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About
CFC-FFL
Who
is the CFC-FFL?
The
Movement for Restoration Our
Covenant
Our
Mission and Vision
Our Statement of
Philosophy
Our
Core Values
Family Ministries Kids
for Family and Life (KFL) Youth
for Family and Life (YFL)
Singles
for Family and Life (SFL)
Handmaids
for Family and Life (HFL)
Servants
for Family and Life (SvFL)
Wish
to JOIN?
The
highest courage is to dare to be yourself in the face of adversity,
choosing right over wrong, ethics over convenience, and truth over
popularity.
Travel the path of integrity without looking back, for THERE IS
NEVER A WRONG TIME TO DO THE RIGHT THING.
-
Bishop Soc Villegas
25 July 2007
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THE WAY FORWARD IN CHRIST
(Part 41)
FEAR
AND SERVE THE LORD
August
8, 2011
Today’s reading: Deuteronomy 10:12-22
Moses asks a basic question to God’s people Israel. “And now,
Israel, what does the Lord, your God, ask of you...?” (Dt 10:12a).
Christians today are the new Israel, the new people of God. More
specifically, it is the Roman Catholic Church, in which subsists the
fullness of God’s revelation. Though what Moses will say is the very
same question that needs to be answered by all of God’s people today,
I will only address CFC-FFL.
Now, CFC-FFL, after 30 years, with the fullness of God’s strength
being available for your work, what does God ask of you?
It is important to realize that everything, including ourselves, belongs
to God. God created everything according to His divine plan, and we are
to try to understand what that plan is and what God’s purpose is, so
that we can apply ourselves accordingly. “Think! The heavens, even the
highest heavens, belong to the Lord, your God, as well as the earth and
everything in it.” (Dt 10:14).
One group supporting the RH bill today and opposing pro-lifers is the
Freethinkers. They are atheistic. They just believe in using their minds
and their reason. But they fail to realize that God gave them their
minds, and God gave them their reason in order to know Him. They want to
live their lives according to their own desires, perhaps even averring
that they follow their consciences. But they are just creatures who
belong to the Creator. And it is the Creator who has the ultimate plan,
the One who knows what is best for His creation. When we stray from that
plan, or worse, when we reject that plan, then we suffer dire
consequences.
So think about this very fundamental reality: everything belongs to God.
And who is this God? He “is the God of gods, the Lord of lords, the
great God, mighty and awesome” (Dt 10:17a). He “has no favorites,
accepts no bribes; who executes justice” (Dt 10:17b-18a). Now all that
sounds familiar. Yes! It is what we learned through our theme for last
year 2010: “The Almighty! Just and Righteous is He!”
We learned about awe of God. We learned about the proper place of
worship. We learned about redemptive suffering. We learned, and
hopefully are continuing to learn, the lessons of Job.
Now what did this Almighty God do? God in his love chose you in
preference to all other peoples (Dt 10:15)!
God chose a slave people who were nobodies in the world, who on the
human level had no future at all, except one of abject slavery. Like the
Hebrews, we too were no people. But God called us and raised us to be
His people and servant. Now we have direction and purpose in life. Now
we have a future full of hope. Now we have the great privilege of doing
the very work of God.
That should elicit great gratitude, and a corresponding desire to give
our lives over to God. After all, apart from God our lives were worth
nothing. Now we have everything--renewed marriages, strengthened
families, brethren in community, a great evangelistic and missionary
work. And after our work on earth, we get to bask in God’s eternal
glory in heaven!
But back to what God asks of us. “And now, Israel, what does the Lord,
your God, ask of you but to fear the Lord, your God, and follow his ways
exactly, to love and serve the Lord, your God, with all your heart and
all your soul, to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord which I
enjoin on you today for your own good?” (Dt 10:12-13).
First, we are to fear the Lord. We are to be in awe of Him. We are to
recognize who He is, the awesome Almighty God, the Creator, the Savior,
the Omnipotent One. He is the one who owns us. We are to worship Him.
Second, we are to follow His ways exactly. We are to live according to
His ways. We are to be holy as He is holy. We are to strive for
perfection as the heavenly Father is perfect. We are to reflect His
image and likeness, in which we were created. We are not to veer away
from His plan and purpose.
Third, we are to love and serve the Lord. The first and greatest
commandment Jesus gave us is to love God with our whole mind, heart,
soul and strength. Then knowing that God has His plan for the life of
the world, which He will accomplish through His people, we are to serve
Him. Jesus is our Master. We are to do His will. We are to give of
ourselves, such that God will have a willing and faithful instrument to
use.
Fourth, we are to keep His commandments and statutes. We are to obey God
in all His ways. This includes not just the call to holiness, but the
command to go into the world and proclaim the good news of salvation in
Jesus.
Now notice something. God enjoins on us His commandments “for your own
good.” In the hands of God we are in the best of hands. If we live
according to His plan, we are assured of a good life. If we follow His
ways, we will be fulfilled and always joyful.
But do most people, including Christians, realize that? No. They
continue to live their own lives according to their own desires and
ways. That cannot be the way with us. So we are further told:
“Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and be no longer stiff-necked.”
(Dt 10:16). Let us repent of going our own way, of hardening our hearts
to the call of God, of not giving all of ourselves to His work.
Let us fear and serve the Lord, let us cling to Him and fully trust in
His goodness, let us invoke His name for our lives, our families and our
community. “The Lord, your God, shall you fear, and him shall you
serve; hold fast to him and swear by his name.” (Dt 10:20).
Through the last 30 years, God has done great things for us, as He
brought us to do mission throughout the world. Let us continue to be His
servant, through whom He shows His glory (Is 49:3). “He is your glory,
he, your God, who has done for you those great and terrible things which
your own eyes have seen.” (Dt 10:21).
Praised be our God! Onward to mission! Our God is now our strength!
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