@ BOLT

BOLT is awesome! I did not expect that I would like the movie so much! BOLT is super cute! As in. Kahit manood kalang to see how cute BOLT is, sulit na!=D

The movie shoots off showing Bolt as a very cute puppy - for sale. A little girl noticed the white puppy and she bought it and named it BOLT right away. The next scene was the girl’s (I forgot her name!) father (Scientist) being kidnapped by the bad guys. The girl was so troubled and worried when she found out but her Father reminded her not to be troubled because Bolt will be there to protect her. Then the transition scenes showed how the ‘Dad’ scientist turned the average dog into this super dog with powers like super strength, speed, laser beam, and the famous super bark! Now the bad guys are after the little girl, good thing for her that she has BOLT for without him, she would have been dead.

Why I am blog-ing about the movie is because it served such a good analogy to our study in W.I.L.D. Praise God! It was another “W.I.L.D.” day at IBM yesterday. For those of you who don’t know W.I.L.D. stands for Wednesday IBMers Lunch Devotion. It’s a fellowship circle wherein the people behind it just can’t help but let other IBMers know what it means to have a RIGHT relationship with God.

Yesterday, we continued our study on the book of John. We went through chapter 14 verses 15-31 – Jesus promises the Holy Spirit to His disciples. We started Chapter 13 with the last supper and what transpired in that meal was the washing of the disciples’ feet, then Jesus predicts Judas’ betrayal and also Peter’s denial as well, then Jesus comforts His disciples by telling them not to be troubled because He was going to leave them. The is beauty is that although Jesus was going to leave them He left his disciples with a promise, that He will give them someone (HOLY SPIRIT) to be with them until He returns again.

Sharing what we had in WILD yesterday…=)

15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command”.

*For a person to love God he/she must first believe that there is God and if a person believes God that means that that person has faith in God.

*will (aux verb) by definition means personal choice Synonyms: be inclined, crave, desire, have a mind to, like, opt, pleasure, prefer, see fit, want, wish…

*James 2:14-24, “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith (love or belief) but has no deeds? Can such faith (love or belief) save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith (love or belief) by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith (love or belief); I have deeds.” Show me your faith (love or belief) without deeds, and I will show you my faith (love or belief) by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith (love or belief) without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith (love or belief) was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith (love or belief) alone.

*Now let’s ask ourselves, do we personally choose to do the things of God or godly things in our life? Because when you become a child of God (John 1:1-13, John 3:1-8, 1 Peter 1:23-25), naturally you will personally choose the things of God and that already is the HOLY SPIRIT living in you. Today, we will learn through scripture a little bit of who the Holy Spirit is and what His role is in every Christian’s life. FYI! I’m not saying and this does not mean that if you’re a Christian eh perfect kana. The Holy Spirit’s job is not to control us and make us perfect people. Later, we will find out what His role is. But example, I love to play basketball, every Sunday we have a game at Camp Crame. I love basketball but that doesn’t mean every chance I get to play, I would play. I wish, but it’s impossible. Sometimes I feel tired, sometimes my friends would invite me to hangout with them Sunday night and I’d skip a game, etc, but my love for the game is still there. Likewise if you are a Christian, you are not invulnerable to the temptations of Satan, but the desire to love God should be active and every time you fail and fall that desire to love God should lead you to genuine repentance.

16-17 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor (Comforter, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby, ABV) to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him (who? the Holy Spirit), because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

*The Holy Spirit would mean a lot to the disciples and so was Bolt. Bolt meant a lot to the little girl. =)

*Here’s a very familiar quote, “To see is to believe.” A non-believer cannot recognize the Holy Spirit in his/her life because in the first place the Spirit is not in them. Yet to everyone belonging to Christ, they have been given the Holy Spirit. True Christians live by faith and not by sight.
à So who is the Holy Spirit? The third person of the Trinity through whom God acts, reveals His will, empowers individuals, and discloses His personal presence both in the OT and NT. Romans 8, 1 Corinthians 2, 2 Corinthians 3, Galatians 5 (Paul talking about the Holy Spirit. READ AFTER STUDY).

18 I will not leave you as orphans (comfortless, desolate, bereaved, forlorn, helpless, ABV); I will come to you.

19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.

*A true child of God will see and be with Jesus forever in heaven.

20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show (reveal and manifest, ABV) myself to him."

*Only by loving God will he reveal and manifest himself to us. Again, loving God is obeying God. How can God reveal and manifest himself in you if you do not know His word and obey it?

22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?"

23 Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

*Home is a very personal and intimate word. “There is no place like home.” God’s home is in every Christian’s heart for our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. So another evidence of true child of God is when you sin, you feel your heart pumping REALLY…REALLY hard. =)

*Before I became a Christian I can sin without any guilt knowing that I am offending God. As a Christian today, every time I look at lustful images just about anywhere, if I look at it too long my heart starts pumping! I mean, literally my eyes are pleased but my heart isn’t. It’s a very conflicting feeling. But that’s the time I know that I’m messing up God’s humble abode (my heart).

24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

*In other words, whoever does not love God will not crave, desire, have a mind to, like, opt, pleasure, prefer, see fit, want, wish…to obey God’s word (Bible).

25-26 "All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name (in my place, to represent Me and act on My behalf), will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

*Again, the premise to this statement is when you are a child of God, you will be given the spirit and when you have the spirit you will have a desire to love God and his precepts, thus you hunger and thirst for God’s word and obey them. Once you have God’s words in your heart the Holy Spirit will teach you and will remind you of everything that God has taught you through His word.

27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

28 "You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.

29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.

30-31 I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world (Satan) is coming. He has no hold on me (He has nothing in common with Me; there is nothing in Me that belongs to him, and he has no power over Me), but the world must learn (know or be convinced) that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.

"Come now; let us leave" - END

I guess the important question now is, do you REALLY love God? If you say YES, then let the whole world see you become a walking bible. If you say NO or I guess NOT, all you need to do is understand what it means to repent and put your trust in Jesus alone and not on any other religious system man made doctrine. JESUS ALONE SAVES. If you want to understand, WILD will be available to make time and make you understand through scripture of what it really means to be a true Christian. =)

Remember, it’s all about not just a relationship with Him, but a RIGHT (Bible based) relationship! =)