Red Alert: It's Morphin' Time!

Red Alert session 2

It's Morphin' Time!

By Kuya Jeremy Sanchez

If you were asked the question Who is your celebrity look-alike?, who would it be?

For girls, we go out of our ways by naming Megan Fox, Emma Stone, Emma Watson and such.

For guys, you aim high by saying Tom Cruise, Daniel Padilla, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and the likes.

There's nothing wrong with hoping that we could somehow look as good as these actors and actresses. After all, there's no harm done in becoming fit and wanting to appear our best in front of others. We all know that every one of us has this desire to fit in with the crowd.

But when this want to look good and be accepted goes beyond the limit, we talk otherwise. 

Is your self-image becoming your idol?

² Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Romans 12:2

Still remember your Power Ranger days? Five teenagers transforming into five extra-awesome superheroes when the time of need arrives. Before they transform, they would declare their undying tagline: IT'S MORHPIN' TIME!

We can actually utilize the very same tagline, brothers and sisters! It's morphin' time for us, the children of God, when we allow Him to transform us into the new persons He desires us to be. 

But as of now, living in this world that demands our attention, it proves to be difficult and quite challenging for us.

FITTING IN is the IN thing nowadays. Admittedly or not, all of us has this want to be liked by others, to be admired and respected by them. In order to fit in, we attempt to catch up with the latest technological fads (oh the Iphone days), match the trending fashion lines and basically do what the 'in crowd' does such as partying and to quote a line from a well known song, living young, wild and free. 

If we want to be accepted by this world, then we have to follow the ways of it.

But our Heavenly Father reminds us through the Apostle Paul in Romans 12:2:

² Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

The word conform's Latin counterpart translation basically means to form according to the pattern or the mold. Picture a cookie dough being cut with cookie cutters. If the shape of the cutter is a heart, then it certainly will be shaped into a heart rather than a star. Same applies to us conforming to the world. 

The world is not only the Earth, which we picture in our heads at the mention of the word. It can be outside forces that can have powerful effects on us. Unfortunately, it is also Satan's means to dissuade us from focusing on the reality our God has laid for us. The world's description according to the Bible can be found in 1 John 2:16. John writes:

¹⁶ For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.

The delights of this world is only based on materialistic possession and fulfilling the cravings of the flesh. To the world, your appearance and what you have matters the most. Why waste your life by being constrained and good when you can have fun while you still can?

There are a number of factors in our lives in which we subject ourselves to conformity. 

1. Friends

When your friends tell you that this look and that brand is in, you just gotta follow them. You can't be left out or else you won't belong. If all of your friends have IPhones and you only own a Cherry Mobile, you have this desire to own one too in order to be one of them. In order to maintain our 'friends' and their company, we have to follow with what's hot and avoid what's not. Rather than face their rejection, we'd go on our way to copy their style, habits and opinions.

2. School

'It's better to cheat than to repeat!'

A familiar tagline in our schools, right? All of us has experienced witnessing, or even participating, cheating during examinations. Everybody does it, so why not you? We wouldn't want to be called 'killjoy' by our classmates, right? 

Gossiping and bullying others in order to be accepted is nothing new when it comes to conforming. If you don't do it their way, there's a slight chance they might target you instead. Of course, we wouldn't want any of that so we just follow them...whatever it takes!

3. Relationships

Physical contact is the norm when you have a relationship according to the world's standards. We may think it's just a simple kiss but one kiss can lead to another.

The sad fact about the world today is that pre-marital sex is the in thing when it comes to relationships. Why deny yourself the pleasure now? Most people believe that sex should not be saved for marriage. It can be consumed now, even if you're not married to your partner and worse, even if there's no commitment in between. One night stands are the new-age traditions when it comes to relationships.

Looking at all of these, one thing is for sure. ALL OF THEM BOIL DOWN TO CONFORMITY.

But brothers and sisters, let's remind ourselves that the more we divulged with conforming to the ways of this world, the farther we are from our Heavenly Dad. We have to fight the urge to be one with them and instead strive to be DIFFERENT!

For one, our obedience to God marks us different from the rest of the world.

¹⁴ So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then.

1 Peter 1:14

We are set apart from this world and if we are truly God's children, we will have this desire to turn away from our old selves and live our lives the way our God wants it to be.

Paul says: "Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." The word transform in Greek is metamorphoo which means change after being with. It is the root word of metamorphosis which describes the dramatic transformations insects such as caterpillars undergo once they're ready to turn into beautiful butterflies. 

We are but mere caterpillars in this world. The only one with the power to change us is God, our Heavenly Father. When we ask Him to transform us into the beings He desires us to be, God is more than glad to help us in our journey as long as we are willing to submit to His rules and to not conform to the ways of the world.

One way of standing out would be by reading His Word in order to take note of His will. The Word of God through the Holy Spirit will transform us!

⁸ And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. ⁹ Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:8-9

Keep your eyes on Jesus! Focus on what is right. Don't let your attention be distracted by the false delights of the world. We must resist and instead, direct our attention to matters that are clean, pure and God-sent. Think of things that are honorable and worthy of God. What we read from the Bible must also be put into practice. As it is also written in Proverbs 4:23, we should guard our hearts from the temptations of this world because it is the wellspring of life! The heart is deceitful and therefore, we should keep a mindful watch over it and fill it with the Holy Spirit as often as possible. Before we know it, we will experience the peace of God!

Non-Conformity 101

1. Spend Time reading/ meditating God's word!

¹¹ I have hidden your word in my heart,
    that I might not sin against you.

Psalm 119:11

2. Be careful with the things you allow yourself to be exposed to

That means we should be mindful of what we read and watch. If we know that what we see will only fill our minds with ungodly thoughts, FLEE! :)

3. Be accountable to your Dgroup/Small group!

It's good to be a member of a small group in your church. It's one way of having someone to guide you as you walk through your spiritual journey. Always remember to be accountable to your leader in order to receive Godly advices for your everyday life :)

4. PURSUE JESUS ALWAYS!

³⁷ Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’

Matthew 22:37

Do not be conformed to the ways of this world! Rather than be one of them, we have to STAND UP and be DIFFERENT in the name of Jesus! 

Morph and be transformed!

Have a blessed week!

Red Alert: Who Am I Worshiping?

Red Alert 1

Who Am I Worshippipng?

By Kuya Daniel Carandang

RED ALERT!

When the alert is red, in military terms, it means that the danger is imminent. The enemies are nearby, ready to pounce on us at any second. 

It is vital for us to know that we are currently under attack. Not from any enemy country or group, rather from the number one antagonist in our lives: SATAN!

Satan is out to get us and he won't stop at anything. He will utilize anything just to dissuade us from being faithful to our Heavenly Father. Yes, you read right...ANYTHING. Under that category of anything, one of the most effective stumbling blocks the devil uses against us is the issue of IDOLATRY. 

What's idolatry? 

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, IDOLATRY can be defined as the worship of a physical object as a god  or the immoderate attachment or devotion to something. 

Here's a quick test. Which of the following can be considered as idolatry?

a. worshiping a golden calf

b. gushing and talking about Justin Bieber. Everything you think about is his new album, his new hair, his new videos.

c. bowing down to an carved statue with five arms

d. studying all day and night, not bothering to sleep because you can't bear to fail your academics
e. all of the above

If you answered a and c, you're right but the answers are not complete.

The correct answer would be letter e. all of the above

Why?

How can becoming a fan girl for Justin Bieber or studying hard can become IDOLATRY?

Besides the dictionary meaning, Idols can also be defined as matters that takes God's place in our lives. They needn't be golden calves or wooden statues. They can be anyone or anything that steals our attention from our Heavenly Dad.

They may be things we see on a daily basis and apparently, get a sense of security and attachment when we have them.

What are the usual idols for teens like us?

- GRADES

Admit it.

Some of us shiver at the sight of bad grades.

There's nothing wrong with aiming for high marks. In fact, God appreciates it when we work hard. But when getting good grades becomes the central focus of our lives, that's another issue. There are cases when some students refuse to sleep or eat just so they can master their lessons. Others rarely put down their books or handouts, believing that missing one second can lead to a failing mark.

- RELATIONSHIPS

"But what's the sense of my life without him/her? (insert dramatically high-pitched sobs)"

Sounds familiar?

At this point of our lives, we have these tendencies to long for someone to love us back. There are people our age who are already in a relationship with whom they believe is the ONE for them. They just can't let go of their boyfriend/girlfriend because they think that their life would not be complete without them.

What's the point of life without someone who loves you romantically? they ask.

-SELF

You just can't get enough of your self.

Every single thing you do must be for the benefit of your lovely self. You buy the perfect clothes because you can't do without them. You make sure that anything you do will be enough for you.

You. You. You.

-OTHERS

They can be dreams or goals in life. Over adoration of pop stars and musical bands can also fall in the list.


All of these become our idols when we allow them to take God's place in our hearts. We desire them because we believe they can provide the security and the contentment we need. We get this feeling that we simply can't live without these. Sometimes, we look unto these idols instead of looking unto Him.

Let us not be deceived!

Idols promise EVERYTHING but deliver NOTHING!

There was also a time in the Jews' life when they were deceived by idols. They had just escaped clutches of their Egyptian captors and were wandering around the desert, in search of their true homeland. They knew very well who delivered them for the hands of the Egyptians. Why, they saw Moses split the Red Sea in half by His divine power.

But despite all of these, they fell into idolatry.

The desperation caused them to search for security in the form of these idols they made for themselves. Instead of running to God, they sought help from false idols. 

They saw God's miracle through their deliverance yet they turned their backs from Him. 

God had already told them against idolatry in Exodus 20:2-3:

² “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.

³ “You must not have any other god but me.

Like the Jews, we fall into the sin of idolatry. When we prioritize other matters over God, we commit this sin. 

Our hearts, if not on red alert, will be deceived by these idols. Think about it! If we don't worship God, we 

don't worship nothing.

We worship ANYTHING.

Why is God so against idolatry? 

Well...

⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶ but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments

Exodus 20:5-6

That's sort of what God feels, only much more and more divine.

 Our God is a JEALOUS God.

That's why.

He says so again in the following verse:

¹⁴ Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Exodus 34:14

Don't we sometimes get jealous when we see our crushes having fun with other people? Or when our 

parents pay more attention to a child not their own? Or when our best friends find comfort in other 

people?

He wants YOU for an EXCLUSIVE RELATIONSHIP. 

What kind of a Father would God be if he didn't crave the attention of His beloved children? Who can blame Him for becoming jealous when He sees His children paying more attention to the ways of this world rather than being with Him, despite the unending love He lavished upon us?

God wants us to keep our eyes on Him, just as He never loses sight of us. He wants us to pay attention, to listen to His voice and to love Him more than the matters of this world. God deserves to be worshiped rather than these earthly idols because He has done more for us. He deserves to be given the honor, glory and praise as written in Revelation 4:11.

You have a special place in God's heart. His only wish is written in 1 John 5:21 (NLT):

²¹ Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.

Have a blessed RED-ALERT week! :)

100% Jesus Loves You

100% session 3

Jesus Loves You!

By Kuya Daniel Carandang

Admit it.

We have this tendency to look for love in the wrong places.

Sometimes, we look for it in a relationship with the opposite sex. Most of the time, when we feel that strong attraction, we can't help but think This is it! He/she is most likely the one! :D We exert all efforts for them to notice us and possibly return our affections because we believe we can find love in a relationship with him/her. But sadly, things don't always go our way and we end up hurt, disappointed and in the Friendzone.

Other times, we look for love in our friends. We think that once we're members of groups/ cliques, these people will love us forever. After all, friendships are sort of till death do us part right?

LOVE.

Where do you find love?

No, more like...

Is it really possible to find everlasting love?

The answer is a big YES. 

But where?

We've been caught up with all the artificial love the world surrounds us with that we don't notice the real source of love: G-O-D.

So you ask, how can we be so sure that God loves us?

First off, we should all know that we're sinners. Ever since sin entered the earth through Adam and Eve's disobedience, none of us are clean from this stain. What makes it even worse is the fact that God cannot stand sin because he is HOLY and PERFECT. So, us being sinful and Him being perfect creates a huge conflict. The perfect plan He had for humanity before sin came was ruined. We cannot stand side by side with Him. We were condemned to hell. 

According to Romans 8:3, the law of Moses was unable to save us because of our sinful nature. Strictly speaking, we are hopeless and when we die, we are guaranteed a spot in the burning lakes of hell.

But God sent a solution:

So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.

Romans 8:3b

Come to think of it, what God did for us can be considered...crazy in our perspective. 

Think about it.

Why would He save us? Countless times we have failed Him, managed to disappoint Him and continue our sinful ways. We have this tendency to neglect Him and live our lives as if we own it and no one can stop us from what we want to do. Sometimes, we even use His name in vain, disrespecting Him right in His face.

Yet despite all of these, why did He chose to save us by killing Jesus, His blameless Son?

BECAUSE GOD LOVES US UNCONDITIONALLY.

No strings attached. 

God loves us despite us being filthy and undeserving. He made us with His own hands and in His eyes, we are still special. He gave us another chance to be with Him by accepting His son Jesus as our Salvation. He sent Jesus to die for our place...for our sins to be placed upon Him instead.

Because He loves us.

 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. ² And because you belong to him, the power^[a] of the life-giving Spirit has freed you^[b] from the power of sin that leads to death.

Romans 8:1-2

Jesus is God's love in person. He is the proof of our Heavenly Father's affection for us. If we accept His offer of eternal life and surrender our lives to Him, we are freed from the power of sin and automatically welcomed into the family of God.

¹⁵ So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.^[h] Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”^[i] 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 

Romans 8:15-16

There is no reason for us to doubt God's love for us. Always remember that He allowed His Son to die in our place, despite the fact that we are undeserving. Jesus loves us, don't you ever forget that :)

Should we doubt the Lover of our Soul, just remember two things:

1. We will have total security in our relationship with God

³³ Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. ³⁴ Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

Romans  8:33-34

We are a part of God's family and no force on this planet can take that away from us. 

⁸ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Salvation is our gift from God. It's the evidence of His love for us. Works cannot save us from our condemnation. Only God's grace can. Mercy is when you forgive but Grace is you then forgive and give something for him/her.

2. We will have an overwhelming victory in our lives

What are you facing today?

Trouble at school? Conflicts with the family? Broken hearts?

³⁵ Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?³⁶ (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”^[o]) ³⁷ No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. 

Romans 8:35-37

Do not lose heart! 

Don't allow your daily struggles to dissuade you from God's love. Instead, assure yourself that your Heavenly Father knows what you are going through and He will eventually lift your from it. When you are 100% guaranteed in love, you have overwhelming victorious in your life. Despite of all the things that we are facing today, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who LOVED us.

Never doubt His love. Always assure yourself that God knows what He is doing in your life. When we doubt God's love, we doubt God's character. When we doubt God's character, we became disobedient and lose in our fight.

REMIND YOURSELF OF THE CROSS!!

Remind yourself of what God had to give up because He loves you.

When we remind ourselves of God's love for us.

- Instead of discouragement, we have joy.

- Instead of anxiety, we have peace.

- Instead of facing into temptations, we overcome.

- Temptation is powerless when we have Christ

- Instead of being disables by weakness, we have power.

The same love that caused Jesus to die on the cross is the same love that is available to us each and every day. Let's not take it for granted, rather let us be grateful and reciprocate this love to our Father. 

Because Jesus loves us, we can have total security with God and an overwhelming victory in our lives. 

Nothing can ever separate us from His love.

³⁸ And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[p] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. ³⁹ No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

Jesus guarantees everlasting love, 100%!