expectations

do you have any? well, I do.... I believe every person should have some sort of expectation. Because if we don't, in my opinion, we are walking aimlessly in this life. When we set goals and find out our purpose we should have an expectation of what the outcome should be of what we planned, right? So, if our plans for this year which is almost gone, did not end up to our expectations, let's make up some new plans and write down on paper what we expect from those plans then move forward. Now, to help us further on, take a look at Rev. 16:15...in samoan it reads.."Faauta ou te vave alu atu pei ose gaoi; amuia le mataala, ma tausi i ona ofu, ina ne'i savali o ia le lavalava, nei latou iloa atu foi lona ma." In my interpretation, that's Christ's expectations for his children. He wants to come back finding his children ready for His arrival. All things spruced up and in order. Holy Spirit, help us all to write up new plans, the kind that has a lot of your input. the kind that will always put us on alert for our Master's coming. start planning now, don't put off tomorrow what you can do today.

try and try again and again

that's what we need to do, if we plan things to do for the coming year and somewhere along the way, we find out that we keep forgetting to do it, that's okay, you have laid your plan down, so keep moving forward. If you forget today, do it the next day, if you forget again, that's okay, do it again the next day..that's how we do it. No one is perfect, I am a witness to that. But, I have again made myself a choice, I will keep trying my best in everything I do. And, so for the New Year...I pray the Holy Spirit of God will continually help me to do better.

but the greatest of all these is love

it's interesting how sometimes we all chase after notoriety and accolades, how we live for someone to recognize us or the deeds that we are doing, and yet Paul said, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that no matter what we do, even if we give everything and do great things, if we do not have love, we are nothing (my own interpretation). I suppose this is why love becomes very painful at times, because even if we love and no one returns our love, we still have to love.... In that spirit, we who are in Christ, again have to make a choice, shall I be like them or shall I continue loving?

There is faith, hope and charity (love)...a lot of times, we strive to get greater faith or keep hoping the best of everything, I am not saying it is bad...it is wonderful and we should, but the apostle said, the greatest of all these is LOVE. I don't know about you, but this is the way, this sentence looks to me, I can have the faith to move mountains and people will probably say, wow! and I can keep on hoping that God will bless me so I can stand up and say, hey, look at me, it's my time now..but, if I do not know or have love in me then, I got zero! right? well, I would like to ask the Holy Spirit of God, to please help me to show more of the 3 but especially the Love component. I desperately need it, someone else needs it too. I know there is a blessing Jesus himself spoke of, in Matthew 5, it says "BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL (LOVE) FOR THEY SHALL BE GIVEN MERCY." I pray this will be the guiding light that lights our path for the coming year.
faamalosi mai....

writing letters

did you know that writing letters is a great thing to do? when I was young, like many, many moons ago, I loved to write letters to pen pals, to my cousins who were in the armed forces, to friends and just family everywhere, and when I received letters from them, I was excited to read them. Nowadays, we have the e-mail, technology has made the process a lot easier, however; there is something about receiving the letter that is so special. But, you know this process of letter writing is not something new, it was done many many years ago, not only by the world but by the Church of Jesus also. This morning, I read letters that were written years ago by the Apostle John to the Churches in Asia. It warmed my heart, blessed my soul and gave me such encouragement, because each closing statement of each letter, those who have ears, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the Church. The thing about letters is, it can be preserved, e-mails cannot unless they are printed out. Letters are kinda hard to be forged. Letters are wonderful because they inspire and does something to all those who read it. Would you like to read some of the most wonderful and inspiring letters in the world? If you do, pick up your bible and turn to the New Testament and start reading from Matthew to Revelations, all those are letters written by the early apostles and disciples of Jesus to you and I nowadays... I wonder what would happen if all of us christians will continue this process of writing letters?

I pray you will be a writer of letters like Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul and many others....

A BLESSED CHRISTMAS TO ALL OUR READERS!

Just think on this day 2000 years ago today, GOD decided to come and be among people. He was the babe in the manger, the toddler the magi saw and gave their gifts to and the 12 year old who sat in the temple courts and taught the learned of the day. Yes, God decided, then he picked his team and voila...everything is history. His name is Emmanuel, it means "God with us."

don't be distracted

I was reading the Bible this morning and I got stuck on the conversation between Jesus and Peter in John 21, Jesus was asking Peter questions, but his mind was not there, he was distracted by John walking besides Jesus and him. His distraction started a rumor that John will never die. That's exactly how we are sometimes, we become distracted with things that are not meaningful right when the Lord is trying to talk to us. My prayer is that as we come to the day before xmas, do not be distracted things like no one thought of you, or no one invited you to their get together. You have the best gift, you have the reason for the season and he wants to hang out with you tonite. Invitation? humbug! says one old man, make yourself a table for you and the special guest who is coming to your house, this is HIS birthday and maybe no one else has thought of inviting him.

hark! the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn king!

The King is Coming!

so the people scrubs and cleans, they put out their best towels, curtains and linen, they mow their lawns and water down the concrete, they put on the music and waits....and waits....and waits....and waits. The day comes and they wondered what happened? So, they open their gifts to each other and eat their full, they dance to their music and gives out greetings, hugs and kisses....still they wait for the king that was announced is coming. The sad part is, only a few know that the KING has come and gone...and they know HE IS COMING BACK! But what about the rest? if only they knew, that the King is still walking among the campsite, and wanting someone to invite HIM in just to share a cup of hot tea and some saloon crackers with him.

Shall you? I must...I need to....I will do everything I can to do so..

a lovely day to you....in HIS Name. JESUS!

gifts that cost no money

did you know there are gifts that won't cost you a penny? honest! well, let's see..you can write a letter to someone you haven't talked to in a long time right? how about sending a xmas card? or maybe call someone and tell them you just wanted to tell them to have a great xmas, ok, got some food that you share? something like maybe some panikeke you can make with flour and sugar stuff like that from your cupboard, oh, how about cleaning someone's room or house? all these little things....will make you feel great! May we all find the true meaning of Christmas, it's actually giving from the heart. Be a blessing, I will look around also for what I can do this xmas that won't cost me a penny....

mele kaliki maka, hauoli maka hiki hou...

when push comes to shove

that phrase is similar to this one, "where the rubber meets the road"....I don't know about everyone, but sitting here at my computer and trying to think about things, the presents we may have forgotten to buy, or the ones we wanted to buy but maybe short on cash, the many cards we want to send but maybe got too busy and wasn't able to make the post office on time, all those and many other things we want to do for a person or maybe a bunch of people....the truth is, or when push comes to shove, or when the rubber meets the road...the most important thing we can do is pray that those we want to do things for will come to the knowledge of knowing how Jesus is the only reason why there is a christmas and, without him in their lives they are dead meat as the kids would say. A pleasant evening to us all....

guarding my heart, renewing my mind

The Word of God says, we are to guard our hearts for out of it flows the issues of life." thismorning I am thinking to myself, of course, the Word of God gives out a bigger picture of why we should guard our hearts, because there is a much bigger plan at play. It's an eternal plan, one that has everyone called a child of God involved in and if each time we are hurt or disappointed and we feel down, we must do our best not to feel like a victim. Because once we do, then we are taking ourselves out of the bigger plan. In the Bible it tells of how the early Christians felt joy when they were suffering, they count it joy. Why? we might ask, I believe it's because, they have seen the bigger picture..they saw the eternal in the picture, not the here and now. They have learned the secret to guarding their hearts and renewing their minds. For us now, we must learn this way the early disciples knew, it is something that we must do daily to help us guard our hearts....that way is, reading the Word of God and meditating in it, praying it, before we know it our minds are renewed and we have put up safeguards around our hearts.

what gets you emotional?

well, especially at this time....what does? let me tell you what does me in.. when there is soft christmas playing,something like silent night, it came upon a midnight clear, or o little town of bethlehem. I get to thinking about how I could have died somewhere on the streets of L.A., or somewhere in the tenderloin area of S.F., how I could have OD and died somewhere in the desert of Nevada, but , GOD. He is an amazing Father. He sent a special package from heaven, a package that everyone was trying to throw away but God had these special people put together as a team that when he gave them the package to deliver to all men, they did the best they could to make sure it was delivered. The present in the package came, walked among men, died on the cross for all men, and went back to heaven to his Father. I get emotional about the fact that God had to send his Son Jesus to be a human to redeem me from sin, I get emotional thinking and playing the scenario in my mind of a young virgin girl chosen to carry the package, I get emotional thinking of a righteous and humble guy who had to do what he did not want to do, I get emotional just thinking about that and more. It's interesting to me, that God knew exactly what I was gonna into and even before I understood, God had prepared a way for me to get out of sin on that first Christmas day in a little stable somewhere in Bethlehem with just the animals watching his smiling face and hearing him coo...
I love you Jesus, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

having a good time

are you? I am. what makes me say that? well, having a good time enjoying the cool morning breezes, enjoying the sunlight that's brightening the morning, enjoying thinking about the winter ball last night, enjoying thinking of how nice everyone looked, enjoying thinking about the comedians of last night, enjoying thinking about the fellowship with other brothers and sisters, enjoying thinking about the good food and good laughs...so much to think about. Most of all, I'm enjoying thinking of how God has a sense of humor with his great, great, mercy and love.

the greatest ministry

This morning I was reading a letter from James to the Church, he mentioned that whoever restores a brother or sister back to the Lord has just restored a soul back from wandering or in other words from being lost forever...as I said before, even in salvation we make choices and today is another choice I have made, instead of being critical and judgmental, I must work at being a restorer of things that matter to God. It won't be an easy job, but, Paul said, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Jesus our Lord is an ace at restoring things, look at me, how he took a wretch like me and restore me back to life, I will never know how. But, because of that, I too want to follow Jesus, in doing the same to another. shall we?

God's Faithfulness

Years b4 Christ was born in Bethlehem, God told the snake aka devil that the child from the woman will crush his head, generations went by and everyone still held onto this word from God, then one cool evening in a little town of Bethlehem, after a long weary day on the road, a young virgin from Nazareth gave birth to God's Faithfulness. Many years after, God's Faithfulness whose name is Jesus told his young growing Church on a mountaintop, I will never leave you nor forsake you, then he took off for heaven on a cloud. This Christmastime, many families across the nation of America are facing difficulties because of limited or lack of finances, but God is faithful, His name is Jehovah-Jireh, he provides even to the littlest things that you need. How do I know that? because He just proved it to me this morning, this week is our WinterBall, my finances were strained because of other things that needed to be done, so I placed in my heart an order to the one who dwells in me, the one who sees my need even b4 I ask, the kind of dress I wanted that I knew I can purchase for an affordable price, do you know, he is so faithful, I went to the store and looked around, I thought..oh oh..all of that style of dress is gone, but then, without a moment's notice, the one who is teaching me how to depend on him led me to an isle in the store where low and behold among some pjs would you believe? a real nice, comfortable sparkling dress in the style I wanted. With the money I saved, I bought a couple of needed items then I came home. God's Faithfulness is also found in the most menial tasks of our everyday life. No one paid attention to this young virgin bride and her husband, no one looked at her condition and thought otherwise, the owner of the stable, got a reward I am sure from God, but if only he had paid more attention, he would have gotten God's Faithfulness in the fullest.
are we looking for God's Faithfulness in this season, I sure hope so. a hui ho

angels

last night I thought, wouldn't it be nice to write and conduct a play on how angels are ministering to people on earth during this season? this is the one season when angels were seen by humans singing in the heavens, proclamining the Peace of God and His goodwill towards all men was now on earth in human form. This is the one season, angelic visitation was everywhere on earth because, now this is my own opinion, God was coming to earth to be among the humans as a human and the angels were performing their duties as he commanded, even before he came to earth. This is the season, that the entire earth has a different feel to its atmosphere....why do I think so? because tis the season, our Lord Jesus came to be with us.

good news from afar

today, we received a christmas card from the other side of the globe. It brought smiles and good cheer to our hearts and most of all it shed love abroad in our hearts. Did you know that God sent a very special christmas card to the people on earth 2000 years ago today? The greatest part is no matter what the seasons of life brings us, the good news God sent, packaged in a small bundle that was laid by a young virgin girl in a manger is still the best news of all. It brings smiles, good cheer to our hearts and most of all shed God's love abroad in our hearts. And, when that happens, we become encouraged and know we have a certain and sure hope and we can begin again.

family traditions

does your family have any? mine do, some of them I definitely could do without....did you know that Pacific Island people have traditions that are dated back to Asian ones? we do, I am sort or a history buff, so recently I saw a research in progress now that says, mostly all Polynesians are from the southern side of China...especially close to Taiwan. It was very interesting...so if you happen to be a student of Asian culture or history for that matter, check out some of their family traditions, they resound ours a lot. Now, as I mentioned earlier, some of my family traditions dates back to hundreds of years, if you ask me, I would say probably before the missionaries arrived in the Pacific. If you ask me whether I like them? the answer would be a capital NO!

I pray that God stops them in our generation, never to be repeated again! I ask that every generation of our family from past to present be cleansed with the blood of Jesus and delivered from these traditions that are still being done in our family. I ask that the Holy Spirit of God help us the young generation of our family who know and love Jesus to be our Lord's witnesses in our family, that all these things that might seem harmless will be stopped forever!

You got any? Let's join together in praying against these ancient family traditions, that God deliver us all from it.

oops, my foot's in my mouth again..

has this ever happened to you? where you have this great idea or thought and then you share it with someone and find out later when you get home that you did not finish your sentence the right way, that you maybe made the other person feel bad because you said the wrong words but was thinking the right thing? that's what happens to me all the time, I have this grand idea (at least I thought so to myself) then I go and tell it to someone, you know when I get home, the Lord suddenly reminds me of my choice of words or he might give me a lesson of how I could have said it better. So, to all who I might have confused or made mad because of a suggestion or idea I presented that sounded off to you, please forgive me for my foot's in my mouth again...

oh...how I need prayer....

why put off tomorrow what you can do today?

procrastination, it is a pain....gotta kick out ....shouldn't have any place in our homes or lives.

The answer is in you...

The hairs on the back of my neck used to stand up everytime I am in a tight spot. My throat goes dry when I had no words to speak and my body freezes when I become afraid. But, this morning God gave set me free. Paul said this in 1Timothy3:16...

"It is quite true that the way to live a godly life is not an easy matter. But the answer lies in Christ, who came to earth as a man, was proved spotless and pure in his Spirit, was served by angels, was preached among the nations, was accepted by men everywhere and was received up again to his glory in his heaven."

So, when we think about it, Jesus is the door to what our opportunities are, he is the way to get what we need, he is the truth that can make us or break us, what do I mean by that? If we fib, he makes us tell the truth to set us free from lying, if we refuse to tell the truth about something he will break us till we do tell the truth. So, now, I make a choice again, I want Jesus and hunger for Jesus more and more..
wanna join me? blessings from him who holds the key to our future..

you are rich...

In the book of Colossians...Paul said, when you have Christ, you have everything. WE have everything. The fullness of God is in us. Jesus said before we tell God what we want, HE knows what it is. I wonder why we always struggle then? Paul was right, we need to rejoice more and more. right? Oh, what a tangle web we weave, when our eyes see and deceive, when our hearts want what we don't need. ok, ok, I just kinda change some words in this well-read phrase.

I read Colossians 2:9,10, this morning and it said, "For in Christ there is all of God in a human body; so you have everything when you have Christ, and you are filled with God through your union with Christ. He is the highest Ruler, with authority over every other power."

Speaks volumes to me....how about you?

a hui ho, blessings

decluttering

today, had to declutter my room. I always thought it was small, but after all the clutter was removed and things were placed in containers and organized, then the room was vacuumed, I saw a totally different space. It was much larger and brighter. It is decluttering time for our lives, 3 1/2 weeks to the ending of this year, how many of us need to start re-organizing and decluttering our inner persons so the brightness of God's light can shine in and make us see how much bigger God has made us inside. I don't know about you, but I have come to this realization, I need to first declutter and reorganize myself before I can say, Lord, enlarge my territory.

you are a gift

or didn't you know that? we are Jesus' gift to his father. Each time someone repents and receives Jesus into their hearts, he presents them as his gift to the father. I was so happy when I read that. I must have gone over it many times and yet never paid too much attention to it, but I want to thank the Holy Spirit for pointing that out to me.

just when you think you got it figured out

God works in mysterious ways...whoever thought about this little phrase is right on..just when you think you got things figured out, God comes and shows you otherwise. This absolutely majestic, magnificent, almighty God that we serve, has thoughts that are way higher than ours, he has ways that are totally better than ours. Went for a walk this morning with my hubby and God showed up. I am without words to tell you what happened, but it was subtle and only God can do it that way....just when I thought I got it figured out, God again showed me wrong..And, I wouldn't have it any other way...

blessings to you for a God-ordained and eventful day...

so you think you lost it..

well, the bible said, NOT! how do I know it says that? I just read it a few minutes ago...Paul said to the Roman Jews, God's gifts and calling are irrevocable. It means God is not an indian giver, meaning he does not give you something then when he gets mad, he takes it away. The indian givers are us, when someone rubs us the wrong way, we take back everything we gave. So, if God called you to a certain position/place or if you know that there is a certain gift he gave you but you got kinda la la la on the wayside and now you are back with the Lord, pick that gift up and ask God to stir up the anointing he gave you to work that gift, then hele on.

till next time..

even salvation has choices

life is about making choices...we made choices when we were lost and some of the choices we made almost cost us our lives but, Jesus came quickly and when we made the choice to receive him, he saved us. Now, with our new life in Jesus we still have to make choices, do we have to hang on to the past, knowing we have been set free from sin, or do we keep moving on even when we are faced with trials and temptations.? do we want to have God's fullness or do we want to just gather drops of dew from here and there? ......even salvation has choices.. may God give us all wisdom and understanding to make the right choices...

a hui ho...