“The battle is the Lord’s...” 1 Samuel 17:47

What would have happened if David did not know the Lord? There would be no story of him slaying Goliath. He would not have been king. David was a confident boy, but his confidence was clearly from His relationship with God. Even if his oldest brother Eliab put him down and angrily asked, “What are you doing here at the battlefield? You’re supposed to be taking care of your pitiful sheep!” 

But this did not deter David. He declared for all to hear, “Who is this Goliath, this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?” 

What we can accomplish has a lot to do with our image of God, what we believe of Him, what we know of Him, what we have experienced with Him.  David shouted, “The Lord who saved me from the claws of the lion and the bear will save me from this Philistine!” They had a lot of history together, David and the Lord. They had a relationship. He was not afraid of the giant Goliath that made the battle weary Israelite army quiver and run away in fright. 

“You come against me with sword and spear and scimitar, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied...All this multitude shall learn that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves. For the battle is the Lord’s and He shall deliver you into our hands,” David proclaimed.

Whatever battle we face, we have God at our side. But it will not matter one iota if we don’t know it, or we don’t know Him. We need to have a relationship with Him, we need a history with Him, so we can be confident of His help, wisdom, and His winning the battle for us.

 “Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. Not as man sees does God see, because he sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

When God sees Nick Vujicic, what does He see? God sees his heart. When we look at Nick, what do we see? A man with no legs and arms! That is the first thing that strikes us. Nick was born with the tetra-amelia syndrome but even if he does not have arms and legs, he goes around the world preaching to millions of people. 

In his autobiography, he writes that his mother rejected him when the nurse brought him for her to hold. “Take him away! I don’t want to touch or see him!” she cried out and his father vomited. His mom and dad were probably so distraught, they left him in the hospital at first. His mom managed to hold him when he was already four months old. But that did not define Nick. Of course, Nick questioned God. Why was I born this way, he asked. He felt hopeless and depressed and wondered if suicide would solve his problems. He felt this way for seven or eight long years and asked God many questions. 

It was only when Nick took God seriously, and began to read the Bible, that he was healed emotionally and spiritually. The verses from John 9:1-3 resonated with him as He realized that God had a plan and a purpose for him. “…this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” From age 19, Nick had been able to give inspiration and encouragement to others by sharing his testimony. “You have a choice. We can choose to dwell on disappointments and shortcomings. We can choose to be bitter, angry, or sad. Or when faced with hard times and hurtful people…we can choose to learn from the experience and move forward, taking responsibility for our own happiness.”

Nick’s special condition has enabled him to reach hurting people that no one could reach. He has had opportunities to serve God in a special way. One time, he had a short meeting with the President of Ecuador. A few days after that, the President had to consider a law that would allow abortion of disabled fetuses. He vetoed it because he said Ecuador needed more Nick Vujicics! We may not have as big a challenge as Nick, but certainly we have as special a role to play in God's scheme of things! As Nick always says, “I am God’s creation, designed according to His plan for me!” 

“Obedience is better than sacrifice." 1 Samuel 15:22 

Saul was tall, handsome, charismatic and anointed by God to lead his chosen people. He began well but ended by committing suicide. Obviously it is not enough to be chosen by God, to be given His Spirit, His seal of approval. What went wrong?

First Saul was impatient, he did not wait for God to tell him what to do through His prophet Samuel. Then he blamed others for his mistakes, not learning from them. Then he became arrogant, acting as if he did not need God. Finally he blatantly disobeyed God's commands. So I have to watch out for my impatience, even the little ones, like when I am unkind to people who make cold calls, who bother me when I am busy, or to sales people who take too long doing their job, or with people who do not understand my instructions. 

Unkindness, impatience are little things but lead to bigger things like arrogance, rebellion and disobedience. These bring us farther and farther away from God! That's what I've learned from poor Saul who was so blessed when he was young! 

Samuel the prophet told Saul that obedience was better than sacrifice after Saul blatantly disobeyed God's order to destroy ALL of the Amalekites. But Saul kept the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to God.

Sometimes we may have good intentions, but if we do not take the time to  read God's letter to us, the Bible, if we don't take time to pray and to listen to Him, how can we obey?

 “And I myself did not know him.” John 1:31

This is a surprising statement from John the Baptist. Wasn’t John a relative of Jesus? Mary was so close to Elizabeth as to rush to her and be with her at the time of their pregnancies. Even so it says in the 1st chapter of John, that John the Baptist did not recognize Jesus for some time. 

When John the Baptist was in Herod Antipas’ filthy prison awaiting execution, he was afflicted with doubt and questioned who Jesus, his “cousin”, was. His pain may be heard in the question he sent his followers to ask of Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”

Doubt is an insidious thing. It is one of the powerful tools of the invisible enemy which he uses craftily to great effect. Many of us grew up with stories about Jesus, the babe in the manger, who was revealed to be Savior, deliverer, the Immanuel, “God with us”. Although we celebrate Christmas with much heart, attend the dawn masses, put our family pictures in Facebook with our greetings, we may also, like John the Baptist, entertain doubts about who Jesus is. 

Did Jesus get mad that John doubted Him? Did He renounce John? No, he invited John’s faithful friends to observe Him as he healed the sick and delivered some from demons. “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.” (Luke 7:22)

John’s painful questions would have been put to rest because he would have recognized the prophecy of Isaiah about the coming Messiah in those words. If we have any doubts about who Jesus is, we need only to talk to Him and tell Him. He may send someone to testify about Him, or He may give us the desire to read the Bible, how the Old Testament and the New is filled with God’s intervention in history from the time of the Patriarchs. Christ fills and illumines its pages. 

Let Christ fill our hearts to overflowing these first days of the new year. He awaits with open and gracious arms. 

 “Follow me," Jesus said to Levi. Mark 2:14

Jesus saw Levi, a tax collector, sitting at the customs post. This is where he usually sits. He collects taxes, and like most publicans, perhaps even all, he was reviled by the Jews for his collaboration with the Roman oppressors. A tax collector during Jesus' time could stop Jews on the road and tax them for the baggage they were carrying! Jesus calls out, "Follow me," and Levi left his table, and walked with Jesus.

Like Levi, Jesus calls us where we are, whatever we are doing. We may not be occupied with sinful things like Levi, who would have been greedy and kept part of the collected taxes for himself. But even while we are washing dishes, teaching, playing golf, looking though friends' posts on Facebook, Jesus calls us. When He calls, and we decide to follow, we have to leave certain things behind. We have to avoid sin. If we knew what sin does to us spiritually, we would stay far away from it just as we stay away from the Ebola virus. We can see what this virus does- it makes people bleed internally and externally, and it kills up to 90% of those infected.

How about sin? We can't see what it does to our soul, and our soul is the one that lasts forever. Our bodies will just be consigned to the crematorium or left in a hole in the ground. I am sure that sin does worse things to our souls than the Ebola virus!! I forget who said that sinning is a suicidal act. It cuts us off from God, and the loving sustaining grace of our Creator! If stay away from sin, we can celebrate and Jesus will celebrate with us, much like Levi rejoiced in his new found freedom!

‘They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to him, “Child, your sins are forgiven.”’ Mark 2:3-

Here we see how crucial our faith is. Four men carried a paralytic to Jesus. He saw the faith of the men and forgave the sick man’s sins and healed him of his paralysis. 

There are many people around us “paralyzed” by sin, fear, shame, greed, and even by their own past. We can bring them to Jesus but it is important that we have faith and not hopelessness. Even in the midst of darkness, we should resolve to depend on God and have faith that He has all the answers. 

I was listening to speaker and author Lysa Terkeust’s story about her two adopted boys. Jackson and Mark were living in an orphanage in Liberia, a West African country ravaged by 14 years of civil war. They ate once a day, usually just a bowl of rice, and a little chicken on a good day. They trudged a long way to school and had to sit on a rock wall during lunch so they wouldn’t bother the others who had lunch. Every day they had Bible study, but one day the teacher said, “We won’t have Bible study today. I’ll call one of you, and you tell us what you want to thank God for.” Jackson was called and his mind was blank. He had no idea what to be grateful for so he sang a praise song. The next day, another boy was called. He did the same thing, and Jackson joined him. The next day, another boy was called, and he too sang a praise song, and Jackson and the 2nd boy joined him. On the twelfth day, 12 boys were singing a praise song when the American consul came for a visit. He promised to bring the “choir” to America to raise funds for the orphanage.  

When the boys sang in Lysa’s church, God spoke in her heart to adopt two boys. Lysa fought against that for a while, but she eventually did. Since then, 40 children from that orphanage were adopted. That was in 2003. 

Let us face the future in faith and confidence and praise God no matter what the present looks like. God is on His throne and He has a wonderful plan for our life. “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

“If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Mark 1:40

When my mouth was full of sores several years ago, and I was so thin because I could not eat, I was always begging Jesus for relief. I would confess healing verses from the Bible because as it says in Proverbs 4:20-22: “...attend to My words; incline thine ear unto My sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.” In Hebrew, the Word “health”, is actually the word for “medicine”. And so I would “take” my medicine every day, reciting it or listening to YouTube videos of healing verses. What an amazing relief when God healed me of my Pemphigus Vulgaris! 

We can certainly understand the leper who came to Jesus, beseeching Him and kneeling down before Him, begging for relief, healing and restoration. “If You are willing, You can make me clean!” Jesus took pity on this wretched man, stretched out his hand and touched him, “I am willing. Be cleansed.”

Of course Jesus is willing. That’s why He came in the first place, came as a vulnerable baby, dependent on His mother for His first food, drink and caring. Of course He is willing. That’s why He trudged on to Calvary, knowing what was in store for Him who knew no sin. He was and is, the eternal, the willing sacrifice who took the place of you and me. We are as wretched as that leper, full of sores, and oozing wounds, and Jesus is willing to set us free of our wretchedness. We need only come to Him like the leper and He will touch us, touch our lives, and make us whole. If we just let Him touch us, we will fittingly start on a journey to rediscover God’s eternal love for each one of us.

“Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:10

How many times did the Lord call Samuel before Samuel answered Him? Three times. For us, it can take many, many more times, I think. Samuel was living with Eli the priest, in the shrine of the Lord in Shiloh. His mother had dedicated Samuel to God. We are not so blessed as to have nothing to do but devote all our time and energy to God. Samuel was already learning at a young age how to listen to the Lord.

How important it is to reserve a quiet time for the Lord so He can speak to us! 

Steve Clark in his book, "Catholics and the Eucharist: A Scriptural Introduction," wrote: "There is nothing more important than to have God speak to us. We belong to a relatively self-confident human race. We live after centuries of technological development. We can handle more and more of the uncertainties of life, acquire more and more knowledge, power, and comfort. Those of us who are adults with an adequate education, job, financial standing, and home often feel that we can get our lives to go much the way we want them to.

"Yet, we also know that tragedy may happen to us or those close to us. We know we are not doing well with our responsibilities in various respects, and the consequences may be bad for us and others. Accidents also may happen at any time. Furthermore, even though we resist the thought, we know that a destructive global war that might destroy all we hold dear is still possible. And we all know we will die one day and perhaps become helplessly incapacitated before that."

Yes we could be on the brink of a global war even now. There is just so much happening on so many fronts and many countries are teetering on precipices of their own making. But even if we do not think of world affairs, there are challenges we have to deal with at home, with our friends and neighbors. My sisters and I pray together every day and our intercessory list just gets longer and longer. 

What is God trying to tell us? CS Lewis wrote that, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world…”

Speak Lord, Your servants are listening. Help us to hear You and hear Your words. 

 “Why are you bothering us, Jesus of Nazareth?” Mark 1:24

In Deuteronomy 18:16, the Jews had just petitioned God for a prophet to speak to them. They did not want to hear God’s audible voice nor did they want to see the fire engulfing the mountains, the clouds and the thunder and the thick darkness. I suppose it terrified them as it would terrify us. So God granted their request and sent prophets. He did not speak to them audibly as a nation again. He instructed them about these prophets in Dt 18:19, “But against anyone who is not willing to listen to his words, which he will speak in My name, I will stand forth as the avenger.” In another version, it reads, “I will make him answer for it.” How terribly important it is for us to read Jesus’ words, understand and obey! Jesus is the perfect revelation of the Father! But unlike the awesome voice speaking in and through the fire, He is not terrifying!

And that may be the reason why so many of us ignore Him, and like the man with the unclean spirit in Mark 1, we want Him not to mind us so we can do what we please. “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Go away and leave us to our own devices!” 

We do not realize how wretched and pitiful we are without God to guide us in our life. We reject His Words not knowing rejection of His Words means rejection of His gift of joy. 

“These things I have spoken to you,” Jesus said in John 15:11, “that your joy may be full.” And in John 17:13, Jesus said, “I am speaking these things in the world, so that they may have the fullness of my joy within themselves.”

Lord, I want that fullness of joy in my life. Bother me! Teach me Your ways! 

“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Mark 1:17

I will always remember my dad for being eternally young and enthusiastic. Even when he was 90 plus years old already, he would not let his feeble frame stop him from going out on a fishing boat in Batangas with fishermen to find fish. He walked slowly to the boat with someone to support him. He was put in a chair to be carried inside the boat. He was out in the sun for 6 hours looking for fish. His fish finder conked out but he came back still convinced there was much fish to be caught off the coast of Batangas. He was not discouraged after hours under the sun.

We too are called to be “fishermen”, but not of fish, but of men. Do we easily get discouraged after people don’t respond to our invitation to join a prayer meeting or listen to an inspirational talk? I listened to a woman share about how she found the Lord after a neighbor just kept persistently listening to her problems. They would be sitting down at a coffee shop or on the steps to her home, and the neighbor would patiently encourage her and pray for her, until one day she decided to go with her to a Life in The Spirit Seminar. 

Ric Warren, the founder of Saddleback Church, wrote on one Facebook post, “The night before my father died, my wife, my niece, and I were in his bedroom by his side. Dad suddenly became very agitated and tried to get out of bed," Warren continued. "Of course, he was too weak to get up so Kay insisted he lay back down. But he kept persisting in trying to get out of bed. Finally, Kay in exasperation said 'Jimmy, you CANNOT get up! You are dying. We will get you whatever you need. What are you trying to do?'

"My dad replied, 'I've got to save one more for Jesus! I've got to save one more for Jesus! One more for Jesus! One more for Jesus!' He began to repeat that phrase over and over and over. It is no exaggeration to say that during the next hour, he repeated the phrase probably a hundred times: 'Got to save one more for Jesus!'"

No wonder Ric Warren is so passionate about what he does! “While my head was bowed,” Warren recounted, “my dad reached out and placed his frail hand on my head and said, as if commissioning me with a sacred calling, 'Reach one more for Jesus! Reach one more for Jesus!' It was a holy moment and I knew what I was supposed to do the rest of my life, regardless of problems, illnesses, conflicts, critics, attacks, delays, difficulties, or any other barriers," he wrote.

“This is My Son, My Beloved, in Whom I delight." Matthew 3:17 (Amp.)

In another version, we find: "Thou art My beloved Son, in Thee I am well-pleased." And in Mark 1:11, “You are My beloved Son. On You my favor rests." I went through different versions because I imagined myself, during my baptism, with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit being present along with my parents and godparents. God looked down and said, "This is my beloved daughter! My favor rests on her! I delight in her! She pleases me well!" Blasphemy? Indeed not!

Jesus paved the way for us to be part of His holy family. We are adopted sons and daughters of God. In Matthew, we see a longer retelling of Jesus' baptism than that we find in Mark. We see that John the Baptist protested strenuously to Jesus' request to be baptized, but Jesus insisted. "This is the fitting way to fulfill all righteousness, to perform completely what is right." (Matthew 3:15, Amp.)

Jesus went into the waters of baptism just like any sinner. He joined with us, sinful humanity, and shared the travails, weakness and death of ordinary human beings. Because of His obedience, the Father was well pleased with Him. In His baptism, the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, were present. In our baptism, Father, Son and Spirit were present as well. We are one family, one church. And when Jesus was baptized by John, even though He did not need it, He was saying to each one of us, I am one with you. I will be with you through thick and thin, I will journey with you, I will see to it that you finish the race. I will do everything, even to dying like a common criminal, so that the good work started in your baptism will be carried to completion (Phil. 1:6). 

Thank You Jesus for everything! You made the impossible possible for us!

 “So this joy of mine has been made complete. He must increase, I must decrease.” John 3:29-3

John the Baptist said this in answer to some questions put to him about him baptizing and about Jesus baptizing as well. John was very clear about his role in God’s Kingdom. 

Are we clear about our role in the Kingdom of God? In His last recorded personal instruction to His disciples, Jesus said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20) Do we take this as a personal commissioning or do we dismiss this as a call only to the disciples, to priests and pastors and missionaries? 

I take this as a personal call to step out in faith and plant seeds of faith in any way I can. Today there is such tremendous opportunity to do so, not only because of the internet, but also because more and more people are in need of prayer and encouragement. Just the other day, I got a comment from someone who said she needed the message I shared. Every day, we can pray that Jesus leads us where we can plant seeds. He promised to accompany us while we do this. We will be surprised, like John the Baptist, at the joy it will bring when we obey Jesus’ instructions. 

“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I do will it.  Be made clean.” Luke 5:12-13

Life can be burdensome. Many times we carry a load on our back and it can break us or make us stronger. We cannot really carry it alone or it will make us bitter, desperate, rebellious and even hardened to the point of brittleness. Think of those who survived the Holocaust, who went through wars, and great famines. I remember in the last pandemic, when we were praying for whole families to get well and several members passed away. It was heartbreaking. And now there are several wars, persecutions and rebellions going on in the world today. So much insecurity and fear! Where are we to go to look for the bright light we long for? 

When I think of burdens I remember Shrek the sheep. He became famous in 2004 for his fleece which was abnormally heavy! Merinos are normally shorn every year but Shrek was an expert in hiding in caves and avoided being caught for six long years! He belonged to the Bendigo sheep station near Tarras, New Zealand, and when he was finally found, his shearing was broadcast on national television. An average merino would just carry 4.5 kg, with an exceptional weight of up to 15 kg. Shrek’s fleece weighed 27 kg, enough for 20 large men’s suits! What a heavy burden, simply because Shrek kept hiding from his shepherd for six long years! He was a runaway rebel like many of us, preferring to carry our burdens by ourselves. 

“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,” Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-30. If we surrender, stop hiding, Jesus promises He will give us rest. All we need to do is to learn from Him, to read and understand and take His words to heart. He came to heal us. He gave His life so we can have life! He is our only real hope!

 “The power that has conquered the world is this faith of ours.” 1 John 5:4

Now that is a pretty bold claim! This was written by Saint John the Evangelist in Ephesus in AD 95-110. 

In another version we can read, “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

There are many businessmen and world leaders who are already super successful, super powerful, but keep wanting more and more. Nothing this world offers is enough for them. There are many sports stars who have achieved the pinnacle of success and found they were still searching for more. One of them was Deion Sanders, a retired American professional football and baseball player who has an estimated net worth of $60 million. His list of career highlights is so long, I got tired of scrolling down the page. He was one of the biggest, most famous, richest superstar athletes in the world with a $10,000 bed in a $5.7 million dollar home and a collection of luxury cars, but he just felt empty. He said he had nothing until he found God. He felt so empty and lonely even if he had everything and achieved everything he could ever want. He even tried to commit suicide in 1997 by driving his Mercedes off a 30-40 foot drop cliff, after playing in a baseball game for the Cincinnati Reds. Amazingly, he didn't suffer any life-threatening injuries.

One day, after searching and talking to his Christian friends, this happened: “I was lying there in bed about four o’clock in the morning when I was awakened by these awesome lights in my room. I say it was like a 747 had landed beside my bed, and there was this incredible rush of wind that felt like a helicopter had come in with it.” 

“I remember opening my eyes just the slightest bit and saying, ‘God, if that’s You, take me! Take me, Lord,’ and I was trembling all over. Before long it was silent and the lights disappeared, and later that night I got up and opened my Bible to a passage that said, ‘If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation’ (Romans 10:9-10). The words hit me like a ton of bricks. I knew they were meant for me and at that precise moment I was delivered.”

Now he is so vocal about how he got saved, and he puts in time helping troubled youth find meaning in their life. Deion’s post on X for 2026 was: “Do u feel different or the same? There has to be a disturbance inside of u that's unsatisfying to your soul. You will no longer have Peace doing, living, talking, walking or exuding the same thang u did in 2025. God is doing a new thang with u so Let's Go baby.”

He continuously posts encouraging messages like, “You are not alone! God sees you, wants u & loves you. God can't overtake your will. Your freedom to choose, do, speak, think & love he gave that to u so when u wake u should choose the giver of the gifts. Think!”

Lord, may we not believe that conquering the world lies in getting all we want from it. May we not be captivated by all that is enticing in the world. May we go after the one true treasure, You!