should be heading back on the 18th of this month but
we got extended for a week (i'm in ireland btw). at least it's just
for a week, i dreaded it would be for a month or more whew! i miss my wife, i miss our dates, i miss having lunch with the family, i miss summer
outings (heading off to boracay this time!), i miss playing nintendo wii with my wife, i miss hanging out with my true friends, i miss my pamangkings,
i miss bragging with my bro and sisters. i'm glad there's God.. he always
reminds me that i'm not alone and He's there watching, listening, guiding me. thank you God for blessing me with a wonderful family, although not
perfect, but we do our best not to be a disfunctional one.

tv or the net?

don't have much time to watch television recently, i think because it consumes a lot of time in one day when you get hooked to it and you don't get to watch what really interests you. i prefer watching videos, screencasts, and presentations on the net on my terms, my time, when i want, randomly or on what really interests me as of the moment. i'm loving www.ted.com right now =) sharing some of the video presentations to friends and family.. done venting, back to my quest on OSGi and JMX.