2007 TESTIMONY – TM’s SIXTH ANNIVERSARY
Before TM
Late 2006, after passing the CPA board exam, I was working in a medium audit firm in Makati
Enter TM
Then in May 2007, Jeremy Ramirez (or he fondly call him Maya), my officemate in that firm invited me to attend Thymarketplace. And, ang tanong ko sa kanya, "What is Thymarketplace? And and sagot niya, if I recall correctly ay, " It's a group of young professional, Christians who come together to worship God, to thank Him and to be in His presence as a community of believers. We meet every Thursday 7pm and Sunday 4pm at Cityland Tower
During TM
And then ayun na, after na akong magattend-attend sa TM, often na akong binabasahan ng Bible ni Maya kapag kumakain kami -- sa Jollibee, McDo or others. And attend-attend na rin ako ng Accountability Group and other ministries or activities of TM.
But the most striking experience I have in the ministry is when I accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior in a TM Retreat on September 30, 2007. I take note of the date because it's the birthday of my father.
You see, one of my life’s quests has been for a father – a father along to teach you everything and anything about life, a father that provides for, protects you and is always there for you, a father who simply loves you. I'm not sure what your quests are in your life. But one of mine is a quest for a father. The like na pag-iipunan mo talaga ng malaking pera para makabili ka lang ng isang tatay sa SM man o Glorietta. I even kid myself, "Har, alam mo siguro if lumaki ka lang na may Tatay siguro hinde ka lang CPA ngayon. Siguro, isa ka nang artista".
If I may tell kasi, grade two ako noon ng mawala ang father namin sa bahay namin. I could recall him teaching me how to read and write, teach me about math – addition, substraction, multiplication and division, the whole shebang. Then, suddenly bigla nalang siyang nawala sa picture. It turned out, habang lumaki na ako, meron na pala siyang ibang pamilya. At may apat na kapatid na rin pala ako in his other wife. So ayon...
But, on that faithful day, September 30, 2007 - I had my baptism in one of the resort pool in Antipolo. It was a wonderful day. In essence, and reminiscing about it deeply and heartily, it is as if God the Father was telling me: "From now on, I will be your Father and you will be my son. Be of courage for I will always be with you wherever you go." Wow, it was an amazing and surreal experience for me! And you just feel wrap up in overwhelming love, endless mercy and undying faithfulness in your life - from a real Father.
Answer to God's Call of Love
So what's my response to that? In essence, what the Bible is all about is God's love. John 3: 16 say: "For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have an everlasting life." So in a nutshell, God is saying "I love you” to all of us. He knows each and everyone's name. He even knows the number of our hairs.
And my answers to that are: 1. I'm going there. I’m holding on to His words and promises. It's a "Long obedience in the same direction" -- becoming Christlike! 2. I pray that His will be done in my life. That I may shrink down gradually so that the Lord will increase in my life. And His loving works be revealed and shown through me, in accordance to His grace.
As I end this message, it occurred to me that: "If you have your God in you life. And you know that He is "unconditionally and irrevocably in love with you" (to borrow a line from Twilight) what else could you possibly need?"
Think hard about it again, "If you have your God in your life, and you know that He is "unconditionally and irrevocably in love with you" what else could you possibly need?"
